A concern about Wyndaham booking DVC Resorts

[gazeborob]

So for the heck of it my wife and I attended a Wyndaham Vacation Ownership seminar over the weekend to see what they had to offer. During there sales pitch, they were talking about being able to book 13 months out. They were talking about all the resorts they have available to book through RCI, including DVC. I said "oh, how far out can you book DVC?" They said 13 months. Okay, if that is true, I have a big problem with that. When I make my reservations I always try to do it right at the 11 month window because we want to get a 2 bedroom with the 2 queen beds because that is the hardest room to get at BCV. Does anybody know if that is true what they are saying about being able to book into my home resort ahead of me?

Thanks for the info,
Rob

 

[cola]

Don't worry, it's not true.

In theory it is possible, but DVC don't release anything to RCI that far in advance. Just over 6 months used to be fairly common (so after the 7month window) in mainly studios and one bedrooms, very limited 2 bedroom, but DVC is getting harder and harder to get with RCI except for very last minute exchanges. 2 bedrooms are VERY rare in RCI now.

 

[supersnoop]

How do you know when a timeshare salesperson is lying?

 

[gazeborob]

How do you know when a timeshare salesperson is lying?

Yea, that's a good question. It was easy to walk away with the freebies and say no thanks to their program. It seemed like a lot of money to join them.

 

[HookdonWDW]

Just wanted to add: Please remember that the rooms you are booking are not the same rooms that are available through RCI - same theory as cash reservations - those rooms are booked from the inventory that has been traded out by other members for reservations at other timeshare resorts.

 

[bwvBound]

I do miss the days of trading into DVC from either II or RCI (years ago) consistently at the 10 month window! Yep, more recent trades are confirmed ~6 months from travel.

 

[MindiJC]

Yes the current reservations are right at 6 months or less, 1 bedrooms at SSR. I know because I just booked one Can anyone tell me how fast I get a DVC confirmation number I can use? I spent 20 minutes on hold with Wyndham/RCI and my phone died!

 

[Dean]

Yes the current reservations are right at 6 months or less, 1 bedrooms at SSR. I know because I just booked one Can anyone tell me how fast I get a DVC confirmation number I can use? I spent 20 minutes on hold with Wyndham/RCI and my phone died!

If you wait they will send you a mailer, it's a small booklet with the Incredibles on it and it will contain the DVC reservation number. Normally DVC gets the info from RCI on Tuesday unless things have changed so anything done on the weekend or before should be available Tuesday afternoon.

As for when deposits are made, I suspect more of the ones that get to RCI early are taken by ongoing searches and by early morning RCI points activity at or around 10 months out. Remember it's only what's left and not taken that actually shows up online.

 

[JimMIA]

How do you know when a timeshare salesperson is lying?

With most timeshare salespersons, if their lips are moving...they are lying.

Wyndham timeshare salespersons, however, are a bit of a special case -- and this comes from a happy Wyndham owner (resale!).

If a Wyndham timeshare salesperson is in the same part of the world as you, they are lying. They are so super-sleazy it is hard for DVC owners to appreciate.

 

[JimMIA]

So for the heck of it my wife and I attended a Wyndaham Vacation Ownership seminar over the weekend to see what they had to offer. During there sales pitch, they were talking about being able to book 13 months out. They were talking about all the resorts they have available to book through RCI, including DVC. I said "oh, how far out can you book DVC?" They said 13 months. Okay, if that is true, I have a big problem with that. When I make my reservations I always try to do it right at the 11 month window because we want to get a 2 bedroom with the 2 queen beds because that is the hardest room to get at BCV. Does anybody know if that is true what they are saying about being able to book into my home resort ahead of me?

Thanks for the info,
Rob

Just in case I was too subtle above -- they are lying. And they know they are lying.

Do NOT buy Wyndham direct for ANY reason. It is a good timeshare system, but you can buy it for little or nothing on eBay.

With regard to RCI exchanges INTO DVC, other posters estimating 6-7 months from arrival seem to be about right. From looking at the TUG Sightings board, that timeframe seems pretty accurate...with recent sightings being a little less than 6-7 months out. In Dec 2013, we got an OKW TWO bedroom at about 5 months.

I am quite confident that DVC does not release inventory to RCI prior to the opening of the 7-month window. HOWEVER, as HookedonWDW noted above, the RCI inventory is NOT available for points reservations anyway because it has already been traded out by other DVC owners.

 

[MindiJC]

If you wait they will send you a mailer, it's a small booklet with the Incredibles on it and it will contain the DVC reservation number. Normally DVC gets the info from RCI on Tuesday unless things have changed so anything done on the weekend or before should be available Tuesday afternoon.

As for when deposits are made, I suspect more of the ones that get to RCI early are taken by ongoing searches and by early morning RCI points activity at or around 10 months out. Remember it's only what's left and not taken that actually shows up online.

Dean, do I have to wait until next Tuesday? I just made it tonight. I'm at 171 says out. I hate to think of losing another week to start making dining ressie's. Is there a away I can get it sooner?

As for the 6 months, live and learn, I'll do an ongoing search next time. Thanks for the tip!

 

[rlovew]

Dean, do I have to wait until next Tuesday? I just made it tonight. I'm at 171 says out. I hate to think of losing another week to start making dining ressie's. Is there a away I can get it sooner?

As for the 6 months, live and learn, I'll do an ongoing search next time. Thanks for the tip!

If you are less than 180 days out you can make dining reservations without a resort reservation- so you can book anything you would like at this point. It can be hooked to your MDE but it doesn't have to be linked to a resort reservation closer than 180 days out.

 

[cola]

As rlovew said, you can book using MDE within the 180days. Only concern would be if you were just beyond 180 days and wanted to use the 180day plus length of stay advantage for something like BOG. Now you just need to have the reservation linked by the 60day point for Fastpass+ booking

You can ring up DVC Member Services, take the MDE option, and they are very helpful, they will be able give you your Disney reservation number and possibly link your reservation into your MDE. I don't think you are meant to ring up DVC Member Services because you're not a member, but I've found they will still help you with an RCI exchange.

 

[Dean]

Dean, do I have to wait until next Tuesday? I just made it tonight. I'm at 171 says out. I hate to think of losing another week to start making dining ressie's. Is there a away I can get it sooner?

As for the 6 months, live and learn, I'll do an ongoing search next time. Thanks for the tip!

They do seem to have moved to more at 6 months but there are some that happen sooner. With the ongoing search, you'll be ahead of a lot of people rather than just looking on line. You may have to wait until next Tuesday but I've seen something that suggested they may get another batch on Thursday, I'm just less certain on that one. As others said, it doesn't matter for the dining reservations now. You can link them later.

you can ring up DVC Member Services, take the MDE option, and they are very helpful, they will be able give you your Disney reservation number and possibly link your reservation into your MDE. I don't think you are meant to ring up DVC Member Services because you're not a member, but I've found they will still help you with an RCI exchange.

Actually that's one of the things the EXTRA $95 fee you pay when you check in covers, use of MS including dining. One can link the reservation yourself once you have the DVC number. From an exchange confirmation:

$95 mandatory resort fee charged at check-in. Fee includes but is not limited to services such as assistance with dining reservations, Disney’s Magical Express reservations and purchasing theme park tickets through DVC member services toll free number XXX-XXX-XXXX.

 

[JimMIA]

As for the 6 months, live and learn, I'll do an ongoing search next time.

Ongoing search is definitely the way to go, and the earlier you start one, the better your chances. OGS's are filled based on the age of the search: first come, first served.

The more flexibility you have -- in terms of resort, size of villa, and dates -- the better your chances.

But having said that, at least at first I would limit your ongoing search to exactly what you want, rather than listing any WDW DVC resort. If you will take any, you're going to get SSR. Keep in mind that several of the DVC resorts are fairly large, so your chances of getting OKW, BLT, AKV and BWV are pretty good.

If you don't get what you want and you get nervous, you can always go back later and expand your OGS without losing your place in line.

 

[Dean]

But having said that, at least at first I would limit your ongoing search to exactly what you want, rather than listing any WDW DVC resort. If you will take any, you're going to get SSR. Keep in mind that several of the DVC resorts are fairly large, so your chances of getting OKW, BLT, AKV and BWV are pretty good.

If you don't get what you want and you get nervous, you can always go back later and expand your OGS without losing your place in line.

I think this is a good principle in general. For DVC it really depends on how badly one wants in vs limiting to specific options. For DVC most deposits are going to be SSR followed by OKW then AKV. If one doesn't list the more available resorts you can always change the listing later but one may have missed the majority of the deposits. Thus it reduces the chance of success in general but may (or may not) produce an even more desired option say BWV, BCV, BLT or VWL. I don't think they're depositing VGF yet. I can guarantee that there are some deposits well before the 7 month window.

 

[JimMIA]

It was easy to walk away with the freebies and say no thanks to their program. It seemed like a lot of money to join them.

It IS a lot of money to purchase Wyndham directly from Wyndham. It's also a huge mistake.

However, it's easy to purchase Wyndham for very little on eBay and through other resale sources, and it is a big, nice system. You can pick up a pretty large Wyndham contract resale for $1,000-$2,000. Wyndham is fine; it's just their sales force that is sleazy.

 

[Lady V]

So last year I took a job selling timeshares for Wyndham. Yes, they knew I owned DVC and LOVED it and that is part of the reason I was put on the RCI sales team. They thought I would be so relatable to the DVC owners that traded in. I can clarify what they were telling you about the 13 months things. !3 months is when Wyndham owners can book at their home Wyndham resort. NOT when you can book a DVC unit. They are all very slick with their word play and it hit a point I just could not do it anymore. I agree that Wyndham is a great product--just beware that ANYTIME you book into a Wyndham with your DVC points through RCI (which is what you would be doing) that you will be given the hard pitch by a sales member at Wyndham.***** They sometimes ask if they can come to your room to 'take a survey about your check in' experience....but once there they discover that you aren't getting all the perks you are entitled to with Wyndham!! So here is the big song and dance and they get you to come down to see a specialist who can open your account and get you all the goodies you are entitled to! But wait! Once you get there they tell you that it appears you signed off on these rights and there is nothing they can do! After a couple hours of 'waiting' on a head honcho to tell us then magically they are willing to make an exception JUST FOR YOU! But!! If you don't accept it today it will be marked on your reservation and you will never get that option again!! Now why would a DVC owner be entitled to Wyndham goodies? Well, because Wyndham now owns RCI (which it actually true) and if you are part of RCI then you are actually part of Wyndham! Once they have gotten you so excited about all these perks and how much money they will save you they drop the bomb that it requires a minimum buy in to actually get these perks!*******
I hated my job there. I lasted four months before I turned in my notice. I will say I sold clean to everyone and did not pitch ANY HEAT AT ALL. (pitching heat is timeshare talk for LYING or smudging the truth) It was just such a sleazy place which is sad because it's a great product. I told them that DVC owners would never fall for those lies and to just tell them the truth. They told me is I didn't learn how to sell in the gray area that I would never make it. That is true. All of the top sellers pitch heat all day long!
For the record-anytime you get asked at check in if they can do a survey or to come to a 'free' meal-----say NO!

 

[skier_pete]

Seems like already answered, but I have been researching Wyndam (resale) and agree that you can only book your HOME resort at 13 months. You can book other Wyndham properties at 10 months. You can trade into RCI anytime, but that doesn't mean things are available that far in advance. As others have pointed out, DVC would have to be traded into the RCI program first to be available, and that wouldn't happen before the 7 month mark.

 

[Dean]

Seems like already answered, but I have been researching Wyndam (resale) and agree that you can only book your HOME resort at 13 months. You can book other Wyndham properties at 10 months. You can trade into RCI anytime, but that doesn't mean things are available that far in advance. As others have pointed out, DVC would have to be traded into the RCI program first to be available, and that wouldn't happen before the 7 month mark.

I'll repeat, DVC does do deposits before 7 months out, it's just that the majority are at or after 7 months.