Buying “sold out” resorts direct vs Copper Creek

[Lola_Stark42]

So I tried my hand at resale, and I will likely try again at sompoint, as I do see there is significant savings. Since I am incredibly not patient, and really wanting to book a reservation, I decided to call DVC direct yesterday after finding out Disney took my contract back. I spoke to a very friendly guide. I told her I definitely wanted to buy, and asked if all they were selling was Aulani and Copper Creek. I mentioned that I have heard about waitlisting, and asked if you had to be a member to do so. She said the waitlist is open to anyone, but it’s not publicly advertised. I said I was interested in Saratoga Springs. She did tell me the expiration dates would be earlier, and I said I understood that. She asked if it was available would I be ready to buy, and I said yes. So she put me on hold, and when she returned, she told me that Saratoga Springs was available, with either a February, March, or April UY, and it’s $150pp. I find it very interesting, especially with all of these buy backs recently, that they have it available with no waitlist at all.

Where they “get you” on this the most is she went back to Copper Creek, and said if I buy there instead, I will get last years points. (I know this is a sales tactic, and not really a freebie). However I would only get those points if I purchase a December UY. I have a friend that just added 50 points at CC last week, her UY is June, and she was also “given” 50 extra points. I see why so many say to buy resale first, or at least why it helps to have an existing contract in place. Apparently if I wanted another UY, I would not get “last years points.” Also, if I buy at Saratoga I also wouldn’t get “extra” points.

Has anyone had success in buying direct where you can get “last years” points on a UY you prefer? Or getting the same on a “sold out” resort?

 

[keaster]

Like you said it's all a sales tactic, there is no "extra" freebie points.

Put it this way: If you were to buy direct the February/March/April UY that DVC is offering you direct at SSR right now...You would not get "last year's" points because those months are already in their 2018 UY. You can't go back in time to 2017.

However, Your friend who bought June UY at Copper Creek does get the 2017 points because she is currently still in the June 2017 UY. She is not getting "extra", she is just getting what she bought.

In order to buy direct from Disney and get "last year's" points, you would have to purchase a contract with at least a June UY at this point. It looks like from what you've said, DVC is not giving you the option of a June UY for SSR.

 

[chalee94]

If you buy any resort directly with a Feb, March or April UY, you would be in the 2018 UY (since the calendar says May 2018) and could not get last year's points.

If you bought a June UY or later, you would still be in the 2017 UY (a June 2017 use year runs from June 1, 2017 through May 31, 2018) and would still get those 2017 UY pts on a direct purchase.

 

[ScubaCat]

They also can sell you any resort you want if you're pesty enough. They're just pushing you towards whatever is in their best interest to sell.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

I did a tour last Sunday and I'm glad I saw this thread because I was definitely getting starry-eyed over the 2017 UY points thing. We do love WL, though, and I think CC would be a great spot for us. We just need to decide if we like it enough to pay the premium. We would probably go direct just for ease and lack of resale. The big downer is right now it's a Dec UY and we like to travel in the fall/early winter so that would be inconvenient.

 

[Vohdre]

With me it wasn't as much a patience thing as it was that I really wanted BLT and with the small(ish) contract I was looking for (150 points), the benefits of buying direct, and the lack of hassle of resale / ROFR I decided to buy direct as well. I just got my call yesterday that my points were available and I'll have my membership number by next week.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

So I tried my hand at resale, and I will likely try again at sompoint, as I do see there is significant savings. Since I am incredibly not patient, and really wanting to book a reservation, I decided to call DVC direct yesterday after finding out Disney took my contract back. I spoke to a very friendly guide. I told her I definitely wanted to buy, and asked if all they were selling was Aulani and Copper Creek. I mentioned that I have heard about waitlisting, and asked if you had to be a member to do so. She said the waitlist is open to anyone, but it’s not publicly advertised. I said I was interested in Saratoga Springs. She did tell me the expiration dates would be earlier, and I said I understood that. She asked if it was available would I be ready to buy, and I said yes. So she put me on hold, and when she returned, she told me that Saratoga Springs was available, with either a February, March, or April UY, and it’s $150pp. I find it very interesting, especially with all of these buy backs recently, that they have it available with no waitlist at all.

Where they “get you” on this the most is she went back to Copper Creek, and said if I buy there instead, I will get last years points. (I know this is a sales tactic, and not really a freebie). However I would only get those points if I purchase a December UY. I have a friend that just added 50 points at CC last week, her UY is June, and she was also “given” 50 extra points. I see why so many say to buy resale first, or at least why it helps to have an existing contract in place. Apparently if I wanted another UY, I would not get “last years points.” Also, if I buy at Saratoga I also wouldn’t get “extra” points.

Has anyone had success in buying direct where you can get “last years” points on a UY you prefer? Or getting the same on a “sold out” resort?

Disney sells contracts with current points. Where that Guide was getting away with the spiel was in using the "2017" points - and frankly they were just telling you wrong information about CCV but Dec UY must be the one they are currently offering to new buyers. Feb, Mar and April have all currently started their 2018 UY but all others are still in their 2017 UY and if you bought any points in those UY's from Disney it would start with 2017 points. But remember that Dec's 2017 points just started 2 months earlier than Feb's 2018 points. It's not a whole extra year - just 2 months difference compared to one that starts with 2018.

What they don't do (although they tried for a bit in the past) is sell contracts without current points and that's sometimes what dictates a waitlist for "sold out" resorts. But I'm not surprised they have SSR points with no waitlists as they've been ROFRing quite a few of them. They probably have some AKV points too.

 

[kmc8826]

With me it wasn't as much a patience thing as it was that I really wanted BLT and with the small(ish) contract I was looking for (150 points), the benefits of buying direct, and the lack of hassle of resale / ROFR I decided to buy direct as well. I just got my call yesterday that my points were available and I'll have my membership number by next week.

What is your user year? Did you get the 2017 points or just 2018? I am a total newbie to this and trying to absorb all I can but I have now had two phone conversations with a guide and he indicated to me that if I wanted SSR, AKV, or OKW he would have 2017 points but if I wanted BLT the only option was 2018 points. No discussion about user year. That seemed a little odd to me but again I am just right now trying to absorb all this information from you experts!

 

[Bruin_mouse]

but if I wanted BLT the only option was 2018 points.

With the disclaimer that I'm definitely not an expert, my only guess is that he's implying he only has February, March, or April use year BLT points available.

 

[kmc8826]

With the disclaimer that I'm definitely not an expert, my only guess is that he's implying he only has February, March, or April use year BLT points available.

You have bought so you you are more of an expert than me! He actually looked (or said he was checking) inventory on SSR, OKW, AKV. On BLT he didn't even check and just made the statement nothing would be available. It could simply be the case that they are attempting to actively steer people to certain resorts and not ones like BLT that have a waitlist.

 

[Bruin_mouse]

It could simply be the case that they are attempting to actively steer people to certain resorts and not ones like BLT that have a waitlist.

I was briefly in the market for BLT direct points before I decided to stay all resale. I haven't heard of anyone recently that bought BLT direct without being on a wait list for at least a little bit (for me it was about a month and a half or so for 25 Sep UY points). The only advice I can give is what I've read a thousand times on here before, and is my personal DVC purchase philosophy: buy where you want to stay. If that's BLT, that's where I'd buy. If you have to get on a wait list, you have 42 more years to use your points, I suspect you'll be able to use them eventually.

The other DVC purchase philosophies are: buy where you wouldn't mind staying or buy whatever is most cost effective (SSR points for most people). One isn't better than the other. I just personally happen to think if I'm spending thousands of dollars regardless, it had better be for points at the place I want. I do live in California though, so as a practical matter that limits the applicability of the other two buying philosophies.

I would decide which philosophy fits you best and use that to guide your decision, not whatever line a DVC guide tries to pitch you.

 

[ScubaCat]

The big downer is right now it's a Dec UY and we like to travel in the fall/early winter so that would be inconvenient.

Tell them what UY you want and stress that you're willing to wait for it to be available. I bet they magically find points in the UY you're looking for pretty quickly. That's all a gimmick to steer you towards what they prefer to sell you, but it's your money and your choice ultimately.

 

[Lola_Stark42]

What is your user year? Did you get the 2017 points or just 2018? I am a total newbie to this and trying to absorb all I can but I have now had two phone conversations with a guide and he indicated to me that if I wanted SSR, AKV, or OKW he would have 2017 points but if I wanted BLT the only option was 2018 points. No discussion about user year. That seemed a little odd to me but again I am just right now trying to absorb all this information from you experts!

See, now my guide said if I bought SSR, I would only get 2018 points. If I bought CCV, I would get 2017 and 2018 points. What use year did your guide say he had where you could get 2017 points for those resorts?

 

[disneynutz]

Disney creates the resale delay to push impatient people into buying direct for more money.

Bill

 

[kmc8826]

See, now my guide said if I bought SSR, I would only get 2018 points. If I bought CCV, I would get 2017 and 2018 points. What use year did your guide say he had where you could get 2017 points for those resorts?

Short answer is he said he was “cross referencing and checking two different programs” and that he could give me SSR and OKW with 2017 points. I asked about BLT. He didn’t even check and said no. He then said “oh I see I have AKV with December UY and both 2017/2018 points).

Long answer I will give you context: I am not sure that the person I talked to is the “guide” that would actually sale or not. We go down in 2 weeks. Decision is made we want to buy but I know CCV or Aulani is not for us. I put down I wanted to do a tour when I was on MDE. They started calling. In the last year I have talked to them a couple times and have been lurking and reading this portion of the Disboards. So I obviously knew more than your average person. I talked to 2 people before I started talking to this guy. I knew the direct prices and it is was a little weird when he started to quiz me about it. At any rate, I told him I knew the resale market but that I was not foreclosing buying direct to just get in the system and see if it was for me and have the benefits. That is when he got serious and said he would check availability. That is when he answered me; it was to my direct questions. I agree with prior poster. My overall impression of the conversation is that if you call up and say you want a September user year (or whatever) at SSR or OKW extended or even AKV with both 2017 and 2018 points they will within that conversation or shortly after find you a contract. I think some of the other resorts there might be the wait list but for those it did not sound like it would be an issue. Just call up and say what you want.

 

[jenr812]

So I tried my hand at resale, and I will likely try again at sompoint, as I do see there is significant savings. Since I am incredibly not patient, and really wanting to book a reservation, I decided to call DVC direct yesterday after finding out Disney took my contract back. I spoke to a very friendly guide. I told her I definitely wanted to buy, and asked if all they were selling was Aulani and Copper Creek. I mentioned that I have heard about waitlisting, and asked if you had to be a member to do so. She said the waitlist is open to anyone, but it’s not publicly advertised. I said I was interested in Saratoga Springs. She did tell me the expiration dates would be earlier, and I said I understood that. She asked if it was available would I be ready to buy, and I said yes. So she put me on hold, and when she returned, she told me that Saratoga Springs was available, with either a February, March, or April UY, and it’s $150pp. I find it very interesting, especially with all of these buy backs recently, that they have it available with no waitlist at all.

Where they “get you” on this the most is she went back to Copper Creek, and said if I buy there instead, I will get last years points. (I know this is a sales tactic, and not really a freebie). However I would only get those points if I purchase a December UY. I have a friend that just added 50 points at CC last week, her UY is June, and she was also “given” 50 extra points. I see why so many say to buy resale first, or at least why it helps to have an existing contract in place. Apparently if I wanted another UY, I would not get “last years points.” Also, if I buy at Saratoga I also wouldn’t get “extra” points.

Has anyone had success in buying direct where you can get “last years” points on a UY you prefer? Or getting the same on a “sold out” resort?

I hate that both of our contracts got taken and it has pushed us both to consider direct pricing The guide I spoke with offered me CCV with a Sept UY with 2017 points. Said if I got AKV (what my resale contract was for and what I love), there would be no 2017 points but now I can’t remember if we discussed UY for AKV. AKV direct is only $11 cheaper than CCV however. So for the extra 11 years, if I’m going to go direct, I’m going to go for CCV. I’m only buying 75 direct though. I WILL eventually get some AKV points!!!! (Resale)

 

[Lola_Stark42]

I was only offered CCV with a Dec UY. When I asked if there were any other months available, I was told I could have Feb, March, or April. No other UY was mentioned to me. So frustrating how each guide gives different answers. I might have to call back and be a little more direct and firm with them.

 

[Vohdre]

What is your user year? Did you get the 2017 points or just 2018? I am a total newbie to this and trying to absorb all I can but I have now had two phone conversations with a guide and he indicated to me that if I wanted SSR, AKV, or OKW he would have 2017 points but if I wanted BLT the only option was 2018 points. No discussion about user year. That seemed a little odd to me but again I am just right now trying to absorb all this information from you experts!

September UY so I will get (and pay for) 2017 points. I had to wait about a month. When I called I told them BLT with June, July, or September UY (there are no August). They called me 2 date ago and I should have my member number today (actual closing in about a month).

 

[zavandor]

Tell them what UY you want and stress that you're willing to wait for it to be available. I bet they magically find points in the UY you're looking for pretty quickly. That's all a gimmick to steer you towards what they prefer to sell you, but it's your money and your choice ultimately.

Even better, tell her to put you on a WL for the UY you want and in the meantime you'll look for resale, fastest wins. I bet you'll be called back pretty quickly.

 

[Debbie Jean]

Smaller add on last fall AKV direct. Told my guide I wanted a December UY to match my existing contract. He put me on list, waited about 3 weeks and it came through in November. Got 2017 and 2018 points.