Who has Rented DVC Points

[carimeli]

Poly studios are available for late October. Your agency is likely without a Poly home owner to make your booking. When the 7 month window opens, if they have someone who will be online at 8AM to book, you may get the booking. If the owner isn't online early, though, you will likely not be able to book and will need a back up plan. Poly studios have been booking very quickly for September and now into October at the 7-month window.

Yes, that is the issue now - no Poly home owner with enough points. I wonder if we could do a partial week there now to guarantee something.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Yes, that is the issue now - no Poly home owner with enough points. I wonder if we could do a partial week there now to guarantee something.

Probably no Poly owner at all, really. Poly is only about 30% sold, and a lot of owners are new owners. Newer owners usually don't jump straight into renting their new contract. They usually want to kick the tires at their home resort.

 

[carimeli]

Probably no Poly owner at all, really. Poly is only about 30% sold, and a lot of owners are new owners. Newer owners usually don't jump straight into renting their new contract. They usually want to kick the tires at their home resort.

Thanks - that makes sense. I would want to stay there, too...obviously

 

[carimeli]

I wish I could just look at the availability everywhere for the month myself and make a decision rather than random requests one by one.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I wish I could just look at the availability everywhere for the month myself and make a decision rather than random requests one by one.

Really, the problem with renting points is that availability is twofold:

1. Availability of an owner with resort points within the 11-7 month window
AND
2. Availability of a unit/room

Even if they opened up the availability tool to non-members, you'd still need just the right member. Poly is available, but is a member with Poly points? That is dependent on if you're working through an agency, a private owner, etc. etc.

While DVC contracts explicitly allow for rental, there is no motivation for Disney to make it easier for non-owners to access availability. Disney don't make money directly on the lodging portion of a DVC rental.

 

[carimeli]

Really, the problem with renting points is that availability is twofold:

1. Availability of an owner with resort points within the 11-7 month window
AND
2. Availability of a unit/room

Even if they opened up the availability tool to non-members, you'd still need just the right member. Poly is available, but is a member with Poly points? That is dependent on if you're working through an agency, a private owner, etc. etc.

While DVC contracts explicitly allow for rental, there is no motivation for Disney to make it easier for non-owners to access availability. Disney don't make money directly on the lodging portion of a DVC rental.

I'm starting to understand that now. I am in the queue through David's, but I am sure very far down the list. Would I be better off trying to find a private owner (if I am open to other resorts)?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'm starting to understand that now. I am in the queue through David's, but I am sure very far down the list. Would I be better off trying to find a private owner (if I am open to other resorts)?

There's an excellent rent board here on DIS.

 

[johnsgrl]

First time rental for us, we will be staying at BLT in a lakeview 1 BR in October. A bit more than I wanted to pay for the trip but it is DGS first trip and being able to walk to MK is so worth it. Our original plans were to stay in 2 rooms at SOG but with a toddler a full kitchen and laundry will be so helpful.

 

[twodogs]

Has anyone ever had to cancel a rented points reservation and try to use their trip insurance? This is the big hesitation for me to renting points. I often wonder if the travel insurance would have so many loop holes and you wouldn't get your money back?

 

[CSwan1]

There's an excellent rent board here on DIS.

Can you tell me where the rent board is on the DIS? I can't find it. TIA!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Can you tell me where the rent board is on the DIS? I can't find it. TIA!

http://www.disboards.com/forums/dvc-rent-trade.29/

 

[KangaFan]

Has anyone ever had to cancel a rented points reservation and try to use their trip insurance? This is the big hesitation for me to renting points. I often wonder if the travel insurance would have so many loop holes and you wouldn't get your money back?

Not sure if this helps and I haven't used it myself, but DVC Rental Store offers a "cancel for any reason" protection plan. This might be a good option if you're worried about exclusions. We're using Travel Guard and they have different plan levels with different exclusions. The plan we picked covers sickness, death, weather, flight delays/cancellations. It doesn't cover for voluntary cancellation, though, but it sounds like the plan from DVC Rental Store does.

 

[twodogs]

Thank you! Will look into their site.

 

[Dbktmc]

We are going on our 3rd trip where I have "chickened out" and not rented DVC points. My biggest fear is that we will lose our money if something goes wrong. Last year, my father had a bad accident the week before our Disney trip. Thankfully he was ok but it was a possibility that he might not survive. I have looked into David's as well as the other major rental agency but I can't decide if the insurance will cover everything. I know that the "other agency" offers travel insurance when you book but I am pretty sure that it states that you can't get any money back once you get within 2 or 3 days of the trip. (I might be wrong about that because I haven't looked for a few months.)

Anyways, I'm also curious if anyone has had to cancel their reservation. I would love to hear if it was hard to get their money back.

 

[johnsgrl]

I bought private trip insurance that will cover the cost if we need to cancel, and it also covers partial cancellation if the folks we are travelling with are unable to come we would be reimbursed for their portion of the trip and still be able to use the reservation. I did check and make sure they would cover it regardless of whether its points or hotel charge.

 

[Dbktmc]

I bought private trip insurance that will cover the cost if we need to cancel, and it also covers partial cancellation if the folks we are travelling with are unable to come we would be reimbursed for their portion of the trip and still be able to use the reservation. I did check and make sure they would cover it regardless of whether its points or hotel charge.

Can you tell me what insurance company you used?

 

[COscrapper]

So I just went through this whoooole situation for AKL, right down to buying my trip insurance. My trip dates are Oct. 29 - Nov. 5, and all 3 point broker companies had long wait lists for AKL points. After getting on the waitlist at David's, we saw our room type (standard studio at Jambo house) start to book up for our dates - we started to worry we wouldn't get anything by the time the 7 month window opened up. That's what pushed me to look at the rent/trade board here, and I found someone who owned at AKL. After thoroughly researching every scenario, we decided to go for it and rent directly from an owner! We checked references and she was very nice - made our reservation and already linked it to MDE. Had to upgrade to a Savannah view for our dates though.

We bought our trip insurance today and I talked to them on the phone to make sure they would cover this type of reservation - they do, as long as we have proof of payment. They are also one of the few that cover cancellation due to hurricanes, which is what I wanted. Very affordable - it is the "worldwide trip protector" plan by Travel Insured, FYI. Just be aware that we did not spring for "cancel for any reason", as it wasn't worth it for us (you can't get back the full cost of the trip and it costs more), so I don't know if they offer that or not (other companies do). We would only cancel if something very serious happens, which they cover.

 

[prm1968]

Am going to try the points rental for May 2017. Would live to stay at the Poly. When should I try to book? Was thinking of using Dave's. Thank you for any advice and information .

 

[_auroraborealis_]

So I just went through this whoooole situation for AKL, right down to buying my trip insurance. My trip dates are Oct. 29 - Nov. 5, and all 3 point broker companies had long wait lists for AKL points. After getting on the waitlist at David's, we saw our room type (standard studio at Jambo house) start to book up for our dates - we started to worry we wouldn't get anything by the time the 7 month window opened up. That's what pushed me to look at the rent/trade board here, and I found someone who owned at AKL. After thoroughly researching every scenario, we decided to go for it and rent directly from an owner! We checked references and she was very nice - made our reservation and already linked it to MDE. Had to upgrade to a Savannah view for our dates though.

We bought our trip insurance today and I talked to them on the phone to make sure they would cover this type of reservation - they do, as long as we have proof of payment. They are also one of the few that cover cancellation due to hurricanes, which is what I wanted. Very affordable - it is the "worldwide trip protector" plan by Travel Insured, FYI. Just be aware that we did not spring for "cancel for any reason", as it wasn't worth it for us (you can't get back the full cost of the trip and it costs more), so I don't know if they offer that or not (other companies do). We would only cancel if something very serious happens, which they cover.

I am so happy you got your booking!

 

[AnAmericanInDisney]

We just stayed in a 1 bedroom at SSR for less than $200 per night. It was a last minute rental, and it worked out great!