I just started graduate school and I won't be able to take a vacation this year. I have xxx points plus xx points banked from last year. Should I just bank 2015 and hope I have time for a great vacay next year or should I try to rent this year's points and spend the cash on textbooks? I've never rented my points before so I'm pretty much in the dark on how to even go about trying to. Any advice would be appreciated.
Forgive my long post... I hope this is helpful to you.
I agree with DVC Mike, the easiest way to rent your points is through a broker - like David's, but there are other brokers too that offer payments in other ways (David's requires the use of Paypal). Type DVC Point Broker in to Google and you're first item will be an alternative broker, and others too. You also didn't say what resort you own at, some resorts pay you a higher "premium" for making reservations in the 11 month owner window for renters through a broker.
As for doing the leg work yourself to rent, well the upside is that if you own at a "premium resort"
- Bay Lake Tower At Disney's Contemporary Resort
- Disney's Beach Club Villas
- Disney's Boardwalk Villas
- The Villas At Disney's Wilderness Lodge
- The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel
- The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel
- Disney's Aulani Resort and Spa
- Disney's Polynesian Villas and Bungalows
You could potentially rent your points for $14.00-$14.50 or even $15pp and you make more than going with the broker. That's the good news. The bad news is you have to do the legwork to find the renter, make up the contract, decide how you will take payment from your renter, and what the terms are for your rental. For example what will you do if your renter can't travel? Will you rebook? Is the renter out of luck? These are just things to think through. For example, I recently had a renter who wanted to cancel her room at DL because her child did not have a measles vaccine. I was able to cancel and rebook for her, but I had the flexibility to do so and was able to accommodate. You might not be able to be that. Just something to think through if you want to rent yourself. I do lots of rentals and can tell you that 98% of the time they go off without a hitch, but I have had to work with people who couldn't travel and I do try to accommodate odd-ball situations.
As for booking you just book the room like they are a friend of yours and check the box on the screen that they are not DVC members. Then send them the Email confirmation and work out the contract getting signed, as well as, payment.
Everyone has to start somewhere if you want to go this route. The way I started was by doing searches to read about how others rent their points and you can also search for sample contracts. To find a renter, you would open an ad here on the DIS and give it a whirl.
Good luck!
