# RCI membership through Disney



## Bear1980 (Apr 29, 2010)

I need a little bit of help.  I'm a Marriott Vacation Club Member, but my mom is a DVC member.  With Marriott, I have a membership with the trading company Interval International, with access to Getaways and stuff.

My mom, who has been with DVC since 1994, has no idea about RCI, or the benefits.  She doesn't know what her username is or anything.

My question is this:  Is DVC like Marriott where your membership in the vacation club auto enrolls you into RCI to exchange, purchase getaways, etc?  I'm trying to figure out if this is the same thing, or similar.  Before I call DVC or RCI on this, I figured I'd try this resource first.

Thanks.


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## rhonda (Apr 29, 2010)

The DVC/RCI relationship is considered a corporate membership.  The individual DVC owner has no relationship to RCI directly and, sadly, no access to RCI's website, getaway weeks or other member perks.  To book RCI exchanges, the DVC member phones DVC Member Services who acts as a middle-man on the transaction.

The good news:  The DVC member does not pay an annual membership fee to RCI, their exchange costs are reduced to $95 per transaction and they get to use "confirm first" on their exchange requests.


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## Steve@BWV (Apr 30, 2010)

It is regrettable that DVC's affiliation does not provide DVC members access to the RCI system.  As a DVC member for over ten years I never had access to any system regardless of DVC's exchange affiliation.  

Now that I am an RCI member with a weeks timeshare I have access to the system and the Last Call deals or extra vacations.  This would be a nice benefit DVC could provide to members through RCI.  I would imagine DVC could negotiate a good deal for members considering the draw of DVC inside the RCI system.


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## Bear1980 (Apr 30, 2010)

Steve@BWV said:


> It is regrettable that DVC's affiliation does not provide DVC members access to the RCI system.  As a DVC member for over ten years I never had access to any system regardless of DVC's exchange affiliation.
> 
> Now that I am an RCI member with a weeks timeshare I have access to the system and the Last Call deals or extra vacations.  This would be a nice benefit DVC could provide to members through RCI.  I would imagine DVC could negotiate a good deal for members considering the draw of DVC inside the RCI system.



Steve, do you mind me asking how much per year the RCI membership runs you?  Did you have to buy a timeshare through RCI to get in?


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## toontoy (Apr 30, 2010)

Have you called them to check about last cal and renting weeks. My friend has a DVC account and has done this. I have a hilton account which is similar to DVC in that its a master account and just recently we gained access to the site. when I call I speak to a HGVC rep. I would suggest asking as you should have the ability, even though you do not have direct access.

 I know that Hilton and DVC are similar in blocking resorts that don't meet quality standards though maybe that is part of the problem??


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## Steve@BWV (Apr 30, 2010)

Bear1980 said:


> Steve, do you mind me asking how much per year the RCI membership runs you?  Did you have to buy a timeshare through RCI to get in?



I bought a week based timeshare (Vacation Villages in the Berkshires) on eBay last year.  I used this timeshare to join RCI not DVC.  RCI charges $89 for a year or a slight discount for 3 years.  They also charge a $179 to exchange your week.

I was able to exchange my $1351 purchase ($1 purchase price, $400 closing, $700 maintenance fee, $250 RCI fees) for a week at the Beach Club.  Next year I'll only have maintenance and RCI fees to worry about.  It almost makes me regret purchasing my add-on at AKV (almost) as it would have cost me the same in maintenance fees alone to get this week (269 points).


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## ralphd (Apr 30, 2010)

There is a RCI website for DVC members. The link can be found under the World Passport Collection on the DVC website. The DVC site explains the points and booking procedure.


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## Culli (May 1, 2010)

Steve@BWV said:


> I bought a week based timeshare (Vacation Villages in the Berkshires) on eBay last year.  I used this timeshare to join RCI not DVC.  RCI charges $89 for a year or a slight discount for 3 years.  They also charge a $179 to exchange your week.
> 
> I was able to exchange my $1351 purchase ($1 purchase price, $400 closing, $700 maintenance fee, $250 RCI fees) for a week at the Beach Club.  Next year I'll only have maintenance and RCI fees to worry about.  It almost makes me regret purchasing my add-on at AKV (almost) as it would have cost me the same in maintenance fees alone to get this week (269 points).



Steve I struggle with this too, but getting DVC on a regular basis through exchange is like hitting a moving target.  I found a cheap way to do it when there were with II, and now FINALLY got in thru RCI.  However, that method could change and you are at the mercy of what is deposited.  I use my DVC pts and then try to use the other methods to supplement if the availability is there.  I have been lucky so far with the RCI exchanges but I'm not counting on that for the long run, it allows me to bank my DVC pts and use them if and when RCI is not available.  Or I use my DVC to add nights to the RCI exchanges.


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