Help understanding DVC Resale with Direct Add-on

[Dukeblue1227]

Hi - I apologize that I know the DVC resale vs Direct has probably been discussed a lot, and there's a ton of information out there. My wife and I are considering buying into DVC, and I'm trying to understand one main point, I'm hoping someone can help me with.

If we were to buy say 175 points resale, and then 25 points add on direct; what are we losing as opposed to buying all 200 points direct?

My understanding is this would get us a DVC Membership card, good for discounts and such. The only thing I think we would lose, is not being able to book at the newer resorts (Riviera, Reflections, Aulani?) but that is not a deal breaker for us. It'd be nice to still have option to go to HH and Vero, though.

Anything else I'm missing here?

Thanks so much in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[seascape]

Hi - I apologize that I know the DVC resale vs Direct has probably been discussed a lot, and there's a ton of information out there. My wife and I are considering buying into DVC, and I'm trying to understand one main point, I'm hoping someone can help me with.

If we were to buy say 175 points resale, and then 25 points add on direct; what are we losing as opposed to buying all 200 points direct?

My understanding is this would get us a DVC Membership card, good for discounts and such. The only thing I think we would lose, is not being able to book at the newer resorts (Riviera, Reflections, Aulani?) but that is not a deal breaker for us. It'd be nice to still have option to go to HH and Vero, though.

Anything else I'm missing here?

Thanks so much in advance for any help you can provide!

You need to buy 100 direct points to get the membership card. Also remember, your membership card will end when your direct points end, so make sure you buy at a resort that will not expire before your resale points.

 

[Dukeblue1227]

You need to buy 100 direct points to get the membership card. Also remember, your membership card will end when your direct points end, so make sure you buy at a resort that will not expire before your resale points.

Thanks! So if I did 100 direct points + 100 resale points; does that more or less wind up being treated roughly the same as all 200 direct? Assuming I buy same resort and use year. Or is there still anything I potentially am losing?

Thanks again!

 

[seascape]

Yes, that is right. However, you can have different resorts and still have an 12 month window f you purchased direct at Riviera and resale at Saratoga, you could use each resort every other year, using 200 points each year and still have 11 months reservation window by using banking and borrowing. Saratoga is a nice resort and my wife loves Congress Park and the walk to Disney Springs.

 

[nickys]

Without the blue membership card, you don’t get the shopping and dining discounts or the special rate on APs; also you cannot book Moonlight Magic and other special member events.

You may find you get some discounts, but CMs are supposed to ask for the blue card and photo ID that matches the name on the card.

 

[correcaminos]

First it depends on which resale you buy. If you buy Riviera, you are bound to only Riviera. If you buy any others that are selling at this time, you are able to book anywhere *but* Riviera.

You can only pool your points together if they are the same home resort. You can also only easily pool without transferring if they are the same UY. If they are different resorts but same UY then you can pool at 7 months provided you are allowed to book the resort you want with all the points.

As for perks, once you get the minimum direct, you can get the discounts and such.

I suggest that if the perks are that important you buy resale first than direct. Small contracts are harder to find on resale and easier to match direct desires than the other way around if you want it all to match.

 

[Dukeblue1227]

I suppose I don’t really know why the perks are that important to me. It’s not even really financially because I don’t think we’d use it enough to breakeven.

i guess it’s just a fear with the continued crackdown or limiting of perks to non direct buyers I worry long term not being an “official member.”

Our thinking was to buy into copper creek. I’m not that interested in Riviera so not being able to stay there isn’t a huge drawback for us, and I don’t think we’d ever make it to Hawaii. But we do want the flexibility to rent at all the other resorts (Pending availability and such). We love staying different places on property.

Financially it would make a lot more sense to just try and buy 200 points all resale, again I just have some kind of irrational worry about not being an “official member.“

 

[correcaminos]

I suppose I don’t really know why the perks are that important to me. It’s not even really financially because I don’t think we’d use it enough to breakeven.

i guess it’s just a fear with the continued crackdown or limiting of perks to non direct buyers I worry long term not being an “official member.”

Our thinking was to buy into copper creek. I’m not that interested in Riviera so not being able to stay there isn’t a huge drawback for us, and I don’t think we’d ever make it to Hawaii. But we do want the flexibility to rent at all the other resorts (Pending availability and such). We love staying different places on property.

Financially it would make a lot more sense to just try and buy 200 points all resale, again I just have some kind of irrational worry about not being an “official member.“

Sometimes emotions outweigh practicality. I won't say you are wrong to want the "official" aspect to it. I also get that if you want points that can be used anywhere.

I will say since CCV sold out, it's not a great deal direct. Last I saw it's at $210 a point

 

[seascape]

I suppose I don’t really know why the perks are that important to me. It’s not even really financially because I don’t think we’d use it enough to breakeven.

i guess it’s just a fear with the continued crackdown or limiting of perks to non direct buyers I worry long term not being an “official member.”

Our thinking was to buy into copper creek. I’m not that interested in Riviera so not being able to stay there isn’t a huge drawback for us, and I don’t think we’d ever make it to Hawaii. But we do want the flexibility to rent at all the other resorts (Pending availability and such). We love staying different places on property.

Financially it would make a lot more sense to just try and buy 200 points all resale, again I just have some kind of irrational worry about not being an “official member.“

I believe that having the membership card is worth the extra cost, especially for those who don't have an annual pass. I have saved thousands with the food and merchandise discounts.

 

[iflyjetzzz]

I believe that having the membership card is worth the extra cost, especially for those who don't have an annual pass. I have saved thousands with the food and merchandise discounts.

You can buy resale and still get TIW (tables in wonderland). You don't need to buy direct.
TIW is a food discount of 20% at many Disneyworld restaurants. It does not work at Disneyland.

 

[iflyjetzzz]

Hi - I apologize that I know the DVC resale vs Direct has probably been discussed a lot, and there's a ton of information out there. My wife and I are considering buying into DVC, and I'm trying to understand one main point, I'm hoping someone can help me with.

If we were to buy say 175 points resale, and then 25 points add on direct; what are we losing as opposed to buying all 200 points direct?

My understanding is this would get us a DVC Membership card, good for discounts and such. The only thing I think we would lose, is not being able to book at the newer resorts (Riviera, Reflections, Aulani?) but that is not a deal breaker for us. It'd be nice to still have option to go to HH and Vero, though.

Anything else I'm missing here?

Thanks so much in advance for any help you can provide!

I understand your concern. I just had my offer accepted for a 400 pt Saratoga Springs resale at $86/pt. However, what is one losing if they go resale only? At the moment (subject to change):
No exchange for Reflections, Riviera, and future DVC properties. You are still able to trade into the legacy 14, including Aulani, HH, Vero.
No annual pass discount.
No exchange for cruises (a bad deal anyway) - and if you want to go that route, there's a Disney reseller that has an option using less Disney points.
Not all RCI properties. Also a bad deal so you're not really losing anything.
Moonlight Madness and other DVC blue card holder only events. (As resale, you'll be a white card holder)
You DO NOT lose the Tables in Wonderland discount.

All of the above is subject to change.

I do not find compelling value in the above list so I opted for a much larger purchase of resale points. I may have bought too many points; if so, I will rent out excess points with one of the Disney resellers. If I do so, it will help defray annual maintenance costs.

 

[nickys]

I understand your concern. I just had my offer accepted for a 400 pt Saratoga Springs resale at $86/pt. However, what is one losing if they go resale only? At the moment (subject to change):
No exchange for Reflections, Riviera, and future DVC properties. You are still able to trade into the legacy 14, including Aulani, HH, Vero.
No annual pass discount.
No exchange for cruises (a bad deal anyway) - and if you want to go that route, there's a Disney reseller that has an option using less Disney points.
Not all RCI properties. Also a bad deal so you're not really losing anything.
Moonlight Madness and other DVC blue card holder only events. (As resale, you'll be a white card holder)
You DO NOT lose the Tables in Wonderland discount.

All of the above is subject to change.

I do not find compelling value in the above list so I opted for a much larger purchase of resale points. I may have bought too many points; if so, I will rent out excess points with one of the Disney resellers. If I do so, it will help defray annual maintenance costs.

I wasn’t aware you got less choice in RCI, are you certain about that?

In addition you cannot use points to book non-DVC resorts. That too is a bad use of points but some people do it anyway, say booking a room at POFQ or at one of the Disneyland Paris resorts using points - we’ve considered the latter option but come to the conclusion we get better deals booking direct with DLP.

 

[iflyjetzzz]

I wasn’t aware you got less choice in RCI, are you certain about that?

In addition you cannot use points to book non-DVC resorts. That too is a bad use of points but some people do it anyway, say booking a room at POFQ or at one of the Disneyland Paris resorts using points - we’ve considered the latter option but come to the conclusion we get better deals booking direct with DLP.

I apologize; I thought that the Concierge Collection was through RCI. Apparently, it isn't.
Here's the official DVC comparison link: https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/dvc-direct-vs-resale/

 

[Seanual757]

DVC is not for everyone and you really need to sit down and figure out what it will cost you and if the number of stays you have and will do justifies the purchase. Wife and I added up our 2 years’ worth of stays 2013-2015 our total cost was just over $17k so given our number of stays and how many we have planned it made sense to purchase DVC. We Broke even on our VGF and Poly last year both contracts are paid off so it’s just annual dues for the next 45 and 46 years on those. We have the Disney Chase Card so we use our earnings to pay for our annual dues for each resort as well as use the balance for dining plans. We normally do one 7 night stay, and 4-5 2 night stays each year so DVC makes sense for our family. The other convent thing for us is we are local only 20 minutes from Disney so we have zero transportation costs.

We looked at resale but my wife was against it because of the benefits for us those alone make it worth the direct purchase. Plus we wanted to make sure we started with 50 years for our DVC and not purchase a contract with say 40 years left on it.

We wanted the Moonlight Magic Benefits

We wanted RCI benefits

We wanted the DCL option if needed

We wanted Discounts (we are AP holders as well)

My wife and I decided this weekend we needed more points we took a tour of the Riviera resort with our DVC Guide Eric we absolutely loved that resort and we decided that we wanted and extra 200 points so we added those to our collection this weekend.

We are lucky that we have the same use year for each of our resorts and we have 3 memberships so this works great with booking Moonlight Magic events since they cut it from 6 people to 4 people.

People will tell you never finance IMHO don’t listen to them you do what you need to do. We finance both with Disney made our monthly payment ad we made extra payments each month and had them paid off in 3 years and 2 years. But only you can determine that and it’s none of anyone’s business how you spend your money.

Again do your homework figure out your past and future stays and costs see if DVC works for you. We will all have opinions on how to spend YOUR money make your own decision.

 

[Dr.GrantSeeker]

I am also in the same situation as the OP. I've been debating purchasing into DVC for about a year now and am kicking myself for not buying direct sooner. I fear more restrictions on the benefits from buying at resale vs direct. I also added up my stays with family and freinds over the last 2 years, 2018 -2019. Well north of $12,000

I've been looking at a lot of listings on DVC Resale Market and there are many deals that I find appealing, as does my wallet. But do the pros of resale (price) still really outweigh the perks of buying direct? Do these restrictions still apply? Also, if I were to buy resale tomorrow, does that mean I would lose access to the DVC lounges as well?

I understand your concern. I just had my offer accepted for a 400 pt Saratoga Springs resale at $86/pt. However, what is one losing if they go resale only? At the moment (subject to change):
No exchange for Reflections, Riviera, and future DVC properties. You are still able to trade into the legacy 14, including Aulani, HH, Vero.
No annual pass discount.
No exchange for cruises (a bad deal anyway) - and if you want to go that route, there's a Disney reseller that has an option using less Disney points.
Not all RCI properties. Also a bad deal so you're not really losing anything.
Moonlight Madness and other DVC blue card holder only events. (As resale, you'll be a white card holder)
You DO NOT lose the Tables in Wonderland discount.

All of the above is subject to change.

I do not find compelling value in the above list so I opted for a much larger purchase of resale points. I may have bought too many points; if so, I will rent out excess points with one of the Disney resellers. If I do so, it will help defray annual maintenance costs.

 

[nickys]

I am also in the same situation as the OP. I've been debating purchasing into DVC for about a year now and am kicking myself for not buying direct sooner. I fear more restrictions on the benefits from buying at resale vs direct. I also added up my stays with family and freinds over the last 2 years, 2018 -2019. Well north of $12,000

I've been looking at a lot of listings on DVC Resale Market and there are many deals that I find appealing, as does my wallet. But do the pros of resale (price) still really outweigh the perks of buying direct? Do these restrictions still apply? Also, if I were to buy resale tomorrow, does that mean I would lose access to the DVC lounges as well?

Yes, those restrictions still apply.

You will still have access to Top of the World lounge, but not the Epcot one.
You won’t get the DVC discount on tours or special events, like the party tickets. Those definitely require a blue card.
You may still get a DVC discount at shops and restaurants; technically only blue card holders qualify, but there are always reports of CMs giving discounts after seeing the white card online. It’s a case of YMMV.
It certainly seems like Tables in Wonderland don’t care about blue vs white card holders.

 

[Dr.GrantSeeker]

Thanks for the info. What is the DVC AP discount, is it better than the AP renewal rate? Not having access to DVC events and discounts kind of sucks but I have to see if the cost of direct is worth is for the Blue card perks vs resale.

 

[correcaminos]

Thanks for the info. What is the DVC AP discount, is it better than the AP renewal rate? Not having access to DVC events and discounts kind of sucks but I have to see if the cost of direct is worth is for the Blue card perks vs resale.

DVC gets access to Gold AP and discounts on Platinum. It's saved us a bunch this year

Member Benefits, Discounts & Special Events | Disney Vacation Club

Disney Vacation Club Members can enjoy Member benefits and more, like savings on select Disney experiences and invitations to special events.

disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com

 

[correcaminos]

Yes, prices did just go up.

 

[Phonedave]

We looked at resale but my wife was against it because of the benefits for us those alone make it worth the direct purchase. Plus we wanted to make sure we started with 50 years for our DVC and not purchase a contract with say 40 years left on it.

Contracts don't work like that. The entire resort expires at the same time (ignoring the OKW issue), regardless of if you bought it direct or resale. You do not get a "full 50 years" by buying direct, unless at a brand new resort.

We wanted the Moonlight Magic Benefits

We wanted RCI benefits

Understandable (maybe)

We wanted the DCL option if needed

It is still much better to rent out your points and use the cash to pay for a cruise. Much better.

We wanted Discounts (we are AP holders as well)

Many of the AP and DVC discounts overlap.

Since you live in FL (you said 20 min away) you can get a Florida AP, which also negates the AP savings you get by owning direct.