How easy is it to exchange to other sites/accommodations?

[soccermom16]

Hi! I'm new to the boards. My husband and I are probably going to buy into DVC within the next few days and have a question for all of you current owners: How easy is it to use your points to exchange out and stay at other locations (not Disney)? For example, in England or Italy? I would appreciate any feedback or experiences. Thanks!
Pam

 

[RobDoc]

Hi! I'm new to the boards. My husband and I are probably going to buy into DVC within the next few days and have a question for all of you current owners: How easy is it to use your points to exchange out and stay at other locations (not Disney)? For example, in England or Italy? I would appreciate any feedback or experiences. Thanks!
Pam

If exchanging will be an important component of your DVC ownership , you might want to do some more research before purchasing as the most economical use of DVC points is for stays at DVC resorts.

Resale purchases will give up the ability to stay at other Disney resorts, Disney cruises, Concierge Collection and Adventures by Disney reservations but World Passport exchanges are still currently an option. Resale purchase will save a LOT of $$$$ versus a purchase directly thru DVC.

Exchanges can take a lot of advance planning for success - especially if you have specific dates or resorts for your stay. Be sure to understand that process before purchasing if that is a critical component of your ownership.

Welcome to the DIS!

 

[soccermom16]

Thank you for the reply. I doubt we'll use it a ton for exchanges, more for a mix of staying at Disney World & Disney Land resorts and cruising. So we will want the ability to change out resorts within Disney and cruise. BUT, we are trying to put together a European trip for our son for his senior year (2016) and we figured if we could use our points for that year on that trip, it would help out. So we're curious about ease of exchange.

 

[disneynutz]

Thank you for the reply. I doubt we'll use it a ton for exchanges, more for a mix of staying at Disney World & Disney Land resorts and cruising. So we will want the ability to change out resorts within Disney and cruise. BUT, we are trying to put together a European trip for our son for his senior year (2016) and we figured if we could use our points for that year on that trip, it would help out. So we're curious about ease of exchange.

Even though Disney advertises your ability to use your points outside of the DVC resorts, the system is set up to make it sometimes difficult and costly to do so.

In the past DCL has had blackout periods for DVC bookings and many have reported that not all cabin categories are available.

Owning a DVC interest is not a simple decision, and you need to understand the rules, policies, and the ins and outs of booking a DVC vacation or you may be disappointed with your purchase.

Bill

 

[Deb & Bill]

DVC really works best for booking DVC resorts. And if you want to book at the Villas at Grand Californian, it works best if you own there. It is the smallest DVC Resort of all and booking can be tough.

You can't use resale points for Disney Cruises or non-DVC Disney resorts or Adventures by Disney. You need to buy direct to get those. And direct from Disney points are expensive. Unless you want to buy at the new villas at Grand Floridian and no one knows what the price for those points is going to be yet. Rumors say $175 to $200 a point. VGF is still DVC's best kept secret.

Oh, and if you decide to buy direct to use points for cruising, those points are negotiated every year. So what you see for this year, might be 20% higher for next year.

 

[marynvince]

with a thoughtful, here is how you trade out... nebulous answers like, it's not easy or you dont want to do that or the best use of DVC is... are subjective at best. Let the OP decide how "Easy" it is by providing the steps required to trade out. Perhaps someone that has done it could chirp in??

This board is great for sharing facts but can get preachy with opinions, just like that.

 

[bwvBound]

with a thoughtful, here is how you trade out... nebulous answers like, it's not easy or you dont want to do that or the best use of DVC is... are subjective at best. Let the OP decide how "Easy" it is by providing the steps required to trade out. Perhaps someone that has done it could chirp in??

This board is great for sharing facts but can get preachy with opinions, just like that.

The "steps" aren't the problem. The "steps" are easy: phone Member Services, discuss requests, open a waitlist, if needed.

However ...
* The locations in Europe don't particularly line up with an American's view point of a European Tour. The resorts are located far out into the countryside away from most of the major landmarks. They are located where Europeans want to escape from city life to relax. The OP would be wise to study a map of the affiliated properties in their regions of interest. Determine if affiliated resorts are easy to access given available transportation (private car? rail? etc.)
* Most of the European locations offered through RCI require full-week stays. Also not conducive to a "European tour" where one might stay just 2-3 nights in a major center before moving to next location.
* Availability is generally slim increasing the difficulty level of completing the reservation request.
* Consider added fees ($95 exchange fee plus possible fees imposed by the destination: housekeeping, TOT, electricity charges, parking charges, etc). The list of charges will be unique to any given exchange.

 

[disneynutz]

with a thoughtful, here is how you trade out... nebulous answers like, it's not easy or you dont want to do that or the best use of DVC is... are subjective at best. Let the OP decide how "Easy" it is by providing the steps required to trade out. Perhaps someone that has done it could chirp in??

This board is great for sharing facts but can get preachy with opinions, just like that.

I can't speak for all posters but my posts are based on the cumulative knowledge after participating and reading thousands of threads and posts over several years and being a DVC owner for many years at multiple resorts.

Yes there are some posts of successful trades but many of those have stated that they didn't really get what they wanted and that they took whatever they could get. Others have posted that they have waited for two years trying to get a trade and some have expressed disappointment in the DCL blackout periods.

Disney does a great job putting a positive spin on the trading possibilities, I try to let readers know that sometimes things aren't as they seem.

Bill

 

[bwvBound]

Hi! I'm new to the boards. My husband and I are probably going to buy into DVC within the next few days and have a question for all of you current owners: How easy is it to use your points to exchange out and stay at other locations (not Disney)? For example, in England or Italy? I would appreciate any feedback or experiences. Thanks!
Pam

Here is an idea of current offerings in England to DVC through RCI:

[b] Destination[/b]
Cornwall  [2]
Devon  [2]
East Midlands  [1]
North West England  [3]
South West England  [1]
Yorkshire  [2]

[b]  City[/b]
Cornwall  [2]
Cumbria  [2]
Devon  [2]
Gloucestershire  [1]
Lancashire  [1]
North Yorkshire  [2]
Rutland  [1]

[B]  Check-In Month[/B]
November 2013  [6]
December 2013  [8]
January 2014  [8]
February 2014  [5]
October 2014  [1]
November 2014  [3]
December 2014  [5]
January 2015  [6]
February 2015  [6]
March 2015  [6]

There were NO exchanges offered through RCI to Italy. For Italy, you'd possibly want to try DVC's Club Cordial relationship for access to CORDIAL GOLF RESIDENCE IL PELAGONE GAVORRANO, ITALY?

 

[MouseMomx2]

with a thoughtful, here is how you trade out... nebulous answers like, it's not easy or you dont want to do that or the best use of DVC is... are subjective at best. Let the OP decide how "Easy" it is by providing the steps required to trade out. Perhaps someone that has done it could chirp in??

This board is great for sharing facts but can get preachy with opinions, just like that.

The information being given is exactly what someone contemplating a DVC membership should know. We can spout the party line, but that doesn't necessarily give a realistic picture of the ups and downs of trading out.

OP, as others have said, trading out isn't the best use of points. Personally, if it were me I would pursue a resale contract rather than buying direct. You will still be able to trade through RCI but you won't be able to use it for DCL, at non-DVC Disney resorts or for the high points cost Concierge Club. IMO, none of these are a good value points-wise anyway. With the money you save over purchasing direct you could pay cash for a DCL trip (or several, depending on how many points you buy). Also, again as others have said, if you are planning to visit DL often you are going to want to own there.

We originally purchased direct in 1997 and added on direct twice in 1998 and 1999. Last year we did three resale add-ons and paid about 40% less than the current direct prices which are, IMO, no longer a value. Of course you need to decide what works best for you, but I would definitely at least look into resales. And whatever you decide to do, enjoy your membership!

 

[Shellandscott]

First we have done a cruise and it is not a wise use of points IMO. Example it costs $3400-$3600 for two adults to be in a category 4 room on the Feb 22, 2014 sailing if you pay cash. There are different booking category 4A-4E
It costs 229-245 points per person for a total of 458-490 for the same trip. I use $10.00 a point as a value since points can be rented thru a vendor for at least that much. So you are paying at least $4580 for a trip that costs 3400 to buy. It is better to rent your points and use the cash to pay for the cruise.

Second, trading thru RCI as one major downfall. You need someone at the resort you want to get a reservation at to deposit that week you want into RCI. I would look at RCI.com for the resort directory and see if there are any you would want to stay at, as others have noted the may not be where you want to be.

Both these options cost $95.00 to use.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...Second, trading thru RCI as one major downfall. You need someone at the resort you want to get a reservation at to deposit that week you want into RCI. I would look at RCI.com for the resort directory and see if there are any you would want to stay at, as others have noted the may not be where you want to be.

Both these options cost $95.00 to use.

Plus the thousands of RCI offerings are not all available to trade for DVC points. Only about 500 or so are available.

 

[Dean]

Hi! I'm new to the boards. My husband and I are probably going to buy into DVC within the next few days and have a question for all of you current owners: How easy is it to use your points to exchange out and stay at other locations (not Disney)? For example, in England or Italy? I would appreciate any feedback or experiences. Thanks!
Pam

Exchanging is not easy, requires educating ones self and planning well ahead, I'd say at least a year, better 2 years. Most members don't want to put that much planning or effort in. Also, the chances of success to anything worth having during a higher demand season is very limited. Most options in Europe are subpar compared to DVC as well. It's both cheaper and better to buy DVC ONLY for DVC doing so resale and looking at other options for non DVC options including exchanges and DCL (cash). You'll save a lot of money and hassle if you do so with a lot more and better options. I see that as fact, not opinion.

 

[soccermom16]

Thank you everyone for your opinions and replies. This IS something we have been looking into for ~3 years now and have done a TON of research on. Though it seems there are always new questions.

As I said earlier, we would mostly use our points for various DVC accommodations at Disney World and Land, as well as cruising, as we don't want every vacation to be the same. We realize the ins/outs & expenses, but like the flexibility of this program vs. other timeshare opportunities. I just hope the flexibility (even within DVC) is 'as presented' as we aren't ones to stay at the same resort year after year.

Pam

 

[Dean]

As I said earlier, we would mostly use our points for various DVC accommodations at Disney World and Land, as well as cruising, as we don't want every vacation to be the same. We realize the ins/outs & expenses, but like the flexibility of this program vs. other timeshare opportunities. I just hope the flexibility (even within DVC) is 'as presented' as we aren't ones to stay at the same resort year after year.

Pam

That's just it, when it comes to exchanging (cash type and otherwise) there are other options that are either more flexible, cheaper or both. DVC is not particularly flexible for those type of options and could even be less flexible going forward. For RCI (and possibly II) exchanges many other timeshares are more flexible than DVC for this purpose. In order to get the option of the cruises, you're going to have to pay roughly double up front for that option that could be removed tomorrow and has already been restricted in the last couple of years with reduced availability.

 

[bwvBound]

I just hope the flexibility (even within DVC) is 'as presented' as we aren't ones to stay at the same resort year after year.

We've been very successful using our points from just one DVC property for stays at nearly all the DVC properties. The internal flexibility works if you are mindful of dates, willing to book early and also willing to use the waitlist.

 

[soccermom16]

We've been very successful using our points from just one DVC property for stays at nearly all the DVC properties. The internal flexibility works if you are mindful of dates, willing to book early and also willing to use the waitlist.

Thank you for that input!

Pam

 

[intertile]

I have personally only used 1 transfer outside of the Disney system. It was to Atlantis in the Bahamas. The reservation process was easy, and I found availability to not be a problem. Of course I may have been lucky, and other locations may not be as good. The accommodations were comparable, and from what I remember I "thought" the value was decent. This was awhile ago though, and I really didn't know the system as well as I do now.

As far as the DCL option....I have done 2 cruises so far with the use of "some" points. I had no issue with availability in either case, and they were during "peak" cruising seasons. For the most part using your points to cruise is not a good value for your points. You would be better off renting your points and paying for the cruise in cash. I have found a couple of instances in which I was able to get an $18/pt value using a combination of points and cash. Every cruise will be different, and in general your better off not using your points for the cruise. (I'm not wanting to start a 15 page argument on the cost effectiveness of using points for a cruise, so please don't argue that with me in this post. Simply wanted to share my experience with OP. If anyone is interested in how I got the value, I am more than happy to share via PM)

 

[Dean]

I have personally only used 1 transfer outside of the Disney system. It was to Atlantis in the Bahamas. The reservation process was easy, and I found availability to not be a problem. Of course I may have been lucky, and other locations may not be as good. The accommodations were comparable, and from what I remember I "thought" the value was decent. This was awhile ago though, and I really didn't know the system as well as I do now.

As far as the DCL option....I have done 2 cruises so far with the use of "some" points. I had no issue with availability in either case, and they were during "peak" cruising seasons. For the most part using your points to cruise is not a good value for your points. You would be better off renting your points and paying for the cruise in cash. I have found a couple of instances in which I was able to get an $18/pt value using a combination of points and cash. Every cruise will be different, and in general your better off not using your points for the cruise. (I'm not wanting to start a 15 page argument on the cost effectiveness of using points for a cruise, so please don't argue that with me in this post. Simply wanted to share my experience with OP. If anyone is interested in how I got the value, I am more than happy to share via PM)

Atlantis is no longer an option since DVC changed from II to RCI.

 

[intertile]

I thought harborside was still included?

Regardless, was illustrating a point on my experience in trading out. It was 5 years ago.