Has anyone been able to access the new Interval Hotel Exchange?

[jodybird511]

The website says it's open for booking, but when I click on the link, it still just takes me to the vacation exchanges and getaways. Anyone have better luck? I'm just curious and want to poke around. Am I missing something?

 

[WDW Traveler]

I was trying to poke around yesterday for costs/points exchange (as I really know nothing about it and wanted to see what it was all about) and it kept wanting me to deposit my points before it let me explore. I backed out of the website.

 

[pianomanzano]

Same. Clicked on the link for the hotel exchange but it just took me to II’s site for the other exchanges/getaways.

 

[Pens Fan]

I was looking at it yesterday. I did have to play around with it a bit to get it to work, though.

On the main DVC site, under Destinations and Worldwide Stays click Hotel Exchange.

Scroll down to Hotel Exchange and click on Book with Interval Online - do not click on "Search Now" in the text below. That just gave me the spinning circle of death.

Once you're in II, click on Hotel Exchange (under Welcome Disney Vacation Club Member), then Search Hotel Exchange

It will then take you to a screen asking you which unit you want to exchange. Ignore that and click on the blue box on the right that says Hotel Exchange.

That should take you to the search engine. There appear to be lots of options for larger cities and you can choose between using points, cash or a combination. I didn't look that long, so I can't speak to the value. But as it's just regular hotel rooms rather than villas, I'm not sure how good a deal this is. I'd definitely have to compare cash prices or using our Marriott rewards points over this before booking anything. Still, it's nice to have the option!

 

[jodybird511]

I was looking at it yesterday. I did have to play around with it a bit to get it to work, though.

On the main DVC site, under Destinations and Worldwide Stays click Hotel Exchange.

Scroll down to Hotel Exchange and click on Book with Interval Online - do not click on "Search Now" in the text below. That just gave me the spinning circle of death.

Once you're in II, click on Hotel Exchange (under Welcome Disney Vacation Club Member), then Search Hotel Exchange

It will then take you to a screen asking you which unit you want to exchange. Ignore that and click on the blue box on the right that says Hotel Exchange.

That should take you to the search engine. There appear to be lots of options for larger cities and you can choose between using points, cash or a combination. I didn't look that long, so I can't speak to the value. But as it's just regular hotel rooms rather than villas, I'm not sure how good a deal this is. I'd definitely have to compare cash prices or using our Marriott rewards points over this before booking anything. Still, it's nice to have the option!

Weird. For me, there is no Hotel Exchange under Welcome Disney Vacation Club Member. The only options are Vacation Exchange and ShortStay Exchange.

 

[pianomanzano]

Weird. For me, there is no Hotel Exchange under Welcome Disney Vacation Club Member. The only options are Vacation Exchange and ShortStay Exchange.

Are you blue card? I think it’s blue card only.

 

[jodybird511]

Are you blue card? I think it’s blue card only.

Yep--blue card

 

[Pens Fan]

Weird. For me, there is no Hotel Exchange under Welcome Disney Vacation Club Member. The only options are Vacation Exchange and ShortStay Exchange.

That is weird. I have no idea, then. Sorry!

 

[Sandisw]

Yep--blue card

This is not attached to membership extras. It’s based on having direct points, or if resale, points purchased prior to 2012.

So, if you only have direct points, then you should be eligible But if you are resale, regardless of card status, points need to have been purchased before things changed in 2012.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I was looking at it yesterday. I did have to play around with it a bit to get it to work, though.

On the main DVC site, under Destinations and Worldwide Stays click Hotel Exchange.

Scroll down to Hotel Exchange and click on Book with Interval Online - do not click on "Search Now" in the text below. That just gave me the spinning circle of death.

Once you're in II, click on Hotel Exchange (under Welcome Disney Vacation Club Member), then Search Hotel Exchange

It will then take you to a screen asking you which unit you want to exchange. Ignore that and click on the blue box on the right that says Hotel Exchange.

That should take you to the search engine. There appear to be lots of options for larger cities and you can choose between using points, cash or a combination. I didn't look that long, so I can't speak to the value. But as it's just regular hotel rooms rather than villas, I'm not sure how good a deal this is. I'd definitely have to compare cash prices or using our Marriott rewards points over this before booking anything. Still, it's nice to have the option!

One thing that happened to me was that if I was already logged in, it told me I would have to log in first, then didn't give me the option to go any further. So I tried NOT logging in and at some point, I think it was when I went to "Hotel Exchange", the log in automatically popped up for me to log in. However, ultimately I just couldn't figure it out. I wanted to browse the hotels available in a particular region and how much they cost in $$ and points, but it didn't work out.

 

[Pens Fan]

One thing that happened to me was that if I was already logged in, it told me I would have to log in first, then didn't give me the option to go any further. So I tried NOT logging in and at some point, I think it was when I went to "Hotel Exchange", the log in automatically popped up for me to log in. However, ultimately I just couldn't figure it out. I wanted to browse the hotels available in a particular region and how much they cost in $$ and points, but it didn't work out.

That's really strange. I just tried it again and it worked exactly as I posted above. I did log in on the regular DVC site and it just carried my info over when I moved to the II site. I don't know why it's working for some people and not others. I do have an existing reservation in II where we used our points to exchange for a Marriott villa next year, so I don't know if having used it in the past makes a difference. It shouldn't, but who knows?

 

[DisneyRegulars]

It worked for me and I quickly decided the deals were not so great. For hotels in San Francisco I was looking at they were all around 20 points for three nights which is reasonable, but then they all had $300-$450 or more additional fees on top. Yikes!

 

[jodybird511]

It worked for me and I quickly decided the deals were not so great. For hotels in San Francisco I was looking at they were all around 20 points for three nights which is reasonable, but then they all had $300-$450 or more additional fees on top. Yikes!

Well, sounds like it may not be worth my effort to get it fixed. I do have a direct points contract, as well as a resale contract, so I'm thinking that the fact that I have both types is what may be problematic in the system. I've now reached out twice to Member Services (in chat and email) for help and they basically have no clue and want me to call. I have no desire to spend time on hold just to be able to fulfill my curiosity. We've been members for 7 years and have never used points for anything other than DVC, so the likelihood that we would is slim to none, I'd say.

 

[Pens Fan]

It worked for me and I quickly decided the deals were not so great. For hotels in San Francisco I was looking at they were all around 20 points for three nights which is reasonable, but then they all had $300-$450 or more additional fees on top. Yikes!

However, you can change the amount of points and it will reduce the cash amount. It defaults to 20 points but if you change that amount and do a new search you'll see the cash rates drop. For the right amount of points, there is no cash cost at all.

As I said previously I really haven't had the chance to play around with it much to see if the value is there, but it is very flexible. My gut feel is we wouldn't use this very often, but if we had some points to burn it's a nice option at least.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

However, you can change the amount of points and it will reduce the cash amount. It defaults to 20 points but if you change that amount and do a new search you'll see the cash rates drop. For the right amount of points, there is no cash cost at all.

As I said previously I really haven't had the chance to play around with it much to see if the value is there, but it is very flexible. My gut feel is we wouldn't use this very often, but if we had some points to burn it's a nice option at least.

This is so helpful! I had no idea you could change the points. I was so disappointed they all had such a huge cash outlay. Time to search again.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

This is so helpful! I had no idea you could change the points. I was so disappointed they all had such a huge cash outlay. Time to search again.

Okay, I’m back having done some additional research. It’s not a great deal, but could be convenient. As a single example, the Hotel Riu at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco can be booked online for three nights in June for $1061 for a triple occupancy room. That same room can be had through hotel exchange for 98 points. I could easily rent those 98 points and receive 16 per point giving me nearly $1600. So $1600 for a $1061 room seems a bit steep, but again little hassle which could be worth it to some.

 

[kda]

I FINALLY got in to the system ----- thanks so much for the help! Prices looked ridiculous. We have 40 points to use in the next few months, and would have still needed almost $400 for a hotel in Des Moines, Iowa or Ft Lauderdale. I don't think so.

 

[vinmar4]

IMO, I found that it is not such a bad idea when trying to add a night before or after if no DVC rooms are available last minute. There are some that that the only cost would be the 20 points. Not great, but convenient as a last option, if you don't want to pay cash and have the points.