# Do RCI points make sense at all to you, with the new weeks' system, Points Lite?



## rickandcindy23 (Feb 16, 2011)

Today there were two Wyndham Shearwater for next February, 25 and 27 TPU's each in Points Lite, RCI weeks.

My TPU's cost between $12-30 each, depending on the resort and week.  My blue week is only $30 per TPU.  

My highest cost on the 25 point week would be $750 + $179 exchange fee.  

With RCI Points, the same week is 109,500 points X my cost of .0116 = $1,270 + $139 exchange fee for the same exact thing.  

A DVC one bedroom in prime summer is 71K RCI Points; 118,500 for a 2 bed and in weeks, both are only 25 TPU's.  Huge difference in cost.  

How does RCI Points make sense now?  Even if you have a lower cost than my RCI Points, you still have a higher cost overall, simply because the values are so high.


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## pranas (Feb 16, 2011)

I have found the reverse to be true.  27 TPUs versus 17,000 points, so I  used my points account both times.


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## rickandcindy23 (Feb 16, 2011)

pranas said:


> I have found the reverse to be true.  27 TPUs versus 17,000 points, so I  used my points account both times.



For what exchange?  How much are your RCI Points costing you per point? 

Everyone:
Please be specific in this thread, so we can evaluate and compare.  And last-minute stuff is still a bargain in weeks, whether you use points or TPU's.  They had a Hilton discounted today on the Big Island.  

Something else to consider is the lack of inventory in Points vs. weeks.  You will never see some resort systems in RCI Points at all.  Weeks has much more inventory overall.  I have examined this quite thoroughly since November.  My impression is that RCI Points is really expensive.  I will still use it, don't get me wrong, but I gave away my deed to > 250K annual points, just to rid us of the liability.


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## Keep Traveling (Feb 16, 2011)

Pyramisa Sharm el-Sheikh Resort (#4405) 

RCI Points 19500 = $195 in Points Costs
RCI Weeks 34 = 15(TPU) * 34 = $540
WM Points 12000 = $720
Bluegreen Points = 18000 = $1200

So it's important to have a variety of options available to you.

I however too don't know if I am going to keep RCI points much longer.

KT


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## Keep Traveling (Feb 16, 2011)

Sheraton Broadway Plantation  Aug2012

RCI POINTS 60500 = $605
RCI Weeks TPU 44 * $15 = $660

Not much savings here but some others would have been good values.

Others not as the TPUs were lower.


KT


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## rickandcindy23 (Feb 16, 2011)

KT, that is a great example.  It is sometimes all about location and times of year.


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## GPLACERS (Feb 16, 2011)

Doesn't make sense to me.  I own Cliffs Club in Hawaii, I do not have access to the weeks only side, but someone helped get me some figures on some resorts I like to stay at in Hawaii and here is what we came up with:

Points for 1 bedroom, early December:

Cliffs Club:  60,000
Bay Club:  44,500
Ka'anapali Beach Club:  60,000
Lifetime in Hawaii (Royal Kuhio): 36,000

Weeks TPU:

Cliffs Club:  19
Bay Club:  18
Ka'anapali:  26
Lifetime in Hawaii (Royal Kuhio): 36


Oahu is up and down though, that week in Oahu might be a surfing championship week, maybe why its 36 TPU.  I've seen points vary from 23,500 for a studio at Lifetime in Hawaii for most of the year to all of April being at 64,000.

I know my Vista Mirage in Palm Springs (Silver Crown, 2 br) would never get a good TPU to equal what 55,500 points would get me, heck with the revamped points system, a silver crown 2 bedroom is now only 46,000 points for Palm Springs, and I am locked in at 55,500...I even saw Worldmark Indio 1 bedrooms get knocked down from 43,500 to 32,000 points, same weeks, after the update.


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## tschwa2 (Feb 16, 2011)

Smaller units at high demand location and times (30 tpu and over) are often better deals in points than weeks.  This is expecially true if its a standard or hospitality rated resort that costs less points.

Shoulder season when tpu's drop in weeks are often full point values in points, so the above usually only works for bright red peak season weeks.


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## california-bighorn (Feb 16, 2011)

GPLACERS said:


> Oahu is up and down though, that week in Oahu might be a surfing championship week, maybe why its 36 TPU.  I've seen points vary from 23,500 for a studio at Lifetime in Hawaii for most of the year to all of April being at 64,000.



Isn't the new RCI weeks program the system with transparency so you will always know what your week is worth and what it will exchange for?  It appears there is no consistancy.


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## rickandcindy23 (Feb 16, 2011)

tschwa2 said:


> *Smaller units at high demand location and times (30 tpu and over) are often better deals in points than weeks.  This is expecially true if its a standard or hospitality rated resort that costs less points.*Shoulder season when tpu's drop in weeks are often full point values in points, so the above usually only works for bright red peak season weeks.



It depends on the price you pay per TPU.  Some of my TPU's are very cheap.

I keep looking at our favorite exchanges, and those are not a good value in RCI Points at all, like Disney Vacation Club and Shearwater.  

Kahana Villas might be a decent value in the weeks side of Points.


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## tschwa2 (Feb 16, 2011)

In the MD, DE, VA area there are not that many oceanfront TS.  There are more 1 bedrooms than 2 bedrooms.  The main season is relatively short June 25-Aug 25.  

A one bedroom in July and August usually rates 29-34 TPU's but points values are typically 24,000-27,000 points in weeks(generic crossover).  With Points I don't have to pay to combine and my TPU's average $15 a point and inevidably I will either need to combine or let some stray leftovers go to waist so that will bump up the TPU cost some more.

Also with points, Pre-changeover it was easier to buy something with good MF ratio, with weeks it was always a crap shot. Hopefully I will be able to adjust my portfolio to bring down my TPU cost ratio


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## chriskre (Feb 17, 2011)

From one Disneyphile to another I've been following Vero's availability and this is why I'll be keeping and maybe even addding RCI points and I've found this to be the case not just with DVC but also with other resorts that I enjoy.

Here is availability for 2/9/11 in TPU's at Vero Disney resort:

2 measley units to choose from and not even decent dates IMO.   

map resort Available Unit Size
1 Bedroom
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range 
28-Oct-2011 - 26-Nov-2011 
Exchange Trading Power
14 


Here's what was available the same day with RCI Points:

27 units to choose from.   

Studio 4 (2) Partial Fri 17-Jun-2011 Fri 24-Jun-2011 32,000 
Studio 4 (2) Partial Sun 19-Jun-2011 Sun 26-Jun-2011 32,000 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Fri 19-Aug-2011 Fri 26-Aug-2011 45,500 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Fri 26-Aug-2011 Fri 2-Sep-2011 45,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sat 27-Aug-2011 Sat 3-Sep-2011 77,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 4-Sep-2011 Sun 11-Sep-2011 55,000 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 11-Sep-2011 Sun 18-Sep-2011 32,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Fri 16-Sep-2011 Fri 23-Sep-2011 55,000 
Studio 4 (2) Partial Sun 18-Sep-2011 Sun 25-Sep-2011 22,500 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 18-Sep-2011 Sun 25-Sep-2011 32,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 18-Sep-2011 Sun 25-Sep-2011 55,000 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Fri 23-Sep-2011 Fri 30-Sep-2011 32,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sat 24-Sep-2011 Sat 1-Oct-2011 55,000 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 25-Sep-2011 Sun 2-Oct-2011 32,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Fri 30-Sep-2011 Fri 7-Oct-2011 55,000 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sat 1-Oct-2011 Sat 8-Oct-2011 32,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 2-Oct-2011 Sun 9-Oct-2011 55,000 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Fri 21-Oct-2011 Fri 28-Oct-2011 55,000 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sat 22-Oct-2011 Sat 29-Oct-2011 32,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 23-Oct-2011 Sun 30-Oct-2011 55,000 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Fri 28-Oct-2011 Fri 4-Nov-2011 55,000 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sat 29-Oct-2011 Sat 5-Nov-2011 45,500 
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 30-Oct-2011 Sun 6-Nov-2011 77,500 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 13-Nov-2011 Sun 20-Nov-2011 45,500 
Studio 4 (2) Partial Fri 25-Nov-2011 Fri 2-Dec-2011 32,000 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sat 3-Dec-2011 Sat 10-Dec-2011 32,500 
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 4-Dec-2011 Sun 11-Dec-2011 32,500 

It may be a little cheaper to use TPU's but if the cupboard is bare what good is it?  I don't want to shop in slimpickinsville mall.  :annoyed: 

I think since more people are in weeks there is way more competition for the good stuff.  These units just sat online for a few days in points while weeks was slim pickins' and it was like this for days at a time.  I've already booked my summer beach weeks in RCI points and am very pleased with what I got and it wasn't stressful and I didn't have to live on the sightings threads to do it.


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## pranas (Feb 17, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> For what exchange?  How much are your RCI Points costing you per point?
> 
> Everyone:
> Please be specific in this thread, so we can evaluate and compare.  And last-minute stuff is still a bargain in weeks, whether you use points or TPU's.  They had a Hilton discounted today on the Big Island.
> ...



My exchanges were not last minute deals and are in hard to get areas (Florida Keys next spring) at nice resorts.  You pointed out in your first post that you had to use a lot of points for 27 lite points.  I merely pointed out that I only used 17,000 points for the same number of lite points.


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## MichaelColey (Feb 17, 2011)

In general, I've found RCI Weeks to be a much better value than RCI Points for the places I go, but I still find value in RCI Points.

1. Sometimes the points required is less than the TP required on the Weeks side.  There's one example listed earlier in the thread.

2. With RCI Points, you can book less than week.  For instance, I booked 2 nights in Destin, FL to break up our upcoming 18 hour drive to Orlando.  I wouldn't have wanted a full week.  (We'll be gone nearly a month as it is.)

3. With RCI Points, you know when to check for availability.  I wanted to stay in the Manhattan Club or one of the HGVCs in NY 4 nights for an upcoming conference.  I was able to book it 10 months out through RCI Points.  Getting it through RCI Weeks would have been hit or miss, and it would have been 3 nights longer than I needed.

4. With RCI Points, you can sometimes find things that you can't find in RCI Weeks.  I'm interested in trying out all of the DVC properties in Orlando, but BCV can be hard to find in RCI Weeks.  I picked up a week through RCI Points.  It cost me about 50% more than it would have through RCI Weeks, but the cost was acceptable to me.

5. The exchange fees are lower with RCI Points and you don't have to pay any combine fees.

6. You have Points Platinum available for free upgrades, fee rebates, etc.  (I'm not sure I see the value in this, but some may.)


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## rickandcindy23 (Feb 17, 2011)

The benefits of nightly stays are a good reason to hold onto some RCI Points, along with the exemption from 1-in-4 rules RCI has in weeks.  We can also get Shearwater in points more readily than we can in weeks.  In weeks, it's hit or miss, in points, there are lots available at ten months out.  

I have seen very little agreement with me, that RCI Points are too expensive to use, but I think it's because I have some very cheap TPU's, but even my highest cost on TPU's are cheaper for the resorts I want.  

We travel in off-season to Orlando, when the weather is cool, and the parks are not busy.  I can get Grand Beach resort, 3 bedrooms, for 8-11 TPU's.  I like the resort just fine.


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## MichaelColey (Feb 17, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I have seen very little agreement with me, that RCI Points are too expensive to use, but I think it's because I have some very cheap TPU's, but even my highest cost on TPU's are cheaper for the resorts I want.


No, I agree with you than RCI Weeks is much cheaper (especially off-peak), but there are still some benefits to RCI Points.


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## chriskre (Feb 17, 2011)

pranas said:


> My exchanges were not last minute deals and are in hard to get areas (Florida Keys next spring) at nice resorts.  You pointed out in your first post that you had to use a lot of points for 27 lite points.  I merely pointed out that I only used 17,000 points for the same number of lite points.



I agree with this too.  Quite a bit more availability at nice FL beach resorts for summer in RCI points and not so in weeks.  Studios are certainly a great value for beachfront if you only need the small unit.  



rickandcindy23 said:


> The benefits of nightly stays are a good reason to hold onto some RCI Points, along with the exemption from 1-in-4 rules RCI has in weeks.  We can also get Shearwater in points more readily than we can in weeks.  In weeks, it's hit or miss, in points, there are lots available at ten months out.
> 
> I have seen very little agreement with me, that RCI Points are too expensive to use, but I think it's because I have some very cheap TPU's, but even my highest cost on TPU's are cheaper for the resorts I want.
> 
> We travel in off-season to Orlando, when the weather is cool, and the parks are not busy.  I can get Grand Beach resort, 3 bedrooms, for 8-11 TPU's.  I like the resort just fine.



Cindy, since I would only get 20 TPU's for $450 MF's it's not such a bargain for me and for a unit that I just got rid of I was only going to get 19 TPU's for $800 MF's so that would have been totally unacceptable with RCI's new system but did okay for me in II.  

I think a mix of both systems would be necessary for me if I wanted to get into DVC since my RCI points resort is in Orlando anyway and can't get in but at least with my 20 TPU's I could pay the combine fee if I really needed to but with the Wyndham and HGVC portals that is probably how I'll be getting those units going forward.  It's just easier than worry about expiring TPU's that I'd have to keep paying to combine to save to use on something or anything just to "use them up".  



MichaelColey said:


> No, I agree with you than RCI Weeks is much cheaper (especially off-peak), but there are still some benefits to RCI Points.



Cheaper for those of you who did your homework before buying a week but I bought my weeks before I discovered TUG so I'm SOL in TPU's til I get rid of what I've got and replace it.


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## rickandcindy23 (Feb 17, 2011)

> Cheaper for those of you who did your homework before buying a week but I bought my weeks before I discovered TUG so I'm SOL in TPU's til I get rid of what I've got and replace it.



We also have weeks we bought years ago that aren't worth their cost in RCI.  I am trying to get rid of those weeks, because we have too many TPU's right now.  We have well over 400 TPU's.


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## prickler (Feb 19, 2011)

I was ready to give up on the RCI points system now that the weeks system is generally much cheaper and provides an advanced search. I thought to myself, who needs points anymore?

Then I thought of my 10 day St Lucia Windjammer RCI points exchange. I got a 2 bedroom for 115,000 points at .008 per point. (.008 * 115,00 = $920) + ($139 exchange fee) = $1059 total.

Definitely my most expensive trade, but where else am I going to find a 2000 sq foot villa with plunge pool over looking a tropical beach at such a low price? (Mexico doesn't count :hysterical The flexibility of nightly stays and resort selection make keeping reasonably priced RCI points worth it IMO.


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## lonniegolf (Feb 22, 2011)

*How to acquire inexpensive RCI points exchanges*

Hi all, I have been reading alot here and haven't got an answer on how to get the least expensive exchanges. I have been a member for awhile but only owned wyndham points. Since the new wyndham RCI portal I am no longer able to get really cheap exchanges. I always try to get multiple units (2 or 3) for the same week in vegas or palm springs in summer when its the really hot and slow time. I was able to get 2 bedroom units at gold crown or silevr resorts for a total cost (points and exchange fees) of about $400 each. I am wondering if I bought RCI points if I would be successful getting multiple units 45 days out in these same locations for 9000 RCI points. Any and all advice would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance.


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## tschwa2 (Feb 22, 2011)

It's hard to tell.  First of all the 45 window is down to 30 and in some case non existantant if RCI doesn't want to discount.  The same trades that are available in that window are generally reduced down to 4-10 with TPU's so weeks are getting the discount too.  Some weeks in slow times are valued in the 4-10 TPU range far in advance but the points in weeks don't reduce until 30 days before.  Also this will be the first summer since the latest change and its hard to tell how last minute summer inventory will be valued.

I definitely don't think this is the time to be buying points in the hopes of getting 6500-9000 last minute trades.


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## Larry (Feb 22, 2011)

*Both systems work for me.*

I have owned timeshare since 1992 and have gotten some fantastic trades over the years including;

Allen House London
Grand Mayan Aca and Riviera maya
French Riviera
Rome
Melia Paridisus
Royal Mayan Cancun
Beaches ( Now Sandal's ) Villa Resort Ocho Rios
Windjammer Landing St. Lucia
Morrits Grand
Tradewinds cruise Club

I purchased an RCI Points package on ebay last year and at first couldn't find the value in my searching for exchanges until I discovered the 10 month window and now check at the exact time I am able to search for specific locations.

Since 1992 I could never find an exchange to Aruba for January.

Exactly ten months before my desired dates I got two consecutive weeks at a gold crown resort. You can check out my very recent TUG review;

Divi Village Golf and Beach Resort

I recently  did another RCI points exchange and got confirmed to

Residence at the Crane Barbados

Irregardless of all of the TPU calculations vs RCI points calculations the bottom line is I was able to get 3 great RCI points vacations which have never been available in all of my years of searching through RCI weeks.

So does it pay for me to have an RCI points account??? Well as long as I can still get these types of results on both the RCI weeks side as well as RCI points side I am very happy to have both.


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## jerseygirl (Feb 22, 2011)

There was quite a bit of 9000 point inventory in the Caribbean this morning -- first time I'd noticed it in a while.

I think RCI will continue to "fiddle" with the points values for last minute inventory on both sides (weeks and points).  The bottom line -- they'd rather rent it.  But, when it hasn't rented, they'll drop the points accordingly to salvage an exchange fee out of it.  I suspect they wanted a "big hit" on their hands when they rolled out points lite -- and the weeks owners benefited at the expense of points owners (the weeks owners were overdue for a break!).  But, now that they got their "big buzz" on points lite, I think you'll see more 9000 point inventory again.  Does anyone think they really care who takes it?  They get the same exchange fee either way.


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## ronparise (Feb 28, 2011)

It looks like you guys are comparing the cost of a week, and what that week can be traded for; to the number of points it would take to book the same week...and how much you are paying for those points (mf)

I did a little different comparison to conclude that points made sense to me

I own Wyndham points, I also own a fixed week in a Wyndham resort, that resort is a RCI points resort and I now own an RCI points account

heres what I see

1) My fixed week studio unit, week 12, costs me $495 maintenance per year

2) I can reserve a studio week at that same resort  for 126000 Wyndham points that cost me $5 per 1000 points mf....so using my Wyndham points my cost to reserve that same week would be $630

3) With RCI points, the same week12 studio in the same resort is 17500 RCI points, my  mf cost is a penny a point or $175, plus the reservation fee of $139, plus the annual membership $124. total is $438

So $495 vs $630 vs $438

Clear advantage is RCI points

based on this little bit of analysis my last timeshare purchase was RCI points


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## catcher24 (Mar 1, 2011)

Unless they have changed the system of converting weeks to points - and they may well have, I have to admit I haven't been paying attention - RCI points works very well for me. What I have always done in the past is convert my one red week at Massanutten Woodstone resort into points. I believe I figured that I could get 20 or 21 points lite if I split it into two, two bedroom lockout weeks. If I do the same but convert each unit to points, I then get 121,000 points (60,500 for each unit). The cost to convert to points is $52 ($26 per unit), and my maintenance fee is $640, so my cost per point is one half of one cent. I also can travel during the off season period and take advantage of the under-45 day reduced points (sounds like it's under 30 now, though) because I'm retired. I feel that everything considered, I can get a lot more out of my 121,000 points than I would using my 20 or so points lite through the weeks side. The downside is I am also forced to keep my RCI points property, which is MUCH more expensive. That one is Tanglwood Resort, where my 33,500 points per year costs me a dear $575 in maintenance fees, or 1.7 cents per point. However, my overall cost combining both is still only eight tenths of a cent per point, so the system does still work for me. 

I have seriously considered simply selling both properties and taking advantage of Last Calls and Extra Vacations through RCI, or even using Vacation Rental By Owners website. Still trying to decide if that would be the cheapest choice overall, but for now I'll be sticking with points.


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## Conan (Mar 1, 2011)

I've moved one week out of RCI Points - - it's Week 51 in Orlando and although it was getting 82,000 RCI Points it supposedly will get 56 TP in RCI Weeks.

In dollar terms the $850 maintenance (high, I know) was about 1 cent per RCI Point which will now be about $15 per TP.  I changed because of the greater availability and flexibility in the new RCI Weeks.  

By the way, when you tell RCI you want to move a week you own out of points, the form they send you is the one you would use to close your RCI Points account completely, which was not what I wanted to do.  That's the only form they have, so you have to write all over it to explain that you're only moving one week you own permanently out of points, and you're retaining your Points account for the other RCI Points properties you own.  I also phoned them and had the agent write in their 'notes' what I intended.  

I called back again to have them read back to me what weeks of mine show as being enrolled in Points and wonder of wonders they've gotten it right!


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## MichaelColey (Mar 1, 2011)

catcher24 said:


> The downside is I am also forced to keep my RCI points property, which is MUCH more expensive. That one is Tanglwood Resort, where my 33,500 points per year costs me a dear $575 in maintenance fees, or 1.7 cents per point.


Is there any resale value for your Tanglwood timeshare?  If so, you might want to look at something like a triennial Grandview and sell Tanglewood.  I picked mine up on eBay for about $1k, and it gives 16.3k points for about $110/year.  Great RCI Points resort for those of us who use PFD for the majority of our points.


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## prickler (Mar 2, 2011)

MichaelColey said:


> Is there any resale value for your Tanglwood timeshare?  If so, you might want to look at something like a triennial Grandview and sell Tanglewood.  I picked mine up on eBay for about $1k, and it gives 16.3k points for about $110/year.  Great RCI Points resort for those of us who use PFD for the majority of our points.



I was watching this triennial Grandview that just ended. 16,333 RCI points per year with a $113 m/f and 32,000 points included in the sale. Went for under $400 including closing and transfer. Not a bad deal at all, sure hope a tugger got it :whoopie: 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=250778033448&si=kzn%252FMKW5Yp2M01A9r0FJdv7ej5w%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT


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## catcher24 (Mar 2, 2011)

MichaelColey said:


> Is there any resale value for your Tanglwood timeshare?  If so, you might want to look at something like a triennial Grandview and sell Tanglewood.  I picked mine up on eBay for about $1k, and it gives 16.3k points for about $110/year.  Great RCI Points resort for those of us who use PFD for the majority of our points.



Not much resale value, and at this point even though I could afford it pretty easily I'm really not interested in picking up another property. I really can't complain too much because I bought it for about $1000 as a resale several years ago. One good thing is that over the last few years new officers in the HOA have done a lot to increase the value of the resort. It was simply a standard resort when I bought it, it is now rated a "Resort of Distinction", and my understanding is that it is very close to reaching Gold Crown status, which would I presume increase everyone's point values to Gold Crown resort level and would then give me 60,500 points per year. Still not cheap, but less than one cent per point, and combined with the points I get via Massanutten very reasonable - almost as cheap as the points you mentioned above.


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## Carolinian (Apr 23, 2011)

Apparently it is much easier to get your weeks out of Points in Europe.  See the posts here by Morpheus (and especially where he has moved his weeks to!): http://www.timesharetalk.co.uk/index.php?topic=14870.msg45430



Conan said:


> I've moved one week out of RCI Points - - it's Week 51 in Orlando and although it was getting 82,000 RCI Points it supposedly will get 56 TP in RCI Weeks.
> 
> In dollar terms the $850 maintenance (high, I know) was about 1 cent per RCI Point which will now be about $15 per TP.  I changed because of the greater availability and flexibility in the new RCI Weeks.
> 
> ...


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## ampaholic (May 20, 2011)

prickler said:


> I was watching this triennial Grandview that just ended. 16,333 RCI points per year with a $113 m/f and 32,000 points included in the sale. Went for under $400 including closing and transfer. Not a bad deal at all, sure hope a tugger got it :whoopie:
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=250778033448&si=kzn%252FMKW5Yp2M01A9r0FJdv7ej5w%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT



Yep - a TUG member got it  it just closed

Not much chance I will remove it from points


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## MichaelColey (May 20, 2011)

Congrats! I bought one just like it for more than twice that price last year, just to get my foot in the door with RCI Points. (I PFD to get points.)


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## rickandcindy23 (May 20, 2011)

I haven't changed my opinion.  RCI Points are no longer a value for US, but that is because our points are more expensive.  

Maybe if you buy some points through Scott Riddle, or some other cheaper source, you will be happier using points.  For us, it's all about weeks.  It's cheaper for the areas we like to travel.  

We had Meadow Lake points, and they were around .011 each, so I gave those four contracts away.  Australia points this year will be around .012.  Foxhills is around 1.1, too.  Not cheap.


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## ampaholic (May 20, 2011)

I prefer (cheap) points over TPU's for two reasons:

A: I can combine and divide for free.  

B: I can use them for hotels, air fare, and car rentals :whoopie: even more so with the Platinum membership.

The Grandview are the cheapest I have ever seen at just under .7 cents per point - when you factor in the freebo points even cheaper.

My portfolio average now is .94 cents per point with Meadow Ridge being the high one at 1.08 cents per point. 

I am on hold as far as buy/sell for right now at 227K points per year.


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## ronparise (May 20, 2011)

Quarter House in New Orleans

week 7 
32 tpu  at $12  = 384 + 199= $583
33500 points at $0.01 =335 + 149= $484

advantage points

My goal however is to  use RCI only for special occasions.   I bought my fixed weeks to use, not to trade...thats where the real financial  advantage is


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## MichaelColey (May 20, 2011)

What size unit is that, Ron?  I think you'll see quite a contrast if you do your calculations once for Studio and again for a 2BR.


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## ampaholic (May 20, 2011)

MichaelColey said:


> Congrats! I bought one just like it for more than twice that price last year, just to get my foot in the door with RCI Points. (I PFD to get points.)


even at twice the price it's a pretty good unit as far as points per $ go - it will amortize.


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## Egret1986 (May 20, 2011)

*I went througth this also when I sold a Points timeshare*



Conan said:


> I've moved one week out of RCI Points - - it's Week 51 in Orlando and although it was getting 82,000 RCI Points it supposedly will get 56 TP in RCI Weeks.
> 
> In dollar terms the $850 maintenance (high, I know) was about 1 cent per RCI Point which will now be about $15 per TP.  I changed because of the greater availability and flexibility in the new RCI Weeks.
> 
> ...



Why can't they just create a separate form to remove a timeshare from your Points account?  I was very uncomfortable removing that one week with a form that is designed to close your RCI Points account completely.  I still had four other Points resorts.  Much to go through with the agent at RCI to make sure the account wasn't closed.  I still have a resort in my Points account that was sold a couple of years ago.  I still have "Home Group" and "Home Resort" advantage.  The new owner has never contacted me that he is having any problems.  Whatever?!

Every time I'm forced to call RCI, I'm encouraged to deposit Weeks on the "Weeks" side that I haven't owned in years.  In fact, none of the Weeks listed in my Weeks Account are anything that I currently own.  I have told no less than 10 Guides that I no longer own these weeks.  No one bothers to be proactive and offer to get my account cleaned up and remove these weeks.  I just got an email today from RCI that I was losing Trade Power on my week if I didn't deposit it.  Whatever?!  I haven't owned that week in about 3 years.


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## Egret1986 (May 20, 2011)

*RCI Points was a breath of fresh air when they came out*



rickandcindy23 said:


> I haven't changed my opinion.  RCI Points are no longer a value for US, but that is because our points are more expensive.
> 
> Maybe if you buy some points through Scott Riddle, or some other cheaper source, you will be happier using points.  For us, it's all about weeks.  It's cheaper for the areas we like to travel.
> 
> We had Meadow Lake points, and they were around .011 each, so I gave those four contracts away.  Australia points this year will be around .012.  Foxhills is around 1.1, too.  Not cheap.



I still have three Points resorts, though one to two would probably be enough now. There was a time when four Points timeshares wasn't enough and I was buying additional Points from other members or renting them through RCI.  I rely less and less on an exchange company for my vacations.  I think it's advantageous for me to have both a Weeks and Points accout as long as I rely on RCI for exchanges.

I'm not sure if it's the changes that have taken place within RCI (new Points Lite and less availability of the 45-days-or-less exhanges) or the changes that I have made personally in my timesharing strategies, but I'm not using anywhere near the number of Points that I was previously.

I'm still very leary of depositing my valuable weeks on the Weeks side.  Renting these weeks out still makes better sense to me.  The TPUs offered by RCI for these Summer beach weeks doesn't appeal to me.  I stopped depositing these weeks in the old system because it was more advantageous to rent these instead of depositing.  However, I have to admit I haven't focused on this system enough to take advantage of it like I did with the other Weeks system for 20 years and then the Points system.   Maybe if I focused back on it, as opposed to my other strategies, I might find I could "work" this system to my advantage.

Bottom line for me, if I'm going to be in RCI, I need to have something in both Weeks and Points because I have access to "all" availability.  I think some "tweaking" could be done to Points Lite that would make it more desireable for me (ie. combining all deposit TPUs at no cost and allowing "rental" of TPUs or the ability to purchase extras from other members like RCI Points).


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## MichaelColey (May 21, 2011)

Egret1986 said:


> Every time I'm forced to call RCI, I'm encouraged to deposit Weeks on the "Weeks" side that I haven't owned in years. In fact, none of the Weeks listed in my Weeks Account are anything that I currently own. I have told no less than 10 Guides that I no longer own these weeks. No one bothers to be proactive and offer to get my account cleaned up and remove these weeks.


Very few VGs at RCI seem to know anything at all about that.  You'll probably need to talk to a supervisor or a web support person to get them removed.


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## AwayWeGo (May 21, 2011)

*Same Deal With Our Former RCI Points Ownership.  Sheesh.*




Egret1986 said:


> Every time I'm forced to call RCI, I'm encouraged to deposit Weeks on the "Weeks" side that I haven't owned in years.  In fact, none of the Weeks listed in my Weeks Account are anything that I currently own.  I have told no less than 10 Guides that I no longer own these weeks.  No one bothers to be proactive and offer to get my account cleaned up and remove these weeks.


RCI Points still thinks we own the dinky points timeshare that we deeded back to the resort last year, even though we told RCI Points more than once that we no longer own it.  

That's more of a nuisance irritation than a real problem. 

A problem would be if RCI Points did not add our newly acquired points timeshare(s) to our RCI Points account. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## ronparise (May 21, 2011)

MichaelColey

I compared 1  bedroom units at the quarter house using the deposit calculator and points chart for comparison...At your suggestion a I did the 2 bedrooms and the spread seemd to shrink

I did the same thing at another New Orleans resort an for studios and 1 beds, and found the advantage was still with points.


later this summer and into the fall I will be looking at an extended stay at a local resort near my home. I will be out of my house, but not into a new one and plan to stay at the timeshare property

There are always (except for the winter season) units available for last call reservations so I will be comparing the last call cost to the tpu cost, to the points cost at this place... Assuming availability of 9000 point last minute reservations i suspect points will be the cheapest alternative if I can book 4 weeks with one $149 exchange fee...if I can than points have the advantage here too


I think what I take away from this discussion is that for some trades points are cheaper, for some tpu, for others use last call.  The variable that is the controlling factor is the availability at the particular resort you want.


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## jlwquilter (May 24, 2011)

I can offer up a real time example...

2 weeks ago I exchanged into a resort for March 2012 spring break using TPUs. Only a 1 bedroom was available. Because of my TPU costs, total for the week is $429.

Yesterday my brand spanking new RCI Points account was activated. After tooling around and seeing that indeed I got better value out of my Weeks account, I thought hmmmf! But then...

I checked the resort I exchanged into above. Points had a 2 bedroom unit and with my Points cost, total cost for the week is $439. BUT for a 2 bedroom rather than a 1 bedroom. I'd say that's a case of Points winning over Weeks.

Add in the fact that the resort only has 5 2 bedroom units, I think getting one for a specific desired week thru any exchange portal is pretty darn sweet!

In full disclosure mode I have to also add that my total cost of vacation will go up $79 as that's what I'll have to pay to get the vacation protection on the Weeks exchange so I can turn around and cancel it. But $79 to upgrade to a bigger unit is worth it to me. I just wish I had been smart enough to hold off booking the Weeks exchange until my Points account came thru. Ah, well.


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## rickandcindy23 (May 24, 2011)

I admit there is still some value in RCI Points, but for Orlando in off-season, and definitely for Hawaii, I am much better off in weeks.  And where do we go for most of our trips?  It's almost always Orlando and Hawaii.  

RCI Points has those wonderful 2 bed at the Hiltons on I-Drive, but it's 52,500 points for the low seasons.  I go to the weeks side, and it's easy to get them for about 10 TPU's.  That is $250 for weeks, over double for points.  

Today I posted Shearwater in Sightings and put my cost for the weeks and points.  So different!  

I hope to find better value for Points.  It's not easy.


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## ampaholic (May 24, 2011)

as a test I just booked a 1 bedroom 28 days (4 weeks) at VV@P in early Sept (about as off season as it gets) for 120,000 points a single $139 fee.

$1090. (my cost for points) + $139 = $1229.00

$307.25 per week

Not bad for 4 weeks?

Me like points :rofl:


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## Elan (May 24, 2011)

Interesting topic.  I haven't really followed the Points Lite thing that closely, as I'm only in RCI Points (no weeks account).  

   For the purposes of this discussion, could someone in weeks please look up the TPU assignment for the following:

    July 2-9th week at Eagle crest Resort, Redmond, OR (2BR)

   July 9-16th week at Boambee Bay Resort, NSW, Australia (2BR)

  I'd like to see how they compare in TPU's vs Points.  

  TIA!


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## rickandcindy23 (May 24, 2011)

We have to compare things in both systems, for your comparison to work.  Eagle Crest is a weeks resort in RCI, so you got a ressie in weeks, right?  If there is nothing in Points on the weeks side for that date currently, there will be nothing for it in weeks, either.


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## jlwquilter (May 24, 2011)

ampaholic said:


> as a test I just booked a 1 bedroom 28 days (4 weeks) at VV@P in early Sept (about as off season as it gets) for 120,000 points a single $139 fee.
> 
> $1090. (my cost for points) + $139 = $1229.00
> 
> ...



That's a very good cost indeed. I just booked (on hold actually, but I will confirm it) at VV@Parkway for June 17 in Weeks for 5 TPUs - total cost for the week well under $307. Points considers this week to be full on high season - and even at my points cost, it's *way* more than either of us are paying, due to season designation. Weeks wins hands down EXCEPT.... and this can be very important (but not to me this time).... Points has a 2 BR available for my date and Weeks only has 1 bedrooms available. If I HAD to have a 2 bedroom unit, Points would provide for it, although at a high cost. Further, for the example, if I could manage with 2 1 bed units then Weeks would still be cheaper, even with the 2 exchange fees.

Frankly, I bought Points for NYC exchanges. Not that I have an opening to schedule such an exchange right now, but I like to be prepared  . I didn't even really expect to find a real life example for myself where Points did win out over Weeks. I am happily surprised and pleased!


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## Elan (May 24, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> We have to compare things in both systems, for your comparison to work.  Eagle Crest is a weeks resort in RCI, so you got a ressie in weeks, right?  If there is nothing in Points on the weeks side for that date currently, there will be nothing for it in weeks, either.



  I was of the understanding, perhaps incorrectly, that one could generically look up a TPU value (acknowledging it varies with time to use) much like the generic Points crossover grid.  Is that not the case -- does there have to be a week available (deposited) to see the TPU value?


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## rickandcindy23 (May 24, 2011)

Yes.  TPU you get for the week has little to do with what the week cost someone else in TPU.   I get 18 TPU for one of my weeks that RCI has right now for 5 TPU.


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## ampaholic (May 24, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Yes.  TPU you get for the week has little to do with what the week cost someone else in TPU.   I get 18 TPU for one of my weeks that RCI has right now for 5 TPU.



We are in a period of time with a bad economy and fewer travelers (thus fewer $179's for RCI) and offering 18 TPU for a week they sell for 5 TPU is RCI's way of holding a torch under the whole "world of timeshare travel" to heat it up so they get more $179's. Pretty smart actually.

That's all it is - it is also the subject of a waaaayyyy overblown thread featuring Tombo and Carolinian going at it hammer and tong.


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## Elan (May 24, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Yes.  TPU you get for the week has little to do with what the week cost someone else in TPU.   I get 18 TPU for one of my weeks that RCI has right now for 5 TPU.



  Right, I get that the 'in' doesn't necessarily equal the 'out'.  But I thought the 'out' (TPU's granted for deposit) was a fixed value (outside a certain 'time to use" period).  Apparently that's not even true.


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## rickandcindy23 (May 24, 2011)

ampaholic said:


> We are in a period of time with a bad economy and fewer travelers (thus fewer $179's for RCI) and *offering 18 TPU for a week they sell for 5 TPU is RCI's way of holding a torch under the whole "world of timeshare travel" to heat it up so they get more $179's. Pretty smart actually.*That's all it is - it is also the subject of a waaaayyyy overblown thread featuring Tombo and Carolinian going at it hammer and tong.



Yes, it's good for all of us, so I don't understand why people complain.  You always get more than you give with the new system.


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## jlwquilter (May 24, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Yes, it's good for all of us, so I don't understand why people complain.  You *always* get more than you give with the new system.



There are apparently those that do get less for a deposit than what that exact same week/unit costs to exchange into. So don't deposit it - duh. But seriously, I think it's mostly from people that were used to depositing and exchanging into a similar week/unit (similar as in they could do it in the past) and now find that RCI values their deposit less than then what they had thought given past exchanges.

Never say never and always avoid saying always is my motto!


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## rickandcindy23 (May 24, 2011)

jlwquilter said:


> Never say never and always avoid saying always is my motto!



Okay, so almost always.  :rofl:


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## jlwquilter (May 24, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Okay, so almost always.  :rofl:



Yep.


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## MichaelColey (May 24, 2011)

Elan said:


> Right, I get that the 'in' doesn't necessarily equal the 'out'. But I thought the 'out' (TPU's granted for deposit) was a fixed value (outside a certain 'time to use" period). Apparently that's not even true.


The trading power assigned to deposits is relatively stable.  RCI says that they are adjusted about once a year, and that's pretty much what we've observed.  Many haven't changed at all, some have changed once and a very few have changed more than once.


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## Ridewithme38 (May 24, 2011)

Whats the highest TPU you guys have seen for a single week in RCI so far?


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## Elan (May 24, 2011)

MichaelColey said:


> The trading power assigned to deposits is relatively stable.  RCI says that they are adjusted about once a year, and that's pretty much what we've observed.  Many haven't changed at all, some have changed once and a very few have changed more than once.



  Thanks for the explanation.  So is it true that the TPU value isn't published -- that one only knows the value upon deposit?  If so, is someone compiling a log of TPU's somewhere?


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## MichaelColey (May 25, 2011)

Elan said:


> So is it true that the TPU value isn't published -- that one only knows the value upon deposit? If so, is someone compiling a log of TPU's somewhere?


Nope, not true. There is a deposit calculator on the RCI Weeks web site where you can look up the trading power you would receive for any unit for any week at any RCI-associated resort.  The numbers can change in the future, but it'll show what you would get if you deposited right now.


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## Elan (May 25, 2011)

MichaelColey said:


> Nope, not true. There is a deposit calculator on the RCI Weeks web site where you can look up the trading power you would receive for any unit for any week at any RCI-associated resort.  The numbers can change in the future, but it'll show what you would get if you deposited right now.



  Thanks Michael.

  So if I could repeat my request:

  Can someone with a weeks account please tell me the TPU value of the 2 weeks I listed earlier -- 2BR @ Eagle Crest Resort for July 4th week, and 2BR @ Boambee Bay for 2nd or 3rd week in July.  Use year 2012 would be fine.  Both of these weeks are worth about 60K RCI Points.  Thanks!


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## tschwa2 (May 25, 2011)

Eagle Crest=33
Boambee=16


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## Elan (May 25, 2011)

tschwa2 said:


> Eagle Crest=33
> Boambee=16



  Thank you!


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