Thoughts and Advice on World Passport, please...

[sistertrip]

As much as I would like to do Disney year after year, my sister (co-owner) would like to try some of the other locations we can use our points for (like World Passport Collection and Disneyland Paris)

Does anybody have any thoughts or experience with any of the World Passport locations? Any recommendations??

Also, how soon do we need to begin working with Member Services to book a non-Disney vacation?

Finally, how exactly does the exchange work? Do we need to book a Disney vacation first, then make a swap, or will Member Services take care of that for us?

Any other thoughts would also be helpful, even if I didn't specifically ask...

Thanks!!

 

[rocketriter]

MS does all the work for you, but it can be a rickety process. You call them and give them a preferred destination (I recommend giving them several) and a preferred week (again you'll do better if you give them a range of dates). Once in a while they'll have a match already in stock. This happened to us when we called to check for a trade into Marriott for Williamsburg, but it's rare. More likely you'll have to wait, sometimes for months, until a match does or doesn't turn up. When one does, they'll call you and give you a day or so to decide whether or not to accept it. (By the way, if you're interested in Hawaii, the easiest resort to match is usually the Kona Coast II on the Big Island, which is very nice although it's a block away from the water.)

There is a lot of discussion on this board about whether trading is cost-effective. My family does it from time to time, choosing easy-to-match trips and staying flexible about them. You can save a bit of money either by owning additional time-shares elsewhere and using them to trade, or by renting out your points and then using the money to rent a time-share or vacation condo yourself. I'm way too busy to mess with that as a solution, but for others it's the best way to operate.

 

[mark&sue]

You can book trips to Disneyland Paris hotels in the same way as WDW hotels and Disneyland Hotels. You can book these 11 months out but they do use a lot of points.

I have booked a trip at Disneyland Paris New York Hotel for October. Just phoned MS and done in minutes.



Susan