Why the bad rap?

[southernbohemian]

This newbie has a couple of questions, but first I'd like to thank everyone for helping me answer the hundreds I had before I started reading your posts.

The background: My BF and I have decided we are going to buy into the AKL DVC when it opens up. (So excited!!!) Our baby is tiny now, but we plan on taking him and his half-siblings (and hopefully a baby sister around 2011) on lots of WDW holidays over the next 10-15 years, so that alone should make it worth it. But after we get the childhood years out of the way, we would probably be doing the Disney thing only every couple of years and wanting to go other places. I want my children to have an international education, so the ability to visit places outside of the US on DVC points is a nice feature.

However, reading this board I came across a lot of somewhat negative posts regarding staying on non-WDW properties. What's the deal? I can't find anywhere that lists what kind of points are needed to stay at these other places, so if someone has that, could you please pass it on? Do the points not translate well? I know we can resell or rent points, so we'll probably still buy in anyway, but I'd like to know why it is not highly recommended.

Sorry if this has been covered before - I looked through a lot of old posts and didn't get much insight on the topic.

 

[DizneyNutz]

It eats up a lot more of your points to do this and is usually viewed better to pay for those reservations than use your points. However if you are are only planning a single trip per year then to us it is not a bad thing. Everyone is trying to explain the best dollar value usage of your points.

 

[JimMIA]

I think DisneyNutz is right -- people are offering their opinion on what is the most cost-effective use of your points.

There are actually two schools of thought. One is that the most cost-effective use of points is using them solely for stays at DVC resorts at WDW, Vero, and Hilton Head. And they are right -- your best bang for the point is surely at the DVC resorts. If you plan to use your DVC account primarily to transfer out to other options, there are surely less-costly options. So, you'll often see suggestions here for people to pay cash for a cruise (one common example) and then rent points out to recoup your cash outlay.

The other school of thought says "I bought my DVC for vacation options. I don't really care if I get the best bang for my buck. If I get reasonable value, I'm a happy camper."

Although I appreciate making the most of your DVC membership, I have a difficult time criticizing this line of reasoning. Renting points can be a hassle that not every DVC owner wants to bear, and you choose to spend your points on a cruise instead of a stay at OKW -- who am I to second-guess your decision? I wouldn't second-guess you if you chose BCV instead of OKW, so why would I criticize any other decision?

 

[southernbohemian]

Thanks for the quick responses!

I think I understand a bit better now. I guess it really only adds to the flexibility because I want to stay in another hotel other than one offered through DVC (bargain hunter that I am), so paying cash upfront and then renting out the points would be a good option for that trip. We really only plan on taking one big trip a year - most of our little holidays are spent visiting family out-of-state.

Another question if you don't mind - kind of unrelated to previous question. We're planning on renting points at a BWV next October, but it seems that Food and Wine makes that a very desirable and hard to get reservation. Should I go ahead and change plans (could care less about F&W, but really want BWV), or is it kind of blown out of proportion? Should we try to find someone with points to rent before their UY comes available, or wait until they are offered? We're planning on the week after Columbus Day - staying only Sunday through Friday. I'd rather buy the points instead of an already-made reservation.

Thanks again!

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks for the quick responses!

I think I understand a bit better now. I guess it really only adds to the flexibility because I want to stay in another hotel other than one offered through DVC (bargain hunter that I am), so paying cash upfront and then renting out the points would be a good option for that trip. We really only plan on taking one big trip a year - most of our little holidays are spent visiting family out-of-state.

There's nothing like seeing the point charts for yourself, so take a look at these threads - they containlinks to the 2007 point charts for the non-DVC options:

Cruises: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1089437
Conceirge/Adventurer & World Passport Collections: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1089453
Disney Collection: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1089462

Keep in mind that the points for the non-DVC options are not set - they can and have increased quite regularly.

Another question if you don't mind - kind of unrelated to previous question. We're planning on renting points at a BWV next October, but it seems that Food and Wine makes that a very desirable and hard to get reservation. Should I go ahead and change plans (could care less about F&W, but really want BWV), or is it kind of blown out of proportion? Should we try to find someone with points to rent before their UY comes available, or wait until they are offered? We're planning on the week after Columbus Day - staying only Sunday through Friday. I'd rather buy the points instead of an already-made reservation.

Thanks again!

No need to change your plans - just start looking for an owner ahead of time. (October is a popular time for the EPCOT resorts, so booking ahead is a very, very good idea. Most owners will not want to use the waitlist for a renter). Now is a good time to start looking for a BWV owner to rent you an October 2007 reservation.

If you want to stay in a guaranteed Boardwalk view room or a standard view room, the owner will need to make the reservation for you 11 months prior to the desired check out date to ensure getting the reservation.

Most owners consider renting transactions to be non-refundable so be sure you understand the owner's cancellation policy before any money changes hands. Most owners will want the money well before arrival.

If you haven't already, be sure to read all of the "Sticky" threads at the top of the Rent/Trade Forum. Ask any other questions you may have on this board.

Also, unless (until ) you are a Member, you cannot buy points - you will be renting a reservation.

Good luck.

 

[TCPluto]

Should we try to find someone with points to rent before their UY comes available, or wait until they are offered? We're planning on the week after Columbus Day - staying only Sunday through Friday. I'd rather buy the points instead of an already-made reservation.

Thanks again!

If you know your dates, post on the rent trade board now. These reservations will go very fast.

 

[southernbohemian]

Thanks so much for the help guys!

 

[DMDSTPRGIL]

Also if you really like the BWV area before you buy your points at AKL maybe you might want to look into buying a resale at BWV. The cost for points right now is around $80 compaired to $100.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Not to go OT, but did I miss an announcement about AKL DVC?!

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Okay, I just found the thread re: AKL. I'm excited! We were just in WDW (which is ironically how I missed this news) at VWL and I didn't hear a thing about it! Only thing we were excited about was the Nemo ride preview.

Back to your original thread....

 

[dumbo71]

I think DisneyNutz is right -- people are offering their opinion on what is the most cost-effective use of your points.

There are actually two schools of thought. One is that the most cost-effective use of points is using them solely for stays at DVC resorts at WDW, Vero, and Hilton Head. And they are right -- your best bang for the point is surely at the DVC resorts. If you plan to use your DVC account primarily to transfer out to other options, there are surely less-costly options. So, you'll often see suggestions here for people to pay cash for a cruise (one common example) and then rent points out to recoup your cash outlay.

The other school of thought says "I bought my DVC for vacation options. I don't really care if I get the best bang for my buck. If I get reasonable value, I'm a happy camper."

Although I appreciate making the most of your DVC membership, I have a difficult time criticizing this line of reasoning. Renting points can be a hassle that not every DVC owner wants to bear, and you choose to spend your points on a cruise instead of a stay at OKW -- who am I to second-guess your decision? I wouldn't second-guess you if you chose BCV instead of OKW, so why would I criticize any other decision?

I totally agree with this. How someone uses there points is there business. As long as they see a value or a benefit in it then so be it. Trades are certainly not the best value but they are a nice option to have especially after 15 years or so of trips to WDW like the OP plans. After 15 years of trips your buy in money and dues wil long been recouped so anything you do at that point is a freebie in my book (or at least just fort the cost of AD).

 

[mydogdrew]

Think of points as currency. Look at points required for a night at non-dvc resorts x $10 or $12. Would you pay that out-of-pocket? Most would conclude not. Also, there is no inflation hedge on these non-dvc options - points required per night will increase in the future (not so for DVC resorts).

 

[chris1gill]

I just wanted to say to the OP, to buy her point packages in small increments... for instance, if you buy more than 150 points, just buy the 150 point package & then the let's say 25 or 50 point package. We are in a situation now, where we don't go as often to Disney as when the children were younger.... we've taken them to Hawaii three times & Australia twice over the last 3 years.... so we just haven't used our points the way they were meant to be used... so we recently sold one of our smaller point packages as I did not want to be renting them out. I figure when the kids are in college I can always buy those points back if I find I want to go to Disney more frequently.... Just a thought on that....

If you do rent, rent from someone with a high post count.... that's all I'll say.. find someone with a lot of experience on the boards....