Points Premium When Booking Via RCI

[gelinasrj]

Beware when banking your Wyndham points with RCI.

I learned something new today. I wanted to book a specific week near my home resort in Rhode Island using points from a unit I converted to Wyndham Points to go along with a fixed week I already planned to use in that area. I was looking for early October of this year. Wyndham doesn't allow you to set up an ongoing search and I got tired of searching every day (does anyone know what Wyndham does with late cancellations since it is near impossible to find a resort match if less than 13 months?) I decided to link to the Wyndham/RCI web site. RCI did not show any availability so I built an on-going search. Within a day I received an e-mail that a match had been found. There was no indication as to the number of points required. I confirmed the reservation and still no indication as to the number of points. I assumed since this resort only has one unit type, the points would be close to the points I received for my unit. WRONG. Since I had minimum number of points banked with RCI, I called today to inquire as to the number of points I would need to transfer. Surprise. There is a 33% premium when booking through RCI over what Wyndham sets as the point value.

I called Wyndham owner services and asked - IF RCI considers this resort to be worth 33% more than the Wyndham value, why doesn't Wyndham increase the value of the resort points. The response was 'good question' but I know nothing will change.

My unit is on the books at 154,00 points. RCI charges 205,000 points. So using round numbers, I pay $900 per year in maintenance fees. To reserve with RCI, they charged me $209. In addition, I have to put up another 51,000 points (from a Palm Air unit) valued at approx. $550. So my one week of vacation would cost me over $1650.

If I had not converted my unit to points, I could have space banked my week, entered an ongoing search in RCI for $209 and saved myself maybe $400 (figuring my annual RCI fee - not sure what it is today).

I also have a problem with RCI not informing me of the points needed when confirming the reservation. Had I not called, I would have lost my $209 exchange fee. I think it is very deceitful of RCI in not providing full disclosure at the time of confirmation.

When Wyndham sales people talk about being able to bank your points in RCI, they never tell you about the 33% uplift between Wyndham and RCI.

Unless you are in a position to book thirteen months in advance, and you own at a resort with limited availability, it looks like you should not plan on booking into your home resort without paying a significant points premium.

Had I not received a confirmation for my home resort, I would not have caught this. It is things like this that give time sharing a bad rap.

 

[tschwa2]

That is the way Wyndham set up the system with RCI. For some locations and more likely at older resorts with lower points values it costs more than it would to reserve through Wyndham plus RCI fees to boot. At other resorts you might use less credit than you would have through Wyndham for example National Harbor, San Fran, San Diego etc, don't appear in RCI that often but when they do they are often cheaper than direct. Wyndham went to a grid crossover and has a maximum amount based on size and season for all resorts through RCI (wyndham and non wyndham)

These are the values for the grid that starts tomorrow. http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210374

Since all exchanges are based on the grid, you will now know the maximum for a particular week and size you may be searching for.

This is the old grid. According to it, a 2 br high week could be up to 184,000 points. The new grid sets the max for the same week at 164,000.

 

[paxsarah]

When Wyndham sales people talk about being able to bank your points in RCI, they never tell you about the 33% uplift between Wyndham and RCI.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I do want to point out that there is not an across-the-board points premium with RCI. The issue is that Wyndham sets their own points charts for their resorts; RCI sets its own seasons, and the Wyndham points needed are determined via the grid of season vs. unit size. These two determinations (Wyndham's internal points chart and RCI's seasons) are, as best I can tell, completely unrelated. In some cases you will expend more points using RCI, in other cases you will save points using RCI.

I have an upcoming RCI exchange in Orlando (it happens to be within DVC, but the points required for Bonnet Creek would have been the same because they're in the same location). It cost me 126,000 points to exchange, whereas Bonnet Creek (undiscounted) direct through Wyndham would have been 189,000. It all depends on the season and the location. Even with the $209, it would have been cheaper to exchange into BC that week instead of booking direct without discounted points.

 

[uscav8r]

RCI isnt always a good deal. Therefore I consider deposits to RCI as a last resort if I can't use my points within the Wyndham system by the end of my use year. You can generally go by the new Wyndham RCI points chart to get an idea of point requirements (already posted by another member above).


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[am1]

Who values 51000 points at $550. If thats your cost its a dog.

 

[A.Win]

Wyndham gave you 154,000 for your 2-bedroom unit. This is the fixed value whether your unit is amazing, average, or terrible. If your MF is $800 or more, that is probably too high. A few people are paying less than $300 for the same amount of points. 154K goes pretty far if you use it to book Wyndham resorts. Everyone here will tell you that this is the best value play. Booking with RCI is usually a worse option, especially when you add the $209 exchange fee.

It seems that booking with RCI can be a good option if you go for high cost units, such as DVC or Bonnet Creek, as mentioned above.

If it is an average quality unit, the better value would be to pay cash through last calls or RCI sales, or use TPUs or RCI points if you have those. Or try to set up an exchange of some sort or rent from a mega-renter.

I also think that getting studios or 1 bedrooms is a better value in RCI. The 2-4 bedroom units take up too many Wyndham points.

 

[Bigrob]

As others have said, it isn't always a points premium, in some cases it's a point discount. Some of the expensive Wyndham resorts are booked more cheaply through RCI - sometimes significantly so. For example, Shearwater, which ranges from 400-500K points for a 2BR direct through Wyndham. Or even Bali Hai, which can be booked through RCI at 209K but would be 308-325K direct through Wyndham.

As others have said, some of the higher-priced Wyndhams are cheaper through RCI but you would probably need an OGS to catch them.