# Orange Lake Points Question



## wptamo (May 1, 2009)

Hiya, I am considering purchasing a resale 2 bedroom at Orange lake. It is deeded for week xx. If I look up the resort, bedroom size, and week on the current RCI chart, is this the number of points I can expect Orange lake to deposit into my RCI points account when I choose to deposit and not to use the week?
Also does anyone know if there any hidden fees Orange lake charges to roll you week into points?
And finally, is there also a hidden fee to convert a new purchase to an existing points account?

I actually called the RCI points guy and he said Orange lake is different and could not tell me how many points I would get for the week.. odd??

thanks,

Paul


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## slabeaume (May 6, 2009)

Unless things have changed recently, I don't think Orange Lake is in the RCI  points system, just weeks.


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## gjw007 (May 6, 2009)

wptamo said:


> Hiya, I am considering purchasing a resale 2 bedroom at Orange lake. It is deeded for week xx. If I look up the resort, bedroom size, and week on the current RCI chart, is this the number of points I can expect Orange lake to deposit into my RCI points account when I choose to deposit and not to use the week?
> Also does anyone know if there any hidden fees Orange lake charges to roll you week into points?
> And finally, is there also a hidden fee to convert a new purchase to an existing points account?
> 
> ...


If you are purchasing a resale week at Orange Lake, the odds are that it is a 'weeks' unit and is not in RCI Points.  To be in RCI Points, the owner must enroll in what is now known as the Holiday Inn Vacation Club (previously named Global Access).  If I understand correctly, this doesn't row over to the new owners unless they are immediate family members.  So based on this, the resale week would probably be a 'weeks' unit.  Current Orange Lake owners who are in the weeks program remain in the weeks program.

There is no hidden charge to enroll the unit in Holiday Inn points (which then let's you use RCI Points).  You do not directly enroll in RCI Points but Holiday Inn Vacation Club which gives you the ability to use RCI Points.  They are very upfront with it.  The cost is somewhere around $2900 but that may have changed. Since Orange Lake is now considered a Points week, I don't think that you can do a deposit for points for this week into an existing RCI Points account but I could be wrong.

As far as if the week were in Points, the total RCI Points for that week would be the points listed for that week on RCI's webpage.  The Holiday Inn Vacation Club points (used internally with Orange Lake) would be double the RCI Points total listed.  The RCI guide is unimformed although since Orange Lake went this route in 2006, there really is no reason for that person not to know.


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## Mel (May 8, 2009)

You can't convert for $2900 any more.  That was Global Access, and that is not available any more.  Currently, the only way to convert an existing week to Holiday Inn Points is to purchase points directly from the resort, and they will then convert any other weeks you own.  

Orange Lake is now a Points resort, so individual weeks cannot be used for Points for Deposit.

As much as I love Orange Lake, and liked the new penthouse units, I wouldn't pay that kind of money for a points week there.  Of course, the penthouse units can't be reserved through RCI (weeks OR points), so if that's what you want you have little choice.  Otherwise, get some points elsewhere, and exchange in.  If you want to visit more than once every 4 years, purchase a resale week.  Once you own, you can use ANY of your weeks to exchange in as often as you want, no 1-in-4 restriction.


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## Abby's Mom (Jun 22, 2009)

*Orange Lake pts vs week*

We just came back from OL and had the unfortunate pleasure of spending about 7 hours with an "owner's" advisor who tried to sell us another unit with the "perk" of having our current unit rolled over to the points system "free of charge".

We were told that if you purchase a weeks unit through anyone other than Orange Lake, you will never be allowed to convert that unit to a points week.  If you own an existing unit that was purchased through OL and want to convert to the points program without purchasing another unit, that charge (we were told) is $12,000.   This just supported her arguement that we would be better off purchasing a whole new (2nd) unit which would then allow us to add an addendum to our current deed converting it to a points week.

We declined this idea, and were eventually offered a conversion with a partial ownership in the Wisconsin property for $4500, giving us the full points in our current unit, plus the equivalent of about another 3 days in the Wisconsin property.

Their big selling pitch is that since they've converted to Holiday Inn club and the points system, Orange Lake controls the available inventory of the units that are out there for trade, and that internal points based trades will be honored first, and that the weeks units will stand on their own through RCI.  I checked on the RCI weeks system, and there were some weeks units available for trade, but we've been watching this for the last two years or so, and the number of these weeks seem to be getting smalled every year.

So we bit the bullet and signed onto the weeks system.  I don't regret not doing it sooner -- we felt we needed to wait it out and see how the whol Global Access program (which is not HI club) worked out before we committed to it.

Hope these thoughts help


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## Jimster (Jun 22, 2009)

*OLCC*

Sorry I don't get it.  I own a weeks exchange at OLCC and I often convert it to points through points for deposit since I already own a points resort too.  That way I can get OLCC points exchanges as well as a host of other exchanges through RCI.  Why would you pay that kind of money to get into Holiday Inn Club?


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## lawgs (Jun 23, 2009)

Jimster said:


> Sorry I don't get it.  I own a weeks exchange at OLCC and I often convert it to points through points for deposit since I already own a points resort too.  That way I can get OLCC points exchanges as well as a host of other exchanges through RCI.  Why would you pay that kind of money to get into Holiday Inn Club?



perhaps you slipped through the cracks on PFD, supposedly if a resort is weeks and points as OLCC is now, PFD is not available

at least this is what we were told when we were weeks and wanted to use them for PFD with our arkansas points resort ( OLCC had just gone global access at that time )


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## Jimster (Jun 23, 2009)

*PFD*

If I slipped through the cracks, then I did so for the last three years in a row.  I heard the same thing about not being able to use PFD, but I suspect it is not true.


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## gjw007 (Jun 23, 2009)

Abby's Mom said:


> We just came back from OL and had the unfortunate pleasure of spending about 7 hours with an "owner's" advisor who tried to sell us another unit with the "perk" of having our current unit rolled over to the points system "free of charge".
> 
> We were told that if you purchase a weeks unit through anyone other than Orange Lake, you will never be allowed to convert that unit to a points week.  If you own an existing unit that was purchased through OL and want to convert to the points program without purchasing another unit, that charge (we were told) is $12,000.   This just supported her arguement that we would be better off purchasing a whole new (2nd) unit which would then allow us to add an addendum to our current deed converting it to a points week.
> 
> ...



The prices they currently charge for the conversion is unreasonable.  There isn't that much value.  If you want a second week, buy it resale. Or go to redweek, rent a week from a current owner for not much more than the maintenance fees (if you figure the maintenance fees, the listing fees, and the escrow fees, the owner is losing money on the transaction).  

I do agree that all new units sold are in the HIVC which keeps those units internal to the HIVC program; this is important for River Island owners since this is the smallest section at Orange Lake with most of the RI owners in HIVC.  It was a nightmare trying to exchange my RI unit back into RI prior to the splitting of the resort and HIVC.   Many owners in the other sections never did convert so there are thousands of units still in the weeks program.  Giving the prices that they are charging and the fact that the HIVC is not transferable (except immediate family), there will be more week units in the future.

My opinion, if you are not already in the HIVC, there is no economic reason to get into HIVC.  I got into it in 2006, the extra weeks I can use pay off (use of 1-bedroom rather than 2-bedroom and non-prime time versus prime time - less points per use) for me but it would make no $ense for me to do so today.

I really wish these "updates" really provided updates rather than a high pressure sales pitch.


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