[2010] $5000 "Weeks" to "Points" conversion fee.

My wife received a call from Deneen G. at Vacation Village Resorts wanting to talk to us about converting from "Weeks" to "Points".

This conversation was followed by an e-mail which outlined the "advantages" of the Points system, which I was supposed to read over and discuss when she called back a couple of days later.

Sure, the e-mail and PDF did a pretty good job of explaining the "Pro's" of switching to the points system.

• 
  
  Our conversation (last night) went something like this:
• "RCI'S weeks system is 40 years old, not working all that well, and is in need of an overhaul."
• "There are inventory issues because members are delaying their deposits."
• "You're in control of your schedule with the Points system. You decide where and when you want to go, not RCI. There is no 'pick your resort from this list of 3 or 4 available resorts' ... YOU get to choose where and when."
  
• (Me: "Isn't that still dependant on availability?")
• "Well, yes, but many of the hotels are also on the Points system, and you may be able to stay there if there are no resort condos available."
• (But isn't that WHY I we spent $18,000 on 'vacation ownership' ... so that we wouldn't have to live in a room with 2 beds and a TV?)

And THEN she told me that it was going to cost another 5 grand.
WHAT???!!!
Look. You've already told me that the Weeks program is flawed, and that you expect that the entire industry will likely move to a Points-based system. Who in their right mind wants to PAY more for you to fix it?

"Vacation Ownership" has not been a real happy experience so far.
18 G's PLUS $800/yr for maintenance fees?

Cripes, I have rented:
1.) A 1000 SF condo right on Madeira beach for $700/week.
2.) Paniolo Greens (also an RCI resort) on the "Big Island" of Hawaii for $160/night
3.) a 1300 SF 3-br/2bath villa called Coqui's Hideaway ... sitting on a very quiet and private 9-acre lot in Puerto Rico for less than $1000/wk.
4.) A 7 day Southern Carribean cruise for $450/pp ($900) which includes meals and entertainment.

So where's the value?
Why would I want to give these nice folks ANOTHER $5000.00?

Anybody want to buy a week at Weston, Florida?

That sales pitch is horrible! A person would be crazy to fall for it, and I am glad you didn't.

Did you rent those units from private parties, or did you get some through RCI's Extra Vacations? If you rented from RCI, then at least your timeshare purchase helped you get some RCI rentals. I personally haven't purchased any of them, but I know they are a great value, much less than our maintenance fees + exchange fee to RCI.

We paid twice for developer weeks and still regret it, but then again, we wouldn't know what we know now, so I guess it was money well spent.

$5,000 To Convert? Shux, I Thought It Was Only $3,000.

For $162 or so, we recently bought a points-converted eBay triennial Vacation Village (At Parkway) unit -- free closing, free resort transfer, 3 years' prepaid maintenance fees.

The eBay auction reading material for that item explained that the prior owner had paid $3,000 to have the triennial unit converted to RCI Points, & specified that it stays converted upon transfer to the new owner.

By me, $3,000 for points-conversion is excessive.

$5,000 for conversion is the most unheard of thing I've ever heard of.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

RCI Points can be better to own than an average-quality RCI Week. If nothing else RCI Points allows booking less than a full week at RCI-Points participating properties, and there are real bargains to be had using the points to make last-minute reservations at RCI Weeks properties (subject to availability).

And RCI Points is a more straight-forward scheme compared to the mystery of trading power in Weeks (although RCI has promised that improvements are on the way in Weeks).

But the only sensible way to get into RCI Points is to buy an already-converted resale week, especially one with a high points-to-maintenance ratio.

rickandcindy23 said:

Did you rent those units from private parties, or did you get some through RCI's Extra Vacations?

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Madiera Beach, Florida was found through VacationRentals.com two years ago, and we rented from the owner.

We stayed there for a week, then went on the "Promotional Travel" thing which was given to us by my son. The promo consisted of a Carnival cruise to Grand Bahama, and 3 nights in some crappy hotel (which we upgraded to a "B side" condo at Vacation Village in Weston at the cost of $60.00 / night, and of course the condo tour.
The condo(s) were both pretty nice ... something we *could* get used to.

So yup, we bought the week at Weston as a result. It was the 2BR lockout feature that got us. Two one-week rentals or one two-week rental ... and the ability to trade thru RCI, too.

After paying the maint fee for 2010, they sent us a cruise voucher. Heck of a deal, right? ... we'll just trade one of our weeks for a cruise and the other week for a condo in PR.

Nope, no can do. The cruise voucher just entitled us to buy the cruise through RCI travel for pretty much the same price that we could have bought it directly from Carnival. There are no RCI condos in PR ... but we're flying there anyway, and determined to make this a 2-week holiday. So, VacationRentals to the rescue again ... and we paid and stayed at Coqui's.
All of this without making use of our condo time.

In fact, I still have one of the original 2009 weeks left. We did use one of the 2009 weeks to go to a quiet and remote little resort in the interior of BC, which is a day's drive from here. The other 2009 week is due to expire in January 2011 ... and I think I'll likely just let it.

The resort has also offered us another certificate for another "free" week (exchange fee only) with very limited availability.

I've also got 2 weeks in 2010. Lots of weeks, but not many places to use them. Vegas or Orlando, I guess, but the seat sales never seem to line up with the availability.

Maybe I'll have to cough up the 5 G's after all, in order to get some use out of it?

PS
Paniolo Greens in Hawaii was found on Expedia.ca. It's owned by Shell Vacations, and is an RCI resort as well. Very nice little spot, right on a golf course!

I went through that sales spiel in March at Vacation Village in Palm Beach Shores. It was "only" $4500 then. The weeks system was trashed. After three hours and three closers and a lot of yelling at us to pay attention, we were offered three foreclosed RCI weeks for $3000. what a laugh!

5K should get you ocean front every year now days not a few thousand points

leverite said:

So where's the value?
Why would I want to give these nice folks ANOTHER $5000.00?

Anybody want to buy a week at Weston, Florida?

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And everyone thought "FANTASY ISLAND" ended!

RCI Points is a nice program. You can easily get in for around $1K or less. It would be a crime to pay $5K or even half that to go the points route no matter how much better than RCI Weeks the system may be.

timeos2 said:

And everyone thought "FANTASY ISLAND" ended!

RCI Points is a nice program. You can easily get in for around $1K or less. It would be a crime to pay $5K or even half that to go the points route no matter how much better than RCI Weeks the system may be.

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I've just sent RCI an e-mail in regards to this situation.
I don't understand why I should have to spend one dime to convert!

I was told that the weeks system is not working.
So fix it. Is points the answer? Then give me points!

In my mind, the new buyers will now be getting the Points system by default. (Car dealerships won't sell you a car with no tires on it, right?)
I'm assuming that the resort will offer them an RCI membership, and that they will pay very little extra for it ... just like I did. (Was it $86.00?)

They'll likely throw in a years worth of points, too, just like they threw in a "free" week from the previous year for me.

The bottom line is that I was sold a "working model" ... and that is what I expect to have!

If anyone gets one of these calls in the next month, tell them you're waiting. If RCI Weeks really is broken (it isn't by my thinking), then perhaps the upgrade RCI will release a month from now will fix it. They are making these calls now because they want you to pay them that $5000 to convert to RCI Points before RCI turns RCI Weeks into a viable option. Perhaps you should ask them why they are not informing you of the changes coming to RCI Weeks? Maybe because it's not in their best interest for you to know what's about to happen.

New owners are always sold the best of what's available - at a cost. Don't think they are giving them RCI Points for free. Part of that purchase prices includes the $5000 to "convert" their week, only they don't have an option. The resort isn't going to give them a discount if they want a week in RCI Weeks.

If the new RCI changes turn out to be good, RCI could be throwing a nice bone to their members. New owners at resorts that converted won't have RCI Weeks as an option. If people want that, the only way they can get it is through resale!

points

It's the resort, not RCI. Our home resort is $750. to change. I told them dream on... You are right $5000. why

Weeks to Points - Conversion Fee HELP PLS

I posted the essence of this in the “newbie” section of this site but this “weeks” to “points” thread seems right on point.

I own 2 weeks timeshare at a Celebrity Resorts in Florida and have been using II “weeks” system. They are calling trying to get me switch to RCI “points”. They get a fee of $3000 to do this. It appears that all they do for this fee is make the calls, send out the paperwork, and record it. An RCI rep said that RCI cannot switch me over to the "points" program and "ONLY the resorts could do that." The RCI rep also said that $3000 is a typical or common rate for that switchover.

The major benefit as I understand it is that you could book a vacation for less than a week or book a room with a lower number of bedrooms or resort amenities to try to get the best bang for your bucks. It would appear that if you use your vacations in 1 week chunks this would seem like a bad decision but if you prefer more 4 day vacations there is a potential big upside to the RCI "points" program.

1) Is RCI “points” so much better than either the II or RCI “weeks” systems that I'd want to spend $3K for the transfer?

2) Do you think that the Resort's $3000 is a set rate, or is it like how these resorts always seem to do business where they overinflate a price and keep backing it down to a mysterious bottom line amount they would still do the deal for? If you think the latter is the case, what do you think that amount would be?

3) Is this just part of a money making scheme by Celebrity Resorts, prompted by RCI, or is there some sort of significant work done to reflect a $3K cost? It appears to me that it costs the Resort nothing and they do virtually nothing to earn this $3K fee.

This feels like part of a swindle to me and I am trying to be very cautious. Especially because Celebrity Resorts has recently been in financial trouble and underwent a Ch 11 re-org.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Major Points Benefit Turned Out Extremely Minor (For Us -- YMMV).

Timesharenewbie Rob said:

The major benefit as I understand it is that you could book a vacation for less than a week or book a room with a lower number of bedrooms or resort amenities to try to get the best bang for your bucks. It would appear that if you use your vacations in 1 week chunks this would seem like a bad decision but if you prefer more 4 day vacations there is a potential big upside to the RCI "points" program.

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We took the points plunge back in 2005 because we were interested in partial-week exchange reservations & even more interested in 9,000-point full-week Instant Exchange reservations (when the reservation at a weeks timeshare -- but not at points timeshares -- is made within 45 days of check-in).

( For exchange reservations at points timeshares, RCI gets the full points value even if the reservation is made today for check-in tomorrow. Go figure. )

After plunging, what we soon found out is that RCI Points partial-week reservations take so many points (+ exchange fee) that even if we just want a few days, it's more economical to take a 9,000-point (+ exchange fee) Instant Exchange full week reservation even if we just use part of the week & let the rest go to waste.

Not only that, we have only made a straight-points exchange reservation once. Since signing on with RCI Points, all our points reservations except 1 have been Instant Exchange -- & with 1 exception (a straight-weeks exchange) all our other RCI reservations have been Last Call (cash + Zero points).

That way, we definitely get to enjoy luxury timeshare accommodations at Motel 6 & Super 8 rates -- a great way to vacation, in our experience.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Canadian RCI points account not the same

leverite said:

Maybe I'll have to cough up the 5 G's after all, in order to get some use out of it?

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leverite,

First, you can get into RCI points much cheaper than 5 G's. I have seen many already points converted units on eBay for almost $1.

Second, I have heard that Canadian RCI points owners (even if you own in Florida, you live in Alberta and therefore your account will be under RCI Canada) do not benefit the same as US points account holders in terms of last minute 9K inventory. I was thinking of getting into points and I as warned by a Canadian points account holder on this board.

weeks to points

Hi,
I have a RCI weeks acct., to change to points is $800 through the home resort. 5K is extreme if you ask me.

leverite said:

I've just sent RCI an e-mail in regards to this situation.
I don't understand why I should have to spend one dime to convert!

I was told that the weeks system is not working.
So fix it. Is points the answer? Then give me points!

Click to expand...

I was told the same thing by Festiva Resorts in an attempt to get me to switch to Points(RCI's or Festivas) and I gave them pretty much the same answer. As participants in the timeshare industry, these companies should have seen this trend coming and try not to use it as a tool to bilk their owners out of more money. The story ended with me deeding back to them their property. Now I am starting a new points account with Wyndham. Much better!

leverite said:

The bottom line is that I was sold a "working model" ... and that is what I expect to have!

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Bottom line!

Platinum Points

OK, so RCI is shut down this weekend in order to overhaul both the Weeks and the Points system. I'll be interested to see what those "improvements" actually are ... and what they will cost.

I've also been reading a bit about "Platinum Points".

I haven't decided if they're a good thing, or just another device intended to extract additional dollars from our wallets?

E-Bay / RCI Points

Yes, I have checked out a few of these E-Bay as well.

In the present economy, everyone must be looking to "get out".
Obviously the "money to be made" is in making sure that the maintenace fees, at the very least ... are being paid.

I'm ALMOST tempted to buy one of those low cost / high points units for family use. But another $800 /yr maint fees + "guest certificates" ... and you're pretty much back to the Vacation Rentals price level, right?

I'm also assuming that my present RCI membership fees would remain the same whether I owned at one resort or two?

The good news?
My wife and I have exchanged one week's worth of time (Both halves of our lockout unit) for 2 consecutive weeks in a Puerto Vallarta 1-BR (non-all-inclusive) resort. So far, I'm feeling a little better about the whole "timeshare" concept.

Points vs. weeks

I own one week, my resort tried to "upgrade" me years ago to points...to the tune of several thousand dollars. Told them I wasn't interested, stayed with tthe weeks. Am a member of II (Interval), who happened to start a "partial week" exchange for their gold members. According to them, I can use my booked week for one full week or at least two partial weeks. Haven't tried this out yet, but certainly sounds more usable than a week at a time thing.

2 cents

Lots of TS bad guys out there. Do the math on the bottom line. Add the initial cost of the TS to your annual fees and any use/trading fees (housekeeping, use, booking, RCI, II) to get your per night cost. Then divide by the # nights of your Studio/1BR/2BR/3BRThen really analize if this product will FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE into your future. Weeks vs. points. Whatever you are looking to buy.....DO YOUR HOMEWORK (TUG) or run the risk of getting mugged.

Revised "Weeks" program.

I've checked it out a bit now, and have realized that there are definitely *some* PROS to this new scheme, along with a monetary advantage for RCI.

My resort's "trading power points" (TPP) is a total of 35.
I have the choice to deposit it in whole as a 2BR (35) or as a lock-off
(18 for the "A" side, 17 for the "B" side)

If deposited as a complete unit (35), I can go almost anywhere ... subject to availability of course.
When I split the unit, 17 or 18 TPP will still get me into some fairly nice accomodations, especially if it's "off-season" or "last minute".

Living in Western Canada ... there is a lot of "off-season", and I can drive rather than fly.

In fact ... it appears that there are some very nice places that can be had for 5, 6, or 8 TPP (eg St. Ives on Shuswap, or Fairmont Hot Springs) when the management company wants to fill those rooms.
(Yeah, I know ... these places can often also be had for $250 per week under last minute getaways or "Extra Vacations")

My current strategy might be to deposit full (35) or split (17) on alternating years. That way, I could combine a 35 + any remaining balance from the partial use of a "17", and only have to pay for one combination fee.

To clarify ... If I exchanged one of my 17's for an 8, I'd have a deposit credit of 9, right? So next year, maybe I'd want to go to someplace really fancy. I could combine the 35 with the 9 for a total of 44.

So then I asked: What is "in it" for RCI under this new strategy?
The answer is: Additional exchange / combination fees.

Under the old system, it would have been limited to a max of 2 x $200.00 = $400.00 (using round numbers here)

Under the new system, it would now be (3 x $200 exch fee) + (1 x $100 combination fee) = $700.00. Probably more, as now I would have more weeks than I might be able to use ... and be more inclined to gift a week to my kids ... another $70.00 a pop.

Bottom line ... I'm glad I didn't get sucked into the Points system. I'd be terrified to think of the escalating "asking" points value of the place you were trying to trade into. Sure your Kissimee property is currently valued at 92,000 points ... and I assume that 92,000 is a fixed value. What happens in 10 years when a similar property to your 92,000 is now asking for 250,000 points? Points are variable, but a week is a week.

Am I right?

I guess I should also mention that I'm feeling a little better about the whole RCI experience after exchanging my A + B + $400.00 exch fee for 2 consecutive weeks at the Grand Mayan in Puerto Vallarta Mexico.

Other than the timeshare "shark tank" and the endless stream of beach peddlers, my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The property and the sevice (for tips, of course) were incredible!

I think you got it backwards... but if you are happy, ok

Points are variable, but a week is a week.

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First of all, RCI can change the rules, point values, way TPU week values are calculated, etc. anytime they want. Nothing is sacred; so when you own the playing field, write the rules and get to play at everyone elses expense -- it won't be long before you get greedy. We all know what core values Wyndham has in the TS realm, and their colors continue to be reflected in their ownership of RCI. The latest weeks changes are a good example; there is an obvious focus on getting more fees by changing the way things work.

Now having said that, the resort grids and seasonal deposit grids for RCI Points haven't really changed much for many years. Yeah, there might have been a minor 1K to 5K 'tweak' in a few areas, but they essentially have not changed. Even a minor drop or increase due to a resort "crown" change, just doesn't occur that often. The values awarded, seasonal variations, and rules for exchanges have essentially been transparent for many-many years.

On the other hand, the latest changes in the weeks system have resulted in definite winners and loosers; depending on the week(s) you owned prior to the changes. Based on reports on this board and others, there are many cases where trades made a year ago are no longer possible without paying combining fees now. There have also been some extreme cases where supply and demand variations have caused owners to not be able to book their own week, with the points they are awarded at the time of deposit. [The spread between what is needed to book and what is awarded for deposit can vary daily, dependant on real time supply and demand.] Lastly, many have seen home resort and resort group booking priority affected with the changes, and I won't even go into what's happening to Wyndham owners affiliated with RCI (that's a shocker).

But in the end, the only thing that really matters is if you are happy with what you have, at a cost you feel is justified, and your wants are being met. I personally wouldn't pay 2K to 5K$ to convert a unit to RCI Points, when the market is flooded with them -- all of my resale TS were already converted and have very low maintenance fees. However, I do have the ability to use TPU weeks when I see an advantage.

Orange Lake Resort

Went to an Orange Lake sales presentation last week. Told me that:

• OL is converting from Weeks to Points. (Looks like this has been happening for about 5 years).
  
• Cost to convert to Points is $15,000 at OL, and that is the price everywhere.
  
• Someday, I'll need to convert my weeks units to Points for $15K/week.
  
• However, he can sell me a Points week at OL for the price of conversion: $15K.

What a nice guy.

He also didn't give clear answers to my questions about what week was I buying, value of HI Points, conversion fees, maintenance fees, and the like,

And besides, I don't need another timeshare. Having trouble finding vacation time for the weeks I already own. So, I didn't buy.

Cost to add RCI points to an RCI weeks membership?

I currently own two fixed weeks in Florida and I am a user of the RCI Weeks program with one annual membership fee.

If I were to purchase a points package from an RCI points affiliated RCI resort through a resale, would I have to purchase a separate membership in RCI Points?
If so, how much additional is the RCI Weeks membership?
And if I would need two separate memberships with the same company, RCI, doesn't that seem redundant and expensive?

ran-ran said:

I currently own two fixed weeks in Florida and I am a user of the RCI Weeks program with one annual membership fee.

If I were to purchase a points package from an RCI points affiliated RCI resort through a resale, would I have to purchase a separate membership in RCI Points?
If so, how much additional is the RCI Weeks membership?
And if I would need two separate memberships with the same company, RCI, doesn't that seem redundant and expensive?

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RCI Points dues are $100/year (if you prepay 5 years) or $124/year singly. There's also a $100 fee to get the points account associated with the deed transferred into your name. Because RCI Points members also have access to RCI Weeks, membership includes a free RCI Weeks account. Since you already have a Weeks account you'll keep your same account number, and if you ask they will refund whatever Weeks dues you've prepaid.

Tommart said:

Went to an Orange Lake sales presentation last week. Told me that:

• OL is converting from Weeks to Points. (Looks like this has been happening for about 5 years).
  
• Cost to convert to Points is $15,000 at OL, and that is the price everywhere.
  
• Someday, I'll need to convert my weeks units to Points for $15K/week.
  
• However, he can sell me a Points week at OL for the price of conversion: $15K.

What a nice guy.

He also didn't give clear answers to my questions about what week was I buying, value of HI Points, conversion fees, maintenance fees, and the like,

And besides, I don't need another timeshare. Having trouble finding vacation time for the weeks I already own. So, I didn't buy.

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We were at one there a couple of months ago and the salesmen tried to sell us on the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG). It would cost $4200 + $1200 closing costs to convert from RCI Weeks to IHG.

They said we could exchange our unit for gas, groceries, airline tickets, cruises, and/or hotel stays at Holiday Inn. I felt though that the value of what we could get from the exchange would amount to nowhere near what the MFs are.

Despite the arm-twisting, underhanded tactics, we declined.