# Worldmark and Using RCI for a trade-costly!



## Cathyb (Oct 4, 2008)

First time I have used RCI with giving them my Worldmark credits to get a one bedroom at Wyndham Grand Desert in Las Vegas.

It's costly! :ignore:  First you pay the RCI exchange fee then Worldmark socks you with the housekeeping charge of $64. That is in addition to the 9000 credits which I understand.

If I had just given RCI one of my other weeks (which weren't available unforturnately), I would have not had to pay housekeeping fees.

Guess I should just feel fortunate that I had the flexibility and choices to be able to get the exchange and be happy


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## luv_maui (Oct 4, 2008)

Correct, the flexibility has advantages and disadvantages.  However, I'm not sure the extra housekeeping fee might not apply to say a lockoff.  I would assume, many, if not most lockoffs would charge a fee to lock off a unit.  I view this similar to a housekeeping fee.

However, I can turn in my Eagle Crest week to Worldmark for 10000 credits.  Then I can turn around and get 2 flexchanges for 4000 credits each and still have 2000 credits leftover to stay in many (not all) Worldmark unit for 1-2 nights (approx. weekend and weekday costs, respectively).  Granted, there would be housekeeping charges for breaking up my Eagle Crest week unit this way, but wow, up to 3-4 trips for this one week.


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## BocaBum99 (Oct 4, 2008)

Getting RCI exchanges with WorldMark is good only for certain transaction types.  Flexchange is one due to the discounted credit rate.  Also, very hard to get destinations are great as well.  

WorldMark should be used for Flexchange and for exchanges where you don't have any other traders that can get what you want.  It's a sort of exchanger of last resort.


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## LLW (Oct 4, 2008)

Cathyb said:


> First time I have used RCI with giving them my Worldmark credits to get a one bedroom at Wyndham Grand Desert in Las Vegas.
> 
> It's costly! :ignore:  First you pay the RCI exchange fee then Worldmark socks you with the housekeeping charge of $64. That is in addition to the 9000 credits which I understand.
> 
> ...



One free housekeeping token comes with every 10,000 credits. If you had not already used the token for other stays, you would have the token to use instead of a charge of $64, and just have 1000 credits left over. Did you use the tokens up for the road trip you were planning, Cathy? With other timeshares you would have to use chunks of one week at a time, and not have the flexibility of staying just a few days at a time at a resort then move on with the road trip. With each 10,000-credit stay you get a free housecleaning, at WM and at other timeshares alike.


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## cruisin (Oct 4, 2008)

BocaBum99 said:


> Getting RCI exchanges with WorldMark is good only for certain transaction types.  Flexchange is one due to the discounted credit rate.  Also, very hard to get destinations are great as well.
> 
> WorldMark should be used for Flexchange and for exchanges where you don't have any other traders that can get what you want.  It's a sort of exchanger of last resort.




!00% dead on Boca, with WM points, you can pull anything in RCI. For us it is worth 12,000 credits to stay in a 3 bedroom at the prime resorts in Cabo like Pueblo bonito, or Hacienda Del Mar, then use WM for flex the rest of the time.


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## Judy (Oct 4, 2008)

cruisin said:


> with WM points, you can pull anything in RCI.


While Worldmark is a very strong trader in RCI, it cannot pull everything.


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## LLW (Oct 4, 2008)

One more thing: you may borrow the housekeeping tokens from next year, if you haven't already borrowed them   . If you are not sure if you have any to borrow, call Owner Services - they are open 7 days a week. If you have one to borrow, you can ask for a refund of the $64. Maybe next year you would have a token to spare. Or, maybe you would want to rent a token for $50 instead of paying $64 for a 1BR or $73 for a 2BR.


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## cruisin (Oct 4, 2008)

Judy said:


> While Worldmark is a very strong trader in RCI, it cannot pull everything.



I did not know that, 

I search on the points side, and whatever I have seen and called for,  has been available  to me using my WM credits on the weeks side. I have used many other peoples accounts with strong traders on the weeks side, and anything I have seen has also been made available. I admit though I am not a very exotic traveler, and probably have never searched for some of the hardest to get.

Now I am very curious as to what fantastic trades I am missing out on, and what are some examples of resorts I can't snag with the WM credits?


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## Judy (Oct 6, 2008)

I don't know of any resorts that Worldmark cannot pull because of _trading power_ issues, although there might be some.  Over the years, I have become aware of resorts or entire vacation areas that Worldmark cannot pull because of _VEP_ issues.  VEP changes, so any example I give you could be out of date.  I wish I could search online with Worldmark in RCI, then I could run a comparison search for you like I can with II where I find examples almost every time of resorts my other II affiliated timeshares can pull that Worldmark cannot.

The RCI example that sticks in my mind is Lions Dive Bonaire.  IMHO, this is a fantastic resort, but some exchangers gave it low ratings (Maybe because it's a dive resort, maybe because some of the units are not as nice as others, etc) so in order to find an exchange there, I had to call RCI every day and have the VC run a search without Worldmark's quality filter.

I've been told that it can work the other way too; that there are a few resorts whose VEP's are too high for Worldmark to pull them.  But I don't have any direct experience with those.


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## cruisin (Oct 7, 2008)

I am not using banked weeks to search, I am just calling up rci and having them search using credits, I have been testing it with a few people who have strong traders, and so far every resort has come up if I am willing to use full credit trades over the phone. When I use worldmark weeks that have been deposited, their trade power is all over the map.


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## Judy (Oct 9, 2008)

cruisin said:


> I am not using banked weeks to search, I am just calling up rci and having them search using credits, I have been testing it with a few people who have strong traders, and so far every resort has come up if I am willing to use full credit trades over the phone.


cruisin, try testing it with people who have resorts with strong trading power and mediocre or low VEP's and see what you find.  I'd be interested to read your results.  I have an RCI deposit that might fall into that category, but I can't volunteer to run a trade test with you right now because I'm leaving tomorrow for the Dive Inn Resort in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt - an II resort I got with my mediocre deposit that Worldmark couldn't see.  But that's II, not RCI. I'll be back November 3 if you want to send me an email.


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## Cathyb (Oct 9, 2008)

luvmaui:  Do you own Eagle Crest week outright (not thru Worldmark)?  BTW we love Maui too!


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## Cathyb (Oct 9, 2008)

Jim:  I agree but here were my circumstances:  Son's 50th birthday so no date flexibility; no other of my weeks available as I have them 'booked', and already had Wyndham two BR reserved and needed a one BR for the large group arriving.  Oh and also it is NASCAR week (March 6) in Vegas, lean pickings.  So hopefully my decision wasn't too bad


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## Cathyb (Oct 9, 2008)

llw: Thanks, however I used this and next year's HK for a trip to Canada staying in 5 WM resorts next August.


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## Cathyb (Oct 11, 2008)

Yep,used all my tokens even thru 2009 on my Canadian trip.


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## luv_maui (Oct 12, 2008)

Cathyb said:


> luvmaui:  Do you own Eagle Crest week outright (not thru Worldmark)?  BTW we love Maui too!



Yes, it was our first timeshare purchase.  Well....it was the first one we bought (resale) that we didn't rescind.  I think our very first timeshare purchase was in Maui on our honeymoon, however, we rescinded after we got back home.


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