# Newbie question [RCI via Wyndham] [merged]



## dis5150 (Mar 11, 2015)

I am a Wyndham Discovery points owner, (due to not finding this site in time to rescind!). I have no plans to buy anything until I have used up all my Discovery points, which will be at least next summer. But in the meantime, I am trying to learn all I can about the whole TS process. I have watched ebay and the Marketplace here, just seeing what things go for, etc. I have some questions about RCI. I have read everything I can on here and on their website, but I still do not understand how the points work. 

1. How do Wyndham points convert in RCI? Do you have to book a week somewhere, then deposit it? Or do you just deposit points...? (this is just for my knowledge - I know I can't deposit Discovery points).

2. When someone advertises in the Marketplace that they have RCI points for sale, what does that mean? I thought RCI was just an exchange company? 

When we buy, it will most likely be Wyndham, as Orlando, Nashville and Branson would be where we would mostly vacation. Possibly use points near Disneyland also. My thinking is that a points based system would work best for us. 

Thanks in advance for any help un-confusing me!


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## markb53 (Mar 12, 2015)

dis5150 said:


> I am a Wyndham Discovery points owner, (due to not finding this site in time to rescind!). I have no plans to buy anything until I have used up all my Discovery points, which will be at least next summer. But in the meantime, I am trying to learn all I can about the whole TS process. I have watched ebay and the Marketplace here, just seeing what things go for, etc. I have some questions about RCI. I have read everything I can on here and on their website, but I still do not understand how the points work.
> 
> 1. How do Wyndham points convert in RCI? Do you have to book a week somewhere, then deposit it? Or do you just deposit points...? (this is just for my knowledge - I know I can't deposit Discovery points).
> 
> ...



Below is the RCI exchange points chart. The process is to go to the RCI portal on the Wyndham website and find something you want. Then go back to Wyndham and deposit the necessary points. Wait 24 hours for them to show up in RCI. Then go to RCI.com and book the reservation and pay the $209.00 fee and sometimes a housekeeping at checkin.  The best use on Wyndham points are in the Wyndham system. 

Your question 2 could have 2 answers, I believe. 
1) RCI members (non Wyndham RCI members) transfer points
2) some small independent timeshares express there ownership in RCI points not by number of bedroom and number of weeks. 


Worldwide External Exchange Points Chart
DemandUnit Size
 Studio1 BR2 BR3 BR or More
Prime90,000126,000205,000300,000
High77,000105,000165,000232,000
Value52,00077,000126,000159,000
Quiet35,00063,00077,000112,000



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## JudyS (Mar 12, 2015)

dis5150 said:


> I am a Wyndham Discovery points owner, (due to not finding this site in time to rescind!). ...
> 
> 2. When someone advertises in the Marketplace that they have RCI points for sale, what does that mean? I thought RCI was just an exchange company? ...


I don't know about Wyndham Discovery points specifically, but usually discovery packages from most major timeshare companies aren't all that bad a deal. I've never seen one that was good enough for me to actually buy it, but it's not a major financial mistake. I would guess most discovery packages are comparable to renting the same nights from the timeshare developer.

As for the second question, most of the "RCI Points" listings in the TUG Marketplace are for ownership of weeks that have been converted to RCI Points. A few of the listings are for a one-time transfer of RCI Points from the seller's account to the buyer's account.


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## dis5150 (Mar 12, 2015)

JudyS said:


> I don't know about Wyndham Discovery points specifically, but usually discovery packages from most major timeshare companies aren't all that bad a deal. I've never seen one that was good enough for me to actually buy it, but it's not a major financial mistake. I would guess most discovery packages are comparable to renting the same nights from the timeshare developer.
> 
> As for the second question, most of the "RCI Points" listings in the TUG Marketplace are for ownership of weeks that have been converted to RCI Points. A few of the listings are for a one-time transfer of RCI Points from the seller's account to the buyer's account.



Yes, I don't think we got a "bad" deal on the points. I am getting every penny's worth out of them!

So, some people's timeshare companies converted to RCI points and now they just use them in RCI? Do they have to pay the fee to exchange? I am just wondering as some of the deals seem pretty good, but I have no idea what you could actually do with the points? And would it cost extra to use them?


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## ronparise (Mar 12, 2015)

Just to clarify

Wyndham points do not convert to RCI points As Mark said in his post, you deposit Wyndham points to RCI  and through the Wyndham portal you will see the available RCI weeks denominated in Wyndham points. 

Regarding RCI points:  When you see RCI points for sale what is being sold is a week at some resort that has been converted to RCI points. If you own such a week you can reserve  that week, but if you dont do that in a timely manner, your week will become points. and you can use those points to exchange within the RCI points inventory and yes you will pay an exchange fee

FYI  I own a lot of Wyndham points. And at one time I also had a small RCI points account. I bought it for access to the last minute discounts offered in that system.  Turned out for me that the dicounnted inventory didnt live up to my expectations...so I allowed my points to expire and revert back to just weeks and I now exchange those weeks within the rci weeks system.  I know that there are a lot of very satisfied RCI points owners here on TUG... Im not one of them.

Given your stated travel needs, my advice  for what its worth, is to stick with Wyndham


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## dis5150 (Mar 12, 2015)

markb53 said:


> Below is the RCI exchange points chart. The process is to go to the RCI portal on the Wyndham website and find something you want. Then go back to Wyndham and deposit the necessary points. Wait 24 hours for them to show up in RCI. Then go to RCI.com and book the reservation and pay the $209.00 fee and sometimes a housekeeping at checkin.  The best use on Wyndham points are in the Wyndham system.
> 
> Your question 2 could have 2 answers, I believe.
> 1) RCI members (non Wyndham RCI members) transfer points
> ...



Thanks for that info! Since I just have Discovery Points, I don't have access to the full Wyndham website (didn't know there was an RCI Portal). I do understand that the best use of Wyndham points is at Wyndham, I was just wondering, because in the future, if we do buy Wyndham points (resale!) we might want to exchange at some point for DVC.


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## dis5150 (Mar 12, 2015)

ronparise said:


> Just to clarify
> 
> Wyndham points do not convert to RCI points As Mark said in his post, you deposit Wyndham points to RCI  and through the Wyndham portal you will see the available RCI weeks denominated in Wyndham points.
> 
> ...



I don't think RCI points would work for me if that is how the system works. Yes, I think we will be buying (resale!) Wyndham points when we are ready to buy. Thanks so much for your input.


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## JudyS (Mar 12, 2015)

ronparise said:


> ...
> Regarding RCI points:  When you see RCI points for sale what is being sold is a week at some resort that has been converted to RCI points. If you own such a week you can reserve  that week, but if you dont do that in a timely manner, your week will become points. and you can use those points to exchange within the RCI points inventory and yes you will pay an exchange fee
> 
> FYI  I own a lot of Wyndham points. And at one time I also had a small RCI points account. I bought it for access to the last minute discounts offered in that system.  Turned out for me that the dicounnted inventory didnt live up to my expectations...so I allowed my points to expire and revert back to just weeks and I now exchange those weeks within the rci weeks system...


Ditto what Ron said. If you own a week that has been converted to RCI Points, you have three options: 1) use RCI Points for exchanges; 2) use your underlying week (what RCI Points calls your "Home Week"); or 3) cancel your RCI Points contract and your week becomes just a plain ol' week again. (I don't know of any resorts that *require* you to keep your week in RCI Points, but it's possible they exist, so in a few rare cases, option 3 might not be available.) 

By the way, as long as your RCI Points contract is active, you will be required to pay fees to RCI, even if you just use your underlying week and never book anything else as an exchange. Also, if your week is a part of RCI Points, your resort will probably show your week as deposited with RCI, even if you reserve your home week. This means you won't be able to trade your week in another trading company, and even renting it out may be difficult because if the renter contacts the resort, the resort may say the week has been deposited in RCI Points. 

I actually use RCI Points a lot and am happy with it, but it's only worth owning if you will exchange via RCI Points. There are some resorts that have much better availability in RCI Points than in RCI Weeks, and their point cost may be more reasonable in RCI Points, too. The Disney Vacation Club is a prime example of this.


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## Xcalibur (Mar 12, 2015)

JudyS said:


> Ditto what Ron said. If you own a week that has been converted to RCI Points, you have three options: 1) use RCI Points for exchanges; 2) use your underlying week (what RCI Points calls your "Home Week"); or 3) cancel your RCI Points contract and your week becomes just a plain ol' week again. (I don't know of any resorts that *require* you to keep your week in RCI Points, but it's possible they exist, so in a few rare cases, option 3 might not be available.)
> 
> By the way, as long as your RCI Points contract is active, you will be required to pay fees to RCI, even if you just use your underlying week and never book anything else as an exchange. Also, if your week is a part of RCI Points, your resort will probably show your week as deposited with RCI, even if you reserve your home week. This means you won't be able to trade your week in another trading company, and even renting it out may be difficult because if the renter contacts the resort, the resort may say the week has been deposited in RCI Points.
> 
> I actually use RCI Points a lot and am happy with it, but it's only worth owning if you will exchange via RCI Points. There are some resorts that have much better availability in RCI Points than in RCI Weeks, and their point cost may be more reasonable in RCI Points, too. The Disney Vacation Club is a prime example of this.



So you can have both a weeks and points account? What are the advantages of a weeks account? 

Thanks


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## dis5150 (Mar 12, 2015)

JudyS said:


> Ditto what Ron said. If you own a week that has been converted to RCI Points, you have three options: 1) use RCI Points for exchanges; 2) use your underlying week (what RCI Points calls your "Home Week"); or 3) cancel your RCI Points contract and your week becomes just a plain ol' week again. (I don't know of any resorts that *require* you to keep your week in RCI Points, but it's possible they exist, so in a few rare cases, option 3 might not be available.)
> 
> By the way, as long as your RCI Points contract is active, you will be required to pay fees to RCI, even if you just use your underlying week and never book anything else as an exchange. Also, if your week is a part of RCI Points, your resort will probably show your week as deposited with RCI, even if you reserve your home week. This means you won't be able to trade your week in another trading company, and even renting it out may be difficult because if the renter contacts the resort, the resort may say the week has been deposited in RCI Points.
> 
> I actually use RCI Points a lot and am happy with it, but it's only worth owning if you will exchange via RCI Points. There are some resorts that have much better availability in RCI Points than in RCI Weeks, and their point cost may be more reasonable in RCI Points, too. The Disney Vacation Club is a prime example of this.



So would you say that when I am ready to buy, my best bet would be buying Wyndham points, then if I want to exchange into DVC, deposit some points into RCI?


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## Myxdvz (Mar 12, 2015)

dis5150 said:


> So would you say that when I am ready to buy, my best bet would be buying Wyndham points, then if I want to exchange into DVC, deposit some points into RCI?



A lot of us are doing this right now... But don't buy FOR DVC.  It's a nice benefit of having Wyndham points, but know that DVC might not be with RCI in the future.  They used to be with II when we bought DVC.

You deposit points into RCI whenever you want to do an exchange.  Or, for a lot of people, if they have unused points at the end of the year.  Instead of losing them, most deposit them to RCI (for the cost of 1 RT).


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## TimMikel (Mar 13, 2015)

I had both RCI Weeks and Points accounts at one time.  You only pay one membership fee, but you have to have both a weeks resort and a points resort ownership.  I believe the RCI system works very well since the class action and I have been able to exchange very well in both systems.  I do feel like the fees are too high, though.  I liked the flexibility of partial weeks with RCI points (like Wyndham does).  Overall though, I felt the weeks system met my needs better.  I no longer own at an RCI points resort, but do at Wyndham.  I still like both weeks and points for my home resort as well as exchanges.


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## dis5150 (Mar 13, 2015)

Myxdvz said:


> A lot of us are doing this right now... But don't buy FOR DVC.  It's a nice benefit of having Wyndham points, but know that DVC might not be with RCI in the future.  They used to be with II when we bought DVC.
> 
> You deposit points into RCI whenever you want to do an exchange.  Or, for a lot of people, if they have unused points at the end of the year.  Instead of losing them, most deposit them to RCI (for the cost of 1 RT).



Yes, I hear you.  We like the Wyndham resorts and would be very happy with just staying in them. I was just thinking that at some time in the future we might want to stay on Disney property (marathon weekends, etc.) and exchanging points would be cheaper than paying Disney prices (since I would be paying for the Wyndham points, regardless).

I did hear that they used to be with II. I would just look at it as an added bonus that is possible at this time with Wyndham points. 

Thanks everyone for the input. I think I understand it better now, but probably won't have a full grasp of it until I can actually log into the real Wyndham website. Discovery points website is very limited as to what they let you view.


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## Jay6821 (Mar 13, 2015)

I bought a Discovery Package when I started with Wyndham.  I feel it was a decent value, and I discovered that I was able to stretch the value of my points.  Last summer we went to Sedona and then Las Vegas using some of our Discovery points.  Because I booked only a couple of weeks in advance, I was able to get a 25% discount on my vacation.  That allowed me to stretch my points.

Consequently, I enough points left over to spend 4 days in Myrtle Beach next month, before driving to Atlanta to see my daughter.  (I did have to purchase some extra points to fill out the 4 days, but that was only about $50).  So with my Discovery point purchase, I will have spent about several days in 3 different Wyndham properties,for about $1,300 or so.  (BTW, I bought the Discovery package while we were staying for free for a week at Wyndham Palm Aire when my wife won a drawing at  conference she was at)!

I like Wyndham enough that I have since purchased 189,000 points on eBay for about $400.  I will buy more resale points in the next few years when my wife and I can downsize our work responsibilities a bit and have more vacation time.


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## elleny76 (Apr 6, 2015)

*DVC and RCI*

Hi!.. New here. I own Wyndham and trying to see if I can book a DVC through RCI but when I search "resorts" in RCI 18 DVC comes to the list but none available..(?)  looking for September(value week) anyone knows how to find any week in RCI?  are they ever available?  tx


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## elleny76 (Apr 6, 2015)

*RCI..bookings*

I till confused. I transferred 50k to RCI from my wyndham. I am looking for a week in value _week in DVC.  The issue is there is no information of dates for booking at all... how can I do to get a studio in a value season from RCI to DVC?  I am so confused!


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## DeniseM (Apr 6, 2015)

You have to put in an *Ongoing Search* with RCI - like wait listing - you won't see DVC exchanges just sitting in the online inventory.

A gentle request:  please don't keep creating new posts with the same question.  If you have additional questions, please post them in this thread, instead of starting a new one.


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## ailin (Apr 6, 2015)

elleny76 said:


> I till confused. I transferred 50k to RCI from my wyndham. I am looking for a week in value _week in DVC.  The issue is there is no information of dates for booking at all... how can I do to get a studio in a value season from RCI to DVC?  I am so confused!



Are you going through the Wyndham portal (Wyndham website -> My Membership -> RCI External Exchanges)?

Sarasota Springs does sometimes show up online, and occasionally Old Key West, but as Denise said an Ongoing Search is the way to go.  Studios are rarely deposited.  A 1 bedroom in September will probably be 63K.


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## elleny76 (Apr 6, 2015)

Denise....totally...  !  TX....   To: AILIN..thanks so much. I called RCI and they  went step by step with me..(nice people)   yes 1 bed 77k in September.


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## ailin (Apr 6, 2015)

elleny76 said:


> Denise....totally...  !  TX....   To: AILIN..thanks so much. I called RCI and they  went step by step with me..(nice people)   yes 1 bed 77k in September.



I am seeing 63K for other resorts in Orlando for September.  Wyndham goes by area and not by resort, so DVC should be the same.  Just for future reference, you can deposit the points after you get the match (it's held for 3 days, the RCI point transfer only takes 1 day).


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## dis5150 (Apr 7, 2015)

Jay6821 said:


> I bought a Discovery Package when I started with Wyndham.  I feel it was a decent value, and I discovered that I was able to stretch the value of my points.  Last summer we went to Sedona and then Las Vegas using some of our Discovery points.  Because I booked only a couple of weeks in advance, I was able to get a 25% discount on my vacation.  That allowed me to stretch my points.
> 
> Consequently, I enough points left over to spend 4 days in Myrtle Beach next month, before driving to Atlanta to see my daughter.  (I did have to purchase some extra points to fill out the 4 days, but that was only about $50).  So with my Discovery point purchase, I will have spent about several days in 3 different Wyndham properties,for about $1,300 or so.  (BTW, I bought the Discovery package while we were staying for free for a week at Wyndham Palm Aire when my wife won a drawing at  conference she was at)!
> 
> I like Wyndham enough that I have since purchased 189,000 points on eBay for about $400.  I will buy more resale points in the next few years when my wife and I can downsize our work responsibilities a bit and have more vacation time.



I too feel like we are getting a lot of use out of our Discovery package. We have a whole family trip to Bonnet Creek in September for 4 nights in a 3 bdrm deluxe, DD and I are going back in November for the W&D Half Marathon and spending 5 nights in a 1 bdrm deluxe. I will still have 122,000 points left that DH and I will probably use up in Branson over several 3-4 night trips before they expire next September. Or DD and I might do the Princess Half marathon in February and spend another 5 nights at Bonnet Creek. 

I wouldn't recommend someone buying the Discovery Package, but since we did get suckered into shelling out the money, at least, I feel, that we are getting our money's worth of vacations out of it. We haven't vacationed this much, ever! :whoopie:

We will be looking for some Wyndham points after we use these up.


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## antjmar (Apr 8, 2015)

elleny76 said:


> Hi!.. New here. I own Wyndham and trying to see if I can book a DVC through RCI but when I search "resorts" in RCI 18 DVC comes to the list but none available..(?)  looking for September(value week) anyone knows how to find any week in RCI?  are they ever available?  tx



I saw availability for sept 2015 this morning! They are all 1 bedroom units. They are out there but an OGS is your best bet.


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## staceyeileen (Apr 8, 2015)

dis5150 said:


> I too feel like we are getting a lot of use out of our Discovery package. We have a whole family trip to Bonnet Creek in September for 4 nights in a 3 bdrm deluxe, DD and I are going back in November for the W&D Half Marathon and spending 5 nights in a 1 bdrm deluxe. I will still have 122,000 points left that DH and I will probably use up in Branson over several 3-4 night trips before they expire next September. Or DD and I might do the Princess Half marathon in February and spend another 5 nights at Bonnet Creek.



Do people with discovery packages have a certain number of housekeeping points to use, or is that not applicable with discovery packages?  I ask because if you owned Wyn points and continued with that kind of travel pattern you may find that you'll be hit with HK fees due to the short stays, particularly the 4 nights in a 3 BR!


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## dis5150 (Apr 9, 2015)

staceyeileen said:


> Do people with discovery packages have a certain number of housekeeping points to use, or is that not applicable with discovery packages?  I ask because if you owned Wyn points and continued with that kind of travel pattern you may find that you'll be hit with HK fees due to the short stays, particularly the 4 nights in a 3 BR!



Discovery package has unlimited HK credits. Also unlimited calls in to make reservations. Can't book online, have to call. And still have to pay the guest fee for family or friends to use. Can't rent the points.

Wyndham weasels don't tell you about how HK points will work differently when you buy real points. Had to find out everything I know from TUG users. Thank goodness for TUG!


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## jj155112 (Apr 9, 2015)

yeah the sales people leave out all the details about the little charges they hit you with when you do anything! I have a discovery now and was going to buy from developer a couple weeks ago before I found this site and rescinded. It is crazy how much of the details they fail to mention.


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