DVC help!

[Magic08]

We are heading for our fifth Disney trip in April and are seriously thinking of finally joining DVC this time. Last time we did the tour and the new AK incentive sounds like a deal. I was wondering if anyone could tell us if they've used their Disney points to travel elsewhere, such as Mexico or Las Vegas, and if so, how was that process as far as traveling through DVC?? We figure sometimes we will want to go to other locations, as much as we love Orlando! We appreciate any info and feedback you can give us!

 

[moethorne]

We are trying to do travel on banked points. We had the points in the system for a year. They are good for 2. Last year we tried to use them to go to a wedding at Hershey Park. Nothing ever came available. Who would have thunk Hearshy would be so busy. We then tried to go to SoCal for New Year 2008. Still no luck. We just asked to be put on the waiting list for Mexico for feb vacation 2009. We are being kind of specific so it maybe easier if you are more flexible. I was hoping the new onlline short stay lookup might help. We'll see. Still love DVC! We have only been twice but are going again next week!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

In general, if you are trying for Vegas, there are FAR cheaper ways of doing that then DVC. When you consider the cost of DVC and the maintenance of DVC, it is one of the more costly timeshares, and using it for a destination where deals can be readily available like Vegas, just doesn't make financial sense to me.

We have used our DVC to trade out once, and that was to Hawaii. In our case it was pretty easy, but we left things VERY open and requested any island, any time between Jan.1 and June 1, and a 1 or 2 bedroom. We got a 1 bedroom with 2 bathrooms after just 1 week of search, and that made it very easy to start searching for good airfares well in advance of the 11 month airline booking.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The best use of your DVC points is for DVC stays. No matter how much they advertise using your points all over the world.

 

[abdmom]

I agree that exchanging DVC points is a poor value for your points. Exchanging to other locations can be done easily with timeshares that have purchase prices 1-10% of the cost of DVC. If you are interested in learning about timesharing outside of DVC and exchanging, I recommend TUG at tugbbs.com They have a wealth of knowledge.