Yes. DVCMC is entirely free to decide what to deposit, and it does not have to be from one's home resort.
My 0.02 guide (actually free) is below on interval (II) as having used it to do an exchange from DVC to a Marriott Resort in the last year. I'll also highlight some key terms I learned in case you want to research them as i did. The first thing as other people stated, is that what you see when you go to the DVC interval site, is that all the resorts are priced in terms of DVC points. This is what you will have to give up (from your active points) or
relinquish (the II term) to exchange for another non-DVC resort. The type of relinquishment with a DVC exchange is different than typical - the majority of owners using II outside DVC (with some exceptions- noted also earlier in the thread like Vistana Flex /Marriott points owners) actually deposit their weekly timeshare they booked directly into II before seeing any possible exchange opportunities. The key difference is that when they do that- (1) the
deposited inventory goes right into the II system, (2) II rates their contribution in terms of what is called
trading power. As such, they only see equivalent rated inventory to what they deposited. That is not the case for points-based systems, like DVC which see all the available inventory, that is not currently in the preference period of that home resort.
Trading power and why its important:
The first thing to know about II and trading power is that II is seeking to find everyone equivalent matches to what they already have. This is done by a funnel if you will - first with priority given to stay in one resort's system (not allowed in DVC case) then at large, with ranking each potential deposit with a trading power value. The values are proprietary and hence, hard to explain or even get access to. But the idea for DVC, the specific points requirement is shown so you have full transparency to know what the price is. The cost is moved higher based on unit size (from studio-to 4br), demand for that week based on seasonality and the type of property you are booking (from select to elite) within certain designated ranges. Its roughly 100-130 for studios, 120-150 for 1BR and 210-260 for 2br for full week intervals. There are smaller relinquishments for short-stays and getaways that can be booked in cash - but I won't cover those here. The full week ranges are posted somewhere on the DVC site in the Interval page. Premium properties - those marked as Elite (with the blue flag) and are usually Marriott's, some Westin's/Hyatt's and a few others. A step down is gold and that also includes some of the legacy/older Marriott properties as well as many different types of resorts. Silver is below that - down to the lower select (sort of non-rated level) as I understand it. Likewise, there is a hierarchy of how in demand the week you want to book is and a higher demand week requires a higher point relinquishment in the range. A high demand, 2br week in Ko Olina that sits in December will be 260 most likely, the highest tier, due to being an elite resort and high demand week. If you want to gauge it - use the
TDI charts that II has - the highest TDI weeks at Elite resorts will be the highest point total in the range for the unit size. The gold a slight savings, in terms of points, etc. As noted above, you will see all the inventory that is available using points, but you may not find anything worth relinquishing due to the limited inventory that makes its way through the funnel.
Units and booking weeks
Now, I've covered unit size a bit already, but as you can see the points requirement for 2Br, which are rarer overall on the platform, is much higher in terms of DVC points than a 1BR or S villa. Because you can relinquish any points that are active points, what I tend to do is compare (a) renting the unit itself from another source---> i.e using Red*week or other sites and the cost of giving up my points, which may vary. Most likely, if something is 200+ points - my own opportunity cost exceeds $4000 to use those points. Only a very few rentals in II will merit that kind of investment, and its rare also to find them. So I will have to look very hard (4-5am in the morning is common) to get one of those and be patient. That would be a week in Hawaii, a week in a beach resort, or ski resort etc. near peak times. My chance of getting a peak week- even with much searching is low but I personally like looking for deals and inefficient markets (for the same reason I always walk 11M reservations). Also, the limited inventory at any one point is also why generally no one recommends that you deposit in advance, but rather find the exchange first, then relinquish. Another thing to watch out for is AI - as someone said- those fees are mandatory and often outweigh the value 2-3X. Not good to get stuck with one of those except if you really price everything out and it works out.
Using OGS to find exchanges
Another option to find properties is though the
OGS (
automated exchange method). You have to tell II which resorts you would stay in over a period of time. So, if you are flexible - say you want to look at Maui over August-December, you may get rewarded with a match. II will seek to match you with the best resort possible (not immediately but will happen over time). The first advantage is you don't have to search at all as the system does this. The second advantage is you can get access to inventory sooner (2nd stage of the funnel) then it just showing up on the site at 4am when everyone can book it. The third advantage -is that II will compare your trading power with others in the system regardless of priority once inventory is released from
priority, and DVC has high trading power overall. Additionally, if you get a match you don't want, you can still tell it to cancel the match it makes (although this involves a phone call to DVC internal within 24hrs). But you must cancel within that period, or it will take the points permanently. The good news is you will get an email of the match. The bad news is the phone call- and the process overall is clunky.
Because of this -
I recommend using OGS only for the highest matches possible- Aruba, Hawaii- etc. - whatever if it came through today, you would literally stop everything for. One other thing to note, is that initial release priority will still prevent you from accessing a significant chunk of the inventory that others have access to. This is because Marriott owners have first priority in their resort class and so do Westin/Vistana owners. Everyone else, including DVC, for some reason, only gets access to inventory that has passed through eligible owners (i.e. with similar trading power) first. Hence in DVC you will not see inventory that other Marriott users, or Vistana users see and, as such, the best weeks will be taken before you get a chance to even see them. This is a drawback of the system, as II should be giving DVC a boost given its high value vs. other systems as it would lead to more DVC trades that would make more inventory available to other systems, in turn. Likewise, II does not give incentives (called certificates) to my knowledge to DVC to encourage deposits, but other systems get those- they have limited power but give free weeks once an owner deposits. Occasionally, even a DVC week shows up on certificate, basically a free DVC stay to the lucky non-DVC owner (kind of like being the one who gets to stay in Cinderella tower for free, if that still exists). Such advantages are great for them, and one thing to note is that II is a Marriott owned/affiliated company and hence seems to favor its own type of owners (Marriott/Vistana) etc. over other systems, including DVC.
Booking via immediate exchange;
Ok, so say you do find something (Aruba in August at Marriott Aruba Ocean Club) - its roughly 240 points and yet the cash rental (at $18/pt) is close to the same amount if you went to another site and you want to book it. That's the easy part. You exchange, flip through the screens, enter your info and II asks you to confirm using the points you want it to take from you. Note, if you have deposited points in advance, those points will show up as well and you can (and should) use those points first since they are good for up to 2 years after their expiration. So actually, if you have points that are not banked and are active (not in holding) you can move those to II to extend their use.
Once that's done, you need to pay attention to the unit type on the confirmation. In a lot of cases, this specific's the type of unit (# beds, and the building) that particular deposit is for. A lot of times the units that are deposited in II are lower value ( Garden View, Ocean View etc) and not Ocean Front or Mountain side. This can usually be determined by the unit type codes. Unless you don't care about view- it is better at this step (before points are relinquished) to know this so you can decide whether to confirm. When in doubt, you can usually call II or the resort (usually better) to ask about it. Once you do confirm - this is a final transaction, except you do have the ability to do
retrades via the phone system. You will see your confirmed reservations in your history in II. You will be able to retrade via calling the DVC II line and choosing a different property in the released inventory only. You will not be able to retrade through OGS. Retrades can only be done through the system up to a certain number of days (30 I believe) before your check out date. Once that date occurs, you are locked into that particular reservation. You can also change unit size-e.g. from S to 1br or 1br-->2br on a retrade but it might cost more points to do so.
Retrades/Other limitations
Interestingly, DVC does not make retrades or unit size upgrades the same way that a lot of other II systems do. For instance, most Marriott and Westin allow for E-plus upgrades, and Retrades, albeit for a fee each time. But for them this is actually a great benefit- as they can pledge a studio- and then for $99 upgrade to a 1BR or $199 for a 2br. DVC's relative cost - in terms of points is so much higher and its a major drawback of using DVC points - if you have access to these other systems. On the other hand, non-DVC owners (except those with resorts next to Orlando) can also get units that are DVC through this system, (booking similar inventory as you relinquished, although DVC has total control over what they release) i.e. if they have the right trading power- they can actually stay at DVC, and possibly for even less than the DVC points requirement on that day. Top tier resorts -like Poly, HHI, RIV, AUL, is rare to see, but OKW, SSR and even BWV say at Christmas or Jan-March is somewhat common. DVC also seems to dump inventory seasonally- and I have only seen full weeks, taking this out from the main inventory. With even OKW at roughly- 150pts this can be a good value for non-DVC exchanging into our system. Additionally, if the other owner locks off their unit (say it's a 2br and it locks off to 1br/s) they can actually book 2 separate stays (potentially both DVC), which is obviously really great value for their MF. II also
does not allow renting of exchanges
and cracks down hard on that reportedly, but you can get a free guest certificate (with DVC) to allow someone else to use your points and the booking you made.
I would say overall, the benefits outweigh the costs mostly for non-DVC owners to exchange in, then us, as DVC, working the other way around, but there are some cases where exchange is worth it to use II, especially if you have not been able to use your DVC points and they are about to expire. Overall, I hope this intro is helpful, and it's certainly not everything about II as I continue to learn more every day, I use the tool. The way I most recently got a match was through OGS and I got a ski week in Marriott Mountain Side, which was lucky to be 2DB studio with a mountain view. This would probably rent for ~3K but I used only 130 pts. So, it was worth it for me to do that.
Finally, as others have said- you can use sites like TUG BBS to learn more about II and the other resort systems that trade in II.
Happy fishing or hunting!
