RCI inventory weeks vs. weeks on points side

[janej]

Hi,

I've been a RCI points member for a few years and always thought we can get anything available on the weeks side. Today, I stumbled upon something interesting. I have a week that does not even pull too well, I was able to find options for full kitchen or partial kitchen units for my date. With RCI points(weeks exchange), I can only get partial kitchen. I tried many times and got the same result. Is this new? Do we now have trade powder for points also?

Thanks,

Jane

 

[rickandcindy23]

No, this isn't new. We cannot pull much in RCI Points on the weeks side. It's odd that I can see something really great on occasion, like the Hilton Kingsland on the Big Island, but I cannot see most of the Hawaii inventory through the weeks side of points. I will see some of the generic resorts, never anything Wyndham, and I sure cannot see a thing that is in the RCI points system through weeks.

I see some Point at Poipu, but it's nothing compared to the inventory I used to see in the week-for-week exchange pool. Of course, I cannot see much in Hawaii anymore. I am pretty much done with RCI on the weeks side. I have II for most anything I want, anyway. RCI never had anything I really desired over II, except Shearwater and DVC, both of which I can get through Points, until they ruin that for me. Someone just posted about some kind of RCI Points Premium membership or something like that. Whatever! I doubt my Aussie points will qualify for a premium membership, so I may have to get rid of those points, too.

 

[akp]

Jane, it is a different inventory pool

The weeks you see in RCI Weeks are a different inventory than the weeks you can see in RCI Points / Weeks reservation.

The RCI Weeks resorts are those deposited by Weeks members into the Weeks inventory.

The RCI Points / Weeks are those deposited by POINTS members who use Points for Deposit. So you cannot expect to see the same inventory in RCI Points/ Weeks that you see in Weeks.

This is the source (I think) of the misguided idea that Points members are "raiding" the weeks inventory. We Points members cannot access the normal Weeks inventory, only the much smaller and more random set of weeks deposited by Points members.

In your case with the partial kitchen, it must be that only units with partial kitchens were deposited by Points members into PFD.

 

[janej]

That is very interesting. I am not totally convinced that the two pools are completely separate though. The inventory on the point side for weeks exchange seems too good to be just the PFDs. I just got my Dik 2011 week in this morning, and I used it to get a one bedroom unit with full kitchen. I did PFD last year and got 29k points. The point cost would have been 40k, same points for full or partial kitchen.

I love the flexibility of PFD.

 

[Elan]

The RCI Points / Weeks are those deposited by POINTS members who use Points for Deposit. So you cannot expect to see the same inventory in RCI Points/ Weeks that you see in Weeks.

This is the source (I think) of the misguided idea that Points members are "raiding" the weeks inventory. We Points members cannot access the normal Weeks inventory, only the much smaller and more random set of weeks deposited by Points members.

Do you know this to be fact? I'm certainly not saying it's not true, it's just the first time I've ever read it. I would agree with janej that the weeks inventory in Points, although lame, seems to be larger that one would expect from strictly PFD deposits.

 

[Mel]

The weeks you see in RCI Weeks are a different inventory than the weeks you can see in RCI Points / Weeks reservation.

The RCI Weeks resorts are those deposited by Weeks members into the Weeks inventory.

The RCI Points / Weeks are those deposited by POINTS members who use Points for Deposit. So you cannot expect to see the same inventory in RCI Points/ Weeks that you see in Weeks.

This is the source (I think) of the misguided idea that Points members are "raiding" the weeks inventory. We Points members cannot access the normal Weeks inventory, only the much smaller and more random set of weeks deposited by Points members.

In your case with the partial kitchen, it must be that only units with partial kitchens were deposited by Points members into PFD.

Where did you get this information? Unless RCI has changed something, this is incorrect. From the beginning, RCI members have been able to see most deposits from the weeks system. There are 2 exceptions - the easiest to understand is that you can't see weeks from any resorts that have affiliated with points. This would include any resorts that have only recently converted their first week into points - those are now points resorts, even if they are not shown as points yet in the online directory.

The second case would be resorts that are not in the middle in terms of vacation experience profile (VEP) - on the weeks side, every resort has a VEP rating, and availability is filtered not only based on trade power, but VEP. If you own a high VEP resort, you won't see the low VEP resorts, because RCI doesn't want to hear you complain about an exchange not meeting your expectations. Points requests are given a mid-ranged VEP, so there will be some resorts you just can't see with points.

If the OP can be more specific bout what is seen on the weeks side, and not in points, maybe we can figure out why.

 

[janej]

I went back to try the same search (resort 6057, Dec 25,2010 check in) and found the full kitchen unit now available in points. I suspect that there is a delay between the two systems. I did the same search yesterday yesterday and only found a partial kitchen available. I put that on hold hoping my Dik deposit would show up today on the weeks side. It did. Now I can't see any difference between the two pools for resort 6057.

 

[akp]

I can't remember where I read this...

I am sorry if I posted incorrect information! I thought this was true based on things I read when I first joined RCI Points plus a few things I've seen.

Some things that lead me to believe it, though:

1) I have checked several times to look at Weeks sightings through RCI Points/ Weeks reservation and I didn't see them. With points, there is no trading power - you see what is there whether you have the points to book them or not. I didn't check extensively, though, so maybe I just looked at bad examples?

2) The availability in RCI Points / Weeks is generally very spotty or lame (exception: certain resorts that seem to have big bulk deposits and lots of availability all the time. I didn't get into this in my post above because I don't really understand it, but I guess that certain resorts do bulk deposits.) If we saw everything / most things, there would be so much more available.

Right now, for Jan 2011, I see 45 resorts for all of Florida via RCI Points / Weeks Reservation. Is that what Weeks sees?

3) I've always had the impression that there is an exception in the last minute availability.

I hope my post did not mislead.

 

[akp]

Here is a good example of availability in Weeks that we don't see in Points

There are 45 units at Bay Club at Waikoloa available in RCI Weeks for 2011.

In RCI Points / Weeks Reservation, these are not available.

I'm going to check on good sightings over the next few weeks and see how much is also visible in Points / Weeks.

Anita

 

[Mel]

1) I have checked several times to look at Weeks sightings through RCI Points/ Weeks reservation and I didn't see them. With points, there is no trading power - you see what is there whether you have the points to book them or not. I didn't check extensively, though, so maybe I just looked at bad examples?

Remember that any weeks sightings at a resort with at least one points owner (and thus a points resort) won't be visible on the weeks side for you. Also, one they have been posted, them might no longer be there by the time you're looking - they may have been snatched up by someone a little quicker.

2) The availability in RCI Points / Weeks is generally very spotty or lame (exception: certain resorts that seem to have big bulk deposits and lots of availability all the time. I didn't get into this in my post above because I don't really understand it, but I guess that certain resorts do bulk deposits.) If we saw everything / most things, there would be so much more available.

Right now, for Jan 2011, I see 45 resorts for all of Florida via RCI Points / Weeks Reservation. Is that what Weeks sees?

Weeks members will always see more, because we can see the deposits from points resorts that still have weeks members. You won't see them, because they are points resorts - you have to reserve them through the points side, at the appropriate points cost.

3) I've always had the impression that there is an exception in the last minute availability.

I don't know about any exception regarding last minute availability. Weeks members can reserve last-minute exchanges with any deposit, while points members can do so with what would be considered a minimum deposit (7500 or 9000 points, which is equivalent to a blue studio week).

There are 45 units at Bay Club at Waikoloa available in RCI Weeks for 2011.

In RCI Points / Weeks Reservation, these are not available.

The weeks I'm seeing at Bay Club are November and December 2011 - more than 18 months out. Can points owners search that far out on the weeks side? I doubt Bay Club would be a VEP issue, and it's not showing in the directory as a points resort, so I don't know why you wouldn't see them otherwise.

 

[LynnW]

You should be able to see the Bay Club with your points. You can search 2 years out for weeks resorts with your points. Maybe it's a problem with the website. I seem to be seeing less on the weeks side than I used to. I would call.

Lynn