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Should I buy a cheap timeshare to get RCI and II Extra Vacations?

ShebasJewel

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I saw this in a blog post. A person suggested buying the cheapest timeshare/MF that you can get and just take advantage of either the RCI Extra Vacations or the II equivalent.

What are your thoughts on this?
 

buzglyd

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You could. As long as you’re ok with off season travel at the nicer resorts.

My Gaslamp is affiliated with both so I could do that. I currently have RCI access via HGVC and II access via Vistana.
 

moonstone

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Kind of a poor way to do things IMHO but you will have access to RCI Extra & Last Call weeks. Keep in mind that in addition to the annual maintenance fee from the resort/week you buy you will need to pay an annual RCI membership fee as well as the fees to get the weeks. It adds up! Even if you don't or can't take an Extra week one year you still need to pay the annual RCI fee. Also if you buy someplace cheap that you never intend on staying at, but just to exchange, then you have an exchange fee added on to use that week every year.

I have referred friends & co-workers to this site; https://www.endlessvacationrentals.com/ which is Wyndham (RCI's parent company) rental website. There is no membership fee and many of the weeks listed there are the same price or lower than an Extra Vacation week. I just did a quick search & saw a 1 bedroom unit at Summer Bay in Orlando in Oct for $599. for the week, which is around the 'non-sale' RCI cost for members.


~Diane
 

theo

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A person suggested buying the cheapest timeshare/MF that you can get and just take advantage of either the RCI Extra Vacations or the II equivalent.

What are your thoughts on this?

My $0.02 worth follows, since you've asked:

1. Any given resort is either affiliated with RCI, II or both. If it's affiliated with only one of the two, then you will have no access to the offerings of the other; they are separate and completed unrelated entities. RCI has more resorts; II has fewer but better resorts (IMnsHO).

2. Even if you get a timeshare "cheap" (or for free), bear in mid that there will still always be (ever increasing) annual maintenance fees. This is a cost that should not be ignored in your cost / benefit analysis. Also bear in mind that exchange companies have annual membership fees and, if you "trade", a fee per exchange.

3. Last Calls and Extra Vacations (RCI) or Getaways (II) offer only "less than optimum" weeks.

4. If renting instead from an advertising owner, you can find and rent the exact places and dates that you want --- with no annual resort maintenance fee obligations or any exchange company membership fees or the cost of the Extra Vacation / Getaway (or exchange). I don't (willingly) play "landlord" --- I have no sub-agenda in making this last observation regarding renting instead of owning.

Just some food for thought, for whatever it's worth. Good luck.
 
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Panina

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I would never buy a timeshare just to get access to extra vacations. Only buy a timeshare if you will use it or trade it and to trade it you need a good trader. It is important not to just get any timeshare. You want to make sure you have something that is desirable and others would want when you no longer want it. You can find desirable ones for free too.
 

montygz

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I saw this in a blog post. A person suggested buying the cheapest timeshare/MF that you can get and just take advantage of either the RCI Extra Vacations or the II equivalent.

What are your thoughts on this?
I think I have read the same blog post.

Now that I own, I think that strategy is too limiting. The best deals and nicest resorts I have stayed in have all required having points. You'll never find a DVC unit as a last call, but I have gotten lucky and stayed a week in one for 27K points on sale.

Before you buy anything I strongly suggest figuring out how what you want to buy for what you want to accomplish.
 

breezez

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My II Cents - I think it’s an okay strategy to go the route your thinking about, If I had to go after 1 exchange company I would go after II, less fees and better resorts, no 1 in x rules, and not as many resort added fees on checkin. RCI has many sub companies with one listed above and many more you can get close to same deals with with their resorts.

But if you want a good trader in both systems a 6-10K WorldMark account will fit the bill. If you just want II look for Sheraton Broadway Plantation or Desert Oasis if you like these areas, most Gold weeks are given away free. These will trade in II as a good trader, but note their MF’s are at or above what typical rents would be... But both are nice places.

A lot of people feel you only get good weeks if you own.... Trading I have found if you do OGS you will be surprised what you can get.
 

dominidude

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I saw this in a blog post. A person suggested buying the cheapest timeshare/MF that you can get and just take advantage of either the RCI Extra Vacations or the II equivalent.

What are your thoughts on this?

RCI extra vacations and their II equivalent can be quite expensive, so I dont see any value there. It seems that if you are OK paying top dollar for a booking, then you don't need a timeshare and its corresponding long term commitment.
Rci 'last call' bookings and their II equivalent offer more value, but you need to be ok with one week bookings at short notice in the off .season ( fall/spring season for beach or mountain, but you probably won't get a beach summer week or winter sky mountain week).
So, what's your situation OP?
 

Roger830

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Consider buying some low MF Wyndham points, RCI membership is included in the Mf and a small number of points can be used for a short stay. See the Wyndham thread for more info.

There is good extra vacation available in places like Vegas and Orlando that are overbuilt.

A few years ago I checked RCI for a unit to rent in Kauai.
I found something interesting for about $1500, most likely we would have been put in the rear of the resort near the road.
I then check vrbo and rented a third floor ocean front unit in the same resort from a year round owner for less than $1200.
 
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Jan M.

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It is the RCI sale weeks that I find most valuable. I've been booking 2-4 of them a year for the past several years and can use even more of them now that my husband retired. I've never booked any Extra Vacation or Last Call weeks.
 

silentg

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I did this, bought a Summer week in Baysie, VA. For $30.00 and Maintenence is $325.00 .
Pet friendly, trades well in RCI. Have not stayed yet.
Silentg
 

ShebasJewel

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Thank you all for your feedback. I think what I have decided is to get enough points through Wyndham to do a week long at a nice resort about every 2 years or smaller non peak vacations once a year and then supplement with RCI vacations or other in between.
 

ShebasJewel

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What are RCI sale weeks? Sounds like you are doing exactly what we are thinking of doing.
 

Jan M.

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What are RCI sale weeks? Sounds like you are doing exactly what we are thinking of doing.[/QUOTE,]


We have a points account in RCI so I can't speak to whether or not the sales weeks are available or the inventory is the same with RCI weeks accounts. RCI usually has some sale going on most of the time but some sales are better than others and some have inventory ranging further out than others. The sale weeks are usually a little cheaper than the last call weeks so $209-$269 plus tax. You don't use any points to book sale weeks. Now that my husband finally retired in 2019 I want to stay 6 months out of the year or possibly more at the timeshares. We can stretch out our points using the sale weeks.

There are a lot of resorts you won't ever see in the sale weeks but there are still a lot of nice resorts. In May I booked a week starting the Saturday after Thanksgiving in a 2 bedroom unit at Silver Lake Resort in Orlando. We are familiar with the location of the resort as we have driven past it. It is close to Animal Kingdom. I've heard good things about the resort from other people who've stayed there and had been wanting to try it. We've stayed at Star Island in Orlando and Fairfield Bay in Arkansas both Wyndham resorts on the sale weeks. And we've stayed at Vacation Village at Parkway in Orlando too. That resort is great for kids.

You won't find weeks like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and 4th of July in the sale weeks but might find weeks for the smaller holidays that aren't paid holidays for a lot of people anymore. You also probably won't find three bedroom units in those sale weeks either.

I usually recommend getting a smaller every other year deed at Grandview Las Vegas because the maintenance fees are very good there for the number of points. You can frequently find people giving those weeks away or selling them very cheaply. A 49,000 every other year one bedroom week would have maintenance fees of around $200 a year. You can borrow points from the next year or pay to extend your points for an additional year. It doesn't matter if you ever intend to stay there. We've owned at Grandview since 2012 finally stayed there for the first time this Spring.

With points you will pay a $239 exchange fee for every week you book. And if you can book and travel within 2-5 weeks of the check in date it is possible to find discounted point weeks. Yesterday I found and and booked a week at The Resort on Cocoa Beach in a two bedroom unit for the week of August 19th for 7500 points. We've stayed at this resort several times and really like it. However since we will already be gone for two weeks and only home one full day my husband is being ho hum about going so I will probably cancel it. I have until midnight tonight to cancel it and get both my points and the exchange fee back.
 

missyrcrews

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Jan, your comment about your husband made me laugh out loud! We have had 4 timeshare weeks this summer. My husband is most definitely a homebody. I could be gone all summer! He is all done after this trip to Virginia...ready to get back to his routine.

As far as the sale weeks go, there are frequently weeks with discounted TPU's on the weeks side as well. They are usually smaller units at silver crown and lower resorts, but we've found some gems over the years. We generally use the extra vacation weeks, due to not trading our timeshare weeks very often. We only have one week that we trade every year. Our TPU's are at a premium for us...we hoard them until we find something great!
 

Jan M.

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In our Jan, your comment about your husband made me laugh out loud! We have had 4 timeshare weeks this summer. My husband is most definitely a homebody. I could be gone all summer! He is all done after this trip to Virginia...ready to get back to his routine.

As far as the sale weeks go, there are frequently weeks with discounted TPU's on the weeks side as well. They are usually smaller units at silver crown and lower resorts, but we've found some gems over the years. We generally use the extra vacation weeks, due to not trading our timeshare weeks very often. We only have one week that we trade every year. Our TPU's are at a premium for us...we hoard them until we find something great!

In our RCI points account there are sale weeks that require no points and the discounted point weeks. Two different things. Do the RCI weeks accounts have sale weeks that require no TPU's? Sale weeks are different than last call weeks or extra vacation weeks.

This year my husband was asked to take over as president of our hoa of 146 homes and we don't have a management company. So he can't be gone as much as I would like this year. He likes to go but doesn't start jonesing to go somewhere when it starts getting close to 2 months since we've been somewhere. We joke that I must be descended from nomads. I told him he has until next April when it heats up here to get everyone and everything whipped into shape because we are going for the next 6 months. We might come home for a week to two in there but we might not.
 
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missyrcrews

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In our RCI points account there are sale weeks that require no points and the e discounted point weeks. Two different things. Do the RCI weeks accounts have sale weeks that require no TPU's? Sale weeks are different than last call weeks or extra vacation weeks.

This year my husband was asked to take over as president of our hoa of 146 homes and we don't have a management company. So he can't be gone as much as I would like this year. He likes to go but doesn't start jonesing to go somewhere when it starts getting close to 2 months since we've been somewhere. We joke that I must be descended from nomads. I told him he has until next April when it heats up here to get everyone and everything whipped into shape because we are going for the next 6 months. We might come home for a week to two in there but we might not.
Nope...RCI weeks has the last call or extra vacation weeks, and then weeks that have reduced TPUs. Sounds like weeks/points are different in that respect.
 

SmithOp

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I took ownership of a free Vistana week here on TUG bargain deals. It let me join RCI and Interval. I gave it away and did not inform either exchange company. So I have both accounts with $0 maint fees.

As long as I pay RCI and Interval annual fees I can access RCI extra and last calls as well as Interval Getaways and ACs. I still get ACs in the Interval account, I just booked a 2br for Sedona Ridge in Oak Creek, $259.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 

ShebasJewel

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I took ownership of a free Vistana week here on TUG bargain deals. It let me join RCI and Interval. I gave it away and did not inform either exchange company. So I have both accounts with $0 maint fees.

As long as I pay RCI and Interval annual fees I can access RCI extra and last calls as well as Interval Getaways and ACs. I still get ACs in the Interval account, I just booked a 2br for Sedona Ridge in Oak Creek, $259.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

What are the annual fees for RCI and II? What are ACs? This sounds very interesting.

How far in advance have you been able to book your vacations? Have you been able to get peak weeks?
 

chalee94

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What are the annual fees for RCI and II? What are ACs? This sounds very interesting.

How far in advance have you been able to book your vacations? Have you been able to get peak weeks?

https://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/sticky-exchange-company-information-and-faqs.108095/

The Interval FAQ is a little out of date but annual fees for membership start at $89 per year (lower if you go multi-year or wait for promotional offers).

What is an AC?

A. “Accommodation Certificate”Interval International (II) offers an incentive bonus to owners of high-demand weeks who deposit them with II. That bonus is an Accommodation Certificate (“AC”), which can be exchanged for a week through II. Your exchange choices will be limited and generally won’t be prime season weeks. Thus, there are effectively blackout dates and blackout resorts. The restrictions for your AC will differ from the restrictions on some other ACs.

In addition, you can use your deposited week to exchange for another week.

During the last 59 days (“Flexchange”) before a week for which you would like to redeem your AC, you can see almost any week available in the II exchange system, other than those weeks restricted for various resort system (such as Marriott) internal trading preferences.

The cost to redeem an AC ranges from $229 to $329: $229 for a studio, $279 for a 1BR and $329 for a 2BR. [Some rare ACs may allow you to book a 2BR for $199. -edited]

The AC is valid for one year from the date it is issued, which is usually soon after you make your deposit. Thus, to use your AC, you must reserve and take your additional vacation during that one-year period. That suggests some strategy, since the longer you wait before depositing, the longer you will have to use that AC once it is issued. The challenge is to balance that additional time against possible reduced trading power for your week due to delaying your deposit.

There is no guarantee that you’ll receive an AC every year you deposit your week. The demand for your week could change, possibly leading II to stop offering an AC for your week. Also, you won’t get an AC if you use the request-first method for requesting an exchange, under which you hold onto your week until you get an exchange that’s acceptable to you.

Because most available weeks that can be confirmed with an AC are off-season (except during Flexchange), ACs don’t work well for everyone. Many, many ACs go unused. However, if you don’t mind traveling in the off-season or scheduling your trip on short notice (during Flexchange), you might well be thrilled with the results.
 

SmithOp

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What are the annual fees for RCI and II? What are ACs? This sounds very interesting.

How far in advance have you been able to book your vacations? Have you been able to get peak weeks?

Thank you Charles for providing the FAQ info on fees and ACs.

Shopping the bargain bins its unlikely to get peak weeks. There are some peak weeks available to rent at higher prices, closer to what the maint fees would be. The advantage is I don’t own so I only pay when I want to use it.

If you can only travel school holidays then this method probably wont work for you. We like to travel May/June and Nov/Dec. I usually book 4-6 months in advance.



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I saw this in a blog post. A person suggested buying the cheapest timeshare/MF that you can get and just take advantage of either the RCI Extra Vacations or the II equivalent.

I read this in a post as well. My husband and I purchased a timeshare 3 days ago (for 45 years). We decided to cancel today (we are still in the time frame to do so), but when I called today they offered me a 3 year "trial" period for $1200. It comes with an RCI membership (fees paid for). The annual fees are relatively low $250. I told them I would think it over and let them know tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day for me to cancel our contract.

The only reason I would consider keeping it is for the RCI membership. I spoke with RCI and they said we need a timeshare to sign up for the membership, but do not need one to maintain the membership. We are very interested in using the extra vacations especially since we plan our vacations relatively last minute. Is this something that would be worth it? I like that we are done with the timeshare in 3 years, so it's not a huge commitment if we don't like it. But I also worry because I have read so many bad reviews about them in general.

Thanks!
 

breezez

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I read this in a post as well. My husband and I purchased a timeshare 3 days ago (for 45 years). We decided to cancel today (we are still in the time frame to do so), but when I called today they offered me a 3 year "trial" period for $1200. It comes with an RCI membership (fees paid for). The annual fees are relatively low $250. I told them I would think it over and let them know tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day for me to cancel our contract.

The only reason I would consider keeping it is for the RCI membership. I spoke with RCI and they said we need a timeshare to sign up for the membership, but do not need one to maintain the membership. We are very interested in using the extra vacations especially since we plan our vacations relatively last minute. Is this something that would be worth it? I like that we are done with the timeshare in 3 years, so it's not a huge commitment if we don't like it. But I also worry because I have read so many bad reviews about them in general.

Thanks!
I wouldn’t keep a developer contract for RCI access. Wyndham has many other shill companies besides RCI you can get relatively same last minute deals on.

Tripbeat, Endless Vacations, Armed Forces Vacation Club to name a few.

I would rescind then plan what I want to do.
 

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A lot of people feel you only get good weeks if you own.... Trading I have found if you do OGS you will be surprised what you can get.

"if you do OGS"...? what does OGS mean? :-X
 

Jan M.

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"if you do OGS"...? what does OGS mean? :-X

Ongoing Search

They are free if you pay to be platinum and I think they are still $49 if you don't.
 
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