# Do I have to get guest certificate for RCI exchange?



## VAlegacy (Feb 12, 2020)

Do I need a guest certificate?  Can't I just call DVC, get reservation number, and tell them who to put on res.?


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## littlestar (Feb 12, 2020)

If you (or whoever else is on your RCI account) will not be at check-in, you will need a guest certificate.

Example:  I gave an RCI DVC exchange to my niece and I had to buy a guest certificate for her because I won’t be going with her and won’t be with her at check-in.  The only two names on my RCI account are mine and my husband’s.

Be sure to give all names to DVC Member Services *before* check-in because you cannot do it at check-in.


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## VAlegacy (Feb 13, 2020)

littlestar said:


> If you (or whoever else is on your RCI account) will not be at check-in, you will need a guest certificate.
> 
> Example:  I gave an RCI DVC exchange to my niece and I had to buy a guest certificate for her because I won’t be going with her and won’t be with her at check-in.  The only two names on my RCI account are mine and my husband’s.
> 
> Be sure to give all names to DVC Member Services *before* check-in because you cannot do it at check-in.


Thanks for the response, but I dont understand the redudancy.
In this instance, I booked a week for my parents.  If I call DVC and tell them the names of the person(s) checking in, what good does a GC do for me?  When they show up the show their ID's and its done.....right?


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## Shankilicious (Feb 13, 2020)

When booking through RCI, if you're not checking in, you HAVE to buy a guest cert or they could suspend your account. It's not like booking directly with a resort or hotel. It's several thousand resorts in a third party system so they automate/digitize everything.


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## ocdb8r (Feb 13, 2020)

Littlestar outlines the official and accurate policy of RCI. 

However, in my experience, for DVC you can avoid this by adding the name of whomever else you want to be able to check in to your reservation.  This is a bit of an exception to the normal rule as DVC actually encourages you to register your whole party ahead of time and then would allow any of them to check in to the unit - most other resorts will not allow you to add other names to the reservation without you at check-in.  In fact, if you have Magic Bands, you never actually need to check-in....you'll be sent your room number in the MyDisneyExperience app on the day of check-in and can go directly to your room and use the Magic Band as your room key for your whole visit.  My last three visits I have never interacted with anyone at the front desk.

The above assumes you do not have more than 3 people to add to the reservation (for a total maximum occupancy of 4, including yourself, as you won't be able to remove yourself from the reservation unless you go the Guest Certificate route recommended above).


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## Jan M. (Feb 13, 2020)

ocdb8r said:


> Littlestar outlines the official and accurate policy of RCI.
> 
> However, in my experience, for DVC you can avoid this by adding the name of whomever else you want to be able to check in to your reservation.  This is a bit of an exception to the normal rule as DVC actually encourages you to register your whole party ahead of time and then would allow any of them to check in to the unit - most other resorts will not allow you to add other names to the reservation without you at check-in.  In fact, if you have Magic Bands, you never actually need to check-in....you'll be sent your room number in the MyDisneyExperience app on the day of check-in and can go directly to your room and use the Magic Band as your room key for your whole visit.  My last three visits I have never interacted with anyone at the front desk.
> 
> The above assumes you do not have more than 3 people to add to the reservation (for a total maximum occupancy of 4, including yourself, as you won't be able to remove yourself from the reservation unless you go the Guest Certificate route recommended above).



I can second this. We've been able to go directly to our units. First you would contact DVC to get the reservation number they use and add all the guests. Then you would sign into your My Disney Experience account to get pre-registered and add the credit card they will be using for their stay and their cellphone number so they receive the text with their unit number. You would also order the magic bands but if there isn't at least several weeks before their stay they will have to pick up the magic bands at the resort. However if they already have magic bands that still work they can just keep their old ones and use them. If they are flying in and planning to use the Magical Express bus to get to the resort but won't have their magic bands in time DVC will assist you with getting passes/luggage tags you can print out.


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## littlestar (Feb 13, 2020)

We have booked two SSR 1 bedrooms in the past and I have had my husband listed on one of them (with our daughter and son-in-law and grandchild) and then me on the other one bedroom and not had to buy a guest certificate. My husband checked in one and me the other one.   DVC Member Services will tell you that you need a guest certificate if the RCI Member(s) is not listed on the reservation.

I actually talked to RCI about adding our daughters to our RCI account and they told me I could not because their IT Department would only allow two names to an RCI account even though our daughters were listed on the deed to our timeshare ownership.


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## Shankilicious (Feb 13, 2020)

This is great info for me as I'm planning a large family trip to Disneyworld in '21.


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## ocdb8r (Feb 13, 2020)

littlestar said:


> DVC Member Services will tell you that you need a guest certificate if the RCI Member(s) is not listed on the reservation.



This is the key - if you are comfortable (and able to within maximum occupancy limits) staying listed on the reservation when you will not be there, then you should be fine.


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## klynn (Feb 13, 2020)

ocdb8r said:


> This is the key - if you are comfortable (and able to within maximum occupancy limits) staying listed on the reservation when you will not be there, then you should be fine.


As long as your parents do want to add a dining plan, this will work just fine.  If you keep your name on the reservation and your parents want a dining plan then everyone on the reservation will be charged for the dining plan.


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## CPNY (Feb 13, 2020)

Jan M. said:


> I can second this. We've been able to go directly to our units. First you would contact DVC to get the reservation number they use and add all the guests. Then you would sign into your My Disney Experience account to get pre-registered and add the credit card they will be using for their stay and their cellphone number so they receive the text with their unit number. You would also order the magic bands but if there isn't at least several weeks before their stay they will have to pick up the magic bands at the resort. However if they already have magic bands that still work they can just keep their old ones and use them. If they are flying in and planning to use the Magical Express bus to get to the resort but won't have their magic bands in time DVC will assist you with getting passes/luggage tags you can print out.


So if I’m traveling with friends and they have the MDE App but they don’t have magic bands. Can they still be added to the reservation? How does it work with multiple rooms? Everyone uploads their own credit card in their app and everything they scan with their magic band goes back to their credit card?


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## Jan M. (Feb 13, 2020)

Shankilicious said:


> This is great info for me as I'm planning a large family trip to Disneyworld in '21.



The Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Kidani Village one bedroom units have a capacity of 5 not 4 like the other resorts. In addition to the sleeper sofa they have a sleeper chair that someone else posted are actually pretty comfortable to sleep on. Animal Kingdom stays can be hard to find but their one bedroom units have two full bathrooms which is fantastic. 

When we've stayed at Saratoga Springs Resort and Animal Kingdom Kidani Village in the savanna view units there has always been a pack n play crib in the closet.  So if any of your family group has a baby or young toddler, under 3?, you wouldn't need to count them in the sleeping capacity of the unit. Under 3 they don't need a wristband for the parks either.

Another thing that might be helpful to know is about the dinning plan. If you want to get the dinning plan everyone listed as staying in a unit must must take the dinning plan for every day of the stay. The cost of the dining plan for kids is pretty reasonable but it costs roughly three times as much for adults.


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## paxsarah (Feb 13, 2020)

CPNY said:


> So if I’m traveling with friends and they have the MDE App but they don’t have magic bands. Can they still be added to the reservation? How does it work with multiple rooms? Everyone uploads their own credit card in their app and everything they scan with their magic band goes back to their credit card?



Everyone staying in an on-site room should be added to a reservation, and by virtue of that will receive magic bands (except, I believe, children under 3 - mine are older so I don't have direct experience).


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## CPNY (Feb 13, 2020)

paxsarah said:


> Everyone staying in an on-site room should be added to a reservation, and by virtue of that will receive magic bands (except, I believe, children under 3 - mine are older so I don't have direct experience).


Awesome. And they will be able to upload their own cc info to their magic band? Or is it one cc on the reservation for all? I’m thinking in terms of a friends trip


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## Jan M. (Feb 13, 2020)

CPNY said:


> So if I’m traveling with friends and they have the MDE App but they don’t have magic bands. Can they still be added to the reservation? How does it work with multiple rooms? Everyone uploads their own credit card in their app and everything they scan with their magic band goes back to their credit card?



If they are staying in a unit they will receive magic bands. No charge. We've never had more than one unit but I think they would go online to the MDE website, log in under their account and enter the DVC reservation number for their stay to hook it up to their own account instead of yours. I'm not sure if you can have the magic bands being used for the same unit tied to different credit cards. DVC can probably answer that or you might be able to find that out on the MDE website.


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## littlestar (Feb 13, 2020)

DVC Member Services will allow 5 in an SSR one bedroom, but will advise you they don’t provide bedding for the fifth person (you need to bring your own bedding). Once the remodel is finished at SSR, the fifth person will be accommodated with the new fold down bed under the tv.


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## CPNY (Feb 13, 2020)

Jan M. said:


> If they are staying in a unit they will receive magic bands. No charge. We've never had more than one unit but I think they would go online to the MDE website, log in under their account and enter the DVC reservation number for their stay to hook it up to their own account instead of yours. I'm not sure if you can have the magic bands being used for the same unit tied to different credit cards. DVC can probably answer that or you might be able to find that out on the MDE website.


I’m just trying to figure out the whole magic band situation with charging back to the room for things. I’m sure everyone would have to have the reservation number in their app so I can search for fast passes 60 days out. So much to figure out haha


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## paxsarah (Feb 13, 2020)

CPNY said:


> I’m just trying to figure out the whole magic band situation with charging back to the room for things. I’m sure everyone would have to have the reservation number in their app so I can search for fast passes 60 days out. So much to figure out haha



It's been a few years since I've stayed with non-immediate family, so there may be more current processes. As I recall, it was possible for us to apply different credit cards to different people in the same unit by going to the front desk. People in completely separate units should be able to have separate credit cards for charging without issue.


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## CPNY (Feb 13, 2020)

paxsarah said:


> It's been a few years since I've stayed with non-immediate family, so there may be more current processes. As I recall, it was possible for us to apply different credit cards to different people in the same unit by going to the front desk. People in completely separate units should be able to have separate credit cards for charging without issue.


Excellent. Thank you


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## ocdb8r (Feb 13, 2020)

paxsarah said:


> It's been a few years since I've stayed with non-immediate family, so there may be more current processes. As I recall, it was possible for us to apply different credit cards to different people in the same unit by going to the front desk. People in completely separate units should be able to have separate credit cards for charging without issue.



This is correct.  The default (and only thing you are able to do on your own via the app) is one credit card per room, tied to the primary person on the reservation.  The front desk can splice and dice things in many ways, including assigning separate credit cards to each individual on the reservation based on what they charge on their own magic bands or room keys.  They can also allow you to settle the bill with a different credit card (or number of different credit cards) at check-out.



CPNY said:


> I’m just trying to figure out the whole magic band situation with charging back to the room for things. I’m sure everyone would have to have the reservation number in their app so I can search for fast passes 60 days out. So much to figure out haha



The primary reservation holder will actually need to have them listed as one of your family/friends in the app at which point you can add them to your reservation.  Alternatively, the primary reservation holder can call in to Disney and have them added that way.  I do not believe they will be able to associate themselves to your reservation on their own just with the reservation number - action by the primary reservation holder is critical.


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## CPNY (Feb 13, 2020)

ocdb8r said:


> The primary reservation holder will actually need to have them listed as one of your family/friends in the app at which point you can add them to your reservation.  Alternatively, the primary reservation holder can call in to Disney and have them added that way.  I do not believe they will be able to associate themselves to your reservation on their own just with the reservation number - action by the primary reservation holder is critical.



ah ok, it’s similar to staying off property and adding people you’re traveling with for 30 day fast passes I’d assume. So add all those those to the reservation number per room, then go to the front desk and get them bands and link credit cards to each band easy enough.


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## TheHolleys87 (Feb 13, 2020)

CPNY said:


> ah ok, it’s similar to staying off property and adding people you’re traveling with for 30 day fast passes I’d assume. So add all those those to the reservation number per room, then go to the front desk and get them bands and link credit cards to each band easy enough.


If you add them to the reservation more than 11 days prior to checkin, you can choose MB colors (or designs, for an upcharge) and personalize them on the back (we put our initials and the year and resort initials, e.g. xxx20BWV), and the MB will be shipped to your address.  If you add them to the reservation and get them the Disney confirmation number and they link that number to their own MDE account, they can choose and personalize MBs themselves and they'll be shipped to their home address.  If less than 11 days before checkin, personalized MBs can be chosen but will be waiting for them at the front desk at checkin.

As far as linking different CCs to different people, that needs to be done by them at the front desk.  I don't believe you can go by yourself to have multiple CCs linked - each person will have to set a PIN code for themselves at the desk.  But it is easy to do!


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## CPNY (Feb 13, 2020)

TheHolleys87 said:


> If you add them to the reservation more than 11 days prior to checkin, you can choose MB colors (or designs, for an upcharge) and personalize them on the back (we put our initials and the year and resort initials, e.g. xxx20BWV), and the MB will be shipped to your address.  If you add them to the reservation and get them the Disney confirmation number and they link that number to their own MDE account, they can choose and personalize MBs themselves and they'll be shipped to their home address.  If less than 11 days before checkin, personalized MBs can be chosen but will be waiting for them at the front desk at checkin.
> 
> As far as linking different CCs to different people, that needs to be done by them at the front desk.  I don't believe you can go by yourself to have multiple CCs linked - each person will have to set a PIN code for themselves at the desk.  But it is easy to do!


That is excellent. Thank you so much for the information. That makes life easy. I’ll put my sis in law who does all of the Disney “work” for our trips. I just say yes and follow along lol.


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## TheHolleys87 (Feb 13, 2020)

CPNY said:


> That is excellent. Thank you so much for the information. That makes life easy. I’ll put my sis in law who does all of the Disney “work” for our trips. I just say yes and follow along lol.


Put her as the primary guest on the reservation, give her the Disney confirmation number (you have to call DVC MS for that) to link to her MDE, and let her fly!  Have fun!


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## tschwa2 (Feb 13, 2020)

VAlegacy said:


> Thanks for the response, but I dont understand the redudancy.
> In this instance, I booked a week for my parents.  If I call DVC and tell them the names of the person(s) checking in, what good does a GC do for me?  When they show up the show their ID's and its done.....right?


The redundancy is because RCI has an agreement with the resorts that they will require members to pay the guest certificate fee if anyone other than the member is checking in.


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## VAlegacy (Feb 13, 2020)

TheHolleys87 said:


> Put her as the primary guest on the reservation, give her the Disney confirmation number (you have to call DVC MS for that) to link to her MDE, and let her fly!  Have fun!


I was lucky enough to scoop up one of the recent SSR unloadings.
The main thing is 60 day FP selections.  The way I understand it is that reservation stays in my name until 14 days out with guest cert.  There is no good fp that close.
So could I call DVC now and have them as primaries, give then confirmation to link to MDE so they can book FP and still get GC?
Or is there no way to put them as primary 3 months out?


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## paxsarah (Feb 13, 2020)

tschwa2 said:


> The redundancy is because RCI has an agreement with the resorts that they will require members to pay the guest certificate fee if anyone other than the member is checking in.


But as people have pointed out above, if the member does online check-in and a room occupant uses their magic band to enter the room, as long as the member is on the reservation Disney doesn’t seem to care if they’re actually in the room. They wouldn’t be able to take themselves off the room without getting a guest certificate for their parents, and it wouldn’t work if they wanted the meal plan (because they would have to pay for someone who wasn’t present). But a since it’s OP’s parents, I assume they trust them enough to accept responsibility by being on the reservation while not actually being present.


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## TheHolleys87 (Feb 14, 2020)

VAlegacy said:


> I was lucky enough to scoop up one of the recent SSR unloadings.
> The main thing is 60 day FP selections.  The way I understand it is that reservation stays in my name until 14 days out with guest cert.  There is no good fp that close.
> So could I call DVC now and have them as primaries, give then confirmation to link to MDE so they can book FP and still get GC?
> Or is there no way to put them as primary 3 months out?


I don’t know whether the guest certificate issue affects this or not. However, you can call DVC MS and get the Disney confirmation number and (I hope) add the names and addresses of everyone who will be staying there. If room occupancy allows, you could leave yourself on the reservation to sidestep the guest certificate issue. In any case, the guests listed on the reservation should be able to enter the Disney confirmation number on their MDE and then make FPs when the time comes. It doesn’t matter whether they’re primary on the reservation or not - if they enter the conf # into MDE and their name is on the reservation, they should be able to make FPs at 60 days.


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## Pathways (Feb 14, 2020)

paxsarah said:


> They wouldn’t be able to take themselves off the room without getting a guest certificate for their parents, and it wouldn’t work if they wanted the meal plan (because they would have to pay for someone who wasn’t present).



Adding the meal plan is not an issue either other than you have to pay for each person on the reservation.  Our last few visits we have had family staying offsite.  We get the Deluxe DP and use all the meals at one big dinner for everyone.  There were three of us on the reservation for two nights.  That paid for the entire meal for six, app+entree+desert+alc bev.   They don't care how many meals you use at once or who is there as long as at least one person is there with a magic band tied to the room.


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## paxsarah (Feb 14, 2020)

Pathways said:


> Adding the meal plan is not an issue either other than you have to pay for each person on the reservation.



Right. My point was that if they wanted to circumvent the need for a guest certificate by adding the parents but not taking themselves off the reservation (but not actually going on vacation with them), that would be a bad choice if the parents wanted the meal plan because they'd have to pay for a person who wasn't even there. I guess in the OP's case, we don't actually know if the OP is also going to be on site in a different unit, or not at WDW at all. Your advice works for the former situation, mine was aimed toward the latter.


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## VAlegacy (Feb 14, 2020)

paxsarah said:


> Right. My point was that if they wanted to circumvent the need for a guest certificate by adding the parents but not taking themselves off the reservation (but not actually going on vacation with them), that would be a bad choice if the parents wanted the meal plan because they'd have to pay for a person who wasn't even there. I guess in the OP's case, we don't actually know if the OP is also going to be on site in a different unit, or not at WDW at all. Your advice works for the former situation, mine was aimed toward the latter.


Not going.  The idea of online check-in is a good one, but the risk of there being a glitch and them having to go to front desk isn't worth the $90.
Thanks everyone for the responses.


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## Deb & Bill (Mar 7, 2020)

If your guests want to use their own credit cards, they will probably need to go to the front desk and get the card assigned to their magic band and no others.  Otherwise, the credit card for the lead guest is used.


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## TheHolleys87 (Mar 7, 2020)

Deb & Bill said:


> If your guests want to use their own credit cards, they will probably need to go to the front desk and get the card assigned to their magic band and no others.  Otherwise, the credit card for the lead guest is used.


Yes, and they should go to the front desk the next day (after making at least one charge) and ask for a statement, to make sure the charges are going to the correct CC. It’s easier to fix earlier in the trip than later!


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