Would you upgrade to full membership if given the opportunity?

[ajiuo]

This is totally hypothetical, but I thought it would be fun and interesting to see who would go for it!

Lets say that Disney offered a limited time opportunity to upgrade resale points to full membership (blue card) points for a cost per point (which may differ by resort). The two stipulations are that it’s a per contract basis, meaning that you must upgrade all of the points on a given contract… and you must update at least the current minimum number of points (150) at the same resort. You would be able to count two separate contracts towards that minimum so long as they were at the same resort and had the same use year. You would also have the option to purchase additional points in order to meet the minimum. Once the minimum has been met at any resort. You would be able to upgrade any full contract.

Who would be interested in something like this and how much per point would you be willing to pay? What do you expect that Disney would actually charge for something like this… if they ever did such a thing.

(all hypothetical of course)

 

[MARCIAKAZ]

Hypothetically, $2 per point.

 

[ajiuo]

Hypothetically, $2 per point.

That would be an amazing deal!!! I honestly wouldn’t expect anything less than $35 a point though.

 

[PrincessPauline]

Yes, with some conditions for No... ie: cost per point, remaining balance of my current contract, etc.... but that would definitely be something that would be hard to turn down. I'd eat Ramen for a month for the opportunity. What would make it better is if they extend the expiration date when making that type of offer.

 

[Chuck S]

Yes, with some conditions for No... ie: cost per point, remaining balance of my current contract, etc.... but that would definitely be something that would be hard to turn down. I'd eat Ramen for a month for the opportunity. What would make it better is if they extend the expiration date when making that type of offer.

That of course, is not legally feasible, as the entire resort is a land RTU lease, so they would need to extend everyone, no matter how they purchased. And the extension at OKW did not exactly go as they had planned. I expect all other resorts will simply expire, and then a new land lease (if they decide to keep it DVC) will be signed. The resort would be fully refurbished or rebuilt from the ground up, and sold as a new resort, with a discount to previous owners.

 

[Yinn]

That would be an amazing deal!!! I honestly wouldn’t expect anything less than $35 a point though.

https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/dvc-resale-average-sales-prices-for-june-2021/
VGC could be "upgraded" for as little as $32/point....if it had availability. OKW is down around $41/pt. For OKW factoring commission it would be $54/pt to upgrade. I would say that should be the starting point for our limits as to what we would be willing to pay.

If it's the same cost as selling our contract and buying the same, I would assume we would just do it today if we really wanted it.

 

[Marionnette]

I'm grandfathered in with a blue card, so my focus would be solely on upgrading some of my recent resale points to unrestricted status. TBH, it would have to be a pretty low price tag for me to bite.

 

[chalee94]

That would be an amazing deal!!! I honestly wouldn’t expect anything less than $35 a point though.

Right. If they ever do allow you to qualify resale points, expect the price to be higher than the delta between resale and direct...

(They don't do "reasonable.")

 

[Matty B13]

I'm guess the upgrade would be at least $50/point, if not $100/point.

 

[krybandt]

.

 

[Sandisw]

Any cost would not be minimal since the initial requirement was 25 points only and has since been raised.

I’d expect the difference to be whatever it takes the current resale average price to get to direct.

The other piece I could see is buying an equal amount of direct points makes all points unrestricted.

However given what is now happening on the website with restricted points booking RIV, you wonder if it’s changing? More likely a glitch but still.

 

[davper]

Unless the cost per point was so low that it would be stupid not to, the answer is no. There is no benefit in direct point ownership that I miss enough to warrant me doling out thousands for. $5 a point would be my limit.

 

[Ronaldo17]

For me $1, tops

 

[Lumpy1106]

Let's see...
I have 160 points
I do not live in FL so I would not ever buy WDW APs, nor would I ever be lucky enough to plan a trip during a time when they are doing a special DVC event
Using points for cruises and ABD is a terrible deal
Discounts are what? 10%?
DVC lounge you get chips and soda
I bought before the restrictions so I can use RIV and future resorts

So....
Question is, how much would I pay for a 10% discount and chips and soda? I'm with Ronaldo - $1/point seems really high.

 

[ajiuo]

I traditionally agree that there is no value in direct… but being able to book at the new DVC resort at Disneyland would be a pretty big benefit.

 

[KimMcGowan]

I am pretty sure I would do it. I could see Disney looking at your contract purchase price and subtracting the price per point paid from the current price. That difference would be your cost per point. Possibly - a very small possibly - Disney might offer a small discount in order to gain this new revenue stream. While the benefits would never equal price paid you would have the option to book at any hotel. I am almost certain that I would say yes.

 

[zavandor]

I would expect it to cost more then the average difference between resale and direct. I'd bet $80pp and more for the newest resorts with points usage restrictions.

 

[MonaMN]

Let's see...
I have 160 points
I do not live in FL so I would not ever buy WDW APs, nor would I ever be lucky enough to plan a trip during a time when they are doing a special DVC event
Using points for cruises and ABD is a terrible deal
Discounts are what? 10%?
DVC lounge you get chips and soda
I bought before the restrictions so I can use RIV and future resorts

So....
Question is, how much would I pay for a 10% discount and chips and soda? I'm with Ronaldo - $1/point seems really high.

We are also not close enough to take advantage of most of the blue card perks, so it would have to be a pretty good deal for us to bite… and I don’t know what incentive there would be for them to offer it at a price low enough for us.

 

[bwvBound]

... and you must update at least the current minimum number of points (150) at the same resort.

Interesting and fun question. Why this particular stipulation?
I believe, but could be wildly mistaken, that Disney's current requirements allow one to mix'n'match resorts w/in a single membership (UY) to reach the required number?

 

[CSLucas]

I would have done it. We are currently in the process of selling our only resale contract and will most likely use the proceeds to buy some more direct points because not have restrictions for future resorts is important to us. Would much rather have paid a fee to Disney than gone through all the hassle!