What are the drawbacks to renting?

[DocAlan02]

There could be availability for the DVC room but if David's, or whoever, doesn't have anyone with points to rent from then you can't book. So if you want a week at the Poly and are outside the 7 month mark, you would need to find a Poly owner to book there.

I see. Yes, makes sense. Based on the costs I see available, it looks like AKL or OKW would be our likely choices. We are at 7 months out as of this Sunday.

As far as DME, I thought someone said that wasn't even an option when renting this way. Did I read that wrong?

 

[lostpro9het]

As far as DME, I thought someone said that wasn't even an option when renting this way. Did I read that wrong?

It is an option but you need to give the info further ahead of time, preferably when booking.

 

[DocAlan02]

It is an option but you need to give the info further ahead of time, preferably when booking.

I assume you need actual flight info for that, right?. We won't book our flights for a while yet.

 

[lostpro9het]

I assume you need actual flight info for that, right?. We won't book our flights for a while yet.

Correct

Lots of good info here for ya: https://www.dvcrequest.com/faq.asp

Looks like if you give David's 30 days you should be good.

 

[squidward]

As someone who has rented many times in the past, I will never do it again. I rented points for a trip this past January and lost my job in September. I was out $5,000 as the owner wouldn't refund me. Of course, this is the owners right, but lesson learned. It's not worth the risk.

 

[BrucetheShark]

I recently rented points very last minute through David's DVC Rentals, and i'm pretty much floored I never did this before. It has everything to do with your price range, to be quite honest. There is no free dining plan, so if that is substantial to you then this may not be worth it. Yes I have the Disney Visa and could pay off my vacation in installments but if one payment is more money than my entire trip renting through David's? it is a no brainer.

As for feeling fear regarding not having control over the reservation, I really waited to book absolutely everything at the same time. I had researched flights, put forth what hotels I wanted and as soon as I heard back from them I jumped on everything. As mentioned, it was super last minute and really was a great job they did. I had one girl who was a little new, but if you keep asking for someone experienced they really go out of their way to help.

 

[sxeensweet]

As someone who has rented many times in the past, I will never do it again. I rented points for a trip this past January and lost my job in September. I was out $5,000 as the owner wouldn't refund me. Of course, this is the owners right, but lesson learned. It's not worth the risk.

Totally agree we always just booked from Disney itself with whatever room discount they had at the time before we ended up joining DVC several years later. We always stayed in 1 bedroom villas before joining at SSR, Kidani (now our home resort), etc and never rented for all of the negative reasons mentioned. Esp the fact you have to pay in full up front and cannot cancel or change once booked. That's a lot of money to lose if the unthinkable happens. Yes it saves more money by renting but it is a gamble we never wanted to take.

 

[EOD K9]

I've rented to people on this board. They were posters with a long history and a good track record. I would not rent to someone who joined today with posts asking if they can rent. I also didn't charge those people any money to look up availability. Once I made the reservation, they paid immediately (thanks) via paypal. Once I had that, I gave them a screenshot of their confirmation number. All was good after that.

In regards to the dining plan being free, DVC members don't get the free dining plan as we are not eligible.
As far as refunds, that is something I would have to talk to the renter about. I would most likely do a tiered system based on time. If their reservation is cancelled X months out, maybe I would keep a modest 50 bucks just for the fact I had to cancel and find new renters. If it is within the 7 days of arrival, I would probably not refund those points as they would go into a holding account and I wouldn't be guaranteed use of them for a renter or myself.

Caveat: The above policy I just stated is a maybe policy and is not binding on me as of now. I reserve the right to change my mind until I actually talk price with one of you!

 

[LuvtheGoof]

If it is within the 7 days of arrival, I would probably not refund those points as they would go into a holding account and I wouldn't be guaranteed use of them for a renter or myself.

Caveat: The above policy I just stated is a maybe policy and is not binding on me as of now. I reserve the right to change my mind until I actually talk price with one of you!

You might want to consider changing that to match the Disney policy. If you cancel at less than 30 days, your points go into holding. You have to cancel at 31 days or more for them to go back into your account. I would also consider when your use year is, and your banking window. If they cancel and you can't bank the points, and have no plans to go on such short notice, I would let them know up front that they may not get much money back. Your call, of course!

 

[EOD K9]

@LuvtheGoof Thanks. I was just making a generic statement. Buyer Beware!! But I'm not that much of an (fill in the blank)

 

[DocAlan02]

Thanks for your help, everyone. Still not sure what we'll do, but this gives me a starting point. I wouldn't ask someone I didn't know (and who didn't know me) to do this...I understand the risk and challenges to it.

What is the thing about charging to look up dates?

 

[lostpro9het]

What is the thing about charging to look up dates?

At least one vendor requires a monetary deposit to look for room availability and if your choice is available that deposit goes towards your rental. If your choice is not available then the deposit is returned to you. Not all vendors require this deposit.

 

[DocAlan02]

At least one vendor requires a monetary deposit to look for room availability and if your choice is available that deposit goes towards your rental. If your choice is not available then the deposit is returned to you. Not all vendors require this deposit.

I guess that is just to weed out the totally frivolous requests?

 

[dreamfinder]

I guess that is just to weed out the totally frivolous requests?

Pretty much. I'd hope they have developed an algorithm to help determine what owner to match the request up with, but having to go through and figure out the best use of the points offered up by owners can't be easy.

 

[DocAlan02]

I think it is completely safe renting points using any of the major point brokers, such as David's.

The downsides of renting are covered HERE.

Thanks Mike and everyone else. Still deciding what to do, but the information has been very helpful.

 

[Majesty1919]

Also, when you rent (at least, when we did, through David's, which I highly recommend), you can't get a refund if you end up having to cancel, regardless of how much notice you give. For that reason, if you're dropping much money, you'll want to buy vacation insurance (we like Travelguard, which gives us cancel-for-any-reason coverage if we buy it within a week or two of our first payment toward the trip) which covers your costs in the event you're not able to keep the reservation.

Travel guard used to cover your rental? I called them this week Aug. 2015) and talked to 2 separate reps and they both told me that they don't cover rental points. Do you know anybody who ever needed to use it and were allowed to claim their money back?

 

[Weather_Lady]

Travel guard used to cover your rental? I called them this week Aug. 2015) and talked to 2 separate reps and they both told me that they don't cover rental points. Do you know anybody who ever needed to use it and were allowed to claim their money back?

I don't. The insurance policy as written covered all expenses associated with our vacation, including whatever we paid for our resort room reservation, and our flights. It contained no exclusions whatsoever relative to how (or to whom) our resort room expenses were paid, or whether they involved payment for points. Given what you were told I will certainly check with them about that before purchasing from them again, although I don't know what contractual basis they'd have to deny a claim for compensation when the policy contains no exclusions for timeshare rentals.

 

[reptar77]

If you rent points you cannot link the reservation thru you MDE account? How do you get your magic bands? Can you make your 180+10 dinning res?

 

[sxeensweet]

If you rent points you cannot link the reservation thru you MDE account? How do you get your magic bands? Can you make your 180+10 dinning res?

You can link your reservation in MDE because the member/company puts the reservation in your name with all your info. You just can't make changes to the reservation on your own and have to call the member/company whichever your dealing with. You then can get your magic bands and book 180+10, and do FP's at 60 days prior like any other resort guest.

 

[reptar77]

You can link your reservation in MDE because the member/company puts the reservation in your name with all your info. Also you then can get your magic bands and book 180+10, and do FP's at 60 days prior like any other resort guest.

Thanks!!! I was getting super confused.