Top 20 DVC Tips from a 20 year member

[Raven01]

You know what’s awesome to read? People like DVC Doctor, blessed in life and so willing to share it with others.

I work hard to provide for my DD, and wish I had the means to travel with friends and family like that. DVC was my luxury, frivolous but good for my mental health purchase. It’s nice to read about others who can share it sharing, and it reminds me there are good people with good hearts in this world.

 

[DVC Doctor]

You know what’s awesome to read? People like DVC Doctor, blessed in life and so willing to share it with others.

I work hard to provide for my DD, and wish I had the means to travel with friends and family like that. DVC was my luxury, frivolous but good for my mental health purchase. It’s nice to read about others who can share it sharing, and it reminds me there are good people with good hearts in this world.

Thanks, but the main purpose of my DVC (and yours) is to vacation with my immediate family. But after a few years where I kept buying points (addonitis), I got to the point where I can invite extended family and friends and not be a bean counter. Just travel to Disney and enjoy it.

 

[Raven01]

Thanks, but the main purpose of my DVC (and yours) is to vacation with my immediate family. But after a few years where I kept buying points (addonitis), I got to the point where I can invite extended family and friends and not be a bean counter. Just travel to Disney and enjoy it.

I completely agree. I had just read through the thread when people were debating the pros and cons of bringing extended family. For me, I take care of my DD first with my limited resources, but I think people missed the point about traveling with others. If you are blessed to be able to do it and can, it’s a wonderful gift. Not everyone has the resources to go to Disney.

 

[Lorana]

I completely agree. I had just read through the thread when people were debating the pros and cons of bringing extended family. For me, I take care of my DD first with my limited resources, but I think people missed the point about traveling with others. If you are blessed to be able to do it and can, it’s a wonderful gift. Not everyone has the resources to go to Disney.

I am hopefully doing exactly this in February, and again in April! I'm taking my parents and my siblings and their kids in February. They haven't stayed onsite in Disney since my wedding 20 years ago, and one of my nieces as never been! So we decided to bank and borrow points to take them all for 6 nights in February. Then, in April, we're going back to celebrate our 20th with a bunch of friends, and we are using our points to book stays for four of our friends (and two of their kids) to come with us. I am fortunate enough to be in a position where we can do so, and while we bought into DVC to prioritize trips for us and our kids (and future grandkids!), being able to share the Disney love with extended family when we can is ALSO part of the reason we succumbed to addonits.

 

[superden]

9. Enjoy DVC membership and have fun and bring family and friends with you
10. Do not charge family or friends for stays with you, let them buy dinners, etc.

I definitely hear and understand that for some people YMMV. We just bought an 80 points AUL contract right before COVID (seller had two 80 point contracts, but I was too slow to snag both, and maybe that's a blessing in disguise at this point). Our first impulse is definitely to see how far we can stretch these points so we can bring family along. We cut our days at Aulani in half so we can bring my mom, sisters, and BIL and we're definitely happy to do it. I understand this is definitely not for everyone, but for our family, we do hope we can spend these moments together!


... Now if can start snagging more points so I can bring my SIL's family... they HAD to have 3 kids... (jk, I love all three of them!)

 

[DVC Doctor]

... Now if can start snagging more points so I can bring my SIL's family... they HAD to have 3 kids... (jk, I love all three of them!)

Introduce them to the resale market

 

[Lorana]

I definitely hear and understand that for some people YMMV. We just bought an 80 points AUL contract right before COVID (seller had two 80 point contracts, but I was too slow to snag both, and maybe that's a blessing in disguise at this point). Our first impulse is definitely to see how far we can stretch these points so we can bring family along. We cut our days at Aulani in half so we can bring my mom, sisters, and BIL and we're definitely happy to do it. I understand this is definitely not for everyone, but for our family, we do hope we can spend these moments together!


... Now if can start snagging more points so I can bring my SIL's family... they HAD to have 3 kids... (jk, I love all three of them!)

If you're not ready to add on, there's always the transfer option. I don't *actually* have enough points even with banking and borrowing to bring the family in February and friends in April, so I also took advantage of purchasing some points to transfer into my account to supplement what I already had.

Admittedly, I keep thinking "those could have been more resale points," but this allowed me to be generous to allow friends and family to celebrate with us. And while one could argue that they could have rented points themselves, the reality is they couldn't afford to do so and we wanted to bring them all with us.

 

[luckygirl0100]

Oh. Too bad. Love going with various extended family. So fun, especially with the grandchildren.

I will DEFINITELY take my grandchildren! I'm only 38.... no grandkids yet, only in-laws who want a free ride.

 

[Lorana]

I will DEFINITELY take my grandchildren! I'm only 38.... no grandkids yet, only in-laws who want a free ride.

"Want a free ride" -- yeah, that would make me not inclined to take them, too. The joy partly in taking my family and friends is that no on expected us to do this, and so were happily surprised when we surprised them with an offer. It's a world of difference when you do something out of kindness, and when people expect to be given something for free.

 

[Paul70]

I have been a DVC member 20 years and here is my Top-20 Tips for Disney Vacation Club.

1. Buy the location you love most - if you plan 7 to 11 months in advance
2. Buy the cheapest option (combination of price and annual dues) - if you plan 7 months or less
3. Do not stress over the use year as your travel plans will change in the future
4. Cheapest does not mean lowest price per point, as the annual dues is usually the largest factor
5. Pay cash – but if you finance, then get the lowest rate, shortest term, and pay it off quickly
6. Pay annual dues on credit card and get reward points
7. Use all your points and do not waste one point
8. It is much better to borrow points than bank them
9. Enjoy DVC membership and have fun and bring family and friends with you
10. Do not charge family or friends for stays with you, let them buy dinners, etc.
11. Forget about comparing DVC to the S&P 500 as it is not an investment
12. If you do consider DVC an investment, then use 3% ROI as a benchmark as this is real estate
13. Rent excess points when you are not using them for $10 over annual dues
14. Control your own destiny and rent your own points and do not use brokers
15. Try to stay at every DVC at least once and book new resorts when they first open
16. All DVC resorts are awesome, and my favorite is the one I am currently staying at
17. Use DVC points to stay at DVC resorts and minimize using them for anything else
18. Be active on DVC social media sites and keep up to date on DVC news
19. The RTU of 50 years ownership is a long time and who knows how long you will be a member
20. Be careful when willing DVC to family as DVC has annual dues requirements

I LOVED this list. Our addendum to #6: We use reward dollars from our Disney CC to pay our annual dues.

 

[Lorana]

I LOVED this list. Our addendum to #6: We use reward dollars from our Disney CC to pay our annual dues.

That's a great use of reward dollars. We pay our annual dues on our Disney CC, but then use the reward dollars towards buying our APs.

 

[superden]

If you're not ready to add on, there's always the transfer option. I don't *actually* have enough points even with banking and borrowing to bring the family in February and friends in April, so I also took advantage of purchasing some points to transfer into my account to supplement what I already had.

Admittedly, I keep thinking "those could have been more resale points," but this allowed me to be generous to allow friends and family to celebrate with us. And while one could argue that they could have rented points themselves, the reality is they couldn't afford to do so and we wanted to bring them all with us.

That's a great idea! That's definitely something I'll have to look into.

 

[DVC Doctor]

The joy partly in taking my family and friends is that no on expected us to do this, and so were happily surprised when we surprised them with an offer. It's a world of difference when you do something out of kindness, and when people expect to be given something for free.

I totally agree

 

[igrsod]

13. Rent excess points when you are not using them for $10 over annual dues
14. Control your own destiny and rent your own points and do not use brokers

Have you had any trouble doing this? I worry about troublesome renters. Any advice?

 

[DVC Doctor]

Have you had any trouble doing this? I worry about troublesome renters. Any advice?

Going rates have been $16-17pp pre-covid

However, it is better to use ALL of your points yourself and avoid renting

My advice is to rent "unused" points rather than let them go unused. I am not recommending buying more points than you need and rent extra points.

I have not had any issues renting my own points.

 

[Mkgr2005]

This is not a hard recommendation for everyone as if you only have 50 points, it may not apply, but if you have 2,500 points, then it is very important. Because points ultimately have an expiration date and even a situation like covid proves that sometimes you get caught with your pants down and will lost points. Even without covid, it is better to burn all your current points ASAP and then borrow from next year so you and never forced into using or losing points.

I am considering purchasing my first contract and this question was really critical to me in figuring out how many points to buy. I can't tell you how helpful this feedback was! Thank you!

 

[TerrorPigeon]

Great list. My only difference is on #6. I use my CC to buy Disney Gift Cards at 8-10% savings, still get the cc rewards, but save more.

I was thinking about doing this except 5% off with my new Target Red Card. It's a good tip.

 

[justadreamaway77]

This is one of the most active threads in the Budget board.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/u...-deals-and-more.3784942/page-81#post-62068346
I personally use a lot of Meijer Mperks. My wife and I both have accounts and they run a deal every month or two for $5 Mperks for every $50 in gift cards up to $50 in rewards. So I get $1000 for $900 each time. Plus Meijer rings up as a grocery, so there are some sweet reawards on some cards.

Here's the best one going, but I have shyed away from it. If you have 300+ points, buy AP's and do several trips a year.....


From the budget thread, it is 10x$525 cards for $4000, $400 each.

They do not run these deals any more. They only offer16% off a $1000 and 11% off $500. These cards are also now extremely difficult to get....like they sell out within a minute or two of being restocked. They also take 4-6 weeks to be delivered now so you have to plan way ahead.

 

[DVC Doctor]

I have been a DVC member 20 years and here is my Top-20 Tips for Disney Vacation Club.

1. Buy the location you love most - if you plan 7 to 11 months in advance
2. Buy the cheapest option (combination of price and annual dues) - if you plan 7 months or less
3. Do not stress over the use year as your travel plans will change in the future
4. Cheapest does not mean lowest price per point, as the annual dues is usually the largest factor
5. Pay cash – but if you finance, then get the lowest rate, shortest term, and pay it off quickly
6. Pay annual dues on credit card and get reward points
7. Use all your points and do not waste one point
8. It is much better to borrow points than bank them
9. Enjoy DVC membership and have fun and bring family and friends with you
10. Do not charge family or friends for stays with you, let them buy dinners, etc.
11. Forget about comparing DVC to the S&P 500 as it is not an investment
12. If you do consider DVC an investment, then use 3% ROI as a benchmark as this is real estate
13. Rent excess points when you are not using them for $10 over annual dues
14. Control your own destiny and rent your own points and do not use brokers
15. Try to stay at every DVC at least once and book new resorts when they first open
16. All DVC resorts are awesome, and my favorite is the one I am currently staying at
17. Use DVC points to stay at DVC resorts and minimize using them for anything else
18. Be active on DVC social media sites and keep up to date on DVC news
19. The RTU of 50 years ownership is a long time and who knows how long you will be a member
20. Be careful when willing DVC to family as DVC has annual dues requirements

Over a year later and I still believe 100% in the above tips.

 

[sssteele]

Over a year later and I still believe 100% in the above tips.

Regarding #12, we bought 300 BCV points in 2002. If we sold them today, we could get about 2 1/2 times what we paid. Don't know how that would work out as an investment, but even factoring in dues, we're making out "like bandits".