RCI feature of DVC

[Bocko57]

I love going to Disney World but I do like to go to other places. I was reading the DVC Vacation Planner and it stated that "approximately 60% of all exchange requests through RCI receive instant resort and travel-date confirmation." To me that does not sound very good.

So I was wondering if I could get some feedback from DVC members that have used the RCI exchange.

Thanks.

 

[Rob562]

I don't have any personal experience with trading DVC into RCI, but I know through my parents' experience with trading their RCI week to other RCI resorts that a 60% on-the-spot confirmation rate is extremely good.

Quite often, you have to bank your week, and then if your first choice isn't available, you can either see what other options are open, or get put on waiting lists. Your banked week is given a score based on the unit size, amenitied, location and desirability of other people wanting to stay there.

The DVC resorts are VERY desirable, and thus any DVC weeks put into the RCI system will get you a very high score in the trading. A tiny little timeshare in the middle of nowhere will get a relatively low score.

My parents' timeshare week is a mid-August week at a 2-bedroom condo on Cape Cod, in a location convenient to a good chunk of the Cape. It's in demand for an end-of-summer getaway, and thus they always fare well in their trades, though I'd say about 50% they have to be waitlisted to try and get their first-choice.

-Rob

 

[dizzney]

We tried to get Ocean City Maryland for a week this summer, and after waitlisting our DVC week for 3 and 1/2 months, I took it back and actually rented my points directly and used the proceeds to rent in the same location in Ocean City for the cost of 100 points versus the 275 I had to hold with Disney.

That being said, the summer is tough to get at Ocean City and my friend who rents more off season (as she has no children) has never had a problem trading DVC points for RCI vacation,

So the precentage is most likely determined by time of year and location.

 

[tjkraz]

I love going to Disney World but I do like to go to other places. I was reading the DVC Vacation Planner and it stated that "approximately 60% of all exchange requests through RCI receive instant resort and travel-date confirmation." To me that does not sound very good.

So I was wondering if I could get some feedback from DVC members that have used the RCI exchange.

Thanks.

It may help to understand what RCI does. RCI is a trading company. They coordinate trades among timeshare owners who want to go outside of their native system.

In doing so, RCI does not have unfettered access to the room inventories of its partners. They can only give you what has been deposited.

With that said, trading works best if you:

1) Start looking extremely early--more than a year before you wish to travel is ideal.
2) Are flexible with regard to the dates, destination resort and even villa size that you are trading into.
3) Own a resort that has good "trading power" (which DVC reportedly does.)

I'll ignore #3 above since DVC reportedly does trade well. As for points 1 and 2, you shouldn't go into this thinking that you can trade into prime vacation destinations during peak seasons on short notice. Again, the best thing you can do is start looking early and be flexible.

For instance, if you want to go to Colorado during ski season, the best approach is to begin your search 12+ months in advance, choose multiple resorts that you consider acceptable and a range of dates that work for you.

If you pigeonhole yourself into one resort and one specific arrival date, the odds for success are relatively slim. Again, another timeshare owner MUST deposit exactly what you want in order for you to be matched. (Oh, and you have to be the first person to grab it, too!)

This isn't like booking a DVC room where you call 7 months out and they can tell you exactly which resorts, villa sizes and views are available for your dates. RCI inventory is much smaller, and there is much greater competition among RCI traders for the prime destinations.

Hearing that DVC successfully matches 60% of the time is actually surprising. Probably a testament to DVC's trading power. But realize that trading can be much more difficult than booking within your native system. Maintain realistic expectations.

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

This is our first year doing Disney with RCI. We put in an ONGOING Search for any and all of the DVC resorts. Unfortunately, our dates aren't that flexible (first week of DEC). I'm hoping with the variety of resorts we put in, that will help our chances. It will be a SAT-SAT so I hope that helps. My understanding is: when there's a match to your ongoing search, they email and then you have to accept within 24 hours?

Thanks for the feedback and help!

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I love going to Disney World but I do like to go to other places. I was reading the DVC Vacation Planner and it stated that "approximately 60% of all exchange requests through RCI receive instant resort and travel-date confirmation." To me that does not sound very good.

So I was wondering if I could get some feedback from DVC members that have used the RCI exchange.

Thanks.

I bought a DVC contract last year that was loaded with a years worth of points that were going to expire and I only had a month to use them so I put them in RCI. Right after I searched what was around and booked a week in Vail Colorado, I will let you know how it goes (we go in February) but we booked it almost a year in advance. That said, it seems like a good use of the points, and the booking process was pretty fast, I don't know if it was instantaneous but I think I found out within the day or so.

 

[RememberWhen]

We have a non-DVC timeshare that we trade into RCI. We have used it to book DVC in the past (several years ago) and have booked various other places. There’s a pretty nice place in Brewster on Cape Cod that we stayed in not too long ago. There are tons of RCI options, but we always try to book “Gold Crown” properties. You can limit your search to only these. They are awarded Gold Crown status for being nicer than other places. If DVC resorts are your baseline, you will want to be sure you follow this. We stayed at two gold crown resorts over the holidays and they come nowhere near DVC level on any scale. I’m sure there are some great places out there, but I think most people do better to rent their DVC points and pay cash for a different place.

 

[cmwade77]

In our experience RCI exchanges out of Disney are easy and we have always had instant confirmation. I think the times where you might not is if reservation desk of the hotel you are trying to exchange into is closed, you may need to wait until the next business day or so.

We have had friends that have non Disney timeshares and have had a very hard time reading into a Disney hotel. I have heard of people waiting for weeks and months and still not getting a Disney hotel.