Goodbye RCI

[Suzabella]

You may be reading too much into the Swolphin situation. These two resorts were never Disney resorts. They were built by Tishman and have always been operated by Marriott (Sheraton and Westin have since been acquired by Marriott), they didn't have any more status than the resorts on Hotel Plaza Blvd.

Maybe, maybe not but I find the timing of this announcement along with the opening of The Reserve to be interesting. The status that they have is being on property and are considered a Disney hotel regardless of who runs it for most guests. Early on ( 20 years ago or so) we had no idea they weren't run by Disney.

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

Generally, if a DVC member deposits points to the trade partner, the equivalent time in a DVC unit gets deposited to the partner for their users' benefit.

That’s what I thought but I have heard a lot of RCI members talk about getting DVC reservations and not a lot of DVC members talk about getting RCI reservations. Perhaps the unbalanced aspect was one reason to change.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

The status that they have is being on property and are considered a Disney hotel regardless of who runs it for most guests. Early on ( 20 years ago or so) we had no idea they weren't run by Disney.

True, but that lead to problems. Yours truly stayed at the Dolphin not long after it opened. I was very frustrated that I went to concierge to purchase tickets, and they couldn't help. They couldn't tell me about any dining reservations, or help me with anything. They never TOLD me they were not run by Disney. Just "we are using a different computer system". In fact, I remember sending Disney a letter after that stay complaining about that very issue.

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

Generally, if a DVC member deposits points to the trade partner, the equivalent time in a DVC unit gets deposited to the partner for their users' benefit.

Is there any reason DVC has to have an exchange partner. I get it sounds good on paper but it seems like a hassle for them and it’s not a benefit I’ve heard a lot of people use

 

[_auroraborealis_]

That’s what I thought but I have heard a lot of RCI members talk about getting DVC reservations and not a lot of DVC members talk about getting RCI reservations. Perhaps the unbalanced aspect was one reason to change.

It wasn't unbalanced (or unlikely to be) as the exchange requires, well, exchange and balance. There is no pay back to Disney to deposit DVC without DVC points going in the other direction.

However, it could very well be true that people deposited points to RCI then never used them within expiration, or found they didn't like anything available for dates they wished to travel, or otherwise didn't understand the system and forfeited.

Is there any reason DVC has to have an exchange partner. I get it sounds good on paper but it seems like a hassle for them and it’s not a benefit I’ve heard a lot of people use

It's purely a marketing approach - both to hit the incoming exchangers with sales pitch, and also for new direct purchasers. Even on the DIS Buying DVC board, you see a lot of people starry eyed about the exchanges for cruises, "around the world!" and similar, and the exchange partners are a piece of that pitch. I'd guess that many, many more buyers and prospects who have never laid eyes on DIS or other boards believe in the value of the exchange pre-purchase ("we don't even have to go to Disney every year for this to work!!!"). Most buyers never get any more info than they do in their guide pitch.

But legally, the DVC owner contracts even say exchanges are subject to change or even not exist.

 

[DeeCee735]

Will the membership into II be included in our dues as RCI’s was or are we now paying for it? We also didn’t pay exchange fees with RCI , now we have to? TIA, Dee

 

[exchanger]

That’s what I thought but I have heard a lot of RCI members talk about getting DVC reservations and not a lot of DVC members talk about getting RCI reservations. Perhaps the unbalanced aspect was one reason to change.

RCI couldn't just take inventory, points had to be deposited to RCI, and DVC chose which weeks to deposit to RCI. There was no unbalanced aspect.

It will be the same with Interval.

I don't know who would trade DVC with such a robust rental market, but I actually do think that exchange activity will go up with II.

Think of people who bought 15 years ago and their kids have outgrown the annual disney trip. They may not want to go through the hassle of renting (I realize it's not hard, but a lot of people have no idea it exists). If they see Marriott Ko'Olina available, or Easter availability at a Marriott on Hilton Head, that may not seem like a bad trade.

 

[hhisc16]

article about the change from Yahoo
https://www.yahoo.com/now/disney-vacation-club-interval-international-223800960.html

 

[dez1978]

I am very confused by all of this. We just bought DVC in Jan 2020, right before it hit the fan lol. I don't understand how the trading in works, or how to book using those points in another timeshare.

 

[ngl]

We have been DVC owners for 10+ years and HGVC owners for 20+ yrs. Before Hilton spun off HGVC we thought the company owned properties were on par with DVC (maybe slightly less) but since the spin off of HGVC I think the attention to detail has dropped. Having said that, we never have found a RCI property that is truly at either level. We have many HGVC points from making that investment many years ago and always look for RCI properties to exchange but never seem to find great reviews on any (if anyone knows of any like that please let me know!). For those who are not familiar with Hyatt Residence properties, I highly recommend those and they are part of Interval. The one in Siesta Key (Sarasota) FL is definitely one to consider. Right on the beach, small property. Large units. Very much like a vacation condo. Would be somewhat easy to pair with a WDW trip. We live about 1hr from WDW and 1 hr from Sarasota and were happy to see Interval includes Hyatt Residence due to our experience at the Siesta Key property.

 

[erionm]

Will the membership into II be included in our dues as RCI’s was or are we now paying for it? We also didn’t pay exchange fees with RCI , now we have to? TIA, Dee

It will likely still be a corporate membership between DVC and II just like it was with RCI. If DVC is your only timeshare, you can't join either II or RCI separately and I don't see this changing.

 

[Brian Noble]

I've been mulling this around for a bit. For context: I've owned timeshares for about 15 years, currently own five weeks, and have used both RCI and II plus one of the smaller exchanges (Grand Pacific Exchange).

the idea that they bought back a lot of SSR, OKW and AKL so they’d have inventory (from their own points) to deposit to II shortly after January 1 is intriguing. [...] I’ve read that DVC inventory appeared in RCI shortly after DVC switched from II, so that inventory had to come from somewhere.

I suspect DVC matters more to II than II does to DVC. It seems very likely to me that this was a matter of (a) the RCI affiliation was up for renewal, (b) DVCMC negotiated with both RCI and II, and (c) II offered them a better deal.

I was around for the II to RCI switch, and a member of both exchanges. I don't think it was that a lot of inventory got deposited as much as there just weren't many ongoing searches placed at the very beginning, so everything that got deposited ended up in the spacebank. Only the serious timeshare wonks (guilty as charged) knew the change was even happening for a good long while, so the pickings were easy right in the beginning. The same is likely to be true in II, for the same reasons.

It is also possible that DVC will prime the pump a bit, but they will do that speculatively with "regular" inventory. While there is expected to be a balance of inbound and outbound time, most timeshare systems that control (at least some) deposits have a good idea of how much will be deposited, what isn't in demand internally, etc. and will plan ahead rather than get caught at the end of a contract period holding a big imbalance.

touting to members that RCI had the better program with far more places to exchange into than II.

RCI, as a system, is larger and has more destinations and more inventory. II, as a system, has nicer resorts on average. However, there is an important caveat to that:

Looked at Interval’s properties, and they do seem a bit less mediocre than RCI’s.

They are, but most of the higher-quality ones have an internal preference period. For example, most inventory in a Marriott-affiliated resort (Marriott, Vistana Starwood, etc.) that is deposited has an exclusive period for several weeks during which time only other Marriott-preferenced owners can exchange in. In practice, that means the higher-demand Marriott inventory (the nicer Hawaii resorts, summer beachfront Hilton Head, ski-season Park City, etc. etc. etc.) is completely gone by the time non-Marriott exchange requests are considered.

Will DVC requests be given equivalent preference? I think it is unlikely---if memory serves, they didn't the last go-round). If DVC doesn't have access to inventory under preference it significantly limits the upside of this change for Members.

I’m always curious how this works, does the partner (RCI, II) only get points at DVC resorts when a DVC owner wants to trade into their network and vice versa? Or do they each hold a pool of points for each other and add/take as members trade in and out?

There are two ways this can work. One way: the outbound and inbound guests are "balanced." The points relinquished by Members depositing to the exchange company are backed by inventory secured by those points. Every resort that participates in exchange does this to some degree.

There is an (optional) second way: resort developers can deposit developer-owned inventory in order to generate traffic for sales tours from the guests who arrive. Vidanta (a developer of high-end Mexico resorts) is perhaps the most extreme example, but others do this too. Disney by all accounts does not do this. They are easily able to rent out most of the inventory they own, and they spend next to no time trying to convince exchange guests to tour---at least, not beyond what they just do for everyone.

I have heard a lot of RCI members talk about getting DVC reservations and not a lot of DVC members talk about getting RCI reservations

That's probably selection bias. If you are reading Disney boards, you are reading about people primarily staying at Disney.

 

[exchanger]

We have been DVC owners for 10+ years and HGVC owners for 20+ yrs. Before Hilton spun off HGVC we thought the company owned properties were on par with DVC (maybe slightly less) but since the spin off of HGVC I think the attention to detail has dropped. Having said that, we never have found a RCI property that is truly at either level. We have many HGVC points from making that investment many years ago and always look for RCI properties to exchange but never seem to find great reviews on any (if anyone knows of any like that please let me know!). For those who are not familiar with Hyatt Residence properties, I highly recommend those and they are part of Interval. The one in Siesta Key (Sarasota) FL is definitely one to consider. Right on the beach, small property. Large units. Very much like a vacation condo. Would be somewhat easy to pair with a WDW trip. We live about 1hr from WDW and 1 hr from Sarasota and were happy to see Interval includes Hyatt Residence due to our experience at the Siesta Key property.

I've stayed at the HRC in Siesta Key several times and it is amazing. While it is technically in II, it has never been deposited to II. There are only 11 units that are part of the Hyatt Residence Club (the rest are wholly owned), and owners almost always use their own weeks. The handful of times that I've stayed there were from exchanges that were internal in the Hyatt system (and those always go FAST).

There are a lot of great beach destinations within II that I think would be attractive options:

Marriott's Ocean Pointe
Marriott's Oceana Palms
Marriott's Crystal Shores (less likely to get, but if you put in an ongoing search, it could happen)
Marriott's Newport Coast Villas
Hyatt Beach House / Windward Pointe in Key West
Hyatt Coconut Plantation
All the Hilton Head Island Marriott's
Several Westin / Marriott properties in Hawaii -- these do go fast, but if you are willing to trade for a studio and do an ongoing search, you will ABSOLUTELY get these (as long as their deposit patterns don't change). These would provide an excellent value since DVC members would probably pay around 100-150 points. Many of these weeks rent directly from Marriott for $4,000

 

[hhisc16]

I've been mulling this around for a bit. For context: I've owned timeshares for about 15 years, currently own five weeks, and have used both RCI and II plus one of the smaller exchanges (Grand Pacific Exchange).


I suspect DVC matters more to II than II does to DVC. It seems very likely to me that this was a matter of (a) the RCI affiliation was up for renewal, (b) DVCMC negotiated with both RCI and II, and (c) II offered them a better deal.

I was around for the II to RCI switch, and a member of both exchanges. I don't think it was that a lot of inventory got deposited as much as there just weren't many ongoing searches placed at the very beginning, so everything that got deposited ended up in the spacebank. Only the serious timeshare wonks (guilty as charged) knew the change was even happening for a good long while, so the pickings were easy right in the beginning. The same is likely to be true in II, for the same reasons.

It is also possible that DVC will prime the pump a bit, but they will do that speculatively with "regular" inventory. While there is expected to be a balance of inbound and outbound time, most timeshare systems that control (at least some) deposits have a good idea of how much will be deposited, what isn't in demand internally, etc. and will plan ahead rather than get caught at the end of a contract period holding a big imbalance.


RCI, as a system, is larger and has more destinations and more inventory. II, as a system, has nicer resorts on average. However, there is an important caveat to that:


They are, but most of the higher-quality ones have an internal preference period. For example, most inventory in a Marriott-affiliated resort (Marriott, Vistana Starwood, etc.) that is deposited has an exclusive period for several weeks during which time only other Marriott-preferenced owners can exchange in. In practice, that means the higher-demand Marriott inventory (the nicer Hawaii resorts, summer beachfront Hilton Head, ski-season Park City, etc. etc. etc.) is completely gone by the time non-Marriott exchange requests are considered.

Will DVC requests be given equivalent preference? I think it is unlikely---if memory serves, they didn't the last go-round). If DVC doesn't have access to inventory under preference it significantly limits the upside of this change for Members.


There are two ways this can work. One way: the outbound and inbound guests are "balanced." The points relinquished by Members depositing to the exchange company are backed by inventory secured by those points. Every resort that participates in exchange does this to some degree.

There is an (optional) second way: resort developers can deposit developer-owned inventory in order to generate traffic for sales tours from the guests who arrive. Vidanta (a developer of high-end Mexico resorts) is perhaps the most extreme example, but others do this too. Disney by all accounts does not do this. They are easily able to rent out most of the inventory they own, and they spend next to no time trying to convince exchange guests to tour---at least, not beyond what they just do for everyone.


That's probably selection bias. If you are reading Disney boards, you are reading about people primarily staying at Disney.

Do you think Disney will try to use their extra Aulani points into this?

 

[Brian Noble]

They didn't ever do that with RCI. Why would they start now?

 

[Paul Stupin]

I've been mulling this around for a bit. For context: I've owned timeshares for about 15 years, currently own five weeks, and have used both RCI and II plus one of the smaller exchanges (Grand Pacific Exchange).


I suspect DVC matters more to II than II does to DVC. It seems very likely to me that this was a matter of (a) the RCI affiliation was up for renewal, (b) DVCMC negotiated with both RCI and II, and (c) II offered them a better deal.

I was around for the II to RCI switch, and a member of both exchanges. I don't think it was that a lot of inventory got deposited as much as there just weren't many ongoing searches placed at the very beginning, so everything that got deposited ended up in the spacebank. Only the serious timeshare wonks (guilty as charged) knew the change was even happening for a good long while, so the pickings were easy right in the beginning. The same is likely to be true in II, for the same reasons.

It is also possible that DVC will prime the pump a bit, but they will do that speculatively with "regular" inventory. While there is expected to be a balance of inbound and outbound time, most timeshare systems that control (at least some) deposits have a good idea of how much will be deposited, what isn't in demand internally, etc. and will plan ahead rather than get caught at the end of a contract period holding a big imbalance.


RCI, as a system, is larger and has more destinations and more inventory. II, as a system, has nicer resorts on average. However, there is an important caveat to that:


They are, but most of the higher-quality ones have an internal preference period. For example, most inventory in a Marriott-affiliated resort (Marriott, Vistana Starwood, etc.) that is deposited has an exclusive period for several weeks during which time only other Marriott-preferenced owners can exchange in. In practice, that means the higher-demand Marriott inventory (the nicer Hawaii resorts, summer beachfront Hilton Head, ski-season Park City, etc. etc. etc.) is completely gone by the time non-Marriott exchange requests are considered.

Will DVC requests be given equivalent preference? I think it is unlikely---if memory serves, they didn't the last go-round). If DVC doesn't have access to inventory under preference it significantly limits the upside of this change for Members.


There are two ways this can work. One way: the outbound and inbound guests are "balanced." The points relinquished by Members depositing to the exchange company are backed by inventory secured by those points. Every resort that participates in exchange does this to some degree.

There is an (optional) second way: resort developers can deposit developer-owned inventory in order to generate traffic for sales tours from the guests who arrive. Vidanta (a developer of high-end Mexico resorts) is perhaps the most extreme example, but others do this too. Disney by all accounts does not do this. They are easily able to rent out most of the inventory they own, and they spend next to no time trying to convince exchange guests to tour---at least, not beyond what they just do for everyone.


That's probably selection bias. If you are reading Disney boards, you are reading about people primarily staying at Disney.

I was actually glad to see the Marriott Ko Olina listed as a possibility, but if there’s a delay and/or catch in booking the better resorts, then for me this booking exchange will be as worthless as RCI.
The DVC email did mention a “specially curated” list of properties for DVC members. Does anyone have thoughts on what this means? Maybe a chance to book properties that aren’t mediocre?

 

[CarolynFH]

The DVC email did mention a “specially curated” list of properties for DVC members. Does anyone have thoughts on what this means? Maybe a chance to book properties that aren’t mediocre?

It could also mean that II resorts within a certain radius of WDW are blocked out and not available through DVC. RCI resorts within 30 miles were blocked out, including from the last-minute cash offers; I've read that when II was the trading partner, their resorts were blocked out within a 45 mile radius. I guess we have to wait for details and the II resort directory to be posted on the member website.

 

[Brian Noble]

It could also mean that II resorts within a certain radius of WDW are blocked out and not available through DVC.

I'm guessing it also means there is a downward quality filter. If I remember correctly, II is able to prevent someone who owns at a resort that is considered to be "high quality" from booking one that is considered to be "low quality." That's true even if the purported destination is in a high-demand area at a high-demand time, and otherwise would be desirable.

For example, I once booked a stay (via RCI) to what is a very sketchy resort in Granby, CO. To say it was long in the tooth would be an understatement. There were several folks living full time in some of the units as whole-ownership condos. There was at least one group of folks spending a few nights in a camper van in the parking lot during the week.

But, it was also an easy 25 minute drive to the Grand Lake entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, in mid-August, just at the end of peak summer season. I hiked all over the park, including a hike that started straddling the Continental Divide and wound above the tree-line in the alpine tundra, where you can see literally for miles in every direction. I did some kayaking on Grand Lake, ate a bunch of lake trout and elk sausage, and generally had a lovely time in the mountains. I think I paid about $325-$350 for the full week, taxes included. I had read the reviews and knew what I was getting myself into. It was a fantastic vacation, but one that a lot of DVC Members would have been apoplectic about if they'd wandered in thinking they were staying at the Wilderness Lodge. So, a downward quality filter is maybe not a bad idea.

My favorite part of the resort: they have a resident barber and tattoo artist on site. Unfortunately, he was not working that week due to a death in the family.

 

[WalloghbyWay]

I basically got my RCI timeshare in vegas for pennies. During the 2008 housing market crash. I dont believe its worth much still. Any suggestions for cheap II resales?

II will never let you know your trade power. It operates differently than RCI. You cannot combine any sort of “TPU”. So you may end up with a week that doesn’t pull any inventory. Be careful buying an interval trader with the intention of booking DVC. I expect that only high demand resorts in high seasons will be able to pull DVC inventory and those won’t come cheap on resale

 

[Evita_W]

Will the membership into II be included in our dues as RCI’s was or are we now paying for it? We also didn’t pay exchange fees with RCI , now we have to? TIA, Dee

This was a recent trend over the past couple of years, prior to that it was $95 per exchange, so who knows?