How to Save Money Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
These money-saving tips for renting Disney Vacation Club points will get you Deluxe Resort rooms during your 2024 vacation at Walt Disney World, Disneyland or beyond. DVC rental is safe, easy, and cheaper than standard hotels. It’s also a great way to “test drive” accommodations before actually buying a membership. (Updated March 20, 2024.)
For those who are unfamiliar with it, Disney Vacation Club (DVC) point rental is the one-time use of a set number of a points or already confirmed reservation at a Deluxe Villa room at a Disney Vacation Club Resort. It’s an easy process, and you can do this on a person-to-person basis via social media groups, or via one of the established point rental companies that we recommend.
If you’re simply looking for the best way to safely rent DVC points at the lowest prices, our two top recommendations are David’s Vacation Club Rentals (for lowest prices) and DVC Rental Store (for most flexibility). That’s the short and sweet advice for renting DVC points–if you want to know more or compare the options, this post offers info & tips. Disney Vacation Club point rental can be a great way to save big on your Walt Disney World vacation in 2024, but it can be complicated, confusing, and require planning. For that, we’re here to help!
Let’s start with the basics of DVC rental. Here’s how it works: the owner of the points agrees to “rent” the points out to a rentee, and in exchange for payment to the owner of the points, the owner makes a room reservation for the rentee in the rentee’s name. The amount of the payment is determined by the number of points needed for the booking, with a per-point cost being agreed upon by the parties.
For example, if the agreed upon price is $20 per point, and the rentee wants to stay book Animal Kingdom Lodge for December 1-7, that will require 60 points, for a total cost of $1,200. Contrast that with booking directly from DisneyWorld.com, which would cost $2,451.38. That’s over half off by renting DVC points for that Christmas-time stay! As you can see, the big advantage of Disney Vacation Club point rental is saving money over booking directly with Walt Disney World.
Speaking of Christmas, if you want to visit Walt Disney World and rent DVC points for dates in November or December 2024, you really need to book ASAP. Ideally, you want to make reservations over 7 months in advance, which is quickly approaching. Some resorts are already sold out for certain dates.
The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, Polynesian, BoardWalk, Beach Club, and other resorts in close proximity to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios always book up over 7 months in advance for the most popular travel times. In other words, if you’re thinking about renting DVC points for a Christmas trip and want the best options, you’re already too late.
For what it’s worth, there’s a reason the holiday season is such a popular time to visit Walt Disney World. You can read more about why we love this time of year, dates & details, what’s happening, and more in our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World. Without question, this is the best time to visit Walt Disney World–we highly recommend making reservations immediately so you can get a good resort!
While this is the best time to visit Walt Disney World, it’s just one of many times that Disney Vacation Club Members tend to prefer, which book up quickly as a result. Other popular times of year include all school breaks, holiday weekends, the start of EPCOT festivals, and any ‘cheap’ dates when a lower number of points is required to book rooms.
This brings us to lesson #1 about DVC point rental: book as close to 11 months in advance as possible. It used to be the case that booking at least 7 months in advance was sufficient, but that’s no longer true. In searching for DVC availability, there are very few good options for multi-night stays between today and October 2024 for studios or one-bedroom units. Only a scattering of dates at most resorts, with slightly better options for Saratoga Springs and Old Key West.
If you’re looking more last minute, fear not, as there’s another option for availability inside 6 months: confirmed reservations. These are reservations that have already been booked by a Disney Vacation Club Member and are available to be reserved by a guest. Booking a confirmed reservation is quicker and more efficient, but it’s also inflexible. There are no modifications or customized reservations. What you see is what you get.
In the past, confirmed reservations were rare. They were often bargains that were available because a DVC Member had to cancel a trip at the last-minute, and was hoping to recoup some money. In the last few years, confirmed reservations have exploded in popularity and frequency.
Rather than being bargains, they’re often speculative reservations that are booked for the most popular travel times in the most popular room types. Consequently, it’s often the case that confirmed reservations are more expensive than their per-point counterparts.
To be sure, there are still bargains at the absolute last minute and during less-popular travel times, but as hotel availability has become more difficult to book during peak seasons, confirmed reservations have become more popular among DVC Members looking to capitalize. While the amount varies, it’s common for confirmed reservations to charge as much as $25 per point.
Looking forward to the rest of 2024, we have a few pieces of advice. First is that the Villas at Disneyland Hotel are now open! If you’ve ever debated doing DVC at Disneyland Resort, we recommend doing it now. Due to far less room inventory, booking Disney Vacation Club accommodations is far more competitive in California.
If you’ve ever tried to book the Grand Californian, you’ve likely encountered this problem–that is far and away the most difficult DVC resort to book. It requires booking right at the 11 month mark or getting lucky with a cancellation or the waitlist. The Villas at Disneyland Hotel will end up being a very similar story–but that’s not yet the case!
Now is a golden window of opportunity because the Villas at Disneyland Hotel are brand-new and are still in the process of being sold, so there are not very many members there (yet). That means less competition, which can mean easier availability. Unfortunately, this is already starting to change–but it’s only going to get worse and more competitive from here, so 2024 is a good time to try! For more, see our post: Inside the Brand-New Villas at Disneyland Hotel.
It’ll likely be a similar story with both the upcoming DVC Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and New DVC Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Those are slated to open in 2024 at Walt Disney World, with the cabins rolling out in phases from July 1, 2024 until 2025. The Polynesian tower will open later, but all at once.
At first, the Cabins at Fort Wilderness will be very limited, making reservations highly competitive. Reservations for all Disney Vacation Club members–and by extension, rentals–open on April 23, 2024. If you want to book the cabins this year, we highly recommend submitting a request before that date.
The Polynesian Tower has not yet started booking and probably won’t until sometime this summer. However, that new addition is joining the existing condo association (a little inside baseball–but relevant), so it’ll work a bit differently. It’ll also be incredibly competitive because there are already Poly points in circulation that will have priority, even as only a portion of the rooms in the Poly tower are declared into DVC inventory. (Meaning they’ll mostly be bookable at higher cash rates, rather than via points. That’s important, but also beyond the scope of this post.)
Speaking of new, one of the big themes of the last few years has been Disney Vacation Club room refurbishments and reimaginings. You can check out the 2024-2025 Disney Vacation Club Resort Refurbishments & Construction Timeline for what’s on the horizon.
Every resort that has recently received a soft goods refurbishment has included installation of the new pull-down sofa bed and couch combo (like the one pictured above). This feature first debuted at Disney’s Riviera Resort, and has since spread to every single Disney Vacation Club room (and beyond!) that has been renovated in the last few years. And for good reason, as member satisfaction surveys give these rooms very high marks and guest satisfaction scores have increased by 20% among guests who have stayed in new rooms.
This pull-down bed is a colossal upgrade over the pull-out couches, and has been one of several functional improvements that have really improved the ‘quality of life’ of DVC rooms–Imagineering has done a fantastic job weaving themed design into the upgraded units. Point being, we’d recommend taking whether the resort you’re considering has new vs. old rooms when determining where to stay. The new rooms have made a big difference for the average guest!
In terms of other updates, there’s big benefit of renting Disney Vacation Club points this year or the duration of 2024. That’s because guests staying in Walt Disney World resorts have access to a couple of perks. First is Early Theme Park Entry, which gives ALL on-site resort guests a 30-minute head start at any Walt Disney World theme park, every day before normal operating hours begin. Learn more strategy in our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World.
Second, there’s Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. This benefit is exclusively for guests staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas, or other select hotels. This includes Disney Vacation Club resorts and those renting DVC points are eligible. This second perk is incredibly advantageous, as crowds are usually low during these nighttime hours. See our Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World for taking advantage of this perk, eligibility, and more.
Okay, now on with the normal DVC point rental tips…
In recent years, renting points has gone from relatively uncommon to a bit more mainstream practice. There are individual owners who rent points because they either aren’t going to be able to use their points or need a way to offset some of the considerable cost of membership, and there are companies that exist solely for the purpose of renting Disney Vacation Club points to savvy Walt Disney World and Disneyland guests.
As indicated above, the two main places to rent Disney Vacation Club points are David’s Vacation Club Rentals and DVC Rental Store. The two are pretty comparable–both are reputable businesses that can be trusted. David’s has one big advantage: lower prices. This makes David’s the better option if you’re simply looking to pay the least money possible.
DVC Rental Store’s biggest strength is flexibility. All reservations include their Stress-Free Cancellation Policy, which basically means paying a little bit more for lower risk. Additionally, they don’t require full payment up front–your balance is due 75 days prior to check in. The obvious advantage here is that you’re not paying in full up front, meaning you can cancel your reservation if you’d prefer to just walk away and not deal with credits.
Speaking of timeframes, it’s generally recommended that you rent DVC points at least 7 months in advance or, ideally, 11 months in advance. These are when the booking windows open for Disney Vacation Club resorts, so you’ll have a higher likelihood of success the earlier you contact one of the rental companies. If you think you’re going to get exactly what you want 5-6 months in advance, think again. Resorts along Magic Kingdom’s monorail loop, EPCOT’s Crescent Lake, and the Skyliner gondola all start booking up more than 7 months in advance.
With that said, booking at the very last minute also can be advantageous. DVC Rental Store has confirmed reservations and David’s has dedicated reservations available for rent. As explained above, these are reservations that have already been booked.
If you’re flexible on your travel dates, resort, and room preference–or just happen to get lucky with the stars aligning and exactly what you want already being booked–these existing reservations can sometimes be a better option at the very last minute. Otherwise, we highly recommend renting DVC points at least 7 to 11 months in advance.
Although we are Disney Vacation Club owners, we have a relatively low number of points, so we’ve actually rented points ourselves a couple of times in the last few years. In attempting to rent points, we’ve contacted both the point rental businesses and individuals on forums about rental, and have opted to go with the point rental businesses (despite paying a bit more) for simplicity and peace of mind.
How you go about renting Disney Vacation Club points, and whether it’s safe, is probably the most common reader question we’ve received in response to our Disney Vacation Club Buying Guide, so I figured I’d put together this guide based on our experiences and research, along with my thoughts about the pros and cons of each method of renting points.
Let’s start with the pros and cons of renting DVC points in general to determine whether it’s right for you…
Pros & Cons of DVC Point Rental
The biggest benefit of renting Disney Vacation Club points is saving money. The example of Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas above is a good one. If you wanted to book a stay August 19-23 in a value view studio, that’s exactly how many points you’d need, and how much it would cost if you rented points through one of the point renters.
For a stay December 2-6 it would be even cheaper! Other nights throughout the year would cost more, but you get the idea. You couldn’t even stay in a Moderate Resort for the rates you can get by renting Disney Vacation Club points, let alone a Deluxe.
In addition to saving money on hotel rates, another benefit of renting Disney Vacation Club points, for some people, is getting the Disney Dining Plan without purchasing park tickets. Although temporarily unavailable this year, the 2024 Disney Dining Plan can now be booked!
Speaking of food, the studio rooms feature a kitchenette and one bedrooms and larger have full kitchens. This means it’s easier to prepare full meals than if you’re staying in a standard hotel room. Not something everyone wants to do on vacation, but it’s nice to have the option. This is especially true for breakfast when you want to get out the door quickly, or for late night snacks after the restaurants have closed. To that point, here’s what we recommend for grocery delivery at Walt Disney World.
Similarly, guests staying in Disney Vacation Club units have access to free laundry rooms. Moreover, one-bedroom units or larger have in-room washers and dryers. Laundry is another thing we hate doing on vacation, but having the option in your room is huge, and the convenience of that cannot be overstated.
Finally, not purchasing a vacation package from Walt Disney World directly means you can save money by purchasing tickets from an authorized ticket broker. These savings can be small or huge, depending upon the size of your party and the tickets you get, this could amount to another $800 or more in savings!
The biggest downside to renting Disney Vacation Club points is that you don’t have total control over the reservation. Someone else books the reservation for you, and someone else has to make any changes to the reservation for you (such as adding the Disney Dining Plan, once that returns). Disney Vacation Club won’t discuss the reservation with non-members, so even if your name is on it, you’re at the mercy of the person who booked it if you need changes.
Another downside for some guests is that, since the unit rented is a villa and not a hotel room, housekeeping service is not daily. Most stays will only have one visit by Mousekeeping. This isn’t a problem for us, but for some people, not having the full hotel experience might be a fatal blow to renting DVC points.
The final downside is cancellation and refund policies. While it’s possible to purchase travel insurance for DVC point rentals, the cancellation policies are not nearly as forgiving as booking directly via Disney. This is because of the strict policies surrounding DVC point usage. In the event of hurricane or some other ‘Act of God’ scenario, the member who is renting out the points may not be able to reuse them if the guest cancels.
You’ll find no shortage of negative reviews online about the major rental companies following the closure of Walt Disney World for this very reason. While some guests were accommodated with future bookings or travel credits, a lot of people who wanted cash refunds were denied. We’ve explained the why of this in DVC’s Point Pool Problem; the short version is the supply of unused outstanding points exceeds room availability by several millions of points. Someone is going to be left holding the bag, and it’s not going to be Disney.
The good news on this front is that it has resulted in some policy reforms by the rental companies. DVC Rental Store now offers a stress-free cancellation policy that issues you a credit you can use toward a future DVC rental in the event of cancellation. You can utilize these credits up to two years from your original travel dates.
We recommend paying close attention to contract when renting, and making sure you’re not agreeing to terms that would not create an undue burden if you need to cancel, because there are no cash refunds. Part of the reason DVC renting saves so much money is that it comes with compromise–there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Whether DVC rental is right for you comes down to your personal risk v. reward assessment.
How To Rent?
If you’re convinced that renting Disney Vacation Club points is right for you, the next question is who to use. There are a couple popular choices here, including the DVC Rental Store and David’s Vacation Club Rentals. The advantages to renting through them are that both are accredited by the Better Business Bureau, both have a team that does this as its full-time business, and both have a sterling reputation. The other upside to renting from the DVC Rental Store or David’s is convenience.
They have “home resort” inventory for every Disney Vacation Club resort. This means that if you want a popular resort, you can book with him at the 11 month mark. If you want a hard-to-book resort and plan on booking through an individual, you need to do so 11 months out and find an owner who has the resort you want as a home resort. That can make the whole process of booking person-to-person more time consuming and tedious.
Compounding that challenge, most of the forums that previously facilitated person-to-person point rental have closed, with the exception of the Disboards one. However, several Facebook and other social media groups have popped up in their place. If you have friends who are DVC members that are willing to rent out their points to you, that’s another route, too.
The downside to renting from strangers is that you have no guarantee that you aren’t going to be ripped off, or that the owner will be available to assist you if something goes wrong with the reservation. You’ll have a bit of uneasiness until the moment at the check-in desk that your reservation pulls up. Basically, it comes down to how risk averse you are and how much more you can save by going through an individual.
For what it’s worth, in my time researching rentals, I heard of very few instances of people being ripped off by individuals on the forums or social media. It does happen, but it seems to be very, very infrequent. When we rent in the future, I’m not sure how we’ll do it. It largely depends upon prices.
If it’s a short weekend trip and the David’s Disney Vacation Club Rentals is charging ~$23/point versus $20/point from an individual, I can’t see going the person-to-person to say what will amount to $30 or less. The possibility that we could be scrambling at the last minute to find an alternate hotel room for such a short trip wouldn’t be worth it. Given how significantly Disney has increased their prices in the last few years, these rentals are still a good deal.
I’d prefer to just pay the bit extra for the peace of mind. If it were a 10-day trip in a Grand Villa, I’d probably be more likely to go through an individual because the savings are greater, but then I’d be concerned that such a big purchase were risky. I really don’t know what I’d do, it’s a tough call.
If we did end up going through an individual, I would do a few things to protect myself as best I could. First, I wouldn’t rent from any new members or individuals with only a handful of posts. I’d want someone with an established reputation on the forums. Second, I’d ask for references. Third, I’d pay with an American Express credit card rather than any other form of payment.
Which DVC Resort?
Finally, you need to figure out which Disney Vacation Club Resort is right for you. We’ve stayed at every single DVC resort at Walt Disney World, most several times. It’s tough to declare a definitive “best” Disney Vacation Club resort, as each has its pros & cons, and is a good option depending upon your priorities.
We have a post that Ranks the Disney Vacation Club Resorts at Walt Disney World and shares the strengths and weaknesses of each. To be honest, though, we love just about all of them. That list does give you a good basis in terms of theme, location, amenities, and other things to consider that will help you make an informed decision, though!
Ultimately, Disney Vacation Club point rentals is a great way to save tons of money without making the long term commitment to joining. If you’re currently booking Moderate or Deluxe Resorts directly from Disney, it’s definitely something to consider. Most of the time, renting Disney Vacation Club points will be cheaper than booking a Moderate, and it will ALWAYS be cheaper than booking a Deluxe (even with the best discounts!).
Renting from individuals is the best way to maximize your savings, and renting from the DVC Rental Store or David’s Vacation Club Rentals is the safest way to rent–plus they’re full service companies with great customer service that can help you through the process and answer all of your questions!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you agree or disagree with our recommendations for renting DVC points? Any firsthand experiences you care to share? Which DVC resorts do you recommend for a first-timer renter? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Sad to see so many people get screwed by one company. As DVC owners in Canada, we cannot even get across the border at the moment. So we have had to resort to renting our points. We went with Davd’s as the Rental Store had so much red tape for owners. We hav successfully rented 2 years worth of points with David’s without any issues. A couple of reservations had to be cancelled because of whatever family emergency. The folks were smart and bought insurance. All I had to do was cancel and provide David’s with proof. They in turn passed it over to the renters and they were able to process their refund. Another on was cancelled because of the closures. We worked with David’s to get those folks their money back.
Both of the big rental companies have “dedicated reservations” for set dates at deep discounts that I’m guessing are due to other guests cancelling. We’ve already taken advantage of these 3 times since reopening and have had wonderful experiences.
Granted, we live in Florida and can work remotely. But if you want a great value on a last-minute booking (the only way we’d do DVC right now), that’s a fantastic option.
Owners have some leverage by threatening to pull their business, regardless of what a contract says. DVC Rental doesn’t have a business without them .
You have to file small claims actions in the state where the company does business. I am considering doing that if my air miles I had to cancel come close to expiring. I am also hoping that an attorney takes up the cause to file a class action lawsuit when Covid is all over with.
I think you can always sue in you home county and state. It called a long arm statute that allows you to sue a company in any place the have done business…. I E if you have done business with them from your home they have done business from you home…. once you get attorneys involved they get most of any settlement you might get….
If the owner cared anything about the renter they could force DVC Rental to do the right thing .
JG
Next time rent direct.
The owners have a contract with the rental companies also. I m sure it clearly states that the owners must also agree to the rental stores rules or the owner will be sued.
Has anyone tied to file a small claims case in there home county and state.
Maybe you could win on default when the rental company doesn’t show up??? Just a thought
Just to illustrate how much my previous rant about how bad the DVC Rental Store is, I thought I’d update it to let you know that a couple of days before my cancelled DVC rental was originally scheduled to take place this month, my DVC Rental Store sales representative accidentally sent me an email wishing me a “magical time” when I’m at the DVC villa. What an insult! First, they threaten their customers with legalese-notices when you have to unexpectedly cancel due to COVID, and then after they keep your money they still say “have a good time.” Oh, and she promised to sent me another note after our now cancelled vacation doesn’t take place to see how things went. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry!
Hello all,
As previously noted I am a DVC owner and I may have some availability starting June 1, 2021 if anyone is interested please drop me an email.
They all just sales people.
Once the sale is in their computer, it auto sends everything.
When you rent from an owner you should get one one service
I agree, DVC Rental Store is THE WORST!! We too booked through them and had to cancel due to COVID. They refused to give us a refund and even refused to try to work with the owners to work with us. They never even notified the owners of our cancelled trip because we received welcome emails, etc from
the resort itself – so the resort still thought we were coming and then we were just no-shows to them. So embarrassing. My suggestion is to find a work with an owner directly – DO NOT use DVC Rental!!! Seriously, research it yourself and you’ll find case after case of people who had to cancel their travel due to COVID and DVC Rental kept their money. They must have made a fortune off of this pandemic.
I agree with the other opinions about the DVC Rental Store. Run! Do not walk or pass GO with this company. RUN AWAY as fast as you can! This outfit knows full well what it is doing and renters WILL sign away all rights to a refund or changes once they agree to their rental agreement and pay the 50% up-front fee to reserve the DVC room. And if problems develop, you know …. like you change your mind, die, or Disney closes it’s DVC Resorts as it did this year, the renter is out the money with no vacation. The DVC Rental Store narrowly defines their job to just obtaining a room reservation. Once they do that, it is over. Buy trip insurance to protect your self like I did? Good luck. As I painfully learned, no conventional plan like that covered me. Buy Cancel for Any Reason insurance? Sure, but be prepared to fork out 15% more upfront, and possibly get as little as only 50% of your money back. And then be prepared to treated like a dumb child and not being told all the truth. When I asked my DVC Rental Store rep to see if my stay could be re-rented, she initially said no, and then copy and pasted sentences from my renters contract. Later when I asked if the reservation could be moved to an open date that the DVC Rental Store’s very own Availability Tool showed was available, she copy and pasted sentences from my renters contract once again to say no, but also misled me by saying it would require different points be used by the owner. She was right. The new date required fewer points even though I was still willing to pay for the higher requirement. When I finally told her we would not be going, she suddenly offered to re-rent my reservation (their infamous “Effort B”) but failed to disclose that they would jacked up the new price 25% over what I paid. Their effort B was bogus. When I did not make the last payment she sent me a final email saying that “by reading this email, you agree to no refund” with a sneaky “read receipt” encoded in that email. By the time I discovered that, she had her legal documentation neatly put together in case I might object to what she said. Despite all I say, I am still the one responsible for this financial loss. I am after all the one who made the stupid decision to use the DVC Rental Store knowing full well the risks. Learn from my mistake. Disney’s (refundable) rack rates are a roaring bargain compared to renting DVC points.
Please do NOT use DVC Rental Store. I would highly recommend renting direct from an owner if you can. I rented through DVC Rental Store for a vacation this past July and we were completely left high and dry due to the pandemic. We cancelled our trip, due to obvious reasons, but DVC Rental Store refused to do anything to work with the owners on rescheduling our reservation. We live in California and traveling to Florida during a global pandemic was just irresponsible (as far as we were concerned). In the end, they kept all of our money and we got nothing. So, beware if you think you’re providing yourself more protection from a potential Scam situation – we were scammed.
As an owner, I never recommend anyone go to the rental stores.
Their whole claim is your vacation is safe with us…… And they charge between 2 and 3 dollars per point more than you would pay to an owner, while paying the owner 2 or 3 dollars less.
I understand brokerage and everyone needs to make money but these companies average 750 dollars per rental and when it comes down to it don’t protect the renter at all.
If someone was looking to rent points currently I would send them to mouseowners.com.
Please read the sticky notes, do you due diligences, ask all the questions and if it sounds like to good of a deal walk away.
I’m sure there are a lot of honest good deals on the market right now, because DVC has lots of availability and COVID has everything still in a trail spin, but make sure the deal you have been offered makes sense and look up the owner on the registry of deeds. https://www.occompt.com/services/records-search/
If you are willing to do your own legs work you can save yourself a lot time of money.
I’m calling BS. I just checked three of the top sites and each are charging (on average) $20.00 a point. Unless things changed dramatically due to COVID, when I previously browsed the mouseowners site, owners were charging that same amount, IF NOT MORE! They argued they had points at in-demand resorts, whereas the 3rd party brokers didn’t, so they could charge $20-22 a point. And if you are new to the site, good luck getting a “veteran renter” to contact you. I have read countless threads where individuals with low post counts are considered scammers and owners will not rent points to them due to the risk of being ripped off.
I agree that brokers handled the pandemic poorly, but to say that going direct to owners through mouseowners is cheaper, is simply a false statement.
I would go look at mouseowners again.
The first three ads I just look at were between 12 and 15.50 a point.
I charge 15 for SSR and 16 for BLT
I have seen people with confirmed reservation for sold out times like Christmas and New Years ASK 18$ for the Florian or Poly .
I have also never told anyone no unless I was out of points .
But if it make you feel better call bull shit and pay full price, and I’m sorry you feel that way.
Ok, Robbie. I’ll admit I was wrong. I do see plenty of posts going for the rates you mentioned. Mea Culpa.
But correct me if I am wrong, this price drop is due to COVID? I can’t recall seeing $12-15 a point in… forever. I presume our current situation is forcing DVC owners who rent their points to sell them cheaper than they did before the pandemic, or lose the points completely? I predict point prices will rise again once people feel safe about travelling and vacationing. Thoughts on that? And while we are on the subject, what were your rates in 2019?
TPG,
I have not seen the number you were siting ever.
Most owners that did not lose there points this year banked them for use next year.
The only time i see fire sale rates on points is when owners waited to long to cancel or Bank their points.
What i have seen as normal average pricing On mouse owners is:
SSR OKW run around 15 per point
BCV BWV BLT WL run around 16 per point
GF and Poly run around 17 18 per point because they are new
If someone need to get out of expiring points you can find them for 10 to 12
I don’t expect The points to jump up any time soon….
Disney just open a new resort and they are giving owners a discount just to fill the rooms until they can sell it.
Again, if an owner has booked a reservation on speculation for a busy time, you might see a little higher…
But also keep in mind that DVC point rent from owners at about 1/3 of what the cash price of calling Disney direct.
If you have other questions you are welcome to contact me directly
Robbie/Tom,
I’m just hearing about this DVC rental, VERY interested. I turned 50 this summer, so was totally screwed on a vacation. We were scheduled to take a cruise, clearly that didn’t happen. We’ve moved the cruise to next June 2021, AND I want to hit up DisneyWorld after the cruise for 4-5 nights, ideally Beach Club Villa Me, my wife, and 3 sons; 20, 18, 13 by June). Is it too early or too late to try booking that with someone like you, Robbie? As it sounds like the rental companies are too busy protecting themselves right now, might be better to go directly with a DVC owner? I am TOTALLY unaware and just now learning about this process, so bear with me. Where are the forums to meet DVC owners directly, if not Robbie?
Tom, I’m planning to book for the first time through DVC Rentals, the Cascade Cabins and it is a good sum. I am planning to use Travel Guard Insurance, as it is half the price as the PPP DVC Rentals offer, and appears to cover more. Travel Guard says they cover the DVC rentals, but it has been suggested otherwise from some individuals. In your experience, can other insurance companies cover DVC rentals??? Please advise.
Sorry, I don’t know the answer to that!
Don’t rent from DVC rental store, especially during Covid. They will use the “fine print” in their contract to screw you out of your vacation if something happens. When we were forced to cancel our vacation because Disney said we were not allowed on their property, DVC rental store claimed that their contract stated that it was only there responsibility to provide us with a “reservation” and they could care less if we couldn’t use it. They kept our $1000+ deposit and told us to go pound sand. Unless you have an iron clad insurance policy that covers ANY REASON for cancellation, I would be very hesitant to book thru DVC rental store.
Disney itself and the airlines were more than accommodating with refunds. DVC rental store are crooks.
We have almost 600 points that will expire end of November (DVC stopped short of allowing November and December use year people to salvage their points due to the pandemic, but that’s another story). We are in Canada and literally can’t travel to the US so they will expire.
I considered renting, but there is language in the contract re. benefiting “for commercial purposes “ being prohibited. It seems like a fairly common practice, but where can I find info on DVC’s actual policies regarding it?
There are many people renting their points or renting confirmed reservations. There are also facebook groups for it. One I am a member of even has a post with sample contracts and tips. We are looking into a rental before Christmas. It might change. We might stay with my husbands Grandparents then drive to my Dad’s. It might just be my son and I. I’m a teacher who NEEDS to get away. This year has been rough between 6 preps (3 are lab courses) and COVID.
I Had a terrible experience working with David’s Disney Vacation Club Rentals, and would recommend prospective buyers steer clear of this company. Whatever you plan on spending with them, burn half and give the rest to charity (you’ll get more value out of that approach)
When the COVID-19 Pandemic began getting worse, we reached out to the team at David’s to see what our options were are far as rescheduling our trip. They would not even approach the DVC points owner to see if there was anyway we could make arraignments to reschedule or find some common ground. I found it unprofessional that they shutdown their phone lines, and the only way we could communicate with them was via email.
They stuck to their policy and refused to work with us, and honestly I was disappointed but I understood/accepted that they were sticking to a contract.
My breaking point was when they refused to allow me to transfer our booking to a family member who lived in the Orlando area, as traveling to an area of the county seeing a surge in outbreaks was just not an option. The trip went unused and was a complete waste of money.
Hi Robbie,
I am interested in renting points for a trip in February 2021,but now I am kind of nervous renting from Davids or DVC rental store. Can you tell me what your process is?
Sure if you would like to email me at [email protected] I would be happy to explain my process to you.
Robbie. If every DVC owner like yourself and third party rental company like DVC Rental Store treated the customer they way you describe there would be no issue.
In this case, DVC Rental Store is trying to hide behind the fine print of a rental agreement and suggesting that they have done their part by providing my son with a “reservation” , even if Disney says it can’t be used.
DVC Rental Store has even told other people that it’s not their problem if the Disney Parks are closed and expected people to spend their vacations “quarantined “ in a hotel room.
I have had to cancel multiple vacation plans during this COVID-19 crisis. Every hotel (including Disney), airline (Jet Blue and Delta) , excursion company, etc, I have dealt with have bent over backwards to make sure I haven’t had any negative financial impact. DVC Rental Store is the first company that has told me to go **** myself.
I am having the same issue with David’s Vacation Club for Aulani. Resort is closed, island is on lockdown. David’s Vacation Club refuses to do anything for me. All they care about is the money. Very shady and they are not thinking long term
STAY AWAY FROM DVC RENTAL STORE !!!
My son purchased a weeks worth of DVC points from DVC Rental Store (DVCRS) to stay at Old Key West Disney Resort from August 27, 2020 thru September 3, 2020.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Walt Disney World’s (WDW) official policy from its “Know Before You Go” page is that “Before traveling to Florida, please make sure that you have reviewed any advisories or restrictions that may be in place for travel to Florida…Guests who are under isolation or quarantine orders must not enter Walt Disney World Resort.”
In Section 3 of Executive Order Number 20-139, issued by Florida Governor DeSantis, effective June 5, 2020, it directs all individuals entering the state of Florida from the New York Tri-State Area (Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York) to isolate or quarantine for a period of 14 days from the time of entry into Florida.
On July 7, 2020, with this quarantine order set to expire, Florida Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order Number 20-166, which extends Florida’s state of emergency for another 60 days. By virtue of that extension, the Tri-State Area Quarantine is automatically extended for another 60 days with it. This means the Tri-State Area Quarantine will now expire on September 5, 2020 .
Since my son is a resident of Connecticut, and based on Governor DeSantis Executive Order and Walt Disney World policy, WDW has advised my son that he will not be allowed on the property.
DVC Rental Store has refused to give my son a refund, credit for use at a future date, or allowed him to change his reservation to a future date.
To be fair renting DVC points is not a conventional way of booking a vacation. All the Caveat Emptor clauses are in both this article above and on the websites that we rent the points from. I have rented points several times and there is always a tingling of doubt as you check in because you are not really a DVC member but are booked on someone else’s account.
Hi Millenial,
The part you forget is that booking direct from DVC cost 3 or 4 times what is does to rent DVC directly from an owner. My average rental is $4000 dollars. Would you like to pay $16,000 dollars for the same room, in the same resort, on the same week?
I am a DVC owner and have been renting DVC points for almost 10 years. If you do your due diligence, and work with a reputable owner you should have no issues.
All of my renters have their travel plan numbers with in minutes of me booking the room.
I help them add the DME and get the luggage tags 4 to 5 weeks in advance.
Same thing with the dinning plan.
At every step of the way, the Disney Magical Experience apps shows them that they are good to go.
DVC members are allowed to have guess use their points. I have even had a renter not like the location of his room and DVC went out of their way to upgrade his room. He didn’t even have to call me.
If done right, you can rent from an owner and get a great vacation for a fraction of the price.
Hi Robbie,
I don’t know if you meant to reply to me or James Garner, but I am on the same side as you. I think renting points is great and will definitely do it again. I will likely use Dave’s as I have had good experiences with them in the past.
This COVID-19 period is unprecedented and we can expect businesses to protect their interests. You are right about due diligence, if you use non-traditional ways of booking things there is a bit of a gamble. Will I pay $16,000 for a vacation (room only) at Disney? No. Will I take the gamble for a $4000 stay, probably.
Millennial. I understand your “legal” argument. If we take DVC Store to small claims court or if a class action suit is started, it may hold up in court. But it will be a BIG mistake. It is ILLEGAL for DVC members to “sell” their points. They can only be “gifted” . Disney for some reason looks the other way and allows companies like DVC Store to exist . But if the number of aggrieved people like my son reaches a certain level, and they make enough noise about it, the whole process of renting DVC points may come to an end.
Robbie. If every DVC owner like yourself and third party rental company like DVC Rental Store treated the customer they way you describe, there would be no issue.
In this case, DVC Rental Store is trying to hide behind the fine print of a rental agreement and suggest that they have done their part by providing my son with a “reservation” , even if Disney says it can’t be used.
DVC Rental Store has even told other people that it’s not their problem if the Disney Parks are closed and expected people to spend their vacations “quarantined “ in a hotel room.
I have had to cancel multiple vacation plans during this COVID-19 crisis. Every hotel (including Disney), airline (Jet Blue and Delta) , excursion company, etc, I have dealt with have bent over backwards to make sure I haven’t had any negative financial impact. DVC Rental Store is the first company that has told me to go **** myself.
Hi James,
I agree, i would prefer that no one use the rental stores.
I would also prefer that everyone buy direct from the owners
I was able to reschedule two of my renter for this year and a third im still waiting on getting dates from. In one of those cases the resort were closed and there was no way for me to keep my end of the contract…. for the other two renters, the resorts would have been open for and i did not have to do anything for them by the contract, however, i figured to be fair, since disney made it easier for me to do it it was the right thing to do.
Disney was changing their policies on a day by day basis are this developed.. If i understand your son’s position correctly, depending on when he finally decided that going was not an option, at the very least i would have been able to rebook him later in the year. Or possible been able to give him the whole next year to chose travel dates. Depending on the owners’ use year of the points in question, David’s or DVC rental could have offered the same, it would have required work on their part to rebook, only they can answer why they didnt even try. The owners of the Points they rented got paid their deposit for those points and maybe get to use those points themselves… i agree that is not fair to people like your son.
As far as Disney not letting owners to rent points…… I have a deeded right to use my points as I want. As you correctly pointed out i can gift those points to anyone ….. if some one gives me a gift, i usually respond in kind…. ie you gift me a check and i gift you points to use on your vacation…
I hope your son gets some recovery
I also hope he tried to go again at a later date.
Let me know if he wants to rent points directly from an owner.
Can anyone tell me about the actual booking process ? if I get my booking dates confirmed and pay the deposit to either the owner or a broker , whichever I decide to use, am I then able to see the booking on the DVC website ? DO they send a booking reference linked to the website ?
When i book a reservation i send the travel plan number with a screen shot of the confirmation page. With the travel plan number you can go right in and link it to your MDE. And see everything you would like.
I would rent points ethically and honestly. I would forward the confirmation to you. Would not require so much money until 50 days prior, depending on the deadline for the particular points used. Right now i have to use some up before september, 2021 ( because we had to cancel due to covid alarmists) so would NOT like to promise a person and reserve a big vacation, and then have the renter cancel before paying me. I own at boardwalk, copper creek, and saratoga . If you contact me, we can talk on telephone after that. I have much knowledge of all resorts
What are the DVC rental places saying?
I know I as an owner was aloud to rebook my renters in the same use year the points came from. Are the rental stores not offering the same?
Hi Robbie,
At least Davids is not allowing them. In my case, I asked many times to rebook with the same owners since that seemed like the fairest solution to all involved but I was told no. The reason they are giving is that, according to them, this would not be an option for all the people affected so because it’s not an option to all, they will not offer it to anyone. However, I have many reasons to believe that that’s not true and that they simply can’t be bothered. Honestly, their decisions seem to be fueled by greed more than anything.
The DVC Rental Store is not exactly what I’d call a reputable company. Their shortsightedness in their business model has left them not only liable to provide refunds due to the pandemic (even to those not purchasing their scam PPP), it has also left them providing the absolute worst customer service…ever.
Their business model has them providing 75% payment to the renting member up front. Why is this an issue? With the resorts closed for the pandemic, all reservations were cancelled by Disney…with the renting member receiving their points back. Now they have your money, and their points. The DVC Rental Store has no recourse to get the money back, yet they are also not upholding the terms of their contract with the renters…as there is no longer the reservation the renter has paid for.
They’ve attempted to push their shortsightedness onto the renter, causing more financial hardship for many families. Additionally, they refuse to put you in contact with the member you rented from – which they also state they will do in their contract.
All around, just really terrible service and an absolute refusal to act with any sense of decency. BUYER BEWARE!! THE DVC RENTAL STORE MAY NOT PROVIDE THE VERY THING YOU ARE PAYING THEM FOR, OR EVEN ACT AS THE INTERMEDIARY THEY CLAIM TO BE.
I’m also having issues with Davids and their response to this pandemic has been atrocious. In my case (high risk and around immunocompromised people), I’ve been basically told that I either risk my life and travel when I don’t feel comfortable doing so or let them just keep my money. I urge you and everyone else who is having issues with them to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. If enough of us are vocal, they won’t be able to keep getting away with such atrocious behavior.
And to Tom, I would highly suggest not promoting David’s in any way going forward. They’ve proven themselves to not be a reputable company. I would amend this article seeing how they have treated customers during this crisis.
I too have experienced the same horrible service and situation with DVC Rental Store and the need for my family to cancel our reservation made for July. I notified them at the end of March my family would no longer be traveling due to COVID and they refused to work with the owners of my reservation to make any accommodations. I contacted them again in June after finding out we are pregnant, with twins, and due to my high risk pregnancy, medically I am unable to travel. They still would not accommodate us. We had a Disney cruise booked out of Florida which is why we wanted to travel to the parks a few days prior. We had ZERO issues canceling our cruise reservation with a full refund from Disney. DVC owners had ZERO issues canceling their reservations with the parks and receiving a full refund. DVC Rental store users had EVERY issue with their reservation and they have kept our full payment. They never even bothered to notify the owners we weren’t traveling so we still received our magic bands and continuous e-mails from the resort regarding our upcoming stay, a welcome e-mail, and a survey to collect feedback on the stay we never even had. They are frauds, thieves, and have unethical business practices. I’ve filed a formal complaint with the BBB and my claim is still unresolved after over a month…please, DO NOT rent through DVC Rental Store. If you have had an issue, please file a complaint through BBB and perhaps they will receive enough to actually refund people. I can’t even begin to imagine how much money they have scammed out of people…I’m sure hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Hi Robbie,
I’m interested in talking with you. How do I contact you?
Thank you, Nathan
Let’s start with an email
Cptrobbie @ aol.com
Renting DVC points is how we will stay in a Bay Lake Tower One-bedroom villa in August. There’s no way we could have afforded it through Disney. But we were lucky and the owner of our points was willing to rebook for us in March. Many people were not as lucky, some got credit, and many more got nothing and lost thousands of dollars.
DVC Rental Store are crooks! My family booked through DVC rental store to secure a stay at the Poly in Disney World this summer. The transaction at first was smooth and all was well. Then COVID hit and they are refusing to do anything to assist us with re-booking our reservation to next year, giving us a refund, or providing even a credit for a future vacation. They are stating because we didn’t purchase their travel insurance, they are doing absolutely nothing to help us – they aren’t even willing to work with the owners who booked our reservation to try to re-book. Who wants to take their two small children to Disney World for the first time with having to wear masks, wait in long lines, social distance, etc. Not to mention we’re traveling from California and would have to travel through two airports to get there. Not responsible in my opinion given the continued outbreak of COVID. DO NOT BOOK WITH DVC. They are terrible. I haven’t heard of a single hotel, cruise line, airline, etc. who has not been exceptionally understanding with refunds, re-bookings, etc. Even Disney themselves are refunding/re-booking vacations for no cost. We had a cruise booked with them in July (which was the reason for our stay at the Poly) and they re-booked our cruise for next year no questions ask.
Again, DO NOT BOOK WITH DVC rental store. We’re out $1,300 because of their greediness.
Maybe you should have booked the insurance, just to be on the safe side?
We normally use dvcrequest.com which I believe is the one Tom recommends here. Post Covid19 we will be using Dave’s again.
Either get insurance next time or go on the trip. You’re irresponsibility shouldn’t reflect poorly on this organization.
Hmmm. I believe that some of this information is not accurate. I have called some of these airlines, hotels, and found that they are not willing to give up their income. Cruises are also very bad – since a lot of them have sunk costs that they are unwilling to give up payments towards. The forums are full of them. No one could have predicted this novel coronavirus outbreak, and the fact that “flattening” the curve is not going well because people will not do the “right thing”. Well – I guess that lost income to all is a fact of life. I feel for you, but lost jobs, non-compliant people are going to make for a very rough ride. This is a marathon, not a sprint, so hunker down and wait till the world is a safer place. I am.