Winter Dec 25 - Jan 26 Direct Incentives

[davidhr]

I wonder if it’s a training issue with some guides. I’ve had 3 guides and I had never been made aware of the 7 days thing. My current guide was on vacation and got back to me last week after I reached out to check the incentives. As I had agreed to buy a resale one, I told him I had to pass at that moment. His answer was practically “Oh sad to hear that, if you change your mind let me know. This round of incentives ends on X date”.

 

[jcolvin5]

Same here. Never heard of the 7 day thing.

I’ve never felt an ounce of pressure. Never more than a reminder of when the current incentives expire.

 

[Brian Noble]

I wonder if it’s a training issue with some guides.

This is my guess too. The 7-day window is a requirement of Florida law, which says that any price they quote is valid for at least seven days. My Guide made a point of saying so. (I suspect Florida law also requires that they tell you this to avoid an unscrupulous timeshare sales agent's "This price is only good today" BS.) It would not be hard to imagine that an inexperienced guide---namely, the ones you get when you call or submit via the online tool---somehow hears that as "good only for seven days."

 

[Brian Noble]

Thinking about this some more: The seven day thing is not something that the Guides are just making up; the current add-on T&C say this: "Offer to save $X starts on December 11, 2025, and expires 7 days after Tour interaction. All Tours must be completed by February 9, 2026."

I suppose it is possible that some small pocket of Guides are trying to use this as a hard sell to goose their numbers---and this might be particularly likely for Guides who previously sold in other systems. But I think "Someone's wires got crossed" is a more likely explanation, because the Hypothetical Unethical Guide would pull a "Oh, that's too bad! That offer expired seven days after we met! But let me talk to my Manager and see if they can make an exception for you."

 

[jcolvin5]

As with any sales situation, simply walk away. If they don’t want the sale, someone else definitely will.

 

[crackerjack21]

I reached out to my guide last month for the latest poly incentives with the military discount and in his email he added:

Please note the promotions above are valid for 7 days from today!
I reached out again last week for the Riviera and CCV sheets, in his CCV reply he just mentioned the base price is increasing February 10th and to let him know if I had interest. No mention of 7 days.

In his Riviera reply he added:

Promotions are valid for 7 days (January 18th, 2026)

I’m sure if I reach out to him tomorrow he would honor what he sent.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I would not react well if they tried to tell me that I could not buy during a nationally published incentive period.

Of course, I haven’t been very impressed with any DVC guides since mine left/was let go.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I would not react well if they tried to tell me that I could not buy during a nationally published incentive period.

Of course, I haven’t been very impressed with any DVC guides since mine left/was let go.

Yours left?! Bummer. I remember you having good things to say about them. Were you just assigned a random new one then?

 

[Disney Spaz]

I just wanted to follow up regarding the financing for 5 years. The short answer is yes, you can finance for 5 years. It is not on their chart but they can give you the numbers via phone.

We went for our DS's wedding at Seabreeze Point, it was beautiful and the only warm day the whole weekend. I had reached out to our guide early last week and he was going on a cruise the majority of the time we were in WDW but he was back on the 20th, the day we left. He was kind enough to come in and meet with us that morning and go through everything. I really wanted to do it this way since we added our DD to our contracts in December and I wanted her to see the process. It took an hour mainly because we had her ask the questions so she could learn the process.

We only added 50 points but DD was so excited she is looking at moving around our point allocations and adding on until we can do 3 trips a year in 1-2 bedrooms. I personally think she is trying to get us in the 1000 point club and I wont lie I wouldn't hate that.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yours left?! Bummer. I remember you having good things to say about them. Were you just assigned a random new one then?

I think I got assigned to someone who walked up to me in the DVC lounge to introduce themselves.

I definitely don’t feel any sort of relationship with them, but I also told them that I am past my point buying days and am more likely to sell points than buy any more. (Which is true)

 

[DonkeyHoTay]

Onboard the DCL Destiny now and met with a guide yesterday to hear the incentives again, reminisce about the good ole days of fire sales long gone and score another free stuffed animal to give away to my nieces. As the guide was scrolling through the screen of links for resorts, I was stunned to see Boardwalk, Beach Club and Vero on the direct sales list. I think I already knew you could buy direct points at a 2042 resort, but I didn’t think it was real until I asked the guide to show me the prices… $275 per point with no incentive. Wow.

It makes more sense to me to stimulate sales at 2042 resorts, rather than repulse buyers from buying them - what am I missing?

 

[airjay75]

It makes more sense to me to stimulate sales at 2042 resorts, rather than repulse buyers from buying them - what am I missing?

Just a guess, but the difference in profit margin on ROFR'ing some of those resorts, flipping them into direct for the limited subset of buyers vs. the profit margin on actively selling resorts is probably just too great for them want to encourage it any real way. Way easier to say, sure, you can have BCV at $275/point OR I can sell you these PVB or RIV points for much less (and for a much greater profit margin).

 

[Sandisw]

Onboard the DCL Destiny now and met with a guide yesterday to hear the incentives again, reminisce about the good ole days of fire sales long gone and score another free stuffed animal to give away to my nieces. As the guide was scrolling through the screen of links for resorts, I was stunned to see Boardwalk, Beach Club and Vero on the direct sales list. I think I already knew you could buy direct points at a 2042 resort, but I didn’t think it was real until I asked the guide to show me the prices… $275 per point with no incentive. Wow.

It makes more sense to me to stimulate sales at 2042 resorts, rather than repulse buyers from buying them - what am I missing?

They don’t hold a lot of points at sold out resorts so they price them high to guide people to the resorts in active sales where they have millions of points to sell.

But someone who wants a 2042 resort in a small contract is likely to go direct because it’s hard to find on the resale market.

So, they take advantage of that!