Should I Be Resisting?

[tjkraz]

We only have 150 points. It's adequate for our needs. Unless we want to start going in the summer months or break times, we can really only afford to go 1x per year due to our kids' schedules. DS will be starting kindergarten next year and DD will be in pre-school. I don't particularly mind taking them out one week per year at this young age, but anything else is out of the question.

But someday we'll be relegated to the (more costly) vacation periods only. Maybe we'll even want to stay more than a week.

An add-on is inevitable. I'd love to get in on the current deal, and have no reservations about owning more SSR points. The only problem is we'd have to finance, which would add about $150 per month (indefinitely) to our budget.

Should I jump at this deal and start using the points now, or hold off until we can better manage the investment?

[ripleysmom]

I would love an add-on but honestly we don't go every year as it is.

We do like HHI a lot so I sometimes think that I wouldn't mind trading points with someone who had HHI points so we could go there every year. DH and I even briefly discussed selling DVC and buying a summer week at a nice resort at HHI. Then we would have an excellent timeshare trader and could go other places.

[vascubaguy]

We only have 150 points. It's adequate for our needs. Unless we want to start going in the summer months or break times, we can really only afford to go 1x per year due to our kids' schedules. DS will be starting kindergarten next year and DD will be in pre-school. I don't particularly mind taking them out one week per year at this young age, but anything else is out of the question.

But someday we'll be relegated to the (more costly) vacation periods only. Maybe we'll even want to stay more than a week.

An add-on is inevitable. I'd love to get in on the current deal, and have no reservations about owning more SSR points. The only problem is we'd have to finance, which would add about $150 per month (indefinitely) to our budget.

Should I jump at this deal and start using the points now, or hold off until we can better manage the investment?

If I were in your situation, I might consider purchasing an add-on now, but for the purpose of renting those points for a year or so to pay down the balance. Then you will have the points when you need them, would have gotten a good price on the points, and wouldn't have had to pay for it all yourself. ;)

[Par8hed]

Should I jump at this deal and start using the points now, or hold off until we can better manage the investment?

I think you should sit tight and look at a resale when the timing is appropriate. Even if you need financing , resale is a better deal if you put it in on a home equity etc. I've seen others crunch the numbers and say direct from Disney's just as good. But you can't convince me. I know I saved thousands. ( Thanks Shontell!!)

[jaysue]

I would wait and add on when you need the points for a specific trip

cheers
jaysue

[mamaprincess]

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!!

[Deep-Thots]

LOL at mamaprincess!!

I'd wait. I would not want to deal with the hassle and potential risk of renting out the points (unless you can rent them out to family/friends).

The fact is, there will always be deals offered by Disney (actually, the price for add-ons hasn't changed by a whole lot, depending upon which version of the last couple of incentives you chose). And, there will always be a thriving resale market that can either be financed by (a) your Disney Visa card (at least initially), or (b) your home equity loan or (c) private options. Personally, we did (a) followed by paying it off completely (reward points are reward points, after all; gotta get them when you can). But you can easily do (a) followed by (b) to reap maximum value.

Also, even after one incentive ends, Disney is frequenty willing to continue to give it to you. That happened to us when we were down there for our last trip (there was a 100-pt minimum add-on for the past one). Now, it just so happens that that didn't work out for us, but, the point is, if you just push a little bit, there is wiggle room with Disney.

Finally, you can still finance w/o Disney and w/o the home equity loan. From what I recall, TSS's affiliate was fairly in-line (within one point) of Disney's financing. So, depending upon the contract (loaded, price, etc.) and terms, you still might actually make out better even going outside of Disney for resale and financing.

Anyway, that's my $.025.

Kim

[DSNY FN]

Well we just added on also we only go in off season times first 2 weeks of Dec and always take the kids out of school. We went in May this year and never again will I go any time after January it was to damn hot for me. We look at the time out of school for the kids as family time spent together which we have very little of DW works straight days 6-7 days a week usually and I work 3-11 Mon-Friday and 1 out of 4 Sat a month 10-6 so for us that is the time we spend together so the add on was perfect for us to move up to a larger accomodations especially with the kids geting older. I would worry less about the getting them out of school and more on what you feel is best for you and your family and time spent together.

[tjkraz]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I am going to wait. About 95% of me in convinced that's the right way to go. It just so happens that other 5% rears its head from time-to-time.

Right now, we could probably use another 50 points. The tough part is you don't get any promotional discounts for contracts that small, and resales tend to be rather highly-priced for such a small number of points.

In retrospect, we should have just gotten around 200 points to begin with.

Now, the best course of action appears to be to borrow points and/or rent from another owner when we just need a handful of extras. Once the kids get a few years older and we're more likely to visit during the higher-point seasons, then an add-on will be necessary. But I've got plenty of time to worry about that.

[lllovell]

This is so familar to me as I have these same concerns over and over (especially now that we are a family of 5). I keep telling myself to wait and a better time will present itself. The next week, I am looking for smaller contracts until I remind myself how much I really like SSR and those extra years, etc. Its a never ending mental battle for me as well.

For now, we are waiting as we still are a small enough family to be comfortable in a studio for some trips. However, sometime in the next couple of years, we will be adding on. I keep hoping for a great contract to show up on the resale market or for a better deal from Disney.

[JimC]

I would love an add-on but honestly we don't go every year as it is.

We do like HHI a lot so I sometimes think that I wouldn't mind trading points with someone who had HHI points so we could go there every year. DH and I even briefly discussed selling DVC and buying a summer week at a nice resort at HHI. Then we would have an excellent timeshare trader and could go other places.

Marriott's Grande Ocean should be on your list.

[JimC]

We only have 150 points. It's adequate for our needs....Should I jump at this deal and start using the points now, or hold off until we can better manage the investment?

You covered your immediate needs. While the current deal is good, remember that the cost of the points pales in comparison to the ongoing annual dues. I say wait.

[ripleysmom]

Marriott's Grande Ocean should be on your list.

If we did sell I would want to be able to turnover whatever we make on our points to the new timeshare. Not sure I could do that with Grande Ocean.

[JimC]

If we did sell I would want to be able to turnover whatever we make on our points to the new timeshare. Not sure I could do that with Grande Ocean.

Redweek has a fair number of listings. Might be worth exploring.

[ripleysmom]

Thanks!!

[Gaston]

I just signed the paperwork for 40 more points. This is the second add on for us.

[AmyBeth68]

We're in the exact same situation. We have enough to cover our yearly trip (for instance a week at BWV, std. view, 1 bedroom in late August). BUT....we seem to like to sneek in a long weekend trip here and there. We definitely DON"T have enough points for that....so I'm really tempted by the SSR promo which is ending soon.

Every time I see a small contract it's pending before I can even call my DH to discuss it LOL! I guess I should just call Jaki and have her alert me when they come up.

What do you guys think about a small Vero contract? We LOVED Vero Beach and would happily return in the future. BUT our long weekend trips to WDW will probably be booked 7 months or less. The other thing is we can usually get a good rate with our AP....this month we're paying $99 / night at POR.

UGH! What to do?!?!

[brandip22]

I am so in your shoes, tjkratz! I have been wanting to add on since we joined- of course, it's only been a year, though. We borrowed for our first trip so we could have a 2 BR with our neice coming. Now, for our second trip in December, I am borrowing just a little of 2007 points for a longer stay! Plus, we're just doing a studio, but I'd love to be in 1 BRs. I think we should have just purchased 200 points to begin with, too. I have a friend buying in right now- I'm going to tell him to go for 200, which I think they are doing anyway. I guess we will wait until I either get a great bonus or we pay of this one, which we are doing in 5 years, so it's not too long.

[pouncingpluto]

I want 50 BWV points!! But we really need to spend our money on other things; plus, I'm not sure we really need 250 points. So mostly I'm just wishing it had occured to me to buy 150 SSR points and 50 BWV points to begin with, rather than buying 200 SSR points!

Ah well... I'm not looking to stay at BWV every year... and right now it seems pretty doable at 7 months or with the waitlist. Plus, we would usually want a 1-bedroom, which is the easiest to get.

[gopherit]

I feel your pain. :(

We bought in at 175 - we thought we would use the points for 5 -6 days per year, low pts season, no sweat. But when we bought, our kids were only 4 and 3, still in preschool. We weren't intrinsically opposed to ever pulling them out of school - but now that they are in 5th/3rd grade, THEY are actually not keen on leaving school for a week! (Well, they don't mind LEAVING - it's the coming back and making up the work they hate! ;) ) And along the way, we added kid #3, a dd, and that really mixed up our pts situation! We are pretty much now committed to a 2BR for many many years to come! So to remedy situation, we started taking a WDW trip every OTHER year (but for a longer period of time). But then I messed up that plan by taking family to DVC's HHI resort last summer - everyone LOVED it. Our DS9 said, "Hey, here's an idea - when we're NOT at WDW, let's be at HHI, ok?" I like his thinking... just wish we had the points to support it!

So what to do, what to do.... We added on a tiny contract of 30 pts (through Disney) a few yrs ago when they opened up some BWV points for sale. I keep copious records of our banking / borrowing and pts usage - and lately, we stay in a borrowing state. Sooner or later, we will probably need to consider an add-on. But we just aren't in a position (of money or knowledge) to do that, so here's what we're doing in the interim:

* Keeping an eye on resale trends. If the Contemporary ever does open up, I'm kinda hoping that either incentives will be good through Disney to buy SSR, or that lots of resale contracts will suddenly appear as die-hard monorail fans try to get their hands on the Contempo points! I also keep an eye on dues and current selling price/pt.

* Figure out what we want. We have 205 in BWV pts. We love BWV - but ironically, we love it LEAST of all the DVC resorts! Just happened to be what was on sale when we bought. For our next add-on, we aren't sure if we would want HHI (for something different that we all love!), OKW (for those great GVs and lower dues), or SSR (for the extra 12 yrs!) We need to make up our minds!

* Find ways to stretch what points we have! For our summer trip this year, we are going to Universal for 4 nts, then moving over to OKW. We are getting the first night there on cash at the DVC discount. That saved us 73 points. Granted, it cost me $375 plus tax, but that's still cheaper than renting the points (at least $10 per pt) or buying the add-on. It's a band-aid, and it will do for now! I will probably do the same thing next time we go to HHI - use pts for the weekdays, and pay cash for the Fir or Sat nights, where possible.

I also am not opposed, where it makes sense, to renting pts and/or doing a pts transfer from a DVCer who has "pts for hire", so to speak. Gotta do what ya gotta do!

And in our case, we gotta wait, so may as well make the waiting as pleasant as possible.....

[greenban]

I recommend that all others Resist! Learn from my mistakes (and leave the best reasles for me to plunder!)

RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE!!!!

-Tony

[kathyseb]

Our vacations are pretty much set in stone. We go three times a year for a total of a little over four weeks.

When we bought into SSR, we sat down with our guide and figured out the exact number of points we would need.

Thus we bought 313.

What we did not bank on was that the opening of SSR would be ever so slightly delayed. What that meant for us was that for our two week trip in September, we could not use points as SSR was not opened yet.

That gave us a cushion of points we will probably never lose.

The first time we tried to move over to BW at the 7 month window and could not get a studio, we started looking for a small BW contract. We did an 50 point add on through DVC. The 50 points allows us to bank and borrow every other year to be assured a studio at BW during December. To us that add on was worth it.

You need to sit down and figure out what is best for you financially. We would have loved to buy into DVC the first time we checked into it in 98. But we resisted as we were not willing to go into debt.

[dianeschlicht]

Have you thought about adding on 25 at a time? It might be a bit less painful financially.

[Mike]

With dues continuing to rise and the rental price holding steady at $10, I will continue to pay other members to transfer the extra points I need into my account. After deducting for the dues you would have had to pay, you are essentially paying about $5.50 per point. Plus you are not paying finance charges and/or committing a large chunk of change.

[cobbler]

With dues continuing to rise and the rental price holding steady at $10, I will continue to pay other members to transfer the extra points I need into my account. After deducting for the dues you would have had to pay, you are essentially paying about $5.50 per point. Plus you are not paying finance charges and/or committing a large chunk of change.

To add to that. I will gladly offer my points at 10 per point to a fellow DVC member right now. They know the value of the points and don't take things for granted or expect things dirt cheap.

I would offer renters 11 a point - right now and will only rent when I have exhausted the option to transfer to other members.