What to charge

[luckyman_apd]

I've seen a post like this in the past, but I'm going to go with another one.

We are heading down for 5 nights in Nov at BLT, staying in a 2 br and bringing my mother and step father with us. Otherwise we would stay in a 1 br. Just my wife and I with our 2 young kids. Now, my mother has ALWAYS been weird with money. She is the type to scroll down the dinner bill and pay EXACTLY what she ordered when out with a group rather than just split a check.

Now we have gone twice with my in laws. Before we bought into DVC, we would travel with my in laws and get a good discount with my Father in Law as he is retired from the Navy so we got the military discount. We had the extra banked points to use specifically to take them this trip, since they have not gone with us before. I did not plan to charge them anything, since we have the points to use, and when we bought this contract, we bought it with the extra banked points with the intention of taking them. My mother is INSISTING that they pay us for staying there.

She is looking to buy the airfare now, and wants us to book ours as well. With a trip to california coming up, I'm not fronting the money for airfare for another month or two. She feels as if she pays me, I can use it towards the airfare now and book it. Any opinions what to do here?

 

[ELMC]

I've seen a post like this in the past, but I'm going to go with another one.

We are heading down for 5 nights in Nov at BLT, staying in a 2 br and bringing my mother and step father with us. Otherwise we would stay in a 1 br. Just my wife and I with our 2 young kids. Now, my mother has ALWAYS been weird with money. She is the type to scroll down the dinner bill and pay EXACTLY what she ordered when out with a group rather than just split a check.

Now we have gone twice with my in laws. Before we bought into DVC, we would travel with my in laws and get a good discount with my Father in Law as he is retired from the Navy so we got the military discount. We had the extra banked points to use specifically to take them this trip, since they have not gone with us before. I did not plan to charge them anything, since we have the points to use, and when we bought this contract, we bought it with the extra banked points with the intention of taking them. My mother is INSISTING that they pay us for staying there.

She is looking to buy the airfare now, and wants us to book ours as well. With a trip to california coming up, I'm not fronting the money for airfare for another month or two. She feels as if she pays me, I can use it towards the airfare now and book it. Any opinions what to do here?

Holy cow...this is a toughie, with a wide range of answers. The most obvious answer is "do what your mother tells you". But seriously.

I'm guessing that your mother will derive some amount of satisfaction and peace from not only contributing to the trip, but in knowing that everyone's airfare is booked early on. To achieve both of these goals, she is offering money. Given your description of her and the fact that she insists on paying you, she will probably respect the math behind charging her the difference between the 1 BR you were going to stay in and the 2 BR you need to book because they are joining you. So I would calculate the difference in points and then charge her $10 a point. I would then book the airfare now for two reasons. First, you can just put the money she gives you towards the airfare. And second, all it is really costing you is the interest on the purchase of the tickets for two months. So what is that really...like $20? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate of throwing money away or racking up credit card bills. But in this case it seems like money well spent in order to make this a stress free experience for all involved.

Anyway, that's what I would do. I'm very curious to see how others respond.

 

[cmwade77]

Holy cow...this is a toughie, with a wide range of answers. The most obvious answer is "do what your mother tells you". But seriously.

I'm guessing that your mother will derive some amount of satisfaction and peace from not only contributing to the trip, but in knowing that everyone's airfare is booked early on. To achieve both of these goals, she is offering money. Given your description of her and the fact that she insists on paying you, she will probably respect the math behind charging her the difference between the 1 BR you were going to stay in and the 2 BR you need to book because they are joining you. So I would calculate the difference in points and then charge her $10 a point. I would then book the airfare now for two reasons. First, you can just put the money she gives you towards the airfare. And second, all it is really costing you is the interest on the purchase of the tickets for two months. So what is that really...like $20? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate of throwing money away or racking up credit card bills. But in this case it seems like money well spent in order to make this a stress free experience for all involved.

Anyway, that's what I would do. I'm very curious to see how others respond.

I would agree; however, the price will most likely drop next month or in August for Airfare. If you get airfare from one that will refund the difference if the price drops, then I wouldn't worry about it and book now, otherwise, I would wait for lower prices.

That being said, if what your Mom is going to pay you will work out to about the cost of the Airfare, it may be worth it to just buy it now to keep peace.

 

[TDC Nala]

Your mother is trying to dictate when you buy your flights? does she want you on the same plane, or arriving at the same time?

Can you suggest to her another way to make up what she thinks she should be paying for her stay?

Is she giving you money and expects you to spend it on the flight she wants you to take, or is she offering to pay for your flight?

I know you've described your mother as very exacting, but you haven't mentioned that she would certainly be offended if you said "We aren't ready to purchase our flights yet."

 

[luckyman_apd]

Your mother is trying to dictate when you buy your flights? does she want you on the same plane, or arriving at the same time?

Can you suggest to her another way to make up what she thinks she should be paying for her stay?

Is she giving you money and expects you to spend it on the flight she wants you to take, or is she offering to pay for your flight?

I know you've described your mother as very exacting, but you haven't mentioned that she would certainly be offended if you said "We aren't ready to purchase our flights yet."

It only gets more complicated the more I explain

My wife and kids are heading down on a tuesday flight. My mother IS flying with them, and will be taking the same flight.....part of her stress in wanting to book them now. Me, well I can't fly down till Wednesday night due to work issues. We are all planning on flying home together, but it is not a necessity. She is always worried about flights going up, and if we book now on Southwest and the price drops, you get the difference as a credit to another flight (still non refundable, but better than losing it entirely).

Right now, flights for them out of Philly are $138 per person on southwest. This is a one way flight. Very reasonable, but fares were just published, and I have seen cheaper. The return flights are outrageous right now. It is Veterans day weekend and Jersey week, so no telling what will happen with the airfare, but more likely than not it will come down. My other option is flying out of BWI (baltimore) myself, while they go PHL, and the return home we all go to baltimore, as those flights are MUCH cheaper (like $125 less per person). It's less than a 2 hour ride home from BWI, so not a big deal. The driving, toll, and parking are well worth saving about $750 total (6 people x $125 each).

My mother in law prefers southwest, but I know other airlines go up and down in price for that flight (sometimes daily). I'm thinking of booking the flights down for them and charging her the difference in points of 1 br to 2 br. Seems reasonable. I really didn't want to "charge" my own mother, but she is insisting, and if it gives her the peace of mind as ELMC said. Any other ideas are appreciated if you got em

 

[AllieV]

All those other details aside, if I were to charge a family member for a stay, I'd probably just ask for the cost of my maintenance fees.

 

[permavac]

...She is the type to scroll down the dinner bill and pay EXACTLY what she ordered when out with a group rather than just split a check...

...I really didn't want to "charge" my own mother, but she is insisting, and if it gives her the peace of mind as ELMC said. Any other ideas are appreciated if you got em

You know your mother - if she is the way you describe above, then you obviously need to take her money The real bonus to that is that by her giving you the money (that you don't want to take), you will be able to book the flights that will give her piece of mind (that you don't want to shell out the money to book right now). Definitely sounds like a win/win. The only variable you left out is: does she have the money to pay for what you are "charging" her? I would assume that she does or otherwise you wouldn't even be considering taking her money. So, this brings us to how much. I would charge anywhere between the cost of my MFs up to $10 per point in the difference between the 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom (as others have suggested). Basically, I would let the cost of the airfare decide the figure - since you don't want to have to buy them right now. Booking all the one way airfares for your family sounds like a good compromise. Good luck with your decision.

Terri

 

[Lora]

I'm not even going to bother pretending I know how to handle your mother. Mine is easy, so I have very little practice in that realm.

Since my guests would typically book value rooms if they weren't staying with us, I just tell them I won't take more than what they would spend on that. So, typically, it ends up being about $100/night for the studio portion. Sometimes I don't charge anything for the room itself and our guests buy a meal or something while we're together.

On another topic... I don't think it's "weird" to check your charges on a group receipt. I do the same. I don't order drinks/appetizers as many people do and find that those who do are usually the ones who want to split it evenly. I'm sure that's not you!

 

[luckyman_apd]

On another topic... I don't think it's "weird" to check your charges on a group receipt. I do the same. I don't order drinks/appetizers as many people do and find that those who do are usually the ones who want to split it evenly. I'm sure that's not you!

I wasn't trying to judge, just give a quick description of how she handles money If she needed something from Walmart and it cost me $3 to pick up, she would insist on giving me the $3, and showing her the receipt as well, even though I wasn't asking her to pay for it. I am a check splitter but I wasn't trying to insult anyone who isn't. It goes beyond that with my mother, and I didn't think everyone wants to read a bunch of stories on her.

Anyway, I sent her what Disney charges for a room only at a value, moderate, and deluxe hotel room for that time frame, and I also sent her the difference in points at $10 per point, and also stressed to her I don't need her to pay anything. I figure that is enough for her to decide what she wants to do.

BTW, she DOES have the money. She's used to staying at the Poly. Believe me, this would be MUCH easier if she didn't have the money