What would you do?

[eaworld]

We are dvc members and are staying at old key west in sept. We have invited friends with us and used our points to get them a one bedroom, and we are staying in a 2 bedroom. My question to those of you out there is...would you charge your friends per point to stay or not charge them at all? And if so what would you charge?

 

[Mississippian]

We are dvc members and are staying at old key west in sept. We have invited friends with us and used our points to get them a one bedroom, and we are staying in a 2 bedroom. My question to those of you out there is...would you charge your friends per point to stay or not charge them at all? And if so what would you charge?

I did this once for friends and told them well in advance that points tended to rent for $10 and up. They agreed that was a fair price, but they ended up paying me by buying most of the meals, as I recall, and maybe gave me some cash at the end.

Maybe for OKW or SSR I would only charge $9 a point.

Always best to work these things out in advance, but by all means don't just give away a room worth hundreds of dollars a night!

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

If we invited them with no mention of compensation up front, then we would not charge them anything. We have invited family by saying "If you would like to join us, we can probably get you a room for $xxxx." Then leave it up to them to say "that'd be great" or "no thank you". I have also left the amt blank and just said we should be able to get them a good price. I have done this when I haven't actually done any calculations about the number of points that will be needed. We have done this one or two times. We have also done it the other way, where we just invited close family and did not ask for any compensation. But, they ended up paying for meals and some other things. We didn't expect that though.

I base my price for close friends and family at about $2.00 over my maintenance fee cost.

 

[jekjones1558]

We have never charged family or friends but others do charge. Both cases are fine, to each his/her own. Sometimes guests buy us a meal but we don't expect anything. If you "invited" your friends and it has not been a "renting" arrangement from the beginning, then I don't think now is an appropriate time to think about charging.

 

[Tigger1]

I agree with others, if you did not mention renting them the points, do not charge them.

If they are now asking what they owe even though you never mentioned charging them, I would consider what they would have paid for a room and what they can afford. If they usually would stay at a value, a one bedroom might be out of price range even at $8 per point. If they usually stay at Grand Floridian, $12 per point would be a good deal.

 

[k3chantal]

We are dvc members and are staying at old key west in sept. We have invited friends with us and used our points to get them a one bedroom, and we are staying in a 2 bedroom. My question to those of you out there is...would you charge your friends per point to stay or not charge them at all? And if so what would you charge?

My example is a little different. But, the last two trips we stayed in a two bedroom villa with friends. We did not charge either family anything for the accommodations. The first family went out of their way to contribute without us asking(paying for dinners, etc.....) The second family were close college friends who are have some pending surgeries and their financial situation is very different from ours. They definitely made it known how thankful they were and definitely split every other bill such as our order to Garden Grocer and all dinner reservations but they only took care of their expenses.

So, I think what you do is really how you feel about it. We like going with people. It makes our trip more fun to share our timeshare so I see it as they are actually 'helping' us. Also, our friends range from different financial strengths so what I expect from one family I wouldn't from another. And with the family with the weaker financial situation, I knew going in what I was asking and offering. My goal with this family was to give them a fantastic memory before major heart surgeries.

You are giving your friends their own 'space' so perhaps the 'value' is greater. Also I think you should factor whether they had plans to go to Disney World before your offer or if their decision to go to Disney World rested on your offer. In both of my situation, we offered and both families didn't have Disney World in their sights at all.

 

[AnnaS]

We have never charged family or friends we have invited. They have treated to a meal and another time a friend treated two of my sons to golf. We did not expect or want anything either. Some do and that's fine too.

If I had to charge - I would probably just round off the dues.

 

[rcchello]

I will not deal with any awkwardness of how you asked them and whether you mentioned payment.

I think that anything from what they could get the room on the rental board on down for the price would be reasonable. Trying to charge them rack rates would just be taking advantage of friends.

Or you could say - Why don't you pick up x dinners and we will call it even (just avoid dinner at Waffle House)!

 

[lucyem]

When I originally invited my friends I would have said up front something about a charge or no.

On the other side if I were the friend being invited I would ask about a charge or no. As a friend I would also pay for at least a couple of meals.

We asked friends to join us for our next trip and they are sharing a 2 bedroom with us. We said no charge. The wife is driving with me, rest are flying, and is already offering to split gas and hotel costs to get to WDW. I would not be surprised if they paid for more then one meal.

 

[disneynutz]

If you invited them, you pay. If they asked to go, they pay.

Bill

 

[Sandisw]

I have to agree that the time to have decided whether you wanted anything for the room was prior to making the trip....this way, the friends know upfront your expectations.

At this point, they could be assuming that it is free and asking for compensation could cause some difficult feelings.

We have only taken family so far and friends of my children so have not charged but don't plan to charge when we ask someone if they would like to come with us.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I think you should get this settled before the points would go into holding. If you want compensation, or not, talk to your friends.

Bobbi

 

[BillPA]

I would ask for at least dues plus a few $$$. What if they cancel at the last minute. Will you be happy losing those points???

 

[Monte Cristo]

We are dvc members and are staying at old key west in sept. We have invited friends with us and used our points to get them a one bedroom, and we are staying in a 2 bedroom. My question to those of you out there is...would you charge your friends per point to stay or not charge them at all? And if so what would you charge?

We have done this before and are doing it again in January. We are charging our friends the cost of the dues for the accomodations. Everyone is happy.

 

[MouseMomx2]

Maybe for OKW or SSR I would only charge $9 a point.

Just curious, but why? Both OKW and SSR are wonderful resorts with just as much to offer as the others. All of the DVC resorts have their pros and cons but, IMO, none are worth less than others.

As for the original question, I don't charge guests who stay with us. If they offer to guy the groceries or to pay for a meal or two I accept, but I do not suggest it. If we were to book a vacation for someone else, and it wasn't intended as a gift, we would probably charge them our cost (including dues) for the points.

 

[WsPrincess]

I think it all depends on the conversation that happened when this trip was booked. If you invited them and there was no mention of them paying you, then to say now "You owe is $XXXX" is going to be awkward and kind of tacky. If as pp suggested you said you could get them a good deal, I would go with what you think a good deal is. MF or MF+$2-3 might be a good middle ground. It is all in how this trip came about to me.

DH is looking forward to bringing people with us to share the magic. I cannot see charging them for the points. We do have friends who have expressed interested in using our points to travel on their own. Those people will pay us for them.

 

[BestDadEver]

It would have had to been discused before the trip or I wouldnt charge .

I would love to have extrapoints to bring people . But when I add on I will definetly bring people and not charge cause I think our would just be more fun with others .

 

[BabsBunny]

I agree that if compensation wasn't discussed at the time the reservation was made, it would be tacky to ask for money now. That being said, I would hope they would at least offer to pay for some dinners or something. I wouldn't dream of accepting a gift like a 1 bedroom villa at WDW without picking up some tabs in return.

 

[eaworld]

Our friends that are joining us had asked to come along, and thought it would be a good idea to get their own room since they have twin 4 yr olds that you would think wake up with a can of red bull in their hands. They asked how much it would be for a room of their own. I went with the $10 per point route knowing that they were still getting a screaming deal for a 1 bedroom. They had no problem with the price, I was just curious what the average price my fellow dvc'ers would charge, if at all. Thanks for all the responses!

 

[spiceycat]

Just curious, but why? Both OKW and SSR are wonderful resorts with just as much to offer as the others. All of the DVC resorts have their pros and cons but, IMO, none are worth less than others.

look at what Disney charges for rack rates. it charges less for OKW and SSR - plus at times AKV. than the other DVC resorts
http://www.mousesavers.com/2013-walt-disney-world-resort-room-rates-season-dates/

for the OP - never charge family or friends. some pay back in food/restuarants - other never pay for anything and expect you to pay for everything (generally family).

you do what makes you feel right.