# RCI Weeks [vs points] deposit/bank?



## shifty1981 (Jul 26, 2010)

So my boss was telling me today how his Hilton Head week has been bad timing for the past three years so he just banked it and used two of them this year. Both times he exchanged the banked weeks to different resorts in Mexico. 

Is this typical of other weeks programs like RCI weeks or just Hilton Head? For example if you have an RCI points account you can carry them over (I think up to 1 year right?). But what if you have an RCI Weeks affiliated timeshare and you can't use it. Can you bank it? And can those banked weeks be used for exchanges? 

Lastly, any fees for banking points or weeks?

Thanks!


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## DeniseM (Jul 26, 2010)

I'm sure you will get some good answers here, but have you seen these FAQ's for II and RCI?

Yes, you can deposit/bank a "weeks TS" and you have up to two years to use it for an exchange.  Fees may include your yearly membership, adding a new TS to your Acct.,  exchanging, and buying a guest certificate.


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## shifty1981 (Jul 26, 2010)

Thanks Denise. One quick question. A friend allowed me to access his RCI points account to see a bit how it works. Do you know how to find the 9000 points vacations available I keep hearing about? 

One thing I'm trying to do is see the minimum/max cost for the following: 

Let's say I own a tri-annual TS that comes with 16K points. Let's say MF per year is around $110. What are my other costs if my sole purpose is to find a 45 days or less TS? 

RCI annual fee: $124
TS MF: $110
RCI points redemption fee: $??.??

It would almost seem that you can go pretty cheaply for 7 nights if you can find a cheap tri-annual resort. I know Michael Coley found one (for other reasons though). And do these 45 day values have less points for less days? 

When I logged into the RCI points account, I see the last minute deals that start at $250, but I can't figure out how to search for the 9000 points or less deals. And is 9000 points just for domestic 7 day units? What if less days or international?

Thank you so much.


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## lawgs (Jul 27, 2010)

shifty1981 said:


> Thanks Denise. One quick question. A friend allowed me to access his RCI points account to see a bit how it works. Do you know how to find the 9000 points vacations available I keep hearing about?
> 
> One thing I'm trying to do is see the minimum/max cost for the following:
> 
> ...



you have to search "weeks" in your points account to find those 9000 points weeks

so it is usually for a whole week not partial weeks

the exchange fee will be 179$


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## MichaelColey (Jul 27, 2010)

To give you an idea of how long you have to use your RCI Weeks deposits...

I just deposited a 2/5/2011 week, and I can use it anytime from now (technically 2/1/2010, but I can't go back in time!) and 2/28/2013. You can basically use it up to 1 year before the check-in month through 2 years after the check-in month.

You might also want to compare those costs with the cost of using Extra Vacations or Last Call. Last Call is $234, $259 or $284 (depending on unit size) plus taxes, and like the 9,000 point specials, it's only available within 45 days of check-in.

FWIW, I find the Last Call selection (and I would presume the 9,000 point selection) to be quite a bit less than the exchange selection available at 45 days (when trading value goes away).

A trienniel Grandview that has already been converted to points is certainly a cheap way to open up a lot of possibilities (Extra Vacations, Last Call, 9,000 point specials, etc.) for relatively little annual expense. Just don't expect it to get you prime locations, resorts, or dates.


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## shifty1981 (Jul 27, 2010)

Thanks Michael. However I want to make sure I have this down: 

Last Call: available to rci points or weeks users. nothing but cash to go to these. 

Exchange: either deposit a week and exchange it or use rci points to exchange into another resort. cost/points depends on location and number of nights

9000 points vacations: just like an exchange done by an rci points account except uses very little points compared to prime resorts in prime weeks. 

Extra Vacations: essentially rentals that RCI holds instead of finding them elsewhere online?





MichaelColey said:


> To give you an idea of how long you have to use your RCI Weeks deposits...
> 
> I just deposited a 2/5/2011 week, and I can use it anytime from now (technically 2/1/2010, but I can't go back in time!) and 2/28/2013. You can basically use it up to 1 year before the check-in month through 2 years after the check-in month.
> 
> ...


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## MichaelColey (Jul 27, 2010)

shifty1981 said:


> Thanks Michael. However I want to make sure I have this down:
> 
> Last Call: available to rci points or weeks users. nothing but cash to go to these.
> 
> ...


You basically have it.  Last Call and Extra Vacations just cost cash and are open to any RCI members.  Exchanges cost an exchange fee plus a deposited week or points.


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## tschwa2 (Jul 27, 2010)

The 6500-9000 vacations during prime and shoulder season don't usually sit in RCI long.  If you want to see what they look like you can go to the "Weeks Reservation" of an RCI points account and select Mexico for region and Mexico-all for subregion and select todays date and search for 6 weeks  and you will see plenty of examples.  Some people like to go to Mexico in September and some people like to visit the mid atlantic beaches in February but most don't so the inventory is probably more reliable for these kind of exchanges.

2 Types of inventory are available at 45 days- vacations that have been deposited and are just sitting because no one with the points or exchange power wanted the week or last minute late deposits and cancelations.  For inventory that has been sitting in RCI you will want to start checking at exactly 45 days because hey its not worth 45,000 or 60,000 or 90,000 points to you but at 6500-9000 points it might work for you.  For the last minute deposits and cancelations its all about luck and persistance.  At one time it was reported that RCI loaded  deposits/cancelations once a day around 1am Eastern Time and the best time to check and snag newly available inventory was at this time.  In the last 2 or so years or so deposits and cancelations become available as they are deposited or released online or with an agent.  You will be compete against not only the casual RCI user who checks online every couple of days but also with the uber compulsive RCI users that check availability 5, 10, 20 times a day.  You just have to be lucky and decisive and fast at booking.  Most of these can be canceled withing 24 hrs so if it disappears before you could book it, it could become available the next day.

You must be fairly flexible to use and be happy with  6500-9000 points deals or like traveling in the off off off season.


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## Mel (Jul 27, 2010)

shifty1981 said:


> 9000 points vacations: just like an exchange done by an rci points account except uses very little points compared to prime resorts in prime weeks.


Not exactly - there are many restrictions.

9,000 points will always get you very-low-demand weeks.  These are small units (studios sleeping 2), in very low demand due to either poor location, or poor season (february in Cape Cod, for example).  These are weeks that are listed in the directory for 9,000 points.  They are the basis for the cost of the last-minute weeks for the same number of points.

9000 points will also get you last-minute inventory from  "weeks" resorts.  RCI weeks used trade power - relative value of each week - to determine what you can get as an exchange for your week.  Thus if you have a low-demand week (one of those studios on Cape Cod in February) you would usually not be able to exchange into a 2BR unit in Hawaii.  45 days out from check-in, RCI waives the trading power, so that anybody can exchange into those weeks, on the assumption that it is "excess" inventory.  If somebody didn't reserve it before then, it wasn't really as much in demand, and it is better to have anyone use it rather than sit empty. 

The difficulty for a points owner is that only a small portion of this inventory will be made available for 9000 points or less.  This is because there are 2 types of resorts.  "Points" resorts are those that are part of the points program.  For those resorts, you must reserve using the points system, and pay the number of points listed on the chart - even 2 days before check-in.
Then there are "weeks" resorts - those resorts that are NOT part of the points program, and there are fewer and fewer of them.  At these resorts, you use points based on a generic chart, based on the location, season, and size of the unit.  At 45 days out it all drops to 9000 points or less, because those 9000 points represent the lowest demand unit you could use to exchange.

So as others have stated, if your plan is to rely on 9000 point weeks, be prepared to settle for last-minute cancellations (often in areas where any savings will be eaten up by excessive costs to get there) and low demand weeks, in the diminishing number of resorts that are not affiliated with the points program.  Sine most if not all new resorts are joining the points program, you will not have access to them in this manner.


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## brucecz (Jul 27, 2010)

shifty1981 said:


> So my boss was telling me today how his Hilton Head week has been bad timing for the past three years so he just banked it and used two of them this year. Both times he exchanged the banked weeks to different resorts in Mexico.
> 
> Is this typical of other weeks programs like RCI weeks or just Hilton Head? For example if you have an RCI points account you can carry them over (I think up to 1 year right?). But what if you have an RCI Weeks affiliated timeshare and you can't use it. Can you bank it? And can those banked weeks be used for exchanges?
> 
> ...



Which resorts in Mexico for what dates and unit sizes?

Bruce


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## shifty1981 (Jul 27, 2010)

brucecz said:


> Which resorts in Mexico for what dates and unit sizes?
> 
> Bruce



I don't remember his exact details. I was just intrigued by the banking policies. looks like similar things are available in other companies. I think it's a west coast resort. he plans on doing scuba diving, zip lines, etc.


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