Member Getaways

[megrod74]

DH and I are considering DVC. I have been reading the posts on this board and notice that most people use points to stay at WDW (as would we), but we are also interested in the Member Getaways. Are the points necessary for stays outside WDW a deterrent? I read one post that stated something like 360 pts. pp for a bike trip in Italy!

Any info on non-Disney trips with DVC is helpful!

 

[Dean]

Options for using your DVC points include:

1. Use home DVC resort at the 11 month window
2. Use none home DVC resort at the 7 month window
3. Disney Collection - other non DVC Disney resorts.
4. Concierge Collection - a series of top notch and expensive hotels.
5. Adventurer Collection - Bike trips, Alaska cruises, etc.
6. Interval Internation - other timeshare exchanges
7. DCL
8. Buena Vista Trading Company - a few other timeshare that can be scheduled directly and for other than a full 7 days.
   [/list=1]
   DVC resorts are by far the best usage of your points. Frankly, the other options are not worth owning DVC for. If you do own and need to use the options, it's nice to have them but they usually return a value of only about $5-7 per point. II is the next best value but you must make a request and wait for months to see if it comes through or not. All of the other options can truly be an expensive use of points.

 

[Synonymous]

We've had great experiences using the Concierge Collection. We've stayed at The Plaza in NYC and at Charleston Place, in South Carolina. Both were wonderful. The points are high, especially when you look at what the same points could get you at WDW, but it is nice to have the option. We would never have stayed at those places if we had to pay cash (just like we would never stay at the DVC resorts if we had to pay cash).

It's a tough choice when you're deciding how to use your points, but it's a good choice to have The question is are you willing to give up WDW time for the other trip.

 

[travelbug]

I'm still a relatively new DVC member, but have already used points for a choice from the Concierge Collection. Namely, we went to the Mauna Lani Bay resort in Hawaii this spring. It was a splurge with points (301 pts. for 8 nights), but we had a fabulous time and I have no regrets over the points I used.

While the choices outside of WDW do involve a higher use of points, I didn't really view it as any deterrent to buying into DVC because those other choices weren't my primary reason for buying. Rather I appreciated the wide range of choices outside of WDW if and when I'd choose to use the necessary number of points. Just the simple fact that the choices exist was a selling point for me, even though I will probably only exercise those options once in a great while.

Good luck as you consider DVC!

 

[megrod74]

Thank you all for your input! It really will help us in our decision-making and hopefully soon we will also be DVCers!

 

[bnlbebes]

Without Joining DVC, I'm not sure whether DW and I would have taken an anniversary trip a few years ago to California. We stayed 3 nights in San Diego(paid in cash for a dumpy hotel), 3 nights in the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, and 3 nights at the White Swan Inn in San francisco. This has been unquestionably the greatest trip we have ever taken, and it was all due to the ability to trade into the Concierge Collection.

 

[TnRobin]

My family will be staying at the Grand Californian on point this spring. Best of all we are stay in Concerige section. This is something we would never get to do without our DVC.

I wholeheartedly agree that you need to stay at a DVC resort most of the time to get your $$$ worth out of DVC, but those side trips are really nice - BECAUSE YOU CAN.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We did our Hawaii trip with a II exchange instead of Concierge collection. It only cost us 160 points for a 1 bedroom unit on the Big Island of Hawaii. That is exactly what we would have spent for a 1 bedroom at OKW in January!

 

[ralphd]

We are staying at the Royal Garden Hotel, next to Kensington Gardens, in London next May. The reservation was confirmed in less than 24 hours. The Royal Garden is part of the Concierge Collection. This is the only exchange we have requested thru DVC.

ralphd

 

[CarolMN]

The Member Getaway options are very nice to have available. However, if you are buying DVC mainly just to use the Member Getaway options, there are less expensive timeshares out there that will pretty much give you the same or similar options. That's why some posters believe that the Member Getaway options aren't a good value for DVC members.