WWYD?? Add on at AKV or GFV?

[DisFanatic]

Hi! We currently own 200AKV points and are looking to add 25 more, but don't know if we should add on at AKV or go for the GFV?
Has anybody run into this predicament? What are your thought... What would you do and why?
Thanks!!

 

[disneynutz]

Buy where you love to stay.

Bill

 

[ELMC]

Hi! We currently own 200AKV points and are looking to add 25 more, but don't know if we should add on at AKV or go for the GFV?
Has anybody run into this predicament? What are your thought... What would you do and why?
Thanks!!

I would not, under any circumstances, buy AKV direct right now. The price:value ratio is so far out of whack that it is a financial disaster. I'm all for factoring the "joy of ownership" and convenience into the equation, and I backed that up by buying BLT instead of SSR so that I can have the 11 month booking window. That being said, I bought my BLT points on the resale market for less than half of direct prices. For close to the same price of AKV you could have the VGF, a newer, arguably nicer resort that is on the monorail line and projects to hold its value much better than AKV. That being said, 25 points is not going to get you very far there due to the high point costs per room.

The real question is, how did you come up with the number of 25 points?

 

[ELMC]

Buy where you love to stay.

Bill

I get this thinking, Bill, but does this mean that you are advocating buying AKV direct at $145 a point?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hi! We currently own 200AKV points and are looking to add 25 more, but don't know if we should add on at AKV or go for the GFV?
Has anybody run into this predicament? What are your thought... What would you do and why?
Thanks!!

Why would you purchase 25 points at GFV? That will get you one studio one night a year. You could use three years worth of points and get three nights, maybe four. You really need at least 100 to make it worth your while.

If you can't add 100 GFV points, what will the extra 25 get you at AKV?

You cannot combine different homes at 11 months to make a reservation. You can only combine them at seven months out.

 

[DougEMG]

Buying VGF direct is definitely a better deal than buying AKV direct, the problem you have is that 25 points at the VGF isn't going to get you anything. You'd be better able to use those 25 points by buying at AKV and with AKV there is a huge difference between direct and resale right now, so just be aware of that.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Purchasing a 25 point contract direct is still a different animal than if the question was to purchase 200 points direct. In this case a stranded 25 point contract at VGF that either will not get much at 11 months or will always have to sit until 7 months may not be considering the value in using the points.

A little more info from the OP would help as to understand why they are considering VGF.

 

[Sandisw]

I get this thinking, Bill, but does this mean that you are advocating buying AKV direct at $145 a point?

Not Bill.., but yes, I would say if someone really only wants 25 points, I'd buy direct, even at that price. Those are going to be hard to come by on the resale market, especially if you want to match UYs...yes, you can buy 50 points for the same initial buy in but that also means more dues on the extra 25 points. Not that it is a ton more, but it could make a difference for someone.

To OP, I think having only 25 points at VGF, unless you plan to use them every other year, etc. for just a night or two, I'd get the AKV points.

 

[bakerworld]

buying 25 points direct I think is very possible because the odds of you find 25 or even 50 points re-sale would be hard however I wouldn't buy those 25 pts at the GFV only if you were willing to use the every 3 years for 4 nights in a studio during value season - is there where you're going? If not, then pick somewhere where buying 25 points will give you some real access like BWV.

 

[ELMC]

Not Bill.., but yes, I would say if someone really only wants 25 points, I'd buy direct, even at that price. Those are going to be hard to come by on the resale market, especially if you want to match UYs...yes, you can buy 50 points for the same initial buy in but that also means more dues on the extra 25 points. Not that it is a ton more, but it could make a difference for someone.

To OP, I think having only 25 points at VGF, unless you plan to use them every other year, etc. for just a night or two, I'd get the AKV points.

I think we are forgetting another option...not buying. I'm not sure what the OP's situation is or why 25 points would make that much of a difference. But with that size contract there are no economies of scale resale or direct, and any value that could potentially be had is completely priced out of the product.

 

[bakerworld]

I think we are forgetting another option...not buying. I'm not sure what the OP's situation is or why 25 points would make that much of a difference. But with that size contract there are no economies of scale resale or direct, and any value that could potentially be had is completely priced out of the product.

Alright - I can see that - maybe you've presented another scenario - did you say that in the beginning and I missed it?

 

[ELMC]

Alright - I can see that - maybe you've presented another scenario - did you say that in the beginning and I missed it?

Try reading the thread.

 

[disneynutz]

I get this thinking, Bill, but does this mean that you are advocating buying AKV direct at $145 a point?

My position is that each of us is paying a premium price to vacation at Disney.

Each has their favorite things that they are willing to pay big bucks for, some love the parks, some the resorts, some food and wine, some the flowers.

Only the consumer can decide how important those things are and what they are willing to pay.

We all know that DVC can save you some money compared to paying Disney cash for a room but when you factor in all of the costs involved you are still paying thousands and thousands of dollars. We also know that buying resale can save you money compared to buying direct but there are multiple factors involved in every purchase decision and what people do is really their business.

Bottom line is that Disney is the winner and we are all along for the ride.

Bill

 

[Minniesgal]

I would only buy at VGF if I really wanted to use them to stay there (which I do and I am!). I would also buy enough to be able to stay there. For us that is 4 nights in a 2 bedroom every 4 years at the moment and longer in a 1 bedroom later. For us that is 65 points. I don't really see a 25 point contract being worth buying as I don't see what you can do with that unless you plan to add on later and build it up. So if 25 points is all you need/want I would probably just add on at AKV.

 

[Dean]

Hi! We currently own 200AKV points and are looking to add 25 more, but don't know if we should add on at AKV or go for the GFV?
Has anybody run into this predicament? What are your thought... What would you do and why?
Thanks!!

Personally if I needed points enough to buy 25, I'd likely buy 50 and definitely would in this situation. If you only need 25, it's not difficult to stretch what one has, esp to use at AKV or at 7 months or less. If the reason for this size choice is financial, I'd save and still buy more but later. I'd only buy 25 alone for a location I could either make 25 do something for me directly such as if I owned a smaller amount there or if I simply needed more at AKV and 25 was MORE than enough (an unlikely scenario). Say I owned only 75 at AKV, then I'd likely buy AKV. WWID, I'd either not buy or buy 50 at a different resort. If I were interested in going retail, reasonable in this situation and size, I'd buy GF if I had any interest at all. another option is to look for 50 points resale for a little over the same price as 25 retail. This would open up the discussion for SSR to have extra lower cost points, AKV to combine at the 11 month window with what you have or a destination resort outside GF such as BCV, BWV, VWL and possible (but to a lessor degree) BLT.

If one truly only needs an extra 25 points and the points at the only resort I owned at would do just fine, I would not add on. With a single transfer, cash trip, rental, off property or non Disney trip every 4-6 years (or less) one can easily get to the same place in number of points.

 

[BestDadEver]

Id just add 25 to akv , really what good is 25 points at GFV, looking at the point charts even banked and borrowed you don't get far . Unless you like split stays I guess , but to get 3 nights every 3 years seems silly to me . Id just try my luck at 7 months

 

[spruce]

I think the best small points contract number is whatever it takes to get a studio for a Friday and Saturday during magic season. Since the weekend/weekday points were levalized this minimum isn't as as good as it was before the reallocation.
Buy where you want to stay.

 

[Sandisw]

I think we are forgetting another option...not buying. I'm not sure what the OP's situation is or why 25 points would make that much of a difference. But with that size contract there are no economies of scale resale or direct, and any value that could potentially be had is completely priced out of the product.

Not really..that is a completely different question...we added on a 30 point contract a few years ago because it made sense for what we wanted and felt it fit our needs...and yes, at the time, those 30 points made a difference...

Let's try to remember that there are values to points besides it always coming down to economics...yes, there are some who will always look at the bottom line and make that the priority, there are others who won't, and some who try to find a balance between the two...

 

[Missyrose]

Not really..that is a completely different question...we added on a 30 point contract a few years ago because it made sense for what we wanted and felt it fit our needs...and yes, at the time, those 30 points made a difference...

Let's try to remember that there are values to points besides it always coming down to economics...yes, there are some who will always look at the bottom line and make that the priority, there are others who won't, and some who try to find a balance between the two...

I totally agree that sometimes a small add-on is all an owner needs, but I don't quite understand the pull of a 25-point contract at an entirely new resort (especially one as point-heavy as VGF). You're only talking about having enough points there for a night or two every couple of years.

There's two kinds of "value" at work here, which contract would be a better fit for the OP's current holdings. And which contract would retain value on the resale market.

Personally, if the OP needs another 25 points to make their vacations work, I'd buy the AKV points. If the OP really wants a VGF contract, I'd make the AKV points as they are and save a bit longer to buy a slightly larger VGF contract.

You'll take a bath when it comes to the value of the AKV add-on if you went to sell it later. The VGF contract should hold value better, but we don't know that for sure yet.

 

[NoleFan]

Hi! We currently own 200AKV points and are looking to add 25 more, but don't know if we should add on at AKV or go for the GFV?
Has anybody run into this predicament? What are your thought... What would you do and why?
Thanks!!

what are you using the extra points for? want to stay @ VGF ? extra night stay? if so, preference on where? booking window?