Does it make me look cheap if I ask my relatives to pay something towards the second bedroom?

[DisneyCowgirl]

Not cheap, but it could turn bad depending on your timing. I would only ask my family to pay, if at the very first conversation about using my points I let them know that including them means using more points than I normally would use. If the plans are already in place and now you ask them to pay some amount, it might come off bad.

 

[ejsteg]

We have relatives joining us this fall at Saratoga Springs and will need a 2-Bedroom, as opposed to our usual 1-Bedroom.
I was thinking of asking for $100 or $125 per night for them to stay in the 2nd bedroom as that's less than what they would pay for a Value resort.
Does this sound fair?
Thanks

Our family members always pay for.some of n our meals in exchange for a great room.

 

[jlmarr]

I'd say don't use a round number like $100, but compute your incremental cost (maintenance fees * the extra number of points you needed to add to include them). This makes it seem less arbitrary on your end and you can show you aren't making a profit on the deal.

 

[crisi]

I think the consensus is "tell them what you will charge them before you book it, when you are in early planning stages and they can gracefully back out." Certainly its bad form to tell them they owe you $500 for the room once plane or park tickets are purchased.

(My own two cents, we don't charge when we invite, but we only invite people we want to travel with who we are paying back (they've been generous to us during our friendship/relationship - not necessarily monetarily, but with time, emotional support, long term friendship.....) AND it isn't a financial burden for us to treat them to a room - but if someone asks about the possibility of coming along on a trip, I wouldn't have any issue with telling them they will pay for the difference in dues. Generally, we ignore those requests though with a "that might be nice sometime, our next several years are planned." And I sure wouldn't mind turning a profit on opportunists who invite themselves along for a "free room" though I'm more likely to just never get around to pinning them down with dates...... )

 

[brertoad]

We haven't charged anyone we've invited. It would be nice if they picked up the tab for dinner or something. Often times we're spending money out of our pocket on food or groceries for the room if we plan on staying in.

A family member recently asked me what the best way to get the best price at Animal Kingdom Lodge was, I said try David's DVC Rentals. Their window was for something only 7-10 days in advance, that isn't enough lead time for booking DVC. I checked availability and let them know there was nothing available. I was considering gifting a room to them, but worried it may become a recurring request.

 

[Sandisw]

I think it is a personal choice...no right or wrong. However, I do think that whenever you ask someone to share a room, these things should be discussed upfront so that everyone is on the same page. It will prevent any misunderstandings if it is later in the process. We have never charged anyone to stay on our points when they have traveled with us. I have booked a few rooms from time to time for relatives when I wasn't going, and then I did charge them MF's per point only. But, I told them ahead of time what the cost would be before we booked.

 

[rocketriter]

We have picked up the points if we proposed the vacation, but asking (from the first mention) relatives to take care of their own transportation, ticket costs, and meals. My take is that, as long as you make your offer clear from the get-go and your offer is greater than zero value, it's not a matter of what the relatives think is right. Those are your points, so you can offer whatever you think is right and they can accept or say no thank you.

 

[crisi]

We have picked up the points if we proposed the vacation, but asking (from the first mention) relatives to take care of their own transportation, ticket costs, and meals. My take is that, as long as you make your offer clear from the get-go and your offer is greater than zero value, it's not a matter of what the relatives think is right. Those are your points, so you can offer whatever you think is right and they can accept or say no thank you.

I think regardless of how you handle the room, its very important to be up front from the very earliest conversations that Disney is expensive, and these are the costs they can expect (food, transportation, souvenirs, park tickets). Even when we were taking a high school friend of my daughters, the first conversation I had with her mom (before we invited her) was "we'd like to take her along. We will pick up airfare, hotel room, park tickets and any meals she eats with us. She will want money for souvenirs and food when they go off on their own. A nice t-shirt or ice cream at Disney is expensive, send at least $100." In truth, all the snacks and meals when we weren't there ended up on my daughter's magic band, which was fine with us - but having the money meant that she could go get herself a Mickey Bar if she wanted one. Then make it clear that you'd like to travel with them, but you understand its a commitment of time and money - and its ok to say no now - but at X months (whatever your circumstances dictate) their cancellation will become problematic.

Not having the conversation up front means you book the room - and then when the costs start adding up near the trip (they start looking at park tickets, you send them a link to menus to help them pick where to eat), then they cancel - often too late for you to get out of the two bedroom you booked because there are no studios left or too late for you to bank the points when you cancel.

 

[Castillo Mom]

I’m very selective with who I invite and never charge for the room.

 

[kniquy]

We were in the exact situation you are in. I figured out the extra points we needed to get the 2br vs a 1 br, then I figured because they were family the cost would only be the maintenance fees. What ended up happening is they just paid for a dessert party for 7 of us I think it was $400-500. And we called it even.

I don’t think anyone ever expects to stay for free, if you just have them cover the cost of the MF and explain how you are coming up with a price they should be ok. If you get any resistance then you can kindly point them to the WDW site where they can price out the cost of a 2 br.

It is always touchy when you talk about money with family, but your timeshare is not a free room you are paying for it.

I do agree with a previous poster it does depend on how you presented it initially. Did you say you should join us or you can share a room it will cost much less than through Disney.

 

[igrsod]

I agree with most. It depends on how they were invited initially.
Personally I don't think it's a bad thing to ask for some money. My thought would be the difference in value between your usual one bedroom and the two bedroom, since that is an expense that bringing them with you has caused. When we have brought someone and it didn't make a change in our cost or room choice, they stay as our guests. If I had to upgrade, I would just explain that and come up with a price that makes sense.

 

[MeridaMonkey]

For me, whether or not to ask for a financial contribution to the room depends on two things: the up front expectations that were set when the trip was first discussed and whether or not the addition person/people mean more points for the reservation.

As an example, a cousin of mine and I ran the Princess Half-Marathon weekend in February. I didn't ask her for any contribution to the OKW studio we stayed in because I'd have been using the same number of points whether or not she was there so it didn't seem right to me to ask her to kick in any funds.

Next year, that same cousin and I are running the Dopey Challenge, along with her former college roommate. When we first started discussing the Dopey trip we decided that because of the extra person and the fact that Dopey is 4 races over 4 days we wanted a 1-bedroom at AKL-Kidani rather than a studio (extra bathroom, more space in general, laundry facilities, larger fridge, etc.). I was very up front about the extra point usage for the 1 bedroom (as opposed to a studio) and asked my cousin and her college roommate to pay for the OTU points I'd be using to book the bigger space.

Not sure if any of this helps you; in the end it all comes down to whether or not you feel comfortable bringing up the subject. If not, you will have given an incredibly generous gift to someone and will have an idea of how you want to approach scenarios like this going forward.

 

[jo-jo]

Depending on this family member, is there going to be issues "how come you get the king bed and bigger bathroom, I paid my share" ?

 

[crisi]

Depending on this family member, is there going to be issues "how come you get the king bed and bigger bathroom, I paid my share" ?

That one is easy to take care of

1) don't invite that sort of guest. Where you have those family members, don't travel with them

2) If you've managed to miscalculate, you laugh and say 'oh, no - you paid part of your share - getting the king bedroom involves putting $20k up front, but we can wander down to the DVC desk and you can buy in and get the king on your next trip."

 

[marymac]

We have relatives joining us this fall at Saratoga Springs and will need a 2-Bedroom, as opposed to our usual 1-Bedroom.
I was thinking of asking for $100 or $125 per night for them to stay in the 2nd bedroom as that's less than what they would pay for a Value resort.
Does this sound fair?
Thanks

If you invited them - don't charge them.

 

[marymac]

What we regard as “fair” doesn’t matter. What your relative thinks is all that matters.

Personally, I never ask my brothers and sister to share the cost of the villa if I use my points. If they offer, I tell them to buy me a good meal while we are there and we can call it even.

We do the same.

 

[marymac]

Since it seems it was their idea I would just say that you don't have enough points to cover their accommodations but you could rent the additional points needed. You could tell her what the going rate is per point, how many points are needed and see if she is ok with the cost...just an idea...

Shouldn't lie about it. Tell the truth so you don't go through it again next year!

 

[Noah_t]

If you invited them - don't charge them.

Agree with this simplified summary with one tiny addition. If you invited them (and didnt mention contributing) - dont charge them.

 

[Sue M]

I would figure out how much the extra points are costing you and ask them to pay the price of the extra points but only if it was discussed during that first discussion. It’s not something you can spring on them later.

 

[AdamsMum]

Ever since then, she has been looking forward to going with us again, and bringing our Nephew, with her. She called last night and said they were both putting in for vacation in September, and would love to spend a few days at WDW with us.

Sounds like these family members invited themselves by announcing that they're both requesting vacation time to join you. I would be uncomfortable with that. If I couldn't discourage them, I'd definitely charge them, even if they're people you'd really enjoy sharing your trip with. The point will be made that the room isn't free to you either.