# Newbie questions about buying DVC



## DTD1990 (Jun 9, 2015)

Hi,

I am considering buying into the DVC system.  I own some weeks with Starwood and am familiar with how timeshares generally work, but have some questions regarding DVC:

1)  I plan on buying resale and would likely purchase around 160 points with the plan of combining two-years together to have enough points to reserve a 2-bedroom unit every other year.  My question is when I bank and have 320 points to reserve, will the entire amount of points (banked and current use year points) be eligible for the 11 month reservation window for my home resort.

2) How does the resale ownership work with "My Disney" online in terms of booking dining 6 months out/fastpass+/magical express/ and online check-in?


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## JimMIA (Jun 9, 2015)

DTD1990 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am considering buying into the DVC system.  I own some weeks with Starwood and am familiar with how timeshares generally work, but have some questions regarding DVC:
> 
> 1)  I plan on buying resale and would likely purchase around 160 points with the plan of combining two-years together to have enough points to reserve a 2-bedroom unit every other year.  My question is when I bank and have 320 points to reserve, will the entire amount of points (banked and current use year points) be eligible for the 11 month reservation window for my home resort.


Yes, all home resort points can be used at 11 months.

Also, you can actually combine 3 years of points with a combination of banking, borrowing, and current year points.



> 2) How does the resale ownership work with "My Disney" online in terms of booking dining 6 months out/fastpass+/magical express/ and online check-in?


There are zero differences between resale points and regular points for those items.  In fact, those things have absolutely nothing to do with DVC -- they are perks of staying at any onsite Disney resort.

The only restriction on resale points _currently_ is that you cannot use resale points for Disney Collection (cruises, Disney hotels, etc) and you cannot participate in the DCL Members Only cruise.  That doesn't mean that additional restrictions couldn't be implemented later, but currently that's it -- and those things are VERY expensive options.


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## elaine (Jun 9, 2015)

home resort booking @ 11 months is tied to the resort that the points are at--whether current year, banked, or borrowed or even transferred in (those keep the 11 mth advantage of where they are--so if you own AKV and transfer in VWL points, you get 11 mths @ VWL for the transferred points). So, yes, all points get 11 mths. You must have all the points in the UY in which you are making the reservation and cannot undo them. For ex. I have 160 AKV points with a Dec 1UY. I want a reservation for Christmas 2015. I had to bank my Dec 2014 points to my 2015 UY to be able to make a reservation with the points for Dec 15, 2015, as my 2014 UY expired Dec 1, 2015. So, I could use all of my banked 2014 points and all of my 2015 points for the reservation, and could have even borrowed my 2016 points, as well. So, you really have to think about when you typically travel to get a good UY. We plan to use our AKV points for December-April travel, so the Dec UY works really well for us. We have until July 31 to bank for the follow year. Even with summer travel, we would usually know by July 31 if we were going to cancel a trip, as you need 31 days+ to cancel and get the points fully restored to your account. Under 31 days, they go into a "holding account" and cannot be banked or borrowed and can only be booked at 60 days or less out--still very generous (IMHO) if you have to cancel a trip at the last minute. We love DVC and just bought more points after having a small contract for 7 years. My only complaint is the cost (high) compared to other cents on the dollar TS.
My Disney and everything else works the same whether direct or resale. There are some things you don't get--not eligible for trading into Disney collections, no Disney member cruise/ABD and no using DVC points for DCL or ABD.  If you find you really want to do the members cruise or a special ABD trip for only members, you can always buy a small add-on to then qualify. We qualified for the embers cruise with 35 DVC direct points. Lastly, DVC resale prices have been ticking upwards the past year, so your purchase price might be more than last year (ex. $75PP might now be $79PP). Elaine


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## DTD1990 (Jun 9, 2015)

Thanks for the replies.

A few follow-ups:

The UY I am looking at is March 2016, so if I understand the booking process, I would bank 2016 (160) to 2017 (160) and would have the full 320 points as of March 2017.  Consequently, I could call or reserve online 11 months in advance on March 2017 (in April 2016) since the system would recognize that my points are available at that time right?

Likewise if I wanted to reserve the first week in June 2017, the reservation window would open for me in July 2016 (11 months out) -- correct?

The fact that the month is March has no bearing on when I can reserve at 11 months as long as my reservation is in March or later when my points are deposited right?


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## JimMIA (Jun 9, 2015)

DTD1990 said:


> Thanks for the replies.
> 
> A few follow-ups:
> 
> ...


Exactly.  Use Year has nothing to do with when you book.  It is just that period -- March 1 to the end of February in your example -- when the points are available for use.

Your booking windows, whether 11 months at your home resort or 7 months elsewhere, are governed strictly by your checkin date.

Keep in mind that banking and borrowing (done only when actually making a reservation that requires points from the subsequent year) are irreversible transactions.  Once you do either one, you cannot un-bank or un-borrow.

Also remember that you can only bank during the first 8 months of your Use Year -- with a March UY, by October 31.


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## chalee94 (Jun 9, 2015)

DTD1990 said:


> The fact that the month is March has no bearing on when I can reserve at 11 months as long as my reservation is in March or later when my points are deposited right?



right. if all you had available was March 2018 UY pts, you could still call in april 2016 to book a stay for March 2017 with borrowed pts from March 2018. (you would only have access to that one UY though if you had already used all your banked 2016 UY pts and current 2017 UY pts.)

the big issue with UY is the banking window - the banking window for a mar UY closes on oct 31.  so if you travel late in your UY (say mid-Feb) and need to cancel 2 months out, you would be past your banking window so the current pts would be stuck in that UY and would expire at the end of Feb if not used for another stay by the last day of Feb.  (using banked or borrowed pts already puts you a little at risk since those cannot be moved again to a different UY and will expire at the end of their new UY if not used.)

but if you have a march UY and regularly travel in the spring and summer, you'll still have some time to adjust your plans if you suddenly need to change them and cancel a stay.


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## JimMIA (Jun 10, 2015)

chalee94 said:


> so if you travel late in your UY (say mid-Feb) and need to cancel 2 months out, you would be past your banking window so the current pts would be stuck in that UY and would expire at the end of Feb if not used for another stay by the last day of Feb.


OR...you can deposit the expiring points into RCI, which is certainly the thing to do if you end up with a bunch of points expiring.  Once deposited into RCI, they can be used for RCI exchanges for up to two years...sometimes more.

Some will say that most RCI exchanges will not be DVC quality.  But if you find an exchange that meets your needs for a vacation you wanted to take anyway, I think that is preferable to losing the points to expiration.


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## JimMIA (Jun 10, 2015)

DTD1990 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am considering buying into the DVC system.  I own some weeks with Starwood and am familiar with how timeshares generally work, but have some questions regarding DVC:


Does Starwood exchange via RCI?  

If so, I would certainly explore RCI exchanges into DVC rather than purchasing DVC for every-other-year trips. You already have very nice options in the WDW area.


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## DTD1990 (Jun 10, 2015)

Starwood external exchanges are with Interval International (II), not RCI.  I have not deposited any of my Starwood points into II because the in network Starwood properties are generally nicer than what you can get through II.

I figure that is the same for DVC owners and RCI.  You are depositing a steak and getting back hamburger . . .


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## JimMIA (Jun 10, 2015)

DTD1990 said:


> Starwood external exchanges are with Interval International (II), not RCI.  I have not deposited any of my Starwood points into II because the in network Starwood properties are generally nicer than what you can get through II.
> 
> I figure that is the same for DVC owners and RCI.  You are depositing a steak and getting back hamburger . . .


Not necessarily in either exchange system.  There are some very nice resorts in both II and RCI, including a decent number which are nicer than DVC...but not ONsite at WDW.

I personally would not buy any timeshare for the purpose of exchanging.  I know some do, but I just don't understand exchanging well enough to take that risk.

BUT...if you have DVC points _expiring_, using them even for a bit of a downgrade may be better than not being able to use them at all.

And actually, one of our best Wyndham/RCI exchanges was to a little place on Cape Cod.  It was _maybe_ two stars, but it was spacious, sparkling clean, friendly helpful staff, and 3 miles from my wife's uncle's house.  So for us, for that particular trip, it was PERFECT.  It was one of those exchanges in which WHERE it takes you was much more important than the elegance of the resort, and we would do it again in a heartbeat.


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## dundey (Jun 17, 2015)

JimMIA said:


> OR...you can deposit the expiring points into RCI, which is certainly the thing to do if you end up with a bunch of points expiring.  Once deposited into RCI, they can be used for RCI exchanges for up to two years...sometimes more.
> 
> Some will say that most RCI exchanges will not be DVC quality.  But if you find an exchange that meets your needs for a vacation you wanted to take anyway, I think that is preferable to losing the points to expiration.



Whenever I encounter this type of situation, I rent my DVC points.  I can get $11 - 13 per point for them.  Much better value than going through RCI IMO.

I also have not found resorts in the Disney area that are "nicer than DVC"?


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## JimMIA (Jun 17, 2015)

dundey said:


> Whenever I encounter this type of situation, I rent my DVC points.  I can get $11 - 13 per point for them.  Much better value than going through RCI IMO.


That's a good option for many DVC owners.  It takes a little time and effort, and there is some risk involved, but most rentals work out well.

We also have to keep in mind that the situation we are talking about --options with points that cannot be banked, and are therefore expiring -- is a scenario that *should not occur* in a well-managed DVC account.  But stuff does happen and an owner could find themselves in this fix.  We never did.



> I also have not found resorts in the Disney area that are "nicer than DVC"?


I think it depends on what you want.  None of the other resorts offer the onsite *convenience* of DVC -- proximity, DME to and from the airport, EMH, billing and delivery of purchases to your room, etc.  And also, DVC resorts are always going to be much better themed than non-Disney resorts.

However, there are a number of offsite resorts which offer larger accommodations, more and better amenities, and much lower cost (although I think their cost *in RCI exchanges* will usually be the same as DVC).  And while none of them are ONsite, a number of them are very convenient to the WDW parks and more convenient to everything outside of WDW.

Bottom line, I think it depends on whether the prospective buyer is looking for a timeshare vacation system, or ONLY for WDW.  I think most would agree DVC resorts offer the best all-around accommodations for a WDW visit.  

But if a prospective buyer was looking for a timeshare _system_ for a variety of vacation options_ including_ WDW -- without exchanging via RCI, II or any other exchange vehicle -- most of the better timeshare systems (Marriott, Hilton, Wyndham, Starwood, and others) offer a LOT more variety and MUCH lower cost if purchased resale.  And they also offer much better exchange opportunities.


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