Questions not answered in FAQs

[tshaffer03]

Both myself and my sister/brother-in-law are ready to buy (probably 170-200 points each at Beach Club) However, there's a few questions we have which are not clearly answered in FAQ section (or I overlooked them).

It looks like a lot of people on here are very passionate about DVC so I look forward to your responses. (Please don't roll your eyes at some of the questions...it may seem obvious to you but it really doesn't to me even after I've surfed the web for details.) It looks like this is the source for real info and people's real experiences.

1. Banking Points to the next year - How does banking points to the next year work? I've read some indication that you cannot wait until the end of the current year to roll over all your points. Yet, I can't find anyplace that clearly explains this. Is there any website which clearly explains this?

1a. If you bank nnn point to the next year, my assumption is that you cannot subsequently borrow those banked points in your current year. However, you could borrow your next years points. Is that correct?


2. World Passport - Are these stays restricted to arrive on a certain day of the week for 7 nights? For example, could I make a reservations for a Wed to Wed in Maui since air fares are cheaper on that day? Also, do they offer less points for a shorter stay (i.e., like 5 nights)?

3. Ongoing Monthly Dues/Credit Card - The sales rep told us you could NOT use your credit card to pay dues. Yet, I've seen postings on here that if you pay the entire years worth of dues up front for that year, you can pay by CC. Which is correct??

4. Combining Points - How difficult is it to combine points? If I buy 200 and my sis/bro in law buy 200, we've talked about combining points to get a bigger place. Is the process cumbersome to combine points? Any obstacles or rules we should be aware of concerning combining points? The sales rep made it sound as if it was easy and not an issue.

5. Property Taxes - Do you get a statement at the end of the year which indicates how much of your dues were actually property taxes (in order to write off on your taxes)?

6. Maid Service/Towels/Trash - It looks like there is a lot of debate on here about "towels". I don't want to get into that debate of personal towel usage. But what I do want to know is what is the "T & T" standard service provided? How many towels do you get per person for the week? Can you ask for more towels (for free) or do they charge for more towels if you choose not do launder your own towels? How many times do they collect trash, make you bed, vaccum for a weeks stay? If staying shorter than a week, what is the interval?

I look forward to your response. Thanks everyone!

 

[RobDoc]

You may bank up to all of your points during the first 6 months of your use year. You may bank up to 50% between months 6-9 of the use year and up to 25% of the your points during the 10th month. You may not bank during the lasyt 2 months of the use year. Banking is cumulative- the percentages are based on the total points in the contract- not on the remaining points in the contract. If you have already booked 50% during the first 6 months, you can't bank any more for that use year.

If your use year is June- you may bank up to 100% of your points until November 30, up to 50% until February 28 and up to 25% until March 31.

Banked points cannot be returned to their use year, but points may be borrowed from the following year should you decide to make a reservation to travel before the end of the curent use year.

Most World Passport reservations are Sat-Sat. You can request other dates, but they are generally not available at week based timeshares. All world passport reservations are for 7 nights. Concierge Collection options may be reserved for as few as 1 night.

You can use your VISA or Mastercard to pay your annual dues in a lump sum. Monthly payments may be done only by auto-debit from a bank account.

You may combine points by each reserving 1/2 of the reservation and linking them together. You could also transfer points to the other account. (I'd suggest each reserving 1/2 of the reservation.)

Trash/Towel service is on the 4th day of a stay of 1 week or less. For stays of 8 days or more, there will be a full cleaning on the 4th day and a Trash/Towel on day 8. Towels are provided for the occupancy limit of the room (4- studio/1BR, 8-2BR, 12-GV). Extra towels may be obtained for a fee ($6 for a set of 4 bath towels, 4 hand towels, 4 facecloths, 1 bath mat). Extra housekeeping service is available for a fee.

Enjoy!

 

[Dean]

Since Doc did the hard part, let me add a couple of things. First, you will get an accounting at the end of the year showing what your dues paid for the year and what the dues will be for the next year.

The World Passport collection is confusing if one doesn't have an idea of how timeshare work in general. DCV has a contract with Interval International. II has around 1900 resorts and DVC has chosen some 300 at the top excluding the Orlando area. You can exchange into them IF AVAILABLE. Usually this means placing a request for what you want and hoping it comes through in time to make your plans. This almost never works in a way to get the cheapest air fare or use FF miles.

Most timeshares are Friday-Friday, Saturday-Saturday or Sunday-Sunday with the largest group being Saturday. There are a few other start days like Monday and Thursday but not many. II searches in a generic way. Here's what I mean. If you place a request for say Marriott's Grande Ocean (HH) for 5 July of this year (Sat), II is actually searching for any week starting Thursday through Sunday of the weekend you specified. You can force them to search for specific days but unless you make it clear that YOU WILL ONLY ACCEPT A CERTAIN START DAY, they will assume the entire weekend cycle. Even then you usually need to harp on it several times to be sure. Just because you named the Sat. only doesn't mean that's all they'll look for. With DVC this is not such an issue unless when they call with a match you assume the dates they give you are what you wanted. I bet more than one DVC member has accepted a match that was not what they thought it was in this regard.

The start dates for a resort can be helpful. If you know a resort has a specific start day it can help you plan or maybe eliminate that resort. If a resort only starts on Sunday but you need Sat, this can be a problem. I eliminated Club Intrawest on Kauai for my search for this past summer just on the basis that it only had Sunday start dates and I needed to match up a Saturday week on Maui. But it could also help you get a match. Say a resort has Monday or Wednesday starts, the way II does the matches, you might miss the time you want.

There is a lot of useful information that can be found out about resorts that might help one in planning. Things like for HI where Cliff's Club or Lawaii Beach put all the exchangers in the worst locations. Or things like at La Cabana in Aruba where the studios has the same, actually better, kitchen and same sq ft as the 1 BR. Or that the studios at the Royals in Cancun are only a hotel room and NO kitchen. Or that the kitchen in many resorts is not a full kitchen like the Kauai and Maui Marriott's and Harborside Atlantis. Maybe the 2 BR units at many resorst only sleep 6 and if you trade DVC and list 8 people, you will never match at those resorts.

 

[tshaffer03]

Dean/Webmaster,
Thanks for your responses.

I have two follow up questions -

1. Timeshare (II) Reservations - You state that "You can exchange into them IF AVAILABLE. Usually this means placing a request for what you want and hoping it comes through in time to make your plans."

Does this imply that you do not get immediate real-time information on the availability of a reservation request when you contact II? What is the turnaround time? Do you have to accept the reservation if they do not reply with a certain amount of time or if they reserve a different day than you requested? (I'm use to calling a hotel, travel agent, a tour operator or travelocity.com and getting immediate availability and making a reservation.)

2. Point Manager - I understand the banking of points better with your explanation. However, it seems one has to pro-actively manage those points if you need to bank/borrow. Are there any tools available (excel spreadsheets, web based, etc) to help you manage your points so you know when you have to bank, how much you could bank, if you do bank, keeping track of next years points, if you borrow, keeping track of those, etc.

Thanks!
Tim

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by tshaffer03
Dean/Webmaster,
Thanks for your responses.

I have two follow up questions -

1. Timeshare (II) Reservations - You state that "You can exchange into them IF AVAILABLE. Usually this means placing a request for what you want and hoping it comes through in time to make your plans."

Does this imply that you do not get immediate real-time information on the availability of a reservation request when you contact II? What is the turnaround time? Do you have to accept the reservation if they do not reply with a certain amount of time or if they reserve a different day than you requested? (I'm use to calling a hotel, travel agent, a tour operator or travelocity.com and getting immediate availability and making a reservation.)

2. Point Manager - I understand the banking of points better with your explanation. However, it seems one has to pro-actively manage those points if you need to bank/borrow. Are there any tools available (excel spreadsheets, web based, etc) to help you manage your points so you know when you have to bank, how much you could bank, if you do bank, keeping track of next years points, if you borrow, keeping track of those, etc.

Thanks!
Tim

Tim, there are a couple of points manager programs around but seeing I use a Mac, they don't work for me so I'll leave them for others to tell you about. The second question is complicated. Here's what happens. II has a big pool of weeks deposited with items coming in and going out all the time. When one deposits a week with II, they have a department that first looks and sees if anyone is waiting for exactly that. If they are, the person who's first on the list gets it and the others wait and hope for another one. The good stuff will usually not be sitting there when you call.

The system works like this. You call DVC and tell them what you want including unit, week, resort and the like. They will then look on the II information and see if what you want is there. If it is bingo, if not, you place a request and wait. If they find something, and this can be a big if, they call you and want to know if you want it. These matches usually come between 2 and 6 months before travel at most resorts. That's too late to use FF miles and get cheaper air fare at many destinations. Of course with the system, you can ask them to hold it a day or so and check air fares to decide for certain.