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RCI Points Exchange

pmd

newbie
Joined
Apr 29, 2018
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Resorts Owned
Island Links
We own a timeshare at Island Links on Hilton Head Island for some time now. We get 106,500 points every other year. I feel as though I have been just bumbling my way through the exchange process. It is such a chore to find a place we want to go when we want to go. We are not interested in Myrtle Beach and Branson :). I'm sure some of you have some great tips and tricks for getting what you want. Honestly, if I had know it was so hard to go where I want to go, I'd have never purchased the darn thing. Thanks in advance.
 

tikicarver

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
32
Reaction score
2
Points
116
My tip is that we look for a time that is off season in the place we want to go. For example I was able to get an exchange on the Big Island in HI in Oct. I had booked it July of the same year which is pretty close to the travel date for getting a trade in high demand places. Now granted, there were not a lot of choices with that short time frame. The leads to the second tip, don’t be picky about the resort you trade into. When I was looking to book that trip, I selected , show me all units available in Oct to Nov on the Big Island.

I used the same stradegy to book a week in Orlando with a week my brother had that he was not going to use. Most family’s vacation in the summer, so Oct Nov is great time to vacation.

You have double the points we do, so should not be a problem finding a unit.
That being said, if you want to go to a specific resort at a specific time, then you will have to book it much farther out, like a year or more.

Also, we don’t need a resort that has a lot of amenities. We go places to get out and see the place. If you are the type that just stays at the resort all week and want a place that has a lot of stuff. Then the choices will narrow. We have usually received a 2 bedroom unit even though ours is 1 bedroom. And they have been nice places. They gave us a large 2 bedroom right on the beach in Cancun because the place was not full in Oct.

Good luck
 

tschwa2

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2008
Messages
16,003
Reaction score
4,676
Points
748
Location
Maryland
Resorts Owned
A few in S and VA, a single resort in NC, MD, PA, and UT, plus Jamaica and the Bahamas
I own the same type of week. You have mentioned where you don't want to go but not where you do want to go. Knowing that might help tailor the advice. In general if you are exchanging into a points resort during anything other than off season you probably want to search at exactly 10 months prior to the desired dates as that is when most points inventory becomes available. For very popular locations and times you want to check at midnight or 1am Eastern time. You may also want to have an ongoing search 12-18 months in advance for hard to get areas that sometimes get weeks inventory.
 

montygz

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
785
Reaction score
616
Points
303
If you don't plan or don't know where you want to go, using a timeshare is more difficult.
 

Free2Roam

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2010
Messages
1,734
Reaction score
533
Points
323
Location
Maryland
Resorts Owned
Club Wyndham, Quarter House, a handful of East Coast beach resorts
We own a timeshare at Island Links on Hilton Head Island for some time now. We get 106,500 points every other year. I feel as though I have been just bumbling my way through the exchange process. It is such a chore to find a place we want to go when we want to go. We are not interested in Myrtle Beach and Branson :). I'm sure some of you have some great tips and tricks for getting what you want. Honestly, if I had know it was so hard to go where I want to go, I'd have never purchased the darn thing. Thanks in advance.

1 - Figure out where you want to go
2 - Put in an ongoing search (this will catch RCI Weeks reservations)... if you're not platinum, you'll have to pay the exchange fee to do an ongoing search
3 - Search just after midnight exactly 10 months in advance if you're looking to stay at an RCI Points resort
 

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,462
Reaction score
17,213
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
If you don't plan or don't know where you want to go, using a timeshare is more difficult.
We aren't all that fussy about where we go. Sure, we have our favorites- and those are pretty much fixed weeks. Yellowstone in high Summer. Mexico's West Coast in January. But our RCI Points are kind of unscripted. Show me someplace I've never been (increasingly difficult) or 'interesting'. If it's near an urban European destination, that's a plus. But for those with a preference, there is no substitute for advance planning.
 
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