Renting DVC points... Pros & Cons

We’re planning a January 2018 trip. We’re considering renting points but we’ve never done it before. Pros, Cons and advice welcome! TIA

We are doing it for the first time in November. We were able to get a Delixe Studio for the price of a Value room. Plus we have a kitchenette and more space. Can’t report on the room or anything but it was an easy process!

Who did you use?

Looking to do the same in September of 2018. So far… the only con I’ve really come across is you can’t lock it in this far out in advance lol

Well… maybe YOU can because you’re within the 11 month and almost at the 7 month time frames for when you would need to book (at least I think that’s how it works, I’m still a little fuzzy on when exactly you can book once you get past the 11 month window).

I’d fire off a quote request to DVCRentalStore.com, it’s free and they seem to be pretty good people over there and come highly recommended.

DVC Rental Store. Their customer service was excellent. We got our reservations within 2 weeks of submitting our request. We booked at 11 months out.

Check out my TP Blog post on renting DVC points: Tips For Renting Disney Vacation Club Points | TouringPlans.com Blog

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I think that there are a lot of pros, but the big, big con is that there are no refunds and no cancellations. I think some of the stores will work with you, but it’s VERY different than the generous cancellation policy you get booking direct with Disney. You’d have to purchase separate trip insurance. Another small con is the lack of mousekeeping.

The cancellation policy is a tough one. We though we would never ever cancel, and then my mom had a heart attack the week we were due to leave. She recopperated and we still were able to go. But I was like holy crap, bye bye 5 grand.

I was hoping to rent a DVC for my Nov. trip. I assumed that because I would be going in a typically slow week, I could wait for the 7 month window. What I learned after the fact is that at 7 months, even during the slowest of times, there will usually only be Saratoga Springs or Old Key West available and MAYBE a one or two BR at Animal Kingom Lodge.

Because I planned to use DVC rental, I purchased discount tickets, not through Disney. Sadly, I am going during Free Dining, but because I already purchased my tickets, I am not eligible for that promotion. Now I am just crossing my fingers for a good Room Only discount to show up.

So, I say all of that to say this: If you are going to rent, do so the day of your 11 month window. And be aware that even then you will likely have limited options.

Thanks for the warning. We are probably going next year at that time so it’s good to know that if we are thinking of renting we need to do so right at that window.

As was previously mentioned, the #1 cons is the non-refundable status of your trip. Since we squeezed this trip into our family’s spring break, I figured we’d have issues rescheduling it as well. We booked at about 10 months through David’s, and thought it worked well.

Since we got a 1BR unit, we didn’t need to eat as many meals at Disney restaurants, and thus never messed with the dining plan. Adding dining to a DVC rental could be an issue since the actual owner has to pay for that.

The reason we went DVC was because we needed a 1BR unit, and most of those fell into the DVC category. We got a room at Bay Lake Tower, and we couldn’t have been happier since we could walk to the Magic Kingdom. My son didn’t like the walk the first day…and never complained again. (The long waits for the bus to other parks cured that!)

DVC Rental Store offers insurance for cancellations or you may be able to purchase travel insurance on your own if you use another company like David’s.

I tried renting for January 2018, but the week I tried was a busy one, and before anything could be reserved there were two days mid-stay not available at any of the resorts I picked. That meant I would have had to try for a split stay or wait for someone to pick up a Saratoga Springs reservation because that was the only one left with full availability.

I sent my request in around the 11 month mark hoping it would be picked up. I was told if the room wouldn’t be available at 11 months, it still wouldn’t be at the 7 month mark. I’m not crazy about the idea of switching resorts because that means time spent packing and unpacking again.

Another issue I had was I wasn’t 100% sure I was getting the best customer service but really have no proof other than the time lapses between responses from the company until I posted something on Facebook – then there were other people voicing the same concerns & the company responded to me asap. I got responses about how hard it is to rent, popularity of renting and then the time of year I was trying to rent being hard to get.

Since I wanted to make sure we wouldn’t have problems getting a room during the week I needed, I ended up booking moderate (POFQ) and may consider trying to rent DVC again at a “not busy” time (if that exists anymore!)

We considered renting points for a (BCV) studio or 1-bed, but were nervous about the sleeper sofa being comfortable, especially for a week or more. We also would have missed mousekeeping, so we went with a resort room.
When we are on site, could we ask DVC to show us a room to consider for the future? Not sure I would really want to spend vacation time looking at a time share, but curious if they do that.

We rented DVC points through dvcrentalstore.com in October 2017. We had a studio at BLT. It was perfect. The walking distance to MK was the best part to me. The only downside to me was no Mousekeeping until a certain number of days had passed. Traveling with a 1 year old and a 6 year old is pretty gross!!

Yes, you can get a DVC tour. I believe they give an incentive (gift card) but I know it isn’t the same amount it used to be. I think the tours run about 90 minutes and of course, they are trying to sell you a time share so I would assume some pressure to buy is involved.

Note that the tour would be for a resort that DVC is still selling shares in, not necessarily the resort you are thinking of renting points for. If you ask at the Front Desk of the resort you are interested in they might let you see a room, but that probably depends on how “magical” the CM is feeling.