Is 250 points a good place to start?

[piglet100]

Hi everyone
I've toyed with the idea of DVC before but we could meet make the maths work, but now with children starting school we know we'll be locked into school hols for the foreseeable and so having some more long term certainty over price appeals more. Plus we are less likely to now be able to take advantage of cheap offers and deals in term time, and who knows about free dining etc!

Anyway, I've just about landed on 250 points being what we'd need to get a 1 bed for a week to 10 days annually or longer every other year, having looked at the points ranges for AKL, OKW, SSR primarily. We'd be happy to do a few nights in a studio if there was availability, but would like a 1 bed, and know it's harder to get studios.

We'd also be happy to mix and match with a studio at a cheaper resort, or an off-site or cash stay to have a few more points for a higher point resort for a shorter time. I also think we'll start to add universal or other destinations into our Florida trips as the children get older.

We'd be travelling mostly the Feb or Oct half terms or the last weeks of August.

Does this feel about right? I've done lots of spreadsheets but the large variation in range of points and room types has me fluctuating from needing 150-350!

Thanks in advance!

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by piglet100

Hi everyone
I've toyed with the idea of DVC before but we could meet make the maths work, but now with children starting school we know we'll be locked into school hols for the foreseeable and so having some more long term certainty over price appeals more. Plus we are less likely to now be able to take advantage of cheap offers and deals in term time, and who knows about free dining etc!

Anyway, I've just about landed on 250 points being what we'd need to get a 1 bed for a week to 10 days annually or longer every other year, having looked at the points ranges for AKL, OKW, SSR primarily. We'd be happy to do a few nights in a studio if there was availability, but would like a 1 bed, and know it's harder to get studios.

We'd also be happy to mix and match with a studio at a cheaper resort, or an off-site or cash stay to have a few more points for a higher point resort for a shorter time. I also think we'll start to add universal or other destinations into our Florida trips as the children get older.

We'd be travelling mostly the Feb or Oct half terms or the last weeks of August.

Does this feel about right? I've done lots of spreadsheets but the large variation in range of points and room types has me fluctuating from needing 150-350!

Thanks in advance!

See more...

Piglet- There is no hard and fast rule. I started at 160 and went to nearly 400 with add ons. So 250 seems a reasonable number. The 1 beds are great and of course usually give you plenty of choice at 7 months.

I’d maybe buy a 150ish and a 100 ish contract as smaller contracts sell quicker if you sell. They’ll cost slightly more and more closing though.

[BevS97]

We have 173. We sometimes do studios. Sometimes 1 bed. Depending on how often we travel. I’d like more points but we make our points work hard and I wouldn’t want more dues to pay.

[Lizzim]

We only have 100 points so are one of those terrible owners that bought to stay in studios.

Having said that since 2010 we have done all of the following:

1. Treehouse at Saratoga
2. 2 bed at Bay Lake Tower
3. Grand Villa at Bay Lake (only 1 night)
4. Plus studios at Saratoga, Bay Lake, Animal Kingdom lodge and Hilton Head

The point... you can totally make 250 work 😁

[PoohBears#1fan]

We started with 265 & stayed in 1 beds for 17/18 nights in May or August every other year when the kids were younger.

Well we actually started with 165, planning 12 nights 2 years out of every 3 in studios, but that only lasted 1 year, we added a further 100 points on after our first stay when we realised we wanted 1 beds.

Sometimes we’d fly on a Saturday, have the high point Saturday night offsite & stretch the points that way.

The flexibility is the brilliance of DVC, you make what you have work for you.

[gavvy]

I have 210 and stay in studios- with careful banking and borrowing I can manage 2-3 trips a year in a standard Studio at BWV. I have found my points give me the perfect due cost to amount of holiday days I need.

Everyone is different so do what you think works for you but remember more points = a bigger dues bill each year and that lands at the worst time as well - Jan

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OP. The advice I had from my Guide back in 2003 was look at what Resort you want, how often per Year you want it, what Month you want it and then add 10%.

We bought in with 300 Points and at the time it seemed a lot. But then the add on bug bites you.

[KarenG]

We started with 150 because that’s what we could afford and we made it work for us

[JaguarSkills]

We've bought 180 which we worked out would be close enough to get us 3 weeks, 3 out of every 4 years in a studio in SSR. We will up the points if needed and it doesn't work out but was a good starting point for us.

[Bondy007]

We had 160 at Kidani (but sold in 2013). This gave us 2 weeks in September usually in a standard view studio, or a split stay occasionally with an upgrade for a couple nights. This was perfect for us (as a couple). I suspect 250 is a very good start, probably near what we'd want if we bought again now.