DVC moving to II effective Jan 1 2022 [MERGED]

[Ty1on]

I will never exchange into a Hilton, because of the fees.

 

[dougp26364]

Yes they will, but will RCI be able to charge $25 per day for Orlando resorts through exchange, when Marriott 2 bedrooms charge no such fees and are nicer than Hilton. Last Hilton I stayed in Orlando, I was assigned a first floor unit with roaches constantly on the floor in the kitchen. That never has happened to me at a Marriott..

Hilton is making a mint off of those fees. When I see reduced TPU inventory at Hilton in RCI, I consider taking it, but I will only do that once a year to get my Hilton Aspire credit card credit for the $25 per day fee.

If Hilton moves to II and charges those fees of $25 per day, I see Disney charging $285 to II exchangers. Maybe that is going to be the little catch that II agreed to. I would make a deal like that, if I was DVC. I would still take a Disney SSR or OKW over anything else. Yes, I am that crazy.

I know what my DVC points are worth. I have been renting them for $20 per point through go-Koala.com My 500 points would get me less than 3 weeks at Disney in a one bedroom. I rent my points for $12-13 over MF's and exchange into Disney. The only difficult times to get are October-December., so we suffer at Marriott

I would pay the $285, if that is the new price.

FWIW, both DRI and Westgate, which exchange through II, already charge resort fees. Hilton is far from the only timeshare charging daily resort fees to non-owners.

 

[bnoble]

There's just something about Disney for me. I cannot tell you the answer to that question.

Our son [...] has never gotten the Disney magic.

I wrote this in another thread, but I think it captures some of this:

Subjectively, being in a Disney resort provides a seamless experience of "never leaving the bubble." The entire time is spent in curated space that is part of the larger WDW Resort, and the outside world tends to melt away a little bit in ways that it might not if you are staying off-property. (There are some non-Disney resorts that provide some of this experience too, most notably Wyndham Bonnet Creek.) Some people place a very high value on this, others find it not very important at all. You probably won't know how this impacts you until you try it. I happen to like it, but also find Bonnet Creek's version close enough for rock-n-roll.

 

[rickandcindy23]

FWIW, both DRI and Westgate, which exchange through II, already charge resort fees. Hilton is far from the only timeshare charging daily resort fees to non-owners.

That would be okay to pay fees for Point at Poipu. I would be okay with that one, but not Westgate Lakes or any Diamond in Orlando. I have too many great options, as I know you do as well. No reason to pay fees for nothing.

 

[Dean]

I talked to a few friends today about Disney inventory, people who are used to traveling elsewhere with weeks I advised them to buy (always SBP and SDO). I was telling them I was excited about the news. They asked me why I would stay in a small unit, when I can get the 2 bedrooms at Marriott resorts that they have grown to love.

There's just something about Disney for me. I cannot tell you the answer to that question.

Our son and daughter-in-law are no longer interested in staying at DVC in one bedrooms. With the soon-to-be-born twins (any day now as she is at 35.5 weeks), our son said he didn't want me to book Disney for them anymore. They need 2 bedrooms because their four-year-old needs to be able to sleep without crying babies. I was surprised, but he has never gotten the Disney magic. He doesn't get up early for magic hours in the AM, and he doesn't like keeping Elizabeth up late for late-night hours. What other benefits are there, except not having to park at the transportation center to get into Magic Kingdom. That's a rhetorical question, unless you have an answer for me. The buses don't help me much. I think waiting for buses is frustrating. We have waited as much as 40 minutes for a bus after long days at the parks.

We do enjoy staying on property and much of it is an emotional component. But we also enjoy staying off property. We just find they feel different and enjoy different components of each option. Since we tend to drive routinely it's not a big deal either way for us.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I wrote this in another thread, but I think it captures some of this:

That is all true. I feel that way.

But I still do not like paying for Disney food. Just when they get something I really like, they take it away. The french dip burger at Epcot in the restaurant with the umbrellas near Spaceship Earth, that was such a good burger, and they got rid of it!

We treat our kids and grandkids to Biergarten, when we have a bunch of us going, but to pay that kind of money for food is not something we regularly do. I did love eating at Be Our Guest, both the Covid steak experience, which was excellent and fun and not crowded, to the lunch we used to do. It's a great experience. We also enjoyed the prime rib at Hollywood and Vine. The characters came out and stood 10 feet away, waving, which was okay with our granddaughter. I think that was like $70 per person + tip. It was family style, all we could eat. I liked it but so expensive!

We went to a bunch of restaurants with our son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter Elizabeth last May and it was tough for the two of us to pay that much for our food, and they didn't even expect us to pay for their food because they can afford it better than we can. Mama Melrose's was reasonably priced and so good. I think we will take our oldest son and his family to that one next month. The chicken parm was excellent. I know Jay will love it it because he is fond of Italian food.

So many great restaurants near Disney to enjoy. If only I could consider not getting a rental car and applying that money to Disney food. I just don't see that happening.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We do enjoy staying on property and much of it is an emotional component. But we also enjoy staying off property. We just find they feel different and enjoy different components of each option. Since we tend to drive routinely it's not a big deal either way for us.

That is lucky you can drive to Disney World. We are 1,850 miles away. We are driving in January, stopping along the way to enjoy some sites. I think we will drive more often, if Rick would retire completely, but we still have the chimney cleaning business.

 

[Dean]

That is lucky you can drive to Disney World. We are 1,850 miles away. We are driving in January, stopping along the way to enjoy some sites. I think we will drive more often, if Rick would retire completely, but we still have the chimney cleaning business.

While we are close enough to drive, we routinely rent a car no matter where we go. We'll be in Aruba in Jan, a place where many don't rent a car, but we have and always do.

 

[noreenkate]

That is all true. I feel that way.

But I still do not like paying for Disney food. Just when they get something I really like, they take it away. The french dip burger at Epcot in the restaurant with the umbrellas near Spaceship Earth, that was such a good burger, and they got rid of it!

We treat our kids and grandkids to Biergarten, when we have a bunch of us going, but to pay that kind of money for food is not something we regularly do. I did love eating at Be Our Guest, both the Covid steak experience, which was excellent and fun and not crowded, to the lunch we used to do. It's a great experience. We also enjoyed the prime rib at Hollywood and Vine. The characters came out and stood 10 feet away, waving, which was okay with our granddaughter. I think that was like $70 per person + tip. It was family style, all we could eat. I liked it but so expensive!

We went to a bunch of restaurants with our son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter Elizabeth last May and it was tough for the two of us to pay that much for our food, and they didn't even expect us to pay for their food because they can afford it better than we can. Mama Melrose's was reasonably priced and so good. I think we will take our oldest son and his family to that one next month. The chicken parm was excellent. I know Jay will love it it because he is fond of Italian food.

So many great restaurants near Disney to enjoy. If only I could consider not getting a rental car and applying that money to Disney food. I just don't see that happening.

For what it’s worth I attended Destination D, and D’Amaro made a big deal that FOOD is coming back…a big part of our Disney trips is dining especially EPCOT festival so this was great news for us.

 

[travelhacker]

I was originally planning a 4 week trip to Florida.

I can work from home and the plan was that we wanted to stay in DVC for 2 weeks so my wife didn't have to drive to the parks alone with the kids (she doesn't like driving in unfamiliar places). Then we'd spend 2 weeks in other resorts (maybe Hyatt Coconut Plantation).

This whole change is putting a damper on that plan. From my limited research. It looks like June didn't get deposited to RCI until the middle of January. Unless DVC is sitting on a bunch of deposits, I am guessing I will need to use II to make this plan happen.

Anyone want to speculate on the latest RCI deposit we will see?

 

[Ty1on]

I was originally planning a 4 week trip to Florida.

I can work from home and the plan was that we wanted to stay in DVC for 2 weeks so my wife didn't have to drive to the parks alone with the kids (she doesn't like driving in unfamiliar places). Then we'd spend 2 weeks in other resorts (maybe Hyatt Coconut Plantation).

This whole change is putting a damper on that plan. From my limited research. It looks like June didn't get deposited to RCI until the middle of January. Unless DVC is sitting on a bunch of deposits, I am guessing I will need to use II to make this plan happen.

Anyone want to speculate on the latest RCI deposit we will see?

My speculation is NLT mid-May, UNLESS some DVC owner is set on exchanging for a specific RCI resort and gets her deposit in before the year rolls.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The latest one I have gotten was 4/17, and I was so excited to get it before the change.

I am currently making big changes to our timeshare ownership. Not just the Disney change precipitating my choices, it's more the general disdain Wyndham has for owners who rent inventory they cannot use but own and pay fees religiously. I must admit that I have even considered giving Wyndham back everything Wyndham. I am doing that with Shell, and I am going to sell WorldMark to get out.

When I had to deposit Wyndham points to RCI, I was always okay with it because I knew I could get Disney, and I knew I could get Shearwater, and there are some Hiltons I knew I could get with ongoing searches. I just had to be flexible. Take Disney out, and if Hilton leaves RCI, it doesn't leave much for me. I don't know that Hilton is moving, but they could.

If only I could get more Val Chatelle winter weeks through exchange. The kids love it and would stay there long weekends to ski. All of my kids love that one. That is RCI.

 

[aamarquez8]

[/QUOTE]

There's just something about Disney for me. I cannot tell you the answer to that question.

Could it be the 'magic' in the Disney bubble?...
2019 was our 1st time at WDW, my DH literally fell in love & bought DVC on that trip.. Endless things to do besides the park & NO driving!!! We can EAT & not gain weight bc of the constant walking. An ideal vacay for us.

 

[timeshare trader]

This is great news!!! The DVC through RCI was way too costly (too many TPUs) unless the exchange was last minute.

DVC released a statement that they would join a curated exchange group consisting of Hyatt, Marriott, Starwood etc. RCI was expensive in TPU but, it was available to all. It seems like II will be housing these in a small group with special access. Doubt DVC will be available to those that don't own the blessed resort groups.

 

[timeshare trader]

The only weeks you would see would have to be deposited between now and NYE. I honestly would predict that most owners in a position to deposit, unless their points are about to expire (I know zero about points expiration and rollover in DVC), are going to hold out and wait until Jan 1 to deposit so as to avail themselves to the new world of possible exchange partners. Of course there is always the possibility that they'll get stuck with one of those filthy, rat-infested MVC properties.

Members still have points that have yet to be used with RCI. There will be deposits through 2022 to reconcile those exchanges

 

[Dean]

DVC released a statement that they would join a curated exchange group consisting of Hyatt, Marriott, Starwood etc. RCI was expensive in TPU but, it was available to all. It seems like II will be housing these in a small group with special access. Doubt DVC will be available to those that don't own the blessed resort groups.

That's not completely accurate. What they said was the following:

Through Interval International, you will have access to thousands of resorts including a specially curated portfolio of high-quality properties selected especially for Members. This expanded portfolio includes well-known resorts offered by Marriott, Sheraton, Hyatt and Westin, to name a few.

Based on past history it's likely the entire II network excluding the regional block resorts and DVC resorts. That's the only way to get to thousands in II. Early on in the previous II tenure, DVC culled through the resorts and evaluated them on an individual basis generally excluding lower rated resorts, new resorts, resorts under construction, resorts with a lot of complaints by members and resorts with limited availability. This meant the DVC list was about 25% of the full II inventory. At the end it was just what I stated above, everything but the regional blocks . Very early on with II DVC only deposited units from the home resort of the DVC member but this was difficult to navigate for DVC and the members.

 

[escanoe]

I am looking at how many TPUs it takes in RCI to book a DVC week. Searching RCI in my weeks account now, there is a 1/14 check-in for SSR that can be had for 45 TPUs. Based on searching TUG, that looks fairly common and they certainly go at higher TPU levels.

Some of the II traded resorts that are reported to have been able to pull DVC units back in the day .... and that some hope will in the future .... I am curious how they shake out once we start seeing sightings in II.

I have heard Sheraton Desert Oasis (SDO) and Sheraton Broadway Plantation (SBP) referred to as good traders that might be attractive to trade into DVC. Well, both of them can also trade in RCI Weeks .... and I don't believe good weeks in those resorts would get you anywhere close to the 45 TPUs needed to book the DVC unit available in RCI Weeks now.

Will they trade better in II for DVC in 2022 than what they did in RCI for 2021? My guess is they probably will. But I wonder how long that will last.

Thinking about this now, I will bet RCI made a boat load of money in combine fees, people paying to save points, and people buying upgrading to or buying RCI point contracts to make it easier for owners to leverage a trade into DVC.

With so much of II being limited to 1 week for 1 week trades, I suspect that may help keep the trading power required to land a DVC unit in II down relative to what it was in RCI. People in the point based mini systems that trade into II on a grid .... my guess is they will have a significant advantage. I look forward to seeing how all this plays out.

While we don't know what II is giving up $$$ to land DVC, I see how this is very good news for both II and all the timeshare systems that somehow fall under Marriott and the companies Marriott owns. And it has to be a huge blow (costing a lot) to both RCI and to a lesser extent the Wyndham side of the business. When HGVC pulls out of RCI, it will be a shell of what it once was. And I say this one as someone that is fairly happy with my RCI Point traders .... and I don't see any of these changes meaning much to me personally.

 

[travelhacker]

I am looking at how many TPUs it takes in RCI to book a DVC week. Searching RCI in my weeks account now, there is a 1/14 check-in for SSR that can be had for 45 TPUs. Based on searching TUG, that looks fairly common and they certainly go at higher TPU levels.

Some of the II traded resorts that are reported to have been able to pull DVC units back in the day .... and that some hope will in the future .... I am curious how they shake out once we start seeing sightings in II.

I have heard Sheraton Desert Oasis (SDO) and Sheraton Broadway Plantation (SBP) referred to as good traders that might be attractive to trade into DVC. Well, both of them can also trade into RCI Weeks .... and I don't believe good weeks in those resorts would get you anywhere close to the 45 TPUs needed to book the DVC unit available in RCI Weeks now.

Will they trade better in II for DVC in 2022 than what they did in RCI for 2021? My guess is they probably will. But I wonder how long that will last.

Thinking about this now, I will bet RCI made a boat load of money in combine fees, people paying to save points, and people buying upgrading to or buying RCI point contracts to make it easier for owners to leverage a trade into DVC.

With so much of II being limited to 1 week for 1 week trades, I suspect that may help keep the trading power required to land a DVC unit in II down relative to what it was in RCI. People in the point based mini systems that trade into II on a grid .... my guess is they will have a significant advantage. I look forward to seeing how all this plays out.

While we don't know what II is giving up $$$ to land DVC, I see how this is very good news for both II and all the timeshare systems that somehow fall under Marriott and the companies Marriott owns. And it has to be a huge blow (costing a lot) to both RCI and to a lesser extent Wyndham. When HGVC pulls out of RCI, it will be a shell of what it once was. And I say this one as someone that is fairly happy with my RCI Point traders .... and I don't see any of these changes meaning much to me personally.

I enjoyed reading your analysis. I hadn't considered it from the perspective of owners needing to pay to combine TPU's, so that explains how they were able to charge just $95 in exchange fees (and I think they were waived for a while).

 

[bnoble]

The exchange fees were paid by the inbound guest in the form of the $190 fee. It used to be split and fhats when the $95 wasn’t waived. At that time the inbound paid the other $95.

 

[dioxide45]

Didn't RCI exchangers also pay the full exchange fee (Currently $259) to RCI?

 

[LMD]

DVC released a statement that they would join a curated exchange group consisting of Hyatt, Marriott, Starwood etc. RCI was expensive in TPU but, it was available to all. It seems like II will be housing these in a small group with special access. Doubt DVC will be available to those that don't own the blessed resort groups.

Good to know! I won’t give up my Vistana unit that I paid $1 for on e-bay!

 

[bnoble]

Didn't RCI exchangers also pay the full exchange fee (Currently $259) to RCI?

Inbounds did, but not the DVC owner exchanging out.

 

[CPNY]

Didn't RCI exchangers also pay the full exchange fee (Currently $259) to RCI?

Yes, $249 exchange fee plus the $190 to DVC at check in

all combined it wasn’t terrible considering the MF on some points contracts are extremely low. Low enough to keep even though DVC left RCI. Well, I have to keep mine until 2023 since I’ve used my 2022 points already. I’m just hoping the trip in May is still on. The testing requirements to come back into the US may damper that trip. Not sure I can find a 24 hour turnaround in Tahiti

 

[dioxide45]

Yes, $249 exchange fee plus the $190 to DVC at check in

all combined it wasn’t terrible considering the MF on some points contracts are extremely low. Low enough to keep even though DVC left RCI. Well, I have to keep mine until 2023 since I’ve used my 2022 points already. I’m just hoping the trip in May is still on. The testing requirements to come back into the US may damper that trip. Not sure I can find a 24 hour turnaround in Tahiti

You may be able to use the Abbott test with eMed proctor. This is an instant test you take "at home". Others reported taking the test(s) with them on their trip and using those results to return to the US. In fact @Sandy VDH did the test while on a sailboat. Not sure if it was a Tradewinds sailboat, but may very well have been. See this thread;

Abbott’s BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag At-Home Test Kit and my EXPERIENCE using it

I just returned from BVI to USVI and used....... Abbott’s BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag At-Home Test Kit NOTE the SELF version is not proctored and can NOT be used for entry into the US, but the HOME version can be used. Also not good for Canada as they require a PCR test. It was cheaper and easier...

tugbbs.com

 

[CPNY]

You may be able to use the Abbott test with eMed proctor. This is an instant test you take "at home". Others reported taking the test(s) with them on their trip and using those results to return to the US. In fact @Sandy VDH did the test while on a sailboat. Not sure if it was a Tradewinds sailboat, but may very well have been. See this thread;

Abbott’s BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag At-Home Test Kit and my EXPERIENCE using it

I just returned from BVI to USVI and used....... Abbott’s BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag At-Home Test Kit NOTE the SELF version is not proctored and can NOT be used for entry into the US, but the HOME version can be used. Also not good for Canada as they require a PCR test. It was cheaper and easier...

tugbbs.com

I’ll reach out to Sandy, it most likely was a TW boat, that’s the boat I’ll be on in May. Thanks for the heads up! As always you come through