Have you ever swapped points for home booking advantage?

[AllieV]

I'm mulling over a small contract at HHI and I recently read about someone swapping point for point with another member(s) for the sake of each of them having an 11-month window at their desired resort which was not their "home". So that got me thinking. I think HHI would be more a more desirable swap for someone than if I bought at SSR or OKW. I've read some things about people not being able to book it at 7 months.

Have you done this type of swap? How did the logistics work and how easy was it? Did anyone do an even point for point or was there something extra involved? Generally, what's your opinion on how common or easy this would be?

Thanks much.

 

[CarolMN]

We see very few (actually, I don't recall even one) request for this on the Rent/Trade Board. You will almost surely have difficulty finding someone who would be willing to swap reservations with you, especially if you want one of the more popular WDW options.

If the "swapped reservations" are not for the exact same number of points, one of the parties would either have to transfer some points to the other or pay $$ to the other.

Another thing to consider is the size of the contract you purchase - a small HHI contract may not get you many nights at HHI, especially for summer months, which would be the most attractive swap to someone who didn't own there.

Unless you plan to use the points yourself most of the time, I would not buy HHI (or VB). I realize that the lower up front prices may be attractive, but the dues are relatively high and dues make up the bulk of the cost over the life of the contract.

If you really want points to use at WDW, my advice is to buy a WDW DVC resort.

 

[chalee94]

also, it's hard to swap "points" since you are limited to one pts transfer per UY, so while you theoretically could swap 2012 pts for someone else's 2013 pts, the transfer limitation makes things more complicated.

finding another owner at the right resort to trade reservations with a similar number of pts at an agreed-upon exchange rate (how many OKW pts = a BCV pt? does a BCV pt = a BLT pt when BLT has much lower dues?) can be a big challenge.

which is a long way of saying i don't think this type of transaction actually happens much at all.

i think you'll discover that it's much simpler to rent your HHI reservation for cash and use the cash to pay for what you want...(although similarly, most DVC renters are thinking wdw, not a HHI resort that's off the beach...)

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'm mulling over a small contract at HHI and I recently read about someone swapping point for point with another member(s) for the sake of each of them having an 11-month window at their desired resort which was not their "home". So that got me thinking. I think HHI would be more a more desirable swap for someone than if I bought at SSR or OKW. I've read some things about people not being able to book it at 7 months.

Have you done this type of swap? How did the logistics work and how easy was it? Did anyone do an even point for point or was there something extra involved? Generally, what's your opinion on how common or easy this would be?

Thanks much.

It sounds like you are trying to convince yourself that HHI is going to be a good purchase because it is cheap and highly sought after by DVC members and others. If it was highly sought after by DVC members resales would be closer to what people pay for BCV.

 

[Splashboat]

OP, we also went through a variety of scenarios before purchasing. We finally decided; we plan on having this contract for 30 years, it is not worth making a poor decision to save 2 or 3 thousand up front. I don't want to have to rely on other people nor Disney not changing policy that will interfere with our long term plans - every year - for 30 years. If you think in those terms, it's no longer a question - it really isn't worth all the years of aggravation ahead. Buy where you really like to stay. If it cost too much now, either consider a smaller starter contract or try to find a way to wait and save money.

 

[Sammie]

It has probably happened between friends that own but I don't see many listings on forums for it.

Buy where you will be happy to stay if you can't book anything else. That is the only certain.

 

[Dean]

I'm mulling over a small contract at HHI and I recently read about someone swapping point for point with another member(s) for the sake of each of them having an 11-month window at their desired resort which was not their "home". So that got me thinking. I think HHI would be more a more desirable swap for someone than if I bought at SSR or OKW. I've read some things about people not being able to book it at 7 months.

Have you done this type of swap? How did the logistics work and how easy was it? Did anyone do an even point for point or was there something extra involved? Generally, what's your opinion on how common or easy this would be?

Thanks much.

Private exchanges in general are problematic and doubly so trying to do so with DVC. I know if a couple of examples of success but IMO, it's just too difficult and too risky (esp for the second party) to make it a viable option between DVC members. For one to make it work you've got to have a home resort that one has essentially no chance of getting the option at 7 months out. Things like BWV standard, VB beach house or AKV concierge. You've then either got to book first then look or have everything wrapped up in time for both parties to book at 11 months out. It's not unreasonable to try but not something I think one can count on or put much effort into. It's much easier to do a private exchange with a non member than another member. Also, HH isn't that difficult for summer so it definitely would not be an option that would help you in that regard.

 

[VLee]

About 3 years ago through another DVC'er on these boards, I made an 11 month reservation for her at a hard-to-get Christmas resort in exchange for her transferring those number of points to me at her home resort (with a great pool area). I was able to bank the transferred in points for future use. As a previous poster said, to make the points "equal", she also needed to rent some extra points from me to complete her reservation.

It worked out great, but I agree this situation happens seldom.

 

[Lynne M]

Even if it were easy to do, the problem you're going to have is that there's a *huge* imbalance between the demand for HHI reservations and the demand for WDW reservations. It's a nice enough resort, and people who stay there seem to enjoy it, but it's pretty easy for people with points at WDW resorts to get an HHI reservation at the 7 month window. So, you really wouldn't be offering anything that desirable or rare.

Plus, they seem to run discounts on cash reservations there pretty often - I stayed there once, on cash, and it was so cheap I'd never use points to stay there. In fact, if I were going to vacation at Hilton Head again, I probably wouldn't even stay there. I'd go for one of the many resorts on the beach.

As a PP said, there's a reason HHI contracts are so cheap - they're not the best choice for those who want to vacation at WDW, and there just aren't a ton of people lining up to stay at HHI.

I know you're convinced that you've found a great bargain, and you really want to justify that HHI contract. But it just isn't the bargain it appears to be, not for someone who doesn't want to stay at that resort.

 

[Sammie]

HHI can be difficult to get during the summer months and Thanksgiving and the Grand Villas.

I would not suggest buying HHI just to use for WDW. However if you can not book further than 7 months out or want to have HHI for those harder to book times than it is a good a purchase in my opinion as another.

However the dues would be the deciding factor for me. There are other resorts where the dues are lower.

 

[keishashadow]

I'm mulling over a small contract at HHI and I recently read about someone swapping point for point with another member(s) for the sake of each of them having an 11-month window at their desired resort which was not their "home". So that got me thinking. I think HHI would be more a more desirable swap for someone than if I bought at SSR or OKW. I've read some things about people not being able to book it at 7 months.

Have you done this type of swap? How did the logistics work and how easy was it? Did anyone do an even point for point or was there something extra involved? Generally, what's your opinion on how common or easy this would be?

Thanks much.

jmho, i'd buy OKW over SSR, if only for the lower point requirements and option to have longer usage with many of the contracts.

book OKW at 11 month window then try to switch or waitlist at 7 months. Make sure to buy enough points to switch into the resort you'd want to visit vs the lower OKW point requirements.