April Incentives - What Are Your Predictions?

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

VGF is different because it was not a sold out resort. OKW is.

And, they have the ability to decide what to sell and when. In most cases, if people walk away from the sale because they can’t get their UY, they will get it for you if they can.

In the case of MB, it does t surprise me and TBH, can understand the strategy. But glad you ended up with what you want.

I acquired the VGF “fire sale” deal in Sept at the very end, already had Jun, Aug, and Sept UYs and they were happy to give me an Oct UY with 2022 points.

 

[Tatebeck]

500 OKW points is like 50k after incentives and MB, then like 5k per year in dues. It's a sign! BUY!!!

But then I would have 500 OKW points. I would be so nervous to bank on 7 month availability all the time. Unless you REALLY like OKW that is a risky move

 

[Unclelude]

But then I would have 500 OKW points. I would be so nervous to bank on 7 month availability all the time. Unless you REALLY like OKW that is a risky move

Yeah, but we are a family of 5 and this would be our 5th contract... and It's April 5th... It's almost like I *have* to buy!!?!

 

[Tatebeck]

Yeah, but we are a family of 5 and this would be our 5th contract... and It's April 5th... It's almost like I *have* to buy!!?!

If you have good access at other resorts and need a bunch of points, it may just work then! Still, I would have to like OKW quite a bit more to lock that many points in!

 

[Unclelude]

If you have good access at other resorts and need a bunch of points, it may just work then! Still, I would have to like OKW quite a bit more to lock that many points in!

Hehe yeah, superstitions and joking aside..

we quickly moved from studios to preferably 1 and 2BR stays... 1 BRs are typically abundant when we go .. we also don't mind split stays... We have been able to put together "point miser studio split stays" even in September... 7 months doesn't really scare me...

 

[mkatsy]

I acquired the VGF “fire sale” deal in Sept at the very end, already had Jun, Aug, and Sept UYs and they were happy to give me an Oct UY with 2022 points.

Was it with your regular guide? My VGF were my first direct points so my guide was essentially a stranger to me and tried to push me into a 2023 UY. My poly resale contract had been accepted but we hadn’t closed yet (that was the Dec UY). She begrudgingly gave me the Dec ‘22 after I pulled up the email showing the resale agreement.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Was it with your regular guide? My VGF were my first direct points so my guide was essentially a stranger to me and tried to push me into a 2023 UY. My poly resale contract had been accepted but we hadn’t closed yet (that was the Dec UY). She begrudgingly gave me the Dec ‘22 after I pulled up the email showing the resale agreement.

Actually it was not. I have an assigned guide from my first ever purchase on a DCL sailing, but I didn’t especially like or dislike him and I actually tried to buy the VGF entirely through the DVC website chat—unfortunately that was not possible but I got a random guide who was very friendly and helpful.

 

[SLACG]

Yeah, but we are a family of 5 and this would be our 5th contract... and It's April 5th... It's almost like I *have* to buy!!?!

Oh, in that case, you *must* wait to buy on May 5th!!!

 

[Sandisw]

I acquired the VGF “fire sale” deal in Sept at the very end, already had Jun, Aug, and Sept UYs and they were happy to give me an Oct UY with 2022 points.

That’s the point. They make the decisions they want because they know what they have and what they can do.

 

[Unclelude]

Oh, in that case, you *must* wait to buy on May 5th!!!

Thanks for that, now I have another month of this in the back of my head

Lol, I was actually rationalizing all of those arguments yesterday.

Until I brought it up to my DW and she said something like "You have a problem, you are @#$!# crazy" (yep-probably) ... I had no response, but I thought to myself - "I know, I'll go buy a Tesla, that will learn her."

 

[Jwaire]

I acquired the VGF “fire sale” deal in Sept at the very end, already had Jun, Aug, and Sept UYs and they were happy to give me an Oct UY with 2022 points.

Do I dare ask why you have so many use years?

 

[DVC_Eeyore_Fan]

Long time reader, first time poster. Figured I would share what my guide told me.

I inquired if I could combine the RIV and AUL incentives to hit threshold levels since the incentive levels are EXACTLY the same through the 200-249 point levels for current members (i.e., buy 50 AUL and 50 RIV to hit the 100 point incentive of $17 per point off, 75 AUL and 75 RIV to hit the 150 point incentives of $17 per point and $1500 Welcome Home, etc…). I think this was previously allowed for RIV and CCV back in 2020(?) when incentives were the exact same.

My guide told me that he’s still working with his leadership to see if this can be approved because they did not previously contemplate this. Currently the answer is no, but my guide has followed up multiple times saying he’s trying to convince leadership since the incentives are the exact same between the two resorts. No clue where this will land, but if they can’t do that then I might have to happily “settle” for another 100 RIV points.

Figured I’d share in case others were thinking the same thing.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Long time reader, first time poster. Figured I would share what my guide told me.

I inquired if I could combine the RIV and AUL incentives to hit threshold levels since the incentive levels are EXACTLY the same through the 200-249 point levels for current members (i.e., buy 50 AUL and 50 RIV to hit the 100 point incentive of $17 per point off, 75 AUL and 75 RIV to hit the 150 point incentives of $17 per point and $1500 Welcome Home, etc…). I think this was previously allowed for RIV and CCV back in 2020(?) when incentives were the exact same.

My guide told me that he’s still working with his leadership to see if this can be approved because they did not previously contemplate this. Currently the answer is no, but my guide has followed up multiple times saying he’s trying to convince leadership since the incentives are the exact same between the two resorts. No clue where this will land, but if they can’t do that then I might have to happily “settle” for another 100 RIV points.

Figured I’d share in case others were thinking the same thing.

They certainly did this before with RVA + CCV, many people here took advantage of that. I hope they can do it again for you

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

Long time reader, first time poster. Figured I would share what my guide told me.

I inquired if I could combine the RIV and AUL incentives to hit threshold levels since the incentive levels are EXACTLY the same through the 200-249 point levels for current members (i.e., buy 50 AUL and 50 RIV to hit the 100 point incentive of $17 per point off, 75 AUL and 75 RIV to hit the 150 point incentives of $17 per point and $1500 Welcome Home, etc…). I think this was previously allowed for RIV and CCV back in 2020(?) when incentives were the exact same.

My guide told me that he’s still working with his leadership to see if this can be approved because they did not previously contemplate this. Currently the answer is no, but my guide has followed up multiple times saying he’s trying to convince leadership since the incentives are the exact same between the two resorts. No clue where this will land, but if they can’t do that then I might have to happily “settle” for another 100 RIV points.

Figured I’d share in case others were thinking the same thing.

Keep us posted. Would be nice if they did this.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

New to the boards here, and new to DVC!

Just wanted to say I took the plunge this week and purchased two 150 point contracts at Riviera with the current incentives. I was going to pull the trigger on April 1, but glad I waited another day!

Ended up being $187/pt, plus got three Chase rewards points per dollar by putting the purchase on my sapphire reserve card. As it turned out I had a free My Chase Plan available too, so for one of the contracts I’ve got it in a 24 month repayment plan!

I had been strongly considering a VGF resale, but with these incentives direct was hard to pass up for a first time buyer.

Cheers!

Love the My Chase plan. If you have the cash that you were going to lay out for this technically that's another "5% compounded for 2 years" cheaper you're getting the contract for if you parked it in a T-Bill or something similar. Gotta love when you use creative ways to make money work for ya. Enjoy the purchase!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Do I dare ask why you have so many use years?

Putting one time $$ savings above convenience for the next 20-40 years, lol.

My first purchase was AUL direct and my guides didn’t do the best job guiding me (I didn’t realize I had a choice) and I ended up with Aug. (Then I joined these boards.)
Found great deal on a loaded VGF in Jun…that took me to 2.
A few months later I found a BCV of the right size, with motivated sellers in September (Sept/Oct is the UY that actually works best for our schedule because we can travel during all of our kids school breaks when we’d want to be in FL (Fall/Winter/Spring).

Finally, after staying at VGF BPK over Labor Day, we decided we needed another 50 points at VGF and broke down and bought VGF direct, but needed to Oct UY to get an extra $3300 of MB.

It’s worked out OK so far and I think having AUL Aug, BCV Sept, and VGF Oct is fine…. But I plan to eventually sell the Jun VGF points…and only add new contracts between Aug and Oct!

 

[zachatak]

Well we did it. We broke down and picked up 250 VDH pts against my better judgement, hating the TOT and already high dues. We spent this last week at the Grand Californian for spring break and decided to wander over and check out the DVC tower. My wife and kids loved it - me too. They really wanted to stay there some time so I explained that the majority of our pts are resale bought after the changes and that it might be hard for us to book since we don’t have 11 mos priority. So later after the tour, I hit the DVC website to see what rooms might be available and lo and behold, the grand villa was open for Weds night so we booked it. Holy cow that was amazing. We packed a couple small bags for an overnight and dragged them across the parking lot from VGC and freaking fell in love. This was the most expensive vacation ever.

 

[Tatebeck]

Long time reader, first time poster. Figured I would share what my guide told me.

I inquired if I could combine the RIV and AUL incentives to hit threshold levels since the incentive levels are EXACTLY the same through the 200-249 point levels for current members (i.e., buy 50 AUL and 50 RIV to hit the 100 point incentive of $17 per point off, 75 AUL and 75 RIV to hit the 150 point incentives of $17 per point and $1500 Welcome Home, etc…). I think this was previously allowed for RIV and CCV back in 2020(?) when incentives were the exact same.

My guide told me that he’s still working with his leadership to see if this can be approved because they did not previously contemplate this. Currently the answer is no, but my guide has followed up multiple times saying he’s trying to convince leadership since the incentives are the exact same between the two resorts. No clue where this will land, but if they can’t do that then I might have to happily “settle” for another 100 RIV points.

Figured I’d share in case others were thinking the same thing.

That would be amazing if true. I might even be up for adding a few VDH points onto our possible RIV purchase to be able to stay a few nights near Disneyland every once in a while since VGC is impossible to book at 7 months. Otherwise I don't think it would be worth it for us with so many other hotels so close to Disneyland to pay full price for a very small contract at VDH

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Well we did it. We broke down and picked up 250 VDH pts against my better judgement, hating the TOT and already high dues. We spent this last week at the Grand Californian for spring break and decided to wander over and check out the DVC tower. My wife and kids loved it - me too. They really wanted to stay there some time so I explained that the majority of our pts are resale bought after the changes and that it might be hard for us to book since we don’t have 11 mos priority. So later after the tour, I hit the DVC website to see what rooms might be available and lo and behold, the grand villa was open for Weds night so we booked it. Holy cow that was amazing. We packed a couple small bags for an overnight and dragged them across the parking lot from VGC and freaking fell in love. This was the most expensive vacation ever.

So fun! I feel your against my better judgment comment ... I'm contemplating purchasing as well. We stayed one night in a studio (would have preferred the Grand Villa, LOL!) and really liked it. I hate the high dues and TOT, but I think I have to get over it since we will definitely be looking to book extra nights at DLR when we run out of VGC. I'm thinking about adding on there, too. Resale though. Congratulations!

 

[zachatak]

So fun! I feel your against my better judgment comment ... I'm contemplating purchasing as well. We stayed one night in a studio (would have preferred the Grand Villa, LOL!) and really liked it. I hate the high dues and TOT, but I think I have to get over it since we will definitely be looking to book extra nights at DLR when we run out of VGC. I'm thinking about adding on there, too. Resale though. Congratulations!

I really wanted to pickup some VGC but my fam said nope. It’s completely my fault for booking the grand villa. In my head I’m doing something nice for my family and then it ends up costing the equivalent of a car. I am very logical and spreadsheet driven yet this was completely an emotional decision and I am ok with it. Go for it!