Trade with II; why not DVC?

I am debating buying a Marriott week vs. a Disney share (probably looking at 300 points). It has been said on this board that Marriott is a better program to trade with II than is DVC. Why is that? Thanks!

Marriott does not have an internal trading program like DVC where you can reserve at another DVC. So to compensate, in II Marriott owners are giving a 21 day priority over other non-Marriott owners. Basically, for the first 21 days of a Marriott deposit only other Marriott owners with comparable trade will be able to see the trade. Usually what happens is that the units may not make it to the general II population especially if you need to travel during peak times. With Marriott you can search online at your desktop where with DVC you are that mercy of the CM. I think, DVC procedures make it difficult for owners to trade within II.

Other timeshare companies may have similar agreements. I believe Starwood has a 3 day window.

Some other comparable properties to DVC rarely get deposited like Four Seasons, Hyatt... Hilton properties trade through RCI.

I think, most DVC owners do not see any value in exchainging their DVC points for other timeshares. However, all this is personal preference.

I own DVC and Marriott so I have the best of both worlds.

I concur, except that the Marriott 21-day exchange priority was changed to 24 days about six years ago. It can be as few as 3 days during the last 59 days ("Flexchange") before check-in.

skidoc said:

I am debating buying a Marriott week vs. a Disney share (probably looking at 300 points). It has been said on this board that Marriott is a better program to trade with II than is DVC. Why is that? Thanks!

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People who buy DVC go there. It is a fact that most DVC Owners, and I mean the vast majority, NEVER trade their weeks in II. It is most times easier to rent your DVC points out and rent from an owner of a Marriott or any other timeshare. You will get the timeshare you want and have money left in your pocket to pay your expenses.

Think of it this way. If you want to stay at a DVC resort at any other than shoulder or off season times. if you want a two bedroom villa, if you want a specific DVC resort--Then you better buy DVC.

If you occassionally go to Walt Disney World, if you can travel at off times like Sept and January, and if you like the multiple resort idea Marriott offers then go with Marriott.

I go back to this:

If you want DVC you should buy there. There is no guarantee you will be able to trade into DVC with a Marriott.

But there is a very good chance you can trade into a Marriott if you own DVC.

I own both. I like both. I can't remember having a bad DVC experience. I can think of a few bad Marriott vacations.

Based on you post I am assuming you would not go to Disney every year. So I would suggest buying resale 150 points at a DVC resort you like. However, if it is AKV or SSR you could purchase from DVC.

Than I would purchase an EOY Marriott (non Orlando), for example shadow ridge platinum for appx $5000.

Reasons against DVC II Trades:

1. No II online account to view availability
2. No short notice "flextime" trades
3. DVC resorts cost $$ in maintenance fee it is not economically advantageous to trade something that you pay $$$$ in MF to get something someone else deposted for $$

Not having an online II account is huge if you want to exchange, but saying that, Most serious exchangers that love disney, own dvc and use other stuff for trading on II.

It's also way more expensive to trade DVC in II than a Marriott or Starwood. My $500 Starwood resale weeks (lockoffs) give me Westin/Sheraton priority and I can trade a 1BR into a 2BR just about anywhere. And it only cost me $500. DVC is at the minimum $60 a point so it's just too pricy for trading alone.

I agree with the suggestion to buy the minumum at Disney (160) if buying direct or buy a nice resale contract. Then buy an "el cheapo" trader like a platinum season Marriott or Starwood property. You can even find some EOY units so you don't get burdened with the MFs. That's the perfect combination to own!

We bought direct from DVC at Animal Kingdom recently because there were such great purchase incentives (including a bunch of free points that is taking us to Beach Club this fall for free for a week)! It made it worth while to pay a bit more to buy directly from the developer.

Katherine

We just visited DVC yesterday, for Kidani at Animal Kingdom. Definitely very impressive, to say the least.

Reading here, though, it seems like this is a good deal (buying DVC) if one really wants to go to Disney resorts (either home resort, or other Disney), and trading is not as great an option.

We travel a lot each year, a bunch if short trips (weekends domestically, long weekends internationally). Maybe 10-15 trips a year. This works out to about 15 or so international hotel nights and a bunch of domestic. So. we'll be trading.

With a 160 point DVC (160 is still the minimum- another thread had a conjecture that it was going to 170), we could get 2 Fri/Sat/Sun weekends (78 points each), and this would amount to the $75 (maybe $95 now) exchange fee plus the $754 maintenance fee, so ~$830 for the two weekend. There could be EUR 400 or so/night (although one can find cheaper). So, this is, maybe $3000/year to be conservative, if you got rooms of that calibre. Then we're saving, let's say, $2000/year with this. At $15,300 for the 160 points (with $8 incentive), this is paid in less than 8 years.

On face, it looks good. But availability in some places (Italy, for example) is slim. We don't know yet about actual availability for Short Stays.

It seems like those with multi-axis (DVC and other) knowledge feel that Marriott would be a better use of the same funds for this sort of travel pattern.

What if one visited Disney every 2-3 years? Would the availability for those times be enough to compensate for the shortcomings in trade? Sounds like we could rent out in the off year and make enough to get the world-wide hotel rooms, maybe even at a minor profit (food is expensive in EUR as well ).

SDKath said:

I
We bought direct from DVC at Animal Kingdom recently because there were such great purchase incentives (including a bunch of free points that is taking us to Beach Club this fall for free for a week)! It made it worth while to pay a bit more to buy directly from the developer.

Katherine

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I was thinking about the "free" points, and it seems that it's just the points that one would have gotten the current year if the facility existed, as in a more standard purchase, so they're not "free" in that sense compared to buying an existing property and getting points in the first year. One does save the maintenance in the first year with these gifted points, so that saves $4.71/point. At 230 points, that.s about $1080 in savings. Of course,if one put the principle into a 5% account and buys next year, one just about breaks even. In a 3% account, the incentive is about $400. I think the $8/point is the good incentive from the developer, but one could possibly do better on the secondary market.

Just what was running through my head about the same deal last night.

Cheers.

I'm going to mention something that a pp mentioned because it can't be stressed enough.

Don't buy an Orlando Marriott to trade into DVC - there is a regional block. It can't be done. Same with HHI. You can't trade into DVC HHI with another HHI property. I can trade into WDW DVC with my Marriott HHI and can trade into DVC HHI with my Marriott Orlando though based on availalbility.

We own both and they do complement each other nicely.

We own pts to stay at DVC when we want to for the length of stay we want. We got other TS to trade into DVC if we can or use at other places. I don't see DVC as something to trade with.....however on a selfish note I highly recommend people trade their DVC. I can't trade into it if people are not trading out of DVC!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Neither Marriott nor DVC are cheap traders and neither one will readily get you into the other's most popular resorts or during prime season. Both provide more ready access to their own beautiful resorts in prime seasons whereas trading into either one, by using a cheaper (but quality) trade week is easy in mid-season or low-season, just not so much in prime seasons. For offseason travel, you don't need the high expense of either of these for your trade deposits, so both are overpriced as traders then, IMO.

If you want high season travel, these (DVC and Marriott) are good examples of when you ought to buy where you want to vacation most. If you want the option of using your ownership to vacation during high season, which company has the resorts where you want to vacation more than half the time?

laxmom said:

I'm going to mention something that a pp mentioned because it can't be stressed enough.

Don't buy an Orlando Marriott to trade into DVC - there is a regional block. It can't be done. Same with HHI. You can't trade into DVC HHI with another HHI property. I can trade into WDW DVC with my Marriott HHI and can trade into DVC HHI with my Marriott Orlando though based on availalbility.

We own both and they do complement each other nicely.

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interesting note.... can you trade a Marriott to a Marriott in Orlando?

OnMedic said:

interesting note.... can you trade a Marriott to a Marriott in Orlando?

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Yes, you can. Along with a handful of other resorts.