RCI to DVC: Please advise

[wizards8507 Member Find all posts View Profile Close wizards8507]

Hi guys,

I'm new to this whole hting and I was hoping someone could help me. Details of my planned trip are:

July 10-17, 2011
Trading from HGVC to DVC via RCI.

I have an ongoing search in RCI right now for ANY DVC vacancy for the week above. I'm hoping that someone can estimate my chance of a successfull trade, considering that my request was made 13 months in advance of my trip. Are there certain times when DVC deposits points? If I AM going to be successful, when do you think I will hear back from RCI? At what point should I give up, move on, and just book a non-Disney location at one of my HGVC sites?

[Keep Traveling Member Find all posts View Profile Close Keep Traveling]

I think you will be fine, right now the furtherest out is May deposits, I think so I would say by October you should have the match, I would personally go for a 2 bedroom which should be easy with your Hilton Pts, (4800).

KT

[wizards8507 Member Find all posts View Profile Close wizards8507]

I think you will be fine, right now the furtherest out is May deposits, I think so I would say by October you should have the match, I would personally go for a 2 bedroom which should be easy with your Hilton Pts, (4800).

KT

Do you think it would be safe to specify one particular resort?

[Keep Traveling Member Find all posts View Profile Close Keep Traveling]

I would leave it open Saratoga springs and old key west normally have the most unit available but the others often come more too with a search first

If you have enough credits you may want to try for a 3 bedroom. They are super big I think 5800 PTs bit not sure

This would be a stretch but might be possible the 3 bedrooms at okw and ssr are over 2500 sq/ft

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

DVC deposits no earlier than 11 months prior. The bulk of the deposits seem to be closer in, between six and eight.

Do you think it would be safe to specify one particular resort?

I would either try to be flexible on dates, or resort. Some resorts seem to be deposited much less often than others. For example, if you are looking for OKW or SSR, then just one date is probably fine. If you are looking for, say, BCV, I'd recommend (a) being open to any day that weekend for check in and (b) opening your search more broadly at about 6.5 months. Also, as far as anyone knows. Grand Californian and Bay Lake Tower have never been deposited to date.

[kcbedo Member Find all posts View Profile Close kcbedo]

DVC deposits no earlier than 11 months prior. The bulk of the deposits seem to be closer in, between six and eight.

So is it pretty much just random what gets deposited when? I've been watching over the last couple of days, and right now there is 1 room in September, nothing in October, five in November, 7 in December, 20 in January, 7 in February, nothing in March, and 8 in April.

Would you expect more deposits to start showing up in February sometime in July?

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

Would you expect more deposits to start showing up in February sometime in July?

It's not that cut and dried---I'm expecting February to continue to come in over the next several months in bits and pieces, with a peak in about 1.5 months from now. On Weeks-side, February had been surprisingly uncommon in the "after ongoing searches have matched" pool until just last week or so. I was waiting for a late February week, passed on an OKW a few months ago, and hadn't seen anything else until just last week when I took an SSR. I might cancel and rebook that if one of the Epcot resorts matches another ongoing search I have running.

[wizards8507 Member Find all posts View Profile Close wizards8507]

It's not that cut and dried---I'm expecting February to continue to come in over the next several months in bits and pieces, with a peak in about 1.5 months from now. On Weeks-side, February had been surprisingly uncommon in the "after ongoing searches have matched" pool until just last week or so. I was waiting for a late February week, passed on an OKW a few months ago, and hadn't seen anything else until just last week when I took an SSR. I might cancel and rebook that if one of the Epcot resorts matches another ongoing search I have running.

On the note of ongoing searches, is it correct that matches appear in the online search ONLY AFTER proceeding down the line of those with Ongoing Search?

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

Mostly. It appears that ongoing search doesn't quite run continuously, but periodically. But, frequently enough that's it's a close approximation. Most of my ongoing searches match before I ever see a unit online, but every once in a while I find one.

[wizards8507 Member Find all posts View Profile Close wizards8507]

@bnoble, thanks for all your help in this and my other threads. I really have no idea what I'm doing (can you tell), and every bit of information helps.

One last question. If I keep my options open to any of the Disney resorts, would I have more luck with Saturday-Saturday or Sunday-Sunday? My big reason is that we're booking a cruise back-to-back with our week in Disney, so getting things in sync as much as possible is really necessary.

[kcbedo Member Find all posts View Profile Close kcbedo]

One last question. If I keep my options open to any of the Disney resorts, would I have more luck with Saturday-Saturday or Sunday-Sunday? My big reason is that we're booking a cruise back-to-back with our week in Disney, so getting things in sync as much as possible is really necessary.

I don't know if this means anything, but when I checked yesterday, of the 60 rooms available between September and April: 25 were Fri-to-Fri, 20 were Sat-to-Sat, and 15 were Sun-to-Sun.

Of course this is after a lot of the rooms have been picked through and might not have any bearing on the distribution of what actually gets deposited.

[wizards8507 Member Find all posts View Profile Close wizards8507]

As an HGVC member, is it possible to view the RCI online database? I've been able to do searches over the phone, but it would be nice to be able to poke around online.

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

My big reason is that we're booking a cruise back-to-back with our week in Disney, so getting things in sync as much as possible is really necessary.

In that case, you may need to restrict your dates---and so I'd go with a broader set of resorts.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

As an HGVC member, is it possible to view the RCI online database? I've been able to do searches over the phone, but it would be nice to be able to poke around online.

Yes it is possible. You enter RCI thru the corporate website link and you can see anything available in DVC for your dates and it will tell you the points required for each unit. You can also book it online.

[wizards8507 Member Find all posts View Profile Close wizards8507]

Somebody mentioned what I'd be able to see DVC deposits on this site after a certain number of posts. What number do I need to get to, and where will I find that information once I do.