Still confused about difference in point sys's and RCI points...
I am trying to get in a cheap as possible, and any listing I have seen for WM or VI points seems to be in the thousands of dollars range. That is way out of my budget right now. I keep reading here about users finding ts for next to nothing at ebay, etc, that offere RCI points. I guess that means that the TS has an RCI point value, but I am hazy on that too. I even saw many in Vegas, like the Grandview, but don't know what they mean and am suspicious that it is being sold for cheap because no one wants to go there or it isn't exchanged highly from rci. Vegas is not a place I care about, so it would be a purchase just for the points to be able to book using RCI in San Diego, Colorado or near a national park. (I would prefer a TS in Sedona, San Diego, or Colorado, but none of the auctions or listings appear to be affordable.) Users I read about here seem to be more concerned about finding the right point to mf ratio...1cent per point or less. Then they talk like they can use those points to book TS off of RCI's listings. Others seem to think that loving your home resort is important and make sure it is Gold Crown, and a desirable week. I have only been looking at these for a couple of weeks, so most of the info hasn't sunk in yet, but I have read a bunch of the threads here and I am still confused, especially since I just read somewhere that RCI isn't a point system.
Maybe the better solution here is to tell you exactly what I want and hope it makes enough sense to be able to get the right advice.
I would like to be able to take a weeks worth of a vacation split up between a 3-4 days in colorado and 3-4 days in san diego. I would also like the flexibility to forgo one or the other and have 3 or so nights out with my wife in Phx in a year.
If loving your home resort is important, it would need to be in Pinetop, Az, Sedona, Az, San Diego, or SW Colorado, because those are the only locations that are with in a days driving distance. If loving it isn't important, then make it in Alaska for all I care.
I would prefer enough points for a 2 bed in peak season, because I will have tons of kids with me and once they are in school, I am chained down to the school breaks. I can go down if necessary especially if it is just a matter of adding points later.
Please advise.