Tips for Renting Disney Vacation Club Points

“If you’re saving, you’re succeeding.”

Steve Burkholder

Renting DVC points is a great way to stay at a deluxe Disney property for a lower price. Below are the basic Pro’s and Con’s

Pros:

-Stay at a deluxe property for half the price 

– No additional charge for adults (Disney charges per adult after the first 2, DVC rooms can be all adults for no additional charge)

– No overnight parking charge (this could change in the future but at this time I haven’t heard of a renter being charged)

-Microwave and Toaster in Studios and a Full Kitchen in the 1 or 2 bdrms.

Cons:

-May not be able to receive a refund if you need to cancel.

-Scammers

-Less flexibility if dates need to change 

-Housekeeping does not come every night

-Dining plan has to be added by the owner and some will not add it

-No Upgrades 

First I’ll explain what DVC is:

DVC stands for Disney Vacation Club and is Disney’s version of a Timeshare.  While most timeshares are a specific week every year, Disney’s is based on points.  A DVC member/owner has a contract with Disney for a certain amount of points and has bought into a specific home resort.  At 11 months out they can reserve their home resort and at 7 months out they can reserve any other DVC resort if there is availability.  Each room category at the various resorts will have a specified point amount per night. 

Owners sometimes rent their points out to non-members and this can provide a nice savings.  

There are two ways to rent, through a broker or an owner.  

A broker will usually be a little pricier but they might have a cancellation protection policy you can purchase.  There are many brokers online and you’ll usually fill out a form with the dates you want to stay, your info and your preferences and they will match you with an owner.  Some may require a deposit before they search for your dates.

I usually feel safer renting through a broker, however there could be less flexibility if you needed to change your dates. 

Renting through an owner has a higher risk because just like everywhere there are scammers.  Most owners will have a contract that mostly benefits them but does clearly state you are exchanging money for a room at a specific resort on specific dates.  Some owners may ask for a good faith deposit before they book your stay.  

I usually ask for my confirmation before I pay the full amount and most owners have agreed to that. 

The owner does have to call to make the reservation or any changes and sometimes a call to Disney can be time consuming.  So some owners will not want to make changes once a stay is booked. 

Here comes the risk:

When you book a room only reservation through Disney you can cancel 5 days out, however this is not the case with renting DVC.  DVC has different restrictions on what a member can do with their points and once they have rented to you they aren’t able to use those points and points do expire. So even if they cancel the reservation the points may not be able to be used. If you needed to cancel for some reason or change your dates it will be up to the owner you’ve rented through to accommodate you and sometimes they can’t.  

While many owners will work with you some won’t and some may not be able to.

If you need to cancel you can sometimes sell your reservation to someone but the owner will need to call to make the changes and again there are a few that won’t.

Many owners are very accommodating and willing to work with you if something comes up but there is no protocol or policy so there is no guarantee you’ll get your money back.

I’ve rented DVC quite a few times through both a broker and owners.  I usually rent more last minute because of the higher risk. 

A simple search online of DVC Rental will bring up brokers. I find the individual owners I’m renting from in a DVC rental Facebook group.  The Facebook group usually has files that explain the basics of renting. Sometimes owners will list their rentals on E-Bay. 

I do a few things when renting from an owner to lessen the chance of being scammed or working with a non-accommodating owner.

I search the Orange County Comptroller site to ensure the person I’m dealing with has a deed for DVC.

I search the owners name in the Facebook group to see things they’ve posted in the past and for possible references.

There  are a few owners I would never rent from and it is obvious they wouldn’t be helpful by things they’ve said in the past. 

If they don’t come up on my Facebook search I  look at their Facebook profile to make sure it’s not a new account (scammer could be using an owners name) while this isn’t a guarantee of an honest person it could show a red flag.

What you can plan/expect to pay:  

An owner will usually rent their points out 11 months in advance around 18/per point.  As the date gets closer you might find owners renting at 15 and some under 15.  If you are renting a lot of points some owner may go down in their asking price.  

Renting through a broker will usually be at least 18 per point and could be higher depending on the amount of points and how far in advance you are renting and the resort.  

The following are a few other ways owners will rent their points:

Some owners will sell a confirmed reservation and may be asking more than the going rate per point, especially if it’s at a premium resort and/or during a busy time.  

Some owners will show you what you would pay if you rented through Disney and show that you are saving 100-200/night but they may be charging a lot per point.

• Point charts can be looked up on the Disney site, if the owner isn’t saying the price per point make sure to look it up.
• While you will be saving compared to booking through Disney remember the cancellation policy doesn’t exist here.

Here is an example of the points charts available on the Disney Vacation Club website

Some broker sites have a cost calculater that help you calculate the points needed for your stay. 

A few Broker sites will  also rent owners  distressed points (expiring) at a lower rate.  There are usually restrictions like they’ll only book at Saratoga Springs because it’s larger and tends to have last minute availability.  (I’ve booked as low as 11 per point and paid under $150/night to stay at Saratoga.).

There are advantages to renting in advance,  especially if you aren’t looking for a specific view.  Standard rooms will cost less points and fill up first, also studios sell out first.

There are travel insurance companies that may insure your vacation. I personally haven’t used them but I would if I was booking a longer stay in advance. 

I have loved staying at a few DVC properties!  One day I plan to be an owner but for now I’ll keep renting and staying Deluxe for half the price 😉

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