Should I charge friends? About This Page:

[yakamishi]

I think it's odd to charge Family $10 a point. Since, really, you could get that deal off any rental site.

I've been fortunate to stay on my brother's points and he's charges $6.50 which basicaly covers his expenses.

$10 for family? Realy? PITA or not, they ARE family.

[saremca]

If we invite someone we don't charge them. If someone asks to use our points without us it's different, although if we have points we're not using we have let family use them for nothing.

[Tigger71]

If you invite others I think it would be expected that you were paying (and that they being grateful would pay for a meal or two in return).
Now if others invite themselves or request to use your points - then I would charge a portion of the dues or the cost of a value room for each night. JMO.

[poohbr2015]

Originally Posted by yakamishi

Not to be a widse guy...but let me get this straight...you'd charge your sister $10 a point, but grapple with the morality of charging a friend?

I have to comment on this.............. I don't think it is such a big deal to charge a family member but not a friend. I think it depends on the situation and the person and really how appreciative they are. Obviously she had issues with her sister changing plans and almost losing points, so I see nothing wrong with having her pay a little something, just for the headaches. There are family members who think that just because you have dvc, that you are supposed to take them along and treat them, almost acting as if dvc was free for you. We have talked about taking other along with us in the future and have even thrown around the idea of having them pay either so much per night or point or just the amount of our monthly dues. I think once people stay in the dvc accomodations, and look up what the cost would be out of pocket, they can see that they are getting a pretty good deal. We took my aunt and uncle a couple years ago, stayed in a 2 bdroom MK view at blt, cash would have been over $1000 per night. Our thinking was that they would be so grateful that they would offer to buy us dinner at least one night out of seven. But that didn't happen. These are people who are struggling either, they take trips to Hawaii, Vegas etc. So I think you really need to take care of contributions up front or say, hey we don't mind taking you along and getting your room with our points, but you do realize that it didn't come free to us, and if you could just pick up a couple of dinners that would be great.

[poohbr2015]

I don't think some people realize how much we put into being dvc owners. This is something that you buy into and pay over time or all at once in order to have a place to vacation. You still pay dues. Really asking for a little bit of money, family or not is FINE. You have to think about it this way, you are still giving them a deal, wherelse can they get those types of accomodations for that amount of money. You can't stay deluxe for a week and you certainly can't stay in a villa with a full kitchen and living area. We are staying in a 1 bedroom at beach club for 2 nights and then a 2 bdroom for 5 nights in April, I looked up the rack rates for that time frame and total out of pocket it would cost $7,400.00. Now if we told someone they could come along but would have to pay $400-$500, I think they are getting one heck of a deal.

[fluffybunny]

Originally Posted by PhilsEagles08

I'd totally charge my sister as well being she's like the OP's sister - a PITA. I wouldn't think twice about not charging a friend but I sure as heck wouldn't be offended if they offered to pick up something either.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who would charge their sister. I'm not going to make my friends pay. I'm sure they probably feel comfortable with that so I would probably concede to letting the pay for the xmas party tixs siince we get the dvc discount.

[fluffybunny]

Originally Posted by southerngirl1014

I agree. Originally my December trip we were just supposed to be treating my family to the room. All of a sudden it has turned into us paying for tickets and dining. (Long story - had to do with DDP and ridiculousness of my parents)
Now we can afford this (hopefully) but I never meant it to be this. My parents are treating us all to HDDR which is nice and I think my sister and BIL will end up treating us to something. However again make sure everyone is on the same page.

By the way - I think this will be the last time I treat my parents. It has made this trip a little more crazy. So I understand you charging your sister since I probably will do the same for my parents if they ask to go again. Just easier that way.

That sucks that you ended up footing evyerone's bill. My mom was going to purchase my niece and nephew tickets since she can get fl res prices. But the my bil told my sister he wasn't going to pay my mom money that my sister owed. My got one of those dentist credit cards for dental work my sister needed. My sister made some payments and didn't pay it in full before in interest kicked in. Mom paid it off but thought my sister shuld pay the interest since that was the deal and she didn't pay up.

We don't take money from my in laws for points and we bought them 10 day hoppers with no exp. They only use it when they come with us. They are very generous people so we thought it was the right thing to do. They usually pick up the cost of the xmas party tixs and if we eat off site they pay for that. DS loves Medieval Times which gets pricey for 5 people.

[MBUS]

We brought along Bil and his wife and their kids one year. We calculated the what the dues would be for the points they used and asked them to pay that. It ended up being a very cheap deal, as we offered to bring Sil and her family but they declined. So we had "extra" points set aside. Bil ended up with a 2 BR pool view at the BVW (used to staying at All Star) and was thrilled.

If I brought friends I still might ask for the dues to be paid, as it will be a lot cheaper than the hotel for them. If I knew they could not afford this, and I had the points to spare, I would offer them free. I see from all the horror stories above, it pays to be very clear what you're offering!! Put it in writing, I guess.

Beth

[angiek1024]

We take family all the time and this October are taking our friends with us. We always decide what points we are willing to use before we do the inviting and have never asked any of them to pay us anything. Our friends actually have offered to help with October's trip but we said no. It is their first Disney trip and we just want them to buy their dining and tickets and have fun with us. We have been to Disney 2-3 times a year for several years now so I guess we just like having people to go with us and enjoy Disney with us. I never think about the money part.

It would be a different situation if someone asked us to use them alone without us though...in that case we would probably expect some type of payment for the points use.

[Kynna]

Our points are where we allocated a major portion of our vacation budget. Our dues are calculated into our budget as cost of accomodation. If someone is using those points and they are no longer available to us I don't think it is outrageous to ask that if that is part of the initial conversation. We say we can "help" our friends/family get a deal with our points. We look at it this way if we would not think twice about spending $300-$400 on them if we were paying cash then we gift the points to them. Just because we pay the $ at the beginning of the year and not when we check in it's still being paid. We have already had situations where we treated people and they expect it to continue.

That said I love having the chance to treat people to Disney Accomodations when it makes sense. We are bringing newbies very soon and it is one of the best things about having DVC .

[belleandmaddysmom]

I agree that if I invited then I would not have them pay.
But also agree to be clear you are covering accommodations

[rescuesk]

A note from your moderators:

This is an excellent topic with alot of great information and advice. Let's please keep it on topic so that we can help the OP can make a desicion and help with other folks that may need this advice in the future!

[DVC_Don]

We've never charged friends for accomodations but they pay their own transportation and admission to the parks.

[kazanimo]

I have to admit I have charged both family and friends. It has never been a situation where we asked them more like a planned vacation together or alone. I believe in making things clear in the beginning. To get the kind of room they get for approx $100 per night is a great deal. However I make it clear that they could possibly find a deal at ASM etc. Perhaps this is because I have rented / transferred points at $10 . I like to know whats going on myself. Never want to feel as if I "owed" anything and it would make me feel more comfortable if I was paying for my room.

[RoslynStorm]

For our one trip in May we are taking my family along and they are paying our monthly payment for the month of May for DVC since we financed it. They knew that it was all of our points for the year and that we had been considering a November trip before we suggested an all out family vacation (which meant May was the *only* available month for everyone). They were more than happy to give us that little bit of money in return for the 2br villa. Everyone gets to go on vacation, there are plenty of bathrooms and the kids don't have to share a bed or my parents pay through the nose to ensure that they don't

Now when I take my siblings next year, I'm footing the bill because its a school reward. So I suppose it depends on the situation.

If my p.i.ta. sil asked to use my points and I consented, it would def be $10 a point.

Also, some friends of mine wanted to do a trip in the near future and insisted on paying for a portion of their room. We agreed that a payment or two + dues was more than enough and our friends were flabbergasted that it was as they called it "cheap". Lol!