RCI Points List - Non Member Help

[everythingdisneyfan1]

Hey there!

My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a resale DVC membership but have not received our official paperwork yet. We are interested in a vacation next year at a Maui RCI property as we have family there, but do not know what is included on the "Disney RCI" list. I have browsed the RCI resorts from their own website, but do not know if that website is synonymous with what Disney offers through their partnership with RCI.

We are specifically looking to see whether the Hyatt Regency in Lahaina, Maui is offered through Disney's RCI partnership, and whether or not the Hilton Club 57th Street is offered in New York City. Those are the immediate vacations we have on our horizon.

Any information you can provide from your own DVC membership portal would be appreciated (or your personal RCI travel experiences!).

PS- if you HAVE traveled using DVC/RCI points exchange, how far in advance did you book and were you satisfied with the property you received?

Thanks for any info you can help with!

 

[erionm]

We have not done an RCI exchange using our DVC membership so I can't offer any advice. There are only two RCI Resorts on Maui that can be traded into using a DVC Membership. They are Ka‘anapali i Beach Club and Maui Lea at Maui Hill.

The RCI Resorts that DVC has selected for exchanges can be found here: http://b2b.rci.com/RDGateway/rdg/rdMain.do?clubId=102

 

[Dean]

Hey there!

My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a resale DVC membership but have not received our official paperwork yet. We are interested in a vacation next year at a Maui RCI property as we have family there, but do not know what is included on the "Disney RCI" list. I have browsed the RCI resorts from their own website, but do not know if that website is synonymous with what Disney offers through their partnership with RCI.

We are specifically looking to see whether the Hyatt Regency in Lahaina, Maui is offered through Disney's RCI partnership, and whether or not the Hilton Club 57th Street is offered in New York City. Those are the immediate vacations we have on our horizon.

Any information you can provide from your own DVC membership portal would be appreciated (or your personal RCI travel experiences!).

PS- if you HAVE traveled using DVC/RCI points exchange, how far in advance did you book and were you satisfied with the property you received?

Thanks for any info you can help with!

RCI is lacking on Maui. Kaanapali Beach Club is the best and it's certainly below DVC's standards. Getting something may be difficult there though, even more so if you want larger than a 1 BR as most units are 1 BR there. Expect 160 points for the 1 BR. The Hyatt in Kaanapali is not a timeshare so not offered through RCI at all. The only other RCI timeshare on the DVC-RCI list is not in that area and I wouldn't stay there trading DVC, it's in Kihei.

The Hilton Club in NY is available but not the 57th street location from what I can see. Generally you have to plan a year or more out for anything of high demand even then it's hit or miss.

 

[everythingdisneyfan1]

RCI is lacking on Maui. Kaanapali Beach Club is the best and it's certainly below DVC's standards. Getting something may be difficult there though, even more so if you want larger than a 1 BR as most units are 1 BR there. Expect 160 points for the 1 BR. The Hyatt in Kaanapali is not a timeshare so not offered through RCI at all. The only other RCI timeshare on the DVC-RCI list is not in that area and I wouldn't stay there trading DVC, it's in Kihei.

The Hilton Club in NY is available but not the 57th street location from what I can see. Generally you have to plan a year or more out for anything of high demand even then it's hit or miss.

My husband and I don't have kids yet, so we won't need anything larger than a 1 BR for awhile and I think 160 points for a week stay will work well for us. We're not planning on using DVC points to stay at RCI properties very often-- we just want that flexibility when visiting family in other states when we can.

Am I correct that the resale-d DVC points can only be used at WDW properties, Grand Californian, Vero Beach, Hilton Head, Aulani and RCI partnerships? Nothing else, right? (Not even DL Hotel and Paradise Pier in Disneyland?)

 

[erionm]

My husband and I don't have kids yet, so we won't need anything larger than a 1 BR for awhile and I think 160 points for a week stay will work well for us. We're not planning on using DVC points to stay at RCI properties very often-- we just want that flexibility when visiting family in other states when we can.

Am I correct that the resale-d DVC points can only be used at WDW properties, Grand Californian, Vero Beach, Hilton Head, Aulani and RCI partnerships? Nothing else, right? (Not even DL Hotel and Paradise Pier in Disneyland?)

From the DVC member website in regards to resale purchases:

Under the new policy, Members who purchase from anyone other than Disney Vacation Development, Inc., on or after March 21, 2011, will not be eligible to use those Vacation Points to make reservations within the Concierge Collection, the Disney Collection or the Adventurer Collection. Those Vacation Points will instead be valid only for reservations at Disney Vacation Club resorts, as well as for RCI® exchanges, Club Cordial and Club Intrawest.

 

[everythingdisneyfan1]

Thank you so much for your help! Based on our travel habits I'm feeling like purchasing DVC through the resale market will be much more cost-effective. We primarily travel to Disney resorts and look for cruise & vacation package deals through Costco or Priceline. I think it will be a great option to book through RCI when we want to go someplace different for a few nights to visit family and can plan in advance.

We are pretty much just Disney vacation-ers at heart though, and what sealed the deal for me cost-wise was that it really is not a good value to use points for cruises or adventure collections anyway. We just booked a 7-night Disney cruise through Costco and got a $265 Costco cash card as well as a complimetary upgrade to a verandah for $1300/person. Disney is selling our current cat. 5A for around $2800 a person. There is no way using points could get us a better deal than that without going broke on our points for a few years.

 

[disneynutz]

Not all of the RCI destinations are available to the DVC, only about 500 or so. Many book up to 2 years in advance and some have posted that their reservation never came through.

Bill

 

[Dean]

My husband and I don't have kids yet, so we won't need anything larger than a 1 BR for awhile and I think 160 points for a week stay will work well for us. We're not planning on using DVC points to stay at RCI properties very often-- we just want that flexibility when visiting family in other states when we can.

Am I correct that the resale-d DVC points can only be used at WDW properties, Grand Californian, Vero Beach, Hilton Head, Aulani and RCI partnerships? Nothing else, right? (Not even DL Hotel and Paradise Pier in Disneyland?)

Club Cordial and Club Intrawest are through Buena Vista Trading Company, DVC's own register timeshare exchange company. The participants are subject to change though and have over the years though it's been a long time.

I get the impression you are thinking RCI exchanges are easy and straightforward, this is certainly not the case. This is not a direct reservation system but one where you have to put in an ongoing request then wait. Only late minute and lower demand options are just sitting there when you call to put in for an exchange. There's no harm in trying but the type of things you're looking at (Maui and NYC) are among the least likely to get of any choices. That doesn't mean you won't match, just that you shouldn't count on it and you should plan that it may only be a couple of months prior to travel.

Your purchase decision for retail seems spot on. Enjoy your timeshare.