# RCI New Trading Power



## SilverSandsOwner

I own 3 different weeks at Silversands in Durban.  It appears the new 'trading' power is extremely low.  My weeks were downgraded days before the transision and now has a value of 8's and 9.

Supposingly, the resort was being reviewed for a Gold Crown.

Can only one shed some light why we don't have the trading power like we use to?


----------



## vckempson

For Mount Amanzi, 1 br red flexi week,  I come in with an 11.  For those deposited back in 2008 the value was a 15, confirming the level of decrease power for the SA units now.


----------



## dundey

Over on the exchange boards a couple people mentioned higher values of 15 -18, I think there was even a 20.  No one mentioned which resorts however.

Personally, I own 2 - Kynsna Chalets and Glenmore Sands.   I have a 2010 and 2011 week on deposit from Glenmore, and a 2010 from Kynsna.  All were deposited more than 9 months in advance and all 3 have a value of 11.

This is far lower than what they have pulled in the past.  The 2010 Glenmore was seeing over 140,000 before the change - right up there with the best traders.

Both of these weeks are "peak" school vacation times in SA.  Not sure what the heck RCI is thinking here.


----------



## mqlet

My 1bd DIK is a 14.


----------



## dundey

mqlet said:


> My 1bd DIK is a 14.



Based on what I'm seeing with mine, I'd be happy with that!  

I'm hoping that we get more SA owners to post on this.  There does not seem to be much logic behind the numbers.


----------



## SilverSandsOwner

My Silversands were deposited over 1 yr in advance.  I have 2 in January (14th and 21st) which suppose to be peak red.  And I have a mid Sept that is red most of the time and occasionaly is white (based upon the school calendar).

They use to be decent traders now they are the pits.


----------



## LisaH

I have a peak Glenmore Sands week. With M/F over $360 and trading power of 10, I wonder if the resort will take the week back? How about we all write to the resort and ask them to put pressure on RCI regarding the valuation (or revaluation) of the the trading power assessment for South Africa weeks?


----------



## grail

i got two 2br dikhololo and it got a trading power of 17 and 23.  deposited a year in advance.


----------



## cdimi

I have a 1 bedroom Lowveld Lodge that was deposited 1 yr in advance and only gets a 9. Luckily, I am able to take last minute trips.


----------



## Joe M.

Strand Pavilion weeks in my account range from 17 for a studio up to 25 for a larger 2BR. I think you can use the new trade power calculator to look up the values of other SA timeshares to compare different resorts and seasons.


----------



## DrJim

*What chart?*

I am "just getting back into the SA game", what chart are you referring to?

Thanks


----------



## SilverSandsOwner

If RCI doesn't address this downsizing I'll probably give my weeks back to the resort.  And I am sure there would be thousands of weeks will be going back.  The financial burden to resorts may be overwelhming and the SA timeshares industry as a whole will be hurt.  

RCI broke the promise of the ability to trade our weeks within their system if we did not use our home resort. We bought their sale pitch and now left out in the cold.


----------



## KarenG

If I can ever get in, I've got 3 Dik weeks, I'll come back and report their values.


----------



## dundey

I am VERY surprised at the trade values being posted for DIK.  And just as surprised at the very low numbers for some good quality peak weeks in SA, just does not make any sense.  emailing or writing to the resorts could help, I will be doing just that for Glenmore and Kynsna.

I asked my friend to check her account and she is seeing the following:
Glenmore Sands         8
St. Michael's Sands   18

I need to check the deposit calculator for the rest of the year for Glenmore before I do any thing else.  It seems SA deposits are now more random than ever.  And yes, RCI lied, again.


----------



## Carolinian

What is bizarre is that RCI has now exposed that it is not using supply and demand in setting these values.

Under ''Manage your Deposits'', go to ''Exchange Planner'' to see the availibility tables based on supply and demand.  SA is broken down into several regions and just flipping through it looks like all months in all regions in SA have the two best categories of supply and demand.  Orlando on the other hand has the lowest category for all 12 months.

Based on RCI's own supply/demand charts, SA creams Orlando, so its trading power should be better.

But SA is not the only place shortchanged.  The UK is too, although to a lesser degree.


----------



## JudyS

Carolinian said:


> ...Under ''Manage your Deposits'', go to ''Exchange Planner'' to see the availibility tables based on supply and demand.  SA is broken down into several regions and just flipping through it looks like all months in all regions in SA have the two best categories of supply and demand.  Orlando on the other hand has the lowest category for all 12 months....


I don't actually think the Exchange Planner shows supply *and demand*. When I look at it, it just shows how many weeks are deposited in a given region during a given month, without any demand information at all.  Cape Cod shows as "Moderate Availability (251-2000)" all year round, but if 1000 weeks are deposited each month, 800 of them may sit empty in January whereas almost all of them may be snatched up in July. 

So, Orlando always shows as high availability because lots of weeks are deposited there every month.


----------



## JEFF H

When I attempt to use RCI deposit calculator to check deposit value for my 2011 Peak & white Sudwala weeks it says no weeks available at this resort.
Anyone else having this issue.
I have a 2010 white week deposited and it shows as having a value of 11
I would like to find out how much value the 2011 weeks will have if I deposit them.


----------



## Carolinian

This four level month by month table has been in the European version of the directory for years, and it DOES indeed show availibility based on both supply and demand.  Indeed until they shortened the terms in the last directory, the descriptions of the four categories included the word demand with phrases like ''very highly demanded'' for the lowest category and ''highly demanded'' for the second lowest.  Of course there were also supply terms as well, so it was clearly based on both factors.  Now it ranges from ''best'' to ''limited''.

Common sense should also tell you that, as the purpose of this is to plan vacations by seeing where there will be more likely units availible.  A chart that did not take into account the demand side would be absolutely useless for that purpose and it would be ridiculous to even publish such a thing.

I agree that there is something squirrelly about many of the current US charts.  In most other parts of the world, they change from month to month but many of them I have looked at in the US have the same status for the whole year.  For the OBX that is not accurate, as the deposit patterns with the exchange companies do vary with the time of year, with a great majority of summer owners owning to use and not even being members of exchange companies much less depositing.  So when they show it the same all year, they are just wrong.

The Orlando version of this table in my latest European directory shows three months with the highest availibility, four months with the second highest, two months with the lowest, and three months with the second lowest.  South Africa on the other hand shows all 12 months with the lowest availibility category, ''limited''.  Things may well have changed some from that table to this, but I doubt that Orlando has suddenly been flooded with excess supply or that demand has dried up in its high season.




JudyS said:


> I don't actually think the Exchange Planner shows supply *and demand*. When I look at it, it just shows how many weeks are deposited in a given region during a given month, without any demand information at all.  Cape Cod shows as "Moderate Availability (251-2000)" all year round, but if 1000 weeks are deposited each month, 800 of them may sit empty in January whereas almost all of them may be snatched up in July.
> 
> So, Orlando always shows as high availability because lots of weeks are deposited there every month.


----------



## JudyS

I said: 





JudyS said:


> I don't actually think the Exchange Planner shows supply *and demand*. When I look at it, it just shows how many weeks are deposited in a given region during a given month, without any demand information at all.  Cape Cod shows as "Moderate Availability (251-2000)" all year round, but if 1000 weeks are deposited each month, 800 of them may sit empty in January whereas almost all of them may be snatched up in July.
> 
> So, Orlando always shows as high availability because lots of weeks are deposited there every month.



And Steve replied:


Carolinian said:


> This four level month by month table has been in the European version of the directory for years, and it DOES indeed show availibility based on both supply and demand.


That may be, but we aren't talking about the European directory, we're talking about the online Exchange Planner, which is an entirely different thing.



Carolinian said:


> Common sense should also tell you that, as the purpose of this is to plan vacations by seeing where there will be more likely units availible.  A chart that did not take into account the demand side would be absolutely useless for that purpose and it would be ridiculous to even publish such a thing....


So, you are claiming that RCI never does anything ridiculous?  That is certainly new!

It's not completely useless for RCI to provide supply charts with no demand information. Now that we can look up how much trades cost, members can put in a request early, and if there is a lot of supply in an area, they can be pretty sure they will get the trade, regardless of demand. If there is little supply, then they know they might not get the trade, even if they request 2 years in advance. In some areas, there has historically been NO supply for some months, so members know not to bother.

I certainly think a chart of supply *and demand* would be more useful. But that doesn't seem to be what RCI has provided in the Exchange Planner.


----------



## dundey

JEFF H said:


> When I attempt to use RCI deposit calculator to check deposit value for my 2011 Peak & white Sudwala weeks it says no weeks available at this resort.
> Anyone else having this issue.
> I have a 2010 white week deposited and it shows as having a value of 11
> I would like to find out how much value the 2011 weeks will have if I deposit them.



Jeff what weeks are you looking for?  I'm seeing a lot of 11's and 14's, but there are several weeks that pull 18 or 20.
One thing I noticed is that early December weeks are 23!  The same as Christmas / New Year weeks.  Makes sense since its school holiday time in SA, but other school holidays are lower.  Yet with other SA weeks, the increased value is only for the last 2 weeks of Dec.

Another thing I've noticed is that ski weeks (at least in the NE) don't seem to get better value for 2 of the biggest ski weeks of the year - MLK week and Presidents Day week.  Values at a few of the resorts I checked are the same for those weeks as late March!  Yeah, RCI has done it again!

I think I can probably work within this new system with some of the weeks I have, but overall it seems exceedingly unfair to owners of certain weeks / areas.  Having said that, I know value has increased for some as well, particularly some blue weeks that are close to high seasons.  

One thing is for certain, the game has changed BIG TIME.


----------



## wgaldred

> I would like to find out how much value the 2011 weeks will have if I deposit them.



Your peak weak (which is the same as mine) is 18, your other week will probably still be 11


----------



## Carolinian

Yeah, I noticed that, too.  There are 23 weeks with a value of 15, 3 at 15, 1 at 17, 4 at 18, and 3 at 22.  I am guessing the 22 weeks will all be fixed weeks and not availible to flexis, so I guess there will be a scramble for the 18's.



dundey said:


> Jeff what weeks are you looking for?  I'm seeing a lot of 11's and 14's, but there are several weeks that pull 18 or 20.
> One thing I noticed is that early December weeks are 23!  The same as Christmas / New Year weeks.  Makes sense since its school holiday time in SA, but other school holidays are lower.
> 
> Another thing I've noticed is that ski weeks (at least in the NE) don't seem to get better value for 2 of the biggest ski weeks of the year - MLK week and Presidents Day week.  Values at a few of the resorts I checked are the same for those weeks as late March!  Yeah, RCI has done it again!
> 
> I think I can probably work within this new system with some of the weeks I have, but overall it seems exceedingly unfair to owners of certain weeks / areas.  Having said that, I know value has increased for some as well, particularly some blue weeks that are close to high seasons.
> 
> One thing is for certain, the game has changed BIG TIME.


----------



## Carolinian

There chart is in exactly the same format as the chart long used in the European directory, and its content for areas outside the US tracks closely with the latest version of that chart.  This argument, advanced earlier by an Orlando owner, that it somehow does not include the demand side is just way off in left field, and is not even logical.  I would see why owners in overbuilt areas would want to believe something, anything, to not face the reality that their areas are overbuilt.  We seem to get a lot of denial of that by particularly Orlando owners.




JudyS said:


> I said:
> 
> And Steve replied:
> That may be, but we aren't talking about the European directory, we're talking about the online Exchange Planner, which is an entirely different thing.
> 
> So, you are claiming that RCI never does anything ridiculous?  That is certainly new!
> 
> It's not completely useless for RCI to provide supply charts with no demand information. Now that we can look up how much trades cost, members can put in a request early, and if there is a lot of supply in an area, they can be pretty sure they will get the trade, regardless of demand. If there is little supply, then they know they might not get the trade, even if they request 2 years in advance. In some areas, there has historically been NO supply for some months, so members know not to bother.
> 
> I certainly think a chart of supply *and demand* would be more useful. But that doesn't seem to be what RCI has provided in the Exchange Planner.


----------



## Carolinian

There is also something else interesting on that Planning chart.  It shows historical trade power averages by month.  If you compare those with what the system is spitting out for SA now, it is clear SA got whacked on valuation.


----------



## dundey

Carolinian said:


> There is also something else interesting on that Planning chart.  It shows historical trade power averages by month.  If you compare those with what the system is spitting out for SA now, it is clear SA got whacked on valuation.



Hmm, did not notice that.  I'll have to look tonight.

BTW, I agree with your assessment of the supply / demand data.  How can you have availability "limited" and NOT have some basis in demand.  It's not a logical argument.  I know RCI is not logical, but this seems beyond the realm of possibility, even for them.

I wonder if RCI will make any adjustments in this new system as we move forward.


----------



## Debbyd57

Our one bedroom Brookes Hill only gets 9 points.  Last year we traded into DVC with it over Christmas.  That is a big drop.  Of course it was probably over inflated last year.


----------



## shar

My  two Diks show up as 14, but before this there was a significant difference in thier trading power. 2010 pulled so much up with 2011 pulling less.  Now the same with new system. Kicking myself that I did not use the  2010 deposit prior since such a decrease in power.  Also noticed a decrease in NC summer beach weeks which makes no sense as prime time and demand high.   

Sharon


----------



## northwoodsgal

If possible, please state whether your points are based on what RCI gave you for existing weeks versus what RCI will give you for future deposits.  

For example, my 2 bedroom, Red (not Peak) Durban Sands was assigned 13 points and was an existing 2010 deposit.  I have not yet deposited for 2011 or 2012.  If I did, I would receive 7 points for 2011 and 8 for 2012.  I talked with an RCI web site rep a few weeks ago and he advised me to wait until the new rollout to decide whether to deposit further weeks.  Wow, in hindsight it was clearly bad advice from someone who must have already known what would be happening.

What's interesting is that there are NO Durban Sand weeks available for exchange and has been like this for quite some time.  I suppose if you don't put the weeks online, no one will exchange and then you can keep the "value" artificially low.  I have to wonder what manipulations are behind all of this.  And not too long ago DS was "hidden" in a completely different area of South Africa.  Again, if you can't find the week, how can you exchange and have demand?

Does anyone have an email address for RCI South Africa?  Perhaps we should be voicing our concerns to the RCI section that might actually care about their resorts.


----------



## JudyS

dundey said:


> ... How can you have availability "limited" and NOT have some basis in demand.  It's not a logical argument.  I know RCI is not logical, but this seems beyond the realm of possibility, even for them....


The chart seems to define "limited availability" as meaning less than 250 units are deposited in a month in a given region. That's what it says, useful or not. I'm sure there are times/places with just a few weeks deposited, but not many weeks booked (say, Wyoming in October) and those places would be easy to book. But, the chart doesn't seem to have a way to account for that. 



Carolinian said:


> There is also something else interesting on that Planning chart.  It shows historical trade power averages by month.  If you compare those with what the system is spitting out for SA now, it is clear SA got whacked on valuation.


The historical trade power averages by month make no sense to me. There should be much bigger fluctuations in places like Cape Cod. January there should be like a 4 and July should be maybe a 30, but instead it's between 14 and 22. In fact, practically everything in the entire US is between 14 and 22.


----------



## Nancy

*Mount Amanzi*

My 2011 week shows 12.  The 2010 week, old system, was always stronger than the 2011.  Will be interested to see what my 2012 week shows when I deposit it after first of year.  

Nancy


----------



## bmaitland

Help! Someone earlier asked my questions: What chart? Where? Accessed how? I have a 2RB floating red week and a 3BR floating red week at Dikhololo. How do I find their value?


----------



## Joe M.

ia3d said:


> Help! Someone earlier asked my questions: What chart? Where? Accessed how? I have a 2RB floating red week and a 3BR floating red week at Dikhololo. How do I find their value?



It is not a chart but rather a deposit trade power calculator at the RCI website.

Log into your RCI account. Select the Manage Your Deposits tab. On the right side of the screen is a Deposit Calculator tool. Type Dikhololo in the Resort/ID space. Then enter your unit type, interval and year and hit the calculate button. Your trade power for that deposit will appear.

I just tried this for a random Dik week (unit C1, 3BR, interval 12 for 2012) and it returned a trade power of 17.


----------



## MuranoJo

I have a little Sudwala '09 deposit July 1-bd week that gets 24 (which isn't too shabby, considering), and later deposits which sink to 15 & 16.

DS is woof woof.


----------



## Carolinian

RCI has a grid of weeks values for all resort areas, but I am not sure how it is broken down in SA.  I have computed it for the NC OBX.  You have to go through the calculator to figure it out but they typically average values over a period, sometimes an unreasonably long period like weeks 11 to 21 inclusive on the OBX.  Looking at Dik, it seems more disjointed than the OBX, but that probably means it does a better job of identifying which weeks are worth more than others.

Overall, it looks like a policy decision to whack SA based on something other than supply and demand.  Looking online to see what is sitting there is the ultimate way to look at RCI's availibility.

It is not just SA getting whacked.  The UK, a difficult area to trade into at any desirable time, and even difficult in off season at many resorts, is also much farther down the totem pole than it should be based on supply and demand.  Even the ultimate timeshare week on a supply / demand basis in the world, a 3BR summer week at Allen House in London does not make it to a 60, but only a 53 (and if you want Christmas or New Years  week, it is only 45).  Why does a 3BR at a way off the beach resort in Myrtle Beach rate a 60 but a 3BR in central London only rate a 53?  Horsehockey!  The places to trade UK weeks these days are SFX, UKRE, DAE, or II.  Supply and demand were clearly thrown out the window is setting numbers when you can deposit way off the beach in Myrtle Beach, trade for similar size and season into primo central London, and get change back!  That is ludicrous!




Joe M. said:


> It is not a chart but rather a deposit trade power calculator at the RCI website.
> 
> Log into your RCI account. Select the Manage Your Deposits tab. On the right side of the screen is a Deposit Calculator tool. Type Dikhololo in the Resort/ID space. Then enter your unit type, interval and year and hit the calculate button. Your trade power for that deposit will appear.
> 
> I just tried this for a random Dik week (unit C1, 3BR, interval 12 for 2012) and it returned a trade power of 17.


----------



## ajhcmaj

*SA days are over*

I am glad to say I found Tug 10 years ago and bought our first of multiple SA weeks (Mt Amanzi, Dik).  We have had about 20 great vacations over the 10 years that on average (including the cost of the week we acquired, closing cost, the maintenance fee, exchange fee, and rci membership fee) cost us about $425 per week.  Not a bad situation for normally a 2 bedroom resort.  We have been to the Residence of Crane, Windjammer in St Lucia, and other great ones.

So now with my resorts only pulling 11 points, we will have to combine 2 weeks to get a trade I normally got.  So that is $99 to combine the points, 2 maintenance fees, 1 exchange fee.  So instead of a $400 vacation we are looking at like $900.  Still ok, but will maybe just use my weeks to book something on short notice and only using one week and not having to combine weeks to get enough points.

If anyone knows of other good ways to get 20 plus points for a week, please post.


----------



## northwoodsgal

When I spoke with someone in internet support a few weeks ago, it was made clear that there is a "wall" of sorts between RCI SA and RCI USA.  The weeks are not openly exchanged between each other as one might of thought.  Rather, it's demand is based more on the number of people in RCI SA system that want to visit in the RCI USA system and vice versa.  

It used to be that more people in the RCI SA system wanted to use RCI USA weeks than were available (determined by the number of USA owners of RCI SA weeks that had been deposited).  Now, with all of us USA owners having SA weeks, the opposite is true.  Hence, the drop in "demand".

The way I see it, the real problem is the way the RCI system is set up.  It doesn't reflect the true demand of these resorts because it doesn't include RCI Europe or RCI SA owners as possible exchangers.  These are the RCI members that would create the most demand for the resorts and yet they're excluded.

I don't claim to be an expert on RCI SA trading but this was my understanding of how the trading works and how our "demand" is determined.   If someone else has different information on how this sytem works please post.


----------



## Carolinian

When I visited SA, I saw very few tourists from the US, but gobs of them from Europe.  Virtually every eastern and western European airline flew there, but none at that time from the US (Delta does now).  It is an arbitrary distortion of supply and demand for RCI to do what you are saying.

If that is so, then as an RCI Europe member, I should get much better trading power out of the calculator, but I do not.  It is like they set the numbers based on just US and SA, left Europe out of the equation, and then even had the gall to apply those arbitrarily reduced numbers to European members as well.




northwoodsgal said:


> When I spoke with someone in internet support a few weeks ago, it was made clear that there is a "wall" of sorts between RCI SA and RCI USA.  The weeks are not openly exchanged between each other as one might of thought.  Rather, it's demand is based more on the number of people in RCI SA system that want to visit in the RCI USA system and vice versa.
> 
> It used to be that more people in the RCI SA system wanted to use RCI USA weeks than were available (determined by the number of USA owners of RCI SA weeks that had been deposited).  Now, with all of us USA owners having SA weeks, the opposite is true.  Hence, the drop in "demand".
> 
> The way I see it, the real problem is the way the RCI system is set up.  It doesn't reflect the true demand of these resorts because it doesn't include RCI Europe or RCI SA owners as possible exchangers.  These are the RCI members that would create the most demand for the resorts and yet they're excluded.
> 
> I don't claim to be an expert on RCI SA trading but this was my understanding of how the trading works and how our "demand" is determined.   If someone else has different information on how this sytem works please post.


----------



## northwoodsgal

I'm not sure about that since there also that "wall" between RCI Europe and the rest of the RCIs.  What would be interesting is how a SA week would be judged using the RCI Europe grid.  I would assume there would be more people from RCI Europe that want to go to SA than people in SA wanting to go to Europe.  Under that scenerio, the SA week should hold its value.

*If that is so, then as an RCI Europe member, I should get much better trading power out of the calculator, but I do not. It is like they set the numbers based on just US and SA, left Europe out of the equation, and then even had the gall to apply those arbitrarily reduced numbers to European members as well.*

Yes, I believe that is what the rep was telling me, that Europe is not part of the equation.


----------



## jancpa

The RCI Deposit Calculator does not work with Firefox.  Can some one see the highest week assigned to a Dikhololo 2012 deposit?  Thanks.


----------



## Carolinian

jancpa said:


> The RCI Deposit Calculator does not work with Firefox.  Can some one see the highest week assigned to a Dikhololo 2012 deposit?  Thanks.



From the European site, the highest I see is a 22 and there are a couple of them around the holidays, but I suspect those are peak weeks.


----------



## northwoodsgal

I did a spot check using RCI USA and see a high of 27 around Christmas.  I used a 3 bedroom since I didn't know the size of your unit.

Here's the weeks and points:

1-27
12-17
20-15
27-23
40-17
52-27 (2011)

Carolinian, would you mind checking what a Durban Sands, 2 bedroom, week 15 is worth using RCI Europe?  Thanks!


----------



## bellesgirl

jancpa said:


> The RCI Deposit Calculator does not work with Firefox.  Can some one see the highest week assigned to a Dikhololo 2012 deposit?  Thanks.


Yes it does.  You have to go into Tools>Options>content and then click on Exceptions for Block Pop-up Windows.  Add rci.com to allow pop-ups


----------



## jancpa

Thank you everyone.
On Firefox, I added rci.com to allow pop-ups but it still did not work.


----------



## dundey

northwoodsgal said:


> When I spoke with someone in internet support a few weeks ago, it was made clear that there is a "wall" of sorts between RCI SA and RCI USA.  The weeks are not openly exchanged between each other as one might of thought.  Rather, it's demand is based more on the number of people in RCI SA system that want to visit in the RCI USA system and vice versa.



I think this is true, based on what I've heard as well.



northwoodsgal said:


> It used to be that more people in the RCI SA system wanted to use RCI USA weeks than were available (determined by the number of USA owners of RCI SA weeks that had been deposited).  Now, with all of us USA owners having SA weeks, the opposite is true.  Hence, the drop in "demand".



I don't think so.  Many people in the US have gotten rid of their SA weeks since black sunday.  If you're proposal was true, trade power for SA weeks should have increased over the last couple of years, but it has dropped consistently.



northwoodsgal said:


> The way I see it, the real problem is the way the RCI system is set up.  It doesn't reflect the true demand of these resorts because it doesn't include RCI Europe or RCI SA owners as possible exchangers.  These are the RCI members that would create the most demand for the resorts and yet they're excluded.



Agreed, but I thought RCI Europe changed to this new "points lite" system as well. The only still independent system is SA.  It would be interesting to join RCI SA and see where some of these weeks stand.


----------



## Carolinian

The numbers I looked up for Dik were for 1BR, rather than 3BR but the pattern looks the same.

When I look for Durban Sands 2BR week 15, the calculator shows 8.




northwoodsgal said:


> I did a spot check using RCI USA and see a high of 27 around Christmas.  I used a 3 bedroom since I didn't know the size of your unit.
> 
> Here's the weeks and points:
> 
> 1-27
> 12-17
> 20-15
> 27-23
> 40-17
> 52-27 (2011)
> 
> Carolinian, would you mind checking what a Durban Sands, 2 bedroom, week 15 is worth using RCI Europe?  Thanks!


----------



## abdibile

dundey said:


> Agreed, but I thought RCI Europe changed to this new "points lite" system as well. The only still independent system is SA.  It would be interesting to join RCI SA and see where some of these weeks stand.



Being a member of RCI Europe, I do not think there is any difference between RCI Europe and RCI US. At least I have not realized something being different from what everyone on TUG is talking about.

RCI SA website looks completely different, I once had acess to it when I first purchased in SA and joined RCI. My RCI account was then transfered to an "Indy numer" (As they call it). RCI SA did not care if I was transferring to RCI US or Europe, everything was called Indianapolis.


----------



## cdimi

My Lowveld Lodge week 31 deposited over a yr in advance only gets 9 pts. It is a 1 bedroom red week over a school holiday and public holiday. When i search for a wk there are none available. I have had some great trades over the last 8 years.


----------



## northwoodsgal

Carolinian, thanks for checking the value assigned on Durban Sands.

If I could ask either you or abdibile a favor, would you mind checking, from the RCI Europe site, if Durban Sands shows up as a resort option.  The reason I ask is that it hasn't been an available trade on the RCI USA web site for some time.  So if you can't book a week from the US or Europe, who is able to?


----------



## dundey

cdimi said:


> My Lowveld Lodge week 31 deposited over a yr in advance only gets 9 pts. It is a 1 bedroom red week over a school holiday and public holiday. When i search for a wk there are none available. I have had some great trades over the last 8 years.



Same here, only 11 points for peak, school holiday weeks in SA.  I am going to contact the resorts to see if there is anything they can do from their end.  Obviously RCI has not valued these weeks correctly.


----------



## e.bram

If I don't get the trades I want, I use my timeshares! I guess RCI figured out(duh) SA owners can not easily do this, and they can cut trading power with impunity.


----------



## JudyS

e.bram said:


> If I don't get the trades I want, I use my timeshares! I guess RCI figured out(duh) SA owners can not easily do this, and they can cut trading power with impunity.


Sounds like an argument for using DAE or another independent!


----------



## abdibile

northwoodsgal said:


> Carolinian, thanks for checking the value assigned on Durban Sands.
> 
> If I could ask either you or abdibile a favor, would you mind checking, from the RCI Europe site, if Durban Sands shows up as a resort option.  The reason I ask is that it hasn't been an available trade on the RCI USA web site for some time.  So if you can't book a week from the US or Europe, who is able to?



I do not see availability at Durban Sands.

Generally I see much less availability in South Africa than when i started looking around two years ago.

Without other filters and "see all deposit" there are only 327 units in South Africa. (My last deposit expires may 2013, do not know if that matters when shosing see all units)

But I think "RCI Europe Site" is not really different from US. 

I acess it through RCI.com website and after logging in it just is in German as this is set in my preferences.


----------



## wdaveo

When I go to Manage Accounts it shows me three weeks (2010, 2011, 2012) and a link to "Deposit Now".  Does this mean my weeks were never deposited or am I reading something wrong?  I did instruct Dikhololo to deposit my weeks as soon as they were paid for.


----------



## bellesgirl

wdaveo said:


> When I go to Manage Accounts it shows me three weeks (2010, 2011, 2012) and a link to "Deposit Now".  Does this mean my weeks were never deposited or am I reading something wrong?  I did instruct Dikhololo to deposit my weeks as soon as they were paid for.



It sounds like they were never deposited.  On that same page, at the bottom under "combine your weeks" it shows the weeks that have been deposited.


----------



## dundey

JudyS said:


> Sounds like an argument for using DAE or another independent!



Exactly right!   I use 3 of the weeks I own every year for ski and beach vacations.  The others are traded, or given to family.
I've contacted all my resorts and asked them to dual affiliate with II.  

My VRI week will go to variety next year.

Less options for SA weeks, but DAE is worth a look.  Its also possible to sell or even rent SA peak weeks, since these weeks are in high demand for European travelers.


----------



## JACKC

*Sudwala Deposits*

For comparison my 1br Sudwala peak week deposits for expiration 2011,2012,2113 are respectively 18,18,14 pts. Looking at possible exchanges for next year, I'm surprised how well they pull! Had planned to "dump" my week, but maybe I'll hang onto it and go to some nice places I hadn't counted on.

Jack


----------



## tedk

After Black Sunday i could see how badly RCI were downgrading the South African resorts and decided to cut my losses. I am glad i did, when i see how they have all been hammered. As a earlier poster said South Africa  is limited availability ALL YEAR yet they get rated so bad. The resorts i owned were hardly ever shown on line available, so why are they so badly rated. What i have been told is that most locals do not exchange their weeks or are points members. That is not much cheer to others who own there. On a more personal note buying into the UK has proved a good move for me, as my resort weeks have done OK.
Ted


----------



## Carolinian

The RCI Europe website has much the same look as the US site.  The main differences you note in the English version is the use of British English instead of the US version (''holiday'' instead of ''vacation'' for example), contact numbers being in Europe rather than the US, prices in pounds sterling instead of dollars, and when you get to searching for avabilibility, the fact that at least in Europe, you suddenly see more than using the same deposit(s) from the US site.  I have not added any weeks since transfering my account to Europe, but I recall from dealing with a resort earlier, that to add a week to an RCI Europe account, there was a fee unlike in North America.  I also find that pricing on Extra Vacations, while usually close to the same, is sometimes wildly different that what it is on the US site at exactly the same time.  I have found some that floored me and called a friend back in the states to look it up there.  The home page on RCI.com is the same, and it is once you sign in that it shoots you to the correct RCI site.




abdibile said:


> I do not see availability at Durban Sands.
> 
> Generally I see much less availability in South Africa than when i started looking around two years ago.
> 
> Without other filters and "see all deposit" there are only 327 units in South Africa. (My last deposit expires may 2013, do not know if that matters when shosing see all units)
> 
> But I think "RCI Europe Site" is not really different from US.
> 
> I acess it through RCI.com website and after logging in it just is in German as this is set in my preferences.


----------



## Carolinian

tedk said:


> After Black Sunday i could see how badly RCI were downgrading the South African resorts and decided to cut my losses. I am glad i did, when i see how they have all been hammered. As a earlier poster said South Africa  is limited availability ALL YEAR yet they get rated so bad. The resorts i owned were hardly ever shown on line available, so why are they so badly rated. What i have been told is that most locals do not exchange their weeks or are points members. That is not much cheer to others who own there. On a more personal note buying into the UK has proved a good move for me, as my resort weeks have done OK.
> Ted



Stouts Hill did not get hammered like SA, but is still undervalued given its supply / demand situation as the only timeshare in the Cotswolds, Gold Crown, and with a limited number of units.  Especially when they give a Myrtle Beach timeshare that is a long way off the beach a 60.  Or a 1BR at Vacation Village at Parkway, the resort with the biggest oversupply in the entire RCI system a 50.


----------



## jdetar

Carolinian said:


> ...Or a 1BR at Vacation Village at Parkway, the resort with the biggest oversupply in the entire RCI system a 50.



I remember taking a tour at vacation village at parkway from David Siegel's next door neighbor. It was one of the more memorable tours we ever took. One thing I do remember him saying was some very strong political ties between RCI and that resort. I imagine that is why you are seeing that...


----------



## philemer

2010 DIK, week 12, 17 points (this use to be a Tiger)

2011 DIK, week 12, 16 points (average-to-weak trader before)

2010 Tenbury, week 27 (a Peak week), 8 stinking points (use to be a Tiger too)

Very sad. I'm combining all 3 in January, which will give me 2 years to find an awesome Hawaii week. Then, bye-bye RCI. TPI is getting most of my deposits now.


----------



## freedom53

I do not see anyone reporting on Castleburn yet. I have a Red 2bedroom week expiring Nov 2011 that has 24 trading power. I am quite happy with that.


----------



## MuranoJo

I got a 'freebie' Castleburn week for a 1-time exchange when I first purchased SA. Got me to Aruba.    I think you have a winner in the scheme of things.  Who knows what happens in the future.


----------



## jbrunson

It was always a little disconcerting to have the peak-2 Sudwala week vary dramatically tear to year.  The new system may shed some light.  2010 had a 20, 2011 down to 14.  It looks like RCI values two spring weeks at 20, but which two vary.  For 2011 it is 15 and 16, for 2012 it is 13 and 14.  Are these supposed to be the "peak" weeks?  If so they are out of sync with Sudwala.  The paperwork form Sudwala says the school calendar isn't finalized until August the previous year.  It may be RCI just guesses when the weeks are deposited in March.


----------



## kiyotaka

Sudwala just deposited my 2012 week (1 br, H20), it gets only 14.


----------



## Gary

*Points for deposit vs points lite*

Years ago, I bought a local points TS so I could do Points for deposit with my SA weeks. I have a Port Alfred Sands 3BR week 6 red week which I happily get 57,000 points for each year. In this new system, it only gets 16 points in the weeks system! So here we have RCI valuing the same week in 2 ways with very different valuations. 

On the other hand, I have 2 Silversands 1BR, week 9 and 6 which get only 8 points, and only 18,000 PFD. Given the increase in levy over the years, it makes me doubt that these are worth keeping anymore. I do sense that this might cause a lot of us to dump SA weeks, and in this economic climate, might hurt the whole SA industry.


----------



## SilverSandsOwner

Gary, you are abolutely right.  I have 3 with no place to go.  I may give back 2 of the 3 and just use one for trading in the 45 day window.


----------



## Carolinian

Renting in the 45 day window seems to be more cost effective than using a low value week to trade then.  Points lite is going to encourage bailouts of low value weeks owners under the new regime, and not just in South Africa.


----------



## kwilson

*Then and Now*

I used to have 2 Durban Sands 1BR units that currently have 8 and 9 TP.

Here are the current TP required to obtain 10 trades I made with those units:

21, 18, 22, 18, 22, 14, 30, 12, 16, 19... an average of 19.2 points per trade.

I obviously couldn't make those trades today. It looks like TP has been devalued by around 50%. Thank God I was able to dump the SA.


----------



## Carolinian

SA is not the only place that has had its trade power whacked.  My summer weeks in southern England did as well.  The points lite RCI awards now would not make the trades I have made with them in the past.  And my resort is one that seldom has availibility online any time of year.  Lots of areas got hosed so that RCI could overpoint the overbuilt areas.  Those turkeys will never get my UK weeks ever again.


----------



## philemer

My "peak" (week 27) *Tenbury* 1BR dropped in TP to *8*. It use to be an awesome trader. But since it's in the First Resorts family, and they're planning either a. a large SA or b. converting the place to apartments I'm getting out. I emailed the resort and they are sending me the paperwork to deed the unit back to the HOA assoc. 

I hate to get rid of it because of the low MF/levy but the future does not look good. "Bullfrog" Lamont is a dastardly man. Look what happened to The Seapointer.


----------



## MuranoJo

That's great they are willing to take it back, Phil.  
However, with DS, it's probably a different story--I've heard they're not willing to take it back.


----------



## northwoodsgal

It's hard to know if DS will or won't - my emails have not been getting answered.


----------



## mtforeman

jdetar said:


> I remember taking a tour at vacation village at parkway from David Siegel's next door neighbor. It was one of the more memorable tours we ever took. One thing I do remember him saying was some very strong political ties between RCI and that resort. I imagine that is why you are seeing that...



A 2 bedroom at Vacation Village at Parkway runs 9-25 depending on time of year.


----------



## Carolinian

mtforeman said:


> A 2 bedroom at Vacation Village at Parkway runs 9-25 depending on time of year.



Try week 51 or 52.  For a 1BR, RCI gives them 50 points lite to deposit but only requires 10 to take it in a trade.  That is deliberate overpointing, and it also shows that they also know what it is really worth.

Given that the 2BR are L/O's, I doubt any will get deposited as 2BR.  They will be split into two 1BR's and those totalled up add up to a lot more points.


----------



## mtforeman

Carolinian said:


> Try week 51 or 52.  For a 1BR, RCI gives them 50 points lite to deposit but only requires 10 to take it in a trade.  That is deliberate overpointing, and it also shows that they also know what it is really worth.
> 
> Given that the 2BR are L/O's, I doubt any will get deposited as 2BR.  They will be split into two 1BR's and those totalled up add up to a lot more points.



Holy Cow, you're right!  Why would RCI possibly want to give more trade value points than it charges for the same property?  Is it because RCI will rent it (hence there aren't any available to exchange for that week)?  Strange...


----------



## Conan

mtforeman said:


> Why would RCI possibly want to give more trade value points than it charges for the same property? Is it because RCI will rent it


 
I don't have any South Africa weeks, but I have deposited some US properties since the change, and I can see my deposited weeks as available exchanges, at prices cheaper than RCI 'paid' me for them.

Don't forget RCI makes good money on exchange fees, and word is that before the change about 1/3 of deposits were not being taken (hence an empty unit and no fees for RCI). RCI could possibly want to give more trade value points than it charges for the same property for the same reason it now gives change back if you trade down:  The more points I have in my pocket, the more likely I am to find something in inventory and pay them an exchange fee to get it.


----------



## carl2591

my 2 bed room red flexi DIK, use range of Mar-2009  -  Mar-2012 shows 17 points. 

my one bed white Sudula Lodge use range Feb-2010  -  Feb-2013 (just deposited this week) shows 9 TP

looks like we get screwed again by RCI.


----------



## Carolinian

mtforeman said:


> Holy Cow, you're right!  Why would RCI possibly want to give more trade value points than it charges for the same property?  Is it because RCI will rent it (hence there aren't any available to exchange for that week)?  Strange...



Some weeks they give you less to deposit than they charge someone to exchange in.  SW Florida has a lot of those.

If they give you more than they charge for an exchange, they are overpointing your resort, and if the give you less they are shortchanging your resort.  Simple as that.


----------



## glenmore

I gave two back to Durban Sands last year, and they took them back without any questions. It took a while to get through the paperwork, but it went off without a hitch.  Good luck!


----------



## dchapman3668

I emailed Durban Sands about giving back my units a month ago.  They said thanks, but no thanks.

Doug


----------



## bmaitland

*Power of my Strand*

My Strand Pavilion 2BRM red starting 2010 (Nov) and ending 2013 (Nov) comes out to be 20.


----------



## Susie

*Stop Paying Levies?*

If they won't take the week back, can you just stop paying maintenance?  What happens


----------



## Carolinian

Conan said:


> Don't forget RCI makes good money on exchange fees, and word is that before the change about 1/3 of deposits were not being taken (hence an empty unit and no fees for RCI). RCI could possibly want to give more trade value points than it charges for the same property for the same reason it now gives change back if you trade down:  The more points I have in my pocket, the more likely I am to find something in inventory and pay them an exchange fee to get it.



What has no logic at all is that RCI's points lite numbers make absolutely no sense when you look at supply and demand.  Resorts where it is hard to find availibility any time of year have numbers way too low, while those where there is a glut of inventory are overpointed.

If you look online, many SA resorts have little availibility and the availibility charts that are published in the European version of the RCI directory show SA to have low availibility in comparision to demand all 12 months of the year.

RCI's numbers racket on Points Lite is nothing but a fraud,


----------



## Carol C

JACKC said:


> For comparison my 1br Sudwala peak week deposits for expiration 2011,2012,2113 are respectively 18,18,14 pts. Looking at possible exchanges for next year, I'm surprised how well they pull! Had planned to "dump" my week, but maybe I'll hang onto it and go to some nice places I hadn't counted on.
> 
> Jack



Good for you Jack. I used to own Sudwala...gave em back to Ron for 50 bucks each.   But I'm glad to hear your trade power is decent...since it's an inland resort (and after Black Sunday or whatever it was that May, RCI docked inland SA weeks in favor of SA beach resorts.) Have fun exchanging with your lil grass shacks!


----------



## northwoodsgal

I'm not sure what this means, but this morning my Durban Sands for April, 2011 is showing a deposit value of 13 versus the 7 that it had been since the new system started.  The TP for 2012 has remained the same at 8.


----------



## dundey

northwoodsgal said:


> I'm not sure what this means, but this morning my Durban Sands for April, 2011 is showing a deposit value of 13 versus the 7 that it had been since the new system started.  The TP for 2012 has remained the same at 8.



That's interesting.  I just tried to check mine but RCI is down - again!
Anyone else see something like this?


----------



## 225chs

northwoodsgal said:


> I'm not sure what this means, but this morning my Durban Sands for April, 2011 is showing a deposit value of 13 versus the 7 that it had been since the new system started.  The TP for 2012 has remained the same at 8.



Mine went from 7 to 10 on saturday to 9 on sunday. This is for 2011. Remained at 8 for 2012


----------



## northwoodsgal

When the new system rolled out, I had sent an email to RCI questioning why my 2010 week was given 13 TP and 2011 was being given only 8 TP.  I'm not sure if this had an bearing on the change, but it's a possibility.  BTW, my week has since been sold.


----------



## jwcoleman

*Interesting response from RCI re: trading power*

From RCI

Please keep in mind the difference between Deposit Trading Power and 
Exchange Trading Power.  Deposit Trading Power is set at the time of 
Deposit and is based on the prior 24-month average history, using the 
components of Trading Power.  Exchange Trading Power, however, is 
dynamic and routinely fluctuates based on the components of Trading 
Power with the largest factor being current forecasted supply and demand
and utilization. 

We recognize that South Africa inventory is best utilized by RCI members
who reside closer to these resorts.  Therefore, all South Africa 
deposits made by North American members are transferred to our South 
Africa office.  Their inventory system, however, is not compatible with 
ours, and the two inventories remain separate.  When searching for 
availability for your Dikhololo dates online or with a Vacation Guide, 
it will appear as if the inventory has been utilized or is not 
available.  This is not necessarily the case.

If you wish to return to your resort, or any resort located within South
Africa, please let us know the dates and locations of desired travel.  
We will be happy to correspond with our South Africa office to determine
true availability.  It is important to note that we calculate the 
Deposit Trading Power for all South Africa deposits based upon the 
actual demand and usage.  In doing so, you are not penalized in any way.


----------



## MuranoJo

I haven't seen any uplift on my DS deposits.  My Week 3 had TPU of 14 for '09, but has been 9 ever since.


----------



## dundey

jwcoleman said:


> From RCI
> 
> It is important to note that we calculate the
> Deposit Trading Power for all South Africa deposits based upon the
> actual demand and usage.  In doing so, you are not penalized in any way.



Yeah right!  That is ridiculous even by RCI standards.
There is no way current SA week TPU values are getting the numbers they deserve based on SA supply and demand.  Just not true.  And all you have to do is look at what these resorts were able to pull prior to the change in the weeks system.


----------



## Carolinian

RCI's lie is also revealed by the availibility tables published in the European version of the RCI directory.  An RCI spokesman has about the same credibility as a timeshare salesman.


----------



## northwoodsgal

I see the 2011 TP went from 13 to 11 this morning.


----------



## Laurie

dundey said:


> There is no way current SA week TPU values are getting the numbers they deserve based on SA supply and demand.  Just not true.  And all you have to do is look at what these resorts were able to pull prior to the change in the weeks system.


What makes you think values prior to the change in the weeks system were any more valid than values now? How do you know real supply and demand?

IMO there have been plenty of inconsistencies with SA values, ever since the "SA bubble" began among North American timeshare traders.  

And IMO there have been way too many "speculators" ie traders, who owned only as currency to trade, not to use. It's likely that the ratio of own-to-use vs own-to-trade has been so out of whack there, putting way more inventory into RCI's bank than would ever be snapped up, causing a real drop in values over time. 

Maybe this will correct itself when enough North American owners bail out, and more SA residents buy up more SA units to use, so that ratios will be closer to average resorts around the globe.


----------



## dundey

I've owned SA weeks for many years, and have done quite a bit of research over that time.

While value may not have been "valid" previously, the point is that RCI changed the value after saying they would not.

But I do believe the old system reflected true value much more than the new system does.  The reason I believe that is because my peak SA weeks increased significantly during last summers world cup.   As they should have, since demand was at an all time high.  Now those peak weeks are rated far below what a Holiday, school vacation timeframe should be in any part of the world.  

SA has very high demand with European travelers as well as SA vacationers during school breaks, just as US beach weeks do.  

As for over supply of people owning weeks for trade, that peaked several years ago.  US owners have been jumping ship since Black Sunday (I sold 2 myself), so that argument does not hold water at all.  If anything that situation should have improved over the last few years.

While value is somewhat relative of course, Peak holiday period, school vacation weeks should not be getting TPU's of 11, anywhere!  And SA is not the only area that this has occurred in.


----------



## Carolinian

What I look at on availibility is the latest RCI Directory (European version) which has availibility tables based on supply and demand in various resort areas.  For South Africa, in each of the 12 months of the year, availibility is coded for the highest level of demand and lowest level of supply.  In England, in comparision only 5 months are coded that way, and in Orlando, only 2 months.  For Orlando, 3 months are coded for the highest level of supply relative to demand and 4 months for the second highest level of supply vs demand (out of four levels).

RCI's only tables reveal their lie in artificially trashing the trading power of SA.

And, of course SA is not the only place that they have whacked.  When I compare the UK numbers at extremely hard to get resorts with dime-a-dozen overbuilt Orlando it makes me almost sick to my stomach.  Ditto when I look at numbers in really difficult to get places like St. John (USVI), Venice, summer French Riviera, Savannah/Tybee Island, or Charleston, which are also way too low for the supply / demand factors there.  Points Lite is a huge fraud on RCI members, although some in resorts that are pandered to come out way ahead.  There is no integrity whatsoever in the RCI numbers racket, which is one reason they refuse to reveal anything that would support those numbers.

And then, of course, there is the point of RCI's lying through its teeth about not moving the goalposts, i.e. changing trading power.




Laurie said:


> What makes you think values prior to the change in the weeks system were any more valid than values now? How do you know real supply and demand?
> 
> IMO there have been plenty of inconsistencies with SA values, ever since the "SA bubble" began among North American timeshare traders.
> 
> And IMO there have been way too many "speculators" ie traders, who owned only as currency to trade, not to use. It's likely that the ratio of own-to-use vs own-to-trade has been so out of whack there, putting way more inventory into RCI's bank than would ever be snapped up, causing a real drop in values over time.
> 
> Maybe this will correct itself when enough North American owners bail out, and more SA residents buy up more SA units to use, so that ratios will be closer to average resorts around the globe.


----------



## ehollin

*Trading power*

According to RCI, my Dikhololo 1 bedroom week is assigned 17 points, and my Strand Pavilion Gold Crown peak week 2 bedroom 21 points.  Don't know how these are calculated.


----------



## Laurie

Carolinian said:


> What I look at on availibility is the latest RCI Directory (European version) which has availibility tables based on supply and demand in various resort areas.
> 
> RCI's only tables reveal their lie in artificially trashing the trading power of SA.
> 
> And then, of course, there is the point of *RCI's lying through its teeth* about not moving the goalposts, i.e. changing trading power.


Exactly why IMO assuming RCI's supply & demand tables are accurate, is ironic and a stretch. I personally wouldn't assume that _any_ of their published information is truthful or correct. And even less so for South Africa, which operates separately from the rest of RCI and whose computer system isn't connected with other RCI computer systems.


----------



## Carolinian

Laurie said:


> Exactly why IMO assuming RCI's supply & demand tables are accurate, is ironic and a stretch. I personally wouldn't assume that _any_ of their published information is truthful or correct. And even less so for South Africa, which operates separately from the rest of RCI and whose computer system isn't connected with other RCI computer systems.



They have less reason to deliberately manipulate those tables than they do trading power.  RCI has a huge conflict of interest in setting trading power, since they are pulling out weeks from exchange deposits to rent for their own profit, so it is the trading power numbers where cooking the books is most likely.  Indeed when I compare points lite numbers for some overbuilt resorts in overbuilt areas with points lite numbers for some extremely hard to exchange into resorts, it is clear that RCI's numbers racket would probably make the mafia blush.


----------



## beachsands

LisaH said:


> I have a peak Glenmore Sands week. With M/F over $360 and trading power of 10, I wonder if the resort will take the week back? How about we all write to the resort and ask them to put pressure on RCI regarding the valuation (or revaluation) of the the trading power assessment for South Africa weeks?



Well if they will take it back I have one they can have as well !

Joel


----------



## Dottie

beachsands said:


> Well if they will take it back I have one they can have as well !
> 
> Joel



I wrote them about taking one back a year or so ago.  They agreed and all I had to do was return the orriginal certificate of shares.  It was only a white studio but I felt the trade power was no longer worth the levy.  RCI still lists it in my account and I see it now has a trade power of only 8 so I am delighted to no longer own it.


----------



## grail

*Change in Trading power??*



grail said:


> i got two 2br dikhololo and it got a trading power of 17 and 23.  deposited a year in advance.



just looked at my two 2br dikhololo deposit and their trading power have now changed to 24 and 26.  Not bad...


----------



## Dori

Woo Hoo! My Lowveld week 15 just went from 18 to 26!  Now I'm seeing things like I used to. Time to start hunting! 

Dori


----------



## Wonka

What's a good trading power number?


----------



## kewanee

Anyone know why some have changed and not others?  None of my Sudwala or Durban Sands weeks received any bump in trading power.  Some are red weeks and some white.  I have deposits for 2010, 2011, and 2012.  All of the DS are at 8.


----------



## Carolinian

kewanee said:


> Anyone know why some have changed and not others?  None of my Sudwala or Durban Sands weeks received any bump in trading power.  Some are red weeks and some white.  I have deposits for 2010, 2011, and 2012.  All of the DS are at 8.



If RCI's valuations were done honestly, I would say it was the ever changing factors of supply and demand, but we know from many of the points assignments that RCI has a heavy handed thumb on the scales, substantially overpointing some resorts while substantially underpointing others.  So I would say it is anyone's guess as to why they change.


----------



## Laurie

Maybe RCI is actually bumping up deposits that turn out to be "peak weeks", whose calendars often aren't established in South Africa when RCI deposits are first made. 

If so, that's as it should be.  It means the deposit calculator won't ever be very accurate, is all.

Sudwala markets its weeks as either peak, or not - sort of a cross between floating and fixed, where if you own peak you'll always get a SA holiday week, and if you don't, you never will - definitely different from Dikhololo, I formerly owned at both - so maybe Sudwala & other similar SA resort's TPU's won't change much. 

OTOH Dikhololo and maybe Louveld Lodge and maybe some others, either assign floating weeks, or are actual fixed weeks regardless of SA peak week schedule - so some will get lucky, and what you deposit might end up being peak.

Just speculatin'.


----------



## philemer

Laurie said:


> Maybe RCI is actually bumping up deposits that turn out to be "peak weeks", whose calendars often aren't established in South Africa when RCI deposits are first made.
> 
> If so, that's as it should be.  It means the deposit calculator won't ever be very accurate, is all.
> 
> 
> Just speculatin'.



I think that is an AWESOME explanation. That never dawned on me. I'm happy that I received 27 more TPU for my 3 deposits (that I had already added together and made an exchange with).


----------



## jbrunson

This is nuts!  My 2010 p2 is still at 20, but the 2011 has popped up to 26 from 14, and the newly deposited 2012 is 14.  I wonder if they are so hazy on what the demand will be, they have a soft value to be safe and adjust as the picture becomes clearer.


----------



## Born2Travel

All of my "pre" points deposits are at higher rates than my newer deposits which are still at the "top" (if you could call it that) of the range for my weeks.   So my old deposits are actually showing values higher than is shown as the ceiling on the newer deposits - strange.


----------



## Susie

*Walk away?*

what happens if you just walk away from SA timeshare.  Can they get to your credit report?  My TP is so low doesn't pay to own it


----------



## Carolinian

The peak weeks are owned as peak weeks.  None of the weeks are assigned to members until the school calendar comes out, and then they assign each of the peak weeks to their appropriate owners.  Peak weeks at most resorts are unit specific and week specific (''the first week of the Fall school holiday . . .'').  The flexi-week owners get what ever weeks are left, but not a peak week.




Laurie said:


> Maybe RCI is actually bumping up deposits that turn out to be "peak weeks", whose calendars often aren't established in South Africa when RCI deposits are first made.
> 
> If so, that's as it should be.  It means the deposit calculator won't ever be very accurate, is all.
> 
> Sudwala markets its weeks as either peak, or not - sort of a cross between floating and fixed, where if you own peak you'll always get a SA holiday week, and if you don't, you never will - definitely different from Dikhololo, I formerly owned at both - so maybe Sudwala & other similar SA resort's TPU's won't change much.
> 
> OTOH Dikhololo and maybe Louveld Lodge and maybe some others, either assign floating weeks, or are actual fixed weeks regardless of SA peak week schedule - so some will get lucky, and what you deposit might end up being peak.
> 
> Just speculatin'.


----------

