What % of DVC goes unused?

[Lumpy1106]

I did a search and couldn't find an answer or even a thread about this. Theoretically if all DVC points get used every year, wouldn't that mean that all the rooms are occupied 100% of the time? We know that doesn't happen because, even if for just a couple of days during the week, there are unoccupied rooms. Does that mean that there are points that are going unused? If so, are there stats kept on this?

Just curious. I'm new to DVC and in all the research financial modelling I did, never once did I consider the points going unused. The plan is to either use them or rent them out - but they WILL be used.

 

[tjkraz]

No, there are no numbers available. And the reality is actually quite fluid due to the banking and borrowing provisions of the contracts. This is an oversimplification but in 2019, owners will use a combination of 2018 (banked), 2019 and 2020 (borrowed) points.

Any rooms that are unbooked 60 days prior to arrival can be rented out by Disney. A portion of that revenue is credited to members as "Breakage" revenue in our annual budgets. Breakage is capped at an amount equal to 2% of most budget categories. But if you follow DVC booking trends--and the corresponding difficulty of securing villas on short notice--it's debatable as to how much revenue is earned above that 2% cap annually.

 

[Rush]

People on this forum are fairly savvy DVC’ers. I’d say very few on here let points go unused, or use them in inefficient ways. I’d say the same can not be said of the general public, who get sold into buying direct by magic and pixie dust in their eyes. I’d say the rate of unused points, or trading them into cruises and RCI, are probably much higher among the overall DVC population. A large portion of the US population are horrible with their money, I’d expect their points to be no different.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Thanks for the replies - I had to figure there was some vacancy built into the system for things that you have mentioned - RCI trades (though those points are used too), banking, borrowing, the direct "one-time-use" points. Still, there has to be a non-trivial % of points that just don't get used. On a similar vein, I was a season pass holder at Mammoth Mountain for years and got to know some of the behind-the-scenes employees. The % of season passes that were bought and then never picked up was staggering. There was one low-snow season where it was over 25%.

 

[Rush]

Thanks for the replies - I had to figure there was some vacancy built into the system for things that you have mentioned - RCI trades (though those points are used too), banking, borrowing, the direct "one-time-use" points. Still, there has to be a non-trivial % of points that just don't get used. On a similar vein, I was a season pass holder at Mammoth Mountain for years and got to know some of the behind-the-scenes employees. The % of season passes that were bought and then never picked up was staggering. There was one low-snow season where it was over 25%.

Well, I’m part of the airline industry, you touched on exactly why airlines over sell flights. History has shown a certain percentage of people never show. I’m sure many have legitimate reasons why, but the number is, as you say, staggering.

 

[Lumpy1106]

And you just hit on why I have a policy about never flying on United. I had a group of 30 people travelling to Crested Butte. We all got off of a large plane from LA in Denver, then headed to the gate of the small plane...that held 28. We checked in at the gate, at which point United should have immediately made amends for over-booking the flight on the small plane. "No, no can do, we have to wait until the plane is loaded to make sure we are over-booked". 2 hours later, they finally loaded the plane and offered two of my group tickets for another flight. No other compensation and that was the one and only flight that day to the small airport (Gunnison) we were flying to. They rented a car on their own dime and drove. Never again United!

 

[chalee94]

I’d say the rate of unused points, or trading them into cruises and RCI, are probably much higher among the overall DVC population. A large portion of the US population are horrible with their money, I’d expect their points to be no different.

Used to be a lot more unused points but brokers like David have made it easier to turn unused points into cash. The popularity of renting on the demand side also has contributed to tightening availability for DVC inventory.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We use our points yearly, maybe borrow some, for DCL cruises. Spend only the day before embarkation at our home resort.