Disney Vacation Club DVC - RCI & II

[Lucky and Pooh]

RCI does not currently have
an affiliation agreement with
DVC - Disney Vacation Club.

Anyone know if DVC has future plans
for an affiliation agreement with RCI?

 

[WebmasterDoc]

For the first 3 (I think) years of DVC, RCI was the exchange component of the World Passport program. In 1994 (I think), when that agreement expired, II replaced RCI as the participating exchange company.

There has been no suggestion from DVC that the DVC/II relationship will change. I'd be surprised to see anything change, at least for awhile.

 

[littlestar]

I wish DVC members were allowed to join II. That would give DVC members access to II's Getaway weeks. I guess that would never happen, though.

When we first joined DVC we did get an Interval book, though, with a card. Must have been a fluke. It was really nice to see the II directory and know what we could trade out for. We've never received another II guide, since.

 

[dyingtodisney]

I've been looking into possible trades for 2007 and would like DVC to provide more specifics on their website. Such as what is low, middle, high season at each resort and what size rooms a trade consists of, etc. Any other websites this info might be on?

 

[Dean]

I've been looking into possible trades for 2007 and would like DVC to provide more specifics on their website. Such as what is low, middle, high season at each resort and what size rooms a trade consists of, etc. Any other websites this info might be on?

The trouble is it varies with each resort, not area, are the destination resort makes the determination. TUG at www.tug2.net has reviews and ratings of the resorts. Some demand info is on the II website.

Apparently when the contract was up with II, DVC had some serious negotiations with RCI and there were rumors that both might be offered. Ken May is now the CEO of RCI and was previously at the helm of DVC. While RCI may have more choices, I think II has better ones, esp since Marriott is included. There are benefits to RCI though as well.

I agree with Doc, I don't expect much changes. I wouldn't be surprised to see any affiliation go away in the future and possibly DVC would expand the BVTC instead, we shall see.

When we first joined DVC we did get an Interval book, though, with a card. Must have been a fluke. It was really nice to see the II directory and know what we could trade out for. We've never received another II guide, since.

I remember when that was posted a few years ago, it was a fluke. I know of this happening a couple of times. I also know of a number of people who tried to register DVC directly with II and had no luck at all. I had an II VC tell me no problem so I let them go through the process, no surprise it didn't pan out.

 

[littlestar]

Dean,

Doesn't RCI scare you these days with their cheap timeshare week rentals on Skyauction? I think that is a kick in the pants to an owner to see their resort go for $250 (and I know some people have gotten summer weeks, so it's not just off season) when their dues are probably $700 a year.

You know, I actually worked temporary for RCI when I was about 18 years old. It was early 1978 and the lady I worked for (I can't remember her name -tall blond woman) and her husband started RCI I believe, and they had about 10 employees in an office on the north side of Indianapolis. She even showed me how to run a memory type writer (she was nice). She also had the whole office pitch in and help the mail lady stuff brochures for big mailings. The idea of timesharing was very new back then. I remember being in awe of the brochures we were stuffing. I wish I could remember their names. They were a couple, that's all I remember, and she was blonde.

 

[Dean]

Dean,

Doesn't RCI scare you these days with their cheap timeshare week rentals on Skyauction? I think that is a kick in the pants to an owner to see their resort go for $250 (and I know some people have gotten summer weeks, so it's not just off season) when their dues are probably $700 a year.

No, not really. RCI is simply disposing of inventory. The question, as you know, is whether they are disposing of excess inventory plus weeks obtained appropriately OR are they robbing the deposits in favor of renting those out. The latter is the only issue I have a problem with and I know some fringe people are convinced this is happening inappropriately. BTW, DVC does the same stuff by reserving weeks and renting them through CRO.

As for the rental prices being lower than the maint fees for certain weeks, that is true all over and is simply reality. Many off season weeks, and some higher weeks, are worth less than the yearly fees. Thus even if someone gives you a weeks ownership, you may not want to take it until your sure the situation.

In many ways, RCI points would be a better fit for DVC than II or RCI weeks. Even better would be for DVC to expand the BVTC in favor of an affiliation with companies like Hyatt, Hilton, Bluegreen, Worldmark and the like. As well as expanding their options with Club Intrawest. And no reason they couldn't include non points systems like Marriott but done in a points format for a full week at a time. Of course Marriott would have to take over internal trading from II, something that has been rumored from time to time.

 

[littlestar]

Interesting stuff, Dean. I think some of the rental prices on sky auction have been too low. $450 to $500 for a week at some of the timeshares in Orlando would still be a bargain for most people. Heck, my daughter is paying $59 with tax for a night at the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista before she checks in on points at OKW. Most people think that's a bargain and that doesn't have the room that a decent timeshare one or two bedroom would. I just think some of the rates on these deals probably hurt those timeshare resorts in the long run (and make owners think of selling and getting out and renting themselves). Didn't Marriott stop a site last year from selling some of their weeks cheap?

Hopefully RCI hasn't been robbing the deposits and renting them.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future as far as exchange companies and affiliations go. I'm glad I bought where I want to stay. At least if the rules change on trading and resort affiliations, I know I can stay at Disney and I don't have to depend on an exchange company to get me where I pretty much want to go. Although I wouldn't mind some Gatlinburg, North Carolina mountain, or Hawaii trips occasionally.

 

[Dean]

Interesting stuff, Dean. I think some of the rental prices on sky auction have been too low. $450 to $500 for a week at some of the timeshares in Orlando would still be a bargain for most people. Heck, my daughter is paying $59 with tax for a night at the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista before she checks in on points at OKW. Most people think that's a bargain and that doesn't have the room that a decent timeshare one or two bedroom would. I just think some of the rates on these deals probably hurt those timeshare resorts in the long run (and make owners think of selling and getting out and renting themselves). Didn't Marriott stop a site last year from selling some of their weeks cheap?

Value is determined by what people will pay. The prices might be artificially low for several reasons including the fact they are full weeks, many people are not familiar with them, there are some inherent risks over a hotel rental, they tend to be lower level properties or very short notice and the like. But don't you think that they would rent them for more if they could?

 

[littlestar]

I think they could rent some of these places for more. Especially in the summer months when kids are out of school. $450 to $500 for a week in a decent condo is still only $60 to $70 something a night. That is still a great bargain. A decent timeshare should be worth more per night than a Days Inn I guess is what I'm thinking. But maybe having to rent it for a week makes a difference on the prices they can get.

 

[Dean]

I think they could rent some of these places for more. Especially in the summer months when kids are out of school. $450 to $500 for a week in a decent condo is still only $60 to $70 something a night. That is still a great bargain. A decent timeshare should be worth more per night than a Days Inn I guess is what I'm thinking. But maybe having to rent it for a week makes a difference on the prices they can get.

Actually summer in MX is low season, esp in June. One can rent a 2 BR for a week for $199 to $299 many times at nicer resorts than those listed. The best weeks to rent for MX would be Xmas, New Years, President's week and Easter. For Gatlinburg it's fall colors weeks, I think weeks 41-43 (early to mid Oct)

 

[T.E. Yeary]

The name of the couple who started RCI was John & Crystal DeHahn. I can't be sure if I spelled it correctly. They started this by having a shoebox filed with the weeks available for trade and worked on their kitchen table. I happen to have a 1972? RCI book. There were 41 resorts and the book was in black & white. I also think the resorts were done in illustrations by an artist. I haven't looked at the book for many years. I guess it's stored in my attic. I used to have so much fun showing it to customers to let them see how far the industry has come.

See folks, there are some advantages to having an old codger on these boards. Another trip down memory lane!

Tom

 

[littlestar]

Thanks, Tom. I couldn't remember their names until you said it. I remember her as being very nice to me, a young green kid, and very excited about timesharing and their fledgling company.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The name of the couple who started RCI was John & Crystal DeHahn. I can't be sure if I spelled it correctly.

Very close! Jon and Christel DeHaan.

See http://news.rciventures.com/pressReleases/2004/February/feb4.html

 

[littlestar]

Thanks for the memory jog, you guys. It was Crystal Dehaan that I remembered. She was a very kind and nice lady. I think RCI was sold in the 90's if I remember correctly.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

RCI made Christel DeHaan a very wealthy woman. She was number 398 on the 2004 Forbes 400 list with $725 million.

She is the founder of a charity to help poor children in underdeveloped countries. According to the charity's website, "The mission of Christel House International is to help children around the world break the cycle of poverty and become self-sufficient, contributing members of society."

 

[T.E. Yeary]

I seem to recall she sold RCI to Centex a few years back.

 

[Dean]

I seem to recall she sold RCI to Centex a few years back.

Cendant, a major financial and real estate company including hotels, timeshares, rentals cars and many more.