DVC Incentivizes Polynesian and Bay Lake Tower Sales – But Is It A Good Deal?

[CVG]

Renting points is a hassle compared to the ease of owning points and having control.

I have never rented so cannot comment on that, but you don't have control if you are limited to the 7mo booking window.

 

[pianomanzano]

I have never rented so cannot comment on that, but you don't have control if you are limited to the 7mo booking window.

The control aspect comes in when you can’t cancel or reschedule that rented reservation.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

The control aspect comes in when you can’t cancel or reschedule that rented reservation.

That is a big problem for families with young children who get sick a lot. Add in the fact that rented points can’t be travel-insured, and you see why point rentals are not a great option for many.

 

[Sandisw]

I have never rented so cannot comment on that, but you don't have control if you are limited to the 7mo booking window.

I am not sure what this means, As a an owner, you have complete control of your reservations and can make, change, and cancel whenever you want within the rules.

As a renter, you do not, They remain in control of the other owner, Most can’t be changed so if something happens, you are typically out the money.

Renting also depends on you finding someone from the resort you want unless you wait for 7 months, And, if you want a popular resort or room, or traveling at. A busy time renting may not work.

Right now, it’s RIV people can’t stay at so maybe renting there once and awhile is not big deal. But, after 2042, when those resorts have a good chance of now being new and restricted from resale, as well any other new ones, renting isnt Going to make sense,

 

[CVG]

I am not sure what this means, As a an owner, you have complete control of your reservations and can make, change, and cancel whenever you want within the rules.

I just meant that you have to accept what is left over at the 7mo window. You don't get to choose the best period for yourself - you're relying on luck as to whether a suitable period will exist.

This "lucky dip" is one of the "extras" that I referred to when saying that you are paying thousands upon thousands extra for a 10% discount card and a few extras. I know that I'm being a bit smart about the benefits of direct membership, but you really need to do your sums to see if it is really worth it.

I'd like one of those cards but I wouldn't pay any more than $2000 for the privilege.

 

[CVG]

Let's do a rough calculation. Assuming that you are paying an extra $12900 for your PVB contract direct. Keeping things simple I'll assume both 0% investment returns and inflation. I guess that the card is for life but realistically I'll assume that it is limited to the 43 years or so remaining on the PVB contract.

If I went to WDW every year, then I'd need to get $300 of benefit on each trip by buying over $3000 of dining and merchandise. If I miss a year then I need to spend double the next.

I know that I won't be going on any more trips than 10 and I'm never going to be that worried about trying RIV. So in my case there is no profit in going direct. Everyone else will have their own case and motivation. Just don't blindly hand your money over without considering what you're getting.

 

[mamaofsix]

Let's do a rough calculation. Assuming that you are paying an extra $12900 for your PVB contract direct. Keeping things simple I'll assume both 0% investment returns and inflation. I guess that the card is for life but realistically I'll assume that it is limited to the 43 years or so remaining on the PVB contract.

If I went to WDW every year, then I'd need to get $300 of benefit on each trip by buying over $3000 of dining and merchandise. If I miss a year then I need to spend double the next.

I know that I won't be going on any more trips than 10 and I'm never going to be that worried about trying RIV. So in my case there is no profit in going direct. Everyone else will have their own case and motivation. Just don't blindly hand your money over without considering what you're getting.

I would agree with this for the current PVB direct price.

For us, we wanted VGF. There was very little difference at the time between resale and direct. (I think it was a $20 pp difference, so direct was about $4000 more for our 225 points. Spread out over 42 years, that's less than $100 a year).

We spend several thousand per trip on food and merch, so the 10% discount made it cheaper in the end to buy direct. Add in the perk of staying at any resort we want, lounge access, moonlight magic, etc. and it was a no-brainer economically.

 

[tom1944]

It all comes down to “the math”

 

[Craho]

There have been a few that were good, like the Aulani firesale and the BW firesale. This is not a firesale, though.

When was the BW fire sale?

 

[Sandisw]

I just meant that you have to accept what is left over at the 7mo window. You don't get to choose the best period for yourself - you're relying on luck as to whether a suitable period will exist.

This "lucky dip" is one of the "extras" that I referred to when saying that you are paying thousands upon thousands extra for a 10% discount card and a few extras. I know that I'm being a bit smart about the benefits of direct membership, but you really need to do your sums to see if it is really worth it.

I'd like one of those cards but I wouldn't pay any more than $2000 for the privilege.

I think I get what you meant now, That if you want RIV or the newer resorts and don’t own there, then you have to wait to 7 months. But, renting allows you to find an owner who does.

However, the drawbacks of that are finding someone who owns those and the drawbacks of renting in general don’t make it as easy as it sounds.

Again, everyone has to do what makes sense to them. The extra for direct for us is worth it and renting was never something we would do.

But, the flexibility to use our points everywhere, to take advantage of whatever perks or benefits exist, including the special AP which I think will return for sale, and all the rest means what we spent is worth it to be eligible.

To be fair, RIV is our favorite resort, but if someone wants to own at Poly, and wants to guarantee they have access to use points at Poly tower, the current direct price with incentives can make it worth it in the long run.

Plenty of people buy resale because those things are not worth it. But, as I said, PVB is now available direct for a similar price to VGF and RIV and could make someone who wants that resort and direct points think about doing it vs, resale.

 

[CVG]

No worries. I'm just a skinflint who abhors their hard earned dollars being used to maintain Bob's yacht.

 

[RoseGold]

The control aspect comes in when you can’t cancel or reschedule that rented reservation.

That is a big problem for families with young children who get sick a lot. Add in the fact that rented points can’t be travel-insured, and you see why point rentals are not a great option for many.

DVC in general is not easy to reschedule or cancel. It requires months of planning, and moving things around is not easy. That's not really rented points fault, it's the design of the system. If you value flexibility, DVC is not the answer. Just book a refundable Swolphin room.

 

[tom1944]

DVC in general is not easy to reschedule or cancel. It requires months of planning, and moving things around is not easy. That's not really rented points fault, it's the design of the system. If you value flexibility, DVC is not the answer. Just book a refundable Swolphin room.

If you book at deluxe wdw resorts are those rooms generally refundable also?

 

[Sandisw]

DVC in general is not easy to reschedule or cancel. It requires months of planning, and moving things around is not easy. That's not really rented points fault, it's the design of the system. If you value flexibility, DVC is not the answer. Just book a refundable Swolphin room.

When you own the points and cancel, you still have them to use.

Most rentals don’t offer that. Pretty big difference in risk.

 

[Sandisw]

If you book at deluxe wdw resorts are those rooms generally refundable also?

IIRC if you book a room only, no penalty for canceling up to 5 days before.

For packages, I think you lose a $200 deposit if you don’t cancel by the 30 day mark.

 

[tom1944]

IIRC if you book a room only, no penalty for canceling up to 5 days before.

For packages, I think you lose a $200 deposit if you don’t cancel by the 30 day mark.

Thanks

My family wants to go around the end of August so I might book now.

If I get a contract I can make a reservation on our new DVC account and cancel the reservation I made.

 

[DonMacGregor]

DVC in general is not easy to reschedule or cancel. It requires months of planning, and moving things around is not easy. That's not really rented points fault, it's the design of the system. If you value flexibility, DVC is not the answer. Just book a refundable Swolphin room.

Reasonably certain the point being made is that with a rental, there is almost zero leverage to move or modify the reservation or cancelling and getting a refund, regardless of when you cancel. The possibility exists that should you want to cancel that trip at 7, 8, or 9 months out, you may be out of luck. Your money's gone. Plus, you spend months living with the possibility that a moment of inattention or simple mouse click by the points owner can lead to the loss of your reservation.

With owned points, you have the ability to cancel up until 31 days before the reservation date with all points returned to the appropriate use year. 30 days until day before check in, you can STILL cancel, with points going into holding (but you still have the points). Only cancelling on the day of check in will cause you to forfeit the points. That's a MASSIVE difference in flexibility, where it really counts: cancelling a reservation. Heck, even if you're sitting on points in holding, with no chance of booking a new reservation, there's still the possibility of moving those points into Interval International.

Now, banking deadlines DO come into play at some point, but so also does use year and travel habits. We never book a trip that is calendared such that a cancellation outside 31 days will leave us unable to bank them. To suggest that renting and owning present the same risk is just patently false.

 

[pianomanzano]

DVC in general is not easy to reschedule or cancel. It requires months of planning, and moving things around is not easy. That's not really rented points fault, it's the design of the system. If you value flexibility, DVC is not the answer. Just book a refundable Swolphin room.

Your points are valid but my comments were in reference to having more flexibility in making the reservation vs renting points, which was recommended earlier in the thread if one has resale/restricted points but want to stay at RIV (or potentially newer resorts). If I can’t go for whatever reason, as the owner of those points I at least have the option to rent it out, cancel have points back in my account to bank or reschedule before they expire, or transfer II as a last resort. Rentals don’t have that luxury and you’ll be lucky if you get an owner willing to work with you to re-rent that reservation out.

 

[RoseGold]

Now, banking deadlines DO come into play at some point, but so also does use year and travel habits. We never book a trip that is calendared such that a cancellation outside 31 days will leave us unable to bank them. To suggest that renting and owning present the same risk is just patently false.

I didn't say that. I said that if you have issues like frequently ill kids (as the PP mentioned) or are concerned about flexibility, there are better choices than DVC in general.

Renting is really inflexible. DVC in general is less flexible than Disney cash reservations, or there are other flexible options like Marriott refundable.

Of course, there are some complicated, sort-of flexible workarounds at the edge of the (current) DVC points rules: https://www.disboards.com/posts/64020887/
But that isn't exactly the gist of this thread.

In a world where DVC is barely squeaking out minor savings over Swolphin, a generous cancelation policy might matter a whole lot to some.

 

[hglenn]

I would agree with this for the current PVB direct price.

For us, we wanted VGF. There was very little difference at the time between resale and direct. (I think it was a $20 pp difference, so direct was about $4000 more for our 225 points. Spread out over 42 years, that's less than $100 a year).

We spend several thousand per trip on food and merch, so the 10% discount made it cheaper in the end to buy direct. Add in the perk of staying at any resort we want, lounge access, moonlight magic, etc. and it was a no-brainer economically.

I can see how this would work out but it definitely has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and is dependent on timing of incentives. We bought BWV resale and saved $25k over direct. Had we gone direct we would've had to "save" over $1300 per year in discounts. Without APs, that is not logical for us. That said, we will def consider direct in the future. Heck, just for the after hours we're attending in April we would've saved $150 with direct benefits.