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Renting DVC points
- Thread starter todpatcam
- Start date
minnielaw
Well-Known Member
I rented DVC points from www.dvcrequest.com and was very pleased with the transaction. We are staying at Boardwalk Villas in October 2012. The process was easy and smooth.
The main benefit of renting DVC points is the cost savings and the ability to stay in a Deluxe resort for less than the cost of a moderate resort. I paid $1,000 for 7 nights at BWV's. That averages out to $143.00 per night. The regular "rack room" rate for a studio at BWV's is $345.00 per night. MUCH cheaper!
The drawbacks to renting DVC points are as follows:
1) You may not get your first choice of resort. You have to list in order your resort preferences and then they try to match you with your top choice. I listed AKL as my first choice, but received my second choice BWV's. I was fine with this, but if you want only a specific resort, it may not work out for you.
2) You have to pay for the room IN FULL as soon as you book. When booking through WDW you do not have to pay in full for your trip until 45 days prior to the start of your trip. If you don't want to be out the money right away, it's not for you.
3) You can NOT make changes to your reservation or cancel your reservation without losing all your money. You can buy trip cancellation insurance from a third party, but this won't allow you to change your dates.
You get all of the advantages of a WDW guest such as EMH's, free parking and transportation. You can also purchase your park tickets and a dining plan through the DVC owner. You do not get daily Mousekeeping, but I think if you stay over four nights they clean on the fourth day. You can also pay extra to have them clean more often.
So far so good for us, but I'll let you know for sure after our trip in September. For us it was a great opportunity to stay in a Deluxe resort for the cost of a moderate. I have to admit that we booked back in November 2011 for the first week of October 2012 as our children's Fall Break has always been the first week of October. What do you know....they changed the calendar for 2012 and moved Fall Break to the second week! Because our reservations cannot be changed, my children will be missing a week of school!
The main benefit of renting DVC points is the cost savings and the ability to stay in a Deluxe resort for less than the cost of a moderate resort. I paid $1,000 for 7 nights at BWV's. That averages out to $143.00 per night. The regular "rack room" rate for a studio at BWV's is $345.00 per night. MUCH cheaper!
The drawbacks to renting DVC points are as follows:
1) You may not get your first choice of resort. You have to list in order your resort preferences and then they try to match you with your top choice. I listed AKL as my first choice, but received my second choice BWV's. I was fine with this, but if you want only a specific resort, it may not work out for you.
2) You have to pay for the room IN FULL as soon as you book. When booking through WDW you do not have to pay in full for your trip until 45 days prior to the start of your trip. If you don't want to be out the money right away, it's not for you.
3) You can NOT make changes to your reservation or cancel your reservation without losing all your money. You can buy trip cancellation insurance from a third party, but this won't allow you to change your dates.
You get all of the advantages of a WDW guest such as EMH's, free parking and transportation. You can also purchase your park tickets and a dining plan through the DVC owner. You do not get daily Mousekeeping, but I think if you stay over four nights they clean on the fourth day. You can also pay extra to have them clean more often.
So far so good for us, but I'll let you know for sure after our trip in September. For us it was a great opportunity to stay in a Deluxe resort for the cost of a moderate. I have to admit that we booked back in November 2011 for the first week of October 2012 as our children's Fall Break has always been the first week of October. What do you know....they changed the calendar for 2012 and moved Fall Break to the second week! Because our reservations cannot be changed, my children will be missing a week of school!
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GeoDonJac34
Well-Known Member
I also am considering renting points for our next trip in October. I haven't booked anything yet because I just found out when I am able to take time off of work. I think one of my biggest worries is if we rent the points only to find out free dining is available. Right now there is no incentives for end of October. You can not get free dining if you are renting points. I probably at this point am limited for what is available, especially Epcot area, considering Food and Wine is going on.
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It seems we will be keeping our booked room at All-Star Sports which is just fine with our 11 yr old.
The only Deluxe Resort we would be interested in would be the Boardwalk or Beach club because of their proximity to EPCOT and Hollywood Studio but due to that fact there is nothing available during our timeframes.
I guess we'll be hoping for an extension of Free-Dining as well. The crazy thing is that this will be our 5th year in a row going to Disney in the fall and we have yet to pay for food; we've been lucky enough to have free dining for all of our past four trips. Our plan is to load up a Disney gift card before we go and use it for meals - it may not feel like such a hit this way :shrug:
The only Deluxe Resort we would be interested in would be the Boardwalk or Beach club because of their proximity to EPCOT and Hollywood Studio but due to that fact there is nothing available during our timeframes.
I guess we'll be hoping for an extension of Free-Dining as well. The crazy thing is that this will be our 5th year in a row going to Disney in the fall and we have yet to pay for food; we've been lucky enough to have free dining for all of our past four trips. Our plan is to load up a Disney gift card before we go and use it for meals - it may not feel like such a hit this way :shrug:
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Good luck trying to find anything in October for the Epcot DVC resorts. The eleven month booking window has passed with most rooms being taken by the resort owners and now the seven month window for October is almost over with the remaining DVCers switching their home resort ressies over to the Epcot area DVC hotels if available. Even the other DVC resorts are going to be filling up quickly now as well.
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No such luck. Everyone was right - no room at the Inn for our travel dates in October. Our son is thrilled that we most likely will be keeping our current reservations at All- Star Sports. We're okay with staying there as well, we've never stayed at an All-Star resort and hear that All-Star Sports is pretty decent.
Fingers crossed for Disney extending free dining for October or possibly a PIN once again - fingers crossed!!!
Fingers crossed for Disney extending free dining for October or possibly a PIN once again - fingers crossed!!!
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GeoDonJac34
Well-Known Member
I just sent in my requests to dvcrequest for Oct. 20 to 27. I am not sure how long it takes to get an answer. My first two choice were at Epcot resorts, so I am pretty sure I will not get them. MY next two were OKW, and SS. Fingers crossed I will get one of them, but I will be happy anywhere we stay.
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captainkidd
Well-Known Member
I like renting points, but I'm finding, it's better to book through Disney and see if you get a discount. If a couple months out, you don't, then rent points. Most people rent them at $11 or so per point, and a 30% discount will save you just as much money, plus you get housekeeping.
I think renting points is going to be a fad that dies down in time. As DVC gets more expensive and dues continue to rise, owners are charging more for points. About 5 years ago, renting points saved a lot of money. Not so much anymore.
I think renting points is going to be a fad that dies down in time. As DVC gets more expensive and dues continue to rise, owners are charging more for points. About 5 years ago, renting points saved a lot of money. Not so much anymore.
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Hakunamatata
Le Meh
But won't room rates continue to rise as well, making renting points still a viable option?
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captainkidd
Well-Known Member
True. I should expand my thoughts a bit:
My guess is, as Disney resort rates continue to go where no resort rates have gone before, fewer and fewer people will look to stay Deluxe. I love the Deluxe Resorts, but I'm at the point where I won't pay any more money. The same thing will happen with renting points. People will just say, "screw it, we'll get 2 rooms at a Value or a Moderate, or stay offsite."
I don't believe Disney is immune to this economy or inflation.
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dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
When you rent DVC points, you are basically paying an owner for the ability to use their points. They make the reservation saying that you will be staying there, and you get most of the perks they would have.
Cheapest way to rent, is directly from an owner.
Best way to rent, would be through a trusted 3rd party.
Owner is cheapest as there is no middle man taking a cut. You can get points for around $8 per point. However, you need to do the legwork to find an owner with the number of points you need and you are taking the risk of trusting someone will do it.
3rd party typically has a legally binding contract that gets drawn up between the renter and owner to ensure that both get what they want. 3rd parties usually charge closer to $13 per point, but also tend to have a larger pool of people trying to rent their points.
Pros to renting points - you get to stay in a villa for much less than rack rate. However, I still think rack rate is inflated to provide more "value" for owners. But you can get a room at a deluxe level resort for moderate prices. You get at a minimum a kitchenette, with possibly a full kitchen and jacuzzi tub w/in room laundry.
Cons to renting points - you don't have direct control over your reservation. The owner is basically acting as your travel agent. So to say add a dining plan, they need to request that. So you need to hope that the owner does what you need done in a timely fashion. And as you stated, you don't get daily mousekeeping. Towel service on day 3, full cleaning on day 7 if staying longer than a week. You can request they change the dates of those services on check in.
You are subject to the same rules the owners are. So if you want BW, and rent from someone who owns at BW, they can book at 11 months out. But if you want BW and rent from someone who owns at AKL, they can only book at 7 months out. So during busy times such as F&W, BW may already be booked by the time non owners can book. But if you know this, you can look to rent from someone who owns at the resort you want to stay, opening up that extra booking window.
You still get EMH as you get a KTTW on check in, you can still charge to your room, still take Disney transportation, etc.
Cheapest way to rent, is directly from an owner.
Best way to rent, would be through a trusted 3rd party.
Owner is cheapest as there is no middle man taking a cut. You can get points for around $8 per point. However, you need to do the legwork to find an owner with the number of points you need and you are taking the risk of trusting someone will do it.
3rd party typically has a legally binding contract that gets drawn up between the renter and owner to ensure that both get what they want. 3rd parties usually charge closer to $13 per point, but also tend to have a larger pool of people trying to rent their points.
Pros to renting points - you get to stay in a villa for much less than rack rate. However, I still think rack rate is inflated to provide more "value" for owners. But you can get a room at a deluxe level resort for moderate prices. You get at a minimum a kitchenette, with possibly a full kitchen and jacuzzi tub w/in room laundry.
Cons to renting points - you don't have direct control over your reservation. The owner is basically acting as your travel agent. So to say add a dining plan, they need to request that. So you need to hope that the owner does what you need done in a timely fashion. And as you stated, you don't get daily mousekeeping. Towel service on day 3, full cleaning on day 7 if staying longer than a week. You can request they change the dates of those services on check in.
You are subject to the same rules the owners are. So if you want BW, and rent from someone who owns at BW, they can book at 11 months out. But if you want BW and rent from someone who owns at AKL, they can only book at 7 months out. So during busy times such as F&W, BW may already be booked by the time non owners can book. But if you know this, you can look to rent from someone who owns at the resort you want to stay, opening up that extra booking window.
You still get EMH as you get a KTTW on check in, you can still charge to your room, still take Disney transportation, etc.
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