# [Jan. 2012] RCI vs II



## turqwater (Jan 30, 2012)

Just advised that one of my timeshares will no longer be affiliated with RCI and property will now be Interval International.  Have been with RCI for 20 years and have no experience with II.
Are there any differences between the two companies? what are they? pros and cons?


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## timeos2 (Jan 30, 2012)

turqwater said:


> Just advised that one of my timeshares will no longer be affiliated with RCI and property will now be Interval International.  Have been with RCI for 20 years and have no experience with II.
> Are there any differences between the two companies? what are they? pros and cons?



Unless the resort is a RTU or management controlled type (such as DVC) they CANNOT make you move from RCI to II (or the reverse) if you don't want. Once a resort is in one of those systems they can never be removed. The primary or "preferred" exchange company may change but your week is associated with RCI. They will not throw you out nor can II or the resort force you to leave. Just let them know you want to continue with your existing affiliation, it's your week and that should end any move nonsense. 

Don't let them push you around.  It's your ownership to do as you like with not theirs.


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## chalee94 (Jan 30, 2012)

II is less expensive for one.  online trades are $149, if i recall correctly.  i think RCI is $189 or so.

RCI's new "points lite" system is more transparent, you know how many "trade power units" your week is worth and what that can pull for a trade.  with II, it's more trial and error...you might be able to pull something but it's hard to know for certain.

II has some pretty good brand names if you have the trade power to pull it: marriott, starwood, hyatt.  keep in mind that owners at the branded resorts tend to get first pick of available branded trades.

RCI has more resorts overall, though.

i've been with II for 2 years and been very pleased but opinions vary on both companies...


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## DeniseM (Jan 30, 2012)

What is the name of your resort?

I just did my first RCI trade with "points light" (TPU) and it was $139?


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## turqwater (Jan 30, 2012)

Paniola Greens in Hawaii.


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## momeason (Feb 2, 2012)

chalee94 said:


> II is less expensive for one.  online trades are $149, if i recall correctly.  i think RCI is $189 or so.
> 
> RCI's new "points lite" system is more transparent, you know how many "trade power units" your week is worth and what that can pull for a trade.  with II, it's more trial and error...you might be able to pull something but it's hard to know for certain.
> 
> ...



If you are flexible on your travel dates, you can get some very nice trades in II. If you are glued to the school calendar and do not own a premium branded resort, not so much. Flexchange has some great stuff. If you join II, XYZ bonus weeks can be very good also. online exchanges are $149, call center-$169. They will help you at the call center if you have questions and then you can complete online. There is less inventory in II by far compared to RCI though most resorts are high quality.


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## MichaelColey (Feb 8, 2012)

I'm getting ready to sign up for II and make my first deposit.

How far in advance do you have to deposit your weeks into II, in order to get full trading options?  I think I read somewhere than deposits made less than 90 (?) days out can only exchange for Flexchange?

Another difference (from what I've read) is that if you're doing an ongoing search you can usually only exchange for like sized resorts.  (RCI lets you exchange for anything that you have the trading power to exchange into, so it's pretty easy to exchange up from a high TPU Studio to a 3BR, for instance.)

I'd love to hear more about the differences so I can hit the ground running.


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## MAINER4GOOD (Feb 8, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> I'm getting ready to sign up for II and make my first deposit.
> 
> How far in advance do you have to deposit your weeks into II, in order to get full trading options?  I think I read somewhere than deposits made less than 90 (?) days out can only exchange for Flexchange?
> 
> ...



It is 60 days before your week starts to avoid a restricted (Flexchange) deposit. Interval uses a Travel Demand Index (TDI) as a guide for exchanging. Looking in the Interval Directory at your home resort's index and locating your week will give you an idea on your trading "power". The higher demand for your week, the more trading power you have. Also, looking at the TDI for where you wish to go will give you an idea how easy or difficult the exchange might be.

I have been with II for 10 years, lucky to own a week with maximum trading power at an independant resort, and have excellent trades all the time. I do travel off-season most of the time, but still have yet to have a bad trade.


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## MichaelColey (Feb 8, 2012)

Awesome.  Do you seem to get less "trading power" for deposits that are fairly close in (but still more than 60 days out)?


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## e.bram (Feb 8, 2012)

The great thing about II is you don't have to deposit to see what you can trae into.


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## hjtug (Feb 8, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> Another difference (from what I've read) is that if you're doing an ongoing search you can usually only exchange for like sized resorts.  (RCI lets you exchange for anything that you have the trading power to exchange into, so it's pretty easy to exchange up from a high TPU Studio to a 3BR, for instance.)



We have an II account through Wyndham and trade Wyndham points.  I am not sure how things would be different for you.  I believe you will find that in an ongoing search you can request a unit that has more more bedrooms than your deposit as long as the requested resort doesn't have smaller units.  So you can request a 3BR unit with a studio deposit if the requested resort has no studios or 1 or 2BR units.  But being able to put in such a request doesn't mean you have a realistic shot at getting a confirmation.


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## MichaelColey (Feb 12, 2012)

Okay, I have my account, it's verified, and I have made my first deposit into it.

I'm wanting to set up II's equivalent to an ongoing search, and I'm trying to figure out how it works.

I see that you have to include three different resorts/dates, and I've seen the tip about doing a couple "impossible" choices if you really just have one that you want.

I see that II makes you pay the exchange fee when you request the search.  Do you get that back if you cancel the search or if they can't fulfill it?  Can you make changes to the search later?

I see that they will automatically confirm exchanges that are close to your search.  Can you get out of that if it's an exchange that doesn't work for you?  For instance, we want to be at the resort the full day of my son's birthday (a Friday), so I requested a search for checking in the Saturday or Sunday before.  If they confirm Friday instead, can I cancel that and have them continue looking for Saturday or Sunday?

Is there anything else I should know about ongoing searches in II?


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## jhac007 (Feb 12, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> Okay, I have my account, it's verified, and I have made my first deposit into it.
> 
> I see that II makes you pay the exchange fee when you request the search.  Do you get that back if you cancel the search or if they can't fulfill it?




Yes, they will return the credit to your card in either situation.

Jim


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## glypnirsgirl (Feb 12, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> Okay, I have my account, it's verified, and I have made my first deposit into it.
> 
> I'm wanting to set up II's equivalent to an ongoing search, and I'm trying to figure out how it works.
> 
> ...



You have 24 hours after the confirmed exchange to call and cancel with no penalty. I have had good luck by requesting three different things that I really want (Aruba Marriott Surf Club, Aruba Marriott Ocean Club, Curacao Sea Glass (?)). 

The problem that I have seen mentioned is that not everyone seems to get notified when the exchange is made so they miss the cancellation window. That has never happened to me, but I have my spam filters set low and I check my email obsessively.

I love both systems. I find II's website much easier to navigate.

elaine


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## DeniseM (Feb 12, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> I see that they will automatically confirm exchanges that are close to your search.  Can you get out of that if it's an exchange that doesn't work for you?  For instance, we want to be at the resort the full day of my son's birthday (a Friday), so I requested a search for checking in the Saturday or Sunday before.  If they confirm Friday instead, can I cancel that and have them continue looking for Saturday or Sunday?



There is a better strategy - after you put your ongoing search in online (cheaper)  then call II and specify that you only want the Sat. or Sun. check-in day.  They will edit your ongoing request, but it won't show when you look at your online Acct.  You might ask the Rep to send you an email verifying the change.


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## hjtug (Feb 12, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> Can you make changes to the search later?
> 
> Is there anything else I should know about ongoing searches in II?



You can check on your search by clicking on "Exchange" then "My Units", then "Review Request".  If it doesn't show up that most likely means it has been filled. 

If it does show up you will see that you can add or remove resorts and/or change dates.

You will eventually encounter the bugs that we all experience on the II website.  Yesterday I changed some dates in a search.  Things seemed to work ok but when I reviewed the request after finishing I found that the resorts for which I thought I had changed the dates had been removed from the search and I had to add them back in.


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## chalee94 (Feb 13, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> How far in advance do you have to deposit your weeks into II, in order to get full trading options?  I think I read somewhere than deposits made less than 90 (?) days out can only exchange for Flexchange?



from what i understand, you start losing trade power when you get within 4 months of check-in.



MichaelColey said:


> if you're doing an ongoing search you can usually only exchange for like sized resorts.  (RCI lets you exchange for anything that you have the trading power to exchange into, so it's pretty easy to exchange up from a high TPU Studio to a 3BR, for instance.)



one "trick" with II is to only request resorts with the size unit you want.  if you are trading a 1BR, you can only request a 1BR...but if you ask to trade into cypress harbour in orlando, for example, you can only be confirmed for a 2BR unit since they only have 2BRs.  (if you requested grande vista, you might get a 1BR since they have lockoffs.)

a helpful list of marriotts with/without lockoffs is here:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=412


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## rickandcindy23 (Feb 13, 2012)

I think you get full trading power at 60+ days out.  That's been my experience.  I actually thought I sold a week last year, and I offered free use of the week to the guy, and he backed out of the purchase.  I guess it was too generous and scared him off.  Anyway, I deposited the week at about 70 days out, and I had full trading power with it.  

I see nothing on II on this topic.


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## dundey (Feb 18, 2012)

DeniseM said:


> What is the name of your resort?
> 
> I just did my first RCI trade with "points light" (TPU) and it was $139?



Where did you get that price for an RCI exchange???
The going rate is $189.


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## MLR (Nov 15, 2012)

*Newsletter from Paniolo Greens says they are with II now*

It did not say I had to change - I am with RCI now.

Question: in order to join II - do I have to deposit my week? So far we are happy with RCI - despite price increases (which seem to be pretty frequent:0(  If they continue - we may find ourselves LESS happy with RCI. So, since we only have 1 EOY deeded week - is it possible to belong to BOTH or must be choose one over the other?

Pros/cons anyone? I read through these posts and have to admit it read like Greek to me. Just getting comfortable with RCI :0) Should we just 'hang tight' with RCI and not even worry with II?


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## MLR (Nov 15, 2012)

*re: Paniolo and RCI vs II*

I should mention that right now we average 4 weeks to 1 with our Hawaii week banked with RCI. Then we use the 'extra vacations' from time to time. So, we can't really complain.


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## Beefnot (Nov 15, 2012)

MLR said:


> It did not say I had to change - I am with RCI now.
> 
> Question: in order to join II - do I have to deposit my week? So far we are happy with RCI - despite price increases (which seem to be pretty frequent:0(  If they continue - we may find ourselves LESS happy with RCI. So, since we only have 1 EOY deeded week - is it possible to belong to BOTH or must be choose one over the other?
> 
> Pros/cons anyone? I read through these posts and have to admit it read like Greek to me. Just getting comfortable with RCI :0) Should we just 'hang tight' with RCI and not even worry with II?



You do not need to deposit in order to join an exchange company.  As long as you can demonstrate that you own a timeshare, your membership money is good with II even if you never intend to deposit with them.  So you can be members of as many exchange companies as you'd like.

There are valid pros and cons on either side.  I'm with II and love the high quality resorts (just two more weeks until my Four Seasons Aviara exchange) and 2-for-1 exchange opportunities (albeit with restrictions).  With a lockoff, it makes it 4-for-1.  However, there are more resorts with RCI and the TPU currency allows for the most flexibility to make multiple vacations out of one deposit.  I've got dual affiliation, and perhaps one day I will mosey on over to the dark side, but I'm good with II for now.


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