# Few questions about Wyndham RCI exchanges



## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

I own resale Wyndham points and would like to use them for RCI exchanges, using the account provided by Wyndham/RCI.

I am interested in booking stuff I see online, not placing ongoing searches.  I have a few questions.  

1) Is there any fee to deposit Wyndham points into RCI?  How long are they good for?

2) Assume I deposit 800,000 points into RCI.  After I deposit them, when I book exchanges, will I be charged housekeeping and transactions for each exchange I book?  What costs does an exchange have, besides the points and the exchange fee?

3) Some of the stuff that shows online available is as low as 35,000 points per week in a studio, which would be very affordable.  However, the Wyndham chart shows more points required for a low season studio - e.g. 74,000 points.  Will they charge me 35,000 as shown online or 74,000 according to the chart?

Any insight would be welcome, thank you in advance for your help.


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## Sandy VDH (Mar 7, 2014)

ada903 said:


> I own resale Wyndham points and would like to use them for RCI exchanges, using the account provided by Wyndham/RCI.
> 
> I am interested in booking stuff I see online, not placing ongoing searches.  I have a few questions.
> 
> 1) Is there any fee to deposit Wyndham points into RCI?  How long are they good for?:



I believe you must pay or use the appropriate amount of Housekeeping credits when you deposit them into RCI.  If you lack sufficient HK credits you can purchase them from Wyndham when you make the deposit.  I say I believe, as I have unlimited HK credits and I can't confirm from experience.   They are good for an additional 2 yrs once they are deposited in RCI. I can't recall it is it 2 years from the date of deposit or 2 years from the end of the use year.



ada903 said:


> 2) Assume I deposit 800,000 points into RCI.  After I deposit them, when I book exchanges, will I be charged housekeeping and transactions for each exchange I book?  What costs does an exchange have, besides the points and the exchange fee?:



As I mentioned in 1, you pay HK when depositing.  You then have a transaction fee that you must pay RCI when you book.  These fees have gone up recently, and I am not sure what the current rate is.  It was $199 per reservation, but it has gone up.



ada903 said:


> 3) Some of the stuff that shows online available is as low as 35,000 points per week in a studio, which would be very affordable.  However, the Wyndham chart shows more points required for a low season studio - e.g. 74,000 points.  Will they charge me 35,000 as shown online or 74,000 according to the chart?  :



The chart is the max you will use in points.  Occasionally points are less and you will only be charged what you see online.


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## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks Sandy.  The RCI exchange fee is $209 these days.  I was wondering if on top of that, there is a Wyndham transaction charge for each booking through RCI which I believe is $39.  Not sure how they would decide how much housekeeping they would deposit with my points since I would deposit 800k points at once without placing exchange requests.  The property I have that I would use is Wyndham Cantebury because it has the low maintenance fees. 


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## scootr5 (Mar 7, 2014)

ada903 said:


> Thanks Sandy.  The RCI exchange fee is $209 these days.  I was wondering if on top of that, there is a Wyndham transaction charge for each booking through RCI which I believe is $39.  Not sure how they would decide how much housekeeping they would deposit with my points since I would deposit 800k points at once without placing exchange requests.  The property I have that I would use is Wyndham Cantebury because it has the low maintenance fees.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



There's no Wyndham transaction fee for booking through RCI, but it does use a reservation transaction to deposit points to RCI. If you're out of RTs, those are $39 for each additional one.


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## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks for clarifying on transactions, that is good to know.  I guess I just have to figure out how much housekeeping I have for the 864,000 points I own at Canterbury (probably 864 housekeeping credits?  I am still waiting for the transfer to complete) and how much the deposited points and exchanges will require in housekeeping fees. 

Is there a chart or formula showing how many Wyndham housekeeping credits are required for each RCI exchange? I found this online for Wyndham, is this what applies to RCI exchanges?

Housekeeping Credits - up to 7 days
STUDIO = 28
ONE BEDROOM = 63
TWO BEDROOM = 77
THREE BEDROOM = 140
FOUR BEDROOM = 154


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## vacationhopeful (Mar 7, 2014)

If you do NOT currently have an RCI account, it may take Wyndham 2-4 MONTHS to set one up for your member number. 

Until you have a RCI account associated with your Wyndham member number, there is NOTHING you can do to deposit into RCI.

I suggest you see what the rules are for SFX exchanges NOW ...

Do you know what your contract's USE YEAR is? You could explore banking the 2015 Points for the $39 fee if you have to deposit 864,000 points into RCI. You will be exchanging forever while also trying to burn thru 2015 Wyndham points.


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## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

I own Wyndham access points already and I have an RCI account set up for those, yes it took a while for them to do it. I am not sure if my Cantebury property will be linked to the same RCI account as my access points.  How late can I deposit by 2014 points into RCI, can I do it as late as end of this year, and have another year to use them?

Linda, if I bank the points into 2015, they allow me depositing the banked points into Rci?

I have other RCI accounts too, through Hilton, voluntary Worldmark account, etc, and I belong to SFX already and II and everyone in between, lol.


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## scootr5 (Mar 7, 2014)

ada903 said:


> Thanks for clarifying on transactions, that is good to know.  I guess I just have to figure out how much housekeeping I have for the 864,000 points I own at Canterbury (probably 864 housekeeping credits?  I am still waiting for the transfer to complete) and how much the deposited points and exchanges will require in housekeeping fees.
> 
> Is there a chart or formula showing how many Wyndham housekeeping credits are required for each RCI exchange? I found this online for Wyndham, is this what applies to RCI exchanges?
> 
> ...




Yes, you'll have 864 HK credits. If I remember correctly, it's 1 HK credit per every 2,000 points deposited to RCI. Once the points are deposited into RCI, you don't have to worry about the housekeeping fees for making reservations.

Your exchanges in RCI will generally follow this chart (although they will occasional be less points):


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## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

Is that what the exchanges require, one hk per 2000 points, or what they deposit with points?


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## scootr5 (Mar 7, 2014)

ada903 said:


> Is that what the exchanges require, one hk per 2000 points, or what they deposit with points?



That's what they take with the points deposit - if you deposit 100,000 points, it will also take 50 HK credits.


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## bnoble (Mar 7, 2014)

...and exchanges don't require any housekeeping credits at all.  Just the act of depositing.  So, RCI doesn't track your HK credits; it is only considered at deposit time.


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## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

Very helpful, thank you!

I took the time to read the stickies and someone described how they made multiple deposits of 28k each.  Do I have to make multiple deposits of predetermined amounts, or do I just deposit 800,000 points and then when I make an instant exchange, RCI pulls how many points it was from my deposits?


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## paxsarah (Mar 7, 2014)

ada903 said:


> Very helpful, thank you!
> 
> I took the time to read the stickies and someone described how they made multiple deposits of 28k each.  Do I have to make multiple deposits of predetermined amounts, or do I just deposit 800,000 points and then when I make an instant exchange, RCI pulls how many points it was from my deposits?



The latter. The 28K increments were part of the "old" system which has been out of use for several years now. At this point, you just deposit the desired points and "spend" them when you want to book an exchange. If you decide later to deposit additional points, they get added up with what you already have in RCI with no distinction between them (except that they will likely have different expiration dates).


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## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

Perfect, this pretty much answers all of my questions.  The last unknown is whether they will open me a different RCI account for this Cantebury property from the one I have for my Wyndham access points.  I actually have two Wyndham access accounts with two different member numbers, and each logs into a different RCI account.


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## scootr5 (Mar 7, 2014)

If you want your Wyndham accounts split like that, great. If not, you can ask them to merge them (as long as the names are the same).


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## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks Scott.  I actually like them split - easier to keep track.  

Thanks again everyone for great feedback, got all my questions answered


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## uscav8r (Mar 7, 2014)

ada903 said:


> I own Wyndham access points already and I have an RCI account set up for those, yes it took a while for them to do it. I am not sure if my Cantebury property will be linked to the same RCI account as my access points.  How late can I deposit by 2014 points into RCI, can I do it as late as end of this year, and have another year to use them?
> 
> Linda, if I bank the points into 2015, they allow me depositing the banked points into Rci?
> 
> I have other RCI accounts too, through Hilton, voluntary Worldmark account, etc, and I belong to SFX already and II and everyone in between, lol.



You should be able to get the Canterbury contract added to the same member number that your CWA contract is under. If it doesn't initially get set up that way, you can call owner care and they'll fix it in a matter of a couple days. I don't know if it would work the other way around (i.e., Canterbury is added to an existing membershpbut you want it split off).

The Wyndham term to extend the life of points is the "points credit pool"  vice the Worldmark term of banking.

If you deposit future years' points into the credit pool, they have a 3-year lifespan from the date you pooled them, but they can no longer be deposited into RCI. 

There is a way around this, however, if you book a reservation using pooled credits (you should call a Vacation Counselor on the same day you make the reservation to ensure it uses the type of points you want it to) and then later cancel it, the "refund" will come back as Cancelled Reservation Points for use by the end of the year in which the reservation was for. These cancelled points can then be deposited into RCI.


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## uscav8r (Mar 7, 2014)

ada903 said:


> Thanks Scott.  I actually like them split - easier to keep track.
> 
> Thanks again everyone for great feedback, got all my questions answered



If you keep them split, then expect another lengthy delay in getting the new RCI account set up. Deposits into this new Wyndham RCI account won't mingle with deposits into the Wyndham RCI account associated with your CWA membership.

There may be a way to transfer points between RCI points accounts, but I've heard there is a fee for this service (just like everything else Wyndham!).


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## ada903 (Mar 7, 2014)

For some reason I thought canceled points cannot be banked into RCI.  So if I bank = pool my 2014 credits into 2015, make a reservation and then cancel, the canceled banked or pooled points can be deposited into RCI?  I assume I would do that in one day all, to count as one transaction..


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## uscav8r (Mar 8, 2014)

ada903 said:


> For some reason I thought canceled points cannot be banked into RCI.  So if I bank = pool my 2014 credits into 2015, make a reservation and then cancel, the canceled banked or pooled points can be deposited into RCI?  I assume I would do that in one day all, to count as one transaction..



If you are not a VIP Gold or Platinum, it is too late to pool 2014 points (at least if you have a January use year). Pooling must be done prior to the beginning of your use year, so you can pool 2015 or 2016 right now (which makes them available now).

Yes, you could do all that in one day. But if you expect to have over 800k points, you should have about 10-11 RTs, which is quite a bit, and running out of RTs should be a bit less of a concern (unless you change your mind often!).


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## ada903 (Mar 8, 2014)

What is an RT? Is that a transaction? Thanks for clarifying pooling options!


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## vacationhopeful (Mar 8, 2014)

Reservation Transaction ==> RT
HK ==> Housekeeping Credit


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## Sandy VDH (Mar 8, 2014)

ada903 said:


> For some reason I thought canceled points cannot be banked into RCI.  So if I bank = pool my 2014 credits into 2015, make a reservation and then cancel, the canceled banked or pooled points can be deposited into RCI?  I assume I would do that in one day all, to count as one transaction..



It used to be that canceled points could not be deposited into RCI, but they changed that a few years ago.  

Pooled points can not directly be deposited, but as an earlier poster mentioned there is a way around that. 

All in one day if you call in.  If you book online, I don't think it considers what day it is and all transactions are separate AFAIK.  If you are doing multiple transactions, it might just be easier to call.  However I only call if I have to because I can't do it myself, as I have an account with unlimited transactions.


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## ada903 (Mar 8, 2014)

So if I bank, book, cancel and deposit online those would be considered separate transactions?  It only counts as one transaction if done over the phone? I want to make sure I am not misunderstanding. 

I will get 864,000 Catenbury points January use year, with 2014 first use (docs went to transfer a few weeks ago, so it should be done soon).  

My plan for the 2014 points is to make a 2 night booking for a friend at Bonnet creek and use the one free guest certificate for her; bank the remainder points (almost 800k) into 2015, make reservations with them, cancel the reservations, and then banked the canceled pooled points into RCI - all the same day.  Should I do all this over the phone to avoid multiple transactions?  Are there thinking faults in my plan?  And will I have until end of 2016 to travel with the deposited RCI points?


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## bnoble (Mar 8, 2014)

> So if I bank, book, cancel and deposit online those would be considered separate transactions? It only counts as one transaction if done over the phone? I want to make sure I am not misunderstanding.


Baking (more properly, "Pooling" or "Credit Pooling") does not use a transaction---it is a fixed fee.  Currently, the cost is $39.

Booking and depositing do both use transactions.  However, if you do them both *on the same day*, you use (or pay for) only one transaction credit, not two.  It does not matter if this is online, by phone, or a mix.

Canceling does not use a transaction.



> bank the remainder points (almost 800k) into 2015, make reservations with them, cancel the reservations, and then banked the canceled pooled points into RCI - all the same day.


I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish by this.  You could instead just deposit the almost 800K into RCI, and you'd get the same result.  The expiration of points in RCI is based on the day you *deposit*, not the use year of the points deposited.

I would strongly encourage you to carefully re-read pages 320 through 327, inclusive, of the current Directory.  This is worth revisiting periodically; I always seem to find something new each time I read it.
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/2013657298WMD/


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## ada903 (Mar 8, 2014)

Thanks, I was confused about how banking points into a future year and then depositing the canceled pooled/banked points would extend the life of points into RCI.  I found page 280 in the document and it explains RCI deposits - points are valid with RCI two years from the date of deposit, great!  So I will then do two deposits, one earlier in the year and another on the first day of December, so I can have two years from then to use the points with RCI.  And in future years if I bank points and then I am able to deposit canceled banked points, I can extend the life by depositing later in time since deposits are good 2 years from date of deposit.


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## uscav8r (Mar 8, 2014)

Sandy VDH said:


> ... If you book online, I don't think it considers what day it is and all transactions are separate AFAIK.  If you are doing multiple transactions, it might just be easier to call...



Sandy,

You can do as many as you want online in a given day and it still counts as "one". For me it is easier to go online, unless of course, one is trying to book several ARP reservations.

ada903: The best way to think of RTs is as "Reservation Transaction Days."


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## ada903 (Mar 8, 2014)

Got it thanks!  I should have 11 RT days so that's more than what I need for my purposes.  It's perfect. I am particularly excited about the fact that HK credits will be enough for as many reservations as I wish to book with the deposited RCI points, with Worldmark they always take a HK token for each exchange and costs can add up when booking smaller units and running out of HK tokens.


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## uscav8r (Mar 8, 2014)

ada903 said:


> Thanks, I had misunderstood that banking points into a future year and then depositing the canceled pooled/banked points would extend the life of points into RCI.  I found page 280 in the document and it explains RCI deposits - points are valid with RCI two years from the date of deposit, great!  So I will then do two deposits, one earlier in the year and another on the first day of December, so I can have two years from then to use the points with RCI.



Unless you really need the RCI deposit now to make an RCI reservation, there is no advantage to making two deposits in the same calendar year. Consider RCI as an "out" plan if you are unable to use your Wyndham points by the end of your use year. You don't want to get the RCI clock ticking any sooner than you have to!

Also, depending on how your account is set up, you may actually get more than two years if you wait until late in the year. 

For example, I did two RCI deposits last year (I have a January use year). I found that any deposits prior to SEP 1 have until August of the 2nd year to be used (deposit 8/28/13, expire 8/31/15), while anything after that get an extra 9 months (deposit 12/10/13, expire 8/31/16). I am VIP Silver, so your mileage may vary (YMMV). Non-VIP owners can tell you if their experiences differ in this regard.

The ONLY reason I did two different deposits was because I did a resale purchase that was dragging out and I didn't know if it would process before the end of the year (and I wanted to see how the system worked).

From here on out, I will always wait until December to make my RCI deposits (I already have too many RCI points than I can use), just making sure to hold back one RT to make that happen without fees.


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## ada903 (Mar 8, 2014)

I will make a deposit initially of maybe 300k just to have enough handy in RCI for exchanges, and then wait until year end to deposit the remainder unused points.  I like to have points handy for instant RCI exchanges.  I have no status, so I assume points would be good for 2 years from the date of deposit.


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## uscav8r (Mar 8, 2014)

ada903 said:


> ... I have no status, so I assume points would be good for 2 years from the date of deposit.



To each his own. It would be interesting to see how your points are treated, and if it is any different from my experience. Come back and report on this thread after your second deposit!


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## ada903 (Mar 8, 2014)

Will do, thanks for the advice.


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## bnoble (Mar 8, 2014)

> Also, depending on how your account is set up, you may actually get more than two years if you wait until late in the year.


Mine seems to be set up similarly, but my expiration month is December, not August.


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