Wyndham RCI trade into DVC ?

[Lisa0620]

Our spring break is always in early April which falls right around Easter except when Easter is late (2011, 2014, etc.) We have been happy renting 2 BDR Pres. units from Wyndham owners at other locations (WI Dells) and like Wyndham and plan to visit other locations but found that we missed onsite perks (ME, dining plan, transportation) when we rented at WBC. It would encourage me to take the plunge into (resale!) Wyndham ownership if I thought there was a decent chance that we could trade into a 1 bdr DVC occasionally for Spring Break. Is that at all realistic given that I would plan 12+ months in advance, be flexible re: resorts and be diligent about checking what was available or is that still total pie-in-the-sky for Easter weeks? Any clue what we would need in terms of Wyndham location or points to have enough trading power to even be eligible for such a trade? TIA

 

[grandmadebby2]

Wyndham has always been RCI but Disney just joined RCI about 1 1/2 years ago so there is not alot of history to go on. However, I have tried twice to exchange a 3 bedroom red week into DVC and have never been able to get it even just requesting a one bedroom unit. Maybe someone else has had better luck because we always travel during peak because of job responsibilities.

 

[Lisa0620]

Thanks, Debby, that's good to know (not what I was hoping to hear, though!)

 

[moepanz]

The way it was explained to me was that it is an "exchange" which means someone in the DVC would have to be looking to book Wyndham for spring break and vice versa for a DVC owner to book RCI. This was the reason we pulled out of a DVC resale contract. I did my research and found that it was virtually impossible to book RCI unless you have crazy flexibility.

 

[khertz]

We are attempting this for our November trip because we had some points left over last year that we had to bank in RCI. We called RCI to see what our options were, and basically fronted them the $200 fee it would cost us for 7 nights at a DVC property for them to continue searching for us and let us know if something comes available that we can book. If we end up not booking with RCI, we get the $200 back.

So far nothing has come up, and this is what I think is the problem. When you bank your Wyndham points in RCI, you HAVE to book 7 nights, no more, no less. Every time I search the RCI website, there is plenty of DVC available, but it is all 3 or 4 night stays. That is not considered an acceptable "exchange." The person we spoke with at RCI to arrange this ongoing search said our chances are slim to none because most DVC owners do not release an entire week to RCI because they use some of their points during the year and release the rest.

We had a big 10 day trip to WDW/US in December '09 and it was our first time using our points to stay at Bonnet Creek. We thought we'd miss out on a lot by not being able to use EMH and Disney transportation, but we had a fireworks view room where we could watch Illuminations on the nights we got in early, and could see the Osbourne Lights every night dancing over at DHS. We found we enjoyed using our own transportation more than having to wait for Disney buses. And going at a slower time and spending more days, we definitely didn't miss out on anything by not being able to utilize EMH.

I think if you are thinking of buying Wyndham for the RCI exchange into DVC, skip it. If you travel to a lot of other locations though, and you get a contract without a ton of points, you could still do ok using Wyndham for your other vacations and stay on-site for your WDW vacations. But I definitely wouldn't count on DVC, especially traveling at a high demand time. We are going at one of the slowest times of the year, and I doubt we will have any success! Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

 

[Lisa0620]

found that it was virtually impossible to book RCI unless you have crazy flexibility.

Yeah, we don't have that...

When you bank your Wyndham points in RCI, you HAVE to book 7 nights, no more, no less. Every time I search the RCI website, there is plenty of DVC available, but it is all 3 or 4 night stays. That is not considered an acceptable "exchange." The person we spoke with at RCI to arrange this ongoing search said our chances are slim to none because most DVC owners do not release an entire week to RCI because they use some of their points during the year and release the rest.

We had a big 10 day trip to WDW/US in December '09 and it was our first time using our points to stay at Bonnet Creek. We thought we'd miss out on a lot by not being able to use EMH and Disney transportation, but we had a fireworks view room where we could watch Illuminations on the nights we got in early, and could see the Osbourne Lights every night dancing over at DHS. We found we enjoyed using our own transportation more than having to wait for Disney buses. And going at a slower time and spending more days, we definitely didn't miss out on anything by not being able to utilize EMH.

I think if you are thinking of buying Wyndham for the RCI exchange into DVC, skip it. If you travel to a lot of other locations though, and you get a contract without a ton of points, you could still do ok using Wyndham for your other vacations and stay on-site for your WDW vacations. But I definitely wouldn't count on DVC, especially traveling at a high demand time. We are going at one of the slowest times of the year, and I doubt we will have any success! Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

Thanks, good information. Sounds like we have to figure out if Wyndham makes sense to us on its own merits. Ita about transportation, etc. My Disney-resistant DH is the one who surprisingly buys into the "onsite magic" idea and said he really missed the KTTW card because "the hard plastic says Disney loves me..." !!! Whatever, I just want to go as often as possible, I would be happy in a TENT (seriously, I've actually looked into it!)

We are going at one of the slowest times of the year, and I doubt we will have any success! Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

Thanks and good luck to you, hope it comes thru!

 

[Janet Hill]

It's all about trading power with RCI. When you deposit your unit it will be assigned TPU and in general you will need >20 to pull DVC.

I've traded into DVC a lot and I've never seen anything over spring break or Christmas (that's not to say it hasn't happened though). I have got a trade to SS over July 4th in the past.

The availability I see most (and of course I'm looking at what suits my needs), is mid to late August. We are going to Beach Club villas Aug 14 on a trade. The resorts that appear most of OKW and SS.

Moepanz - it's not a system where each trade happens as an individual transaction (WBC for DVC). All trades go into the pot and folks who deposit to the pot are allowed to take from the pot based on the TPU of the resorts.

 

[swilshire]

The way it was explained to me was that it is an "exchange" which means someone in the DVC would have to be looking to book Wyndham for spring brake and vice versa for a DVC owner to book RCI. This was the reason we pulled out of a DVC resale contract. I did my research and found that it was virtually impossible to book RCI unless you have crazy flexibility.

The exchange does not have to be for the same time period.

Since DVC joined RCI, there has been very good availability for 1 bedroom units and quite a few 2 bedrooms available. Probably not for holiday weeks, but most any other time has had at least some availability. We check in Saturday to a 2 bedroom unit at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge.

Sheila

 

[swilshire]

So far nothing has come up, and this is what I think is the problem. When you bank your Wyndham points in RCI, you HAVE to book 7 nights, no more, no less. Every time I search the RCI website, there is plenty of DVC available, but it is all 3 or 4 night stays. That is not considered an acceptable "exchange." The person we spoke with at RCI to arrange this ongoing search said our chances are slim to none because most DVC owners do not release an entire week to RCI because they use some of their points during the year and release the rest.

I think you got an RCI agent that was making it up as they went along. It's getting a little late to book November, but there have been lots of units available. You should join the Timeshare Users Group at www.tug2.net . The membership fee is only around $15 a year and there are members that post all the DVC availability on a daily basis. You can (and should) also start an ongoing search in RCI for better results.

Sheila

 

[JimMIA]

If I'm not mistaken, moepanz was talking about exchanging from DVC out through RCI, not the other way around.

That's a very different animal from using Wyndham in RCI. DVC only has access to about 600 of the more than 6,500 RCI resorts, and DVC owners can't exchange directly -- they have to go through DVC Member Services.

With Wyndham, you exchange directly online (or by calling) and you have both full access to all resorts and to RCI's other specials like Extra Vacations and Last Call.

I personally would not buy Wyndham or any other timeshare primarily for the purpose of exchanging. Most timeshare systems work best within their own internal system of resorts, and lose some value exchanging out. Wyndham is also not a terribly strong trader, but many Wyndham owners do report getting DVC via RCI.

The suggestion of going to TUG is a very good one. That's really the place to get accurate info on the whole timeshare industry.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

OP are you saying you want to buy a resale of RCI? An RCI timeshare is double what the cost of a DVC timeshare is.

 

[Brian Noble]

Every time I search the RCI website, there is plenty of DVC available, but it is all 3 or 4 night stays.

I suspect you are looking at rental inventory, not exchange inventory. They are not the same.

It is true that DVC exchanges in RCI are always for exactly seven days---even through RCI Points.

I'm not a big fan of buying a timeshare (even resale) with some specific exchange purpose in mind. You should buy a timeshare only if *using* that timeshare makes sense. You might also find that it exchanges well, in which case that's a nice bonus, but too many things can (and do) change with the exchange systems to bank on anything going forward. In the past 3 years, there have been no fewer than four serious upheavals that completely changed the options I have for exchanging into DVC---the switch to RCI on 1/1/09, the global RCI revaluation on 5/30/09, the introduction of "Points Lite" in November '10, and the creation of the Wyndham portal in January '11.

I own a Wyndham points deed, and I'm *very* happy with it. But I would not buy to exchange, I would buy to use.

Remember if your RCI membership to stay at the Wyndham you must commit to vacationing during the same week every year.

With all due respect, you don't have the first clue about how this works. The vast majority of Wyndham deeds available resale (and all that are sold at retail) are in their points system, and they have been for many years. Here's a copy of the Wyndham directory to give you a sense for how many different resorts are possible---most of which can be booked for less than a week at a time, any time of year.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/memberdirectory11-12/

 

[Brian Noble]

OP are you saying you want to buy a resale of RCI? An RCI timeshare is double what the cost of a DVC timeshare is.

So, you edited your first completely wrong post---the one that said RCI memberships commit you to vacationing the same week every year. Which is fine, but you edited it to something else that is completely wrong.

Right now, you can buy Wyndham resale deeds for practically nothing. Here's an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Wyndham-Bonnet-...Timeshares&hash=item3f0a155577#ht_5790wt_1141

That's for 524K points---enough for more than two weeks per year in a 2BR during prime seasons, including Christmas, New Years, etc. The total purchase price? Just over $750. That includes closing and transfer fee. Show me ANY DVC contract you can buy for half of that. (Hint: you can't.)

As for ongoing costs: a 2BR week at, say, SSR (a lower-cost resort, Dues-wise) in Magic season costs about $1,225 in dues. A 2BR week at Bonnet Creek, in their Peak season (the highest point costs) would run a typical Wyndham owner about $1,232, assuming they paid $5.5/K. That's probably higher than average. I only pay about $4.75/K, so my weekly cost is more like $1,070.

So, no, "an RCI timeshare" is not about double the cost of a DVC timeshare. In fact, there really isn't anything that is "an RCI timeshare", because RCI is an exchange company, not a timeshare developer. Wyndham isn't "an RCI timeshare" any more than DVC is---they both exchange through RCI.

Perhaps you should refrain from posting any more "facts" about timeshares.

 

[littlestar]

I wouldn't count on it for holiday weeks. But, if you want Wyndham points mainly for their great internal system of resorts and you want to control your reservations, then it could be worth purchasing some resale points. But be careful where your home resort points are deeded (some resorts have higher maintenance fees than others).

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm not sure how Wyndam operates exactly but for our weeks-based TS in Kissimmee (3BR, 3BA Gold Crown), we can never trade through RCI for DVC. DVC has restrictions that any deposit of a resort within a certain mile radius (150 miles or so) cannot trade to DVC in FL. So I can see DVC in HH in an exchange search but never DVC in FL, even when I search with my deposit value parameter removed meaning I can see all availability, including ones I don't have enough trade power to trade into.
I hope this makes sense. I'm still drinking my morning coffee.

 

[JimMIA]

I'm not sure how Wyndam operates exactly but for our weeks-based TS in Kissimmee (3BR, 3BA Gold Crown), we can never trade through RCI for DVC. DVC has restrictions that any deposit of a resort within a certain mile radius (150 miles or so) cannot trade to DVC in FL. So I can see DVC in HH in an exchange search but never DVC in FL, even when I search with my deposit value parameter removed meaning I can see all availability, including ones I don't have enough trade power to trade into.
I hope this makes sense. I'm still drinking my morning coffee.

That's a valid point with most timeshares, but not with Wyndham. Most timeshares have a local block, excluding home resorts within 30-50 miles of the resort you want.

However, Wyndham RCI deposits are "generic," NOT from a specific home resort. Therefore we don't have any of those local blocks. Many Wyndham owners have exchanged into DVC, including those who own at one of the five Wyndham resorts in the WDW area.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

That's a valid point with most timeshares, but not with Wyndham. Most timeshares have a local block, excluding home resorts within 30-50 miles of the resort you want.

However, Wyndham RCI deposits are "generic," NOT from a specific home resort. Therefore we don't have any of those local blocks. Many Wyndham owners have exchanged into DVC, including those who own at one of the five Wyndham resorts in the WDW area.

Wow, that's cool. We've owned our TS for about 6 years and back then DVC traded through II so we never considered it when buying.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

We bought a Wyndham resale off of Ebay a couple of years ago and we've been very happy with it. We use it to stay at Bonnet Creek, and we've gotten Thanksgiving there 3 years in a row so far. We love that!

This year we have a surplus of Wyndham points, so we're going to deposit enough into RCI to trade into a DVC 1 bedroom (hopefully Vero Beach).

We also own a timeshare in NC that we bought specifically for trading. Again, I think that we spent like $700 total to purchase it. We've had it for years, and it trades in Interval for Marriott and Westin. We are staying in a 2 bedroom at Marriott Lakeshore reserve over 4th of July week thanks to this trader We've never been to the NC resort but the timeshare has served us amazingly well as a trader.