RCI points still worth jumping in for Newbies?

Hi All,

I've been lurking for a couple of months here trying to get the lay of the land. I'm a newbie interested in jumping into RCI points. I'm starting to get the whole Points/MFs ratio thing but now I'm confused again because apparently RCI just adopted a new system that people seem to be saying has hurt the value of things like Last Call/Instant Exchange. These things were my big interest in points anyway and not so much to travel back and forth to my "home resort".

So, are RCI points worth it anymore for newbies with the new changes or should I just stick to hotels or renting? Last Call sounds great and I was excited about playing around with it but now I'm nervous again as people keep saying the "window" has shortened and all the inventory is just being given to renters or something.

Also, what resorts do you guys reccommend for newbies who just want to play with points? Is this good value for just a buck on EBAY plus your maintenance fees? If the ratio is high enough is it worth paying a few hundred bucks to win the auction?

Assuming you reccommend jumping in at all, does home resort matter at all with points or is ratio everything?

Is it worth it to only have like 18000 points a year on like a cheapee just to access RCI points and last call/instant exchange(I guess this is my key question)?

Thanks in advance for any help. I know its a lot but I just don't wanna mess up. I know some of it's repetitive but I was confident and now the new changes have freaked me out again because I have no way to evaluate them. Just reading the boards has been crazy informative and any thoughts would be awesome. I almost bought developer retail in Mexico a while back but managed to escape and now I can't get rid of the timeshare bug. I wanna be a TUGGER!

phalphan said:

I wanna be a TUGGER!

Click to expand...

I like that one...

Budget...Weeks/days of travel per year?

Welcome to TUG, phalphan!

The general recommendation is to read and learn for at LEAST 6 Months before buying any timeshare. Rent a few; drop in and visit as many TS as you can; ask some more questions; learn before buying.

It is so easy to buy TS and so hard to get rid of a one. Plus, there are actually people who will give you for Free timeshares which don't fit their current life. Look on the Bargain Deals sections. BUT read, ask questions and learn way, way more before you buy.

Thanks..I don't really want to pay more than 4 or 5 hundred a year for MF's and I'd like to squeeze at least 2 or 3 last call/instant exchange trips a year out of it. I also think odd or triennial might work well for me since the points can be borrowed anyway. I can pay more money upfront to buy if its worth it I suppose.

Based on what I read, I thought this was possible with just 20/30k rci points annually. With the system change, not so sure anymore if there's not actually gonna be any inventory. I can just stop wasting my energy and keep using deal sites.

I don't care where I go at this stage in life. I just wanna see some stuff so studios are cool for me and girlfriend. We live together and she INSISTS she wants to travel at least 2 a year so this seems like it could be a good move.

I've been reading a lot but I know 6 months is the reccommenation here. Maybe 4.5 Many thanks for the responses!!!

Also, I do contract work...so I'm often off for weeks at the last minute which is why I thought Last Call/Instant Exchange might be the system for me. I get breaks throughout the year. I'm also fine with Mini-vacations although it seems like just using points for a couple of days is not best strategically.

I am in similar shoes as you. I recently bought a 'dinky' every 3 year MF timeshare off of ebay and have closed on it. I get like 14k points per year. I believe before sinking any deeper into the fray, I am going to try to buy points that people seem to always be willing to sell for .01 per point. That is, if I want/need more points to pull off a nice vacation.

I am not sure how this will all work out, but I figure that since I have a points account and enough points every year to get a 6-9k last call type of thing, that alone is worth it. And, if I want any better....I "should" be able to buy points off of people without having the risk of being stuck with a hefty MF every year.


Not sure how it is going to work out, I'll be sure to let you know!

BTW - MF is $579 every three years, but get points issued annually. MF is not due until 1/1/2013. I paid $500 off of ebay - which included the RCI Points account, transfer, and closing. I am in the process of getting the points account setup right now. Could have done better, but based on the current landscape, I think I did OK.

Thanks Chewie,

I would definitely appreiciate it hearing if that works out. That sounds exactly like the strategy I want to adopt. Definitely drop a word on whether you're finding enough on Last Call or Exchange to even warrant all the effort it takes to close.

I have a mid-size RCI Points TS that I now find inconvenient to use the underlying resort. For several years, I've used the points for a week in Europe, another week in Mexico and a last call or two.

Since the big change last month, I've been looking (not real seriously however) to see what my points can get. So far I'm not impressed. The- now 30 day (instead of 45) last calls have dried up to only dog resorts in places I don't want to go at any price.

I think that the original TUG recommendations of buying only resorts where you want to go at least half the time, and any points that have been pre-converted to are just frosting on the cake.

Best wishes and welcome to TUG.

Jim Ricks

You can get a good deal on an entry level of points on ebay once you have done the research and figured out what works for you.

Here's a classic example of one at the grandview in las vegas which recently ended and is available on a regular basis on ebay with a solid points/maintenance fee ratio.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&hash=item45f71fc693&item=300498798227&nma=true&pt=Timeshares&rt=nc&si=9%252FFzcLltG7Wib2%252BNlS3Fy8PDxkk%253D

I can't vouch for future value but as a biennial timeshare with a yearly cost of $169 its a relatively low commitment way to get your foot in the door. Most ebay timeshares are terrible deals, but with a little research you'll know how to find something worth buying. I have found the search tool on tug bbs to be a very valuable resource for me.

Most tuggers here would suggest renting for awhile before deciding to buy since you can often rent for less than maintenance fees with no commitment. The general consensus also says you should buy a timeshare you would enjoy visiting every year. I on the other hand don't plan on staying at either of my timeshares anytime soon. You just have to figure out what works for you.

I love RCI points and use it mostly for the past years. Since Nov 15, I found myself login to the weeks side a lot more often. You might want to look into a good week with low TP/maintenance fee ratio. A good week can get you into many last minute exchange also with one maintenance fee. PM me if you want specific suggestions.

I have mixed feelings, but only because I happened into a few purchases that are working very well in the RCI weeks system and get a great value in the new weeks system. I am a very happy camper right now but overwhelmed with owning too much in both weeks and points. Not a terrible place to be, with many people always asking my advice about timeshare.

I used to be a huge fan of RCI Points, couldn't say enough great about them. I even recently bought a huge #'s, because Rick and I thought we didn't have enough, so I am guilty of buying a lot more than we now need.

Our Val Chatelle weeks (Frisco, CO) used to work great in RCI Points. We got 45,500 points for our deposits into weeks, then I would use 56,500 to 96,500 for DVC in the fall, 1 and 2 bedrooms.

Now I can get 25 TPU's for our Val Chatelle summer weeks, and those DVC weeks are 25 TPU's, so I can use a Val Chatelle summer week without paying the PFD fee, and without adding more points to get a 2 bedroom. All DVC seem to be 25 points, even prime seasons, and I only want slow and mid-seasons. Maybe this is a bug in the system they will fix later, or maybe not. I don't know.

I can also get Hilton 2 bedrooms for about 11 or 12 points, same time of year. I don't need to get DVC every vacation.

So with RCI Points, I spend a lot more for the same exchanges. Yeah, I don't get it either, but I love it.

I agree that the new RCI system provides greater value using weeks than points. A 2 bedroom DVC would be almost half the net cost using weeks as if I used my points.

That being said I still think the flexibility of points makes a great way to get your feet wet time sharing.

-Being able to plan trips of less than a week long

-Access to points and weeks inventory

-Picking up last minute 9000 points vacations.

Experienced time sharers will definitely be able to extract greater value from RCI weeks and I would steer clear of acquiring a large amount of RCI points as of now. Unfortunately the RCI points partner program is essentially useless. I wouldn't want to give up my small annual allocation though.