Question on banking and borrowing About This Page:

[Her Dotness]

As much as we adore the GF, it's getting way too costly to stay there as often as we'd like. So, we got to thinking about buying "Red Roof Inn" points.

For various reasons, only a 1-br villa would really work well for us.

So, do I understand correctly that if we buy 160 points, we could bank them all for the next year in order then to have enough for a week's stay in that size villa at the GF since we'd have two years' worth of points to use? (I'm aware that you must bank points before the 4-month cutoff.)

And then, we could borrow against the following year's points to extend the stay if we wanted to, am I right? I'm beginning to see already the temptation to keep adding points.

We'd be unlikely to use points for anything but WDW stays, so I'm thinking we'd be stupid fools not to buy into the GF Villas ASAP as much as we love that resort.

[Her Dotness]

Nevermind answering, everyone. We've already found more reasons why DVC wouldn't work well for us than why it would.

For one major reason, we can't be certain we could go often enough to assure that we wouldn't lose points, and we wouldn't want to mess with renting them. Just not as workable for us as we'd hoped.

[HiddenMickey]

While it may be disappointing to realize that being a DVC owner might not be for you, it's much better that you realized now, instead of after you made the initial purchase.

[Her Dotness]

Agreed, but we're so cautious about that big an investment that we'd have been very unlikely to have made it unless we were pretty certain it would work for us.

Besides, I kept coming back to my first thought of why not: I don't want to do ANY more housekeeping than picking up our dirty clothes and shoving them into the laundry bag. Some days, that and setting out the Mousekeeping envelope are my waaaay enuf done in that department.

Disney is my place to be almost 100% lazy and pampered.

[disneydeva]

You can always try and rent points. They may be hard to get, but you never know unless you try.

[tjkraz]

A few random thoughts, either for OP or anyone else reading...

Originally Posted by Her Dotness

For various reasons, only a 1-br villa would really work well for us.

A one bedroom villa may "work really well" but you need to consider what will happen if you keep paying cash for your trips. Are you paying to stay in a Suite at the Grand Floridian?

If not, then you should probably consider the best apples-to-apples comparison, which is a DVC Studio villa.

Sure we would all love to stay in a 1000 sq ft One Bedroom with the full kitchen, jacuzzi tub and other amenities. But if you can't justify those points, you're back to staying in a normal hotel room. Why not compare to the most similar accommodation...which is a Deluxe Studio?

So, do I understand correctly that if we buy 160 points, we could bank them all for the next year in order then to have enough for a week's stay in that size villa at the GF since we'd have two years' worth of points to use? (I'm aware that you must bank points before the 4-month cutoff.)

And then, we could borrow against the following year's points to extend the stay if we wanted to, am I right? I'm beginning to see already the temptation to keep adding points.

Yes. An owner of 160 points can bank their points one year, giving them up to 320 points to use at one time. You could also borrow one year out, giving you up to 480 points every 3 years.

For instance, if you banked the 160 from 2014 and borrowed 2016 points, in the 2015 Use Year you'd have 480 points available to use.

Next set of points wouldn't be issued until 2017.

Nevermind answering, everyone. We've already found more reasons why DVC wouldn't work well for us than why it would.

For one major reason, we can't be certain we could go often enough to assure that we wouldn't lose points, and we wouldn't want to mess with renting them. Just not as workable for us as we'd hoped.

In order for DVC to be workable, you need to plan a trip at least once every 3 years using banked, current and borrowed points as described above. It's actually more practical if you visit at least once every 2 years.

Besides, I kept coming back to my first thought of why not: I don't want to do ANY more housekeeping than picking up our dirty clothes and shoving them into the laundry bag. Some days, that and setting out the Mousekeeping envelope are my waaaay enuf done in that department.

Housekeeping is the least of reasons to not buy DVC, in my opinion. Owners pay for housekeeping from their annual dues. Weekly service is pretty much the norm in the timeshare industry.

Those who wish to have the room cleaned more often can pay for it. There are established rates for daily room servicing.

Most people who evaluate the cost of buying DVC vs. paying cash for Disney hotels find that DVC pays for itself in about 10 years. In other words, 10 years of hotel visits costs about the same as buying the DVC points and paying dues for those first 10 years.

And since DVC contracts run for up to 50 years, after passing that break-even points you have another 40 years of vacations at dramatically lower prices (only paying the dues.)

Adding the cost of daily housekeeping to the mix isn't going to have a major impact on that math. If I wanted a clean room every day, I'd gladly pay the $25 cleaning fee rather than Disney's hotel rates of $600-800+ per night (PLUS the 12.5% lodging tax.)

[DSNY FN]

Originally Posted by tjkraz

A few random thoughts, either for OP or anyone else reading...



A one bedroom villa may "work really well" but you need to consider what will happen if you keep paying cash for your trips. Are you paying to stay in a Suite at the Grand Floridian?

If not, then you should probably consider the best apples-to-apples comparison, which is a DVC Studio villa.

Sure we would all love to stay in a 1000 sq ft One Bedroom with the full kitchen, jacuzzi tub and other amenities. But if you can't justify those points, you're back to staying in a normal hotel room. Why not compare to the most similar accommodation...which is a Deluxe Studio?



Yes. An owner of 160 points can bank their points one year, giving them up to 320 points to use at one time. You could also borrow one year out, giving you up to 480 points every 3 years.

For instance, if you banked the 160 from 2014 and borrowed 2016 points, in the 2015 Use Year you'd have 480 points available to use.

Next set of points wouldn't be issued until 2017.



In order for DVC to be workable, you need to plan a trip at least once every 3 years using banked, current and borrowed points as described above. It's actually more practical if you visit at least once every 2 years.



Housekeeping is the least of reasons to not buy DVC, in my opinion. Owners pay for housekeeping from their annual dues. Weekly service is pretty much the norm in the timeshare industry.

Those who wish to have the room cleaned more often can pay for it. There are established rates for daily room servicing.

Most people who evaluate the cost of buying DVC vs. paying cash for Disney hotels find that DVC pays for itself in about 10 years. In other words, 10 years of hotel visits costs about the same as buying the DVC points and paying dues for those first 10 years.

And since DVC contracts run for up to 50 years, after passing that break-even points you have another 40 years of vacations at dramatically lower prices (only paying the dues.)

Adding the cost of daily housekeeping to the mix isn't going to have a major impact on that math. If I wanted a clean room every day, I'd gladly pay the $25 cleaning fee rather than Disney's hotel rates of $600-800+ per night (PLUS the 12.5% lodging tax.)

For our family and as often as we go and the number of people we often take our break even is about 6 years. Next year we are in a GV and taking my sister and her hubby and their daughter myself and my 4 kids and my dad and my brother and my mom. We are doing 6 days at OKW before our cruise. For me with 4 children I usually get at the min a 1 bedroom usually a 2 bdrm. I purchased direct from Disney for my initial points way back when and then re sale a few months back. If the owner is only interested in WDW then the Re Sale market may be a more financially reasonable option. You can even find VGF on the re sale market not a huge discount at this time but better than no discount.

[HollyH]

Another perspective on the housekeeping for anyone who is wondering. I actually prefer the "no daily housekeeping" of DVC because I can be assured that my room is available to me whenever I want it. No coming back for a nap or to change for a pool break to find they are cleaning the room and we have to wait (which has happened to us numerous times on a regular stay). Some times "no daily housekeeping" comes off as a negative, but it isn't all bad IMO.

[DSNY FN]

Originally Posted by HollyH

Another perspective on the housekeeping for anyone who is wondering. I actually prefer the "no daily housekeeping" of DVC because I can be assured that my room is available to me whenever I want it. No coming back for a nap or to change for a pool break to find they are cleaning the room and we have to wait (which has happened to us numerous times on a regular stay). Some times "no daily housekeeping" comes off as a negative, but it isn't all bad IMO.

Not to mention you can pack lighter if you have a 1 bdrm or larger as it has a washer and dryer in the room. I pack enough clothes for 5 days and do a load one morning before heading to the park and throw it in the dryer when I get back. Makes packing a breeze I can get away with one carry on sized bag and be fine.

[lauriep]

Originally Posted by HollyH

Another perspective on the housekeeping for anyone who is wondering. I actually prefer the "no daily housekeeping" of DVC because I can be assured that my room is available to me whenever I want it. No coming back for a nap or to change for a pool break to find they are cleaning the room and we have to wait (which has happened to us numerous times on a regular stay). Some times "no daily housekeeping" comes off as a negative, but it isn't all bad IMO.

I agree, Holly. I'm probably in my room more than most people and love knowing that the room is "mine" whenever I want it.

[themorg]

I agree with Tim. We bought into DVC several years ago, added on, and have already "broke even". We have saved a bundle on our room costs, and we also prefer to stay in a 1 bdr, even if just the 2 of us. Of course, we try to go at least twice per year, and have even made 3 trips a few years.

If you really don't think that you would be going at least every other year, then it may not be for you. But if you are, then you will save a lot of money in the long term.