Rent Disney Vacation Club Points
This isn’t a comprehensive overview, it’s just how we did it…
What you do is find a Disney Vacation Club member (usually through a point-trading site or the Rent/Trade board in the DVC section of the DIS) who has points s/he isn’t using and arrange to rent them for a certain amount per point. You can find out how many points you need for your stay by looking at the points charts posted on the DIS or other online DVC member communities. For instance, say a reservation in a studio at BoardWalk Villas for Sunday-Thursday is 13 points per night. If you rent points at $11 a point, you’re getting your stay for $143/night—far below the $300+ rack rate.
It takes trust on your part because the member controls the reservation at all times—as a guest, you can’t phone up DVC and check on it. When you are thinking about renting from a member, check their posts on the DIS to see if they’re a longstanding community member or someone who just signed up to rent their points.
Usually the member makes the reservation and sends you the printed confirmation from DVC, and you pay the member half the cost of your reservation (Paypal is good for this). Then you pay the balance a month or two before your arrival date—it depends on when the member would need to cancel the reservation to get his/her points back if you flaked.
Here’s a link to the Rent/Trade FAQs on the DVC board of the DIS.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
This is FABULOUS! I’d love to get into one of the DVC places for a Florida vacation and now I’ve got a plan on how to do it, thanks to you! Seriously, THANK YOU for the info!
I’m so glad you found it helpful—the process can definitely be intimidating when you’re starting out.
Can DVC points be used for any room at any Disney Resort or only certain ones?
Theoretically, yes. At the designated DVC resorts, they can be used for any room that you have enough points for. At the non-DVC resorts, they can be used for certain room categories, but the number of points required is extremely high. For example, you could stay in a 1-bedroom villa at the DVC resort Saratoga Springs for fewer points than it would take to stay in a regular hotel room at, say, the Yacht Club, which is not a DVC resort. So it’s usually best to use points for DVC resorts. This is about to become more complicated because Disney has instituted a policy that people who buy their points through resale (rather than Disney) will only be able to use the points at DVC resorts, not other Disney resorts.
Thanks for the help!! Becuase of this we got to book a Villa AKV for the same price as the Pop room we had already reserved. We always wanted to stay at Animal Kingdom but it was always too pricey. So thanks
Wow – congrats on the super deal! I’m so glad you found this helpful!
Just wondering how far in advance you should start looking on the boards to buy points. If I’d like to go in April, should I start looking now or wait till January?
Booking windows for members who own points at the resort you want open at 11 months out; booking windows for all other DVC members open at 7 months out. So if the resort or room type you want is hard to get, it’s best to start looking 11 months out. But you can start looking now and still beat all the DVC members who don’t own points at the resort you want.
Have you ever stayed at any of the DVC units at the GCH? What did you think?
We were not knocked out, but that’s prolly because I was bitter about getting my third accessible room in as many stays. We had a 1-bedroom on the ground floor facing a concrete walkway, so nothing to look at, and very dark. We’ve also stayed in a studio at GCH with a partial view of DCA, which was nice. But they’re just so dang dark! I guess that’s why I’m such a Beach Club fan.
Just wondering if you knew how to add the dining plan if you rent points….? Also if we don’t plan on renting a car can you take the magical express?
Thanks for the help!
Yes on both counts—you just need to ask the member you’re renting from to make these arrangements for you. Usually they offer when they are getting all your info to make the reservation.
Great information! A question about the dining in conjunction with renting DVC points. Who makes the reservations for the meals?
Renters make all their own dining reservations. The only time you’d need to get the owner involved is if you want to buy one of the Disney dining plans—he or she would have to add it to the room reservation for you. But then you’d make the actual restaurant reservations. Hope this helps!
I am intersted at making a reservation for a boardwalk villa and i am traveling with five people the smallest being 12 year old. I am intersted in traveling August 6th to the 10th. I would need a room that sleeps 5. Is there a place to rent or purchase points?
Hi! First, you should know that the studio and 1-bedroom accommodations at the BoardWalk Villas only sleep 4, so you would need to get a pricey 2-bedroom villa. If your plans are flexible, you might want to investigate renting at Animal Kingdom Villas, which has units that sleep 5. I usually rent points from independent DVC members who post on the DISboards’ Rent/Trade forum (you must be logged in to the DIS to see it), but the easiest (if priciest) way is to use David’s Vacation Club Rentals, a service that works more like a regular booking engine.
Thank you that was very helpful.