RCI for Europe?

[Happy99]

We are thinking of doing a Europe trip in 2014. Not sure yet of where we will be visiting. We have been to Europe before and trying to decide where we want to go next.

My question is how far in advance should I / could I book an RCI hotel with DVC points for Europe?

Are they only available for weekly stays or can it be nightly? We tend to stay about 3-4 nights in one location before moving on to a different location

Is one better than the other? Looking at RCI now through the DVC link it doesn't show much in Europe at all but not sure if I am looking in the correct area

Thank you

[amym2]

I don't have any experience booking trips through RCI, but we are also thinking about a Europe trip in a couple of years (probably Germany, Italy, France) so I played around with the DVC/RCI page yesterday and there were only a few resorts anywhere near where we want to go, and those had very limited times available. Most of the resorts I checked were for nightly booking and didn't require a full week. If you put in the location and month, it should tell you what is available and how many points per night or per week, depending on which they offer. Pretty much looked like we'll have to go a different route to be able to stay where we want to.

Where are you thinking of going?

[abdgeek]

I haven't booked a European RCI stay yet, but I've booked a couple US RCI stays. All of the European ones are weekly stays only. You should start looking now for 2014. I tend to go to the RCI resort through DVC daily and it is interesting to see how the availability changes. If you have a specific week you are looking for, it may take a while for someone with that week to give it up. Good luck!

[Anal Annie]

I was disappointed to find only weekly stays in Europe when we went in 2011 (for Paris & Barcelona). We only wanted about 3-4 nights in any 1 spot.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by Happy99

We are thinking of doing a Europe trip in 2014. Not sure yet of where we will be visiting. We have been to Europe before and trying to decide where we want to go next.

My question is how far in advance should I / could I book an RCI hotel with DVC points for Europe?

Are they only available for weekly stays or can it be nightly? We tend to stay about 3-4 nights in one location before moving on to a different location

Is one better than the other? Looking at RCI now through the DVC link it doesn't show much in Europe at all but not sure if I am looking in the correct area

Thank you

You can book the Club Cordial options for less time potentially through BVTC.

[MinnieVanMom]

I now live in Europe as an expat and take the high speed to Paris about every other month.

There are plenty of nice hotels, both expensive and budget in Paris. Why use points unless you have tons to spare, even then I would rent them and get the $$ to use in Europe.

We thought to use our DVC points for Disneyland Paris but even that is a poor point use and then there was the rule of four problem.

Good luck and let me know if I can share any information about western Europe.

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Originally Posted by MinnieVanMom

I now live in Europe as an expat and take the high speed to Paris about every other month.

There are plenty of nice hotels, both expensive and budget in Paris. Why use points unless you have tons to spare, even then I would rent them and get the $$ to use in Europe.

We thought to use our DVC points for Disneyland Paris but even that is a poor point use and then there was the rule of four problem.

Good luck and let me know if I can share any information about western Europe.

is there some unwritten rule on the DIS?

"RENT POINTS" is the response to just about any question it seems like

Some of us didn't buy them to run a small business.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by OrangeCountyCommuter

is there some unwritten rule on the DIS?

"RENT POINTS" is the response to just about any question it seems like

Some of us didn't buy them to run a small business.

I think that's because that for all cash type exchanges renting is often the best option, it's certainly the most cost effective for almost all such situations.

[Lynne M]

Originally Posted by OrangeCountyCommuter

is there some unwritten rule on the DIS?

"RENT POINTS" is the response to just about any question it seems like

Some of us didn't buy them to run a small business.

I dunno, making one phone call to MS and sending 3 e-mails to the renter didn't seem much like running a small business to me.

Renting points is not 'the answer', but it's a perfectly valid alternative to using exchanges,and I think it's helpful for the OP to be able to make their decision with as much information as possible.

IMO, the minimal effort involved in renting points would give me a much larger choice of hotels and resorts, much more flexible cancellation polices, and the ability to book on my own schedule, not two years out. I don't want to have to plan my vacation around where I happen to be able to find an RCI reservation.

[Anal Annie]

Originally Posted by OrangeCountyCommuter

is there some unwritten rule on the DIS?

"RENT POINTS" is the response to just about any question it seems like

Some of us didn't buy them to run a small business.

I think that the point requirements at DLP in particular are just simply absurd. The hotels there are not of the same standards and quality as what we are used to in the US and for the number of points they charge to stay there it's just a waste. You can get a room there on cash (obtained by renting points out) for so much less than what you would spend in points. I don't think anybody suggested running a business. We're just saying that unless you have money to burn & points to WASTE then it's a better value to use cash at certain places (like at DLP).

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

You did do the taxes right on that rental income?

LOL!

Seriously, it's like the response to a question is not "information" the poster asked but the automatic rent point

I don't rent. I don't use a broker.

And since my points are "paid" for, cost effective seems a little strange. Of course I never viewed them as an investment. To me the only bad use is one I didn't want to do. (AKA as rentals LOL!)

[Lynne M]

The OP is noting that there's not a large selection of RCI resorts available to us in Europe. Cost is not the reason I was discussing renting. It's flexibility and resort choice.

For instance, let's say I want to vacation in Germany. There's precisely one RCI resort DVC members can exchange to in Germany. It's in Oberstaufen.

What if all the things I want to see and do in Germany are in Frankfurt, four hours from Oberstaufen? Do I just book there because I bought these DVC points, and by golly, I'm gonna use 'em? Even if it's a four hour drive each way to the things I'm going to be doing? Even if there are a ton of nice hotels in Frankfurt that are within walking distance of my planned activities?

Nope. I'm booking a hotel in Frankfurt.

So now I've got these DVC points I can't use, because Germany will be the only trip I take this year and I can't bank for some reason. Am I just going to let these points that are worth $1500 on the rental market expire in my account?

Of course not. I'm going to rent them and use the money to pay for a big chunk of my trip to Germany.

If it so happens that there's an RCI resort where I want to vacation, and I've got enough lead time to get the exchange, and the resort has sufficiently good reviews, sure, I'll take it. But the odds of that happening for a European vacation are pretty slim, given the limited number of offerings there.

[Anal Annie]

Originally Posted by Lynne M

The OP is noting that there's not a large selection of RCI resorts available to us in Europe. Cost is not the reason I was discussing renting. It's flexibility and resort choice.

For instance, let's say I want to vacation in Germany. There's precisely one RCI resort DVC members can exchange to in Germany. It's in Oberstaufen.

What if all the things I want to see and do in Germany are in Frankfurt, four hours from Oberstaufen? Do I just book there because I bought these DVC points, and by golly, I'm gonna use 'em? Even if it's a four hour drive each way to the things I'm going to be doing? Even if there are a ton of nice hotels in Frankfurt that are within walking distance of my planned activities?

Nope. I'm booking a hotel in Frankfurt.

So now I've got these DVC points I can't use, because Germany will be the only trip I take this year and I can't bank for some reason. Am I just going to let these points that are worth $1500 on the rental market expire in my account?

Of course not. I'm going to rent them and use the money to pay for a big chunk of my trip to Germany.

If it so happens that there's an RCI resort where I want to vacation, and I've got enough lead time to get the exchange, and the resort has sufficiently good reviews, sure, I'll take it. But the odds of that happening for a European vacation are pretty slim, given the limited number of offerings there.

What she said! The OP was asking about RCI exchanges for Europe and somehow this turned into a rental thread with some of us explaining the benefits of renting to use the cash instead of points or RCI and some of us bashing the whole idea of renting.

To stray back to the topic a little bit I would point out that the RCI offerings are even more limited for short-term stays of less than 1 week. Often when people make a trip to Europe they're planning to visit more than 1 city or country which makes wanting to rent an entire week in 1 city even less desirable. The whole idea of using RCI in Europe is pretty discouraging. The offerings are slim .