Interval Guest Certificate Question

[PrincessNelly]

Hello,

I won a interval reservation for a Stay at Saratoga through a charity auction. The person put the certificate in my name because at the time I wasn't sure who else would be traveling with me.

Are they able to modify the guest certificate to add the rest of my travel party without having to pay for another guest certificate?
Or should I just add them once we check in at the front desk?

My only communication with them is through the charity organizers, so it takes a while to get any sort of response. So I thought I'd ask here before bothering them.

I'm a DVC member, would DVC member services let me add the guests, if I called?

 

[CarolynFH]

Hello,

I won a interval reservation for a Stay at Saratoga through a charity auction. The person put the certificate in my name because at the time I wasn't sure who else would be traveling with me.

Are they able to modify the guest certificate to add the rest of my travel party without having to pay for another guest certificate?
Or should I just add them once we check in at the front desk?

My only communication with them is through the charity organizers, so it takes a while to get any sort of response. So I thought I'd ask here before bothering them.

I'm a DVC member, would DVC member services let me add the guests, if I called?

Since you’re a DVC member, I’d try calling MS to add the other guests. There’s no charge for it, so it would only take the donor’s time, but if MS will do it for you it would be easier on all sides! And come to think of it, an II guest certificate usually has only the primary guest’s name on it. Not all timeshares ask for the full list of all guests, but DVC does want it!

 

[PrincessNelly]

Since you’re a DVC member, I’d try calling MS to add the other guests. There’s no charge for it, so it would only take the donor’s time, but if MS will do it for you it would be easier on all sides! And come to think of it, an II guest certificate usually has only the primary guest’s name on it. Not all timeshares ask for the full list of all guests, but DVC does want it!

Thanks. I'll try member services first.

 

[Brian Noble]

I won a interval reservation for a Stay at Saratoga through a charity auction. The person put the certificate in my name because at the time I wasn't sure who else would be traveling with me.

Well, for starters, the person who put this up for auction is not allowed to do that--you can't sell exchanged weeks, even for charity. So, I'd ixnay on the etailsday. In case they haven't told you yet, you will also have to pay $190 at check in to Disney.

However, it is in your name, and that's been propagated from Interval to DVC, you can call Member Services and add the names directly. I would give it 10 days to two weeks from when they say they added the GC before you call. Inbound exchange guests are entitled to call Member Services when dealing with their exchanged week(s). It is the one and only time the Member who owns the reservation doesn't have to call on your behalf.

Call the regular 1-800 number, and follow the prompts for "Worldwide Exchanges." Explain to the CM that you are an inbound exchange, have a guest certificate, and need to add the names of your other party members.

 

[PrincessNelly]

Well, for starters, the person who put this up for auction is not allowed to do that--you can't sell exchanged weeks, even for charity. So, I'd ixnay on the etailsday. In case they haven't told you yet, you will also have to pay $190 at check in to Disney.

However, it is in your name, and that's been propagated from Interval to DVC, you can call Member Services and add the names directly. I would give it 10 days to two weeks from when they say they added the GC before you call. Inbound exchange guests are entitled to call Member Services when dealing with their exchanged week(s). It is the one and only time the Member who owns the reservation doesn't have to call on your behalf.

Call the regular 1-800 number, and follow the prompts for "Worldwide Exchanges." Explain to the CM that you are an inbound exchange, have a guest certificate, and need to add the names of your other party members.

Thank you for the explanation, I will definitely try member services.

Maybe there's an exception for donations, when the member isn't profiting and not intending to write it off on their taxes? I tried googling this information before asking here and saw a number of people who auctioned off their timeshare weeks for charity. So it seemed to be pretty common *shrugs* and I would hope the organization checked that before allowing it to be sold. Fingers crossed I guess!

The auction included a $200 disney gift card to cover the exchange fee, so I'm good there!

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you for the explanation, I will definitely try member services.

Maybe there's an exception for donations, when the member isn't profiting and not intending to write it off on their taxes? I tried googling this information before asking here and saw a number of people who auctioned off their timeshare weeks for charity. So it seemed to be pretty common *shrugs* and I would hope the organization checked that before allowing it to be sold. Fingers crossed I guess!

The auction included a $200 disney gift card to cover the exchange fee, so I'm good there!

There’s a difference between renting your own week (or the week you reserved using your own DVC points) vs. renting a week you got by depositing the week you own and exchanging it for a week in a different resort. II isn’t the same as DVC in that respect. So as Brian says above, just say you have a guest certificate for this reservation and go from there.

 

[CastAStone]

Thank you for the explanation, I will definitely try member services.

Maybe there's an exception for donations, when the member isn't profiting and not intending to write it off on their taxes? I tried googling this information before asking here and saw a number of people who auctioned off their timeshare weeks for charity. So it seemed to be pretty common *shrugs* and I would hope the organization checked that before allowing it to be sold. Fingers crossed I guess!

The auction included a $200 disney gift card to cover the exchange fee, so I'm good there!

They won’t know how you got it unless you tell them. I just wouldn’t tell them.

 

[PrincessNelly]

Well, for starters, the person who put this up for auction is not allowed to do that--you can't sell exchanged weeks, even for charity. So, I'd ixnay on the etailsday. In case they haven't told you yet, you will also have to pay $190 at check in to Disney.

However, it is in your name, and that's been propagated from Interval to DVC, you can call Member Services and add the names directly. I would give it 10 days to two weeks from when they say they added the GC before you call. Inbound exchange guests are entitled to call Member Services when dealing with their exchanged week(s). It is the one and only time the Member who owns the reservation doesn't have to call on your behalf.

Call the regular 1-800 number, and follow the prompts for "Worldwide Exchanges." Explain to the CM that you are an inbound exchange, have a guest certificate, and need to add the names of your other party members.

Just following up that this worked perfectly! Took less than 5 minutes! Thank you again.