who buys at rack rate at deluxe hotels?

[BUZZCRUSH]

So we keep going round and round about dvc, however the last few stays at deluxe resorts we've gotten 40% off the room so we're not inclined to buy in.

That got me to wondering, does anyone pay rack rate? Did you?

 

[righttrack]

Vacation dates are often immobile for us. Getting everyone together with job time off, (mostly) grown kids, etc, and you end up with a narrow window. Unless we are lucky we often pay.

 

[polynesiangirl]

I have sometimes when we have to have a specific night (e.g. we're going on a cruise the next day or whatever) and there's no discounts available.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Never have, never could have afforded to, and wouldn't even if I could. (Like the OP, we rent DVC points if we want to stay Deluxe, and typically save 30-50% off of rack rate for a studio or a 2-BR villa. If we are going last-minute and staying at a moderate, we look for a room-only discount.)

Those who don't mind paying rack rate are, I assume, those who are wealthy enough that saving money just isn't a priority for them. (I've known wealthy people who actually felt it was "cheap" or "cheating" to look for ways to save money, and who prided themselves on always paying full price for everything, simply because they could. On the other hand, I've known wealthy people who only got that way because they pinched every penny -- like a multi-millionaire client who hand-sewed patches on his decades-old clothes because he refused to spend a dime for anything new! It takes all kinds...) A 30-second Google search is all it takes anyone to find reliable ways to save money at WDW, if that's what one wishes to do -- that's how I first learned about DVC points rental, several years ago.

 

[correcaminos]

We did once... travel was booming and we were going on our honeymoon. Looked like crazy for discounts and there were none for concierge lagoon at Polynesian. TA tried to no avail. It was our honeymoon so I didn't mind too much. Of course what we paid 19 years ago feels so much less than what they charge now even accounting for inflation.

 

[Beacon Joe]

Serious question: how does one find a discount rate on a deluxe? Are discounts limited to low seasons?

It's OBE for us at this point as we have DVC, but I always paid rack rate for the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom in the past. There were no readily apparent discounts available at the times we went. The only discount offers I ever saw during those years were at odd and inconvenient times, or for the "dining plan," which made no sense for us.

 

[aliceismad]

We've only stayed deluxe when we've rented DVC points.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I booked our October trip a few months ago but will be on the look out for discounts. If we can switch to passholder or dining discount I'll do that if not we'll keep our room only reservation.

 

[Patcheslee]

Serious question: how does one find a discount rate on a deluxe? Are discounts limited to low seasons?

It's OBE for us at this point as we have DVC, but I always paid rack rate for the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom in the past. There were no readily apparent discounts available at the times we went. The only discount offers I ever saw during those years were at odd and inconvenient times, or for the "dining plan," which made no sense for us.

Originally planned a mod for our mid June trip then discounts came out for Poly that kept us in budget, so I don't think it's necessarily during low seasons.

 

[winstongator]

We’ve stayed at the poly once, yacht twice, contemporary twice, four seasons once, and Waldorf twice. One yacht might have been rack (would need to check) and one Waldorf stay was rack as it was booked last minute (hurricane Matthew). Three of the stays were for my wife’s business meetings, so not rack then. Maybe 2/8 times?

 

[nickys]

Serious question: how does one find a discount rate on a deluxe? Are discounts limited to low seasons?

It's OBE for us at this point as we have DVC, but I always paid rack rate for the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom in the past. There were no readily apparent discounts available at the times we went. The only discount offers I ever saw during those years were at odd and inconvenient times, or for the "dining plan," which made no sense for us.

As for finding discounts, I imagine you have to be quick off the mark when discounts are announced.Or book through a TA who can find the discounts for you and apply them to your room.

I suspect you need to be reasonably flexible as to what resort and dates to get them.

Or you could book a bounce back offer whilst you’re there.

 

[Beacon Joe]

Or you could book a bounce back offer whilst you’re there.

Ah, yes. I do remember getting bounce back offers via email, but again the date restrictions made them unusable. After reading this thread, I think the question should be "Who has the flexibility to take advantage of discounts and not pay rack rate for deluxe hotels? And what is their career and employer because I'd love that sort of flexibility?"