# Wyndham/RCI Portal Active Today



## Explorer7 (Jan 11, 2011)

Just a heads up that I was able to sign in to the new portal and am presently taking a test drive. So far it's very slow but I'm still excited.

Update, I can now see that that there is truly no availablility for my old ongoing search from last years 70K deposit. so it helps that I am not searching in the dark as it was before the change.


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## bnoble (Jan 11, 2011)

I was just coming to post.  Here's my take, also posted OT:



> It works more or less how you'd expect. The initial search window is limited in capability, but it dumps you into the "regular" weeks interface, where you can search as normal.
> 
> To a first order approximation: anything that would be considered "in season" for the region is Prime. Shoulder-but-still-nominally-red looks to be High. Everything that is in Weeks appears to be visible.
> 
> So, just as we expected: it will be good for high-value exchanges, but maybe not much else.


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## sandkastle4966 (Jan 11, 2011)

*the monkey's paw....*

got what we wished for....but at what price.....still would have preferred to ARP my own unit and get its value....

but it does work...

High end ski 224k,  29 TPUs - thats $40 a TPU

DVC looks pretty reasonable (INMO) - 
143k for a 1 bedroom vs 25 TPU  -  $30 a TPU


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## Catira (Jan 11, 2011)

Question in regards to new system.. Will those of us that made prior deposits be able to do an online search? Just logged into Wyndham/RCI portal and found the answer:

Search and Book on RCI
You may search and book instantly online with RCI if you deposited points on or after January 11, 2011. If you deposited points before 
January 11, 2011 and want to book with RCI, please call 1-800-572-0931 for assistance.


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## sandkastle4966 (Jan 11, 2011)

*Close in reservation - 224,000 !!!!*

Ther is a 2 bedroom unit in colorado for 2 weeks out - 224,000 !!!!  15 TPUs

using $5.5 per 1k,  thats $80 a TPUs !!!!!

hope they work this out !


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## sandkastle4966 (Jan 11, 2011)

Catira - 

I still cannot search with my 28k deposit in RCI.COM

The 28k is not available in the RCI/Wyn portal.


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## Conan (Jan 11, 2011)

System's too slow for me; I'll have to wait a while to try it.

Do Wyndham deposits generate TPs that can be combined with your non-Wyndham Weeks deposits?


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## rickandcindy23 (Jan 11, 2011)

Using Wyndham points in RCI seems like a total waste of Wyndham points.  I am not at all surprised, but maybe RCI and Wyndham will fix it.  Maybe not, because I see Wyndham as a company that doesn't care at all for its owners.  Wyndham cannot see that this is bad for owners, nor will they see it.


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## learnalot (Jan 11, 2011)

sandkastle4966 said:


> Catira -
> 
> I still cannot search with my 28k deposit in RCI.COM
> 
> The 28k is not available in the RCI/Wyn portal.



True.  They said that deposits made before the change would still require calling in to the exchange center in order to book something.


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## learnalot (Jan 11, 2011)

Conan said:


> System's too slow for me; I'll have to wait a while to try it.
> 
> Do Wyndham deposits generate TPs that can be combined with your non-Wyndham Weeks deposits?



I don't believe they can be combined with non-Wyndham weeks.


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## bnoble (Jan 11, 2011)

> hope they work this out !


There is nothing to work out.  None of the mini-system portals have a last-minute discount window AFAIK.



> I see Wyndham as a company that doesn't care at all for it's owners.


It doesn't care about its owners who *exchange*.  It does care about internal use.  I see this as another consequence of that position.  Remember: unlike many others (including the much-vaunted DVC) Wyndham *only* deposits the "leftovers", after owners have an opportunity to book non-home resorts for at least a month, and often up to two months.  Wyndham only deposits about eight months in advance, but we can reserve anything internally starting at 10.  For owners who typically use the system only internally (and, I'm going to guess that's "almost everyone") the leftovers-only model works well.

Think for a minute about how apoplectic the DVC owners get when they find that one of us trades into BWV or BCV for a Food & Wine week at 10 months---three months before most of them can reserve it.  That doesn't happen with Wyndham.

But, the flip side is that if you are only depositing the leftovers, you get poor trade power.  The old system reflected that poor trade power by giving us very low-value deposits, cutting off all of the most desirable inventory.  The new system reflects that poor trade power by giving us access to everything, but charging more points for everything.

Some of us may wish Wyndham prioritized exchangers more and internal use less, but they don't.  And, it's not clear to me that they are doing the wrong thing by most owners.


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## bnoble (Jan 11, 2011)

Going forward, this is going to work more or less the way I expected.  Wyndham might be useful for some high-value exchanges in RCI (Manhattan Club, maybe some DVC, etc.)  But, average and low-value exchanges will be better obtained in some other way.  That drastically changes the way Wyndham works in RCI, because it used to be great for *low-value* exchanges, but nothing else.

But, no one ownership is ever great for everything.  So, again, a portfolio approach will be useful, because the new credit-based Weeks scheme makes it worth using high-value deposits to obtain low-value exchanges, thanks to "change back."


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## siesta (Jan 11, 2011)

bnoble,

Well said, as usual.


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## Conan (Jan 11, 2011)

The portal is running well, if you can stomach the new price list.

There's a week in RCI that I've had my eye on, a 1-BR shoulder season for 15 TP. It's listed at 95,000 Wyndham points.

I pay between $15 and $25 per TP in maintenance (depending on what I use for the deposit), so 15 TP costs me $225 to $375 (say $300) plus exchange fee.

I pay $5.60 per 1,000 Wyndham points, so using 95,000 Wyndham points costs me $530 plus the RCI exchange fee (and more if I also have to pay a transaction fee or housekeeping fee).

So in this example, using Wyndham points to book the week would mean overpaying by $230 plus transaction/housekeeping costs. With exchange fees, that's an upcharge of about 50% versus using an RCI Weeks deposit.


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## regatta333 (Jan 11, 2011)

bnoble said:


> There is nothing to work out.  None of the mini-system portals have a last-minute discount window AFAIK.
> 
> 
> It doesn't care about its owners who *exchange*.  It does care about internal use.  I see this as another consequence of that position.  Remember: unlike many others (including the much-vaunted DVC) Wyndham *only* deposits the "leftovers", after owners have an opportunity to book non-home resorts for at least a month, and often up to two months.  Wyndham only deposits about eight months in advance, but we can reserve anything internally starting at 10.  For owners who typically use the system only internally (and, I'm going to guess that's "almost everyone") the leftovers-only model works well.
> ...



I can understand this, but what I don't understand is that you have to pay according to the same fixed grid, whether the reservation is 10 months out or 10 days out.


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## ldw (Jan 11, 2011)

Why would Wyndham members not be entitled to points discounts  in RCI at the 30 day mark ? Our being part of a mini system is no reason to diminish our membership in RCI.


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## bnoble (Jan 11, 2011)

> what I don't understand is that you have to pay according to the same fixed grid, whether the reservation is 10 months out or 10 days out.


I can't explain it, but all of the mini-system portals (HGVC, Bluegreen, WorldMark) work this way.



> Why would Wyndham members not be entitled to points discounts in RCI at the 30 day mark ? Our being part of a mini system is no reason to diminish our membership in RCI.


If you have other enrolled weeks in your "free" RCI account, they can take advantage of the lower TPU costs for last-minute inventory.  But, you can't use Wyndham points this way.  And, as I wrote above, it is my understanding that all of the "dedicated" mini-system portals have this same property.  A red 2BR is 4800 HGVC points, period, no matter when you book it.  And so on.

And, after thinking about it some more, I would probably be more inclined to use SFX for high-value exchanges with Wyndham.  Unless you are doing several weeks a year, the lower SFX fees may make up for the guest certificate cost on the second and subsequent deposits, and depending on what SFX needs in any particular year, the point costs may be more reasonable.


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## Debbyd57 (Jan 11, 2011)

How do you access this.  I can't figure it out.  All it will give me is the points I have left of another deposit, (nonFF). It won't give me the option of using FF to search.  I guess I should rephrase that to say, I know how to look at availabiltiy, but how do I find out what I would need to deposit to get what's available?  Currently all I can see is what the availability is and how many trading points are necessary.  I see what I have always seen.


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## bnoble (Jan 11, 2011)

You have to log into wyndhamvacationresorts.com, not your "regular" RCI account.  From there click on:

My Membership->RCI Exchanges.


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## Debbyd57 (Jan 11, 2011)

Thank you.  I can get into RCI but it won't give me the search window.  The only options I have are: Vacation Plans (confirmed) and Member Details.  Then, below that, it tells me how many points I have available to deposit.  Oh well, I guess I will just keep trying.


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## Debbyd57 (Jan 11, 2011)

Thanks everyone.  Now I figured it out.  I just wish I was at home so I could play with it.


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## Goofyhobbie (Jan 11, 2011)

If you are a VIP owner of Wyndham Points or you are willing to go ahead and make a deposit prior to a Search of inventory at RCI you have access through the new Portal at WyndhamVacationresorts.com.

Go to the Wyndham site and click on *MY MEMBERSHIP* and then go to the Left Hand side of the Page that comes up and click on RCI EXCHANGES

You should see a GREEN Button after you scroll down that gives you access to the Portal.




> RCI®Deposit Request
> 
> Follow these easy steps to request a deposit with RCI.
> 
> ...


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## FLDVCFamily (Jan 11, 2011)

Goofyhobbie said:


> If you are a VIP owner of Wyndham Points or you are willing to go ahead and make a deposit prior to a Search of inventory at RCI you have access through the new Portal at WyndhamVacationresorts.com.
> 
> Go to the Wyndham site and click on *MY MEMBERSHIP* and then go to the Left Hand side of the Page that comes up and click on RCI EXCHANGES
> 
> You should see a GREEN Button after you scroll down that gives you access to the Portal.



Ah, that makes sense.  Will they ever let non-VIPs with no deposit on account search through the Wyndham portal?  If not, no biggie I guess...I was just curious more than anything.


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## siesta (Jan 11, 2011)

FLDVCFamily said:


> Ah, that makes sense.  Will they ever let non-VIPs with no deposit on account search through the Wyndham portal?  If not, no biggie I guess...I was just curious more than anything.


 what goofy posted, has nothing to do with my and your issue.  You are to be able to search using the portal without a deposit on file.


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## jjmanthei05 (Jan 11, 2011)

I didn't really pay attention over on the exchange board when the original weeks update rolled out with tpus, Does anyone know what the average cost of TPUs generally are for fixed weeks to see how ridiculous the costs of Wyndham points in RCI now are? 

Jason


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## siesta (Jan 11, 2011)

JJ, $20 or under is considered good, and $15 or under is considered excellent.  I think the best around is $10ish, but i'd have to do some checking for a solid figure.


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## jkkee (Jan 11, 2011)

FLDVCFamily said:


> Ah, that makes sense.  Will they ever let non-VIPs with no deposit on account search through the Wyndham portal?  If not, no biggie I guess...I was just curious more than anything.



I'm not VIP and have no deposit and can search.

I'm pretty thrilled with this, at least for now when I'm not looking for anything for specific.  I'm sure once I want something I'll be aggravated about the high points amount


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## jjmanthei05 (Jan 11, 2011)

siesta said:


> JJ, $20 or under is considered good, and $15 or under is considered excellent.  I think the best around is $10ish, but i'd have to do some checking for a solid figure.



So based on the $20 number here is the required TPUs to make sense to pay the required points for the reservation.

Studio or 1 Bedroom
Prime	35.75
High	30.25
Value	23.75
Quiet	18.5

2 Bedroom
Prime	56
High	46
Value	35
Quiet	27.25

3 Bedroom or More
Prime	77 (I don't think there is any exchange that is this high)
High	64.5 (Same here)
Value	49.75
Quiet	40.25

So it seems like unless you are looking for "tigers", It seems like RCI has gone the route of using points for airfare, hotels and MF (that being if you have extra points that will go to waste great otherwise don't do it).


Does anyone know where on RCI we can see "seasons". I am just wondering if DVC is alway prime or if there are high\value seasons available even though I doubt it. 

Jason


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## learnalot (Jan 11, 2011)

jjmanthei05 said:


> Does anyone know where on RCI we can see "seasons". I am just wondering if DVC is alway prime or if there are high\value seasons available even though I doubt it.
> 
> Jason



Hi Jason,

I know that in the printed directory there is a chart for each resort if you have a print copy.  If not, then in RCI online you can go under Member Perks and into Resort Directory.  Narrow your search criteria as far as you want and you can look at each resort individually to see the demand chart on the resort's RCI page.  I pulled up Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas to get an idea of the answer for you and it is showing season information as Red from Jan 1 - Dec 31.  There might be a more streamlined place to find the information, but I'm not aware of it.


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## bccash63 (Jan 11, 2011)

jkkee said:


> I'm not VIP and have no deposit and can search.
> 
> I'm pretty thrilled with this, at least for now when I'm not looking for anything for specific.  I'm sure once I want something I'll be aggravated about the high points amount



I am not VIP--I am a resale owner and had no trouble logging into the portal via Wyndham website. Dawn
I have 2 fairly low cost RCI TPU deposits-- $12.63/TPU and $14.10/TPU so this will not be a cost effective way for me to use my Wyndham pts. Will use them for Wyndham Resorts.  I have 2 28k deposits that won't expire until 12/2012--so will use them to pick up a last min exchange.  Dawn


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## bnoble (Jan 11, 2011)

> 20 or under is considered good, and $15 or under is considered excellent.


I'm not sure these are necessarily the right numbers---and I've seen the two or three examples of underlying weeks that generated these numbers.  One is a CMV UDI.  The others are lockouts that, together, add up to something in the 50s.  Both are unusually good deals in the "new" RCI.

I have two solid red weeks in good but not outstanding locations that both generate around 30ish for about $700 in MFs, or a little under $25.  I suspect if you really looked at average weeks---even average "good"/red weeks (that aren't lockouts that are deposited and recombined), you'd get something between $20 and $30 per TPU for most of them.


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## bnoble (Jan 11, 2011)

> shouldn't a bug be consistent at least?


Those are the easy bugs to find---the ones you find before deployment.  We're left with the hard ones.



> Will they ever let non-VIPs with no deposit on account search through the Wyndham portal?


Well, for me, they started today.



> Does anyone know where on RCI we can see "seasons". I am just wondering if DVC is alway prime or if there are high\value seasons available even though I doubt it.


Only indirectly, by observing point values.  However, I posted a DVC sighting just today that did distinguish between Prime and High.  It's down in Sightings.


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## jjmanthei05 (Jan 11, 2011)

learnalot said:


> Hi Jason,
> 
> I know that in the printed directory there is a chart for each resort if you have a print copy.  If not, then in RCI online you can go under Member Perks and into Resort Directory.  Narrow your search criteria as far as you want and you can look at each resort individually to see the demand chart on the resort's RCI page.  I pulled up Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas to get an idea of the answer for you and it is showing season information as Red from Jan 1 - Dec 31.  There might be a more streamlined place to find the information, but I'm not aware of it.



Red white and blue no longer are the "right" designations. Since we now have prime, high, value and quiet I didn't know if there was any "pink" (high) in the DVC red? 

Jason


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## jjmanthei05 (Jan 11, 2011)

bnoble said:


> Only indirectly, by observing point values.  However, I posted a DVC sighting just today that did distinguish between Prime and High.  It's down in Sightings.



I wonder if they will ever post a listing of these so we can know what the seasons are or if we just have to guess/figure it out.

Jason


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## learnalot (Jan 11, 2011)

jjmanthei05 said:


> Red white and blue no longer are the "right" designations. Since we now have prime, high, value and quiet I didn't know if there was any "pink" (high) in the DVC red?
> 
> Jason



Hi Jason,

It's RCI's designation not mine.  They showed Disney's Animal Kingdom as RED all year.  Translating from Wyndham, I would think that would require either a prime or possibly a high.


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## jjmanthei05 (Jan 11, 2011)

So just to compare I looked up s Wyndham Florida property for available 2 bedroom exchanges which has pretty much everything from April through December.  It is only showing point values of quiet, value and high but no prime points. For example there is a 2 bed week in august that is showing as quiet points in RCI but through Wyndham its considered prime. So there may still be RCI trade back opportunities to save points over actual internal deposits.

Jason

* tried to be overly vague to not break the sightings rule and still continue the discussion.


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## Goofyhobbie (Jan 11, 2011)

Brian and or others who are going through the Wyndhamvacationresorts.com site and NOT depositing points.  

Wyndham indicated that you should not be able to get access to the RCI Inventory and search that Inventory in advance if you do not first make at least a 27,000 point deposit after the portal became operational.

Can any of you who are NOT VIP please share with us exactly step by step how you are seeing the RCI inventory without first making a deposit of at least 27,000 points prior to the Search.

Siesta, Brian and others have indicated that it can be done today if the Wyndham site is recognizing your RCI account number; but unless I missed something it is not happening for me.


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## learnalot (Jan 11, 2011)

Goofyhobbie said:


> Brian and or others who are going through the Wyndhamvacationresorts.com site and NOT depositing points.
> 
> Wyndham indicated that you should not be able to get access to the RCI Inventory and search that Inventory in advance if you do not first make at least a 27,000 point deposit after the portal became operational.
> 
> ...



Hi Dave,
There was some discussion about this on the Wyndham Owner's Board today.  Here's the deal as far as I can tell.  As someone pointed out, if you look at the FAQ's on Wyndham's site, it says that all owners should be able to browse inventory prior to making a deposit, VIP or not.  Non-VIP owners have reported being able to do this today.  The difference between VIP and non-VIP in this case is that VIP Gold and Platinum can BOOK without first having deposited points, while others will have to wait until their points deposits (minimum 27K) credit until being able to BOOK something.

Having said that, I could not view inventory during my lunch at work today but could at home this morning and again once I got home this evening.  As far as I can tell, the culprit for this is a pop-up of sorts that appears for the transfer from Wyndham's site into RCI.  On my work computer I couldn't even tell that anything was glitchy - it just kept sending me straight to the deposit points page.  Once I got home and tried again after having success here this morning, I realized that there is a window (invisible to me at work) to accept the terms and conditions that you must click through before it will let you proceed to viewing inventory.

I accessed the online inventory from Wyndham's website by going under "My Membership" to RCI Exchanges.  From there, you can click on the button that says Search and Book on RCI.  If your computer settings don't prevent it, from there a window will pop up that has terms and conditions which you must accept to proceed.  The problem I was having at work was that not only was the window not popping up, I didn't even know it was supposed to be and it would instead take me to a page to deposit points.  At home I am not having that problem and it works as described above.


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## bnoble (Jan 11, 2011)

Dave: I haven't ever had it *not* work, so I don't know what unusual thing I am doing.  I log in.  Under My Membership, I go down to (and click on) RCI Exchanges.  I then click on Search & Book RCI.  I get a little pop-up in-frame to accept the terms&conditions, and accepting that gets me a new Window into the portal account.

However, I think you have mis-read Wyndham's FAQ page.  It very clearly says that anyone can search, but only VIP Golds/Plats can book without having points on deposit; they have two days to come up with the points, else the exchange is canceled.  Everyone else must have points on deposit first to book, but anyone can look.


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## learnalot (Jan 11, 2011)

*See Post #38*

Hi Dave,

In case you missed it, read my post #38.  I think it explains why you are having problems getting to the inventory.


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## chriskre (Jan 11, 2011)

I'm getting in and can window shop but am unable to book anything.
The option to book is grayed out.

I think it might be because I have a biennial unit and it has says I have no points available when I first log in.  

How about you annual owners.  Is it grayed out for you too or do you have to deposit something to see it not grayed out?


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## learnalot (Jan 12, 2011)

chriskre said:


> I'm getting in and can window shop but am unable to book anything.
> The option to book is grayed out.
> 
> I think it might be because I have a biennial unit and it has says I have no points available when I first log in.
> ...



VIP Gold or Platinum should be able to book something on sight if they have the points available in their Wyndham account.  Everyone else can only book something if they have already deposited the necessary points into their RCI account via the new portal.  Otherwise, when you see something you want, you have to go back out and deposit the points first, which can take 24-48 hours to clear.  At least that's my understanding.


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## ausman (Jan 12, 2011)

chriskre said:


> I'm getting in and can window shop but am unable to book anything.
> The option to book is grayed out.
> 
> I think it might be because I have a biennial unit and it has says I have no points available when I first log in.
> ...



That would be expected behaviour.

According to the literature, only VIP's can book without an existing deposit.

The rest of us have to deposit first.

Booking may not be the best option anyway. Points values to do so are high and probably not worth it except for the primo places.


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## Goofyhobbie (Jan 12, 2011)

Brian,

Thanks for the reminder.  I too had read what you read at the Wyndham site and as you pointed out, I read it so many weeks ago that I forgot exactly what it said.  Unfortunately as a coincidence the pop-up that you and Learnalot mentioned was not coming up on my computer and I, for whatever reason, simply did not consider that unknown.  

The result of course was I incorrectly assumed that you had to deposit at least 27,000 points first before they would let you end.

Thanks to you and Learnalot, I now am aware of the problem and must adjust my computer to accept pop-ups when I access the Wyndhamvacationresorts.com site.

From the reports coming in it does not appear that I missed much Hoopla!

As some of you, especially Seista, have guessed, I elected to deposit a bunch of 28K deposits well in advance of the anticipated change. I took my sweet time in doing so; but I made sure that it was done by January 6th so that I would not be caught by a sudden urge on Wyndham's part to activate the site before the presumed date of January 15th. 

At least my Last HooRah will last for a year or so! :whoopie:


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## FLDVCFamily (Jan 12, 2011)

learnalot said:


> Hi Dave,
> 
> In case you missed it, read my post #38.  I think it explains why you are having problems getting to the inventory.



I'm getting the pop-up, but even when I check the box and click continue it tells me that it can't find my RCI account.  I'm giving up for now...not that interested in trading these points anyways.


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## massvacationer (Jan 12, 2011)

FLDVCFamily said:


> I'm getting the pop-up, but even when I check the box and click continue it tells me that it can't find my RCI account.  I'm giving up for now...not that interested in trading these points anyways.



I am experiencing the same thing


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## learnalot (Jan 12, 2011)

FLDVCFamily said:


> I'm getting the pop-up, but even when I check the box and click continue it tells me that it can't find my RCI account.  I'm giving up for now...not that interested in trading these points anyways.



Yes.  It sounds like you are having a different problem.  If they don't have it fixed in the 48 hours as they said, try calling again.  If you didn't already, next time I would try and speak to member services instead of a VC.


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## Explorer7 (Jan 12, 2011)

So far I regret the 70K red deposit I made last year and witch I had kept it for Wyndham internal trades. I deposited the 70K right after getting home from a VA beach resort I really enjoyed last summer that we had traded into previously on 70K only to find out that apparently 70K was not enough any longer to get in. I can see availability on the new Wyndham RCI portal that fits my current ongoing search and the time line that I traded into before and  now on the old system it's not good enough. 
I followed up with a VC this am who agreed that at this point my 70K red is not good enough unless other conditions change..
 At this point I think that 28K for a short term trade would have worked as good as my 70K red deposit. 
Water under the bridge at this point. 
I was hoping that Manhattan Club in NYC or something else in NYC  would show up bot I see nothing there under the Weeks Search option… Must not be an RCI weeks resort???


BTW it would take 121 to 143 points plus an exchange fee for me to get what I previously got on the 70K trade I traveled on before at the resort…


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## FLDVCFamily (Jan 12, 2011)

Explorer7 said:


> So far I regret the 70K red deposit I made last year and witch I had kept it for Wyndham internal trades. I deposited the 70K right after getting home from a VA beach resort I really enjoyed last summer that we had traded into previously on 70K only to find out that apparently 70K was not enough any longer to get in. I can see availability on the new Wyndham RCI portal that fits my current ongoing search and the time line that I traded into before and  now on the old system it's not good enough.
> I followed up with a VC this am who agreed that at this point my 70K red is not good enough unless other conditions change..
> At this point I think that 28K for a short term trade would have worked as good as my 70K red deposit.
> Water under the bridge at this point.
> ...



That's a pretty steep difference.  Might it be cheaper to rent the week from an owner on here or Redweek or Ebay?


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## Explorer7 (Jan 12, 2011)

FLDVCFamily said:


> That's a pretty steep difference.  Might it be cheaper to rent the week from an owner on here or Redweek or Ebay?



I think renting would be a better option or at a minimum close to a wash compared  to an RCI trade at this point, thank you.

Now I gotta find something to do with this 70K red week I have sitting in RCI till June 2012. Maybe I'll monitor the bulk deposits on the sightings listing to see if it can help me get my monies worth from the deposit.


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## Sandy VDH (Jan 12, 2011)

bnoble said:


> I can't explain it, but all of the mini-system portals (HGVC, Bluegreen, WorldMark) work this way.



I totally agree, I also own HGVC and this looks and operates exactly the same, but with HGVC points vs Wyndham points.  

With HGVC there was ALWAYS a fixed point structure between RCI and HGVC.  With Wyndham this was NOT the case, last minute bookings always required less points, therefore less of a deposit to obtain the booking.  Here there is no discount for anything last minute.  I did check just to be sure.

So not only have the points gone up, but the last minute exchange at cheap values has vanished.  Gone are 28K deposits, could pick up any unit.  Now it is the same as HGVC, in that you pay for exactly what you get.  There are NO free upgrades in size, and no discounts for last minutes bookings.  

Now I am extermely grateful I have an traditional RCI account, at least for now I do.


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## am1 (Jan 12, 2011)

In the past where did the difference in points come from when booking a Wyndham resort with Wyndham points would cost 154k but a 28k deposit would be enough through RCI?


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## learnalot (Jan 12, 2011)

Explorer7 said:


> So far I regret the 70K red deposit I made last year and witch I had kept it for Wyndham internal trades. I deposited the 70K right after getting home from a VA beach resort I really enjoyed last summer that we had traded into previously on 70K only to find out that apparently 70K was not enough any longer to get in. I can see availability on the new Wyndham RCI portal that fits my current ongoing search and the time line that I traded into before and  now on the old system it's not good enough.
> I followed up with a VC this am who agreed that at this point my 70K red is not good enough unless other conditions change..
> At this point I think that 28K for a short term trade would have worked as good as my 70K red deposit.
> Water under the bridge at this point.
> ...



Hi Ira,

Couple of things:
First, I believe Manhattan Club is a Weeks resort but that doesn't mean they had any inventory available.  Or, if you didn't go in until later in the day yesterday, there is a good chance that people who have never been able to pull Manhattan Club with Wyndham before jumped on it when they could finally see it - even at a higher point cost.  

Here's my other take on the 70K deposit.  First, just to clarify, you may already know that those points don't really equate to the points you see now when you go in through the new portal.  Second, you said the VC you spoke to mentioned "unless conditions change" - to me the main variable there will be the way trading power units required to book something drop off during the last call window.  In the new portal, it doesn't seem like there is a mechanism to get any discount for last minute bookings.  HOWEVER, this is where you may be able to get the most value out of your previously deposited 70K Red Studio.  I believe the trading power on a 70K Red generic(someone posted when they saw it attached to an ongoing search they had) was about 16.  So my advice would be to keep an eye on the sighting board - not so much for bulk Wyndham deposits - not sure that advantage remains - but for units with a TPU that you can access.


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## Explorer7 (Jan 12, 2011)

learnalot said:


> Hi Ira,
> 
> Couple of things:
> First, I believe Manhattan Club is a Weeks resort but that doesn't mean they had any inventory available.  Or, if you didn't go in until later in the day yesterday, there is a good chance that people who have never been able to pull Manhattan Club with Wyndham before jumped on it when they could finally see it - even at a higher point cost.
> ...



Thank you, very good insight, it is especially helpful to have an idea of the trading value associated with a 70K deposit on the old system.  My MF's are $5.09 per 1K and I was using that to compare the 70K deposit to what it would cost me on the new site approx double depending on the week I select.

I got on the system pretty early yesterday and was thinking that if Manhatten Club is weeks that at least 1 week would have shown up as available in the next 2 years, but hopefully I was wrong and there still a chance that I can trade into it one of these days


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## bnoble (Jan 12, 2011)

> I was hoping that Manhattan Club in NYC or something else in NYC would show up bot I see nothing there under the Weeks Search option… Must not be an RCI weeks resort???


MC is in weeks---at *very* high TPU.  There just isn't any inventory right now.  It will be one of the "favorable exchanges" through the Wyndham portal, for sure.



> In the past where did the difference in points come from when booking a Wyndham resort with Wyndham points would cost 154k but a 28k deposit would be enough through RCI?


That's a good question.  Presumably, the answer is one of the reasons why we have the higher exchange charts we have now.


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## michpich35 (Jan 12, 2011)

learnalot said:


> Here's my other take on the 70K deposit.  First, just to clarify, you may already know that those points don't really equate to the points you see now when you go in through the new portal.  Second, you said the VC you spoke to mentioned "unless conditions change" - to me the main variable there will be the way trading power units required to book something drop off during the last call window.  In the new portal, it doesn't seem like there is a mechanism to get any discount for last minute bookings.  HOWEVER, this is where you may be able to get the most value out of your previously deposited 70K Red Studio.  I believe the trading power on a 70K Red generic(someone posted when they saw it attached to an ongoing search they had) was about 16.  So my advice would be to keep an eye on the sighting board - not so much for bulk Wyndham deposits - not sure that advantage remains - but for units with a TPU that you can access.



Just for the record I can't get in either - I do see the popup - click I accept but still get the account can't be located message.........anyway in re to the above, yes I do realise smaller points deposited before won't match anything, so how will we ever know what available without consulting RCi direct via fone. I was always planning to look around and see whats available but it won't even show with our smaller deposites then what would be the point having this access. Wouldn't it be the same as viewing through are normal RCI account, then ringing them to see if its available throught the points we have deposited? Am I missing something?  To summarise unless you have the newer lots deposited then thiers no point in having this new access as we can't measure the strenghts based on say 70K. I mean will this new portal show ALL inventory at 30days or not?

Ps can you tell me what a sighting board is and how to access it?


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## jjmanthei05 (Jan 12, 2011)

michpich35 said:


> Just for the record I can't get in either - I do see the popup - click I accept but still get the account can't be located message.........anyway in re to the above, yes I do realise smaller points deposited before won't match anything, so how will we ever know what available without consulting RCi direct via fone. I was always planning to look around and see whats available but it won't even show with our smaller deposites then what would be the point having this access. Wouldn't it be the same as viewing through are normal RCI account, then ringing them to see if its available throught the points we have deposited? Am I missing something?  To summarise unless you have the newer lots deposited then thiers no point in having this new access as we can't measure the strenghts based on say 70K. I mean will this new portal show ALL inventory at 30days or not?
> 
> Ps can you tell me what a sighting board is and how to access it?



IF you sign up to be a tug member which is like 15 a year there is a private forum where people can post sightings they have seen in RCI or II. It is a very helpful tool especially if you are looking for DVC or other hard to get exchanges. Just go to Tug2.net and Click the "Join tug now" on the left hand side to sign up and get access to that forum.

Jason

Jason


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## jjmanthei05 (Jan 12, 2011)

am1 said:


> In the past where did the difference in points come from when booking a Wyndham resort with Wyndham points would cost 154k but a 28k deposit would be enough through RCI?



I think it balanced out through "unused" exchanges. Maybe Wyndham couldn't cook the books anymore with those exchanges or didn't want to I don't know. I also wonder if Wyndham balanced the points so say if there were 5 28K deposits they only put in 1 140,000 point week. Because just looking at the number of people who did 28K deposits on here I don't think there are that many 28K weeks in the system for them to actually deposit into RCI. Seems quite Enron accounting-ish but since we were on the right side of the shady transactions it worked out well for us!  

Jason


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## mahumm (Jan 12, 2011)

*RCI Exchanges*

Yesterday I was able to get into the new system no problems.  What I saw look OK.  I was interested in St Martin.  Today no luck.  Everything just seem to freeze up.
I am hoping RCI/Wyndham get things straightened out. (in the near distant future)
Mary Ann
VIP Gold


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## Pro (Jan 12, 2011)

Maryann,

You join TUG over 5 years ago and today you made your second post!  WOW !!  Welcome back !!

Joe


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## jtridle (Jan 13, 2011)

learnalot said:


> Hi Dave,
> There was some discussion about this on the Wyndham Owner's Board today. .



what is the website address for this owner's board?


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## Culli (Jan 13, 2011)

jtridle said:


> what is the website address for this owner's board?



http://forums.atozed.com/index.php


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