How do I go about renting points?

[Tesh11]

Morning dibbers, Happy VE day! We are thinking ahead to our next adventure and would love to go to Aulani next May, we have never rented points and always booked packages through Disney but with this particular resort it would be great to have a kitchen area and also I believe this means we won’t have to pay for parking which is a lot each day! so please can you tell me where I should look, I’ve seen David’s mentioned on here.
Also we would like to go for 14 nights is that unrealistic to rent points for that long? What’s the likelihood?
I believe you pay 70% upfront does anyone know if there’s any protection if we were unable to go due to Coronavirus? We have annual insurance that still covers us for everything but the cancellation due to Coronavirus, would this be a bit risky at the moment?

Really want to get it booked and have something to look forward too!

Thanks so much

[KarenG]

I’d repost on the DVC forum or have a look there.

A word of caution, if you’re looking at 14 nights in any accommodation but it sounds like you might be considering a one bed unit - that is going to be an enormous amount of points and renting DVC points does have an element of risk attached.


The things to think about:

Does my insurance cover me for DVC points (people are finding it doesn’t usually)?
How much cash will I need to pay upfront (a LOT)?
Can you get insurance to cover travel loss at all for COVID right now?


My concern would be, are you putting a lot of cash at risk?

I can have a look and give you a rough idea of how many points you’d need and a rough cost if it would help?

I wonder if it would be worth you thinking of different ways to book accommodation or even splitting the stay to spread your risk? With flights on top it’s a very spendy holiday going to Hawaii and with so much current uncertainty I’d want a ‘safer’ way of guarding my money, at this time.

[disney20042012]

DVC Rental and Davids DVC might be worth a look. As above check insurance will cover any cancellations. DVC Rental do a payment protection insurance but it doesn't cover the full cost/refund.

[KarenG]

I had a quick look at the figures.

In an ocean view (most expensive) for two random weeks in May its about 700 points.

I think Davids charges $18 a point (?)

That’s $12,600 or about £10k of which you’d be paying out £7k at the point of reserving.

If you went in a cheaper view it would reduce the points and cost, and a studio would be roughly half of the amounts.

It’s a lot of money to commit to that there is a risk of not being able to get back. The upfront £7k would make me pause too given flight uncertainty.


Happy to help suggest other accommodation that has less onerous conditions attached - there are units next door to Aulani for example.

[Tesh11]

Thanks for this, I looked at a package with Virgin, can’t do my dates at the moment so have looked at other dates and it’s definitely seems more expensive than renting points/flights separately. But completely agree with what your saying I can book that with a minimal deposit and not have to worry about balance until next year when things will be more clear. Also virgin only do the double room so no kitchen area and would obviously have to pay for parking which I think is $35 a day or something crazy! We definitely have our heart set on staying here. We have actually decided on doing this instead of our upcoming Disney holiday this would have cost £14k (with flights) excluding spending money so would be the same budget.

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by Tesh11

Thanks for this, I looked at a package with Virgin, can’t do my dates at the moment so have looked at other dates and it’s definitely seems more expensive than renting points/flights separately. But completely agree with what your saying I can book that with a minimal deposit and not have to worry about balance until next year when things will be more clear. Also virgin only do the double room so no kitchen area and would obviously have to pay for parking which I think is $35 a day or something crazy! We definitely have our heart set on staying here. We have actually decided on doing this instead of our upcoming Disney holiday this would have cost £14k (with flights) excluding spending money so would be the same budget.

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You could just rent a car for a few days / week in the middle?

But Aulani is very isolated so you may not want to do that. I have always found VH packages very expensive compared to what I could source myself (but totally understand why people want the protection a package provides!)

I would also just suggest you may even prefer a split stay to 14 whole nights at Aulani. Waikiki Beach is really fun and closer to many of the ‘touristy’ stuff. It’s kind of a pain going from Aulani UNLESS you can avoid rush hour (which felt like it was often!).

Or... even a different island as well as Aulani? Maui is our favourite

Not saying it would suit you but our trips to Hawaii have been:

Four nights Waikiki
Two Nights Aulani
Three Nights Maui

(Seattle and Disneyland plus San Diego at the start and end)


Then
Five nights Waikiki
Three nights Aulani
Six nights Big Island
Six nights Maui


Aulani is an absolutely beautiful resort - the nicest one I’ve ever stayed in - but the highlights for us in Hawaii were outside the resort. I definitely couldn’t have stayed there for as long as 14 nights! That said I know there are Dibbers that have done that and loved it so it depends on what you want. We tend to be more ‘out and about exploring’ holiday makers and I get bored after a few hours round the pool or beach.

[Tesh11]

That all sounds amazing we may consider a split between 2 resorts but we have a 9yr old and definitely want lots of pool and beach time, I’ve heard Maui is amazing but after such a long flight there I don’t think we would want to do another mid holiday, we basically want a nice chilled holiday visit beautiful beaches with hopefully lots a snorkelling, turtles, dolphins I’ve read humpback whales can still be sighted in May so want to do any trips that include this! Will also want to do pearl harbour and kualoa ranch. Oh decisions!

[kk20]

As a UK person I would not get ANY holiday outside of a package at the moment. The risk is too great. Flights could be cancelled or bumped on a whim of changes to government rules but your hotel might still be ok therefore no recompense on your hotel. Insurance will have many many caveats now. Credit card will not cover this change either.

Too risky for me outside of a package.

[arielrocks]

Do you need a one bed? Or could you do a studio and halve the costs? We did 10 nignt at Aulani and it still wasn’t long enough. We adored the resort and would gladly stay there again for the same time frame. We also went to the main island for 5 nights.

[The waltons]

How much roughly would it cost through dvc rental for 7 nights in Aulani in a room with two beds