Best savings? Disney hotel promo paired w/ gift card or renting DVC points or...?

[veginaz]

Ive typically always booked with some sort of discount code and paid the balance at the hotel with gift cards I purchased with some sort of % off savings.
I just returned from DL and want to get started booking WDW. What do you think the best savings is? How Ive always done it or could renting DVC points through a 3rd party site save me more $? Ive always stayed away from that in the past due to the non flexibility of cancellations.
Then there's Costco. Can I pay with Disney GC via Costco bookings?
Open to any suggestions to maximize my savings. I have the Disney Visa already.

 

[starry_solo]

DVC rentals are typically final transactions, no refunds. Are you ok with that?

 

[veginaz]

DVC rentals are typically final transactions, no refunds. Are you ok with that?

that was my reasoning for never doing it before. But Im curious if the savings is worth it and maybe purchasing travel insurance of some sort.

 

[Best Aunt]

You have to make sure that you are happy with the room layouts if you are thinking of renting DVC. Most DVC studios do not have 2 real beds. Figure out which resort you want, then look up the bed situation. Some studios don't have a lot of space to move around if you have the pull-out beds open. Will you have a stroller taking up space? A scooter? Just because you are allowed to cram a certain number of people in those studios, it doesn't mean that it will be comfortable.

Also, some rooms are very hard to book, so don't count on being able to get them through renting points:
- Animal Kingdom Villas Value
- Animal Kingdom Club Level
- Boardwalk Standard View

And keep in mind how DVC points work. Each members' contract has a home resort. Members can book at their home resort at 11 months out, and at other resorts (depending on their contract) at 7 months out. There might be vacancies, but that doesn't mean that a DVC member has points that the member wants to rent out, and that can be used to book your resie. And points expire, which limits the members' flexibility.

 

[Robber Baron]

The past 3 years renting DVC points has been better than ever mainly because Disney hasn't been offering discounts like they were before.

This year they do seem to be offering more discounts.

The past few years I have been renting DVC points from a site that has a ton of confirmed reservations available.

Many times we reserve 6 months in advance, but, if you are worried about the cancellation policies you can find many rentals just a month or so in advance.

We would never need to cancel or change for any reason other than major illness or death of a close relative. We have a CC that would cover insurance for those reasons.

We have stayed in most resorts, so, the availability of a specific resort is not too important.

We like king beds & a couch/loveseat & a balcony and that's something guaranteed with a DVC rental if we choose.

We have a 6 nite stay at AKL in June with rented DVC points and after running a comparison with going thru Disney for a standard room it's exactly 1/2 the rack rate.

 

[georgina]

The DVC rental companies have relaxed their cancellation policies a little bit, now offering credits for a future stay up to 4 months before, with diminishing credit percentage after that point.

I have booked a confirmed reservation also and found that works for dates closer to the time of travel.

I am eying a studio at Saratoga Springs rental for next March at $300 per night. Rack rate is $576, and the cheapest value is $196 for those dates.

 

[veginaz]

You have to make sure that you are happy with the room layouts if you are thinking of renting DVC. Most DVC studios do not have 2 real beds. Figure out which resort you want, then look up the bed situation. Some studios don't have a lot of space to move around if you have the pull-out beds open. Will you have a stroller taking up space? A scooter? Just because you are allowed to cram a certain number of people in those studios, it doesn't mean that it will be comfortable.

Also, some rooms are very hard to book, so don't count on being able to get them through renting points:
- Animal Kingdom Villas Value
- Animal Kingdom Club Level
- Boardwalk Standard View

And keep in mind how DVC points work. Each members' contract has a home resort. Members can book at their home resort at 11 months out, and at other resorts (depending on their contract) at 7 months out. There might be vacancies, but that doesn't mean that a DVC member has points that the member wants to rent out, and that can be used to book your resie. And points expire, which limits the members' flexibility.

Sorry for the late reply. Got back from our latest trip and came down with some sort of sickness. The room layout makes sense. Just got back from the villas at DLH and did not care for the layout.

 

[veginaz]

The past 3 years renting DVC points has been better than ever mainly because Disney hasn't been offering discounts like they were before.

This year they do seem to be offering more discounts.

The past few years I have been renting DVC points from a site that has a ton of confirmed reservations available.

Many times we reserve 6 months in advance, but, if you are worried about the cancellation policies you can find many rentals just a month or so in advance.

We would never need to cancel or change for any reason other than major illness or death of a close relative. We have a CC that would cover insurance for those reasons.

We have stayed in most resorts, so, the availability of a specific resort is not too important.

We like king beds & a couch/loveseat & a balcony and that's something guaranteed with a DVC rental if we choose.

We have a 6 nite stay at AKL in June with rented DVC points and after running a comparison with going thru Disney for a standard room it's exactly 1/2 the rack rate.

50% off is pretty amazing. I was looking at only confirmed reservations rather than requesting something.

 

[veginaz]

The DVC rental companies have relaxed their cancellation policies a little bit, now offering credits for a future stay up to 4 months before, with diminishing credit percentage after that point.

I have booked a confirmed reservation also and found that works for dates closer to the time of travel.

I am eying a studio at Saratoga Springs rental for next March at $300 per night. Rack rate is $576, and the cheapest value is $196 for those dates.

That’s a pretty big savings. I may take the leap and try it out.