DVC studios and villas: rack rate vs points rate?

[Roy G. Dis]

Does anyone (anecdotally or ballpark) know how much more a DVC room is when you book it as a regular hotel booking versus when you pay for the room through owning (cheapest?) or renting (still much cheaper) points?

I would guess that the prices for the hotel booking can fluctuate with supply or demand whereas the other methods are based on timing and availability.


Thanks for any insight!

 

[Minthorne]

You can figure it yourself. The point charts are on the internet. The yearly maintenance fees are on the internet, as are the point rental offers and rack rates.

One caveat is when calculating owned points how do you amortized the buy in cost? That cost per point originally could be anywhere from
$50 - $300 dependent on when it was bought and direct vs resale.

All that being said I own points and when I calculate my room costs it generally under $150 a night at any dvc resort studio.

 

[nickys]

Does anyone (anecdotally or ballpark) know how much more a DVC room is when you book it as a regular hotel booking versus when you pay for the room through owning (cheapest?) or renting (still much cheaper) points?

I would guess that the prices for the hotel booking can fluctuate with supply or demand whereas the other methods are based on timing and availability.


Thanks for any insight!

As regards to renting points, this recent blog post on Touring Plans can give you some idea.

How Much Can You Save Renting DVC Points? – DVC Villas Edition | TouringPlans.com Blog

It's pretty common to see references to the Value, Moderate, and Deluxe tiers of Disney World on-site resort rooms, but

touringplans.com

The huge downside to renting is the lack of flexibility. For a first time renter I suggest using a broker, but you need to be aware that in general you cannot cancel or change dates or resorts. One of the major brokers offers cancellation cover but you’ll get it in the form of vouchers, and the closer you are to your stay when you cancel the less you’ll get back. Renting privately is riskier, albeit you can do some checks to verify the owners, and owners will have different attitudes and policies regarding cancellation and changes.

Generally renting seems to be getting harder especially through brokers as owners are turning away from the brokers after the closure fiasco and the new policies which are skewed in favour of the broker.

As for owning, there are people who produce spreadsheets to weigh up the pros and cons of buying, to take account of initial buy-in costs plus the annual maintenance fees (the annual fees will outstrip the buy-in cost over the period of the ownership). It depends entirely on how long, what time of year, type of Villa etc as to how long an owner will reach the break-even point.

 

[nickys]

I would also add that one of the brokers has a cost calculator so you can get a price for renting, and compare it with the rack rates of booking the same room through Disney which you can find on various sites. I use AllEars as a guide who break down the rack rates for each week of the year.

 

[Roy G. Dis]

Thank you everyone! I have an industry discount that I like to try to use sometimes---

For reference a DVC Studio at Bay Lake Towers is around $427/nt and a 1 BR beach club villa is about $477/nt. Availability is VERY hard to come by. These are of course very expensive but compared to rack rate it comes out around 50% off. I think for the studios it's pretty much a wash compared to renting points; might be getting a deal on the 1 BR though.

 

[nickys]

Thank you everyone! I have an industry discount that I like to try to use sometimes---

For reference a DVC Studio at Bay Lake Towers is around $427/nt and a 1 BR beach club villa is about $477/nt. Availability is VERY hard to come by. These are of course very expensive but compared to rack rate it comes out around 50% off. I think for the studios it's pretty much a wash compared to renting points; might be getting a deal on the 1 BR though.

1-bedrooms are an anomaly.

In points terms they’d around twice the “cost” of a studio, but for cash they come out at more like 150% of a studio. Therefore the savings on renting a 1-bed aren’t as good as for the other Villa types.

 

[crawale]

Does anyone (anecdotally or ballpark) know how much more a DVC room is when you book it as a regular hotel booking versus when you pay for the room through owning (cheapest?) or renting (still much cheaper) points?

I would guess that the prices for the hotel booking can fluctuate with supply or demand whereas the other methods are based on timing and availability.


Thanks for any insight!

Don't forget when book it as a regular hotel booking you should add the room tax plus parking to each night you stay.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

1-bedrooms are an anomaly.

In points terms they’d around twice the “cost” of a studio, but for cash they come out at more like 150% of a studio. Therefore the savings on renting a 1-bed aren’t as good as for the other Villa types.

This is also true of a lot of the speciality lodging, like treehouses, cabins, and bungalows.

 

[Hcalvert]

Thank you everyone! I have an industry discount that I like to try to use sometimes---

For reference a DVC Studio at Bay Lake Towers is around $427/nt and a 1 BR beach club villa is about $477/nt. Availability is VERY hard to come by. These are of course very expensive but compared to rack rate it comes out around 50% off. I think for the studios it's pretty much a wash compared to renting points; might be getting a deal on the 1 BR though.

For the last four years, I have rented points for studios only. I have never paid more than $320/night. This includes staying during Christmas week in 2020 & 2021. I currently have a 15 night stay at BWV booked for June and I paid $240/night. I am an AP holder and could get room discounts, but they are still more than what I pay. Lately, I find an owner at the resort I want and book at the 11 month window. I have rented with over 7 different owners and only had a slight problem once (one owner didn't want to give me a partial refund when I had to rebook to due to the closure and did not use as many points that I originally rented, which amounted to about a $100 loss).

 

[nickys]

As a guide you can use $20 per point for renting through a broker. Owners renting privately will vary, and may charge more for high demand resorts / dates.

 

[heapster411]

The DW and I are renting points this year. Thru Dave's site, we are doing a 1BR @BLT lake view, the first week in Dec (5-10). our total is $3400.00. If I do the math on rack rate for that time, I get 4631.00 + tax. Yes, it is a great deal, but as another poster indicated, there is no flexibility, and to make sure I obtained the room I requested, I had to request 11 months out. The process was painless, $133.00 down and the rest when the room was secured.

 

[Hcalvert]

As a guide you can use $20 per point for renting through a broker. Owners renting privately will vary, and may charge more for high demand resorts / dates.

Yep. I have rented points from $11pp to $20pp. The $11pp were points about to expire and the $20pp was the only time I went through a broker since my dad wanted to stay at CCV, which turned out to be my least favorite resort. I also had to pay a fee on top of that, so I will not go with that broker again. I noticed since the reopening, I noticed that owners are renting their points closer to $20pp. I don't deal with ones that hike up the price for high demand resorts or dates. Last Christmas, I booked at $15pp and the owner couldn't care less when it was and the only available resort at the time was OKW since I decided to go so late. In Christmas 2020, the owner had to get rid of the points due to the stack up from the closure, so I booked at $13pp at AKV. Maybe I have just been lucky.

 

[NelleBelle]

Just curious where those who rent points directly from owners go to find points to rent?

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Just curious where those who rent points directly from owners go to find points to rent?

There are Facebook groups.

 

[nickys]

Just curious where those who rent points directly from owners go to find points to rent?

The DIS have a dedicated DVC Rentals section.

Mouseowners used to but it was closed. There is an alternative version which might be of use, albeit it is mainly for those registered to the forums.

 

[Hcalvert]

The DIS have a dedicated DVC Rentals section.

Mouseowners used to but it was closed. There is an alternative version which might be of use, albeit it is mainly for those registered to the forums.

Mouseowners does have a spreadsheet of owners willing to rent. I contacted someone on there and was able to secure my upcoming June reservation that way. My December 2021 reservation was secured through an owner I contacted from DIS's rental board.

 

[NelleBelle]

It's nice to know that there are honest people. I've rented from brokers before but have been too nervous to even think about renting directly. Thanks everyone for answering!

 

[nickys]

Mouseowners does have a spreadsheet of owners willing to rent. I contacted someone on there and was able to secure my upcoming June reservation that way. My December 2021 reservation was secured through an owner I contacted from DIS's rental board.

It isn’t an official Mouseowner’s spreadsheet but it’s proving popular.

For someone not registered to Mouseowners, they’ll need to contact one of the owners who have included their email address. Not many have done so.

 

[Hcalvert]

It isn’t an official Mouseowner’s spreadsheet but it’s proving popular.

For someone not registered to Mouseowners, they’ll need to contact one of the owners who have included their email address. Not many have done so.

I just contacted them through Mouseowners in a DM. The form had an option for them to answer if they were okay to receive them or not. The mods know that this was made and approved its post.

 

[nickys]

I just contacted them through Mouseowners in a DM. The form had an option for them to answer if they were okay to receive them or not. The mods know that this was made and approved its post.

All true. You missed my point completely though. The spreadsheet is of limited use for anyone not registered with Mouseowners, who aren’t processing new registrations. So someone reading this thread will have very limited ability to rent points using Mouseowners unless they’re already members of that forum.