Trading for non-DVC resorts?

[Mickey 101]

I am not a DVC member and I'm weighing advantages/disadvantages........at first glance, it appears that DVC is a good value when travelling to places such as Europe, Hawaii and other destinations outside the 48 states that typically have very expensive resorts. Other than the obvious benefits associated with staying at WDW, this seems to me to be a real plus of DVC. Is it as good as it looks? Is it difficult to make trades through Interval International?

[DVC Mike]

I don't recommend buying DVC if the primary purpose is to use it to trade out. You get the biggest bang for your buck using your points to stay at DVC resorts.

If you're looking to trade out a lot to other timeshares, it's much better to purchase another (less expensive) timeshare to trade with, given the cost of DVC. That is, people should not purchase DVC with the intent of using it to trade out a lot (just like you shouldn't purchase DVC with the intent of staying in the Disney Collection all the time).

Those who don't own another timeshare can probably just rent the timeshare in Europe for less than the value of their points.

However, if you have the points available and either don't have the cash on hand or dislike having to deal with the hassle of trying to rent out your points, using your points to trade out to World Passport / Interval International can be a good thing for those wanting to travel beyond the Mouse.

Thus, having the World Passport Collection available does offer the flexibility of staying in 500+ places around the world.

[Sharon1026]

I agree with DVC Mike.

We are going to Hawaii and used some extra points (95) for ONE NIGHT in the hotel. I wouldn't purchase dvc for that purpose - it's an expensive way to go, but at least I could use my points and stay in a really nice resort for an extra night!

You could get a studio for 4 nights at a dvc at wdw for those kinds of points. Glad I was able to utilize my points and not "waste" them, but it sure isn't an even swap by any means.