Trading Thru II - Points Required

[WolfpackFan]

I have a question - when you trade a week thru II, do you know ahead of time approximately how many points it will take to get the trade you are wanting? Does the member website or the member information mailed to you at closing have such information? If not, how do you know you will have enough points for the trade? I know the Concierge Collection has the points per night, but the other information listed in the preview brochure just listed the II possibilities.

Also, if this information is available, could someone post some example trades. I'm especially interested in points required for the Westin at St. John and Atlantis at Nassau for the smallest accomodations.

Thanks.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

The member website has the point chart for II. I don't know how to post links, though. It's also in the member book. I don't have it in front of me, but I'm pretty sure for a one bedroom it is 124, 144, 160 depending on low, mid, and high season, for all the II resorts. This point chart is good until December 2004.

 

[CarolMN]

DVC recently made it easier for members to know the cost of their World Passport Collection (II) trades by standardizing the point costs by season. For 2003 & 2004:

One-bedrooms will be either 124, 144, or 160 points and two- bedrooms will be 207, 252 or 270 points. The points are for low season, mid season and high season. The seasons are defined by the II resorts (not DVC). All the exchanges are for 7 nights.

There are also point numbers for a studio exchange, but they were not included in the DVC mailing that annoucned the new system. Maybe someone else will post those for you if you can't find them via a search - I know I saw at least one post on this forum that included them.

There is WPC info on the Members' website. It is under the "Plan your Getaway" section.

HTH.

 

[disney4me4ever]

Also, just a heads up, Harborside Atlantis is off the list for requesting. I talked to member services a few months ago, and was told that because, basically, nobody trades out their week, that DVC decided to take this property off the list. It may be added again at some future date, but not currently an option. By all means, though, check with Member Services just to be sure. Hope this helps.

Nancy

 

[Dean]

You should be able to call or email MS and find out exactly how many points for a specific item. Anything else will be educated guesswork but will give you a good idea of the possible range of costs.

 

[WolfpackFan]

So let me get this straight - for anywhere from 124 to 160 points (depending upon season), we can get a 1-BR trade at any of the II resorts if available. To me this seems like a great deal and a major benefit of DVC. Why do so many folks seem to bad mouth trading? I showed the list of resorts to my DW and she is very excited about all of the non-DVC opportunities there are to use our points. She saw a number of resorts she would like to stay at. How difficult is it to do a trade and what is the process like? How far ahead of time do you typically do the trade? And finally, can you use borrowed and banked points in a trade? Thanks for all the answers. This is causing us to go from 98% sure we will join DVC next week to 100% sure.

PS - A final dumb question - does your selection of home resort effect any your success in being able to trade. Are some home resorts more attractive for trade than others? Or am I misunderstanding the concept?

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by WolfpackFan
So let me get this straight - for anywhere from 124 to 160 points (depending upon season), we can get a 1-BR trade at any of the II resorts if available. To me this seems like a great deal and a major benefit of DVC. Why do so many folks seem to bad mouth trading? I showed the list of resorts to my DW and she is very excited about all of the non-DVC opportunities there are to use our points. She saw a number of resorts she would like to stay at. How difficult is it to do a trade and what is the process like? How far ahead of time do you typically do the trade? And finally, can you use borrowed and banked points in a trade? Thanks for all the answers. This is causing us to go from 98% sure we will join DVC next week to 100% sure.

PS - A final dumb question - does your selection of home resort effect any your success in being able to trade. Are some home resorts more attractive for trade than others? Or am I misunderstanding the concept?

The 1 BR is the best deal under the new system. With the value of $10 pp, you're still paying $1240-1600 for a 1 BR for a week. One you could have likely rented for between 200-1200 depending on specifics. Or you could have gotten just as easily with a timeshare that cost $2500 with yearly fees of $250-350. True, if you get the Maui Marriott for February, it's a fair deal but this is an extreme example.

We are currently at Paradise Village in Puerto Vallarta in a 3 BR unit. We own there and it's a nice resort but not comparable to DVC IMO. Had we exchanged in for a 2 BR we'd likely be looking at the driveway and some trees, a marina if we were lucky. It would not have been an equitable exchange.

Bottom line is there in no blanket statement, one size does not fit all. In general though expect most exchanges to be a downtrade in one way or another. If you're happy, then so are we.

The answer to your second question for DVC appears to be no though only II knows for certain. Since the unit you give up may not be your home resort, it makes sense in this case with request first that the resort will not affect you options.