Hi Jacqueline, thanks for the usful info today. I talked to a DVC guide around a 6 weeks ago and let the guide know I was considering adding on around 50 to 70 points now at Disneyland DVC tower, and then later down the road, consider selling my current resale contract purchase the remainder of the 150 points direct at a Disney World DVC resort. I was not told anything about this new policy. Last month I was very interested in adding points at Disneyland, but not anymore. This policy does not make sense to me, it actually pushed me away from adding on.
Oh interesting! Okay so you're the first person I've talked to who has actually spoken to their DVC guide recently that did not have this come up. We are in the same boat if I remember, right? You are an existing member, but resale restricted so none of your current points count toward full membership extras status/benefits?
@@PixieDustPhD That is correct. I have 150 resale only points. I also did ask the guide at the same time if DVC had any deals where they would take a trade in on my points if I did buy a full 150 points direct. Half at Disney World and half at Disneyland so I could save on commission. After being transfered to a different dept, I was told they weren't buying back at this time. I doubt they would have given a good price per point anyway.
Ya buy backs seem overall extremely limited and a bit chaotic, plus it always feels a bit case by case (or like it changes sometimes at least) on if you split a larger purchase between two resorts if they give you the incentive based on the total point amount or not. I've talked to people where this has gone both ways, so obviously if it falls the way where incentives are based on each resort, not total points, the price per point is basically rack rate and costly! Adam and I have talked about, depending on our usage situation, possible selling off our BLT resale contract in the future to either recoup some money or put that money into more direct points (if we find over time we need them to host family as often as we want to and such), but definitely a decision for a few years out from now. It would be nice if DVC's buy back situation was stable/consistent, but I doubt that will ever be the case haha.
@@PixieDustPhD Hi Jacqueline, this morning I decided to give my DVC guide a call to get some more info on this 150 direct membership extras policy. I let my guide (Bill K.) know that I was considering purchasing 50 direct points now at Disneyland tower, then later in the future consider selling my resale contract and purchase a 100 point contract at a Disney World resort. Bill confirmed that this would qualify me for membership extras (Blue Card). After telling my guide what I heard about needing a 100 points as the first direct purchase, to go towards the 150 point , Bill said that he has been a senior vacation club guide for over 10 years and they have a lot of new guides that may have incorrect info, but he was sure he is correct about not needing to purchase 100 as a first direct buy. I even used the example of a resale member who has 90 resale point membership and wants to add direct points, and Bill verified that even a 50 point direct buy would then only require you buy 100 more points in the future to qualify for the membership extras.
Hey! Thank you for sharing! I emailed my Guide over the weekend (who supposedly has been with TWDC for over 20 years and he said DVC for more than 5 I think) and he confirmed my understanding of what he explained to me (what's in this video) in writing, also said the add-on policy was not available in writing online which is super frustrating. I just called general member services to ask and that person was uh nice but overall seemed unsure? They reiterated what my Guide told me in terms of needed to start with at least 100 points, but then later also said you could piecemeal it. So. I really no longer know what to believe, but you sharing is very helpful! That sounds like a firm answer. So we have your Guide's firm answer, my Guide's firm answer, and I'm not putting my stock in what Member Services told me today haha. Not gonna lie though I am tempted to go with your Guide's assertion because it just makes so much more sense! Very frustrating that it's not consistent across the company... especially with recorded phone lines and I assume tracking of emails sent out.
Edit on 5/14: I couldn't get my Guide to 100% walk back this statement, but they said they are "likely mistaken" so let's just go with this was a bunch of garbage! Thank you all for the feedback and contacting your Guides. I really appreciate the help! Edit on 5/7: This Guide does not even know how borrowing points works, so I now distrust everything he's said. I've not been able to confirm this supposed policy with anyone else. Each person I've talked to at member services has waivered and either mostly confirmed or encouraged me to speak to my Guide. A few others in the comments below have confirmed this is NOT the case with their Guide. So while I don't have 100% confirmation, I am 0% confidence in my Guide and let's go with he is either lazy and misinformed or purposefully malicious. ---- Have you heard about this policy (100 point buy-in as your first direct purchase to start qualifying towards Membership Extras benefits)? I'd love to hear your experience. And even if you haven't talked to a DVC guide about this, let's assume my guide was not lying--what do you think of this update? Are you able to make more sense of it than me?! Edit on 4/30: once again, confirmed my understand with my Guide. He said the policy is not available in writing on the DVC website (lovely), so there's no way for me to independently verify this. If folks DO ask their Guide about this proactively, I would love to hear a summary of that discussion!
No sense, right?!? I'm still wracking my brain to be honest (as are a handful of my friends who I burdened with this information, haha). But to your point ya Disney might just be doing it cause they can.... so frustrating! Also if this IS truly a policy, I wish it was more clear online? There's no reason I should have to speak with a Guide to find this out.
I just purchased VDH and in my contract it says.... "Effective June 3, 2021, to obtain an eligible Disney Vacation Club Membership Card, Members must accumulate at least 150 Vacation Points purchased directly from DVD. Disney-branded exchange options and options offered through the hotel exchange program are not available for ownership interests not purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. after March 21, 2011, and, effective April 4, 2016, Members who have not purchased an ownership interest directly from DVD will not have access to Membership Extras." It doesn't say anything about the 100 point first purchase. I used to sell timeshares, and that is called misrepresentation to trick you to buy more and is illegal. I'd get a new guide (I'm on my third... First one was great but was promoted, second one didn't seem interested in me, third one is amazing!) I've been watching you for years, keep up the good work!
Ya that's the only language I could ever find either. I asked general Member Services as well as my guide for specific language on this policy and they were both like "well we are the people who communicate the policy, there isn't always a document". Member services chat and phone (x2) leaned toward what the Guide told me was correct, but stopped short of actually confirming it. My Guide has confirmed it 3x, including in writing via email, asserting this is what his leader told him. I keep coming up short of anyone telling me he's definitely wrong. But several other people in this thread have said their guides say mine is definitely wrong. And just now I learned my Guide has no idea how borrowing points works! So I now distrust him fully. Have been requesting a new guide with no luck, not sure how forceful I have to be about that. Thanks for letting me know you're on your third -- helpful to know it's possible. I've been getting pretty consistent push back about not assigning new Guides unless yours leaves so you are Guide-less but like... this guy just is NOT it. Thanks for the feedback! Really helfpul!
The written policy on the DVC website do not have this restriction it states "Effective June 3, 2021, to obtain an eligible Disney Vacation Club Membership Card, Members must accumulate at least 150 Vacation Points purchased directly from DVD." they would have to update the policy and it would most likely be grandfathered if you purchased before the policy changed.
Ya I was absolutely able to find that all over the website. I was remiss in not asking my guide where the policy he spoke of was written down (this absolutely comes down to me being sheepish in not wanting to waste peoples time lol). And ya I agree if this policy I was told about is real, DVC would presumably grandfather people in. But I would guess (?) that would be like folks who bought 50 points direct a year ago would be grandfathered in and those direct points would count towards full membership status. But people like me with 0 direct points would still be subject to the new policy.
@@PixieDustPhD did you look at the AKL deal ending today to buyback points? It makes a blue card about 145 a point for 200. Beats VDL and no restrictions
Wow, we hadn’t heard this! But it’s definitely good to know. It does seem silly, but I totally get it as an incentive in their part to encourage you to buy more. It’ll probably be effective on us as well!
I'm still hopeful my Guide was maybe incorrect...? It just seems so odd, though I too wouldn't put it past Disney. And yep hate to be that example person of "well this sucks but also it's working on me" but here we are hahahahah
Thanks for sharing this information from your guide! I’m a new resale owner with no immediate plans to become a blue card member, but this is a bit different from what I had thought was true, so again, thanks for sharing.
Hi Lindsay! Definitely, but again I only spoke to one person and haven't been able to otherwise verify this (crowd sourcing info being a huge reason I posted to be honest haha) so take it with a grain of salt. But ya I was definitely under the impression that I could accumulate my 150 direct points in any manner (25 here, 50 there, etc.) so this was a BIG change. Though my previous understanding I learned in like 2017/2018, so policies definitely have changed since then.
Oy. I really hope that’s not true. Or at least not applicable to members who already have ‘some’ direct points. I have 60 resale and two 50 point contracts at VGF (for 160 total). I was planning on buying 50 at VDH to get up to 150 - and then 50 more in a year when I save up. I was hoping the first 50 would get me benefits, but if that’s not the case I’ll either have to wait or finance - I don’t like either option! Lol. But thanks fir the heads up - I’ll definitely have to ask when I buy.
I would guess (???) if your direct points had been bought prior to this apparent new policy going into effect that you would be grandfathered in??? I am pretty sheepish when it comes to taking up folks' time, so didn't ask my DVC guide about all these possibilities. Since I have 0 direct points we really only talked about my situation, which hopefully will not apply to you! If you don't mind reporting back when you go to buy (or if you talk to DVC Member Services about this before then), I would really appreciate it! Like I said, I was really surprised, honestly taken aback, and still feeling kind of confused about the whole situation, haha. Thanks for sharing!!!
@@PixieDustPhD I'll do my best to remember to update after I talk to my guide. I'm like you and don't like to waste their time, so it won't be until later in May which is when I'm planning on purchasing. I looked at the website and only saw verbiage that said "Members must accumulate a total of at least 150 Vacation Points" - and nothing about one set of those points being at least 100.
@@sheilaa1333 Ya the website verbiage is not helpful. I've not been able to find wording on a policy specifically for add-ons though, which would be a bit of a different policy than Membership Extras (though they'd work in conjunction of course).
I didn’t talk to my guide, but used the chat feature online and the agent said buying 50 more points would qualify me for benefits - it didn’t matter that they were all 50 point contracts. I’ll reconfirm with my guide when I submit the request to purchase in a few weeks, but maybe you can try the chat feature for a second opinion.
Ah thanks for the update! I did try the chat and they were unable to confirm either way. I also called just general member services, and that was weird. Cause they started out totally agreeing with my guide but then sounded less sure. I’ve pushed my guide on this twice now. Once in email. And so that’s in writing and he says this is what his leader told him and I did not misunderstand. But when I pushed him again on the phone he started to sound less sure. And Joshua commented and his guide said this wasn’t a thing. So I’m starting to lean toward my guide being wrong but being too slammed with VDH sales to figure it out. But that’s so frustrating! Not only to be spreading (most likely) misinformation, but doing so both on a recorded line and via email in writing. And this isn’t for a bubble wand I mean we’re talking at least ten thousand dollars. The consumer shouldn’t know more than the sales person in this case in my opinion. So ya I doubt I’m gonna get it resolved any time soon cause VDH sales taking over every guises life now, but with more community input like yours I’m feeling more and more sure my guide is misinformed or purposefully being deceitful.
i had only heard a hint about the 100 pt minimum but not the other details. I purchased direct in 2015 and then the 100 point contract was enough to get me a blue card. I think the blue card is worth it for the AP and the discounts - i often use the 20% DVC discount to get bottled water in a "shop" while at disney. You have to have a $50 min to get a Disney Visa discount at the shop.........
Ya for sure, makes sense your Guide wouldn't tell you about this change since it wouldn't affect you at all. The blue card thing I mean I go back and forth lol. I really don't buy bottled water on property or general speaking much merch so that doesn't matter to me. In general, for me, I don't think blue card status would matter much. It's just... if I'm going to spend tens of thousands of dollars anyway, would be a nice perk to have, you know?! I know that doesn't make total logical sense, but a timeshare purchase definitely has an emotional component to it anyway! haha
At the very least, I would recommend either calling member services or using the chat on the member website to confirm this information. It does not seem correct to me.
My understanding of getting to 150 points full membership (being that you could do it however you wanted) was also fully challenged during my discussion with my guide, hence why I posted. It's also fishy, but without further information (i.e., other folks talking to their guides) we can't discount it yet. Have you talked to your guide about this scenario in the past month or two?
Just curious if you discussed, is it still okay to split that 100 up into multiple contracts, i.e. (2) 50 pointers? Or does it HAVE to be (1) 100 point contract?
Hi Lara! I did not ask, sorry about that. I'm very sheepish when it comes to taking up other people's time who work in customer service so try to stay just on my straight and narrow path of answers I want. Frankly, this kind of came up as a side note just when I mentioned maybe buying 50 points. I did not, at the time, think of asking where the policy was written on the website or if I could buy say 50 VDH points and 50 VGF points and that would "count" at 100 or not. If you call your guide and ask about this, please do report back if you get a chance!
@@PixieDustPhD Reporting back! I discussed with my guide and they said that I could split up the contract any way I wanted - no need for one to be 100 points at all. Not sure why the conflicting information or which is correct, which is unfortunate. VDH is not a consideration for us, perhaps it is specifically for the resorts with restrictions?
@@LadySarathano Hi ! Thanks for the update. I've been updating my original comment a bit but obviously not everyone will see that. I'm like 98% sure my Guide was wrong and totally full of it. Very frustrating! My Guide doesn't even know how borrowing points works (which like how is that the case if you've been working for DVC for 8 years?! BAFFLING). So anyway. If he doesn't know that I mean... ya. Trash everything he told me basically!
@@LadySarathano YES! Lol. There will be a future video about this if you wanna hear the drama, but I asked 4 times to get a new Guide before it finally happening (I think?... still not totally sure to be honest). Changing Guides has proven very hard for me... but also, I hope to never have to speak to one again to be honest haha
I hope not, but wouldnt be surprised, but I think thats just another reason people will move away from DVC. If i bought (all direct) 50 then 50 then 50 & didn’t qualify, id sell all of them.
Ya I know a handful of people who, for various reasons, eventually aimed to do 50 + 50 + 50, but buying each over time at diff home resorts. And if that strategy wouldn't get you to membership extras benefits anymore... that'd be a huge bummer. And really silly! I still hope my guide was somehow misinformed, but I've yet to see anyone who has spoken to their guide in the past couple of months say anything to the contrary.
I was watching another video today about DVC and how resale member benefits just keep getting whittled away. I am a fairly new resale owner and should probably just avoid such videos because the whole thing makes me frustrated and sad. Although. To be fair. Direct pricing can be so much more and it would be frustrating to be a direct member with no added benefits! In any case, this seems odd and confusing. I had no intention of buying any more points (let alone any direct points) so doesn’t really affect me. Seems like just another way to get more money out of people.
Ya I totally understand that they need/want to carve out a market for people to buy direct instead of go to resale, but I will forever be on the side of "make buying direct more appealing, don't just punish people who buy resale". It's been frustrating to see all this happen, and especially for folks like us who have known about DVC before all this went down but didn't/weren't able to buy in until after restrictions were put into place. I absolutely do think folks who buy direct pay more and they should get something for it, but just make it meaningful bonuses for them instead of hacking away at resale membership. Guh.
Hi Jacqueline, thanks for the usful info today. I talked to a DVC guide around a 6 weeks ago and let the guide know I was considering adding on around 50 to 70 points now at Disneyland DVC tower, and then later down the road, consider selling my current resale contract purchase the remainder of the 150 points direct at a Disney World DVC resort. I was not told anything about this new policy. Last month I was very interested in adding points at Disneyland, but not anymore. This policy does not make sense to me, it actually pushed me away from adding on.
Oh interesting! Okay so you're the first person I've talked to who has actually spoken to their DVC guide recently that did not have this come up. We are in the same boat if I remember, right? You are an existing member, but resale restricted so none of your current points count toward full membership extras status/benefits?
@@PixieDustPhD That is correct. I have 150 resale only points.
I also did ask the guide at the same time if DVC had any deals where they would take a trade in on my points if I did buy a full 150 points direct. Half at Disney World and half at Disneyland so I could save on commission. After being transfered to a different dept, I was told they weren't buying back at this time. I doubt they would have given a good price per point anyway.
Ya buy backs seem overall extremely limited and a bit chaotic, plus it always feels a bit case by case (or like it changes sometimes at least) on if you split a larger purchase between two resorts if they give you the incentive based on the total point amount or not. I've talked to people where this has gone both ways, so obviously if it falls the way where incentives are based on each resort, not total points, the price per point is basically rack rate and costly!
Adam and I have talked about, depending on our usage situation, possible selling off our BLT resale contract in the future to either recoup some money or put that money into more direct points (if we find over time we need them to host family as often as we want to and such), but definitely a decision for a few years out from now. It would be nice if DVC's buy back situation was stable/consistent, but I doubt that will ever be the case haha.
@@PixieDustPhD Hi Jacqueline, this morning I decided to give my DVC guide a call to get some more info on this 150 direct membership extras policy. I let my guide (Bill K.) know that I was considering purchasing 50 direct points now at Disneyland tower, then later in the future consider selling my resale contract and purchase a 100 point contract at a Disney World resort. Bill confirmed that this would qualify me for membership extras (Blue Card).
After telling my guide what I heard about needing a 100 points as the first direct purchase, to go towards the 150 point , Bill said that he has been a senior vacation club guide for over 10 years and they have a lot of new guides that may have incorrect info, but he was sure he is correct about not needing to purchase 100 as a first direct buy. I even used the example of a resale member who has 90 resale point membership and wants to add direct points, and Bill verified that even a 50 point direct buy would then only require you buy 100 more points in the future to qualify for the membership extras.
Hey! Thank you for sharing! I emailed my Guide over the weekend (who supposedly has been with TWDC for over 20 years and he said DVC for more than 5 I think) and he confirmed my understanding of what he explained to me (what's in this video) in writing, also said the add-on policy was not available in writing online which is super frustrating. I just called general member services to ask and that person was uh nice but overall seemed unsure? They reiterated what my Guide told me in terms of needed to start with at least 100 points, but then later also said you could piecemeal it. So. I really no longer know what to believe, but you sharing is very helpful! That sounds like a firm answer. So we have your Guide's firm answer, my Guide's firm answer, and I'm not putting my stock in what Member Services told me today haha. Not gonna lie though I am tempted to go with your Guide's assertion because it just makes so much more sense! Very frustrating that it's not consistent across the company... especially with recorded phone lines and I assume tracking of emails sent out.
Edit on 5/14: I couldn't get my Guide to 100% walk back this statement, but they said they are "likely mistaken" so let's just go with this was a bunch of garbage! Thank you all for the feedback and contacting your Guides. I really appreciate the help!
Edit on 5/7: This Guide does not even know how borrowing points works, so I now distrust everything he's said. I've not been able to confirm this supposed policy with anyone else. Each person I've talked to at member services has waivered and either mostly confirmed or encouraged me to speak to my Guide. A few others in the comments below have confirmed this is NOT the case with their Guide. So while I don't have 100% confirmation, I am 0% confidence in my Guide and let's go with he is either lazy and misinformed or purposefully malicious.
----
Have you heard about this policy (100 point buy-in as your first direct purchase to start qualifying towards Membership Extras benefits)? I'd love to hear your experience. And even if you haven't talked to a DVC guide about this, let's assume my guide was not lying--what do you think of this update? Are you able to make more sense of it than me?!
Edit on 4/30: once again, confirmed my understand with my Guide. He said the policy is not available in writing on the DVC website (lovely), so there's no way for me to independently verify this. If folks DO ask their Guide about this proactively, I would love to hear a summary of that discussion!
Making the point purchase ordinal makes no sense. Though Disney does do things differently. So I wouldn’t put it past them.
No sense, right?!? I'm still wracking my brain to be honest (as are a handful of my friends who I burdened with this information, haha). But to your point ya Disney might just be doing it cause they can.... so frustrating! Also if this IS truly a policy, I wish it was more clear online? There's no reason I should have to speak with a Guide to find this out.
I just purchased VDH and in my contract it says.... "Effective June 3, 2021, to obtain an eligible Disney Vacation
Club Membership Card, Members must accumulate at least 150 Vacation Points purchased directly from DVD. Disney-branded exchange
options and options offered through the hotel exchange program are not available for ownership interests not purchased directly from
Disney Vacation Development, Inc. after March 21, 2011, and, effective April 4, 2016, Members who have not purchased an ownership
interest directly from DVD will not have access to Membership Extras." It doesn't say anything about the 100 point first purchase. I used to sell timeshares, and that is called misrepresentation to trick you to buy more and is illegal. I'd get a new guide (I'm on my third... First one was great but was promoted, second one didn't seem interested in me, third one is amazing!) I've been watching you for years, keep up the good work!
Ya that's the only language I could ever find either. I asked general Member Services as well as my guide for specific language on this policy and they were both like "well we are the people who communicate the policy, there isn't always a document". Member services chat and phone (x2) leaned toward what the Guide told me was correct, but stopped short of actually confirming it. My Guide has confirmed it 3x, including in writing via email, asserting this is what his leader told him. I keep coming up short of anyone telling me he's definitely wrong. But several other people in this thread have said their guides say mine is definitely wrong. And just now I learned my Guide has no idea how borrowing points works! So I now distrust him fully. Have been requesting a new guide with no luck, not sure how forceful I have to be about that. Thanks for letting me know you're on your third -- helpful to know it's possible. I've been getting pretty consistent push back about not assigning new Guides unless yours leaves so you are Guide-less but like... this guy just is NOT it.
Thanks for the feedback! Really helfpul!
The written policy on the DVC website do not have this restriction it states
"Effective June 3, 2021, to obtain an eligible Disney Vacation Club Membership
Card, Members must accumulate at least 150 Vacation Points purchased directly from DVD." they would have to update the policy and it would most likely be grandfathered if you purchased before the policy changed.
Ya I was absolutely able to find that all over the website. I was remiss in not asking my guide where the policy he spoke of was written down (this absolutely comes down to me being sheepish in not wanting to waste peoples time lol). And ya I agree if this policy I was told about is real, DVC would presumably grandfather people in. But I would guess (?) that would be like folks who bought 50 points direct a year ago would be grandfathered in and those direct points would count towards full membership status. But people like me with 0 direct points would still be subject to the new policy.
@@PixieDustPhD did you look at the AKL deal ending today to buyback points? It makes a blue card about 145 a point for 200. Beats VDL and no restrictions
I saw it. It just doesn’t interest me personally. Happy for folks where that AKL offer will work out well for sure!
Wow, we hadn’t heard this! But it’s definitely good to know. It does seem silly, but I totally get it as an incentive in their part to encourage you to buy more. It’ll probably be effective on us as well!
I'm still hopeful my Guide was maybe incorrect...? It just seems so odd, though I too wouldn't put it past Disney. And yep hate to be that example person of "well this sucks but also it's working on me" but here we are hahahahah
Thanks for sharing this information from your guide! I’m a new resale owner with no immediate plans to become a blue card member, but this is a bit different from what I had thought was true, so again, thanks for sharing.
Hi Lindsay! Definitely, but again I only spoke to one person and haven't been able to otherwise verify this (crowd sourcing info being a huge reason I posted to be honest haha) so take it with a grain of salt. But ya I was definitely under the impression that I could accumulate my 150 direct points in any manner (25 here, 50 there, etc.) so this was a BIG change. Though my previous understanding I learned in like 2017/2018, so policies definitely have changed since then.
Oy. I really hope that’s not true. Or at least not applicable to members who already have ‘some’ direct points. I have 60 resale and two 50 point contracts at VGF (for 160 total). I was planning on buying 50 at VDH to get up to 150 - and then 50 more in a year when I save up. I was hoping the first 50 would get me benefits, but if that’s not the case I’ll either have to wait or finance - I don’t like either option! Lol. But thanks fir the heads up - I’ll definitely have to ask when I buy.
I would guess (???) if your direct points had been bought prior to this apparent new policy going into effect that you would be grandfathered in??? I am pretty sheepish when it comes to taking up folks' time, so didn't ask my DVC guide about all these possibilities. Since I have 0 direct points we really only talked about my situation, which hopefully will not apply to you!
If you don't mind reporting back when you go to buy (or if you talk to DVC Member Services about this before then), I would really appreciate it! Like I said, I was really surprised, honestly taken aback, and still feeling kind of confused about the whole situation, haha. Thanks for sharing!!!
@@PixieDustPhD I'll do my best to remember to update after I talk to my guide. I'm like you and don't like to waste their time, so it won't be until later in May which is when I'm planning on purchasing. I looked at the website and only saw verbiage that said "Members must accumulate a total of at least 150 Vacation Points" - and nothing about one set of those points being at least 100.
@@sheilaa1333 Ya the website verbiage is not helpful. I've not been able to find wording on a policy specifically for add-ons though, which would be a bit of a different policy than Membership Extras (though they'd work in conjunction of course).
I didn’t talk to my guide, but used the chat feature online and the agent said buying 50 more points would qualify me for benefits - it didn’t matter that they were all 50 point contracts. I’ll reconfirm with my guide when I submit the request to purchase in a few weeks, but maybe you can try the chat feature for a second opinion.
Ah thanks for the update! I did try the chat and they were unable to confirm either way. I also called just general member services, and that was weird. Cause they started out totally agreeing with my guide but then sounded less sure. I’ve pushed my guide on this twice now. Once in email. And so that’s in writing and he says this is what his leader told him and I did not misunderstand. But when I pushed him again on the phone he started to sound less sure. And Joshua commented and his guide said this wasn’t a thing. So I’m starting to lean toward my guide being wrong but being too slammed with VDH sales to figure it out. But that’s so frustrating! Not only to be spreading (most likely) misinformation, but doing so both on a recorded line and via email in writing. And this isn’t for a bubble wand I mean we’re talking at least ten thousand dollars. The consumer shouldn’t know more than the sales person in this case in my opinion. So ya I doubt I’m gonna get it resolved any time soon cause VDH sales taking over every guises life now, but with more community input like yours I’m feeling more and more sure my guide is misinformed or purposefully being deceitful.
i had only heard a hint about the 100 pt minimum but not the other details. I purchased direct in 2015 and then the 100 point contract was enough to get me a blue card. I think the blue card is worth it for the AP and the discounts - i often use the 20% DVC discount to get bottled water in a "shop" while at disney. You have to have a $50 min to get a Disney Visa discount at the shop.........
Ya for sure, makes sense your Guide wouldn't tell you about this change since it wouldn't affect you at all. The blue card thing I mean I go back and forth lol. I really don't buy bottled water on property or general speaking much merch so that doesn't matter to me. In general, for me, I don't think blue card status would matter much. It's just... if I'm going to spend tens of thousands of dollars anyway, would be a nice perk to have, you know?! I know that doesn't make total logical sense, but a timeshare purchase definitely has an emotional component to it anyway! haha
At the very least, I would recommend either calling member services or using the chat on the member website to confirm this information. It does not seem correct to me.
My understanding of getting to 150 points full membership (being that you could do it however you wanted) was also fully challenged during my discussion with my guide, hence why I posted. It's also fishy, but without further information (i.e., other folks talking to their guides) we can't discount it yet. Have you talked to your guide about this scenario in the past month or two?
Just curious if you discussed, is it still okay to split that 100 up into multiple contracts, i.e. (2) 50 pointers? Or does it HAVE to be (1) 100 point contract?
Hi Lara! I did not ask, sorry about that. I'm very sheepish when it comes to taking up other people's time who work in customer service so try to stay just on my straight and narrow path of answers I want. Frankly, this kind of came up as a side note just when I mentioned maybe buying 50 points. I did not, at the time, think of asking where the policy was written on the website or if I could buy say 50 VDH points and 50 VGF points and that would "count" at 100 or not.
If you call your guide and ask about this, please do report back if you get a chance!
@@PixieDustPhD Reporting back! I discussed with my guide and they said that I could split up the contract any way I wanted - no need for one to be 100 points at all. Not sure why the conflicting information or which is correct, which is unfortunate. VDH is not a consideration for us, perhaps it is specifically for the resorts with restrictions?
@@LadySarathano Hi ! Thanks for the update. I've been updating my original comment a bit but obviously not everyone will see that. I'm like 98% sure my Guide was wrong and totally full of it. Very frustrating! My Guide doesn't even know how borrowing points works (which like how is that the case if you've been working for DVC for 8 years?! BAFFLING). So anyway. If he doesn't know that I mean... ya. Trash everything he told me basically!
@@PixieDustPhD May be time for a new guide ;)
@@LadySarathano YES! Lol. There will be a future video about this if you wanna hear the drama, but I asked 4 times to get a new Guide before it finally happening (I think?... still not totally sure to be honest). Changing Guides has proven very hard for me... but also, I hope to never have to speak to one again to be honest haha
I hope not, but wouldnt be surprised, but I think thats just another reason people will move away from DVC.
If i bought (all direct) 50 then 50 then 50 & didn’t qualify, id sell all of them.
Ya I know a handful of people who, for various reasons, eventually aimed to do 50 + 50 + 50, but buying each over time at diff home resorts. And if that strategy wouldn't get you to membership extras benefits anymore... that'd be a huge bummer. And really silly! I still hope my guide was somehow misinformed, but I've yet to see anyone who has spoken to their guide in the past couple of months say anything to the contrary.
I was watching another video today about DVC and how resale member benefits just keep getting whittled away. I am a fairly new resale owner and should probably just avoid such videos because the whole thing makes me frustrated and sad. Although. To be fair. Direct pricing can be so much more and it would be frustrating to be a direct member with no added benefits!
In any case, this seems odd and confusing. I had no intention of buying any more points (let alone any direct points) so doesn’t really affect me. Seems like just another way to get more money out of people.
Ya I totally understand that they need/want to carve out a market for people to buy direct instead of go to resale, but I will forever be on the side of "make buying direct more appealing, don't just punish people who buy resale". It's been frustrating to see all this happen, and especially for folks like us who have known about DVC before all this went down but didn't/weren't able to buy in until after restrictions were put into place. I absolutely do think folks who buy direct pay more and they should get something for it, but just make it meaningful bonuses for them instead of hacking away at resale membership. Guh.
me in the comments 👀👀👀
Literally me in the comments waiting for someone to call their Guide and ask and tell me what happened hahaha
Same! 🕵🏼♀️