Do you "charge" guests sharing your room?

[eva]

I treat DVC just like I treat my own home. We don't charge people to stay with us at our own house and we don't charge people to stay with us at DVC. Sometimes (always?) they offer to pay for some meals and we do graciously accept those offers.

This is exactly the way we feel. Now I should say that we have never taken anyone that we didn't invite. So no one has had the guts to invite themselves on a trip. (Don't think I would let it happen anyway.) For our grown daughters and their families we pay for everything, from the flight to the tickets and food. But when we take mothers, sisters, brothers, etc., we just cover the room. We all split the cost of food in the room and people usually buy us a meal or two. Oh, wait a minute! We usually buy them a meal or two also. It's all a wash. Life is too short not to spend quality with the ones you love. I say if you can afford it, why worry? We won't remember that $500 they gave us. We’ll remember the wonderful time we spent together.

 

[laughinplace199]

I would say that there is no right or wrong answer. You have to do what is right for you. We've brought family and friends with us over the years and have never asked for payment. One of the reasons that we bought DVC was to vacation with friends and family. I look at DVC the same way I would a beach cottage or vacation home. If I owned a vacation home, I wouldn't charge my family and friends to visit.

All of the people who have stayed with us have offered to buy dinner and/or babysit during the trip. That works out great for us, but we'd be fine if they didn't offer anything.

I hope you have a great trip!

 

[aclov]

No - I have gone with inlaws, parents, friends and have never charged.

 

[Anal Annie]

We've already got trips planned with our points for this year and next, but have already offered "a place to stay" for 2009 to our parents & siblings. So, no, we would not charge them as it was our idea and would be our treat. We DID tell them they would have to get themselves to FL and pay for their own park tickets & meals etc. - we're just covering the place to stay! But we told them this up front - this is the deal if they'd like to go... Now we'll just have to agree upon a week that works for everyone! (Probably the biggest challenge!)

 

[LilGMom]

This has been a topic of discussion for me and my dh. We only have 150 points (just joined DVC this year) and normally take at least two trips to WDW each year so we will be using all of our points each year. We have discussed asking my mom if she'd like to go with us once and in order for us to do that we would have to rent a two bedroom so that she could have her own room and bathroom (there are four of us -me, dh, ds (6), & ds (2)). For us to rent a two bedroom there is a big possibility that we'd have to either borrow from the next year or that would be our only trip for the year. Dh is thinking that if we do ever invite my mom that she should pay for a portion of the room, probably not $10/pt but maybe a third of rack rate. Knowing my mom even if I said the room was on us she'd pay us back somehow, i.e. meals, souveniers, etc. so I'm not sure about dh's thinking.

We also have some relatives, dsil & family, that we wouldn't invite along with us but they would probably invite themselves and we'd have to rent a villa for all eight of us. That would be big points so we'd definately have to bank and/or borrow to cover that which would severly restrict our other trips. In that case, us not inviting them but them asking to be invited, would it be right to charge a percentage of rack rate? Or percentage of point rental rate?

So many ins and outs to the DVC that I have yet to learn.

 

[kimberh]

I cover the room, sometimes I have to have points transferred in to do that, so I have more than maintenance fees. I only invite my married children and grands, at this point. I have the Disney Visa, with that I get the Rewards card. I really try to pay for our food with the Rewards card. Park tickets are their responsibility. We are in driving distance, thank goodness. We all pay our own gas to Flordia. My credit card is on the key card. I cover any misc charges. There are not many. If there is something major, they are expected to pay it.

I don't see me ever inviting extended family.

 

[chaoscent]

I was going in Sept anyway and renting a studio so I invited my two friends to join me. I told them they had to pay their airfare, car rental (they aren't going to the parks) and the cost of the dining plan. I decided (they didn't ask) to upgrade to a 2 bedroom for the first 4 days (Mon - Thurs nite) and so it cost me more points. I discussed it with DH and told him it was my gift to my two friends I had known for 40 years and he agreed we shouldn't charge the difference.

I am going in January, taking my mom (probably her last trip) and my two nephews and renting a 2 bedroom. My brother wanted to know how much for the room, I told him nothing, he just needs to pay airfare and park tickets for kids. Mom wanted to know the difference between cost of 1 BR & 2 BR and I told her Merry Christmas. My sister will pay Mom's airfare and brother (she lives with him) will buy her park ticket. DH & I will pick up the groceries. I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my mom.

A work friend asked when they could come down (For free) now that I owned a time share. I explained I used all my points from this year and had to borrow from next. that all I could afford next year was a 1 BR and DH & I would be using that. I told her it would probably be quite a few years before I would have points I would be able to give away and told her how easy it would be for her to buy into DVC.
Penny

 

[dianeschlicht]

A work friend asked when they could come down (For free) now that I owned a time share. I explained I used all my points from this year and had to borrow from next. that all I could afford next year was a 1 BR and DH & I would be using that. I told her it would probably be quite a few years before I would have points I would be able to give away and told her how easy it would be for her to buy into DVC.

I love that response! Like I said earlier, we never expect people we invite along to pay anything for the room, but if someone invites themselves along....they don't get to come. Your repsonse is a great one, and I will be using it next time one of the "leaches" trys to get me to invite them.

 

[joelly2103]

it is a matter of choice.

If we want to treat someone, we ask them to go, no we would not charge.

If a friend or family member asked to come with us on our trip and share a room, we would charge their % of the $10pp. We and our extended family see this as no different than sharing a cash room. Just because you are not paying when you go, you did pay.

So it really is a personal decision, but something that needs to be decided and discussed in the early stages of vacation planning. If the trip is already set-up and there was no discussion about the costs, it probably is not a good idea to ask for $ now.

 

[eva]

I love that response! Like I said earlier, we never expect people we invite along to pay anything for the room, but if someone invites themselves along....they don't get to come. Your repsonse is a great one, and I will be using it next time one of the "leaches" trys to get me to invite them.

Bravo! Well, said! I am too old to put up with such nonsense. I have learned to squash anything that I believe will ruin my vacation. And uninvited guests are usually in that category.