Am I missing something..?

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
We have just returned from 3 weeks in California and Vegas, one week of which we stayed at Marriott's Desert Springs Villas II on points. When I read the US boards they generally say that exchanging is not a good value use of points. I find this difficult to understand as I only used 124 points for a one bed unit and the same type of accomodation in OKW would be 160 so where is the catch. By the way the exchange went like a dream got an instant match and the resort is excellent.

Mick.

 

[Miffy2003]

Obviously in this instance exchanging was a great idea Mick

It's good to have feedback like this as like you I have been deterred from doing this from the feedback on the US boards.

How was your trip?

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
Our trip was one of the best we have had thanks. Flew with Virgin Upper Class using Flying Club miles into LAX. Spent the first night in the airport Courtyard Marriott which is a nice hotel with very friendly and helpful staff. Picked up the hire car next day which we booked through Airline Network and drove to Las Vegas where we spent 5 nights at the Bellagio booked through Expedia. The hotel was out of this world with a stunning pool view from our room on the 26th floor..!! Oh and musn't forget the electricaly operated curtains..! We then drove to Palm Desert for a week at the Marriott resort which is similar in many ways to OKW as it stands on a golf course. The resort was very quiet and we had the pool to ourselves on a number of occasions. Had a couple of barbecues using the gas powered barbecue just across from our room and sat out chatting (drinking..??) until late as the weather was so good. We then moved on to the Lowes resort in San Diego for 5 nights which was very nice if a little bit isolated. Flew back from Lax yesterday and slept most of the flight on the UC Suite bed. It's certainly the way to travel. Called in at the revivals lounge at Heathrow for lunch and a shower before begining the journey home.
Back to reality..!!

Mick.

 

[Hilary]

Sounds fantastic!

It's certainly reassuring to hear positive feedback about exchanging out as that's one of the aspects of DVC that appealed to us when we bought (although we haven't had the opportunity to try it yet!).

 

[gilld]

We're planning on doing something similar so it's nice to hear that the II exchange works so well. Do you mind me asking how many FF miles did you need to upgrade to UC?

 

[Bexx]

When I read the US boards they generally say that exchanging is not a good value use of points.

Perhaps they mean when using the points for hotels in the Disney and Concierge collections. The points required for trading to another timeshare seem pretty reasonable - as you know!! I think the main drawback with trading is that you can't always get accomodation where you want, when you want

Would love to try it myself one day. Glad you had such a great time!

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

It's good to hear some positive feedback on exchanging, one year we're bound to get fed up with WDW and want to go somewhere else (aren't we? LOL)

Glad you had such a great time

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi Gill,
I used 80,000 miles and only had to pay taxes etc. You can upgarde for less miles if you buy a standard PE or economy ticket. It was an extravagant use of a lot of miles but worth every one imho..!

Mick.

 

[Miffy2003]

Mick, it sounds fantastic.