DVC Members Renting Out Their Points: So, you have some excess points that for some reason you’re not going to use and you either can’t bank them or you don’t want to. Maybe you have other plans this year and want to turn your points into cash and use the cash for another vacation experience. Maybe you just need a year away from Disney. Instead of letting them go to waste, you can rent them out to others and pocket the cash for whatever you need.
Or, instead of renting, you may prefer to transfer your excess points to another DVC member. For that, please refer to “Guide to point transfers between members“.
Note: This page is intended for members who are considering renting out their points. If you are interested in obtaining a reservation by renting points, please see: “An explanation of renting points“.
CAN MEMBERS RENT OUT THEIR POINTS?
Can I “rent” out my excess points? Is renting even allowed by DVC?
DVC Members who don’t plan on using all their points before they expire may choose to make the points available to someone else via a rental agreement – either direct with another individual or using a “points broker”. The DVC Member gets cash for points that would otherwise be lost, and the renter has the chance to stay at a DVC resort for far less than booking direct from Disney.
DVC expressly allows renting. Section 5.1 of the Disney Vacation Club Membership Agreement states:
As stated above: “A Club Member may make a reservation to use a Vacation Home for the Club Member’s own use, make their use available to family or friends or guests, or rent them…. Neither DVD’s, DVCMC’s or the Association’s approval of a rental by a Club Member is required after a reservation has been made in the renter’s own name, and Club Member are permitted to rent their occupancy rights on terms and conditions that they may establish…”
The Home Resort Rules and Regulations (in the Multi-Site POS) further states:
DVC does have a restriction against using your ownership interest as a commercial enterprise:
HOW WOULD I GO ABOUT RENTING MY POINTS?
How would I rent out my points?
Points should be listed for rental as soon as possible – ideally before the 11-month booking window, so they can be used at the home resort they are associated with. This is especially true for high-demand resorts such as BLT, BCV, BWV, VGC, VGF, and PVB, but less true for points at SSR, OKW and AKV. Don’t wait until the points are about to expire, as “distressed” points are usually rented at a discount.
The going rate for renting out your points is between $13-16/pt.
For an agreed upon rental price, you as the DVC owner makes a reservation in the name of the renter who is “renting points” from you. This is a private transaction between the owner and the renter and Disney is not involved.
THE RISK OF RENTING YOUR POINTS
There is risk on both sides of a rental transaction, as an owner/member renting out their points risks loss of their points (if not bankable) as well as exposure to potential damages to Disney property inflicted by the renter and their guests. The renter may smoke in the room, and you would be liable for the cleaning charge. I’ve even heard of cases where their credit card company denied a renter’s charges to their room, and Disney went after the owner (but to be fair, these are rare occurrences).
Renting your points out using a points broker does not eliminate or even reduce this risk.
UP-FRONT PREPARATION
Before you start responding to ads or posting your own, know exactly what you are offering, what your rental terms and conditions will be. You need to think about what you will and will not allow. Will you allow the renter to cancel and expect a refund? Will you allow the renter to change the reservation? If yes to these, will there be a point where you say no? Are you willing to borrow points for a longer reservation if needed?
Members should be aware that they are subject to all the reservation policies of DVC whenever they make a reservation – whether it’s for themselves, a guest or a renter. If they make a reservation within 30 days of travel, they are automatically subject to holding account rules should they need to cancel the reservation. Members may want to insist on full payment from a renter before making a reservation within 30 days of arrival, as they will at least lose some value for those points should payment not be received.
As the member wanting to rent, you should above all protect yourself first and then think of ways to make the process as smooth and reassuring as possible for those who would rent from you.
If you’ve rented points before, you should be ready to provide some references in case the prospective renter asks.
Payment could be made by credit card, cashiers check, money order, wire transfers, personal check, or even cash. While any payment method an owner is able and willing to accept is up to them, you should be prepared to handle transfer of payments in a secure manner.
RENTAL CONTRACTS
Once you’ve decided, draw up a rental contract. This makes sure everything is spelled out in writing and can reduce the possibility of misunderstandings and disagreements about not meeting certain expectations. Be sure your contract clearly covers when payments are due and a cancellation clause. Make sure your renter agrees with your contract letter before making any reservation.
The real benefit of a contract is that it spells out the responsibilities and expectations of both parties clearly. Such a contract is very useful because it clears up any areas of misunderstanding.
Please see the “Sample DVC Point Rental agreement“.
DVC requires a written rental agreement be in place for all rentals:
DEALING WITH PROSPECTIVE RENTERS
Be prepared to have to invest a lot of time in the process: 1) first when trying to locate a renter, and then 2) to handhold the renter through the process.
Expect to deal with people shopping around for the best price. Renters tend to be bargain hunters and you should expect some lowball offers. Sometimes a renter may cancel their transaction with you if they later find a better price from someone else.
Prospective renters may also want you to check on availability of reservations at various resorts for different periods – perhaps dozens of combinations – which can become wearisome.
Many renters who are new to the process may have unrealistic expectations. They may think last minute reservations are easy to get, such as trying to book the first week of December just 2 months in advance. A lot of renters simply have a lack of knowledge about how DVC works and how that differs from a traditional hotel reservation.
AFTER YOU HAVE BOOKED FOR A RENTER
Even after the reservation has been made, some new renters who may be nervous about the process may reach out to you several times just to check and make sure everything is OK. If they can’t get ahold of you, they may even panic. If you are going out of town for something, make sure to email them and let them know so they don’t wonder what happened to you if you don’t respond immediately.
You need to be prepared to take punitive action if the renter misses a payment deadline. You don’t want to be stuck with points going into a holding account or facing expiration, which may lead to having to re-rent them as distressed points.
USING A POINTS BROKER
Now, you may be the type of DVC member who doesn’t mind the amount of work that it may take to seek out a guest to rent your points to. In fact, you may enjoy the planning and interaction with the guest that a direct rental requires. On the other hand, you may be the type of DVC member that wants no part of advertising your points and working with a guest that you may not know. This second type of DVC member wants the ease and safety of turning this and other associated tasks over to an established DVC points broker to assist you in renting your points.
A points broker not only helps bring together owners looking to rent their excess points with guests wishing to book a reservation, they also require much less legwork by the owner – saving the owner the time it takes to talk with prospective renters, and from having to handle all the questions and issues that may occur with a rental transaction. It just makes renting your points more convenient.
A well-established points broker does a lot of advertising on the internet, and typically has more renters than points, so you may rent your points out faster as well.
THE DOWNSIDE OF USING A POINTS BROKER
The downside, of course, is the points broker doesn’t do this for free. They take a cut or portion of the rental proceeds as payment for their services. So, you won’t get as much cash for your points as you would if you rented them yourself.
The other difference is you’re pretty much locked into the standard payment plan the broker uses.
If I did rent out my points, I would likely use a broker, as the small fee is worth not having to bother with everything the broker will take care of for you.