Talk to me about renting points

[bubbaray]

I'm a newbie at even considering this option.

Do you just find points on CL or ebay or ???? What about this place: http://www.dvcrequest.com/default.asp

[JTsMom]

We were just looking into this option. You can save a nice amount on a DVC stay, but there are some downsides. Basically, you have to be really set on your plans. No changes or cancellations, depending on who books for you. You'd definitely want trip insurance, but of course, that won't cover everything that could come up.

You need to book early if it's a busy DVC week. They can book 11 mos out at their home resorts, and from what I read (keep in mind I'm new at this), by 11 mos, you're "late" to start looking for points to rent.

You don't get daily housekeeping unless you pay extra for it.

I looked at the site you linked to, and it looked like a good option. One thing to consider is that you have to pay in full immediately.

You can also look at the disboards rental board, and contract with an individual. You have to be logged into the site to see the board there, and you might also need a certain number of posts- not sure. The guy at the link charges $13 per point, and it seems that you can usually find points for $10 and up on disboards. It just depends on which resort is their home, and how down to the wire they are (points expire).

[las710]

We rented from an owner we found on disboards.com, in the DVC Rent/Trade forum. Just be sure the person offering points for sale has a lot of posts and appears to have done this before. You can ask for references, a contract, pay via PayPal... for added protection.

If you are not already a member of disboards.com, I think you need to rack up 10 posts before it allows you to Private Message anyone and that is the way you'll need to get in contact with the seller, usually.

You can find the DVC point charts at http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml. Once you figure out when you want to go and where you want to stay, you'll know how many points you need to buy. Owners of a particular resort (say Bay Lake Towers) will be able to book 11 months in advance there, but at 7 months ALL DVC owners are able to book there and it may be harder to get the reservation you want because more folks are able to book.

We had a great experience doing it in 2009 and stayed in an amazing 2-bd, 2-ba room at AKL which we could not have afforded otherwise. We had such a great experience, we decided to buy at BLT : )

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Lisa

[bubbaray]

Thanks ladies. Anyone wanna help me bump up my posts over there??

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2640750

Come on, you know you wanna help me get my count to 10 ;)

[JTsMom]

I replied to you.

[bubbaray]

THANKS!
:love2:

[JTsMom]

I'll hang out for a couple more mins if you want to chat up to 10.

[hillview]

I replied!

[bubbaray]

THANKS LADIES!! :cheerleader1:

[kristenk]

Don't know if this site will help you or not, but it's one that I had bookmarked when I was renting DVC points.

http://www.mouseowners.com/

[alien_host]

I responded to your post there too. We've only rented points thru a friend w/ DVC but love it!

[bubbaray]

I responded to your post there too. We've only rented points thru a friend w/ DVC but love it!


Thanks -- keep those replies comin' ladies! I'm at 6 posts there.... I should just ask if I can transfer some points from here. :hysterical:

[bubbaray]

:innocent: 7 points and counting.... ;)

[hillview]

Go you!

[bubbaray]

THANKS -- hope your DS improves quickly so you can get back to holiday mode

[JTsMom]

You are looking really popular over there for someone brand new. lol

[mousemom]

We rented DVC points for the trip we just returned from. I contacted several individuals that advertised points on the DISboards DVC rent/trade board and found somebody that I felt comfortable with. I did check references, got all information in writing and used paypal to pay. We were very happy with our experience doing this - it allowed us to have nicer accomodations at a price that was reasonable for us. We were able to book our trip about 5.5 months in advance, but it was a little hard to get exactly what we wanted because many of the types of rooms were already booked.

One thing to keep in mind with renting points is that the owner of the points is always in control of the reservation, although it has your name on it. So they could, in theory, cancel the reservation and keep your money (although Paypal provides some protection against that). I don't think it happens often, but in theory it could. I considered going through David's Vacation Rental service that you linked to. I corresponded with him a couple of times and he answered my questions, albeit a bit briefly. He charges a premium for his points (vs. what you would pay going through the DIS boards) because he saves you the time/work of searching for a reputable individual owner to rent from, has lots of points at his disposal to put a request together and he provides some measure of security b/c he only pays owners part of the money when the reservation is made. He does not pay them the rest until the trip actually takes place.

Also, as others have mentioned, there are generally no cancellations allowed once the reservation is made (although individual owners may offer to try and re-rent points depending on the timeline), so it is important to get trip insurance.

You said you're considering Aulani? I would think that booking early would be important there, so you would probably want to rent from someone who is an owner at that resort. Since it is new, I would think it would be hard to book within the 7 month window, when people who own DVC points at other resorts would have access.

[mousemom]

Deleted - double post. Sorry - computer was being slow.

[clc053103]

I replied as well. Also if you go to the dvc board there's an ad for Dave's DVC rentals. He's apparently quite trustworthy if you want to rent through his service rather than directly from a dvc'er. There have been some horror stories though most transactions go through just fine.

Aulani looks beautiful but after going to Hawaii from the east coast last year I don't think I can ever do it again. I love your cruise plus park stay idea!

[k_null81]

I have also rented points from 2 different people on the Disboard. Guess I got lucky because I didn't have a contract with either person or really asked for references...but I did pay with Paypal and made sure they were a frequent user on the Dis...not that everyone on the Dis is a good person but we had no problems with either people we rented from and I didn't pay more then $10 a point.

Oh and I responded to your post on the Dis! :)

[alien_host]

I do remember 1 incident where a woman rented points on DISbds, paid and the member canceled the reservation. It took a while to get it resolved. IIRC she got her $ back but she was out a room. Just do what you can to protect your money.

[k_null81]

That would be horrible...I always had that thought in the back of my mind when we rented...what if we get down there and have no room!

[bubbaray]

This is kinda my fear and why, at this point (baby steps), if we rent points, we'd probably due it through a reseller like Dave.

[erosenst]

We're renting points for the first time this year. I did it through a private owner on DisBoards.

I took my time, and waited for someone who responded promptly, had a number of posts, and then sounded 'normal'. We communicated through email, and he gave me a phone number to discuss details. He fortunately has a relatively unusual name, so when I googled him I was able to confirm that he's an ob/gyn in a relatively affluent suburb of a city with which I'm familiar. As we were chatting about the financial end, we discussed that there's risk for both of us...(he booked before receiving my check - so he committed to the date, and hoped my check cleared)....but that he's not going to risk his medical license by defrauding me!

Still have my fingers crossed, but after renting condos through VRBO etc, I'm relatively comfortable.

Oh - and I paid $10/point rather than the $13 that "Dave" charges. We needed 128 points, so the $3 difference added up.