Do you charge family and friends?

[LSchrow]

We give our son & DiL 8 nights in a Studio, twice a year - no charge, but they reciprocate with dinner, etc
Our daughter (also adult) goes with me for two weeks every year - no charge, but she also pays for some dinners & drinks while there.
If someone is staying in our room, there's no charge but they pay for their transportation & tickets (my cousin was an exception - i paid for everything because she's an amazing person & wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise).
We charge my brother & SiL for the dues only.
I am happy to help anyone else find a place to rent points from

 

[mom2missmous]

There will be 9 of us going in September - all family! This includes my grown daughter, my son and his young family along with my newly engaged grand daughter and her fiancé . Disney costs so much now, it will be a stretch for them all just to buy tickets, air fare and some restaurants (we are also doing two days at universal- still need to figure that part out lol). So since we are blessed to have points we bought years ago at BCV that we can manage to book a 2 bedroom (and hoping to switch at 7 months to a 3 bedroom/ grand villa elsewhere if at all possible) , we wouldn't think of charging them! For us, this is a wonderful chance to spend a little time together and also allow everyone the freedom to enjoy "the world' at their leisure without the stress of paying for the lovely resort we are so fortunate to be able to afford thanks to our DVC membership.

 

[PrincessKL]

I think this depends on who is going with us and what kind of room is needed, as well as the purpose of the trip. If I invited family or friends to go and stay in the same room as I would have booked myself, then I don’t charge them anything. I won’t charge my children or my parents or in-laws or grandparents anything. But if some other family members want to go on a trip with me (I did not invite them in the first place), and I am going to book them a separate room, and they are financially well and they are going to pay for a deluxe room anyways, I would charge them. When I only have 100 points and I have to spend 50 points on their room, I would charge them around $15 per point as if I rented the points out.

 

[tachyonbb]

One of the reasons we bought DVC was to share it with our daughters and grandsons. We have taken a bunch of trips with both daughters, a son in law and two grandsons and sometimes with a mother in law. It was our gift to them and we enjoyed the trips greatly. We buy the grandsons tickets and airfare and the others buy their own. Daughters sometimes buy meals. It is a great pleasure to provide them with the gift of Disney. Watching the grandsons eyes as they come off a roller coaster or finish a great meal is thanks enough for us.

 

[matt and beth]

We share mostly. We have upgraded to a larger room a handful of times and only asked they cover the difference with the maintenance fees. It was a bargain to them and they stayed in an upgraded resort. We’ve also let parents stay free of charge. So… it’s a mix really

 

[Buzzsgramma]

Never, that's why we bought DVC...if you offer a free room they will be thereand one relative works for airline..so free flights...its just tix and food...back in the day we used to buy them 2 day tix (Non hoppers)..once we treated the grandkids airfare...they are all adults....These days we treat fro a nice dinner at Citrico's or Cali Grill...an that's about it..besides the room of course....

 

[thank_the_phoenicians88]

If I share with friends or family, I only ask that they pay the maintenance fee for those points.

 

[lorenni]

I do not charge, but absolutely acknowledge that I am privileged to be able to afford that.

We have regularly invited friends or my parents and booked a two bedroom so we could all go together. It’s more fun for me that way. My friends usually try to pay for things like groceries or dinner as a thank you. And everyone always buys their own plane tickets and park tickets.

 

[heynowirv]

When the children were younger it was just us and occasionally we'd rent some points out. Now we have children with their spouses and grandchildren .It's the joy of watching the expressions of the next generation that is our payback.

 

[Beachmom0317]

We do bring my parents sometimes and don't charge them anything. They usually treat us to a dinner.

 

[Disneylovrs]

We are doing our first DVC where we have friends coming with. Wife daughter and I usually stay in a 1 bdrm but upgraded to a 2 bdrm at VGF to accommodate our friends (husband, wife, son). We are charging for the upgrade of room, basically my idea is a studio. I also brought up the idea of just splitting cost of points down the middle. They were open to both ideas. I told them we would sit down and go over the cost per point and totals and come to an agreement.

We feel lucky to be able to bring friends or family but if we have to upgrade and use more points. That is a cost to us that we incur and believe it’s only fair they pay some share as they are getting a great deal then paying cash to Disney.

 

[Boardwalk III]

I have charged family/friends and will continue to do so. I usually calculate an amount based on dues per point. I usually travel with the same group of folks and this is expected by all.

Same. Our close friends (that we travel with the most) have been vacation pals of ours for a long time, even before we bought DVC. We even traveled to WDW together prior to us owning DVC. They always insist on paying for their portion of a 2 BR villa. I usually charge them a highly discounted rate based on what the going rate is for renting points. Currently around $10/point (vs market rate of $18-20). Everyone is happy and it works out well.

With that said, when I invite extended family (often those who might not be able to afford a WDW trip) I usually cover the room cost, and sometimes even help out with a portion of their park passes, because I have the means to do so. These situations are different for everyone, financially and otherwise, thus I feel there’s no “wrong” answer to this question

 

[gisele2]

I charge the price per point I would have with a broker if they do not stay with us. I am going next year with my daughter and invited my sister to come with us. Because we are all in the same room , I do not expect anything in return.

 

[davidhr]

If I’m going with them I don’t charge them.

If I’m booking a trip for them, I charge the initial cost pp + the annual dues for that year.

 

[kes601]

Based on this thread we must be jerks. We charged my parents / sister $19 per point when we rented them a 1 bedroom at BLT over Thanksgiving. Now, they originally had 2 lake view rooms booked in the main tower at Contemporary so we saved them about $5k….so I prefer to look at it that way. Now our summer trip expenses are paid for.

 

[jimmytammy]

We dont charge anyone. We like to be able to share being blessed with our loved ones.

But I do express that once we have booked, we cant easily go back and put points back in the system and if they decide not to go, it puts us in a tough place to have to use the points in other ways

 

[MKCP1984]

I have gifted the room a couple of times (wedding gift for 2-3 nights) and I have charged a few times (charged for dues per point), so it depends on the circumstances. I would love to host my entire extended family sometime! That is a dream of mine - everyone there at the same time...in separate rooms, of course!

 

[holden]

If we are going on the trip with friends and family - no charge. If friends/family is using our points without us - charge the maintenance fees for the number of points used.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

We are traveling in late May and will meet up with some friends for two nights at the beginning of June. We offered them a stay on property since they were planning a short stay at WDW after spending some time in Daytona. There are ten in their party, so we got them two rooms for a couple of nights. We told them upfront there would be no cost to them, since the dad is my best friend and our boys are really good friends with their younger son. It wasn’t a huge gift in the number of nights or even accommodations, but they are appreciative and excited. Besides doing WDW every year while our boys are young, sharing it with our friends is a major reason why we bought DVC.

 

[scoobdoo]

We typically will charge 60% of the going rate for a cash room.

because of the cost of living crisis for our last trip to Aulani we actually charged 80% of the going rate for a cash room.