# RAVC deposits into RCI



## TimeshareTraveller (Jan 7, 2011)

Hi All,
How does exchanging work in RAVC.  I'm considering an Ebay purchase of one of them and wondering how the exchange works into one of the companies.  Do you request and get your week first from RAVC then trade it in?  Or do you tell RAVC you want an exchange into a company and they deposit something for you that generates some amount of points/power?  

How does it work?


----------



## aliikai2 (Jan 7, 2011)

*RAVC is a weeks system*

You trade weeks that you reserve with one of the trade companies.
Does that answer your question? Greg



TimeshareTraveller said:


> Hi All,
> How does exchanging work in RAVC.  I'm considering an Ebay purchase of one of them and wondering how the exchange works into one of the companies.  Do you request and get your week first from RAVC then trade it in?  Or do you tell RAVC you want an exchange into a company and they deposit something for you that generates some amount of points/power?
> 
> How does it work?


----------



## DaveNV (Jan 7, 2011)

I was a member of RAVC till recently.

Your membership will have an anniversary date, and a home resort.  Your week's usage for that year happens during your anniversary month.  After you pay your maintenance fee, you get the credit for that week.  It stays on your RAVC account for up to three years.  If you want to make a reservation for one of the Hawaii resorts, you can reserve up to two years in advance (from the check in date.)  On the mainland, in Mexico, or Spain, you can only reserve one year in advance.

If you want to deposit your week into RCI or II, they want you to tell them ahead of time.  I never did that, so don't know if you have any choice of what week gets reserved or deposited.  The RAVC website FAQ says this:


"IF I JOIN INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL OR RESORT CONDOMINIUMS INTERNATIONAL, HOW DO I MAKE AN EXCHANGE RESERVATION?

An added attraction to your membership is the ability to use your RAVC weeks in other non-RAVC resorts by joining an exchange company. This is how it works:

First, inform Royal Aloha that you wish to make an exchange. The Club will book an appropriate week for you and provide you with pertinent information to give to the exchange company. You then call them and deposit your week. At that time, you either request an equal week at an exchange resort or save your week for future use.

Each exchange company has its own fee schedule and guidelines for exchanging. It's a great way to explore new locations and to extend a week that you otherwise would lose with Royal Aloha. However, don't wait until the last minute to book your exchanges."


RCI's website shows varying TPU for different weeks deposited, as well as at different resorts.  The Oahu weeks seemed to have higher TPU than Maui or the Big Island, for example, but the actual deposited week also has a varying TPU.  So you'd have to ask RAVC how it all works.  You can write them at reservations@ravc.com and ask how it all works.  I've found them to be very responsive.

Spend some time on the RAVC website to learn more:  www.RAVC.com

Hope this helps,
Dave


----------



## aliikai2 (Jan 7, 2011)

*If you do call them you will be assigned a low trade value week*

Like any management company their goal is different than yours. 

They want to keep the best weeks for the members to use, vs you wanting the best trade value.

I have owned RAVC for 11 years, I have never let them know what I was doing with a week . 

I have used RCI, II, SFX, TPI and VI for trades with these weeks.


jmho,

Greg




BMWguynw said:


> I was a member of RAVC till recently.
> 
> Your membership will have an anniversary date, and a home resort.  Your week's usage for that year happens during your anniversary month.  After you pay your maintenance fee, you get the credit for that week.  It stays on your RAVC account for up to three years.  If you want to make a reservation for one of the Hawaii resorts, you can reserve up to two years in advance (from the check in date.)  On the mainland, in Mexico, or Spain, you can only reserve one year in advance.
> 
> ...


----------



## TimeshareTraveller (Jan 7, 2011)

Thanks aliikai and BMWguynw,
I was worried that they'd lock the weeks up like Bluegreen does, but it doesn't appear that that is the case.  

RAVC is appealing because I've seen the Kona units from the outside (looked nice enough) and heard some good things about the company in the past.  It seems like a decently run outfit.  Not glamour, but if you're going to stay in a comfortable clean place, they seem to fit the bill.  I'd probably use them for all of their unit destinations, with the occasional trade.  

Really, I'm looking at reserving Spain during the high season in two years.  The family would like to go.  And I'd personally like to go to Oregon and Lake Tahoe.  Sounds like Hawaii might be a tough trade to get, but possible.  

Since you are owners and former owners, is it the kind of management company that keeps the apartments in shape and the owners happy?


----------



## DaveNV (Jan 8, 2011)

TimeshareTraveller said:


> Thanks aliikai and BMWguynw,
> I was worried that they'd lock the weeks up like Bluegreen does, but it doesn't appear that that is the case.
> 
> RAVC is appealing because I've seen the Kona units from the outside (looked nice enough) and heard some good things about the company in the past.  It seems like a decently run outfit.  Not glamour, but if you're going to stay in a comfortable clean place, they seem to fit the bill.  I'd probably use them for all of their unit destinations, with the occasional trade.
> ...




Depending on your home resort, getting into Hawaii may not be as hard as you think.  That's why they allow a two-year window for reservations.  I just checked resort availability on the RAVC website, and there is a lot of Hawaii availability for 2012 in the three Hawaii resorts.

The units in Kona are nice, but I think the two bedroom units are nicer than the one bedrooms.  When I talked to the Manager of the RAVC units at Kona, he said the two-bedroom units had been remodeled.  I didn't stay there, so can't offer more than that.

Keep in mind RAVC doesn't own the entire resort - they have selected units in that resort. So some units you see may not be owned by RAVC.  In the case of Otter Rock, Oregon, they only own four units - two each one and two bedrooms.   So in that great big resort with dozens of units, RAVC only has access to four.

I think RAVC is a well run organization, if you want what they have to offer you.  They are not fancy, but I think they're clean, and provide a good value for the money.

Hope this helps.

Dave


----------

