Questions fro RCI experts!

[antjmar]

I need some help from al the experts here regarding how to maximize RCI deposits. I own a 2br summer week in Myrtle Beach. The resort is a converted fixed week resort which has 175000 Wyndham points associated with it; the deed says week 29 and the unit number.
If I deposit all 175000 Wyndham points with RCI through the link on Wyndhams website I think I will be entitled to a studio or 1 br “prime” (143000 points) and have 32000 points leftover. Seems ok if I can find a week in a great resort!
However, If I go to RCI.com with my new “weeks account” (“free” with my Wyndham purchase) It says if I deposit “my” week for 2012 I will get a 51 trading power.
Am I even allowed to do this? If so how?
I see some very nice places place with a much lower trading power numbers, this seems very good! Could I get 2 prime weeks for the single deposit?
Seems like the Weeks deposit would be a better option. Any advice or tips would be appreciated!
Thank you

 

[Ridewithme38]

I hope you get an answer to this question...I have the same type of question i've been thinking about also

 

[WeLovetoTravel]

I am by no means an expert, but it is my understanding that you can NOT deposit your Wyndham points/coverted fixed week into RCI weeks account. I have a converted fixed week also, in addition to my other points. Since I converted that week, I can not "unconvert" it. All Wyndham points must be deposited into my RCI weeks account as points (either online thru the Wyndham potal, or on the phone), and I only get the exchange that the chart says I get for the points I put in. Wydham will not let you deposit "a week".
-Deb

 

[ronparise]

Im going to hazard a guess here...an educated guess, but a guess all the same

I believe that once weeks are converted to points; they are converted. The only place you will see the week is on your deed. I dont believe you have the option to use your week to exchange into RCI.

I own some converted fixed weeks and some fixed weeks (unconverted ones) The unconverted weeks cant be seen in my Club Wyndham Plus account. They were never assigned to the trust.

The act of converting a fixed week assigns them to The Wyndham Vacation Trust. in exchange you get symbolic points. So (and this is where Im guessing) the weeks are no longer available to assign to RCI. You only have the points to use.

 

[Ridewithme38]

I was wondering about doing this...but sorta the opposite way...

Say i took my mediocre amount of points and some how reserved one of those *Impossible to reserve* Dates and locations(i don't know, July 4th myrtle beach) within the Wyndham network...

Could i take that reservation and deposit it into RCI for TPU points, so that i could use that week to reserve something (i couldn't normally with just points) outside of the Wyndham Network (Fiji, Tahiti, South Africa?)

 

[jjmanthei05]

...However, If I go to RCI.com with my new “weeks account” (“free” with my Wyndham purchase) It says if I deposit “my” week for 2012 I will get a 51 trading power.
Am I even allowed to do this? If so how?
I see some very nice places place with a much lower trading power numbers, this seems very good! Could I get 2 prime weeks for the single deposit?
Seems like the Weeks deposit would be a better option. Any advice or tips would be appreciated!
Thank you

You can un-convert your week to turn it back into a fixed week. You will no longer have access to the points system unless you pay the $3,000 conversion fee again. If you keep your fixed week in the points pool there is no way rci will take your week.

I was wondering about doing this...but sorta the opposite way...

Say i took my mediocre amount of points and some how reserved one of those *Impossible to reserve* Dates and locations(i don't know, July 4th myrtle beach) within the Wyndham network...

Could i take that reservation and deposit it into RCI for TPU points, so that i could use that week to reserve something (i couldn't normally with just points) outside of the Wyndham Network (Fiji, Tahiti, South Africa?)

The short answer is no. The long answer is maybe. I have heard it is possible to deposit certain resorts into the independent exchange companies (SFX). But I don't think they have TPU type systems where you would be able to turn it into several weeks and if you can't get multiple weeks out of the reservation then I doubt you are saving many or any points over just doing the straight points deposits into RCI. Also you will have to get a guest cert for the eventual exchanger.

Jason

 

[learnalot]

I was wondering about doing this...but sorta the opposite way...

Say i took my mediocre amount of points and some how reserved one of those *Impossible to reserve* Dates and locations(i don't know, July 4th myrtle beach) within the Wyndham network...

Could i take that reservation and deposit it into RCI for TPU points, so that i could use that week to reserve something (i couldn't normally with just points) outside of the Wyndham Network (Fiji, Tahiti, South Africa?)

No, you could not deposit it with RCI. Wyndham/RCI do not allow you to deposit specific weeks to RCI.

 

[antjmar]

Thank you everyone for all the replies. I am learning so much from this site!
So I "could" do what I want but I'd have to unconvert my week.
Not ready to do this at this point in time. since I'd have to pay to convert it back.

I suppose for the savy RCI trader looking for one of these "fixed weeks no points" weeks might be a good deal since it seems that most buyers prefer the points option.

For a newbie RCI is very confusing! Especially since Wyndham also gives you a "weeks accounts" which most of us really cant use (for weeks).
The way I look at it RCI has 3 different type accounts, Wyndham points, weeks (if you dint have the wyndham points) and RCI points... very confusing at first!

 

[antjmar]

For a newbie RCI is very confusing! Especially since Wyndham also gives you a "weeks accounts" which most of us really cant use (for weeks).

I guess this account is only really needed for "last call" and extra vacations.

 

[WeLovetoTravel]

Thank you everyone for all the replies. I am learning so much from this site!
So I "could" do what I want but I'd have to unconvert my week.
Not ready to do this at this point in time. since I'd have to pay to convert it back.

I suppose for the savy RCI trader looking for one of these "fixed weeks no points" weeks might be a good deal since it seems that most buyers prefer the points option.

For a newbie RCI is very confusing! Especially since Wyndham also gives you a "weeks accounts" which most of us really cant use (for weeks).
The way I look at it RCI has 3 different type accounts, Wyndham points, weeks (if you dint have the wyndham points) and RCI points... very confusing at first!

I don't want to confuse you more, but the RCI weeks account that you get with a Wyndham purchase IS the account that you use your Wyndham points in! Wyndham points and RCI points are 2 different systems.Your deposit different increment for different weeks. (EX. deposit 143K, you can reserve any 1BR Prime week available in the RCI system, deposit 74K points-you can reserve any available RCI quiet week in the system) The RCI points account is only available to VIP owners and those that bought the leisure plan. This is used for nightly stays in the RCI system.
-Deb

 

[sandkastle4966]

Thank you everyone for all the replies. I am learning so much from this site!
So I "could" do what I want but I'd have to unconvert my week.
Not ready to do this at this point in time. since I'd have to pay to convert it back.

I suppose for the savy RCI trader looking for one of these "fixed weeks no points" weeks might be a good deal since it seems that most buyers prefer the points option.
!

A "good" summer fixed week at Westwinds (mid-june to mid august) get a lot of RCI Trade Power Units (TPUs). Do you want to go the same week every year, or were you looking at "what else in Wyndham" for the Wyn points?

Take your time and look at the Wyn points charts. Look at RCI TPUs required for where you might want to go. Do the trade off and see what works best for you.

 

[sandkastle4966]

I was wondering about doing this...but sorta the opposite way...

Say i took my mediocre amount of points and some how reserved one of those *Impossible to reserve* Dates and locations(i don't know, July 4th myrtle beach) within the Wyndham network...

Could i take that reservation and deposit it into RCI for TPU points, so that i could use that week to reserve something (i couldn't normally with just points) outside of the Wyndham Network (Fiji, Tahiti, South Africa?)

You used to be able to do this BUT only with what you own (underlyng resort) - and had to be booked within the ARP window.

I believe you can still ARP and put into SFX, etc (just not RCI or II) I did do this once with SFX. I was very unhappy with my options there and did not try again - so have no recent experience with it.

 

[DrBopp]

Confused??????????

I am new to Wyndham TS ans I don't own RCI points at all. It seems to me that many people come onto the board, as well as some already up here and ask about converting Wyndham Points to RCI Points. Would it not be more economical to use Wyndham Points for reserving Wyndham vacations? If you are not satisfied, for the most part with the Wyndham properties and primarily wanted to stay elsewhere, would it not be better to to use RCI points? It seems to me that RCI would get you to more varied places than Wyndham. Also you could reserve Wyndham properties with RCI as well as non Wyndham properties. Personally, I own Wyndham Points as well as some fixed weeks in Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach. I just don't see the sense in buying Wyndham Points, depositing them in RCI, then paying a transfer fee to exchange into another property. Would not RCI points do this more efficiently? What exactly am I missing? I would really like to know. Thanks for any and all clarifications.

Gordon

 

[WeLovetoTravel]

I am new to Wyndham TS ans I don't own RCI points at all. It seems to me that many people come onto the board, as well as some already up here and ask about converting Wyndham Points to RCI Points. Would it not be more economical to use Wyndham Points for reserving Wyndham vacations? If you are not satisfied, for the most part with the Wyndham properties and primarily wanted to stay elsewhere, would it not be better to to use RCI points? It seems to me that RCI would get you to more varied places than Wyndham. Also you could reserve Wyndham properties with RCI as well as non Wyndham properties. Personally, I own Wyndham Points as well as some fixed weeks in Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach. I just don't see the sense in buying Wyndham Points, depositing them in RCI, then paying a transfer fee to exchange into another property. Would not RCI points do this more efficiently? What exactly am I missing? I would really like to know. Thanks for any and all clarifications.

Gordon

Gordon-
Yes, it is wisest and most economical to use Wyndham points in the Wyndham system for Wyndham vacations. For the Wyndham owners that do not own timeshares in other systems, we have the ability to take "x" number of points, put them in our RCI account and exchange for a week in a place where we would like to go. I have used RCI to trade into some really nice places in Mexico, the Caribbean and Hawaii (Wyndham does not have locations on Maui). Friends have also used RCI for Europe exchanges. Yes, you are using up your Wyndham points and paying an exchange fee, but sometimes it a good use of your timeshare points for that year if you want to go somewhere where there is no Wyndham Resort.
I agree that it doesn't make sense to buy Wyndham points for the sole purpose of exchanging into RCI. There are better, cheaper ways to get access to RCI. There are many other timeshare systems that trade with RCI besides Wyndham. I also think that is makes sense, if you want to invest more money in a timeshare to pick up a fixed resale week, buy an RCI membership and use that resale week for your RCI exchanges. Personally, I have enough money tied up with our monthly maintenance fees with Wyndham, so we just use the points we have in the Wyndham system, and use our RCI weeks account when we choose to. Sometimes there are really good deals on Last Call, or Extra Vacations too.
-Deb

 

[ronparise]

Good question Dr Bopp

I think you are exactly right, Since the changes made recently to the Wyndham to RCI points grid early this year, the best use of Wyndham Points is within the Wyndham system. (basicly Wyndham closed an enormous loophole that allowed Wyndham owners to trade very few of their points for very nice vacations). As a result it dosent make as much sense to trade for an RCI weeks resort as it did in previous years.

A lot of comment here on TUG is from old Wyndham owners complaining about Wyndham having taken away their benefits, and trying to find new loopholes in the system to exploit

Conventional advice here on TUG is to buy into a resort (or resort network) that you actually intend to use.

Buying a week or points in any system that you never intend to use, but just as a trader ought to be an exception, not the rule.

Having said that there will always be those times when you will need to make a trade. For example I think the only timeshare resorts in the Washington DC area are Wyndhams. It dosent make sense to buy Wyndham if you will travel to Washington only once in a lifetime..trade for it

And its for trades like this that its important to know how to use what you own in the various exchange company systems

 

[antjmar]

I am new to Wyndham TS ans I don't own RCI points at all. It seems to me that many people come onto the board, as well as some already up here and ask about converting Wyndham Points to RCI Points. Would it not be more economical to use Wyndham Points for reserving Wyndham vacations? If you are not satisfied, for the most part with the Wyndham properties and primarily wanted to stay elsewhere, would it not be better to to use RCI points? It seems to me that RCI would get you to more varied places than Wyndham. Also you could reserve Wyndham properties with RCI as well as non Wyndham properties. Personally, I own Wyndham Points as well as some fixed weeks in Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach. I just don't see the sense in buying Wyndham Points, depositing them in RCI, then paying a transfer fee to exchange into another property. Would not RCI points do this more efficiently? What exactly am I missing? I would really like to know. Thanks for any and all clarifications.

Gordon

The only reason I asked was since I had read other people are able to trade their week to get 2-3 good weeks while only owning one week. I purchased MB Summer week since that is what I wanted and I plan to use it most of the time. Its nice to know that if I convert it back I "may" be able to get 2 possibly 3 weeks in a decent location and the only extra cost would be the RCI fees.

 

[antjmar]

A "good" summer fixed week at Westwinds (mid-june to mid august) get a lot of RCI Trade Power Units (TPUs). Do you want to go the same week every year, or were you looking at "what else in Wyndham" for the Wyn points?

Take your time and look at the Wyn points charts. Look at RCI TPUs required for where you might want to go. Do the trade off and see what works best for you.

Thank you, at this point I want to use my week; but in the future I may trade in for something better...