RCI Points search is harder to use than RCI weeks

[iftravel]

I was able to search a specific resort with RCI Weeks and now I have RCI Points and it's just so hard to use the search function. Going from Weeks to Points seems a big downgrade. Am I missing anything in term of website functionality?

 

[escanoe]

You may be missing something small [and hidden in the website structure].

The RCI Points search engine stinks and recent updates have made it worse.

Here is a crippled way to search individual resorts.

1) click book at the top of the page

2) Then click "exchange vacations" under search.

3) You will then get this screen where you can search by resort name or number.

It is ridiculous and sad how clunky the website is, AND it is getting worse instead of better.

The box at the very top of all the screens that says "search for your next vacation" is really an endless tree branch style listing with not much actual "search" function.

It also used to be easy to have "favorite" searches and resorts saved, but that feature is really messed up at this point of the company's web (de)evolution.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

ridiculous and sad how clunky the website is, AND that it is getting worse instead of better

I feel better. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just cranky when I think that about websites, RCI being a perfect example.
When I first saw the RCI website half-a-lifetime ago, I thought it was a joke. I still do, and an even bigger joke considering how much the better things on the www have improved.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

box at the very top of all the screens that says "search for your next vacation" is really an endless tree branch style listing with not much actual "search" function

That is it. Thanks. I've been thinking I was must be doing something wrong. Not that I need diddly from RCI, but I look at it once in a while. JOKE.

 

[jp10558]

That is it. Thanks. I've been thinking I was must be doing something wrong. Not that I need diddly from RCI, but I look at it once in a while. JOKE.

The thing is - at least the RCI Corporate site via HGVC and Wyndham - looks like an amazing early 2010 website with actual functionality once I started trying to use II. My god - did II hire someone random off the street in 1997 and call it good forever more? I can see why you sometimes get amazing exchanges with II - it's sooo hard to use I bet plenty of people give up without getting one request submitted. I had to try over 3 different days for at least 2 hours each to succeed, and I write things like puppet manifests in a custom DSL for a living!

 

[escanoe]

The thing is - at least the RCI Corporate site via HGVC and Wyndham - looks like an amazing early 2010 website with actual functionality once I started trying to use II. My god - did II hire someone random off the street in 1997 and call it good forever more? I can see why you sometimes get amazing exchanges with II - it's sooo hard to use I bet plenty of people give up without getting one request submitted. I had to try over 3 different days for at least 2 hours each to succeed, and I write things like puppet manifests in a custom DSL for a living!

As I recently said in another thread, the ONLY thing that makes RCI's website seem functional is II's website. What is up with not being able to specify a specific check-in date (it must be a 1-week range) in either a search or an OGS in II?

The timeshare exchange duopoly certainly needs some disruption and competition. I am looking at you, HGVC/DRI/DeX!

 

[jp10558]

As I recently said in another thread, the ONLY thing that makes RCI's website seem functional is II's website. What is up with not being able to specify a specific check-in date (it must be a 1-week range) in either a search or an OGS in II?

The timeshare exchange duopoly certainly needs some disruption and competition. I am looking at you, HGVC/DRI/DeX!

I am honestly kind of surprised no one has bothered to make an AirB&B or Uber like app for person to person exchanges given how they could charge probably up to $150 per transaction and look like a screaming deal in comparison... to II and RCI anyway. Get some silicon valley venture capital to pre-rent a bunch of time from owners to seed the database and go to town. I think the issue is mainly it's too niche for anyone to see a huge upside - so maybe economically it doesn't make sense for a traditional start-up "unicorn" sort of attempt. But it sure seems to me like if you can make random apps like the ten thousandth flashlight work - you could figure it out.

 

[escanoe]

I am honestly kind of surprised no one has bothered to make an AirB&B or Uber like app for person to person exchanges given how they could charge probably up to $150 per transaction and look like a screaming deal in comparison... to II and RCI anyway. Get some silicon valley venture capital to pre-rent a bunch of time from owners to seed the database and go to town. I think the issue is mainly it's too niche for anyone to see a huge upside - so maybe economically it doesn't make sense for a traditional start-up "unicorn" sort of attempt. But it sure seems to me like if you can make random apps like the ten thousandth flashlight work - you could figure it out.

I am surprised with RCI making $299 a pop on every online transaction they haven't found a way to make it easier to take people's money. But that is the joy of having limited competition.

The problem with an upstart jumping in the game is you have to either get all the resorts to play ball, or you are stuck with making sure everyone does guest certificates as they should and that you don't have a company like Wyndham cancelling reservations because the activity appears to be commercial.

 

[iftravel]

As I recently said in another thread, the ONLY thing that makes RCI's website seem functional is II's website. What is up with not being able to specify a specific check-in date (it must be a 1-week range) in either a search or an OGS in II?

The timeshare exchange duopoly certainly needs some disruption and competition. I am looking at you, HGVC/DRI/DeX!

I actually like II (or not hate) as it's the first exchange I used and got used to (I can torelate the check-in window now). Then I had RCI weeks, very clunky but useable (had to log in and out 10 times in 10 minutes). Then I just got into RCI points, which is the worst IMO. Cannot they just copy over the code from RCI Weeks? Why doing something new and worse?!