Using points for a Disey Cruise and tradng RCI

[StitchBuddy]

We went to a presentation while at Disney last week. We are on a wait list to buy points at Saratoga. I was reading another tread and thought I saw that you can trade resale points into RCI. Is that true??? I thought all you could use resale points for was DVC period. I was also looking closely at a points chart for cruises and that doesn't seem like a good use of points either. So can you use resale for RCI trading??

 

[Andyman33]

Yes

 

[Dean]

We went to a presentation while at Disney last week. We are on a wait list to buy points at Saratoga. I was reading another tread and thought I saw that you can trade resale points into RCI. Is that true??? I thought all you could use resale points for was DVC period. I was also looking closely at a points chart for cruises and that doesn't seem like a good use of points either. So can you use resale for RCI trading??

Trading is not a great use either but likely more so that cruises. In your situation your best long term bet is to buy the amount of DVC points you would use at DVC resorts with either a small surplus or small deficit depending on personal situations, finances and how many points you're looking at. Since you're looking at SSR there's no reasonable reason to buy retail for a first purchase unless you're possibly looking at 50 points only. All you lose currently is the ability to trade for cash type options like DCL, you truly lose nothing of value currently and I doubt they'll change. Buying the extra points to cruise will always cost more in the long run than buying less and paying cash for a cruise at least based on historical situations. DVD hasn't shown the inclination to make those options less points, always more. Unless you're looking very small or very large, I'd just buy a single mid-sized contract that fits your needs the next 5 yrs or so. If you find a loaded contract, you likely can get by with a little less points still. If you're uncertain but decide to proceed, you might want to go smaller but not too small. It's not generally a good choice to go under about 150 pts/

 

[StitchBuddy]

Thanks for the info! This puts a new spin on things for me. So you are only losing the ability to cruise and stay at expensive hotels that are a horrible use of points. So what woud the benefit of buying through Disney be??? Seem resale is a much better deal!?

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for the info! This puts a new spin on things for me. So you are only losing the ability to cruise and stay at expensive hotels that are a horrible use of points. So what woud the benefit of buying through Disney be??? Seem resale is a much better deal!?

Most that buy through Disney either didn't do their home work, want a new resort that doesn't have many resale listings, don't want to wait 75 days for resale to process, have money to burn, want to finance, got caught up in the DVD sales emotional experience.

Bill

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the info! This puts a new spin on things for me. So you are only losing the ability to cruise and stay at expensive hotels that are a horrible use of points. So what woud the benefit of buying through Disney be??? Seem resale is a much better deal!?

You've figured out more in a short time than many current owners. There are situations where buying retail might make sense, basically for smaller purchases and where there isn't much of a difference retail vs resale like VGF. It is slightly more complicated and takes a little longer, neither a big deal and certainly not worth paying almost double for.

 

[StitchBuddy]

Thanks!!! I will be canceling our contract with Disney tomorrow. We like the idea of being able to trade with RCI occasionally, the cruise just doesn't even make sense to me after looking at the points vs cost. Our sales person was excellent. I totally got the impression you could only use points for DVC if you bought resale and we just wanted the option to go other places if we want too. We can get a lot more points resale. Maybe two different resorts with the same use year. That way if they ever say you can only book at your home resort we will have options.

 

[Msmithmd]

Good call on the resale decision.

Simple theme to live by as a soon-to-be new owner:

Use DVC points to stay at DVC resorts. Use other timeshares or pay cash for other vacations. Even the RCI options usually undervalue your points versus what they are objectively worth via simply renting them, and paying cash for the out-of-system vacations.

I thought the same way you did about RCI option when I bought. But after really looking into a couple potential trades, I realized it best to simply only use DVC for DVC stays.

 

[chalee94]

Our sales person was excellent. I totally got the impression you could only use points for DVC if you bought resale and we just wanted the option to go other places if we want too.

not sure i completely agree about your sales person...but that's why i always warn people that they will get a better understanding of DVC from this board and risk being misled by the onsite tour...

Maybe two different resorts with the same use year. That way if they ever say you can only book at your home resort we will have options.

just remember that you would not be able to combine pts from both contracts until the 7 month window. but it's a good plan if you want to go to each resort every other year and can book 10-11 months out...

(also, it's very unlikely that you would be restricted to your home resort - i hope you didn't get that idea from your guide...)

 

[Dean]

Maybe two different resorts with the same use year. That way if they ever say you can only book at your home resort we will have options.

I'd suggest you buy the points you need IF DVC makes sense for you, not double jut because it's around the same price. IF you are looking at enough points, buying 2 contracts might make sense. If that's what you decide is best, I'd look at buying one now and the other later. Generally you want both contracts to be at least 150 pts with this type of planning. Also it's usually best to buy the more difficult one (usually smaller, higher demand) first if you're set on 2 contracts.

 

[JimMIA]

Maybe two different resorts with the same use year. That way if they ever say you can only book at your home resort we will have options.

There are legitimate reasons for having multiple home resorts, but this is NOT one of them. This is seriously over-thinking a non-existent problem.

The main legitimate reason for owning multiple home resorts is to give you home resort advantage when you want to stay at different resorts during peak periods -- for example: VWL during Christmas and BCV during Food and Wine.

 

[JimMIA]

Our sales person was excellent. I totally got the impression you could only use points for DVC if you bought resale and we just wanted the option to go other places if we want too.

"Excellent" only in the sense that they didn't tell you a blatant lie -- they just gave you the impression of a blatant lie.

The quality standards for timeshare sales people are much different from the rest of the world. DVC sales personnel tend to be pretty ethical -- for the timeshare industry, not compared to the personal ethics you and I live by.

There are other systems whose sales forces are MUCH worse than DVC's, but never forget that they are timeshare salesmen and women.