Using DVC points for non disney locations

kasey1988

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This is one of the reasons dvc appeals to us, that we could goto non-disney locations...however I can't seem to find any information on how many points is it to stay at different locations.. Ay insight or examples?
 

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
There are different kinds of "different locations"

There are

Disney Collection locations that DO have point charts. These include DLC cruises, non-DVC Disney Location (like other parks or value or moderates at WDW) and Adventure by Disney packages.

You can also trade into RCI and Club Cordial time shares - which for a 1BR is 124 - 160 per week, depending on the season.

Then there is the Concierge Collection - which are higher end resorts. For example the Grand Wailea in Hawaii is 90-100 a night for a garden view.

There are loads of point charts out there. I am sure somone has them posted somewhere. It's not as easy as "its 75 a night" they vary a lot, depending on program, location, and time of year.

Some things to note -

Points bought on the secondary market (ie - resale) are not longer elegible for on DVC use.

While having the option to use your points elsewhere is a great option. if you plan on using your DVC Membership at non-DVC locations on a regular basis, there are far more cost effective vehicles that are available.


Thanks
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Here's the scoop on trading in with DVC. Just the facts. I'll post my opinion below.

If you buy resale you can not trade in for what they call Disney Destinations which include Disney hotel rooms worldwide, Disney cruises or Adventures by Disney which is their guided tour operation. You also cannot trade in for their Concierge Collection which is essentially high end hotels around the world. You can however trade in through RCI and I believe Club intrawest at over 500 resorts worldwide or use your points at any of the existing or future DVC locations. Here are some point examples from the DVC vacation planner:

Disney Destinations:
WDW: between 18 and 32 points per night for a moderate, between 39 and 152 points per night for a deluxe.
Disneyland: Between 25 and 113 points per night.
DLP: between 24 and 110 points per night.
Hong Kong: Between 39 and 57 points per night
Tokyo: Between 44 and 89 points per night.

Disney Cruise Line (Per person not per room):
3 night Bahamas Cruise: cheapest room between 74 and 114 points, room with verandah between 84 and 131 points, deluxe family stateroom with verandah between 96 and 177 points.
7 night Caribbean Cruise: cheapest room between 168 and 231, deluxe ocean view with verandah between 190 and 287 points, deluxe family stateroom with verandah between 220 and 376 points.
14 night Mediterranean Cruise: cheapest room 147 to 177 points, most expensive between 317 and 347.
7 night Alaska Cruise: cheapest room 157-204, most expensive 388-426.

Adventures by Disney (Per person not per room):
6 night Costa Rica 443
9 night Ecudor 1003
Various 7 and 8 night trips in Europe between 568 and 1,000 points
11 nights Australia 1,076
9 nights Egypt 836

Concierge Collection:
Ranges from 31 to 127 points depending on resort and time of year.

RCI Exchanges:
I have never done this, but I believe how it works is you deposit a weeks worth of points into the RCI inventory essentially making a week available for someone who wants to trade in using RCI. Then you book a week somewhere else that you want to go. It's all based on availablility. Whether you want a 1, 2 or 3 bedroom room as well as time of year will dictate how many points you need to use to trade in. Assume that if you want a 1 bedroom somewhere else you will need to fork over enough points for a week in a 1 bedroom at DVC.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Basically if you look at the point totals trading in is not usually going to be an economic way to spend your DVC points. With a small amount of paperwork you can rent your DVC points for $11 each so if you multiply the point totals above by $11 you will get the implied cost or opportunity cost of your trade in. By that I mean what you could rent your points for compared to the actual cost to just rent the room directly.

For instance lets say you wanted to trade in for a stay at Coronado Springs in the summer. That's 25 points a night or $275 a night for the room. You can get a room at the same time at the Polynesian for around 70 points per night or $770 a night. These are higher than rack rates and often times you could book the rooms with either a discount or free dining.

The cruise is even a worse deal. For 2 people to take a 7 night Caribbean Cruise in a deluxe stateroom with verandah in July it would cost you 574 points valued at over $6,300 if rented out. Booking the same cruise directly paying cash is a little over $5,000. With the extra $1,000+ you could pay for airfare and/or souvenirs. I can't see anyone trading in very often for the Disney Adventures. If you have enough money to own over 1,000 DVC points you can probably just book a trip like this on your own. Just my opinion.

RCI is a little trickier to gauge. You are trading in a week for a week so the only thing you miss out on is the quality. DVC is at the top of the timeshare food chain. They are very nice resorts and you also pay high maintenance fees and upfront costs. Trading in once and a while is probably not going to change you bottom line a whole lot, but repeated trade ins mean you are paying top dollar but getting lesser accommodations. Again, just my opinion. I have stayed at a number of timeshare resorts through RCI and they have all been pretty good.

One more thing to consider. If you don't think you will go to WDW every year but maybe every other year and you are planning on trading in through RCI on the off years consider buying half the points you would need and banking and borrowing. Then you have your DVC room every other year but are free to stay anywhere you want in the off years or even consider buying an additional timeshare for the off years that is connected with RCI but would be much cheaper to buy.
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
As @GoofGoof pointed out, using your DVC points for non Disney stays is usually not the best use of your points. Not only do the points carry less value than if you used them with DVC, but you also end up paying additional fees for the point conversion. For instance, if you did want to stay at Coronado Springs, not only are you paying the 25 points per night as GoofGoof said, you also have to pay a $95 fee to make the booking. Currently this is waived at DLR due to the lack of DVC units, but it's an added cost that needs to be taken into account in most instances. I'm fairly certain that there is also a fee associated with doing the RCI trade, but I don't recall how much.
 

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