Getting Ready to Buy - Question about II

[masswdwfan]

I was at WDW earlier this month and toured the models. I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a 250 point contract for BLT. The guide pointed out that DVC members can use their points for stay at Interval International resorts. I looked at the point chart and it looked pretty reasonable. I called the guide when I got home and asked which resorts from II are available to DVC members. He told me to go on the website and Disney only uses the top 500 II has to offer. My questions to you members are: is the II option worth it, and where can I find these "top 500 resorts"?

Also, I am considering a 250 point purchase only because of the high point per night at BLT. Would you recommend buying a 200 and then a 50 of the same use year? My thinking was that if I found I didn't need the whole 250, I could sell thee 50.

Thanks!

 

[Dean]

I was at WDW earlier this month and toured the models. I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a 250 point contract for BLT. The guide pointed out that DVC members can use their points for stay at Interval International resorts. I looked at the point chart and it looked pretty reasonable. I called the guide when I got home and asked which resorts from II are available to DVC members. He told me to go on the website and Disney only uses the top 500 II has to offer. My questions to you members are: is the II option worth it, and where can I find these "top 500 resorts"?

Also, I am considering a 250 point purchase only because of the high point per night at BLT. Would you recommend buying a 200 and then a 50 of the same use year? My thinking was that if I found I didn't need the whole 250, I could sell thee 50.

Thanks!

The II options are really a tale to two sides. A small subset are worth it but those are the ones very unlikely to be available, can you say Marriott or Westin Maui. The rest are varying degrees of unreasonableness overall. It is an extremely poor choice to buy DVC points with the intent of using them for any type of exchanges (DCL, Disney collection, II, etc). Your usual return is barely more than the dues you pay that year per point, usually in the $5-7 a point range. If DVC appeals to you, buy the points you'll need for DVC and look at other options for the non DVC trips. In every case there are cheaper AND better ways to try to get the other options than buying DVC points to use for that purpose.

 

[Disney_Villain]

http://disney.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=1500

 

[jblrn2b]

Dear fellow massachusetts? wdw lover. I have been on the website - the places look awesome. For instance the Atlantis in the Bahamas is an awesome resort. I don't think you can go wrong but it is definitely more adventageous to use DVC resorts. We didn't book for II - we booked for DVC with an added plus of II.

 

[Donna M]

We've been to Top Notch in Vermont for a weekend, Boston for a night and spent a week in Breckenridge, Co. using our points. We also did a three night cruise on points. We like the idea of not having to try to rent our points. We like the options available.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Dear fellow massachusetts? wdw lover. I have been on the website - the places look awesome. For instance the Atlantis in the Bahamas is an awesome resort. I don't think you can go wrong but it is definitely more adventageous to use DVC resorts. We didn't book for II - we booked for DVC with an added plus of II.

Atlantis is very difficult to get through II.

 

[jblrn2b]

Atlantis is very difficult to get through II.

Thanks for the heads up

 

[masswdwfan]

Thanks for all the info.

 

[DVCAustralia]

We did a DVC tour at the end of last year and as we are not from USA we were given that 'top 500 resorts II has to offer' claim. However as I already have an II exchange timeshare I found this claim strange, as II advertise about 4000 properties are available and the standard is mostly higher than other exchange companies. It turns out that on further questioning it is not the 'top 500 resorts' but handpicked resorts chosen by DVC to meet their requirements.
For example, the fantastic Marriott just near Disneyland Paris that has two storey townhouse-style 2 and 3 bedroom apartments is the only non-Orlando Marriott excluded, and this is to protect the hotels at Disneyland Paris rather than in the interests of members, as Disney has no DVC or apartments there. Indeed it is likely that this was originally a DVC development taken over by Marriott before marketing began.
Even worse, Australia has two fast growing timeshare companies including the first done by Accor, and yet only two locations and resorts are allowed out of more than 30 available, and these are by no means the best resorts or locations available (as an Accor member and former employee I should know).
There are many other examples, but the point is that the II exchange is carefully controlled by DVC and not necessarily in the interests of members. Further, the exchanges that are available are generally of poor value or almost impossible to get at the time you would want to go. However the development of short stay II may prove to be a wise move.
In conclusion, the II option is not worth it except on an occasional basis to use points you would otherwise lose and if you do not want to rent them out.

 

[Dean]

We did a DVC tour at the end of last year and as we are not from USA we were given that 'top 500 resorts II has to offer' claim. However as I already have an II exchange timeshare I found this claim strange, as II advertise about 4000 properties are available and the standard is mostly higher than other exchange companies. It turns out that on further questioning it is not the 'top 500 resorts' but handpicked resorts chosen by DVC to meet their requirements.
For example, the fantastic Marriott just near Disneyland Paris that has two storey townhouse-style 2 and 3 bedroom apartments is the only non-Orlando Marriott excluded, and this is to protect the hotels at Disneyland Paris rather than in the interests of members, as Disney has no DVC or apartments there. Indeed it is likely that this was originally a DVC development taken over by Marriott before marketing began.
Even worse, Australia has two fast growing timeshare companies including the first done by Accor, and yet only two locations and resorts are allowed out of more than 30 available, and these are by no means the best resorts or locations available (as an Accor member and former employee I should know).
There are many other examples, but the point is that the II exchange is carefully controlled by DVC and not necessarily in the interests of members. Further, the exchanges that are available are generally of poor value or almost impossible to get at the time you would want to go. However the development of short stay II may prove to be a wise move.
In conclusion, the II option is not worth it except on an occasional basis to use points you would otherwise lose and if you do not want to rent them out.

Certainly true. Given the current set up I think it's reasonable for DVC to manage the list to their advantage, the question is whether they are doing a good job of it. They do tend not to add resorts under construction and they do allow resorts in competition in many instances like Orlando (either direction). They do allow DVC owners to trade to other HH resorts but not owners at those resorts to trade to DVC HH. I don't think they are purposefully excluding truly good resorts, just that they don't have the information or don't put in the effort to actively manage the list appropriately.

There are portions of other Marriott's not included such as the new portion for Maui and part of Vail. I'm thinking the Marriott in Paris was previously on the list but if so, it was only for a short time. They only recently added the lower resorts at HH, they were excluded until less than a year ago. The Grand Residence in London is also excluded but it's a "secret" II resort so I guess that's understandable.

Overall I think they do members a disservice by this type of micromanagement.

 

[bwvBound]

Also, I am considering a 250 point purchase only because of the high point per night at BLT. Would you recommend buying a 200 and then a 50 of the same use year? My thinking was that if I found I didn't need the whole 250, I could sell thee 50.

Ok, you won't likely be able to sell me 50 (playing off the accidental use of old English) ... I do like your line of thought. Yes, I'd recommend breaking the 250 points across multiple, smaller contracts for exactly the reason you mention.

 

[masswdwfan]

Ok, you won't likely be able to sell me 50 (playing off the accidental use of old English) ... I do like your line of thought. Yes, I'd recommend breaking the 250 points across multiple, smaller contracts for exactly the reason you mention.

Well played, my friend.

 

[culli]

Don't buy DVC to trade, poor investment. If you seriously interested in trading do some research.....you will find cost effective ways to trade, which is not DVC.

Yes it is a good idea to get your contracts into say 5 50pt contracts. If you have to sell you can and the 50pt ones will probably sell easier and at a higher price.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't buy DVC to trade, poor investment. If you seriously interested in trading do some research.....you will find cost effective ways to trade, which is not DVC.

Yes it is a good idea to get your contracts into say 5 50pt contracts. If you have to sell you can and the 50pt ones will probably sell easier and at a higher price.

If the OP doesn't currently own any DVC points, he/she would have to have at least one contract for the minimum (160 points at BLT) and then could split up the rest into smaller contracts.

 

[ILIKEWDW]

HI,

I am in the same situation, I recently visited WDW and I am interested in the DVC. Looking for info on it I found this site and since two hours I have spent here I have read about the DVC is not good for II. I had many doubts about that but now I have read it in this site, I think that has sense. First because that was one of our bigger concerns, to know the amount of percentage a DVC member has to get an II.

Another good tip I got from this website is to make contracts by smaller quantities of points, but if my family needs 360 points (also because the high rate in the BLT), what do you suggest me to do? what could we do with the contracts? how can we make small contracts? is this posible? will I have however the same two bedroom vacation home?
thanks

silvia

 

[Deb & Bill]

HI,

I am in the same situation, I recently visited WDW and I am interested in the DVC. Looking for info on it I found this site and since two hours I have spent here I have read about the DVC is not good for II. I had many doubts about that but now I have read it in this site, I think that has sense. First because that was one of our bigger concerns, to know the amount of percentage a DVC member has to get an II.

Another good tip I got from this website is to make contracts by smaller quantities of points, but if my family needs 360 points (also because the high rate in the BLT), what do you suggest me to do? what could we do with the contracts? how can we make small contracts? is this posible? will I have however the same two bedroom vacation home?
thanks

silvia

If you plan on buying 360 points, you could buy 160 in one contract and then break the others up into smaller contracts of 50 or 75 or 100. Should you decide to sell in the future, those smaller contracts are easier to sell than one big contract. The smaller contracts will be add-ons to the larger contract. It will all be one contract number. So it will be easy to use them for one vacation. They just take what they need from the first one, then the second, then the third and so on. Now if you have completely different contracts (such as different use years), you have to transfer from one to another or make full nights with the individual contracts.

For example, I have a 175 point contract at OKW, a 100 point add on at VWL and a completely different 50 point contract at OKW (bought a resale). If I want to use the 50 points along with my 175 and 100 to get 325 points, I have to transfer the 50 points to my 175 point contract. But if I just need 275 points, they just take them from the 175 plus the 100 point contract.