DVC vs. RCI

[disneykim17]

A co-worker of mine is looking to join our happy DVC family at BLT, however, he was told by an RCI rep that RCI members can book DVC at the 10 month window. Does anyone know if this is correct information?

 

[chalee94]

A co-worker of mine is looking to join our happy DVC family at BLT, however, he was told by an RCI rep that RCI members can book DVC at the 10 month window. Does anyone know if this is correct information?

when DVC members trade their pts out to RCI, DVC decides which weeks to deposit into RCI as exchanges.

some of those weeks are available at 10 months out, yes...it varies based on DVC's discretion. if a BCV owner traded out pts for a week in another RCI resort, DVC would have the right to make a reservation for a week at BCV 11 months in advance with those BCV pts. makes sense, right?

but you should understand that "booking" DVC through RCI is nothing like calling MS to book DVC. there is a lot more uncertainty and much less flexibility. what is deposited by DVC is what is available - if you don't like the resort or prefer the 7 night period start on a different day or whatever, tough.

 

[bwvBound]

A co-worker of mine is looking to join our happy DVC family at BLT, however, he was told by an RCI rep that RCI members can book DVC at the 10 month window. Does anyone know if this is correct information?

If your co-worker belongs to RCI Points (vs RCI Weeks), it is true that the earliest they may book is 10 months. As Charles indicates above, there are no promises on inventory/availability.

 

[disneykim17]

Thanks for the info Charles...the 10 month thing is a little annoying considering last year we took my parents down with us and stayed at AKV (home resort - which we love, but my parents really wanted to stay at BCV or BWV) and we were on the waiting list at those two and nothing ever came through; to think that an RCI person could have gotten in there sooner then us is annoying to say the least.

 

[hakepb]

If it makes you feel any better, that RCI owner has to pay a $95 fee to trade in.

And if you want to get even and prevent a BWV owner from trading into your Kidani unit at 7 months, then use your Kidani points to trade out to RCI at 10+ months.

 

[DenLo]

And keep in mind that the RCI member could not get in unless a DVC member was trading out to RCI.

 

[JimMIA]

And keep in mind that the RCI member could not get in unless a DVC member was trading out to RCI.

Actually, I don't know if anyone really knows whether owner inventory is the only stuff DVC deposits into RCI. They could be depositing some of their own inventory and I don't know how anyone would know. I've seen postings about there being no clear indication that DVC deposits their own points, but I don't know how anyone could really tell.

Also, with owner inventory, the owner doesn't need to actually succeed with an exchange. If an owner deposits points for an ongoing search, those points belong to RCI and can be used for exchanges in -- whether or not the DVC owner actually gets their exchange.

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the info Charles...the 10 month thing is a little annoying considering last year we took my parents down with us and stayed at AKV (home resort - which we love, but my parents really wanted to stay at BCV or BWV) and we were on the waiting list at those two and nothing ever came through; to think that an RCI person could have gotten in there sooner then us is annoying to say the least.

Given that any deposits would have been made by owners at those resorts, that should and does take precedence over owners at other DVC timeshares wanting to trade at the 7 month window. I know we had 9 villas last Sept at BCV and BWV gotten through RCI.

Actually, I don't know if anyone really knows whether owner inventory is the only stuff DVC deposits into RCI. They could be depositing some of their own inventory and I don't know how anyone would know. I've seen postings about there being no clear indication that DVC deposits their own points, but I don't know how anyone could really tell.

Also, with owner inventory, the owner doesn't need to actually succeed with an exchange. If an owner deposits points for an ongoing search, those points belong to RCI and can be used for exchanges in -- whether or not the DVC owner actually gets their exchange.

My info makes me confident that DVC never did developer deposits with II and that it's unlikely they have with RCI. The only difference I've seen with RCi is that they do appear to have done a lot of cash rentals for developer owned inventory which certainly includes cash equivalent exchange inventory. This was likely the main reason for the change to RCI to start with.

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't know if anyone really knows whether owner inventory is the only stuff DVC deposits into RCI. They could be depositing some of their own inventory and I don't know how anyone would know.

I'm 99% sure they don't. First, why would they? There is no benefit to DVC of doing so, because they don't capitalize much on those guests as potential sales targets. Furthermore they have an active rental arm that generally can move inventory---though granted it is sometimes at a significant discount, but that discount is off of prices that are in some cases so out of touch with reality that it isn't really meaningful.

But, more importantly, there is a "tell". If you want to set up ME for an *exchange*, you must call Member Services. If you want to set up ME for a *rental* through RCI, you must call CRO. Because the two systems are not (yet) linked, this strongly suggests that this is a bright line dividing Member inventory from that surrendered to CRO for internal exchanges and/or owned by Disney.

This was likely the main reason for the change to RCI to start with.

My opinion as well. RCI has vastly superior rental channels vs. II.

 

[Dean]

But, more importantly, there is a "tell". If you want to set up ME for an *exchange*, you must call Member Services. If you want to set up ME for a *rental* through RCI, you must call CRO. Because the two systems are not (yet) linked, this strongly suggests that this is a bright line dividing Member inventory from that surrendered to CRO for internal exchanges and/or owned by Disney.

That's correct but there would be situations where they could cross over. Deposits made by DVD from owned but declared inventory such as ROFR or declared but unsold points would still be through MS and this is the most likely inventory they'd use for developer deposits. IMO, the biggest reason that they don't is there's no reason to do so. Other systems do it then pursue those exchangers to tour and buy. Until DVD starts actively going after such prospects, all they'd be doing would be donating to RCI with essentially no benefit. The only other angle that comes to mind is that it's likely DVD's contract with RCI requires a minimum number of deposits or at least a min # of deposits to minimize fees, if this is the case and that clause becomes problematic, developer inventory would likely be used to complete the obligation.

 

[hakepb]

Hassn't DVD used some RCI stays as sales incentivees?

 

[Dean]

Hassn't DVD used some RCI stays as sales incentivees?

I don't think so but even if they did, it would be a trade out and not a blind deposit. One thing they might do is deposit now for consideration later then assign such deposits to members who later exchange out.

 

[bwvBound]

I don't think so but even if they did, it would be a trade out and not a blind deposit. One thing they might do is deposit now for consideration later then assign such deposits to members who later exchange out.

Dean,

Sometime before GCV started selling, we attended a member event at GC Hotel. The sales pitch for buying a new contract at AKV (not our home resort), included a week through RCI. The specific weeks (resort, unit size, dates) were already booked and posted on a long wall as "first come, first serve." The intent was to motivate attendees to move quickly through the sales process so they could claim their week before someone else got it.

The guides explained the values of the weeks as ~$1200 but most of the weeks looked like Bonus Week inventory to me.

 

[Dean]

Dean,

Sometime before GCV started selling, we attended a member event at GC Hotel. The sales pitch for buying a new contract at AKV (not our home resort), included a week through RCI. The specific weeks (resort, unit size, dates) were already booked and posted on a long wall as "first come, first serve." The intent was to motivate attendees to move quickly through the sales process so they could claim their week before someone else got it.

The guides explained the values of the weeks as ~$1200 but most of the weeks looked like Bonus Week inventory to me.

Thanks, even as I was posting, I had a vague memory of this situation and just wasn't sure. I also know there was a lot of inventory early on in RCI but my guess is it was related more to RCI members not knowing to look and not having pending requests but that's why I worded the info related to II more strongly than RCI.