Unless she own points, can't trade out for points. However, often inventory from points resorts is transferred to the weeks side so ultimately those resort are often available, esp for Orlando. The sleeping capacity in general is an area where DVC members often make assumptions that are not accurate. Kudo's to Brian for bringing it to the forefront for that where it matters. There are so many nuances to timeshare trading that a complete post covering every detail would be enormous and really impossible. My list for one without a car would be different in case others are looking. I personally would not list Vistana in this situation given your chances of getting the others is so high and that would be the lowest resort overall, others might add a couple to the list as well, YMMV.Can my MIL trade out for the RCI points based timeshares or just the weeks based timeshares? When I was looking at my list on the RCI website, some of the timeshares are points based like the Hilton's, Bonnet Creek, etc. Since she owns a weeks-based timeshare, does that matter at all? I don't want to give her my waitlist for properties she can't even waitlist for. I'm thinking it doesn't matter, but I want to be sure before I give her my final list:
DVC
Oasis Lakes at the Fountains
HGVC on IDrive
HGVC @ SeaWorld
Wyndham Bonnet creek
Sheraton vistana
The Fountains
Royal Palms
Houses at Summer Bay
Cypress Harbour
With all these on my waitlist, can I be almost sure to get something for presidents week 2011? Thank you so very much to all of you who have offered your advice and expertise!
I'd wait though and check with the resort. I've never had to purchase a guest certificate for a family or friend, DVC included. I just call the resort and ask if I can add them to the reservation and if they'll be able to check in. I've never had anyone ultimately say no. In one occassion I was told no on one phone call and the names were added on a separate phone call. This past year I gave each of my staff a week. So 4 weeks with 2 at Harbour Lakes, 1 at Grande Vista and one at Westage Gatlinburg, in all cases I was able to add them without paying for a certificate. I knew Marriott normally would but was surprised that Westgate did.
It's very handy for some of us to save a few dollars, esp when you're trying to be nice to family/friends, etc. Given Westagate's reputation I was prepared for them to say no and that I'd have to spring for the certificate. They were the easiest to do so. I explained I was giving this week to a coworker as a gift and asked if I could add their names to check in. Not only was it an easy yes, the guy gave me Kudo's for doing so, I believe his word's were "that's a very nice thing for you to do". They had a great time. BTW, Westgate is one of the few that will allow pets though most don't advertise it from a timeshare standpoint. They normally charge a non refundable fee in the $60-80 range and they all handle it a little differently.
Your Mileage May Vary. IMO it's still below the others even with the a complete refurbishment. Not far below but just enough. If I thought you'd have trouble getting something I would have added it and a couple of others. If you list that resort you'll amost certainly get it.
We stayed there following a stay the the Tuscany Hilton, I would not stay there again unless I didn't have other options. Not bad, just not up to the other standards, IMO. IF I listed it, I would likely only list River Island. Now if I were set on a 3 BR, that might be a different matter given the lower numbers of those available.
That's why neither were on my recommended list because I feel they are inferior to the other group overall. At least with OLCC (Holiday Inn), you can specify the section. It's not that either are bad though and were I not confident the OP could get better options, I would have included both along with Silver Lake most likely, esp if a 3 BR unit were needed.
It's definitely true that there's a break in trade power between resorts. From what I've seen there is a break between OKW/SSR, then BWV/VWL, then AKV/BCV. We don't yet know about BLT, Disney tends not to deposit new resorts early in the process. If you're thinking about canceling any given match, I'd remove it from the list now and add it back in later if need be. Normally I'd really push you to only list DVC and see what happens but I'd get a little nervous doing that for 3 weeks (President's week, Easter & Xmas). Every resort on my recommended list is comparable OVERALL or VERY close to DVC including the units. The one that is truly different is the Houses at Summer Bay, a little further out and just a different animal being a 3 BR house many with their own pool and whirlpool. I do get a little nervous when you're working through someone who isn't that well versed on the process and may be trying to exert more control than you're comfortable with though I'm sure things will work out. Let us know what ultimately happens.My mil said that when she spoke to the rci person, he told her that presidents week should be available at Okw and Ssr, so I'm hoping he knows what he is talking about. As far as I know, my mil didn't check to see if there were any nov/dec properties available, her response to my request was that she spoke with rci and they told her the above. Didn't want to push it. But, I gave her my list for her to set-up (which she will do via a phone call, not online because I don't think she knows how online), that makes me nervous, hope they get all the requests in right. I think I will wait it out thru summer to see if I get Dvc, if not then I'll take something else. If something other than Dvc matches up before summer, I think I might turn it down, we'll just play it by ear. If we get stuck with something we don't care for, that's just another reason for us to continue saving for Dvc, we can always use my mil's timeshare for another week, just not presidents week (when we love so much staying Dvc). Something that bugs me about using her timeshare is that she is doing all the planning, I love to do that and it's killing me that I can't get on that rci site.
You should likely go to TUG (Timeshare Users Group) and try to figure out if other owners there are able to see DVC. Off the cuff I'd be surprised if they were but don't know for sure. I know a lot of the owners there are RCI points which should get you into DVC during that time if she is. With that additional info and knowing the week you're looking for, I'd amend my initial recommendations to list at least a few more than DVC. Hopefully she owns Xmas, NY or a Feb/March week which are the highest demand time for that area and she deposited early, at least 10 months out. Good luck and let us know what happens.
