# Depositing Wyndham Points into RCI - best amounts of point?



## Dave55123 (Aug 25, 2009)

Hi all,

I'm looking for advice.  I'm in the process of purchasing resale Wyndham points, about 300k.  The closing company just received the recorded deed and will be forwarding to Wyndham soon.  They tell me it can take up to 12 weeks.

Since I won't be able to use all the points by 12/31 of this year.  In what increments should I deposit them to RCI?  Does it matter?  What will the exchange fee be?

I see my future timeshare vacations to be 1 week or less in length and can get by with 1 br units, but 2 br units can work too if I invite family or friends.

Let me know what you think.  Thanks in advance for your suggestions.


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## Jya-Ning (Aug 25, 2009)

Dave55123 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm looking for advice.  I'm in the process of purchasing resale Wyndham points, about 300k.  The closing company just received the recorded deed and will be forwarding to Wyndham soon.  They tell me it can take up to 12 weeks.
> 
> ...



exchange fee is $189 per exchange

Try 28k or 70k deposit.

Jya-Ning


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## Dave55123 (Aug 25, 2009)

Thanks for the reply Jya.

So if I had 168k to deposit, should I deposit a straight 168k or can I break it down to 70k, 70k, and 28k?

I assume 28k might get me an 1 br and 70k a 2br?

Thanks again.




Jya-Ning said:


> exchange fee is $189 per exchange
> 
> Try 28k or 70k deposit.
> 
> Jya-Ning


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## ausman (Aug 25, 2009)

Sounds like you may have two problems:

1) How to best use and extend the points usage of points expiring 12/31/09.

2) How to best use and extend if needed the points usage of points expiring 12/31/10. The 10 mth window for June 25, 2010 just opened today (Summer 2010 in WYN to me) by the time you close and gain use of the points, that period depending where you want to go, will be more difficult for the more popular locations.

You may want to tell more of where you want to go and when.

Also, for others responding, I wasn't certain if you said you expected to vacation a week or less a year or just a number of times of a week or less. If it is a number of times, how many weeks or times less than a week could help with an answer.

The exchange fee question seems to be in flux, now. The two possible answers are $189 or $164.


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## Dave55123 (Aug 25, 2009)

Mark,

Thanks for the reply.

I see your point.  For 2010, I'm hoping to go on 3 vacations, lasting up to a week each.  If the vacation is only 6 days, I'm not too worried about the points deposited into RCI as 2009 points were discounted in a way.

Yes, I wondering what's the best way to preserve 2009 points, if I can't use them all in 2009.  I'm new and the best I know is to deposit into RCI to extend the life of the points.

As for 2009 and 2010 trips, I don't consider them high demand areas, i.e. Wisconsin Dells, Branson, Nashville, Orlando are areas that jump out.  Also for 2010 points, I might reserve a place in Orlando March or April 2010) for a family member.  From what I've read Orlando is usually available.

Thanks for your feedback.





basham said:


> Sounds like you may have two problems:
> 
> 1) How to best use and extend the points usage of points expiring 12/31/09.
> 
> ...


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## Jya-Ning (Aug 25, 2009)

Dave55123 said:


> Thanks for the reply Jya.
> 
> So if I had 168k to deposit, should I deposit a straight 168k or can I break it down to 70k, 70k, and 28k?
> 
> ...



You may want to join Wyndham forums http//forums.atozed.com and read the RCI exchange at prime.  You can certainly deposit 2 70k and 1 28k.  Or 1 70k and 3 28k and let 14k go, or 6 28k, or 1 70k and 2 28k and 1 42k, or 1 105k and 2 28k and let 7k go (it is not very desired way though), or any possible combination of week Wyndham allows you, but besides the combination of 70k and 28k, the other usually does not help you too much.

It all depends on how many weeks you plan to use them, and where/when you plan to use them.

Once you deposit, it will be expired in 2 years, unless you are willing to pay to extend it.  But that is not a desire way to use it.  So you should look at next 2 years, and make reasonable guess how many trips you plan to use.

There is no rules on what 28k deposit or 70k deposit can/can not get.  Generally, if it is highly desired resort, or highly desired area with few or none deposit, none of Wyndham's deposit can get it.  And look like very soon none of any deposit will get them.  Generally, they will get whatever RCI put on the week exchange (currently, RCI does try to put 3 days, 4 days, and 5 days exchange in the week trip), if RCI think they are trade equally.  But you should generally assume it will be a 7 day trip, and you can certainly only use 3 , 4, 5, 6 days if you want)

If you have some special requirement on special type of resorts, usually you may want to put 70k.  If you are very flexible, usually you put 28k.

If you know your trip place is overbuild and you can accept a bigger ranger of rooms, 28k is the same as 70k.  But if you are fighting on holiday's day and only few resorts, 70k is more safe bet, although the chance you will not get a match probably is more likely.

Jya-Ning


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## ausman (Aug 25, 2009)

Probably should just be credit pooling the 2010 points prior to 1/1/10, that will extend their use and present many options.

To preserve 2009 points the way is, as you said, is to deposit them into RCI. 

I would want to deposit them in such a way that got me what I wanted with the least or lesser amount of exchange fees. 

For three vacations, even a 105K, 70K,42K still only add to 207K so you could do a number of 28K ones also, at least 3 with their exchange fees on one end of the spectrum. Or, 2 x 105K and a 70K and eating some points at the other end.
Really up to you as to what you want to experiment with.

I'm sure there are other looks at the same issue.


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## Goofyhobbie (Aug 25, 2009)

*What To Do When Purchasing E-Bay Points NOW!*

Dave,

Unfortunately, RCI does not currently have a way for you to personally deposit Wyndham points and then go on line and search for yourself or even make an on-going search without using both a Wyndham Vacation Counselor (VC) and a separate RCI VC.

Of course, once you are recognized as the Owner, Wyndham, if they have "visable Point Units" available can at your request make visable deposits for you to then search against. 

Without a "Visable Deposit" from Wyndham you are left with "generic points" deposited into your RCI account and RCI will demand the full charge for each deposit because a Vacation Guide has to be involved.

What you have to do is wait for Wyndham to recognize you as the new owner and then get them to make separate deposits of Points (Visable or Generic) into RCI. (Recommend that when you request the deposits you do as many as possible with the same phone call or at least the same day.) Otherwise Wyndham will charge you multiple Reservation Credits.

Once the Points (28K, 42K, 63K, 70K, 77K, 105K, 126K, 154K, 189K, or 254K) have been deposited with RCI by Wyndham you can ask the Vacation Guide to look at inventory and hopefully lock onto what you want immediately* or * you can set up individual (per group of points deposited) on-going searches.

The good news, is by buying now on E-Bay you get to experiment because you will probably be asking Wyndham to make your RCI deposits between late October and December 31, 2009. By experimenting I mean you can have Wyndham make several individual deposits of different sizes and use them to get a personal idea of what it takes to get what you want. 

If I were a Buyer of points in today's market I would go into the auction with the intent of paying as little toward 2009 maintenance fees as possible.

There is no way that I would obligate myself to pay back fees or reimburse the Seller for fees that they may have paid prior to the date of the Deed being recorded in my name.

As far as I am concerned those Maintenance Fee costs were the responsibility of the Seller. The prime season will be gone long before you get access to the 2009 points (with the possible exception of the Carribean, Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, or the early Ski Season.) 

RCI has recently increased the fee they charge to set up searches using points deposited by Wyndham.  Instead of the $164 Internet based fee you can expect to pay $189.000 per transaction.

It is hard to give you an absolute regarding what each Point Deposit might get for you when exchanging with RCI.  Use to be one could count on using a Blue Studio 28K deposit to pull Hawaii or other great exchanges within the so-called 45 day window; but with the new RCI enhancements that may not now be the case. 

However, I would not consider depositing more than 154,000 points for an exchange.  Anything over 154,000 is a waste of points IMHO. 

*My recommendation: * If you want a 2 BR PRIME RCI RED SEASON and you have little or no flexibility the smallest deposit you should make is 154,000 points. (For a 1 BR PRIME RCI RED Season with little flexibility you should deposit 105,000 points.)

A deposit of 70,000 points (The equivalent of a RED Studio Unit.) can result in an upgrade to a 1 BR, 2 BR, or even a 3 BR RCI RED Week if all the stars are properly aligned and you get lucky. 

Consider also the benefit that you can get as a Wyndham Owner going after Wyndham property immediately after Wyndham makes a BULK deposit or a left over deposit within the 45 day window.  If your strategy is to go after such deposits you can get in line behind other Wyndham Owners who have asked Wyndham to make multiple Blue Studio (28K) deposits for them.

All of the remaining possibilities depend on what you want, your flexibility, and your willingness to speculate. 

Remember, you have two years after the date of the Wyndham Points deposit to complete your vacation. That is why many Wyndham Owners wait until the last month of their use year to get Wyndham to deposit their points with RCI.  But, do not wait literally until the last minute because to many things can go wrong and thereby keep you from enjoying your vacation up to two years out.


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## Goofyhobbie (Aug 26, 2009)

Addendum to above Post: RCI deposits expire at the end of the month of the deposit so there is no advantage to waiting until the end of the month that you choose to have Wyndham make the Points deposit. Do it ASAP after December 1, 2009 to get maximum leverage.


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## Dave55123 (Aug 26, 2009)

*Thanks for all the information.*

Thanks Mark and Goofyhobbie.

I will probably credit pool 2010 points as I'll focus on using 2009 deposited points.

Thanks for the suggestions for 2009.  We'll play with ideas for 4 - 5 trips in 2010 and 2011 to use up the RCI deposits.

I have alot to learn and appreciate all your suggestions.


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## Conan (Aug 26, 2009)

I've most often found RCI Weeks properties that I could use, with 70K and sometimes 105K.

So if you have 300K to deposit, I'd suggest 105K+105K+70K if three weeks are enough for you.  You'll never know if something you find with those points could have been had for 28K but it won't matter if you don't need a fourth week.

The RCI deposits will expire at the end of the 24th month after you make them, so (if you have a calendar year use year) waiting until December to make the deposit gives you the ability to make an exchange for as late as 12/11.  If you deposit a month earlier you miss out on 12/11 availability.


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## bnoble (Aug 26, 2009)

> You'll never know if something you find with those points could have been had for 28K but it won't matter if you don't need a fourth week.


This is often overlooked, and an excellent point.  It's easy to get yourself into a surplus of "cheap" vacation weeks that you can't use, but feel like you have to.  Be realistic about how many trips you can take in that two years, and deposit accordingly.


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## regatta333 (Aug 26, 2009)

Goofyhobbie said:


> Dave,
> 
> However, I would not consider depositing more than 154,000 points for an exchange.  Anything over 154,000 is a waste of points IMHO.
> 
> *My recommendation: * If you want a 2 BR PRIME RCI RED SEASON and you have little or no flexibility the smallest deposit you should make is 154,000 points. (For a 1 BR PRIME RCI RED Season with little flexibility you should deposit 105,000 points.)



I believe that season is more important than size and have found, through my own experience and through talking to RCI VCs, that there is very little to be gained by depositing more than a red studio.  The trading power of Wyndham deposits has really gone down in the last few years.  There is also a lot less good inventory available through RCI.  Personally, I would never deposit 154K.  The maintenance on the points, together with the exchange fee, puts the costs of an exchange obtained with that week at around $1,000.  I think you will find that a 70K deposit is sufficient for most of what Wyndham deposits CAN pull out of RCI.  No way would I deposit more than 105K.


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## bnoble (Aug 26, 2009)

From the early returns in "new RCI", there is a bit more of a difference between a generic red studio and a generic red 1BR than there used to be.  The Memorial Day trade power revision appears to have given a little more weight to size vs. season.  Season still seems to dominate.

I don't know that anyone has compared a red 1BR to a red 2BR.


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## John P (Aug 27, 2009)

*Wyndham points deposits*

I currently have a red studio at Williamsburg and a red one br at Las Vegas as visible deposits in RCI.  Looking worldwide in a 12 month period that overlaps both deposits I can see 59743 units with the studio and 71147 units with the one br.  

That's a 19% increase in visibility from a 50% increase in points used.  If you have a lot of points and specific needs the one br may make the difference.  If you don't have a lot of points and are flexible the studio may be the ticket.  

As always the devil is in the details.  Can you get what you want?


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## bnoble (Aug 27, 2009)

Visibles, unfortunately, are valued entirely differently than generics---with visibles, the specific resort, week, and deposit date will matter a lot.  With generics, you are averaged over some set of "comparable" weeks.


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## regatta333 (Aug 27, 2009)

John P said:


> I currently have a red studio at Williamsburg and a red one br at Las Vegas as visible deposits in RCI.  Looking worldwide in a 12 month period that overlaps both deposits I can see 59743 units with the studio and 71147 units with the one br.
> 
> That's a 19% increase in visibility from a 50% increase in points used.  If you have a lot of points and specific needs the one br may make the difference.  If you don't have a lot of points and are flexible the studio may be the ticket.
> 
> As always the devil is in the details.  Can you get what you want?



Unless you have verified when these deposits were made with RCI, this is not definitive.  If the 1BD were deposited further in advance than the studio, that could account for some of the trade power differential.

I tend to avoid visible deposits since I've gotten burned on a number of "red" deposits, which had been deposited by Wyndham to RCI within 2-3 weeks of check-in.  I only get generic red weeks and use these for ongoing searches.  Last time, I did a search-first with a generic red 1BD and there was very little difference in terms of what that would pull compared to an existing red studio deposit.  Maybe with the revaluation in trading power, this may have changed.

I keep one visible white deposit on hand to search for any last-minute deals, but even these seem to have disappeared, unless you are literally a week or two within check-in.  Everything else is in the rental pool.

I believe that, in general, Wyndham is making their bulk deposits much closer in, which has really caused the trading power to tank.  Using a red generic studio, I had an ongoing search for either Wyndham of HGVC in Las Vegas for October.    I fully expected the Wyndham to come through (even though I prefered HGVC) because of the internal trade preference.  The HGVC came through 8.9 months prior to check-in.  Out of curiosity, I kept checking for Grand Desert and did not see any bulk deposits until less than 6 months prior to check-in.


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## John P (Aug 27, 2009)

regatta333 said:


> Unless you have verified when these deposits were made with RCI, this is not definitive.  If the 1BD were deposited further in advance than the studio, that could account for some of the trade power differential.



Both deposits were made early in the month and the dates deposited were late in the same month.  (April 1 and April 18th and about the same in July)  I thought that a little hard data might be better than generalizations for someone looking at which way to go.


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## regatta333 (Aug 28, 2009)

John P said:


> Both deposits were made early in the month and the dates deposited were late in the same month.  (April 1 and April 18th and about the same in July)  I thought that a little hard data might be better than generalizations for someone looking at which way to go.



I'm referring to how far is advance of the check-in date that Wyndham made the deposits into RCI.  You actually need to call RCI to get this information.  I was assigned several visible deposits which must have been last minute inventory that Wyndham deposited to RCI just a few weeks before the check-in date, rather than assigning me something they had deposited 6 or more months prior to check-in.  Needless to say, the trading power was terrible.  That is the risk you run with requesting a searchable deposit and why I now only request red deposits that are generic.  At least then I am getting a deposit with "average" trading power.


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## John P (Aug 28, 2009)

regatta333 said:


> I'm referring to how far is advance of the check-in date that Wyndham made the deposits into RCI.  You actually need to call RCI to get this information.  I was assigned several visible deposits which must have been last minute inventory that Wyndham deposited to RCI just a few weeks before the check-in date, rather than assigning me something they had deposited 6 or more months prior to check-in.  Needless to say, the trading power was terrible.  That is the risk you run with requesting a searchable deposit and why I now only request red deposits that are generic.  At least then I am getting a deposit with "average" trading power.



Let me ask my question again.  I put the red studio week into the system on or about April 1, 2009 and it became visible quickly.  When I click on the Plus sign in front of the visible deposit it shows me the unit number, interval, maximum occupancy and the start date of the week deposited.  The start date on that one was April 18, 2009.  The dates on the one bed room were July 1, 2009 and July 11, 2009.  

This seems to mean to me that the studio week assignment was for three weeks after the week was banked and the 1 br was about two weeks after banking.  Both of those are very quick turnaround and so would have less value than one with a longer lead time.  However, it seem to me that they are reasonably compatible with each other and so the relative strength (or weakness) should be comparable.  

Is that not the case?  What am I missing?


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## Conan (Aug 28, 2009)

John P said:


> I put the red studio week into the system on or about April 1, 2009 and it became visible quickly. When I click on the Plus sign in front of the visible deposit it shows me the unit number, interval, maximum occupancy and the start date of the week deposited. The start date on that one was April 18, 2009. The dates on the one bed room were July 1, 2009 and July 11, 2009.
> 
> Both of those are very quick turnaround and so would have less value than one with a longer lead time. However, it seem to me that they are reasonably compatible with each other and so the relative strength (or weakness) should be comparable.


 
So at least among visible deposits, it's apparent that similar red 1-BRs outdraw red Studios.

One additional point.  Wyndham representatives have said, and it may be true, that a visible week that they deposit for you only a few weeks before its use date may be treated better for trading power purposes than a member's own late deposit.  The explanation is that Wyndham may have held the week as a potential deposit long before they assigned it to your account, and RCI will give you the benefit of its true age.


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## regatta333 (Aug 28, 2009)

John P said:


> Let me ask my question again.  I put the red studio week into the system on or about April 1, 2009 and it became visible quickly.  When I click on the Plus sign in front of the visible deposit it shows me the unit number, interval, maximum occupancy and the start date of the week deposited.  The start date on that one was April 18, 2009.  The dates on the one bed room were July 1, 2009 and July 11, 2009.
> 
> This seems to mean to me that the studio week assignment was for three weeks after the week was banked and the 1 br was about two weeks after banking.  Both of those are very quick turnaround and so would have less value than one with a longer lead time.  However, it seem to me that they are reasonably compatible with each other and so the relative strength (or weakness) should be comparable.
> 
> Is that not the case?  What am I missing?



The red 1BD may have been deposited by Wyndham 6 months or more prior to the check-in date, and assigned to you in July.  The studio may have been deposited by Wyndham only several weeks before check-in, and this could be driving some or most of the trading power differential.  There is no way to know this without contacting RCI and asking when these two weeks were deposited into the system by RCI.  This does not necessarily coincide with the dates they were assigned to you.


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## Lisa P (Aug 29, 2009)

regatta333 said:


> I tend to avoid visible deposits since I've gotten burned on a number of "red" deposits, which had been deposited by Wyndham to RCI within 2-3 weeks of check-in.


Agreed.  The risk with visibles is that you may get a week which was deposited earlier as part of Wyndham's corporate bulk-spacebanking, then transferred to your individual RCI account (okay) or you could get a last-minute deposit made by Wyndham (bad).  We have no control over any of that.  If/When we are ever able to search online with generic deposits, this would become a (thankfully) moot point.



regatta333 said:


> I believe that, in general, Wyndham is making their bulk deposits much closer in, which has really caused the trading power to tank.


Sometimes.  They still usually seem to show up about 7-9 months ahead of check-in, with occasional months delayed a bit more.  But I haven't noticed an overall change in the last 5 years or so.  As more of the prime inventory is being taken by Wyndham owners on points reservations and less is being deposited with RCI, RCI's average red deposits from Wyndham are more likely to be from shoulder season and the red category's trade power has diminished.  But the timing of bulk-spacebankings seems similar to years ago, to me.



regatta333 said:


> Using a red generic studio, I had an ongoing search for either Wyndham of HGVC in Las Vegas for October.    I fully expected the Wyndham to come through (even though I prefered HGVC) because of the internal trade preference.  The HGVC came through 8.9 months prior to check-in.


A difference in timing for this particular month and year?  At least your deposit had the trade power to get what you wanted.


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## acesneights (Aug 29, 2009)

*Cassandra checking in*

Sounds like my prophesy is coming true as predicted and fated never to be believed just as the Greek Cassandra was cursed by Apollo.

I believe that much of the catastrophic decline in WYN trading power with RCI may be caused by the depositing of almost all of the 15 day cancellation inventory with RCI on day 14 which happens to be the last day that RCI accepts deposits.

The appearance of so much Hawaii inventory at 2 weeks out would seem to buttress this conclusion.

Of course, WYN wouldn't be so stupid as to offer the 14 day inventory as visible deposits, as that would expose their shenanigans.

Does anybody KNOW what happens to all the 15 day inventory?

Is there a better explanation?

Stan


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## regatta333 (Aug 29, 2009)

acesneights said:


> Of course, WYN wouldn't be so stupid as to offer the 14 day inventory as visible deposits, as that would expose their shenanigans.
> 
> Stan



Why would you say this?  This is exactly what has happened to me with red deposits.  How many people know enough to be able to call RCI to determine when the visible deposit was actually made?  All they will notice is that the trade power is in the toilet.

In fact, I suspect this is happening more and more with visible deposits.  Why else is there such a delay in getting them from the time they are requested?  There is no reason a visible deposit that has already been bulk-banked by Wyndham should not show up in your account just as quickly as a generic deposit.  I suspect the delay arises becauses Wyndham is trying to match up the visible requests with last-minute cancellations they can deposit to RCI.


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## bnoble (Aug 29, 2009)

> The appearance of so much Hawaii inventory at 2 weeks out would seem to buttress this conclusion.


Except that it's been happening for years, and not just with Wyndham, but with lots of HI inventory.

That's not to say you aren't right---they probably are---but I wouldn't use HI as my "evidence".  

For my part, I've been seeing the same thing Lisa has: the deposit patterns seem to be the same as they've been the past couple years.  Namely, deposits happen about 8 months prior to use, but high-demand/low-supply inventory tends not to go in.  Instead, it's mostly the larger resorts, the less-popular ones, and/or shoulder time.  That plus the inability to reserve and deposit a specific week seems to explain the trade power issue.

And, that's not necessarily a bad thing---depends on why you own Wyndham.  If you own it for internal use, it's great that Wyndham doesn't deposit it until a couple months after you've had a chance to reserve it.  The DVC owners get positively apoplectic watching some of the stuff that gets deposited by Disney---high demand resorts at high demand times deposited during the home-resort priority period.  I saw a DVC owner on DISboards who tried to get Easter 2010 at Hilton Head on exactly the 7-month day (the day home-resort priority expires) and it was (a) fully booked but (b) a 2BR was just sitting in the RCI spacebank for exchange.  And, DVC owners can't use their points in RCI to exchange back into DVC.

But, it's a real shame that individual owners can't reserve and deposit a week themselves.  It would seem to be the best of both worlds.


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## lily28 (Sep 7, 2009)

what point size should I use for deposit into RCI to try for nov or dec 2010 (non-holiday) in big island, hawaii?  looking for at least 1 bedroom, hoping for hawaiian kona village which only have 2 bedrooms. Any chance at all with 28k deposit, or should I use 42k or 70k?  thanks


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## bnoble (Sep 7, 2009)

Right now, I see about 19 1BR or larger on the big island.  None are at Kona Village, but there are some 2br at Paniolo Greens.  Try a search first to see if you can see any of them at any of those deposit levels.


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