SO HERE'S THE UNPOPULAR OPINION PART: What if 11-month home resort priority booking was only for members staying on that reservation? Members planning to rent/trade/borrow points could still do whatever they want, but they'd have to wait until 7 months to book.
Is this how they get us?!
I mean, I do own. Already mentioned that part. And we did buy where we want to stay. Mentioned that part, too.You don't even own yet and IMO you're overthinking it all. Wait until/unless it is/becomes a problem. Buy where
This idea just seems like a recipe for even more disappointment at the 7-month window as it will only create even more people trying for the reservation at 7 months. So, instead of knowing the reservation is gone because an owner used home resort priority, now you have your hopes up getting the reservation at the 7-month window, only for your hopes to be completely shattered when the reservation disappears in 1 second when the window opens (because after all you are now competing with owners too). If you want to be guaranteed a reservation at a anyone resort, the only sure fire way to get that guarantee is buying points there. Anything else is just shifting competition for availability.SO HERE'S THE UNPOPULAR OPINION PART: What if 11-month home resort priority booking was only for members staying on that reservation? Members planning to rent/trade/borrow points could still do whatever they want, but they'd have to wait until 7 months to book.
Am I the only one who feels discouraged that non-members have this advantage over us?
What's more, the "rental problem" has ebbed and flowed with the overall travel demand to WDW. That has been strong and growing for several years now, and so the rental market is hot. There are even people planning to buy extra points just to rent them out at a profit.I think your concern is based on the assumption that there's some kind of commercial entity out there that's making massive numbers of reservations at peak times and reselling them. That's not happening, and the membership contract doesn't allow it. In nearly 20 years of reading this board daily, I've never seen any evidence that that's going on. And believe me, these boards would be in flames if there was even a hint of it.
so true, during the last recession many DVC owners rented their points just to be able to hang on to their memberships, while many others had to sell them, or even gave them back to Disney.Over the couple of decades that I've been a member, there have been periods when I couldn't travel due to job duties, family illnesses, caring for a relative. If I hadn't been able to rent, I would have lost a *lot* of money in maintenance fees for lodging I wasn't using.
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I think the problem is too many buy the lowest cost resort with no plans to ever stay there, and try to switch at 7 months.
Maybe only the big renters. But average owners? Not really.This is a case of "beware what you wish for". Any rule DVC could think of for limiting rental would hurt in bigger measure owners.
Maybe only the big renters. But average owners? Not really.
Hello, all. We're new DVC members, so we're still exploring the insurance and outs of membership and doing our research about all the resorts and the quirks of DVC booking vs booking a regular stay at a deluxe resort.
Anyway, I've been a little bothered/disappointed by the way that it looks nearly impossible to book at a WDW resort that isn't your home resort at 7 months, especially considering that a lot of those 11 month bookings are just from people planning to rent out their reservation during popular events (e.g. BCV during any Epcot festival)
Personally, I think we'll be okay because we bought where we plan to stay most of the time (CCV), and we're planning to stay in larger villas (not studios). The other resorts we're most interested in (like Kidani savannah view) tend to have better availability anyway. But from what I've observed, I think we'll have an extremely difficult time ever staying at BCV or Poly without waitlisting and/or RAT stalking, which seems unfair, considering non-members can rent points so easily.
SO HERE'S THE UNPOPULAR OPINION PART: What if 11-month home resort priority booking was only for members staying on that reservation? Members planning to rent/trade/borrow points could still do whatever they want, but they'd have to wait until 7 months to book.
Thoughts? I'm not looking to start any fights! Just curious what members who've been around longer think about this idea. I could be totally overlooking something, so let me know what you think!
If you aren't wanting studios booking at 7 months at most places most of the year really is not that hard.
I'm not seeing how this is a case of non-members having an advantage over members.
At the moment that 11-month window opens for, say, BRV in the first week of December, it's all BRV owners on the phone. It's a level playing field. Does it matter which bodies are going to stay in the room? Does it make a difference to you if you can't get the room because I'm staying in it, or my cousin and her husband are staying in it, or my coworker and his wife are staying in, or a stranger that I rented to, who's paying me to stay in it? Does it matter if I originally booked the room for myself, found I couldn't go because of a family illness and then rented the reservation? No matter who's sleeping in the room, it's booked.
It's also not true that it's never possible to book a non-home resort at 7 months. At certain times of year, or certain resorts/room types, yes, it can be nearly impossible to get a reservation at 7 months, but it's not true year round, and not at every resort. The reality of timesharing is that some times of year and some resorts are going to be more in demand than others. And those popular bookings are going to have to be made as early as possible.
There's also a practical problem with your proposal. Let's say DVC says, only the members on the contract can stay in the room. Does that mean I can't book a room for my sister's family with my points, if they're vacationing with us? What if she's paying me for the reservation? That would be a rental under your description, and shouldn't be allowed. Can I only make the reservation if she doesn't pay me? How would DVC know whether she paid me or not? OK, so you make an exception for family. How would I prove that the person I made the reservation for is related to me?
Part of the draw for DVC has always been the ability to bring family and friends, and to gift stays to family and friends. I think if you took that away, sales for DVC would go way down. I think sales would also go down if you took the safety net of renting away. Over the couple of decades that I've been a member, there have been periods when I couldn't travel due to job duties, family illnesses, caring for a relative. If I hadn't been able to rent, I would have lost a *lot* of money in maintenance fees for lodging I wasn't using. If DVC were structured as the members-only, private club you're describing, I never would have bought my membership.
I think your concern is based on the assumption that there's some kind of commercial entity out there that's making massive numbers of reservations at peak times and reselling them. That's not happening, and the membership contract doesn't allow it. In nearly 20 years of reading this board daily, I've never seen any evidence that that's going on. And believe me, these boards would be in flames if there was even a hint of it.
As you learn more about DVC and how it works, I think you'll come to understand that what you fear is happening...isn't happening. Peak times get booked early because members want those reservations for themselves. Do they sometimes make rental reservations for peak times? Sure. But those rooms would be booked regardless.
This is a case of "beware what you wish for". Any rule DVC could think of for limiting rental would hurt in bigger measure owners.
You said renters, not owners who are getting a reservation for the kids, for mom, etc.For example the suggestion by the OP: limiting the 11 months only for stays where the owner is present. And suddenly you cannoy book a stay for your child's honeymoon.
Or they charge to change names on a reservation, and suddenly you have to pay if your mum wants to join you.
Or you cannot go one year for medical reasons and you loose your points.
I am ready to bet rentals are less than 1% of total reservations. Any rule made to make those 1% more difficult or expensive will have an impact on the remaining 99%.
Hello, all. We're new DVC members, so we're still exploring the insurance and outs of membership and doing our research about all the resorts and the quirks of DVC booking vs booking a regular stay at a deluxe resort.
Anyway, I've been a little bothered/disappointed by the way that it looks nearly impossible to book at a WDW resort that isn't your home resort at 7 months, especially considering that a lot of those 11 month bookings are just from people planning to rent out their reservation during popular events (e.g. BCV during any Epcot festival)
Personally, I think we'll be okay because we bought where we plan to stay most of the time (CCV), and we're planning to stay in larger villas (not studios). The other resorts we're most interested in (like Kidani savannah view) tend to have better availability anyway. But from what I've observed, I think we'll have an extremely difficult time ever staying at BCV or Poly without waitlisting and/or RAT stalking, which seems unfair, considering non-members can rent points so easily.
SO HERE'S THE UNPOPULAR OPINION PART: What if 11-month home resort priority booking was only for members staying on that reservation? Members planning to rent/trade/borrow points could still do whatever they want, but they'd have to wait until 7 months to book.
Thoughts? I'm not looking to start any fights! Just curious what members who've been around longer think about this idea. I could be totally overlooking something, so let me know what you think!