I am planning a 4-night (possibly 5-night) September 2025 WDW. My hope is to stay at the Polynesian. My dates are flexible; I just need them to be in September.
In the past, I’ve had great luck securing confirmed reservations thanks to @JJT’s DVC dedicated rental search page! My plan was to fervently search the dedicated rentals until I found a great deal for the Poly.
But, I was looking at David’s DVC rental cost calculator. The cost calculator is showing 4 nights at the Poly (Mon through Friday) in September for $1400. That’s $350 per night.
Looking at the past confirmed DVC rentals for September 2024, there was only one 4-night rental for less than $350 per night.
I know going the request route isn’t guaranteed, but why wouldn’t I go that route to start off with? I know there is a possibility that the 2025 prices will be different, but I don’t expect them to drop off significantly from 2024.
I’ve never gone the request route before, so what am I missing?
I confirmed the math and wow, September is cheap! 14 points / night (standard non-tower studio) * 4 nights = 56 points, and that is $1400 at $25/point (at David’s).
I will let @JJT et al comment on historical trends for confirmed rentals.
I will note that we used Bookdvc back in 2023 successfully (that was for 2x Poly studios exactly at the 7 month mark for late April - I do not know if they have Poly-specific points available for 7-11 months, nor do I know how competitive Poly in September is). Their pricing on points is lower than David’s. We found them professional and would use them again.
If you’re going through a broker then the main difference will be that if you just request to rent points you’ll need to request the specific dates when you make that request.
A confirmed rental is fixed and will tend to be more expensive.
September is still more than 7 months out so there should still be availability. I can’t check just now but I can later if you want. It’ll just be a case of a Poly owner picking up the request.
One major broker has a huge amount of confirmed rentals - because they actively encourage owners to do it this way. The reason is that although the owners are paid the same, they themselves inflate the price per point and take a much bigger cut.
It isn’t unusual to see confirmed rentals going for the equivalent of $30 per point. It’s easier to hide that fact because the broker doesn’t reveal the number of points that the reservation required.
As an owner I wouldn’t use that broker on principle for that reason. They’d make more money out of my points which won’t benefit me and will cost the renter more. Luckily for me they won’t deal with international owners.
So I’d say the converse is true. Confirmed rentals are usually more expensive. Unless the cost is reduced - which is what @jjt is so good at finding. A confirmed reservation that is put up for rent close to the date in question may be cheaper to increase the odds of renting it out. But those made within the home resort period will almost always be more expensive than just renting points.
I will add - my upcoming trip is semi-last minute with being planned ~2 months out. If there were any regular availability, it would be cheaper per point at most brokers, but nothing is available, so we picked a confirmed reservation and filled in around it with Priceline Express Deals.
I’m guessing the confirmed reservation deals that @JJT finds may also be because the owners want the money right away (some of the discounts are months out!), as well as points expiring as previously noted. But it’s kind of magic trying to figure out if one will show up for the right place / time / price (I still check the deals thread out of morbid curiosity that something will appear now that we gave up and with with Priceline ). They’re great for people who can just randomly travel!
Confirmed reservations do give you backup options if you decide to wait until the 7 month mark for cheaper pricing / more points availability and hope that Poly is still available (there are a lot of non-tower studios).
As a follow up, I went the reservation request route (rather than waiting on a confirmed reservation). I got the Polynesian on the same day I put in my request! It was a super easy process.
The Poly has been at the top of my “hotel wish list.” I can’t wait to stay there.
). They’re great for people who can just randomly travel!