The math has to be wrong

Shouldigo12

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Despite having no plans to go in the near future, I like to put together a package on the Disney website every once in awhile just to see what the prices are. Last time I checked, the hotel would cost anywhere from 2,200 to 3000ish for a five night stay (depending on which resort I would hypotheticaly pick). On another thread I saw someone mention how much they save renting points, so I though, what the heck. It probably won't save me anything because I always do standard rooms, but I'll look.

If the calculator is right, renting points could possibly cut the cost in half. As in, I could get a better room at the Beach Club, my dream resort, for less than a room at POR. That just can't be right. There's no way. There has to be some downside to this I'm not seeing, or the calculator has to be wrong and showing me the price for one night. If through some miracle that calculator is actually right, that would be such a game changer for me.
 

FCivish3

Member
Grand Floridian. Lake View room (in an out-building) vs Lake View DVC Studio. Check in August 16th. Check out August 21st. 5 night stay. (Sunday through Thursday.)

DVC = 125 points. At $18 a point, that would be $2,250 dollars

Cash price for similar hotel room, same dates (including room taxes) = $3,775 dollars

So savings is about 1/3rd.

Of course, you might be able to get it for less $ per point. At $15 per point the price for the Lake View DVC Studio would be $1875, which is about half.

Also, both rooms hold 5 people, but the Cash price I listed is for 2 people. If you add 3 more people, you can bump up the cost a bit. AND, if you have a car, you would have another $125 for overnight parking? So increased cost for more people and for a car, if you rented the room, but not with DVC.
 
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eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
Despite having no plans to go in the near future, I like to put together a package on the Disney website every once in awhile just to see what the prices are. Last time I checked, the hotel would cost anywhere from 2,200 to 3000ish for a five night stay (depending on which resort I would hypotheticaly pick). On another thread I saw someone mention how much they save renting points, so I though, what the heck. It probably won't save me anything because I always do standard rooms, but I'll look.

If the calculator is right, renting points could possibly cut the cost in half. As in, I could get a better room at the Beach Club, my dream resort, for less than a room at POR. That just can't be right. There's no way. There has to be some downside to this I'm not seeing, or the calculator has to be wrong and showing me the price for one night. If through some miracle that calculator is actually right, that would be such a game changer for me.

@Shouldigo12, this is absolutely correct. last year I rented a two bedroom dvc room at OKW for about 1/3 of the price. NOw be careful because cancelling and changing a reservation is usually not allowed without a serious financial hit but it can save you a bunch of money
 

Shouldigo12

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@Shouldigo12, this is absolutely correct. last year I rented a two bedroom dvc room at OKW for about 1/3 of the price. NOw be careful because cancelling and changing a reservation is usually not allowed without a serious financial hit but it can save you a bunch of money
This is like a late Christmas present haha. I know people on here have said it saves money before, but I assumed you had to already be planning to get a big room for it work. Dang, now I'm wondering why everyone doesn't just do this haha. Thanks guys!
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
This is like a late Christmas present haha. I know people on here have said it saves money before, but I assumed you had to already be planning to get a big room for it work. Dang, now I'm wondering why everyone doesn't just do this haha. Thanks guys!
In addition to what @eliza61nyc said, you need to be flexible on dates and resorts. Getting the exact resort you want on the exact dates you want to travel is a long shot, which is why “everyone” doesn’t do this. Rental companies take your requested dates and resort and then must find an owner with enough points to cover your stay. Then they check for room availability. Your preferred resort may not be available for every night you want and then other resorts with availability will be offered to you. That’s fine if you aren’t picky, but if you have your heart set on a certain resort and can only travel on certain days, renting points isn’t as easy as it sounds.

I speak from experience.

All funds are due upon signing the rental contract and are non-refundable unless you purchase travel insurance.
 

DisAl

Well-Known Member
The TOTAL price due on booking and the NON-REFUNDABLE is what keeps me away from renting points. We have been run out by hurricanes three times over the years. Disney was very accommodating. If you rented points you are out of luck....
 

FCivish3

Member
All funds are due upon signing the rental contract and are non-refundable unless you purchase travel insurance.

I really do suggest that people who sign up for these non-refundable travel plans, should strongly consider Travel Insurance.

Travel Insurance (I suggest going to www.Squaremouth.com to look at multiple possible policies) will often reimburse you for lost fees and payments, IF you cancel for Covered Reasons.

They ONLY might reimburse you for NON-Refundable expenses.

Covered reasons (DO check your own contract) typically include cancellation due to:

1. Hurricanes or other severe major storms in the area of your vacation

2. Car accident on the way to the airport

3. Death in your family, or in the family of someone in your travel party. Family is usually defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Children, Grandparents, Grandchildren. Step children. Step grand children.etc. Only 1st and 2nd degree relatives.

4. Serious Injury or Health problem in your family (that occurs AFTER you buy the insurance), or in the family of someone in your travel party. You will need proof from a doctor for this. Some policies will also cover recurrence of pre-existing conditions, if those conditions have not required treatment for at least 6 months.

5. Military Deployment for Natural Disaster (Coverage for War is variable. There is usually NO coverage for being transferred by the military or for being denied leave.)

6. Fire, flood, severe storm damage or or other disaster that leaves your home unfit for habitation.

7. Involuntary loss of your job, if you worked full time and if you have been employed for over 2 1/2 years with that company.

8. Your job requiring you to relocate more than 250 miles from your current home (this is variable, depending on the insurance, and might or might not cover military moving you more than 250 miles away. DO check on that).

9. Bankruptcy of your company, if you are the owner or a partner.

10. Death of your owning partner, if you are an owner or partner.

That is about it. You can also, with SOME insurances, get a policy that allows you to cancel for any reason, but typically such policies are expensive and cost 1/4th to 1/2 of what you are otherwise spending.

Most travel insurance is relatively cheap. How long you travel or where you travel is not usually as important as the ages of the travelers. Older people in your insurance party will increase the cost, but we usually just get a policy for all of us together. Most of the time, the insurance will cost around 10% of your non-refundable expenses. When you get it, and they ask for your expenses, ONLY tell them about your Non-refundable expenses, since that is all they cover. THEY DO NOT USUALLY REIMBURSE FOR THINGS THAT ARE FREE OR DISCOUNTED, such as traveling on Sky Miles, or, as a DVC owner, reserving a unit with your own DVC points.

One advantage of Travel Insurance is that it WILL provide health insurance coverage (primary or secondary, depending on the policy) in case someone becomes injured, to the point that they require treatment, or severely ill while on the trip.
 
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Shouldigo12

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In addition to what @eliza61nyc said, you need to be flexible on dates and resorts. Getting the exact resort you want on the exact dates you want to travel is a long shot, which is why “everyone” doesn’t do this. Rental companies take your requested dates and resort and then must find an owner with enough points to cover your stay. Then they check for room availability. Your preferred resort may not be available for every night you want and then other resorts with availability will be offered to you. That’s fine if you aren’t picky, but if you have your heart set on a certain resort and can only travel on certain days, renting points isn’t as easy as it sounds.

I speak from experience.

All funds are due upon signing the rental contract and are non-refundable unless you purchase travel insurance.
That I one thing I read about that can be a downside. Thankfully I'm not married to any resort or particular date; honestly just getting to go is a treat for me, so if I have to shift things around a little bit you won't see me crying. Thank you for the advice!
 

nickys

Premium Member
I really do suggest that people who sign up for these non-refundable travel plans, should strongly consider Travel Insurance.

Travel Insurance (I suggest going to www.Squaremouth.com to look at multiple possible policies) will often reimburse you for lost fees and payments, IF you cancel for Covered Reasons.

They ONLY might reimburse you for NON-Refundable expenses.

Covered reasons (DO check your own contract) typically include cancellation due to:

1. Hurricanes or other severe major storms in the area of your vacation

2. Car accident on the way to the airport

3. Death in your family, or in the family of someone in your travel party. Family is usually defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Children, Grandparents, Grandchildren. Step children. Step grand children.etc. Only 1st and 2nd degree relatives.

4. Serious Injury or Health problem in your family (that occurs AFTER you buy the insurance), or in the family of someone in your travel party. You will need proof from a doctor for this. Some policies will also cover recurrence of pre-existing conditions, if those conditions have not required treatment for at least 6 months.

5. Military Deployment for Natural Disaster (Coverage for War is variable. There is usually NO coverage for being transferred by the military or for being denied leave.)

6. Fire, flood, severe storm damage or or other disaster that leaves your home unfit for habitation.

7. Involuntary loss of your job, if you worked full time and if you have been employed for over 2 1/2 years with that company.

8. Your job requiring you to relocate more than 250 miles from your current home (this is variable, depending on the insurance, and might or might not cover military moving you more than 250 miles away. DO check on that).

9. Bankruptcy of your company, if you are the owner or a partner.

10. Death of your owning partner, if you are an owner or partner.

That is about it. You can also, with SOME insurances, get a policy that allows you to cancel for any reason, but typically such policies are expensive and cost 1/4th to 1/2 of what you are otherwise spending.

Most travel insurance is relatively cheap. How long you travel or where you travel is not usually as important as the ages of the travelers. Older people in your insurance party will increase the cost, but we usually just get a policy for all of us together. Most of the time, the insurance will cost around 10% of your non-refundable expenses. When you get it, and they ask for your expenses, ONLY tell them about your Non-refundable expenses, since that is all they cover. THEY DO NOT USUALLY REIMBURSE FOR THINGS THAT ARE FREE OR DISCOUNTED, such as traveling on Sky Miles, or, as a DVC owner, reserving a unit with your own DVC points.

One advantage of Travel Insurance is that it WILL provide health insurance coverage (primary or secondary, depending on the policy) in case someone becomes injured, to the point that they require treatment, or severely ill while on the trip.

Something else to check though.

Certainly in the U.K., most travel insurance will not cover a timeshare cancellation.

Now if you’ve booked through a broker, that may be OK because it could be considered like any other package holiday”. But if you rent directly the U.K. plans may not cover the cost of the actual rental.

I don’t know if US policies are different, but you’d want to check before taking one out.
 

FCivish3

Member
I don’t know if US policies are different, but you’d want to check before taking one out.

Since you should be signing a contract with the Timeshare owner, and since the contract will specify that you are renting points from them at a certain price, to make and pay for a reservation, and that this is non-refundable, then that probably, typically, moves it out of the category of 'Timeshare' and into the category of vacation lodging, similar to a hotel. That is how it works in the U.S.

But you should make sure, if you are outside the U.S. On the Squaremouth.com website they also have a chat feature. You can look at different insurances that they list, from different companies, and then maybe try to Chat with them to see if they can confirm that a particular policy will cover you.

Some Travel Insurances will let you purchase it at almost any time, before your trip, but some of them will give you the best cancellation or health insurance coverage if you book them within a specific period, say within 3 days or 2 weeks of making your first payment for the vacation.
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
I used DVC Rental store for my wedding and stayed at BW for 10 nights. We paid $20 more per night than my sister who stayed at All Star a Sports. We paid 50% up front (you have to pay 100% of your dining plan at the time but can buy tickets at any time and easily add them in MDE).

We’ve used several times since, and it really is wonderful. The savings aren’t as large if you want a bigger room than a studio, but it’s still very compelling!
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Despite having no plans to go in the near future, I like to put together a package on the Disney website every once in awhile just to see what the prices are. Last time I checked, the hotel would cost anywhere from 2,200 to 3000ish for a five night stay (depending on which resort I would hypotheticaly pick). On another thread I saw someone mention how much they save renting points, so I though, what the heck. It probably won't save me anything because I always do standard rooms, but I'll look.

If the calculator is right, renting points could possibly cut the cost in half. As in, I could get a better room at the Beach Club, my dream resort, for less than a room at POR. That just can't be right. There's no way. There has to be some downside to this I'm not seeing, or the calculator has to be wrong and showing me the price for one night. If through some miracle that calculator is actually right, that would be such a game changer for me.
Depending on the room and time of year it’s possible to save as much as 50%. Other times it’s not that high, but always a significant savings. Remember too that there’s no tax on DVC point rentals so if you compare to a cash rate you need to include the 12.5% tax. Plus if you have a car there’s no parking fee for DVC renters.

A couple things to consider, you are renting from an owner so you don’t get daily house keeping service if that matters to you. You are also not eligible for free DDP offers. You can book DDP and pay for it and you still get magic express, magic bands, 60 day FP+ reservations and all that good stuff. Like others said you can’t cancel or change dates so your plans need to be firm.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
That I one thing I read about that can be a downside. Thankfully I'm not married to any resort or particular date; honestly just getting to go is a treat for me, so if I have to shift things around a little bit you won't see me crying. Thank you for the advice!
I haven’t found this to be a huge problem if you plan in advance. We rented points last summer for Grand Californian mainly because I knew if I waited until the 7 month mark to trade in my points I would almost definitely miss out since it’s such a small resort. We put the rental request in right before the 11 month window and then they just needed to find a VGC owner wanting to rent their points. Since only an owner can book their home resort between 11 and 7 months it’s much easier to get a rental than trying to wait for the 7 month window.

Certain times of year and resorts book right at the 11 month window. Studios at EPCOT resorts during food and wine is a perfect example. You can book most of August and Sept now for BCV but Oct and Nov are half sold out.
 

Shouldigo12

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I haven’t found this to be a huge problem if you plan in advance. We rented points last summer for Grand Californian mainly because I knew if I waited until the 7 month mark to trade in my points I would almost definitely miss out since it’s such a small resort. We put the rental request in right before the 11 month window and then they just needed to find a VGC owner wanting to rent their points. Since only an owner can book their home resort between 11 and 7 months it’s much easier to get a rental than trying to wait for the 7 month window.

Certain times of year and resorts book right at the 11 month window. Studios at EPCOT resorts during food and wine is a perfect example. You can book most of August and Sept now for BCV but Oct and Nov are half sold out.
I'm going to be honest; after crunching the numbers and reading a ton of reviews for various DVC studios, I've already started considering a (very tentative) March 2021 trip, preferably in the first week. I've also narrowed down the resorts I would prefer to stay at down to four, have started looking at crowd calendars for alternative weeks if March doesn't work out for whatever reason, and have been trying to think of ways of how to tell my family that yes, I am seriously doing this again.

In other words, planning in advance is not going to be a problem for me haha.
 

cmwade77

Well-Known Member
One thing to be aware of is that housekeeping is not Evey day at DVC resorts when staying on points unless you pay extra (dollar amount varies based on resort and room size as well as service requested). It saying the trade off isn't worth it, just something to be aware of since you asked if there were any potential downsides that you hadn't considered. For us, we don't mind, but some people do.
 

Shouldigo12

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
One thing to be aware of is that housekeeping is not Evey day at DVC resorts when staying on points unless you pay extra (dollar amount varies based on resort and room size as well as service requested). It saying the trade off isn't worth it, just something to be aware of since you asked if there were any potential downsides that you hadn't considered. For us, we don't mind, but some people do.
Housekeeping isn't much of a concern for me. We're not messy people, we wouldn't need the room to be cleaned every day. So far the only concern I have is the possibility of the renter scamming us. However, I've been researching how risky it is for a few hours now and I'm not very worried. The worst I've seen is blogs bringing up the possibility that it might happen, it's very unlikely to if you use a broker, and that no one's heard of it actually happening to anyone before.
 

LuvtheGoof

Grill Master
Premium Member
Housekeeping isn't much of a concern for me. We're not messy people, we wouldn't need the room to be cleaned every day. So far the only concern I have is the possibility of the renter scamming us. However, I've been researching how risky it is for a few hours now and I'm not very worried. The worst I've seen is blogs bringing up the possibility that it might happen, it's very unlikely to if you use a broker, and that no one's heard of it actually happening to anyone before.
The major brokers, like Davids, have each party sign a contract, so it is extremely difficult for an owner to scam anyone going through them. The problem arises when someone tries to save a few dollars per point, and rents from an unknown source on the internet.
 

nickys

Premium Member
The major brokers, like Davids, have each party sign a contract, so it is extremely difficult for an owner to scam anyone going through them. The problem arises when someone tries to save a few dollars per point, and rents from an unknown source on the internet.

The main risk going through a broker is not a scam as such, but the owner defaulting on the loan or maintenance fees, so DVC cancels their reservations. When that happens the broker will reimburse the renter, but may not be able to get a replacement room.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Your math is correct, OP. We've saved anywhere from 20% (Poly studio) to 40% (AKL studio), and in some cases more than 50% (Beach Club studio, VWL 2-bedroom) over rack rate for our rooms when renting DVC accommodations -- and that's even after paying the "premium" rental rates to reserve at 11 months with David's Vacation Rentals. Renting DVC points has been a win-win for us every time. In fact, other than our stay at the Polynesian, all of our studio stays have cost LESS than if we'd booked rooms at any Disney moderate resort for the same dates, even when Disney was offering room discounts on moderates at those times!

As others said, the biggest risk (at least, when you go through a broker like David's, which gives you an extra layer of legal protection) is that you can't cancel for a refund, so you need to be very certain about your dates and your ability to travel, or else find vacation insurance that will cover the cost.
 

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