DVC Plus+

[musical2]

For us in order of purchase:
Aruba Renaissance
Marriott Manor Club
DVC Old Key West
Marriott Ko Olina

 

[BoardwalkSuzy]

Seems many DVCers like quality of Marriott, some like the Worldmark points system, and many have vacation homes or other timeshares. But why doesn't anyone like Hilton? Funny, because that's the one other vacation club besides DVC I was interested in the most, works much like Disney DVC.

Just learned that Marriott banned smoking from all its resorts in 2006, while Hilton still catering to smokers with up to 10% rooms set aside for smokers. Maybe that is reason enough right there.

 

[DVC Dude]

I own DVC + a ski week in Utah

 

[corpcomp]

With DVC, at least there is a minimum loss in that DVC props up the pricing as they continue to raise rates. That and my enjoyment of DisneyWorld were the two reasons we bought DVC. The only reason resales are weak is the economy. It will get better and they will come back.

With any other timeshare, you lose a significant amount the day you sign the contract. I've seen contracts for sale with other timeshares in Orlando like Vistana that look like the sale price is less than 50% of the original buy price.

I'm not knocking their quality, whch in many cases may equal or exceed DVC. I'm just saying that if there is a need to sell, you are minimizing your losses at DVC. I do understand many people purchase for the pure enjoyment and in my case that enjoyment factor was very high, but I did consider the possibility of having to sell due to financial difficulties.

 

[BoardwalkSuzy]

With any other timeshare, you lose a significant amount the day you sign the contract. I've seen contracts for sale with other timeshares in Orlando like Vistana that look like the sale price is less than 50% of the original buy price.

That's why think important to buy a TS with all cash, not finance, and always buy resale. That way, when go to sell, you can just forget about what you paid, as you got to enjoy it many years, and with no loan on the purchase, don't have to worry about selling at high enough price to cover the loan.

Of course, DVC is a luxury purchase, not an asset anyway. Another aspect of DVC that I like is that is expires when I'm too old to travel anymore, and then just don't have to worry about it anymore.

 

[taaren]

I own DVC + a ski week in Utah

That's us as well. Love Marriott Mountainside, currently am listed as an owner (though mom pays MF still since she bought it!) on one week every year and another week every even year. Trying to convince my mom to switch to points for the flexibility but the conversion fee is killer.
Marriott quality is great, and we get nights credited for the stays there which quickly launched mom to being a Platinum member. Program is great if you buy where you want to stay, which I think is the key to all timeshares if you lack the flexibility of going whenever.
Though if DVC had a slopeside location we might be convinced to switch to all DVC ...

 

[123Disney]

DVC +Wyndham points and a floating week (2 bedroom) at a lake near our home. Works out great for us.

 

[disney11fan]

none.

 

[Patricia721]

We own DVC & a one week timeshare in Key West.

 

[Dean]

Marriott fixed weeks and destination points, Bluegreen points, RCI points and a MX resort that works on points. Trade through RCI weeks, RCI points and II normally.

 

[js]

I checked off DVC + Other.
We own 420 DVC Points (that my mother purchased for us and pays the maintanance) (LOVE IT!)
3 bedroom at OLCC in Orlando, fixed week (LOVE IT!)
3 bedroom at Waterside by Spinnaker in HHI, fixed week in summer (LOVE IT!)

I have two teens now and don't know how the heck we managed in a hotel room when the kids were smaller!!
Our first was OLCC, Second HHI and third was DVC.
Love them all!

 

[Mom B]

We have our DVC, plus our home 'in town' and our "farm" out in the country. Between home and the farm, it seems all we do is work, work, work (lawn mowing, maintenance, etc.) 3 seasons of the year so our winter getaways at our DVC home are our "real" vacations...any more than that would be way too complicated for me!!

 

[tidefan]

We own DVC and a fixed week at Diamond Resorts Royal Palm Beach Club in St Maarten that we got resale about 6 years ago. We really like RPBC, in fact, we have used it every year and have never traded out (it trades through RCI, in fact, it is on the DVC RCI list). They refurbished the units about 4 years ago when it was Sunterra and it is great.

However, they then were bought out by Diamond 3 years ago and our MF have gone from around $800/week 3 years ago to almost $1400/week this year. At that rate, I don't know if we will keep it too much longer.

 

[tidefan]

We own DVC and a fixed week at Diamond Resorts Royal Palm Beach Club in St Maarten that we got resale about 6 years ago. We really like RPBC, in fact, we have used it every year and have never traded out (it trades through RCI, in fact, it is on the DVC RCI list). They refurbished the units about 4 years ago when it was Sunterra and it is great.

View from Room

Another View from Room (before they built Pelican Marina)

Plane Landing at Princess Juliana Airport over Maho Beach

Pinel Island (Ilet Pinel)

Guavaberry Shop

However, they then were bought out by Diamond 3 years ago and our MF have gone from around $800/week 3 years ago to almost $1400/week this year. At that rate, I don't know if we will keep it too much longer.

 

[bwvBound]

Found links to Worldmark Owner Education materials that do not require login:

• Worlmark(R) and TravelShare(R) Quick Start Guide. If buying WM resale, read only the "Worldmark Owner" info; if buying Developer, also review the "TravelShare" content.
• Worldmark Owner Education Handbook.
• Worldmark Daily Vacation Credit Values Guide for 2011-2012.

 

[sajetto]

I guess we should be in an "other" category.

The only timeshare we own is DVC and we learned that we own WAY too much. We have 601 points and just went under contract to sell 300 of them. Honestly, 301 is probably still too much for us. We own a house in North Myrtle Beach so we spend a lot of time there. No flames, but for us, we feel it is much better investment of our money to put it toward real estate which is an actual asset than into a timeshare that depreciates. We love DVC, but I doubt we'll ever buy any more points or that we will ever buy any other type of timeshare.

 

[BoardwalkSuzy]

I guess we should be in an "other" category.

The only timeshare we own is DVC and we learned that we own WAY too much. We have 601 points and just went under contract to sell 300 of them. Honestly, 301 is probably still too much for us. We own a house in North Myrtle Beach so we spend a lot of time there. No flames, but for us, we feel it is much better investment of our money to put it toward real estate which is an actual asset than into a timeshare that depreciates. We love DVC, but I doubt we'll ever buy any more points or that we will ever buy any other type of timeshare.

Actually I don't think homes or timeshares are assets, they are both luxuries to be enjoyed. Sometimes homes go up in value, sometimes down, many people in country are way underwater with their homes, some they had to abandon homes when they needed to move (bank has to foreclose), as no way to sell and cover the existing mortgage, or short sale. My definition of asset is something that produces net cash flow, usually on monthly or annual basis, or something that is readily liquid asset such as cash, gold, silver, stock, etc.

Great that you could sell off some of your DVC points if not using. We find when staying in the DVC 2BRs, which are our favorites for now, the points go fast for our visits to Disney, so our 350 is good for just a 1 week trip to Disney every year.

But what we need now is a timeshare plan for traveling other places, as my husband is asked to attend conferences and give speeches around the world. He is now invited to Dublin, Ireland and to San Diego, CA, but they don't cover his cost for the entire family to come along, so we usually look for other accomodations. In the past, we've rented 2BR condos, but this usually cost us about $3000 total such as last trip to Montreal. Problem is that there is also an ick factor to renting other people's condos, their tastes, level of cleanliness, etc, and you never know what quality you really are going to get when you arrive. It can be a surprisingly uncomfortable experience we've learned.

Brand names such as Disney, Hilton, Marriott, Westin, all come with certain known levels of quality and management. I've always been pleased with Hilton hotels. So after doing my research, I'm looking into buying a small Worldmark points contract (once you are in this club, can just rent points pretty cheaply to add on), plus a Hilton plan. Hilton offers destinations around the world, can stay 3 days or 10 days with their point system, and not be stuck with a Sunday through Sunday fixed week. In the short and long run, think this will save us a lot of money, and we can get the benefits of Hilton quality. I like to think of the buy in cost for DVC or purchase price of TS as a club joining fee - like a country club or something. Think that is more really what it is, not an investment, just something to enjoy.

 

[BoardwalkSuzy]

Found links to Worldmark Owner Education materials that do not require login:

• Worlmark(R) and TravelShare(R) Quick Start Guide. If buying WM resale, read only the "Worldmark Owner" info; if buying Developer, also review the "TravelShare" content.
• Worldmark Owner Education Handbook.
• Worldmark Daily Vacation Credit Values Guide for 2011-2012.

Great links, thanks. What's even better is that I'm reading on TUG that many Worldmark point owners are thrilled that they can take their relatively cheap Worldmark points that can be deposited either RCI & II and traded for places like Marriotts. It may be good to buy just for the trade value alone perhaps? Of course, from other perscpective such as a WM owner, highest prize is a DVC score on RCI, as goes to show, DVC'ers don't really like to trade out their points that often! Although Worldmark points could snag us a Marriott once in a while which would be fun, reading up on the Marriott vacation ownership system - it's still 1st generation TS, so inflexible, and very expensive, high MFs too limited to week stays. Don't think would consider buying Marriott TS as don't think would work for our needs, but probably good for those for those who love Marriott quality and do the one week fixed type trips every year. Worldmark is such a better business concept, just hope that they can manage all their locations with some consistency of quality. Think it is probably a good trader, since have both II and RCI available to pull from! Trying to read up on their business plan to have better understanding how it works.

How many WM points do you recommend to equal 2BR red week stays for 1 week? I'm thinking 12,000, but since can bank and borrow just like DVC, then maybe 6,000 would be enough to use for every other year to get started to see how we like.

 

[bwvBound]

How many WM points do you recommend to equal 2BR red week stays for 1 week? I'm thinking 12,000, but since can bank and borrow just like DVC, then maybe 6,000 would be enough to use for every other year to get started to see how we like.

My first thought was 12k -- even before reading your next line. While I periodically "rent" credits (points) from other owners, I prefer having sufficient credits in my own account to cover my normal travel expectations. If/when we rent credits it is to cover the less frequent spikes in our pattern.

 

[JimMIA]

We own at OKW, and recently sold our SSR contract to buy Wyndham points at Great Smoky Mountains.

Worldmark and Wyndham are both owned by Wyndham, but are very different resort systems. Worldmark is very strong out west and Wyndham is stronger in the east and in Hawaii, although they are expanding rapidly in the west.

What we like about Wyndham is far more choices than we have with DVC (82 resorts if I counted correctly - something over 120 if you count affiliates), much lower costs, and far greater exchange availability (6,500+ RCI resorts vs 600 with DVC because we get a free full RCI membership with Wyndham). We also enjoy direct online booking for both Wyndham and affiliated resorts, and also direct online booking with RCI.

Costs: We bought a 501,000 point contract on eBay for less than $2,000 total including all costs. The contract came with some current year points which we deposited into RCI, and also with some "banked" points (called "credit pooling" in the Wyndham system). You can buy small Wyndham contracts on eBay for $1, and in some cases the seller will pay the closing costs. Larger contracts are more, but nothing like buying either DVC or Wyndham direct.

There is no conversion between the points systems, so you just have to try to compare accommodations to accommodations (which is approximate on its best day). The two most recent comparisons I've done were between a stay at OKW at our cost per point vs Wyndham Bonnet Creek and Aulani, DVC/RCI, and Wyndham's Waikiki Beach Walk.

OKW, at our $7 per point rough estimate would have cost us about $189 per night (27 points) for a one bedroom Sun-Thurs. Our cost for Wyndham for the same dates ($5.20 per 1000 points X 9) made our cost for Bonnet Creek just under $47 per night. Obviously, OKW would enjoy the onsite perks, but both have good bus systems and are virtually the same driving distances to anywhere we'd want to go.

Looking at Hawaii, for a week in a one-bedroom, I got the following costs:

• Aulani, Island View = $2,254 or $322 per night at our $7 cost
• Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk, 1 BR Deluxe (comparable to a DVC one-bedroom), lower floor = $1,385 or $198 per night
• DVC/RCI would be 160 points = $1,120 or $160 per night at our $7 cost...but of course we don't know what availability would be, if any.
• I didn't check RCI through Wyndham

That's not an apples to apples comparison. Aulani is obviously beachfront and Wyndham is across the street from the beach. But both are on Oahu, which would not be in my first three choices of islands anyway, and Aulani is in an area of Oahu that I wouldn't choose ordinarily.

Cons of Wyndham:

Their sales practices are probably not the worst in the entire timeshare industry, but it's not from lack of trying. They're pretty sleazy. But, as hard as they try, they can't force anyone to attend an "owner update."

It's a new system to learn...and it's more than just terminology. Knowing DVC makes it easier to understand Wyndham, but the aspects of the systems like exchanging, banking, borrowing, etc work somewhat differently.

Some count the small transaction fees as an annoyance, but I personally like them because allocating costs to each transaction more accurately and fairly spreads the costs IMHO. A person who makes/changes reservations 20 times a year should pay more than a person who only does 3 bookings.

Also, bigger contracts (which we own) pay lower dues per point than smaller contracts. Since there is a base administrative cost to every contract, that would be one change DVC might make in the future that many would absolutely hate, but we would approve. Currently all DVC owners are subsidizing the dues of the small contracts which have proliferated greatly in the last few years.

Wyndham is weak out west, but getting better rapidly.