DVC deposits into RCI

[AnnaS]

These are units that are currently available for exchange in RCI.

I am just trying to understand this also.

Does each week mean that a DVC member is not staying at their home resort - and they have made plans for that week elesewhere (another DVC resort, cruise, RCI exchange).

I have a week at the Royal Sands - that same week is now available at my home DVC resort for an RCI member to exchange in to ours?

or I am staying at AKV and HH - (not my home resorts) so this week is now available at my home resort?

I just find it a bit confusing.

 

[Dee77]

I do not understand this either. Can someone answer a couple of quick questions I have, please. I have dev points with Saratoga Springs that I know I can bank into RCI and have them for use for like 2 years. Does this mean that I may at some point be able to use those "banked dev points" for a DVC stay at any of the resorts that are listed in the first 2 messages of this thread? If so, what are the red flags (if any) I need to keep in mind. Any other info for this specific scenario would be helpful. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[alice99]

If these weeks are put into RCI by Disney Vacation Club, and not DVC members ...... Don't you think this is a bit premature? Some of these weeks are more than 7 months away.

Or, possibly, DVC members services holds them as members bank them , then they all go in together at the start of each month?

How does banking points work anyway? Do we select a week then bank it into RCI? Or do we tell members services (we don't want the points) and they select what (resort, week, etc...) gets banked? Maybe banking is always your home resort, for the sake of making it easier, and keeping inventory managable.

 

[Chuck S]

Since this is the first year of RCI use (not counting the early 1990s), DVC is likely using historical avarage II data to estimate the number of RCI trades, and has deposited accordingly.

They may also be developers points that members could not use right away at a DVC resort, so they depositied them. We really don't know rthe exact answer. Overall, these RCI dates reflect a very small percentage of DVC inventory.

DVC members can not, technically, put specific weeks into RCI...individual DVC members are not RCI members. It is a corporate membership. Even when a DVC Member trades to RCI, DVC determines the dates and room turned over to RCI.

 

[TSNCS]

I exchanged through RCI and was able to grab a 2 bed at Beach Club in August and a 2 bed at SSR for Thanksgiving week. This was on the weeks side.

 

[Brian Noble]

Does each week mean that a DVC member is not staying at their home resort - and they have made plans for that week elesewhere (another DVC resort, cruise, RCI exchange).

Yes and no. These deposits are for those Members who have exchanged their points for something in the World Passport/RCI collection. Members who stay at another DVC resort just use their points to book that room, and that has no effect on external availability. When Members exchange points for a cruise, the cruise is "paid for" by booking a room for that many points, and giving it to CRO to try to rent out, and the proceeds offset the cost of the cruise.

So, these deposits are all a result of Members either (a) exchanging points for a confirmed weekly reservation somewhere in RCI, or (b) depositing points for a "credit" towards a future exchange.

I have dev points with Saratoga Springs that I know I can bank into RCI and have them for use for like 2 years. Does this mean that I may at some point be able to use those "banked dev points" for a DVC stay at any of the resorts that are listed in the first 2 messages of this thread?

No. You can only use your "banked" points to exchange into one of the "approved" RCI resorts. I don't believe any Orlando resorts are on that list, including the DVC resorts. This was true in II as well.

Or, possibly, DVC members services holds them as members bank them , then they all go in together at the start of each month?

It appears that this is exactly what is happening, though typically resort systems bank in advance of confirmed exchanges, rather than in arrears, but RCI is also willing to extend "credit". This is a pretty common arrangement---Wyndham has the same setup. Wyndham owners make exchanges throughout the year, for which Wyndahm has deposited some in advance. Periodically, RCI and Wyndham "balance the books", and Wyndham increases or decreases its deposit rate based on exchange activity in the prior period. If the DVC/RCI relationship works the same way (and it appears that it does), DVC Members appear to be more active in RCI than they were expected to be---this is a much bigger deposit than we saw in January.

How does banking points work anyway? Do we select a week then bank it into RCI? Or do we tell members services (we don't want the points) and they select what (resort, week, etc...) gets banked?

You relinquish a set number of points. DVC chooses how to use those points to deposit units on the Members' behalf. I don't know that anyone knows exactly how that decision is made---Dean probably knows more than most. Convetional wisdom is that DVC tries to deposit less-demanded resorts, times, and units, but there are some prime things that get deposited as well.

 

[alice99]

Does anyone else here feel like this is unfair to DVC Members?

These weeks are here for the public, but aren't even available to you, as an owner, yet. They are "giving away" the inventory before it's even made available to DVC members.

These vacations are more than 7 months away. What if I wanted to stay in one of these resorts? They are gone before we are allowed to book them.

People have been on here complaining about availability and waitlists. It's only going to get worse, much worse.

To me, this is worse than the points changes that initiated that ridiculous mega thread.

 

[TSNCS]

I LOVE being able to exchange into DVC, but.........it is unfair to the members. I was able to book a week in November, and that is almost 10 months out. It was a 2 bedroom, as well. I don't see how the availability is there in RCI, but I saw it and took it for an exchange. I don't pretend to understand how it works. It is very confusing.

 

[Chuck S]

Does anyone else here feel like this is unfair to DVC Members?

These weeks are here for the public, but aren't even available to you, as an owner, yet. They are "giving away" the inventory before it's even made available to DVC members.

These vacations are more than 7 months away. What if I wanted to stay in one of these resorts? They are gone before we are allowed to book them.

People have been on here complaining about availability and waitlists. It's only going to get worse, much worse.

To me, this is worse than the points changes that initiated that ridiculous mega thread.

DVC is under no obligation to hold inventory for members at 7 months. If an owner is allowed to trade/deposit into RCI up to 2 years in advance, the inventory really needs to be made available to RCI. The alternative would be to simply eliminate or even more severely limit, the World Passport option.

In fact, in your documents, they don't HAVE to allow internal DVC to DVC trades at all, they could limit you to your home resort only, though that is extremely unlikely, unless a resort is removed from the DVC system through an owner vote or a disaster of some kind.

 

[Brian Noble]

These weeks are here for the public, but aren't even available to you, as an owner, yet.

But they were taken by an owner---and then deposited in exchange (or as credit) for vacation lodging somewhere else. The latest of those weeks end on Jan 2nd, 2010---all are within the 11-month home-resort window.

 

[smt7]

It seems to me that the smaller, really popular resorts, like BCV, etc. that are hard to get at 7 months for members shouldn't be tossed in for exchange at ten months. OK, maybe a BCV owner did put their points into RCI, but can't DVC switch those out for points at one of the bigger resorts, like SSR or OKW?

 

[Chuck S]

It seems to me that the smaller, really popular resorts, like BCV, etc. that are hard to get at 7 months for members shouldn't be tossed in for exchange at ten months. OK, maybe a BCV owner did put their points into RCI, but can't DVC switch those out for points at one of the bigger resorts, like SSR or OKW?

Why should SSR and OKW owners lose availability during their 11 month priority window at their resort when a BCV or BWV owner trades out to RCI?

 

[tomandrobin]

Why should SSR and OKW owners lose availability during their 11 month priority window at their resort when a BCV or BWV owner trades out to RCI?

Disney can do that to benefit DVC owners in general. They already control the trading in and out of points, so why not.

For example, I own Starwood (Westin) timeshares. Starwood controls the II inventory, similar to DVC (except you can actually access II). I own Atlantis Resort and I want to deposit my week so I can trade into II. Starwood would then take my week and would probably deposit a Arizona or California resort in my II account instead of Atlantis (the more desirable week). The Atlantis week would then be made available for another Starwood owner to use. This allows Starwood to keep the best resorts and the best weeks in the internal system for all the Starwood owners.

 

[Chuck S]

Disney can do that to benefit DVC owners in general. They already control the trading in and out of points, so why not.

Because, this would not have the effect of benefitting DVC owners in general. If someone from BCV trades to RCI during the 11 month priority window, and DVC chose to take a OKW unit and deposit at 10 months instead, it only benefits BCV owners, not the entire membership, and would penalize only OKW owners during their 11 month window.

It would defeat the purpose of a priority window.

 

[dclfun]

Things may well have changed but close friends of ours bought a "red week" at a very popular RCI property for around 3K for a timeshare w/o expiration- for a 2 bedroom unit. There are fees involved for their exchanges....but for someone who paid so little for their timeshare to be able to get what I paid so much for at DVC, I just can't see the value of the exchanges we're making with RCI. Think what a week in a 2 bedroom villa at BCV would cost in terms of points, or the SSR week over a holiday for us, as members, to get the same thing as someone who was able to exchange from RCI. It's not gonna happen with my points, esp. with the economy now dictating low cash rates for similar properties if I were to pay cash and rent my points to pay for such a stay.---Kathy

 

[smt7]

Hm, I wasn't thinking about SSR and OKW owners losing availability. I was thinking they should get a chance to book BCV etc. at 7 months, rather than the person exchanging in thru RCI. I guess I am not that familiar with how the exchange works.

 

[tomandrobin]

Because, this would not have the effect of benefitting DVC owners in general. If someone from BCV trades to RCI during the 11 month priority window, and DVC chose to take a OKW unit and deposit at 10 months instead, it only benefits BCV owners, not the entire membership, and would penalize only OKW owners during their 11 month window.

It would defeat the purpose of a priority window.

I understand what you are saying, but why deposit the points at 10 months. Why not deposit them at six months out to give all DVC owners a chance at any available inventory. This is exactly what Starwood does. At 8 months out, owners at "other" resorts are allowed to trade into inventory not used by the home resort owners. After a month or so the picked over inventory is then given to II and pending trades.

 

[Chuck S]

I understand what you are saying, but why deposit the points at 10 months. Why not deposit them at six months out to give all DVC owners a chance at any available inventory. This is exactly what Starwood does. At 8 months out, owners at "other" resorts are allowed to trade into inventory not used by the home resort owners. After a month or so the picked over inventory is then given to II and pending trades.

If the points are deposited by the member, and a search started/found for the trade, how can DVC tell RCI "Thanks, we got yor resort, but you have to wait 3 or 4 months for ours."

In theory, during the priority window, the BCV owner reserved a room at their home resort to trade to RCI. The BCV owner chose to use the priority window, so the points really have to stay at BCV.

 

[phyllisnnj]

I understand what you are saying, but why deposit the points at 10 months. Why not deposit them at six months out to give all DVC owners a chance at any available inventory. This is exactly what Starwood does. At 8 months out, owners at "other" resorts are allowed to trade into inventory not used by the home resort owners. After a month or so the picked over inventory is then given to II and pending trades.

Perhaps trading power rules are different with RCI. I could be wrong but I thought I read somewhere that peak dates and deposits placed well in advance of checkin impacts RCI trading power.

 

[phyllisnnj]

Here's where I read about RCI trading power - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2023452&page=7