# Long time DVC'er trying to navigate new-to-me RCI exchange potential



## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

Hey all! I'm new today (after lurking and reading for a week to get my bearings!) Trying to decide if we are interested in a family Wyndham property w/ RCI or not. Biggest single reason to keep or to not keep it would be the possibility of exchanging into DVC (at any property, we love them all). We plan ahead and can travel almost anytime and are fine if it's SS 3day/4day/7day. 

How hard, or how easy have you found it to get DVC using the RCI exchange? Thanks for any input!


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## lovetotravel77 (Feb 22, 2019)

Is your question as a DVC owner, how difficult is it using an RCI exchange? You can log into your DVC Account and under the plan vacations tab at the top there is an option for Book Online RCI. This takes you to the RCI site, check inventory of the area that you want. Once you book an RCI reservation for a given year, those points stay in that use year and stay as RCI points. There are specific rules, so there are dedicated DVC CM's that are familiar with RCI, so use them as a resource. After 10 years as members, we never did an RCI exchange, until recently. We are booked for fall of 2020 for Hard Rock Hotel, All Inclusive, Riviera Maya. There was a good promotion when I booked, stay 4 nights, get 3 nights of All Inclusive Fee Free. Made economic sense for us as I priced what it would cost booking the HR using cash. Very excited! Good Luck I would research the thoroughly research the resort you are interested on Trip Advisor, first! I read countless reviews before deciding to book the HR Riviera Maya.


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## vacationhopeful (Feb 22, 2019)

Wyndham is NOT DVC in style or owner care.

You can RENT Wyndham vacations cheaper than owning a few hundred thousands of points, paying $6-7.70 per 1K of points in MFs yearly, paying for "Housekeeping Credits" and "Reservations Transactions" PLUS the $99-129 each Guest Certificates. Yes, they have many resorts and located in many states in the US ... but those Prime Seasons get booked by owners at those resorts (early booking window) or CWA (Access Owners). 

DVC allows checkin bookings any day of the week ... Wyndham during the early (Owners at that resort) booking window starts either Fri or Sat (Sun at a few resorts) for 3, 4, or 7 day stays. Without buying 600,000 points from Wyndham direct (not resale points), you pay basic services the DVC just doesn't bother with.


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## Passepartout (Feb 22, 2019)

I think you would experience great difficulty booking DVC property using RCI. It's just a simple supply and demand thing. There are millions of DVC fans and just a few thousands of units available that Disney releases to non-Disney booking.

Jim


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## AnnaS (Feb 22, 2019)

Just wanted to say good luck and welcome to TUG


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## Dean (Feb 22, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> Hey all! I'm new today (after lurking and reading for a week to get my bearings!) Trying to decide if we are interested in a family Wyndham property w/ RCI or not. Biggest single reason to keep or to not keep it would be the possibility of exchanging into DVC (at any property, we love them all). We plan ahead and can travel almost anytime and are fine if it's SS 3day/4day/7day.
> 
> How hard, or how easy have you found it to get DVC using the RCI exchange? Thanks for any input!


If you've signed up and a big reason is to exchange to Disney, cancel if you can.  You will not be happy with that plan.  Even if it makes sense otherwise for non Disney, you should likely cancel and educated yourself before deciding and make sure you understand about resale as well.


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## heathpack (Feb 22, 2019)

It sounds like OP already owns DVC and is trying to decide on inheriting or otherwise obtaining for free a Wyndham unit owned by a family member.  The purpose for obtaining the Wyndham unit would be to trade into DVC via RCI.

I have no comment on that (don’t own Wyndham nor am I an RCI member).  Just posting because folks seem confused as to what OP is asking.


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## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

Dean said:


> If you've signed up and a big reason is to exchange to Disney, cancel if you can.  You will not be happy with that plan.  Even if it makes sense otherwise for non Disney, you should likely cancel and educated yourself before deciding and make sure you understand about resale as well.


Fortunately it isn't a deed we bought. The Wyndham deed is already owned by family and is Ovation-eligible, but before we do a deedback, we were thinking ... hmm ... should we find out about exchanging into RCI for DVC? But it sounds like in your experience it's challenging enough to get DVC that keeping the timeshare with this goal would not be wise. It's true that we would never _buy_ with the hope of doing this, but deciding whether to take over the MF going forward ... that's a puzzler for us!


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## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

heathpack said:


> It sounds like OP already owns DVC and is trying to decide on inheriting or otherwise obtaining for free a Wyndham unit owned by a family member.  The purpose for obtaining the Wyndham unit would be to trade into DVC via RCI.
> 
> I have no comment on that (don’t own Wyndham nor am I an RCI member).  Just posting because folks seem confused as to what OP is asking.



Yup! That was my question, written about as poorly as possible, now that I re-read it! I'm less coherent late at night than I think I am--lol!


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## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

AnnaS said:


> Just wanted to say good luck and welcome to TUG


Thanks very much! I've spent all my spare hours here the past week, and the wealth of information and goodwill is amazing! So happy to be here.


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## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

lovetotravel77 said:


> there are dedicated DVC CM's that are familiar with RCI, so use them as a resource.


Oh, that is really good to know! Thx!


lovetotravel77 said:


> I read countless reviews before deciding to book the HR Riviera Maya.


Super smart! <3 tripadvisor!


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## heathpack (Feb 22, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> Fortunately it isn't a deed we bought. The Wyndham deed is already owned by family and is Ovation-eligible, but before we do a deedback, we were thinking ... hmm ... should we find out about exchanging into RCI for DVC? But it sounds like in your experience it's challenging enough to get DVC that keeping the timeshare with this goal would not be wise. It's true that we would never _buy_ with the hope of doing this, but deciding whether to take over the MF going forward ... that's a puzzler for us!



Unless your only vacation interest is Disney (nothing wrong with that!), you might ask about the unit in question in the Wyndham forum.  They can tell you the valuableness of the Wyndham unit, what kinds of things it could be used for, how easy it would be to use, etc.  It might be worth having for non-DVC purposes.  I have no idea, not being a Wyndham person.  But others here will know for sure.


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## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

heathpack said:


> Unless your only vacation interest is Disney (nothing wrong with that!), you might ask about the unit in question in the Wyndham forum.


Thanks for the idea of asking in the Wyndham forum!Yeah, I'd say 95% of our interest is Disney!


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## Dean (Feb 22, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> Fortunately it isn't a deed we bought. The Wyndham deed is already owned by family and is Ovation-eligible, but before we do a deedback, we were thinking ... hmm ... should we find out about exchanging into RCI for DVC? But it sounds like in your experience it's challenging enough to get DVC that keeping the timeshare with this goal would not be wise. It's true that we would never _buy_ with the hope of doing this, but deciding whether to take over the MF going forward ... that's a puzzler for us!


Unless you see the Wyndham ownership as worthwhile without trading to DVC, I wouldn't accept it.  It's unlikely to be helpful or cost effective trading to DVC.  If you'll post specifics of the ownership we should be able to give more specific thoughts.


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## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

308,000 biennial; MF $700 (so $1400 for the lump of points). I am able to login to the Wyndham acct and from there to the RCI acct. Are there other details I could include that would be helpful? 

We have modest interest in using home resort, but knowing it was possible to exch into DVC would make the ownership far more valuable to us.


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## paxsarah (Feb 22, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> It's points, 308,000 biennial odd. We usually stay in DVC studios, so a 1bdrm would be quite an upgrade. Dean above referenced four separate fees associated with making this exchange. That gives me pause. But we are super flexible.



(I pulled this quote over from the other thread.) Here's a real-life example of the cost to exchange into DVC. You'll have your Wyndham maintenance fees, RCI exchange fee, and the Disney fee for incoming exchanges at check-in. Our maintenance fee rate last year, including the program fee, was $6.52 per 1,000 Wyndham points. The most common exchange cost is 105,000 Wyndham points for a DVC 1BR, occasionally higher or lower.

105,000 Wyndham points x $6.52 = $684.60
RCI exchange fee = $239
Disney fee = $190
Total = $1,113.60, or $159/nt

I think that nightly cost is pretty comparable to the rack rate for a Disney value resort these days.

Obviously, RCI, Disney, or Wyndham could change any part of this equation at any time. But this is how it stands right now. And Bonnet Creek is always an option.

Edit: the main variable here is going to be your maintenance fees, which vary depending on what resort you own. The points needed may be as low as 77k or as high as 126k depending on the season, but are most frequently 105k.


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## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

Our MF is 4.42 (incl program fee), so ... $128/nt. Oh, wow. Yup, can't even get a value for that most times of the year! Okay, well this certainly gives me something to think about.

Last question (for now-lol!) Is there a fee to have an ongoing search with RCI? And thx so much for all the help.


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## paxsarah (Feb 22, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> Our MF is 4.42 (incl program fee), so ... $128/nt. Oh, wow. Yup, can't even get a value for that most times of the year! Okay, well this certainly gives me something to think about.
> 
> Last question (for now-lol!) Is there a fee to have an ongoing search with RCI? And thx so much for all the help.



When you set up an ongoing search, you'll pay the exchange fee of $239 up front (unless RCI happens to be running a special, but that's not that frequent). Then you'll have that fee in your account as a credit when the time comes to make an exchange, and won't need to pay it a second time. If you happen to never find anything with your search, I believe you can have the fee refunded (but I've never had to do that).


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## Swans5 (Feb 22, 2019)

Got it! Thanks again. Really appreciating this community only a week in... (And most of that was lurking!)


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## Dean (Feb 22, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> 308,000 biennial; MF $700 (so $1400 for the lump of points). I am able to login to the Wyndham acct and from there to the RCI acct. Are there other details I could include that would be helpful?
> 
> We have modest interest in using home resort, but knowing it was possible to exch into DVC would make the ownership far more valuable to us.


So basically 154K a year, close to the same we have (though we also have other options).  If you'll use it otherwise and DVC would be gravy, it seems reasonable if you can afford the fees and risk going forward.  Wyndham has a great system overall.


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## Lisa P (Feb 22, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> Biggest single reason to keep or to not keep it would be the possibility of exchanging into DVC (at any property, we love them all). We plan ahead and can travel almost anytime and are fine if it's SS 3day/4day/7day.





Swans5 said:


> 308,000 biennial; MF $700 (so $1400 for the lump of points).
> We have modest interest in using home resort, but knowing it was possible to exch into DVC would make the ownership far more valuable to us.


This is key. With Wyndham, it doesn't really matter much which Wyndham is the home resort, since you are able to plan ahead and have a flexible schedule. BUT, would you be happy to use those points to stay at various Wyndham resorts if DVC stopped trading through RCI and you could NOT try for a trade there? Since you would be committing to ownership of a Wyndham contract, you need to be sure you would be satisfied to use it at Wyndham properties. Please feel free to PM me if you would like to discuss further.

Regarding the current situation with DVC exchanges (subject to change, of course), those are nice, low maintenance fees, just $478 for a 105K 1BR week. So if you add the current RCI $239 exchange fee and the $190 resort fee charged by Disney to exchangers at checking, a 1BR week at DVC SSR would cost you $907 total (no taxes required). This is a nice number - just subject to change. [Unfortunately, a 3-, 4-, or 5-night exchange would cost the same, so don't consider those.]

We have found it fairly easy to trade into DVC SSR 1BRs with a flexible schedule and early OnGoing Searches (OGS) through RCI. Holiday weeks are generally out of the question, and you probably already know that it's not easy to get popular festival weeks in October, RunDisney weeks, or weeks during Spring Break - although may be possible. But that still leaves a lot of the year. 



vacationhopeful said:


> You can RENT Wyndham vacations cheaper than owning a few hundred thousands of points, paying $6-7.70 per 1K of points in MFs yearly, paying for "Housekeeping Credits" and "Reservations Transactions" PLUS the $99-129 each Guest Certificates.


Given the further details posted by the OP, I'm not sure that much of this would apply to the OP's specific situation. In my 20+ years owning (resale) Wyndham points, this has not been my experience either. It really depends on the contract(s) owned, MF, usage style, etc.

For the OP, your cost for a 1BR RCI exchange using the Wyndham points, including $239 exchange fee, would be:
$589 off-season 1BR trade for 77K points
$717 popular season 1BR trade for 105K points
$812 prime holiday week 1BR trade for 126K points
...all subject to change with increasing MFs and/or RCI exchange fee.


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## littlestar (Feb 22, 2019)

I would not take on Wyndham maintenance fees just for potential trading into Saratoga via RCI (trades come thru late in my opinion). It might be easier to book a moderate Disney resort on cash with a code as far as planning.  Now, if you would use Wyndham points for other vacations - that would make it totally worth it. I have been able to book Wyndham resorts at 10 months out easily.  We own DVC, Marriott, and Wyndham points. This last year we used our Wyndham points to book Wyndham Waikiki Beachwalk on Oahu and are using our Wyndham points to visit Disneyland in October (booked Dolphin’s Cove and Peacock Suites near Disneyland for us and our daughter’s family).


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## Swans5 (Feb 24, 2019)

Lisa P said:


> [Unfortunately, a 3-, 4-, or 5-night exchange would cost the same, so don't consider those.]
> 
> We have found it fairly easy to trade into DVC SSR 1BRs with a flexible schedule and early OnGoing Searches (OGS) through RCI. Holiday weeks are generally out of the question, and you probably already know that it's not easy to get popular festival weeks in October, RunDisney weeks, or weeks during Spring Break - although may be possible. But that still leaves a lot of the year.


Yikes! Hadn't realized the 3/4 nights would have the same cost as the 7nights! Good to know! Thanks for the detailed analysis. Lots for us to think about!


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## JohnB3 (Feb 28, 2019)

Dean and Lisa make important points to consider.  I watch DVC inventory in RCI and one bedrooms are often available at SSR from a few day out up to 3 months out (right now there are a pile of them on RCI) but lately we rarely see anything else.  If you can travel almost anytime as you say then I expect you to be able to use these points for disney.  The challenge is Disney can change what and how they deposit anytime and you could end up not being able to use these points.  The other thing I thought about, and i have no idea if its a concern for you, is disney has a block on trading orlando area resorts for disney inventory.


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## Dean (Feb 28, 2019)

JohnB3 said:


> Dean and Lisa make important points to consider.  I watch DVC inventory in RCI and one bedrooms are often available at SSR from a few day out up to 3 months out (right now there are a pile of them on RCI) but lately we rarely see anything else.  If you can travel almost anytime as you say then I expect you to be able to use these points for disney.  The challenge is Disney can change what and how they deposit anytime and you could end up not being able to use these points.  The other thing I thought about, and i have no idea if its a concern for you, is disney has a block on trading orlando area resorts for disney inventory.


The regional block would not affect Wyndham points currently and would be unlikely to in the future.


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## Swans5 (Feb 28, 2019)

JohnB3 said:


> I watch DVC inventory in RCI and one bedrooms are often available at SSR from a few day out up to 3 months out (right now there are a pile of them on RCI) but lately we rarely see anything else.  If you can travel almost anytime as you say then I expect you to be able to use these points for disney.  The challenge is Disney can change what and how they deposit anytime and you could end up not being able to use these points.


We are lucky in having flexible travel schedules. Great point that the rules/habits for exchanges with Disney could change any time. All in all, after looking at reviews of the Wyn home resort, I think we could be happy there too, if that was all we could get. We like that part of Kauai a lot, and while the units get reviewed as compact and some need reno, neither of those are big turn-offs. In WDW I spend a ton of time in the rooms. In Hawai'i, it's all hikes and beaches.


Dean said:


> The regional block would not affect Wyndham points currently and would be unlikely to in the future.


I did read about regional blocks, but I had no idea Wyndham points would not be affected. Eeeeeenteresting... Why is that, I wonder?


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## Dean (Feb 28, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> We are lucky in having flexible travel schedules. Great point that the rules/habits for exchanges with Disney could change any time. All in all, after looking at reviews of the Wyn home resort, I think we could be happy there too, if that was all we could get. We like that part of Kauai a lot, and while the units get reviewed as compact and some need reno, neither of those are big turn-offs. In WDW I spend a ton of time in the rooms. In Hawai'i, it's all hikes and beaches.
> 
> I did read about regional blocks, but I had no idea Wyndham points would not be affected. Eeeeeenteresting... Why is that, I wonder?


 To my knowledge none of the mini systems are affected by regional blocks including Worldmark, Windham and Bluegreen.   I can’t answer for sure why but I suspect it’s because the points are not tied to a specific resort


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## djohn06 (Mar 2, 2019)

I've purchased other timeshares with the hopes of trading into DVC via RCI. It is certainly cheaper than forking over 20k to get a 1 bedroom resale through Disney. It has worked for me, but over the past 3  or 4 years, there has been lots of changes to the RCI process.

1- The trade-in fee doubled.  It used to be $95.
2- I used to get Boardwalk and Animal Kingdom Lodge 1 bedrooms.  Now it's just SSR.
3- RCI tweaked the point totals year to year for units.  So unlike Disney which is relatively steady, I've seen RCI increase the unit cost by 50 percent.

Just know that RCI has rapid changes and with Star Wars Land coming at the end of the year, who knows how many exchanges RCI will continue to do in the future.

However, I will say for a small investment on a monthly maint fee, as long as you are perfectly fine with staying at SSR, it is still worth trying.

Also, I am sure you will find a couple nice Wyndam resorts too that you like.  Good luck!  Let us know what you decide.

Lastly,the Wyndham fees are low, but they will Nickle and Dime you to death.  Unlike DVC, they will charge you if change bookings after a few times.  You also get cleaning credits too that you have to monitor.  If you have several short stays, you may have to pay extra for cleaning.  Lastly, points are use them or lose them (no banking).


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## littlestar (Mar 2, 2019)

And also remember that one of the most important things about owning a timeshare is having an exit strategy. What you own today might be accepted by Wyndham Ovations, but not tomorrow. Depending on where your resort is deeded, there might be additional costs/hurdles to sell it if you cannot give it back through Ovations.


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## paxsarah (Mar 2, 2019)

djohn06 said:


> Lastly, points are use them or lose them (no banking).



Ever since I've owned Wyndham, there's been a way to move points to a future year for a modest fee (previously the credit pool, now the points deposit feature).


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## djohn06 (Mar 2, 2019)

paxsarah said:


> Ever since I've owned Wyndham, there's been a way to move points to a future year for a modest fee (previously the credit pool, now the points deposit feature).



Ok I'm a newer Wyndam member so maybe I received incorrect info from their rep.

When I asked about moving Wyndham points to the following year, I was told I couldn't do that.  My only option was a RCI deposit.

So you are saying I can pay a fee on unused Wyndam points and they will then go to my next user year instead of RCI?


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## Swans5 (Mar 2, 2019)

paxsarah said:


> Ever since I've owned Wyndham, there's been a way to move points to a future year for a modest fee (previously the credit pool, now the points deposit feature).


Related question: if you pay the fee and bank points into a future UY, can you ALSO then exchange into RCI? 

Ie, can you bank 2019 points into 2020, and then in 2020 exchange into RCI where points would be usable 2020 until end of 2021?


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## paxsarah (Mar 2, 2019)

djohn06 said:


> So you are saying I can pay a fee on unused Wyndam points and they will then go to my next user year instead of RCI?



Yes, the caveat being that for non-VIP it needs to be done in the first three months of the use year - whereas an RCI deposit can be made up until the last day. But for people who may already be planning 10 months out, that gives enough time to book the full year’s worth of vacations and dump whatever’s left into a future year.



Swans5 said:


> Related question: if you pay the fee and bank points into a future UY, can you ALSO then exchange into RCI?
> 
> Ie, can you bank 2019 points into 2020, and then in 2020 exchange into RCI where points would be usable 2020 until end of 2021?



I’m not sure we know. The rules seem to imply not, because points that have been points deposited can’t be deposited a second time. But it doesn’t seem to be spelled out for RCI, and I don’t think I’ve seen a report from someone who’s tried.


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## drepublic (Mar 6, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> Our MF is 4.42 (incl program fee), so ... $128/nt. Oh, wow. Yup, can't even get a value for that most times of the year! Okay, well this certainly gives me something to think about.
> 
> Last question (for now-lol!) Is there a fee to have an ongoing search with RCI? And thx so much for all the help.



I say all of the following as a Wyndham Owner who loves Disney.

As far as Wyndham maintenance fees go what you have is VERY LOW and would be attractive to many Wyndham Owners who don't need ARP booking and especially attractive to Wyndham owners who like to rent out their reservations.  You have enough points to book a solid week at most Wyndham Resorts and get even more value traveling in non peak times.

For example Wyndham Bonnet Creek is popular with Wyndham Owners and it's inside the Disney Parks 2 miles down the road from Disney Springs.  It also happens to be in a value season during Thanksgiving week.  Here's what I have currently booked for this year:

1 Bedroom Presidential Unit for 7 nights (112,000 points)
2 two bedroom deluxe Thursday-Sunday (73,000 points)
2 two bedroom deluxe Thursday-Sunday (73,000 points)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total point cost for 3 rooms: 258,000
Total Dollar Cost given your maintenance Fee Rate:  $1,140.36 (258x4.42) for a large family to create memories over Thanksgiving Week. 

Fridays and Saturdays always cost more points, but AVG Cost per night for the above rooms given your maintenance fees:

1 BR presidential for 1 week: $70.72/night
2 BR deluxe Thurs-Sun: $80.67/night

We have season passes at Universal Studios and we may or may not hit up a Disney park during this week.  I do see trips to City Walk, Disney Springs, Universal Studios, Go Karts or whatever happening as my boys are 9 and 11.

You could look into renting booked reservations out and use profits towards Disney trips.  Wyndham has several resorts across the US (many good beaches in including Clearwater where I own points with Wyndham).  With the amount of points you have there you could book a few rooms at Wyndham's Bonnet Creek inside the Disney parks and shoulder your Disney Trips.  On my next Disney Trip I'll plan on renting DVC points from an owner with ARP at Beachclub for a few nights and more than likely shoulder that trip with a beach trip or finish off the week in Orlando at Bonnet Creek heading to other Orlando attractions like Disney Water Parks or just hanging out int he pools/lazy river at Bonnet Creek.

It may be worth spending some time in the Wyndham Forums and asking this same question and looking at the points charts and locations you have access to.  I see some of the regulars already commenting here.


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## Swans5 (Mar 6, 2019)

drepublic said:


> I say all of the following as a Wyndham Owner who loves Disney.
> 
> 1 Bedroom Presidential Unit for 7 nights (112,000 points)
> 2 two bedroom deluxe Thursday-Sunday (73,000 points)
> ...



Such terrific breakdowns! Thanks very much for that. I'm c/p'ing this into my info folder--lol! We are feeling very good about keeping the Bali Hai contract, esp now that Southwest has flights to . . . other Hawaiian islands--lolcry! But info like this is invaluable. Thx again.


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## drepublic (Mar 7, 2019)

Swans5 said:


> Such terrific breakdowns! Thanks very much for that. I'm c/p'ing this into my info folder--lol! We are feeling very good about keeping the Bali Hai contract, esp now that Southwest has flights to . . . other Hawaiian islands--lolcry! But info like this is invaluable. Thx again.



Ah I figured it was a Bali Hai contract based on that maintenance fee level.  That contract would not be hard for you to sell if you wanted to get rid of it.  This forum is amazing by the way...lot's of good folks here have spend their time answering my questions, so feel free to ask away at Wyndham Forums if you want to know how to use the system better.

About the only other UDI contract that I am aware of that is lower than Bali Hai that is Canterbury in San Fran.  I recently put together a chart for a thread in a Wyndham forum while researching low maintenance fee resorts and you can see how Bali Hai stacks up.  Program fee can be 0.58 or .60 depending on type of contract.  Right now my contract is 0.60 so I ran with that.  This is obviously not a full list but this is a list I see many owning in the Wyndham Forums.  Inside a 10 month window with Wyndham we like to use the phrase "Points are Points."  So you could use the Bali Hai points anywhere, but if you wanted Bali Hai resort you could book it 13 months out.  I made this chart to see how many points I would get per year per $1000 spent on maintenance.





With your point level, you could stay at Bonnett Creek or Panama City, or Destin, or Clearwater, or Myrtle Beach at nice Wyndham resorts in 2 Bedroom Deluxe Units (or 1 Bedroom Presidential Units) on peak times for at least 6 and maybe 7 nights depending on the resort and definitely spend 5 nights in 2 Bedroom Presidential Units with your point amount if you booked Sunday through Friday and if that were available at 10 months out.  I just booked a 2 Bedroom presidential room at Clearwater for 300'ish and that included a weekend, but I could have booked it for 270,000 Sunday through Friday.

I almost pulled the trigger on a Bali Hai contract for low maintenance fee trips to for non ARP bookings or just to spend a winter week in Orlando (Thanksgiving or Christmas) just to get away, but decided to move on a resale contract at one of Wyndham's Myrtle Beach resorts for ARP booking (13 months out) and the maintenance fees are on par with Clearwater which is lower than what Wyndham typically pushes for new customers (CWA).

Also I have never intended on renting out my Wyndham points but once my family members in Florida (who are benefiting from the extra rooms I booked at Bonnet Creek in Thanksgiving later this year) realized what I had they started calling wanting to rent my points for short trips to Orlando.  I recently put together this video for them as a preview of coming attractions.  It is a 2 Bedroom Deluxe Unit at Tower 5 overlooking the heated lazy river.  I'd be happy to rent my points to them and see an opportunity there, but my goals at this time are to use what I have to create memories....later in life I may revisit this.






The Flexibility of Wyndham is attractive, but their sales staff not so much (in the realm of customer service).  Just unplug your phone upon arriving at a any Wyndham resort and you should be good to go.

I know I sound like a Wyndham fanboy, so I just want to be clear that if my intention is to visit a Disney Park for more than one consecutive day I will rent DVC points from an owner with ARP at a resort I love (Beachclub) as I am all about the "experience" and will pay for convenience of being on site.  I really like the pools of Beachclub and that short walk to Epcot to be honest.  I will visit Disney again when the Star Wars attractions open up at Hollywood Studios...and I may even wait until that new Star Wars hotel is built if I can even book it.


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## littlestar (Mar 7, 2019)

Would there be extra expenses for selling Wyndham points deeded in Hawaii?  Just curious if you have to involve a lawyer or special title services.


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## Swans5 (Mar 12, 2019)

littlestar said:


> Would there be extra expenses for selling Wyndham points deeded in Hawaii?  Just curious if you have to involve a lawyer or special title services.


I don't know the answer to this. For us, our choice was between keeping or doing a deedback through Ovation, so selling didn't really enter in. But a few years down the road, who knows, so I'm curious what the answer is too.


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## Swans5 (Mar 12, 2019)

drepublic said:


> Ah I figured it was a Bali Hai contract based on that maintenance fee level.  That contract would not be hard for you to sell if you wanted to get rid of it.  This forum is amazing by the way...lot's of good folks here have spend their time answering my questions, so feel free to ask away at Wyndham Forums if you want to know how to use the system better.
> 
> View attachment 10738


Yup! You were right! 

Again, such cool information. Thank you so much! That chart is interesting. Those are names I have even started recognizing from going around various parts of these forums. I will definitely need to start hanging out in the Wyndham threads, lol!


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## Shankilicious (Apr 15, 2019)

This is fairly on topic and would be something good for OP to know as well: How far out does one typically find a DVC week in RCI? The furthest out I've seen is 6 maybe 9 months. Or to rephrase it, when does DVC inventory get deposited into RCI? Right now there's a 1BR Boulder Ridge in Sept. available and 15 SSR including two 2BR weeks for this year.


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## Dean (Apr 15, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> This is fairly on topic and would be something good for OP to know as well: How far out does one typically find a DVC week in RCI? The furthest out I've seen is 6 maybe 9 months. Or to rephrase it, when does DVC inventory get deposited into RCI? Right now there's a 1BR Boulder Ridge in Sept. available and 15 SSR including two 2BR weeks for this year.


Usually 6-7 months but they often filter in here and there thereafter.


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## famy27 (Apr 15, 2019)

I own both DVC and Wyndham, and I use my Wyndham points mostly for DVC exchanges and also for some short stays in the Wisconsin Dells. I have had very good luck getting the weeks I want. This year, I got an exchange into SSR for the 4th of July. I've also done MLK weekend, spring break, and Thanksgiving through RCI, as well as lower demand weeks. As mentioned above, the only time I've been unsuccessful in exchanging has been October. 

It is generally cheaper for me to exchange using my Wyndham points than it would be to use my DVC points. With your excellent low MFs, it would be even cheaper for you. If you end up not getting what you want, you could sell your contract easily. If I were in your shoes, I'd keep that contract.


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## Sandy VDH (Apr 15, 2019)

famy27 said:


> This year, I got an exchange into SSR for the 4th of July.



Perhaps you had that week or perhaps it was another. Glad to see a Tugger got that week if it was the one that I had. I had it on hold for my niece was she HAD to be back saturday and could not take the Sunday to Sunday dates available.  So she opted for VIPP discounts at Wyndham instead.


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## rhonda (Apr 15, 2019)

Sandy VDH said:


> Perhaps you had that week or perhaps it was another. Glad to see a Tugger got that week if it was the one that I had. I had it on hold for my niece was she HAD to be back saturday and could not take the Sunday to Sunday dates available.  So she opted for VIPP discounts at Wyndham instead.


I had that June 30th check-in week on hold also but let it drop in favor of a later week that spanned a DVC Member event.


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## K Cain (May 5, 2021)

If you have DVC, do you need another RCI account if you have, say a Wyndham points property or can you use the RCI account paid for via DVC?


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## elaine (May 5, 2021)

DVC-RCI account is a portal only for DVC. Yes, you need another RCI account for non-DVC trades.


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## rickandcindy23 (May 5, 2021)

K Cain said:


> If you have DVC, do you need another RCI account if you have, say a Wyndham points property or can you use the RCI account paid for via DVC?


Wyndham charges a fee in your MF's that covers RCI cost of membership. I assume you bought resale, for you to ask that, however.  WorldMark accounts via resale don't get RCI membership included, for example.  That is also managed by Wyndham.


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## bnoble (May 5, 2021)

elaine said:


> DVC-RCI account is a portal only for DVC. Yes, you need another RCI account for non-DVC trades.


True, however:


K Cain said:


> if you have, say a Wyndham points property


Wyndham also provides you with a portal to use their points product (and it includes a straight Weeks account as well), paid for out of the program fee.


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## K Cain (May 5, 2021)

bnoble said:


> True, however:
> 
> Wyndham also provides you with a portal to use their points product (and it includes a straight Weeks account as well), paid for out of the program fee.


 Ah, ok.  Thanks!


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## K Cain (May 5, 2021)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Wyndham charges a fee in your MF's that covers RCI cost of membership. I assume you bought resale, for you to ask that, however.  WorldMark accounts via resale don't get RCI membership included, for example.  That is also managed by Wyndham.


Thanks!  I haven't bought resale, yet.  I'm trying to figure out the pieces before I do.  I have DVC and Marriott, which I love.  I was able to get my Marriott resale.  I purchased DVC direct, before I discovered TUG.  I haven't regretted the DVC purchase.  I have a stupidly large family and we go on big vacations once in a while with each other, and can tolerate each other each year at a different place.  I was thinking of adding an RCI property to the mix.  I shopped around with Marriott and lurked on TUG forums before I agreed to be gifted a couple of Marriott Bronze weeks by a very generous colleague at work. My "crappy" Bronze weeks trade well, from my perspective, with II.


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