Has anyone tried non DVC with points

[Plan Man]

I am considering buying. My kids are older now but my wife and I still visit Disney every other year. I have read several posts with the info that using points for the other non Disney options (not the cruise options) may not be the most valuable use of points. I don't want to start a value of the points vs using them at DVC resorts discussion.

I would just like to know if you did use them how did it work? How did you determine what the "cash" option would have been instead of using points?

The reason I ask --- I love Disney but know we will want other types of vacations as well.

I am really spending the time to evaluate whether buying DVC will be good for us.

BTW - I also love the DIS - I go back to the lime green days and the DIS has helped me plan many many wonderful vacations!!

 

[Monykalyn]

Browse the Timeshare Users Group site-lots of valuable and enlighting discussion on timeshare/exchanging etc.

 

[Plan Man]

Browse the Timeshare Users Group site-lots of valuable and enlighting discussion on timeshare/exchanging etc.

I am not sure where to find this site. I didn't see any site with that name?

 

[chalee94]

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/

i think the point - and i agree - is that the best financial decision is to buy only the DVC pts you need for DVC stays, and just pay cash for other trips or options. if you want to focus on a lot of other trips, maybe a different timeshare is a better option (and you can still try to trade into DVC or other orlando timeshares for your disney trips.) maybe cash is the best option without committing to any timeshare...

 

[Lynne M]

If your Disney visits are every other year, have you considered purchasing half the number of points you'd need for an annual visit, and banking in the off years? That's one way of buying only the points you'll use for your DVC stays.

The problem I'd have with buying the way you're describing, using points one year for DVC trips, and the next year for some other vacations, is not just the value, but the lack of flexibility. I don't want my choice of vacation destinations to be dictated by where I can use my points. For instance, if I want to visit Italy, I don't want to be limited to the cities where there's an RCI resort with availability. If I want to cruise, I want to have the option to cruise other lines besides Disney. I don't want to get my heart set on staying at a certain resort on a European trip 3 years from now, only to find that it's been dropped from the Concierge Collection. Or that the point cost for cruising on DCL has gone up while I was planning the trip and I no longer have enough points to go. Or that DCL has (yet again) suspended cruising on points altogether.

DVC isn't a one-size-fits-all vacation plan, no matter how much Disney tries to market it that way.

 

[bwvBound]

I would just like to know if you did use them how did it work? How did you determine what the "cash" option would have been instead of using points?

Yes -- and it was awesome. Sadly, the option was later removed by DVC ... and can't be repeated.

• What did we book? 1BR unit at The Manhattan Club.
• Where? New York City
• When was the stay? 6 nights over Thanksgiving, 2013
• Why? To see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!
• How? Booked through DVC's Concierge Collection.
• Costs? 200 points of DVC + $95 exchange fee

This reservation had been my holy grail of timesharing for many years. I'd tried booking it against other timeshares through RCI ... but never got a match. Booking it through DVC was great as I was welcomed "as an owner" rather than an RCI inbound exchange guest and, thus, avoided a number of daily resort fees. Yeah!

In general, 'hotel' (eww!) room rentals in NYC are high. I did find the 1BR unit offered through ResorTime (timeshare rental site) -- but it was close to $500/night + extra fees. My DVC costs worked out to just over $200/night, if I recall correctly. Color me happy, happy, happy!

 

[com_op_2000]

We have used our points for stays at:
RCI - Ft Myers & Ft Lauderdale
Ft. Myers - not worth the exchange
Ft. Lauderdale - Would do again, went during their annual fleet week, looked down from the 5th floor pool area at a SR-71 Blackbird (this plane can fly at greater than 60,000 feet) flying under us.
Concierge Collection - Miami (Doral) & Grove Park Inn, Asheville NC
Doral, Miami - Played the Blue Monster
Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC - Different view from the top of a mountain
DCL - 7 cruises fully or partially on points with one more scheduled
All of our points are paid for, we use them how we want, and where we want to go.

 

[JimMIA]

I think there are two separate questions here:

1. What are the options/value of using DVC points for non-DVC stays?
2. And...should those options be considered in making a purchase decision.

With regard to the first question, I'm a bit of a contrarian who believes that in some situations any exchange you get that you like is a good exchange. But by "...in some situations" I mean situations primarily where the points would be expiring (shame on you!) and are used for an exchange rather than just losing them.

With regard to the second question, my answer is NO (!) for two reasons. The biggest reason is that none of the non-DVC uses of points are guaranteed and could be taken away or greatly restricted with one swipe of the Mouse's pen. The second reason is that, if you are looking for something to exchange, there are much better, much less expensive alternatives to DVC. You'd be better off buying fewer DVC points and buying something else to use outside DVC.

But the biggie is the NOT GUARANTEED issue. To me, to use the possibility of being able to exchange outside DVC in a purchasing decision is a fundamental mistake.

 

[supersnoop]

I am considering buying. My kids are older now but my wife and I still visit Disney every other year. I have read several posts with the info that using points for the other non Disney options (not the cruise options) may not be the most valuable use of points. I don't want to start a value of the points vs using them at DVC resorts discussion.

I would just like to know if you did use them how did it work? How did you determine what the "cash" option would have been instead of using points?

The reason I ask --- I love Disney but know we will want other types of vacations as well.

I am really spending the time to evaluate whether buying DVC will be good for us.

BTW - I also love the DIS - I go back to the lime green days and the DIS has helped me plan many many wonderful vacations!!

Any exchange is going to be a trade down. It's difficult to evaluate without discussing the "value."

 

[bwvBound]

Any exchange is going to be a trade down. It's difficult to evaluate without discussing the "value."

What do you mean by "trade down"? Granted, many timeshares are worn down and less "desirable" than others -- but most of my timeshare stays in non-DVC timeshares BLOW DVC AWAY for room size, room amenities, resort amenities, etc. Other than "the parks" -- DVC is a mid-rung timeshare on its own merit. (Just my opinion, of course. As for experience, I've stayed at more than 50 timeshare destinations.)

 

[supersnoop]

What do you mean by "trade down"? Granted, many timeshares are worn down and less "desirable" than others -- but most of my timeshare stays in non-DVC timeshares BLOW DVC AWAY for room size, room amenities, resort amenities, etc. Other than "the parks" -- DVC is a mid-rung timeshare on its own merit. (Just my opinion, of course. As for experience, I've stayed at more than 50 timeshare destinations.)

By definition, a trade involves someone giving up something they don't want. It usually involved settling for something "less" than what you have in order to get something, anything, in an area you want to visit. Since trades involve a middleman, you should expect that you will lose "value" in every trade.

 

[JimMIA]

By definition, a trade involves someone giving up something they don't want. It usually involved settling for something "less" than what you have in order to get something, anything, in an area you want to visit. Since trades involve a middleman, you should expect that you will lose "value" in every trade.

Not necessarily. Sometimes all the person gave up was time or points they weren't able to use, so they deposited them into RCI. For example, I have some Wyndham points that we probably won't use before they expire on 12/31. If we don't, I'll deposit them, which will make some Wyndham inventory somewhere available for you to exchange into.

So if you want to visit Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC, Sedona, New Orleans or about 50 other places -- you might find an exchange that is WAY better than the DVC resorts in those destinations. That's why I say, in some cases, an exchange can be a good exchange.

But to me the much more important thing -- for the purpose of THIS thread, which is about purchasing DVC -- is this: Do NOT use the current ability to exchange into anything as even a minor factor in a purchase decision.

 

[bwvBound]

By definition, a trade involves someone giving up something they don't want. It usually involved settling for something "less" than what you have in order to get something, anything, in an area you want to visit. Since trades involve a middleman, you should expect that you will lose "value" in every trade.

Oh, interesting perspective. FWIW, I disagree 100%.

 

[JimMIA]

Oh, interesting perspective. FWIW, I disagree 100%.

Me too. I think there might be more to exchanges than that!

 

[Plan Man]

Thanks for all the responses. I won't make the buying decision because of the "other" options. Mainly I am trying to understand the options. Most like for the first four to five years we would use only WDW resorts and probably our home resort. After that I will be looking to bank and/or6 borrow to save for a longer or larger room wdw visit. Once that is over 6 to 7 years in I might want to explore using points for other purposes. I am trying to get a feel for what could I actually do ihe points if I didn't use them for Disney

 

[JimMIA]

Most like for the first four to five years we would use only WDW resorts and probably our home resort. After that I will be looking to bank and/or6 borrow to save for a longer or larger room wdw visit. Once that is over 6 to 7 years in I might want to explore using points for other purposes. I am trying to get a feel for what could I actually do ihe points if I didn't use them for Disney

The honest answer is that none of us can tell you what your options will be 6-7 years from now. WE don't know -- and NObody knows.

6-7 years ago, there was no difference between direct and resle points. 6-7 years ago, DVC owners enjoyed free valet parking at resorts. 6 years ago, there was no such thing as Aulani, Grand Floridian, or Poly DVC. 6-7 years ago, DDP was sensible, not laughable. Not much longer than 6-7 years ago, DVC exchanged via II, not RCI.

The point is, this stuff is NOT GUARANTEED. You should not even THINK about "other options" in your purchasing decision.

If you do, you are trying too hard to justify DVC so that it "fits." If it doesn't "fit" for use at DVC alone, no amount of logical gymnastics will make it a good decision for the long run.

DVC is a wonderful timeshare for WDW visits. Don't try to make it something it's not so you can buy it.

 

[Plan Man]

The honest answer is that none of us can tell you what your options will be 6-7 years from now. WE don't know -- and NObody knows.

6-7 years ago, there was no difference between direct and resle points. 6-7 years ago, DVC owners enjoyed free valet parking at resorts. 6 years ago, there was no such thing as Aulani, Grand Floridian, or Poly DVC. 6-7 years ago, DDP was sensible, not laughable. Not much longer than 6-7 years ago, DVC exchanged via II, not RCI.

The point is, this stuff is NOT GUARANTEED. You should not even THINK about "other options" in your purchasing decision.

If you do, you are trying too hard to justify DVC so that it "fits." If it doesn't "fit" for use at DVC alone, no amount of logical gymnastics will make it a good decision for the long run.

DVC is a wonderful timeshare for WDW visits. Don't try to make it something it's not so you can buy it.

Perfectly stated. Point well taken. Provided clarity. Thanks.

 

[chalee94]

here is one crummy possibility to be aware of. at one point DVC blocked members from trading for cruises for several months:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/ma...-dcl-trade-policy-update-on-post-193.2537773/

almost never happens. but it's not impossible either.

but if you've owned for years and want to trade for something, there will probably be options. but renting for cash and using the cash will always give you the most options...

 

[AnnaS]

We traded once a few years ago (II) - Royal Sands, Cancun and have used part cash, points (all cash and all points) for our 6/7 DCL cruises. Have not traded with RCI yet - considering it (Naples, FL) for next year. I have not wanted the hassle of renting points yet. Maybe some day I will give it a shot. We do use them mostly for DVC but we are fine using a few for non-DVC.

 

[Dean]

I am considering buying. My kids are older now but my wife and I still visit Disney every other year. I have read several posts with the info that using points for the other non Disney options (not the cruise options) may not be the most valuable use of points. I don't want to start a value of the points vs using them at DVC resorts discussion.

I would just like to know if you did use them how did it work? How did you determine what the "cash" option would have been instead of using points?

The reason I ask --- I love Disney but know we will want other types of vacations as well.

I am really spending the time to evaluate whether buying DVC will be good for us.

BTW - I also love the DIS - I go back to the lime green days and the DIS has helped me plan many many wonderful vacations!!

You've got cash type exchanges such as DCL, other Disney hotels, ABD, etc. You've got timeshare exchanges through RCI and BVTC. Your best, simplest and cheapest direction is to buy the points you need and use the for DVC the look at other methods for non DVC stays whether it be Disney or otherwise, maybe even another timeshare if the volume of travel warrants it. IMO MOST exchanges are a trade down in some way or another when you look at the cash value of each, the quality of each, etc. But not all so if one owns and wants to exchange, just look at the options and decide. Here's an extreme but real world example. A few years we went to Cabo using RCI for 2 weeks. our real time cost including indirect timeshare components was $600 to $650 total. Using DVC it would have been 1500 DVC points, a value at the time of about $15K, more like $20K now. That's extreme but real. Most exchanges now are going to be 250 DVC points for a 2 BR and most of those options can be rented privately (or a similar replacement) for far less. I'd say only a small % of the exchange options can be a good value but none are guaranteed and there is considerable risk and uncertainty. It's just not worth it when one has the opportunity to have both a simpler and cheaper situation by making good choices up front.