Can anyone compare DVC to Wyndham?

[TigerMickey]

By any chance, can some one list pros and cons of each? Fam is on the fence about each.

Me - huge Disney Fan like y'all
Family - can go else where and have fun :-/

(V)(,;,;,)(V) <- Dr Zoidburg for you troubles

Thank you!

 

[bwvBound]

Related Threads:

• DVC versus Wyndham Timeshare, Nov 2010, 2 pages
• DVC or Wyndham?, June 2010, 9 pages
• DVC or Wyndham or Bluegreen?, March 2009, 2 pages
• Wyndham Points?, Aug 2010, 2 pages. Nice links to reference materials and breakdown of resorts by location (state).
• dvc vs other timeshare?, May 2009, 4 pages; Not confined to DVC vs Wyndham ... Wyndham is often defended.
• DVC compared to other timeshares, April 2012, 3 pages. Helps build the DVC side of the comparisons.

There are more threads with related comparisions, or at least conversations - but know that the threads on this site likely assume you are already fluent in DVC. For some of the basics on DVC, start with the stickies on this board such as DVC Resource Center.

You might also find additional discussion over on the Timeshare User's Group (TUG) website.

In addition to DVC, we own Worldmark, which is marketed by Wyndham but remains (mostly) completely different than the Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO) to which I assume you are referring. Good luck with your research!

 

[dvc at last !]

Thanks.

 

[bwvBound]

BTW, owning a smaller chunk in both might make a better choice than owning a larger chunk on just one!

 

[TigerMickey]

Related Threads:

• DVC versus Wyndham Timeshare, Nov 2010, 2 pages
• DVC or Wyndham?, June 2010, 9 pages
• DVC or Wyndham or Bluegreen?, March 2009, 2 pages
• Wyndham Points?, Aug 2010, 2 pages. Nice links to reference materials and breakdown of resorts by location (state).
• dvc vs other timeshare?, May 2009, 4 pages; Not confined to DVC vs Wyndham ... Wyndham is often defended.
• DVC compared to other timeshares, April 2012, 3 pages. Helps build the DVC side of the comparisons.

There are more threads with related comparisions, or at least conversations - but know that the threads on this site likely assume you are already fluent in DVC. For some of the basics on DVC, start with the stickies on this board such as DVC Resource Center.

You might also find additional discussion over on the Timeshare User's Group (TUG) website.

In addition to DVC, we own Worldmark, which is marketed by Wyndham but remains (mostly) completely different than the Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO) to which I assume you are referring. Good luck with your research!

WOW thank you so much for all that info! I'm extremely grateful!

 

[ccgirl]

By any chance, can some one list pros and cons of each? Fam is on the fence about each.

Me - huge Disney Fan like y'all
Family - can go else where and have fun :-/

(V)(,;,;,)(V) <- Dr Zoidburg for you troubles

Thank you!

Personally, I find DVC is good for that...DVC. NOt the best trading. Whereas, Wyndham you go pretty much any where. YMMV.

 

[JimMIA]

Comparing DVC to Wyndham is fairly simple -- pretty much the same exercise as comparing a papaya (the fruit) to a camel.

Having owned both (timeshares -- not fruit and critters), I'd say they are so different, there really is no rational comparison.

But to try to play the game, I'd say the pros/cons are something like this:

DVC

Pros

• Very nice, ONSITE Disney resorts at WDW, including all of the normal onsite Disney perks (ME, DDP, etc).
• Very nice resorts elsewhere -- although I personally do not consider any of them the BEST options in their locales...which makes this kind of a negligible benefit
• Reasonably ethical sales operation

Cons

• Initial acquisition cost from relatively high (resale) to VERY high (direct)
• High annual costs, per-night costs
• Minimal value outside WDW
• REALLY limited -- and VERY high-cost -- exchange options, many of which are denied to resale buyers. As an example, DVC owners have access to only <600 resorts through RCI...out of more than FOUR THOUSAND RCI resorts.
• Very little value outside the DVC resort system (11 resorts)

Wyndham
Pros

• 80+ WYNDHAM resorts throughout the US, including Hawaii
• HIGH (Direct) to very LOW (resale) acquisition costs
  (I purchased the rough equivalent of 600-700 DVC points in Wyndham for <$2,000 total on eBay, including all closing and transfer costs)
• Low (depending on home resort) annual costs/costs per night (Roughly the same annual costs: 400 DVC points to 600-700 equivalent with Wyndham)
• Very good availability -- most resorts, most of the time
• FULL RCI membership, including access to ALL resorts and ALL of the deeply-discounted cash vacation options

Cons

• A different system to learn -- learning curve, etc.
• Some negligible charges for things DVC does for free
• NOT DVC -- so NOT onsite lodging at Disney resorts...although it is possible to exchange for DVC via RCI
• Classic, sleezy timeshare sales operation -- Do not believe ONE word they tell you. If their lips are moving, they're lying...100% of the time.

Having said all that, the resorts we've stayed at with DVC and Wyndham have been comparable. The member services operations at both systems are also BOTH really excellent...IMHO.

 

[barbaraann]

They say that I can book a Disney hotel, through RCI, as a Wyndham owner, but so far my searches have came up empty.

I started out with a love-hate relationship with my Wyndham timeshare. Right now I am liking it a little bit better as I plan a trip to Bonnet Creek in April.

Since I don't drive, I think a DVC purchase might have been a better fit for me. However, my husband doesn't care to visit Disney World, so instead our home resort is Glacier Canyon Lodge in Wisconsin Dells, just a 3 hour drive from our home.

I love Disneyland, so I have the option of staying at Dolphin's Cove, which I am actually doing in January.

 

[Dean]

They say that I can book a Disney hotel, through RCI, as a Wyndham owner, but so far my searches have came up empty.

I started out with a love-hate relationship with my Wyndham timeshare. Right now I am liking it a little bit better as I plan a trip to Bonnet Creek in April.

Since I don't drive, I think a DVC purchase might have been a better fit for me. However, my husband doesn't care to visit Disney World, so instead our home resort is Glacier Canyon Lodge in Wisconsin Dells, just a 3 hour drive from our home.

I love Disneyland, so I have the option of staying at Dolphin's Cove, which I am actually doing in January.

Any timeshare system that involves exchanges (mini systems and exchange systems) require learning the system and being proactive. The early bird gets the worm so to speak. For trading purposes I think BG is a better product than Wyndham but it's not as good as it used to be. Wyndham is likely better to use.

By any chance, can some one list pros and cons of each? Fam is on the fence about each.

Me - huge Disney Fan like y'all
Family - can go else where and have fun :-/

(V)(,;,;,)(V) <- Dr Zoidburg for you troubles

Thank you!

It really depends on how you'll use them. I do like the idea of both but you need enough volume with Wyndham or BG I think to make it worthwhile, esp BG. How much time are you thinking per year?

 

[JimMIA]

They say that I can book a Disney hotel, through RCI, as a Wyndham owner, but so far my searches have came up empty.

I have not tried a DVC exchange via RCI, but over on TUG I see quite a bit of reported success exchanging into DVC. As Dean says, you have to learn the RCI system and how to use it. Most of the success stories I see involve "ongoing searches," rather than simple availability checks.

Other than DVC, though, I've seen RCI availability just about anywhere I wanted to go. We leave in a couple of weeks for a week on Cape Cod, with two units via RCI -- a very easy and beneficial use of points we would have lost anyway due to expiration.

And as far as annual/room-night costs, we just returned (in July) from a week at Wyndham Smoky Mountains. We had three two-bedrooms for seven nights, which used almost all of our 2012 points (498K out of 501K). Our dues for those points are about $2,100, so we were paying $100 per night for very nice TWO-bedroom villas in peak season.

These reservations were not using discounted points (which we sometimes get with Wyndham), but Great Smokys is our home resort and our annual dues there are among the lowest in the Wyndham system.

We also stayed last year at Bonnet Creek in a one-bedroom, canceling an existing OKW reservation. The OKW one-bedroom using our DVC points would have cost us $189 per night (27 points X $7); our WBC one-bedroom cost us just over $40 per night (9K X $4.48/K). The OKW one-bedroom would have been nicer, and onsite...but still, $149 per night difference?

 

[JimMIA]

The one caveat I would offer in considering ANY timeshare system is to carefully research your options for usage within that timeshare's internal system. That is where the real value is in ANY system.

So for DVC, you would use (at a maximum) the 11 existing DVC resorts. If I were doing the comparison, I'd use just the seven DVC resorts at WDW, because I have better options via Wyndham for all of the other non-WDW DVC locations.

With Wyndham (or any other system) don't just look at the numbers. Wyndham has +/- 80 resorts in their internal system. (Incidentally, ignore the "associate" and "affiliate" resorts you see on the Wyndham map/lists. There is virtually no availability at most of those, so don't consider them.) But the number is not nearly as relevant as the location of those resorts.

So when you evaluate timeshare systems, take the time to go to their website and research where you can go with that system. Also, consider whether you actually want to go to any of those places.

For example, Wyndham has 11 resorts on three islands in Hawaii and 6 resorts at Newport, RI. I have no burning desire to go to either of those destinations -- but I am very interested in San Francisco, Steamboat, Lake Tahoe, Smugglers Notch, Sedona and Flagstaff, AZ, and a LOT of the other Wyndham options.

 

[Brian Noble]

They say that I can book a Disney hotel, through RCI, as a Wyndham owner

You can (well, technically, to a DVC resort), but it's not at all something you can depend on. You have to be both flexible and opportunistic to have the most success.

I agree with Jim and Dean: Wyndham is really best used for internal bookings rather than exchanging, though there are exceptions. The good news is that, so far, we've really enjoyed our stays at Wyndham resorts. We've not yet been to Dolphin's Cove, but plan to be there this upcoming February in a 3BR.

 

[BestDadEver]

The one caveat I would offer in considering ANY timeshare system is to carefully research your options for usage within that timeshare's internal system. That is where the real value is in ANY system.

So for DVC, you would use (at a maximum) the 11 existing DVC resorts. If I were doing the comparison, I'd use just the seven DVC resorts at WDW, because I have better options via Wyndham for all of the other non-WDW DVC locations.

With Wyndham (or any other system) don't just look at the numbers. Wyndham has +/- 80 resorts in their internal system. (Incidentally, ignore the "associate" and "affiliate" resorts you see on the Wyndham map/lists. There is virtually no availability at most of those, so don't consider them.) But the number is not nearly as relevant as the location of those resorts.

So when you evaluate timeshare systems, take the time to go to their website and research where you can go with that system. Also, consider whether you actually want to go to any of those places.

For example, Wyndham has 11 resorts on three islands in Hawaii and 6 resorts at Newport, RI. I have no burning desire to go to either of those destinations -- but I am very interested in San Francisco, Steamboat, Lake Tahoe, Smugglers Notch, Sedona and Flagstaff, AZ, and a LOT of the other Wyndham options.

I highly recommend newport for a short trip . I went for a short weekend i live close so we drove . I was not real excited about what they have to offer . Just a quick getaway . But left very impressed with the trip . They have the tours of the guilded age mansions , I thought they were really impressive . . They have a fort I thought was cool . I also when on a sailboat tour was a ton of fun , and they let me sail it for almost a half hour.

 

[XGrumpy1]

Wyndham is a different system than DVC. With more points you get more perks. I have one friend who has the ability to get 1/2 point rooms and free upgrades. So possibly he can get a 2 BR for half the cost of a 1 BR unit! He has a lot of points.

What this seems to me for me is that I can rent points from him much cheaper than I could own the same points.

Wyndham has a very high pressure sales force, but if you rent from an owner you do not have to go to any of their presentations. I have never gone to one. They do offer "free" stuff if you go. It is not worth my time to me.

Check on the "I love Bonnet Creek" tread for more about renting Wyndham resorts.

 

[Dean]

Wyndham is a different system than DVC. With more points you get more perks. I have one friend who has the ability to get 1/2 point rooms and free upgrades. So possibly he can get a 2 BR for half the cost of a 1 BR unit! He has a lot of points.

What this seems to me for me is that I can rent points from him much cheaper than I could own the same points.

Wyndham has a very high pressure sales force, but if you rent from an owner you do not have to go to any of their presentations. I have never gone to one. They do offer "free" stuff if you go. It is not worth my time to me.

Check on the "I love Bonnet Creek" tread for more about renting Wyndham resorts.

All of the points systems have different feels and usage but they all have many similarities. The issues with both Wyndham and Bluegreen as it applies to your post are that they are both 2 groups of memberships (as is DVC now) VIP and non VIP and within VIP, different levels and benefits. Both are systems you can buy into very cheaply or pay as much as DVC depending on retail vs resale. Both have a VIP type system where those members and only those members get certain things. But to get inside the VIP system you either had to own prior to certain changes or you had to pay big bucks for those options. While I'm Platinum (top level) with BG, to get that same level today I'd have to pay at least $75K though my buy in was only a fraction of that for more points. IMO, none of the VIP benefits of either system are worth buying a significant amount of points retail to get but if you have those options, you can really do well if you use them to your advantage.

A couple of examples. With BG we get free cancelations up until 10 days out and the ability to rent Presidential suites at $79 a night (among other benefits). As far as the upgrade with Wyndham, that's true if you're VIP at a certain level. You can even upgrade to a 3 BR from a 1 BR if you have enough points and know how to work the system. However those methods require an approach that some are not comfortable with at times. For example, lets say you have a 1 BR Wyndham and you want to upgrade it to a 3BR. The call might go something like this. You check to see if a 3 BR is available for the dates you have reserved, if so, you check to see if there's a 2 BR as well. If a 2 BR is available, you want to know how many. Then you book all the 2 BR villas, upgrade to the 3 BR because that's all that's then available, then you cancel the 2 BR reservations.

 

[Brian Noble]

Dean is absolutely right about the "value" of VIP in Wyndham: it is worth nowhere near what you pay to get it. That's not surprising, because the development/sales arm of the company pays the management arm for the "perks"---and that money has to come from the sales of timeshares. If the perks really were worth even close to what they cost, the development arm would go broke quickly.

One thing to add though:

What this seems to me for me is that I can rent points from him much cheaper than I could own the same points.

This is true only for resorts and times at which inventory is plentiful relative to demand, because those discounts are only available for short-term bookings. Bonnet Creek happens to be such a resort---it's *huge*. But, many others are not, especially during peak or even shoulder seasons.