If you are a frequent Walt Disney World guest who visits websites like MouseSavers.com or TourGuideMike.com, you’ve probably heard the phrase “renting points.” But what does it really mean?

The Walt Disney Company operates a timeshare program dubbed The Disney Vacation Club. Members pay thousands of dollars up-front for the right to vacation at Walt Disney World (and elsewhere) annually in deluxe accommodations for the next 40-50 years.

DVC is a point-based timeshare system. Members purchase a set amount of points, and receive that identical allotment each year over the duration of their contracts. These points are then redeemed for nights at any of the seven DVC resorts. DVC has published a series of charts indicating how many points a member must spend to stay a single night in a guest room. The point requirements vary with a number of factors including resort, room size, season and day of the week.

For those of us who have chosen to make such a long-term commitment to Disney, and prefer staying in more upscale accommodations, a DVC purchase will save us tens-of-thousands of dollars over the life of the contract. But even non-DVC members can enjoy some of these savings by “renting points” from members.

Renting DVC points is a process whereby the Member enters into an agreement with a non-member (renter) to reserve a room in his/her name in exchange for a set cash payment. For any number of reasons, a DVC owner may find that he/she is unable to use his allotment of points in a given year. Rather than simply allow the points to expire unused, it makes a great deal of sense for the DVC owner to allow someone else to use his/her points.

The going rate for rentals is around $14 per point. The figure cited is normally all-inclusive with no resort taxes or other fees. Such a rate can result in significant savings over Disney’s rates for the same accommodation.

Example:

Beach Club Villas Studio room, December 7th-11th 2008 (5 nights)

Reserved through Disney:
$305 per night plus 11.5% room tax = $1,700.35 (305 x 1.115 x 5)

Rented from DVC member:
$12 per point, 12 points per night = $720.00 (12 x 12 x 5)

Renting points for this accommodation saves nearly $1000 off of Disney’s published cash rate. That’s for the same room for the same travel dates.