Let's hear it for blue card owners!

In the situation where you are saving $1600 a year, that is pretty unique. Canadian resident discounts abound and it has rarely been worth it for us to even buy a gold pass. To have a family of 4 save money on an AP you would have to do two trips a year and not go during blackout dates. If you book Park hopper plus on the Canadian discount now, it varies slightly depending on time of year, but it's under $500 to go for 8 days. To stay for 8 days with 4 people I would imagine you are looking at a 1 bedroom most years meaning, if you are buying at Riviera you need 300 points a year. If you want to buy 100 at Riv and 200 somewhere else on resale that makes more sense, but still the point remains that unless you are doing two separate trips, it's cheaper to just buy tickets.

The only time I have bought an AP is when I am going twice in a 12 month span (I.e. I go in late September one year and early September or late August the following year).
 
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In the situation where you are saving $1600 a year, that is pretty unique. Canadian resident discounts abound and it has rarely been worth it for us to even buy a gold pass. To have a family of 4 save money on an AP you would have to do two trips a year and not go during blackout dates. If you book Park hopper plus on the Canadian discount now, it varies slightly depending on time of year, but it's under $500 to go for 8 days. To stay for 8 days with 4 people I would imagine you are looking at a 1 bedroom most years meaning, if you are buying at Riviera you need 300 points a year. If you want to buy 100 at Riv and 200 somewhere else on resale that makes more sense, but still the point remains that unless you are doing two separate trips, it's cheaper to just buy tickets.

The only time I have done it is when I am going twice in a 12 month span (I.e. I go in late September one year and early September or late August the following year).

I think the 51 week rule is what a lot of people do. Even using the Cdn discount, for a family of 4 it's savings of about $200 per person on 7 day passes vs Gold annual passes. But ya, I agree. For a Cdn going once a year (even with the 51 week rule) it takes a lot longer than 4 years. If all stays the same, its actually probably about 15 years breakeven). But access to the Cdn discount is the unique situation. Most people don't have access to that discount.

And the math is the difference between direct and resale on 100 points. Any points you buy direct over and above that 100 point threshold don't offer you anymore discounts.
 
Well, I don't know that I specifically love being a blue card owner as much as I feel like I have *some* stability of benefits. We only bought 10 years ago but we're kinda ... distrusting ... and couldn't quite hack the resale market = wimps. :o
 


You are taking a very short term view, IMO. When you are a member for decades, you tend to lighten up.
Since we booked the cruise and the hotel room just shortly before we went, no, it was not cheaper to rent out points. We checked.
It isn't impossible to align your dates with MM. We have done it easily the past two years. So have many many others... since these events always run out of tickets.
It isn't hard to make good use of the AP discount. That has been a great perk for us, saving us more than $1,000 last year. And that platinum pass deal the year before was outstanding.
My post was more about being appreciative of the blue card perks. Of course they can go away at any time.
But many of us are enjoying getting the most out of the program we signed up for. We feel it has been a bargain.
Wonderfully stated!!
About the only difference we have is that our Gold AP savings is closer to $2,000 every year - 4 people, 2-5 trips annually. Without any Blue Card, we probably wouldn't get APs, so wouldn't go to WDW as often.....and would likely have no need or desire to own ANY DVC points.
We LOVE MMs, as well as its many, varied predecessors - so much fun, and we haven't had much difficulty, if any, getting into one.
In over 2 decades of ownership, we feel the "perks" have greatly improved over the years.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying what you have - oddly enough, both direct & resale purchasers can do so :rolleyes: Asking like minded people if they also enjoy their blue card benefits is not derogatory, unlike the insinuation that direct purchasers are less financially savvy because they didn't buy resale.
Btw, we own both direct & resale - both, either, or neither, it's each person's choice based on their wants, needs, & personal finances.
 
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We purchased resale points at OKW and SSR about 10 years ago for $65 AND got the blue card :). You don’t have to go back 23 years for low buy in prices!

I could take or leave our blue card. I don’t think we use any of the perks associated with it. We have done exactly one MM event and it was chaotic and crowded. None of our other trips have ever coincided with one.

same with us but at akl. We have the blue card. For us the season pass discount and then buying tables helps us the most. I don’t know what else we use it for really. I’m glad when we bought in. It was also very close to ur prices and I think right after is when prices really started to climb quick.
 
Sorry, I love having a blue card. Love everything about it. Love having every option open to us. Love having discounts on annual passes.
No apologies needed IMO. Too many people, especial woman, feel the need to apologize when stating their opinion for fear of offending others.

If anything, it sounds as though you just might have been defending being a member of ‘the old guard’. Heck, I give you credit for latching onto a good deal at the get-go!

I came onboard in the next wave of the new resorts. Didn’t pay much more for my last add on contract (resale just a few years ago) per point vs my DVC-direct contracts. Frankly, I could care less whom paid what for their DVC TS but it seems to be a sticking point here.

But I love perks

It’s a powerful sales tool that appeals to many & just so happens to pay off for those of us who were grandfathered in/bought enough points direct. I appreciate my blue cards too. May they thusly continue :). If they don’t, admittedly it will be an adjustment in how I do vacation.

How a member could begrudge another from taking advantage of the rules DVC set forth is beyond me...as is the whole us vs them mentality I’m seeing crop up more frequently here.
 


Just wanted to say, using DVC point for a cruise is crazy. You can easily rent the amount of points required for the cruise, pay for the cruise in cash, the significant amount left over, use for spending money.
 
I’m a blue card holder myself-but yeah, this post feels a little too much “hip hop hurray for rich people!” :). I’ve got my blue card-it’s actually not super useful to me as I am a west coaster and much prefer DL to WDW-but I have it and it’s perks-why would I need anyone else to celebrate me on top of that :).
 
I’m a blue card holder myself-but yeah, this post feels a little too much “hip hop hurray for rich people!” :). I’ve got my blue card-it’s actually not super useful to me as I am a west coaster and much prefer DL to WDW-but I have it and it’s perks-why would I need anyone else to celebrate me on top of that :).
I have been following this post. I am no longer a Member, but I don’t see this as hip-hip hurry for “RICH people”, but rather for people who chose to buy direct and get Blue Card benefits. We all make our own choices on how to spend our money. That doesn’t mean some can’t afford a Blue Card, but perhaps they rather do something else with their expendable income.
 
Anyone who doesn't see this as a jab at people who don't have a blue card are either not being truthful to themselves or have no sense of their surroundings. I have a blue card, as I said I have found it handy in limited situations but it has saved me money. I don't feel special because I have a blue card, nor should anyone really. There's no point in bragging to others on here about my blue card; all it will do is alienate others that don't have it. It also has alienated some that do have it and don't like the divisive nature of the post; if the OP finds great value in using points for a cruise that is fine but calls into question their motives for posting; allowing someone to use points for a cruise is a pretty liberal interpretation of "benefit".

The AP discount is really the only true benefit other than being able to stay at Riviera for the recent resale purchasers which isn't really a benefit per se.

To say benefits have improved over the years is also a comment I'm not sure I understand; the original benefits gave free Park access...now you are getting an AP for a family of four for $2,600 lol that's not exactly a steal, especially if you go during blackout dates. I will buy an AP this year as I'm doing two trips in 11 months but what you are paying by buying dvc direct makes it pretty hard to justify if you don't own 300 points or more. You need to go twice a year to see real benefits, which means you are spending a lot of money on points, meals, multiple flights etc going to Disney. I agree I'd rather have the money in my pocket for the AP but many people say they go more because of the gold AP! Which means any perceived savings is flushed by going more often because your flights will immediately eat your AP savings from your second trip.

My overarching theme is this thread was started to brag about something not everyone can get, and ultimately to make someone feel good about their purchase where they probably paid a lot more than resale and are justifying those extra dollars TO THEMSELVES. Some people can only afford to buy resale so rubbing the blue card in their faces is in poor taste and totally unnecessary IMO.
Others won't see it that way and are entitled to their opinion so they can ignore this sidebar and continue their gloating (and defending of that gloating).
 
I think people are reading way too much into this thread. It seems to have been started not to offend anyone, but to simply express the OP's personal joy of having DVC and having their direct benefits, not as a put down or jab at resale purchasers. Those benefits DO make a difference to some purchasers and influence their use of their points, there is no denying that. Resale purchasers are thrilled with their purchase savings, direct and grandfathered resale purchasers are thrilled with their benefits. Overall, though, we are all just timeshare owners, seeking an affordable way to go to Disney as best we can.
 
OK so before they created the white card, were there a lot of posts of this kind? People coming on here extolling the virtues of the member perks/benefits and calling for praise of every dvc owner who finds value in their "benefits"? I am guessing there were not but I haven't done an extensive search. I am not offended by the post because I think people can post what they want and feel like posting, but it is within my right to call this out for what it is, or what I think it is. I don't see the other side of this. The title of the thread is "let's hear it for blue card owners", not "wow my member benefits have served me well" or "member perks worth it for me" etc. It's let's celebrate members having a blue card.

I don't care that it is posted, but people on here saying it's just someone who is excited about their perks to me are reading what they want to read and not seeing the other side of this. There is no point to this thread if it's just someone coming on to talk about the great deal they got because of their blue card by cruising on points...it makes no sense.
 
I think people are going a bit overboard on the hate on the OP. We can all list out the membership benefits and do some price analysis on whether they are "worth it", but some first hand experience on how people use them can be of great value to a prospective buyer. Just because you don't see value in them (monterary or non-monetary) doesn't mean someone else won't. I don't know about the rest of you, but one of the big "tools" I used during my research phase was listen to the Welcome Home Podcast and the My DVC Points Podcasts. I analyzed the numbers up and down, but hearing about how others actually used their memberships provided some real value to myself.
 
I think somebody already said this, but all the added benefit I need is that the tapstyle turns purple when I tap my magic band. I would be more upset than I should if they took that away; and I have a white card.
 
I think people are going a bit overboard on the hate on the OP. We can all list out the membership benefits and do some price analysis on whether they are "worth it", but some first hand experience on how people use them can be of great value to a prospective buyer. Just because you don't see value in them (monterary or non-monetary) doesn't mean someone else won't. I don't know about the rest of you, but one of the big "tools" I used during my research phase was listen to the Welcome Home Podcast and the My DVC Points Podcasts. I analyzed the numbers up and down, but hearing about how others actually used their memberships provided some real value to myself.
I'm not going to post in this thread any more, but read the title of the thread. You wouldn't name a book about how to use member benefits "Dvc blue card owners are the best". If everyone had them this thread wouldn't exist. I don't think this is some terrible malicious act by the OP but it also isn't just a thread about how they use their benefits.
 
Maybe I was just raised differently, but I just don't see the need to go around showing off all that I can do and that others cannot.

This is one positive post about blue card benefits amongst tons of negativity over blue card benefits on a board about DVC benefits. It deserves a mention. It's a fact. It's not hurting anyone. It's a luxury on top of a luxury.

If people are offended by DVC perhaps they should visit one of the many other boards not specifically for the topic.
 
Where are all the threads and posts criticizing blue card owners? I haven't seen any.

I have seen many where people are happy with their decision to go resale.
I have seen many where ppl are happy to go direct.
I have seen many detailed analyses where people can't currently justify direct pricing (folks like Sandisw also having interesting contrasting experiences).

This post was defending something no one is attacking. It's not constructive and makes the perceived conflict a reality by creating a thread about it.
 
Where are all the threads and posts criticizing blue card owners? I haven't seen any.

I have seen many where people are happy with their decision to go resale.
I have seen many where ppl are happy to go direct.
I have seen many detailed analyses where people can't currently justify direct pricing (folks like Sandisw also having interesting contrasting experiences).

This post was defending something no one is attacking. It's not constructive and makes the perceived conflict a reality by creating a thread about it.
To be fair, this post is really just someone who is happy to have blue card (currently only accessible through direct purchases). It's really no different than people who talk about saving 10K on a resale contract and being happy about it.

I think this thread is getting out of hand in the attacks towards the OP. I really don't think this was meant as a "I have more money than you" brag. I think it's just someone who is happy to discuss the benefits of being a blue card member, which is a completely relevant topic on these boards.
 
I think somebody already said this, but all the added benefit I need is that the tapstyle turns purple when I tap my magic band. I would be more upset than I should if they took that away; and I have a white card.
The purple ring is a neat trick. I just wish it was more consistent. But then, maybe it would lose it's magic. MK seems pretty consistent for me, the other parks, not so much.
 

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