Which DVC to buy at?

[marealtor]

Looking into buying. Experation is not a factor just looking for cheapest. We would most likely travel in April and would like to try different resorts. I was thinking OKW with enough pts for us children and grandchildren.

 

[chalee94]

OKW is a great choice. studios have 2 queen beds and 1BRs and up have a ton of space. resale prices are low and annual dues are relatively low as well.

i enjoy OKW. i have tried BLT and AKV but don't mind getting "stuck" at OKW if nothing else comes through.

for april travel, you probably want a UY month of feb, march or april. (ideally, you just don't want to travel in the last 3 months or so of your UY...so if you get an april UY, try not to travel in jan-feb-march as canceling late will put you in a bind.)

 

[marealtor]

If I buy Feb UY @OKW and I wanted to try BW or BLT in April when would I be able to book a reservation. Thanks

 

[gatorgirl02]

If I buy Feb UY @OKW and I wanted to try BW or BLT in April when would I be able to book a reservation. Thanks

You reservation window in not necessarily based on your UY (assuming you have points available), but rather on the vacation date desired. So, if you have BLT points and want to vacation April 1, 2013, you can make reservations May 1, 2012 (11 months prior to your vacation date). If you don't have BLT points, then you can make reservations September 1, 2012 (7 months prior to your vacation date).

Your UY is when the points hit your account, so if you had a March UY, you would receive your points allocation March 1 of each year.

 

[Sandisw]

You can always book a trip 11 months in advance at your home report and 7 months at the others. So for April travel, you could call in May of the previous year for your home resort and September at the others. UY does not change this in any way.

What is important to know is which UY your trip will take place as this determines what points can be used to pay for it. Everything is based on time of the trip and not when you call.

For example, if you have an April UY and decide to travel in April 2013, that would happen in your 2013 UY. To pay for that trip, youd be able to use banked 2012 points, 2013 points, and borrow 2014 points when you called to book it, regardless of when that is.

 

[chalee94]

Your UY is when the points hit your account, so if you had a March UY, you would receive your points allocation March 1 of each year.

kind of. we talk like this but my oct 2013 and 2014 pts are already in my account when i look online.

i am limited though since i can only bank or borrow to move pts up or back 1 use year. after that, they are stuck in that new UY and cannot be moved again.

1) UY tells you when your pts are valid for stays.

a march UY means your 2012 UY runs from mar 1, 2012 to feb 28, 2013. so a jan 2013 stay is in your 2012 UY.

2) UY tells you when your banking window closes. your banking window closes 8 months after the start of your UY, so oct 31, 2012 is the last day to bank your 2012 pts if you have a march UY.

if you had a march UY and did not have any pts coming until mar 2014, you could still have called in april 2012 to book a stay at your home resort for march 2013 (in your 2013 UY) by using only those borrowed 2014 pts.

 

[DougEMG]

Looking into buying. Experation is not a factor just looking for cheapest. We would most likely travel in April and would like to try different resorts. I was thinking OKW with enough pts for us children and grandchildren.

OKW resales usually cost around $5/point less than a SSR contract. Direct OKW price is $10/point less than a SSR While SSR MF are about $0.50 less per point than OKW MF.

When buying resale/direct, in the long run SSR should be cheaper because of the lower MF, in the short run OKW is better because of the lower buy in price.

Having said that, both are close enough in costs that you should buy the one you prefer out of the two of them.

Note: OKW resale contracts have had a lot of ROFR activity on them this year.

 

[marealtor]

Thanks everyone.

 

[MickeyFan612]

I purchased mine at SSR last spring and have had no trouble booking several reservations at different resorts with all my extra points. I stayed at Bay Lake Tower in April using my 7 month booking window and had no trouble at all getting my desired room. I'm so glad I bought the most reasonable resort based on p/p and maint fees. I feel like I'm getting extra savings when I'm able to use my points at more desirable locations. I visited all DVC properties my last stay and I must say they are all nice and am eager to make at stay at each and every one!!