trading cost outside disney

[nydvc]

A friend of mine has presented me with an opportunity to join him in a fractional ownership. This would allow trading through RCI, the original trading company associated with DVC. The overall numbers seem to work. considering the overall costs of DVC points these days, price of maintenance, etc compared to overall cost of trading through this new venture, the new venture seems like a resonable deal.

I was wondering how many other people have timehare/fractional ownerships along with DVC? Do you find the alternate timeshare useful and more economically advantageous as compared to trading you DVC points?

We have always used our DVC points for disney vacations and paid cash for others when we can occasionally afford more. most of the time trading using disney points seems "expensive" point wise for what you get. So having another options apeals to me.


The new place will be an upscale place that I belive will trade relatively well, but I have no expierence with trading either through DVC (other then DCL, which went fine) or any other timeshare trading system.

I am preatty new at this forum stuff, I hope this is considered an "on-topic" discussion.

Thanks for your input and help. Your Thoughts, information and experiences will be very useful!! Thank You

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I don't have any specific advice about your topic, but you can find more information and advice on this at www.tug2.net. This is a forum for timeshare users and the people there are fantastic and very knowledgeable about timesharing outside DVC.

 

[nydvc]

thanks I will check it out.

 

[WebmasterDoc]

In addition to our DVC ownership, we have 9 other weeks at 4 resorts that all trade thru RCI. One of those resorts is part of the DVC World Passport Collection and trades thru both RCI and II. We have found our best value using our DVC points primarily at DVC resorts (although we have also used DVC points for Concierge Collection stays and also found that to be a good value) and we use our other weeks to exchange to a variety of other locations. We own back-to-back weeks at a resort in Door County, WI which we personally use each year since we really love the area. One of our other resorts is part of another Vacation Club which uses points and it allows us to convert our week into points (at no extra charge) and thus utilize using points for lower "cost" weeknights- avoiding weekends to stretch our ability to use that time. Most of our weeks have annual fees in the $500 - $600 range. All are 2BR villas and one is a lock-off which may be used to trade as a Studio and a 1BR. All have been resale purchases ranging from $500 to $2500 for the week. Several have been sold by the owners association at the resort.

We have also considered purchasing a quartershare (basically a timeshare where each owner has the use of 13 weeks each year) and will likely do that in the next couple of years and divest some of our other resorts.

I'd also recommend taking a look at www.tug2.net (Timeshare Users Group) and also www.tstoday.com (Timesharing Today). Both are great resources for information about timesharing beyond Disney.

 

[nydvc]

In addition to our DVC ownership, we have 9 other weeks at 4 resorts that all trade thru RCI. One of those resorts is part of the DVC World Passport Collection and trades thru both RCI and II. We have found our best value using our DVC points primarily at DVC resorts (although we have also used DVC points for Concierge Collection stays and also found that to be a good value) and we use our other weeks to exchange to a variety of other locations. We own back-to-back weeks at a resort in Door County, WI which we personally use each year since we really love the area. One of our other resorts is part of another Vacation Club which uses points and it allows us to convert our week into points (at no extra charge) and thus utilize using points for lower "cost" weeknights- avoiding weekends to stretch our ability to use that time. Most of our weeks have annual fees in the $500 - $600 range. All are 2BR villas and one is a lock-off which may be used to trade as a Studio and a 1BR. All have been resale purchases ranging from $500 to $2500 for the week. Several have been sold by the owners association at the resort.

We have also considered purchasing a quartershare (basically a timeshare where each owner has the use of 13 weeks each year) and will likely do that in the next couple of years and divest some of our other resorts.

Thanks Doc, I was thinking I might be a little crazy having DVC and another time share. Seems like you make good use of them, and I certainly think we will also. We love to travel and love disney, but I think this new venture will allow cheaper trading then with DVC. Its also a lock-off that can be traded as a 1-bedroom or 2 studios. I certainly would not mind buying more points for trading just seems more expensive in the long run.

Hope you dont mind another question, but do you find trading the lock off easier or more difficult? We decided with the split unit because the focus will be trading and did not want spring for the extra expense for the 2-bedroom. Familly only has 4 people and we see these place as casual trades, shorter trips then with Disney.

I wonder if Disney would ever lower their point charts for trading. I know they did a little at DL, but I really dont see mass reductions hapening anytime soon.

 

[DebbieB]

If you plan to trade outside of DVC, it's probably better to buy another timeshare. I have a friend who bought 250 points at HH and WL and has only use it once within DVC. I talked to her this week and she said their 4 night stay at the Boston Harbor Hotel cost them their full years points.

 

[nydvc]

If you plan to trade outside of DVC, it's probably better to buy another timeshare. I have a friend who bought 250 points at HH and WL and has only use it once within DVC. I talked to her this week and she said their 4 night stay at the Boston Harbor Hotel cost them their full years points.

thanks Deb, and all who had input I agree, from what I have seen, there are a lot of advantages to having another time share to trade. Kinda sad because we love DVC and the service ,etc, but going outside of Disney using points just does not seem to be worth it. Even the off-season cruises are costly on a "point" basis compared to cash prices .

 

[tomandrobin]

We use DVC for Disney and have a second timeshare for II trades. I'm not opposed to using the DVC points for other locations, but we have found the second timeshare more cost effective.

 

[WebmasterDoc]

...
Hope you dont mind another question, but do you find trading the lock off easier or more difficult? We decided with the split unit because the focus will be trading and did not want spring for the extra expense for the 2-bedroom. Familly only has 4 people and we see these place as casual trades, shorter trips then with Disney.

I wonder if Disney would ever lower their point charts for trading. I know they did a little at DL, but I really dont see mass reductions hapening anytime soon.

There are not as many trades available for 1BR and Studios (most are for 2BRs), but , thus far, we've not had any trouble being able to trade the lockoffs as separate exchanges. We even have one coming up this summer in FL.

DVC has modified the World Passport program with lower point costs and a fixed chart - previously the points needed could only be obtained thru MS. Depending on the satisfaction with how the revised program has been utilized, MS could certainly consider another point reallocation. I don't expect that to happen for while.

 

[bwvBound]

I was wondering how many other people have timehare/fractional ownerships along with DVC? Do you find the alternate timeshare useful and more economically advantageous as compared to trading you DVC points?

Joining the "DVC+Other Timeshare" line and agreeing with much aleady mentioned here:

• Visit the Timeshare User's Group website
• We keep DVC simply for DVC resort stays -- and find our other timeshare products to be a better value for trading.

Specific features I enjoy about having the variety of timeshare:

• One of our resorts offers "day use" and is located about 20m drive from our home. We are welcome to use the fitness center, pools, and activities whenever we wish.
• We have "direct" memberships with both II and RCI and are able to take advantage of their inexpensive rental weeks.
• Our summer SoCal week earns a bonus week each time it is deposited with RCI or SPX. We get two, if not three, vacations for each deposited exchange.
• Our other point-system membership allows for very inexpensive trades if booked at the last minute (<59-days for II; <45-days for RCI).
• At least 2 of our properties "trade up" into larger units when exchanged. Our SoCal studio often pulls 2BR units and the 1BR easily pulls 2BR and 3BR units even during holiday travel. (Dues on small unit + Exchange fee => larger unit.)
• I can trade the RCI/II weeks back into points through my other point-system club.

There are many more advantages ... these are the first that come to mind.

 

[Dean]

I would agree that it's generally better to own other time shares for trading. I think it's a little risky for DVC members because many things look like a bargain to them that are not. Much like when you live in San Francisco and move to the Southeast and buy a House. I think most DVC members are more acquainted with interval International than RCI, and I do think there are some issues with RCI for certain situations. Comparing RCI to interval is little difficult however I think RCI requires one to plan even further ahead than interval. One generally needs to plan more than a year ahead and preferably two years ahead with RCI.

In addition I think there two complicating factors for your situation. One is the schedule for the fractional ownership and the other is the balance a of who gets what time and or weeks. As for is the trading power, that will vary dramatically with the resort location and specific week in question. I have agree with visiting the time share users group and spending some time getting acquainted. While this may be a great deal free you, you simply need to know what you're getting into and how will work for you.

 

[FLYNZ4]

We own other timeshares and use them extensively. DVC is by far the most expensive that we own... and so far we have only used our DVC points for stays at WDW. We have no plans to change that behavior.

We own eight weeks on the Oregon coast. Four weeks at Seaside in a fantastic "3BR penthouse" unit directly overlooking the beach... and four weeks at Depoe Bay in a 2BR unit perched on the rocks overlooking the ocean below. Whales swim right up to the rocks below our balcony. We generally use these eight weeks as a place to "work from home". It's great for the mental health

We also own a lot of "points" at another "points timeshare" and we primarily use those for weekend stays... typically on the pacific ocean, ski resorts, golf resorts, or other areas along the west coast. We generally spend 2 or so weekends each month on these local weekend trips.

Many people buy timeshares specifically to trade... and they get fantastic deals. We generally choose not do that... and prefer to buy timeshares that we want to use. They best way to learn how get the best deals is on TUG which has already been recommended to you.

One money saving technique that we do use is as follows: We have found that it is very economical to trade our other timeshares into Disney -- much cheaper than using our DVC points. What we typically do is book our DVC reservations 11 months in advance using DVC points... and also book our frequent flyer tickets at the same time. At this point our vacation plans are locked in. We also start an II exchange using much less expensive timeshares to trade into DVC. The exchange is not guaranteed... but if it comes through... we cancel our existing DVC reservation and save DVC points for another trip. We just spent 2 weeks at BWV... the first week was using an II exchange, and the second week was using our DVC points. We plan to keep doing this unless we find that we have too many DVC points to use at some point.

/Jim