Hawaii

[Hockey Mom KQ]

Anyone ever use your points to go to Hawaii? What's the deal? How does it work and is it worth it? Thanks for your help.

 

[lark]

You basically have three options. Here they are. I've put them in order from least hassle to most hassle, but also from least value to most value.

1) Use your points to rent a room at the Grand Wailea on Maui, through the concierge collection. This is easiest. You just call member services and they book the reservation for you using your points. It's about 80 to 120 points per night, depending on season and room type.

2) Deposit points in RCI to trade for one of the RCI resorts in Hawaii. This will probably take about 160 points and you can do it through member services. You want to do some research on the Hawaii RCI resorts first. Some are definitely better than others.

3) Rent your points for cash and then use the cash for a Hawaii vacation. If you were willing to rent a timeshare from a timeshare owner, this would be the absolute best use of your money. For example, you can rent a week at Marriott Kauai or Westin on Maui for $2,000 to $3,000, with some diligence and assuming you don't need the last 2 weeks of December or a prime spring break week.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

You basically have three options. Here they are. I've put them in order from least hassle to most hassle, but also from least value to most value. . .

There is another option as well. You can do a direct trade of transferred points or a rented reservation with someone who owns a HI timeshare or a has a condo available for rent. We have done this. -- Suzanne

 

[lark]

There is another option as well. You can do a direct trade of transferred points or a rented reservation with someone who owns a HI timeshare or a has a condo available for rent. We have done this. -- Suzanne

Suzanne -- not to thread hijack, but have you found good websites or message boards for people looking to do these kinds of exchanges? Feel free to PM me if this is too far afield of the original question.

 

[GuySmiley]

Is it 2011 that the new DVC Hawaii resort opens? Not sure how far out you are planning.

 

[Nikisha421]

Is it 2011 that the new DVC Hawaii resort opens? Not sure how far out you are planning.

What island is the new DVC Hawaii supposed to be located?

 

[lark]

What island is the new DVC Hawaii supposed to be located?

Oahu, but not on Waikiki -- north at Ko Olina.

 

[Hockey Mom KQ]

We are thinking March 2011. We are going down in 2010 for 5 days at Kidani, then a 7 day cruise to st. Martens, St. John and (can't wait to get back) Castaway. This is the way into the future trip. But my husband and I have been considering it, and we just wanted to explore our options. And, as it appears, I have a lot of homework to do for this trip. Please keep it coming. If you have any specific exchange resorts that are really family friendly, or advice I greatly appreciate it. I think that maybe the new DVC resort might be a bit point heavy for us. Does anyone have any info. on how that might go? Thanks again. Your insight has been very helpful.

 

[Dean]

Suzanne -- not to thread hijack, but have you found good websites or message boards for people looking to do these kinds of exchanges? Feel free to PM me if this is too far afield of the original question.

Redweeks and TUG (Timeshare Users Group) would be good starting points. The rent/trade on this boad might help as well.

 

[Nikisha421]

Oahu, but not on Waikiki -- north at Ko Olina.

Thank you for the information