Your best deal!

[tvwalsh]

I will be staying at OKW in a two bedroom from Jan 11 to Jan 23. This will cost 328 points. Central resevations at WDW gave me a price of $6500, So I am getting $19.82 worth of lodging for each of my points. ($6500 divided by 328) Can you top that?

 

[JohnNJ]

You were quoted rack rate for the room. With discounts you could get as low as $3,575 including tax. That would put your per point cost at $10.90.

 

[tvwalsh]

Originally posted by JohnNJ
You were quoted rack rate for the room. With discounts you could get as low as $3,575 including tax. That would put your per point cost at $10.90.

Where would I go to get that discount? The $6500 is truly the price they wanted me to pay!

 

[JohnNJ]

Originally posted by tvwalsh
Where would I go to get that discount? The $6500 is truly the price they wanted me to pay!

Of course, and as a Disney stockholder, that's the price I want you to pay too !!!

 

[tvwalsh]

I really would like to know what discount you are talking about!

 

[tvwalsh]

Please tell us about your best uses of your points and how much lodging you got per point. Lets not dwell on what discounts someone thinks you might have gotten!

 

[spiceycat]

you can probably get them for $10 a point - but you are on the wrong board - go to the DVC rental/trade board

Sun-thurs night 22 points
Fri/sat night 54

so 328 points for your entire stay

hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[Chadm]

Originally posted by spiceycat
you can probably get them for $10 a point - but you are on the wrong board - go to the DVC rental/trade board

Sun-thurs night 22 points
Fri/sat night 54

so 328 points for your entire stay

hope you find what you are looking for.

You didn't actually read the posts, did you?

 

[floridafam]

tvwalsh,

Is this what you mean?

We're staying 7 nts at VWL in October for a total of 199 pts.

CRO would charge us $2975 plus tax.

So, I am getting about $19 worth of lodging for each pt. Similar to your figure.

At $19, I think we should feel pretty good.

This would be our best deal to date.


Can I possibly get an AP rate on that villa and pay cash? Maybe.

If I could get $100 off with an AP then I only get around $11 worth of lodging per pt. This is similar to what renters pay.

 

[DebbieB]

The AP rate at OKW last May was about 30% off for a 1 bedroom.

I keep an excel spreadsheet of my point use and the corresponding rack rate. It looks good when you compare the points you use vs the rack rate. With my 7 DVC trips in 3 1/2 years, I am up to my purchase price compared to rack rates (not including dues). The reality though is that I never paid rack rate for a room before DVC.

 

[spiceycat]

Oh sorry - yes spring break - a studio at OKW - 55 points - even with the 40% discount - it was $234 - so I got $21.27 per point - without the discount - it would be $33.20 per point.

 

[JohnNJ]

Originally posted by DebbieB
The reality though is that I never paid rack rate for a room before DVC.

BINGO! That's what I've saying all along. I normally get 40-45% off with the AP rate.

Does anyone know people that pay rack rate? If you know them, is it because you don't like them and won't tell them about the discounts?

 

[deerh]

Well, lets see. I just stayed (with friends) at BWV, 3 studios for a week-333 pts. The "rack Rate" is $329/night x 7=$2303 +tax= $2533 x 3 studios=$7599. So.... 333 pts divided into $7599= 22.81 dollars / pt. I don't think you can beat that! ALSO, I don't think there are many discounts in SUMMER at WDW at BWV!!! There MAY BE discounts, but I feel like I am on the upside of DVC on this past trip!!

REMEMBER-discounts are SLOOOOW season at WDW, so you cannot always go by that! Even BWV at AAA is not much of a discount, I checked!! Or should I say BWI!! I think it was 10% if that....
Deer H

 

[Dean]

One can almost always get discounts at DVC and non DVC WDW options. The main exceptions are Xmas and Easter and to a lessor degree, mid summer. With the points structure of DVC compared to CRO, it's easy to structure the deal to favor one or the other.

A stay the favors Sunday to Friday (5 or 12 days say) will almost always work out in favor of the DVC member using points as a slam dunk. A stay more heavy in weekend days will almost always heavily favor cash. So each sitation must be looked at for what it's worth. I'd only compare a situation if it's likely to be something you will do. Comparing DVC rack rates to value DVC points only applies if one would pay those rates and stay on those rooms cash or points, otherwise it's like a MSRP on a car or the first price at the Straw market.

For Jan, I can guarantee you some pretty hefty discounts if you look hard enough. AP, Fl residenet, CA residents and many other states partner with WDW and get great reates at times.

 

[5infam]

Dean,

I know where to find the discounts for AP (which we won't buy because we only plan on going every other year, for a week at a time), and the FL resident prices, however, you mentioned discounts at WDW for CA residents. Where would I find such discounts? We do have AP's for Disneyland (live about 30 min drive away) but that never seems to help me at WDW. I would appreciate your knowledge!!

 

[sardan]

I usually rent my points from DVC members. Last May I stayed at BWV - 1 Week for 123 points (preferred studio). I paid $9/point for a total of $1107. No discount / no rack rate.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by 5infam
Dean,

I know where to find the discounts for AP (which we won't buy because we only plan on going every other year, for a week at a time), and the FL resident prices, however, you mentioned discounts at WDW for CA residents. Where would I find such discounts? We do have AP's for Disneyland (live about 30 min drive away) but that never seems to help me at WDW. I would appreciate your knowledge!!

CA was an example. I believe I've seen codes that worked for AL, TN, GA, TX, OH, though I'm not 100% certain I've seen CA but I think so. They are usually run in major papers and available at AAA. The main place I've seen them is Mousesavers and they are usually the same price as FL resident options.

Don't pass over the pass so easily. Sometimes it's worth buying one pass just to get the discounts. I've done this at Universal and at WDW in the past to great advantage.

 

[JimC]

www.Mousesavers.com usually has all of the latest discounts. Dreams Unlimited is a great travel agent for Disney vacations.

When I bought DVC I used AP discounted rates to do my analysis and found that what Dean said was pretty much right on. The best DVC deal came at 12 nights with ony two weekend nights. If you change the mix to increase the weekend nights then the difference decreases, but if my recollection is accurate, it was not any worse than paying cash, primarily because of the room tax.

APs can still make sense for one trip. They are cheaper at day eight and even only moderate use of the other discounts AP holders get can easily make this the best option. If you add in a hotel discount as well, then its clearly a winner. Some folks buy one AP and the remaining family members buy park hoppers. You still qualify for all of the benefits. That could make a five day trip worth buying the one AP.

 

[5infam]

Thank you Dean and JimC,

I never thought of just buying one AP and using PHP's for the rest of my group. We are changing our plans for our first trip, which now may run into the Easter season, so to save on points, we were looking at staying 1 or 2 weekend nights on cash (in a regular room not a villa), then the rest on points. If I have one AP, then it may be that the discount for a DVC room could put us in the ballpark of what we can afford. How far in advance can we book DVC rooms paying cash?