Did you receive this email?? from Disney

[gharter]

Should I feel bad if I didn't get the email? Have yet to use RCI, etc for DVC points.

 

[GRP3]

I searched for hotel exchanges in several US cities then went directly to those hotel web sites. Exchanges require DVC points PLUS cash. The cash amount is often within a few dollars or the same amount as you can book at the hotel website. Take for example the Marriott Savannah Riverfront Standard King room October 1 - 4. Exchange requires 20 points PLUS $777.57. Booking directly with hotel yields the same room for $789 on member flexible rate. You save $12 and lose 20 DVC points through the exchange. The Hyatt Regency takes 20 points plus $755.58 for a non-refundable king through the exchange. Booking directly, the member rate is $810.64, so your 20 DVC points gains you $55 savings, but for a non-refundable reservation. It also appears there is a minimum stay of 3 nights. You might save more money at other locations but do your due diligence.

 

[New Mouse]

I searched for hotel exchanges in several US cities then went directly to those hotel web sites. Exchanges require DVC points PLUS cash. The cash amount is often within a few dollars or the same amount as you can book at the hotel website. Take for example the Marriott Savannah Riverfront Standard King room October 1 - 4. Exchange requires 20 points PLUS $777.57. Booking directly with hotel yields the same room for $789 on member flexible rate. You save $12 and lose 20 DVC points through the exchange. The Hyatt Regency takes 20 points plus $755.58 for a non-refundable king through the exchange. Booking directly, the member rate is $810.64, so your 20 DVC points gains you $55 savings, but for a non-refundable reservation. It also appears there is a minimum stay of 3 nights. You might save more money at other locations but do your due diligence.

Can you please send this to members services and ask them to stop trying to put one over on their members. This is absurd that they would even offer this.

 

[Geomom]

I searched for hotel exchanges in several US cities then went directly to those hotel web sites. Exchanges require DVC points PLUS cash. The cash amount is often within a few dollars or the same amount as you can book at the hotel website. Take for example the Marriott Savannah Riverfront Standard King room October 1 - 4. Exchange requires 20 points PLUS $777.57. Booking directly with hotel yields the same room for $789 on member flexible rate. You save $12 and lose 20 DVC points through the exchange. The Hyatt Regency takes 20 points plus $755.58 for a non-refundable king through the exchange. Booking directly, the member rate is $810.64, so your 20 DVC points gains you $55 savings, but for a non-refundable reservation. It also appears there is a minimum stay of 3 nights. You might save more money at other locations but do your due diligence.

You can use more points and 0 cash. I was playing around looking for a place to stay 2 nts.in the UK next summer. Around 30 pts for 2 nts in Southampton...but I'll need 2 rooms as there aren't many hotels that sleep 4 adults. Will likely just be paying cash vs using my pts, but just exploring options...not sure when we're getting back to Disney world... especially without annual passes

 

[BaybeeYoda]

Based on the email, concierge is no longer available but this “hotel plus cash” is the replacement?

While I’ve never used the concierge collection before, can this be read as devaluing or withdrawing perks from the membership?

 

[bwvBound]

Based on the email, concierge is no longer available but this “hotel plus cash” is the replacement?

While I’ve never used the concierge collection before, can this be read as devaluing or withdrawing perks from the membership?

Perhaps it is too soon to say?

• On one hand: we will likely have a greater number of options.
• On the other hand: we might have a less stellar experience at the destination.

During the Covid shutdown of DLR and its resorts, we used our DVC points through the Concierge Collection to stay at the Hotel Del, San Diego, CA. It was “Plan C or D” for our anniversary having already been shut out of our top choices. We’d been to the Del before … it left a negative impression in our memory due to really poor service.

Our DVC Concierge Collection reservation was awesome. We were blown away with the acknowledgement and perks of having booked through DVC. We were assigned the best room on the first try, given only pleasant treatment by front desk (not ‘snarky’ as on our prior visit) with perks and surprises at every corner. We commented to ourselves, “Hmm, the staff keeps making a big deal of our DVC … almost as if we are part of the actual Disney family …not just “vacation club” members.” Cool.

So, will we continue to have an over-the-top experience if we book the Del, or other destinations, through II? I doubt the destination will know or care of the DVC particulars; they will see us only as “an inbound exchange guest.” Hmmm …. We’ll see???

 

[DonMacGregor]

Our DVC Concierge Collection reservation was awesome. We were blown away with the acknowledgement and perks of having booked through DVC. We were assigned the best room on the first try, given only pleasant treatment by front desk (not ‘snarky’ as on our prior visit) with perks and surprises at every corner. We commented to ourselves, “Hmm, the staff keeps making a big deal of our DVC … almost as if we are part of the actual Disney family …not just “vacation club” members.” Cool.

So, will we continue to have an over-the-top experience if we book the Del, or other destinations, through II? I doubt the destination will know or care of the DVC particulars; they will see us only as “an inbound exchange guest.” Hmmm …. We’ll see???

The Hotel Del was purchased by Hilton in 2017 and is part of their Curio Collection. Given the long and close relationship between Hilton and Disney, I'm not really surprised that there was a little acknowledgement there.

 

[bwvBound]

So, will we continue to have an over-the-top experience if we book the Del, or other destinations, through II? I doubt the destination will know or care of the DVC particulars; they will see us only as “an inbound exchange guest.” Hmmm …. We’ll see???

Just for grins, I used the new tool to check for stay similar to our past Hotel Del via DVC Concierge: same season, same length of stay, same unit location/type, same number of guests. The tool suggested that the exchange could be booked for 20 DVC points + $2100 (!). Yeeeesh. No thank you.

At this point, put me in the camp titled, "Sorry to lose the Concierge Collection."

 

[Geomom]

Just for grins, I used the new tool to check for stay similar to our past Hotel Del via DVC Concierge: same season, same length of stay, same unit location/type, same number of guests. The tool suggested that the exchange could be booked for 20 DVC points + $2100 (!). Yeeeesh. No thank you.

At this point, put me in the camp titled, "Sorry to lose the Concierge Collection."

Did you check to see how many points it would take to get to $0? You can up the amount of points you use so that you're spending no cash.

 

[bwvBound]

Did you check to see how many points it would take to get to $0? You can up the amount of points you use so that you're spending no cash.

OOOOOOHHHHHH!!! THANK YOU!

I entirely missed that giant blue box inviting one to test different values of DVC points. While the II page is super glitchy right now ... it did show just enough to suggest that matching my prior DVC Concierge Collection booking might be possible for ~274 DVC points and $0 cash. I couldn't reach the details ... but even the tiny glimpse it gave before crashing was hopeful.

THANK YOU, again!

EDITED to add: The II website has finally recovered to display exchange options. Turns out I could match my prior booking (dates, destination, unit type, etc) starting at 243 DVC points and $0 cash. I'm OK with that option!