Question regarding RCI points.

[WVBaker]

Just purchased a unit which included 92,500 RCI points.

Points can be quite confusing to understand and besides, I'm more interested in making use of the deeded week.

Are there any issues in just using the deeded week and not joining RCI?

 

[Passepartout]

Just purchased a unit which included 92,500 RCI points.

Points can be quite confusing to understand and besides, I'm more interested in making use of the deeded week.

Are there any issues in just using the deeded week and not joining RCI?

It's really not all that confusing, You just get 92,000 points on your anniversary to use as 'currency' plus an exchange fee to go somewhere other than your resort. If you want to use your deeded week, you just notify the resort before the points are transferred. If you want to drop RCI, I think you should contact the resort and ask how to go about that. I wouldn't just call the desk- they probably won't know, but the manager or HOA will. Since they probably charged someone several thousand dollars to set it up as a points membership, I'd just guess that the question of reverting back to a straight deeded week account doesn't come up all that often.

Jim

 

[montygz]

It all depends, of course.

With that many points, you could get several weeks of vacations (you will have to pay some exchange fees and be a member of RCI, of course)

For some resorts, points weeks are worth more than nonpoints, thus you may be throwing away some value. Also, if you change your mind you may find it could be an expensive mistake.

My 2 cents is to learn how to use what you have before throwing away the points account.

 

[Jan M.]

Why would you use your week and only get that one week for the approximately $900 in maintenance fees? I'm guessing you might own at Vacation Village at Parkway. Most of the VV properties can be booked on deeply discounted point weeks about 5 weeks or less beforehand or in the sale weeks. The sale weeks sometimes are several months out and use no points. As a VV owner you get a free week within 45 days of check in that uses no points just the fee, usually $239-$269, which is about the same cost as the sale weeks.

You should easily be able to get several weeks with your points. Yes you will have to pay the RCI annual membership fee and the $239 exchange fee for each week you book with your points but you will get so much more value for the money. We've owned points weeks at Grandview Las Vegas for 6 years and only stayed there for the first time this Spring. We stayed 17 nights that I booked in one reservation so the exchange fee was only $278. I used something like 29,900 points because I wasn't willing to wait longer to book for the entire stay to get a bigger discount. Since we get so many points I thought it was a better value to use more points than to risk not being able to book the entire stay in one reservation and end up having to book the weeks separately and pay the exchange fee for each individual week. As it turned out I could have waited and gotten a bigger discount on the number of points needed and booked it all in one stay but this was my first time booking a stay longer than a week.

If you don't keep this in RCI it would be quite expensive, at least several thousand dollars, to get the week back into points. If you ever want to get rid of it there is a much bigger demand for points weeks than fixed weeks.

We've stayed at VV at Pkwy several times with our now 7 year old granddaughter when she was 5 and 6 years old. We and she really like the resort and all the free things for kids to do there. Free face painting, free sno-cones on different days at different pools, the different pools, games at the pool, activities, the playground, the barbeque/pubic areas, movie nights at the pool. At the movie nights they pop popcorn and it is a $1 a bag. They also have cans of pop for $1 but you can bring your own drinks and snacks. In some months they also have cotton candy at the movie nights but we've never stayed there at the right time of year when they do it.

I never used more than 4900 points for those weeks plus the now $239 exchange fee. And one or two of the weeks we stayed there were sale weeks.

 

[WVBaker]

Thank you all very much.

I've decided that Penquin Random House needs to publish, "The Idiot's Guide to RCI Points".

The paper I have from RCI contains the following lines regarding points.

TRANSFER INFORMATION
In part, "Seller is transferring Seller's RCI Points Membership. Seller is selling the associated point balance of 246,500 for the first eligible use year of 2017".

VACATION TIME BEING TRANSFERRED
Interval Week# 51, "fixed", Number of Points: 92,500, First year of use: 2018.

Cover letter says I should complete the form and return with a check for $124.00. Unless I'm already a member of RCI, which I'm not.

At least with fixed weeks, I can be assured that the week is there. With my floating week unit, I never know how far in advance I need to call in order to secure the week. Weeks 51 and 52 seem to be very hard to reserve if they're "floating" weeks or if you're exchanging at another resort with someone else. It seems others, which I completely understand, don't want to give up those weeks. Even more so in areas like Orlando.

I never understood why you would pay RCI a yearly fee in addition to the maintenance fees when you have little interest in exchanging because, you're not sure if those weeks are even available at another resort.

Am I missing something in trying to understand the benefits of joining RCI?

 

[Passepartout]

Thank you all very much.

I've decided that Penquin Random House needs to publish, "The Idiot's Guide to RCI Points".

Am I missing something in trying to understand the benefits of joining RCI?

I don't understand it, but if you want to spend week 51 (and 52 when there is one) at your own resort/unit and not use the points, then you should find out from the resort how to go about cancelling the membership. It will save you that $124 a year. I wouldn't be surprised if just not signing up for the membership may accomplish the same thing. Be sure the resort knows you are exercising your right to use your unit that week(s).

Incidentally, there is nothing to stop you from depositing the week(s) you own into other exchange companies- like Trading Places or SFX if you should want to and go elsewhere once in a while.

That Penguin book would be very thin and very boring. RCI Points are just not that complicated.

All the best!

Jim

 

[DeniseM]

I would leave it in points, for the simple reason that if you withdraw it, and want to rejoin later, it will cost thousands of dollars.

 

[Passepartout]

I would leave it in points, for the simple reason that if you withdraw it, and want to rejoin later, it will cost thousands of dollars.

Me too, and in fact now, the TS ownership I have in RCI Points would be the one I'd last unload as I divest myself of them. But the one I have a fixed week/fixed unit is the easiest to use and the one a ALWAYS look forward to going to.

 

[breezez]

I would say you got best of both worlds Christmas week and Points if you choose not to take your Christmas week. Most non point contracts for VV they give away sometimes with incentives.

To get out RCI Points just don’t renew RCI after you close it reverts back to a weeks contract if you don’t renew your points contract.

 

[breezez]

The 246,500 points they are including are worth about $2400 in value.

 

[Passepartout]

The 246,500 points they are including are worth about $2400 in value.

That's a lot of points. they are carry-overs from 2017, and would cost some to extend. There 92,500 ongoing after 2018. I could see being able to spend 6-8 weeks somewhere and/or invite a bunch of friends/family for a blowout and use 'em all. Could be fun!

Jim

 

[breezez]

That's a lot of points. they are carry-overs from 2017, and would cost some to extend. There 92,500 ongoing after 2018. I could see being able to spend 6-8 weeks somewhere and/or invite a bunch of friends/family for a blowout and use 'em all. Could be fun!

Jim

If they work like accounts I have taken they all revert to current use year points with a new two year life span.

 

[WVBaker]

Perhaps RCI, along with other points system, may be something I never grasp.

To make use of "your" points you of course must become a member of RCI, for a fee.

It seems you can use "your" points for exchanging but, with an additional fee.

If you do exchange your unit through RCI and find you can't make use of the time, you can't rent the unit. Only of course if RCI is not aware that you have.

If you wish to keep "your" points for future use you can but, with an additional fee.

You have "your" points however, it's against the policies of RCI to sell "your" points, unless of course you are selling your complete RCI ownership, including the week. Again, unless RCI is not aware that you have. Which raises questions about the advertisements for RCI points for sale. Given what I've read, I do wish them well.

Also, you can transfer "your" points to another RCI member but, with an additional fee.

Does it seem that RCI allows you to use "your" points for different vacations however, only if you join the club and only if you pay additional fees to use "your" points, which you previously paid for?

Feel free to PM me should you have any other suggestions prior to me sending back the form. Perhaps I overlooked something.

 

[Passepartout]

Perhaps RCI, along with other points system, may be something I never grasp.

To make use of "your" points you of course must become a member of RCI, for a fee.

It seems you can use "your" points for exchanging but, with an additional fee.

If you do exchange your unit through RCI and find you can't make use of the time, you can't rent the unit. Only of course if RCI is not aware that you have.

If you wish to keep "your" points for future use you can but, with an additional fee.

You have "your" points however, it's against the policies of RCI to sell "your" points, unless of course you are selling your complete RCI ownership, including the week. Again, unless RCI is not aware that you have. Which raises questions about the advertisements for RCI points for sale. Given what I've read, I do wish them well.

Also, you can transfer "your" points to another RCI member but, with an additional fee.

Does it seem that RCI allows you to use "your" points for different vacations however, only if you join the club and only if you pay additional fees to use "your" points, which you previously paid for?

Feel free to PM me should you have any other suggestions prior to me sending back the form. Perhaps I overlooked something.

I think you've got a pretty good grip on the concept that RCI is in business to make a profit at the expense of it's members. And the trade-off that you don't seem to find useful is the ability to travel to other places- for which you haven't paid ANY buy-in cost.

If this correctly summarizes your view, then DON'T SEND BACK THE FORM. Your ownership will simply revert back to the deeded week/unit contained in your deed. Simple as that.

Others find that the flexibility of traveling to other locales at different times of the year instead of being locked into one place at one time is worth the cost- even though we ALL grouse about the money grubbing we get from RCI.

Doubt what I say? Just look at all the 'What TS to Buy' questionnaires from new and prospective owners. It's virtually universal. EVERY one, when asked 'Do you want to use your 'Home' resort, or trade around to different ones?' responds that they want to trade around. And THIS WVBaker, will make your ownership (with it's RCI Points) more valuable and saleable (at a cost of $124/yr) when/if you decide to divest yourself of it.

I'm done here.

Jim

 

[Jan M.]

Eventually you and your family will want to do something other than go Vacation Village at Parkway for week 51. Have you even looked into what you might pay to rent a two bedroom unit for that week at your home resort or another desirable resort in Orlando? What if you could rent something that week for less than your maintenance fees? Orlando has a lot of great resorts. That is one reason owing a points week there is more valuable than a fixed week.

Something we all neglected to point out is that if you do want to use your underlying week and follow the procedure during the required timeframe you won't pay an exchange fee. I would highly recommend just coughing up the money to pay the annual dues for the RCI points account for a year or two and find out how you go about using your week so you don't have to pay the exchange fee. That will give you the opportunity to see what you can do with those points from previous years before you burn your bridges.

Btw way if you don't pay for the points account what is going to happen to all those extra points? They will just disappear. As breezez pointed out they have a value of $2400. Why would you walk away from that?

You are trying to talk yourself into making a decision on this to save a few bucks. But you haven't experienced using what you have first. You can do all the homework and ask all the questions you want but your own hands on experience is vital. Remember the old adage, act in haste and repent in leisure. Another one to remember is penny wise, pound foolish.

 

[Egret1986]

Just purchased a unit which included 92,500 RCI points.

Points can be quite confusing to understand and besides, I'm more interested in making use of the deeded week.

Are there any issues in just using the deeded week and not joining RCI?

I think you're "hung up" on the week 51 thing. In your opening post, you mention the 92,500 RCI points. In the beginning, and until you get your hands "dirty", it's understandable why you may be overvaluing the underlying week. I always make sure that I reserve my underlying weeks 12-13 months from check-in. I have up until four months from check-in to cancel the week and get my points allotment. Yes, you are paying RCI a yearly membership fee for that privilege. I would definitely nix the idea of cancelling the RCI Points contract prior to giving it a whirl. Be a savvy exchanger, study it, play with it, take a look at the availability and what you can get for that number of points. There is good potential for being able to use your annual allotment for more than one vacation each year. You will have the opportunity to take vacations for varying lengths of time with check-in days to suit your needs.

Please reread Jan's points below.

Eventually you and your family will want to do something other than go Vacation Village at Parkway for week 51. Have you even looked into what you might pay to rent a two bedroom unit for that week at your home resort or another desirable resort in Orlando? What if you could rent something that week for less than your maintenance fees? Orlando has a lot of great resorts. That is one reason owing a points week there is more valuable than a fixed week.

Something we all neglected to point out is that if you do want to use your underlying week and follow the procedure during the required timeframe you won't pay an exchange fee. I would highly recommend just coughing up the money to pay the annual dues for the RCI points account for a year or two and find out how you go about using your week so you don't have to pay the exchange fee. That will give you the opportunity to see what you can do with those points from previous years before you burn your bridges.

Btw way if you don't pay for the points account what is going to happen to all those extra points? They will just disappear. As breezez pointed out they have a value of $2400. Why would you walk away from that?

You are trying to talk yourself into making a decision on this to save a few bucks. But you haven't experienced using what you have first. You can do all the homework and ask all the questions you want but your own hands on experience is vital. Remember the old adage, act in haste and repent in leisure. Another one to remember is penny wise, pound foolish.

You're a TUG Member. Seriously, do your homework. Invest the money ($124+) to see if you can make this work for you. You can't be a passive exchanger though. Many times, that's where using a timeshare exchange company fails. Folks aren't willing to make the effort. Therefore, a fixed deeded week works for them. However, if you want great future vacations, then make the most of your ownership.

I understand where you're coming from though. It requires extra effort over and above what the "average" timeshare exchanger is doing. You will always have the opportunity to cancel this RCI contract in the future. However, once it's cancelled, your ownership will be hard to give away. It's value is in the RCI points.

Like what has been previously posted........what about all those RCI Points ($2400)?????? You're really going to toss those rather than paying a $124 membership fee? My gosh.......that is where the value lies with this ownership. Underlying week 51 at this resort isn't where the value lies. You think now that you could see yourself going there every year for week 51.

You're already way ahead of the "average" timeshare user. You're a TUG Member. Use that membership to bring value to your new ownership. Research, explore, ask questions, look past the here and now. Take a gamble. Listen to reason!

RCI's fees are non-stop. I've been a member for 34 years. I have gotten tremendous value for the costs of membership. There's amazing places out there, during many different times of year. Look past that week 51 in Orlando if you can.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I think Denise M is correct. You should keep it in points and figure out how to use them because someone paid a lot of money to get the points. The underlying week is worth nothing without those points.

 

[WVBaker]

As always, the wealth of knowledge here is outstanding. For those that have taken the time to help, thank you.

If anyone else has the same question now or in the future, here's why I think joining RCI may not be the right decision, at least for me.

Should you obtain a week at another resort via an exchange and find you're unable to use the week, you'll be prohibited by RCI to rent out the unit in order to recover any lost funds. This is expressly prohibited by both RCI and Interval International.

Most agree that RCI was great at one time. That seems to have changed since Wyndham Resorts has taken over.

The additional RCI fees on top of the maintenance fee, can add several hundred dollars to a vacation.

As noted, becoming an RCI member may work fine if you plan on visiting different resorts. I had more than few tell me that you just have to know how to work the system. I would have liked to offer those points to someone here but, RCI has implemented additional rules and fees for that process.

Anyway, thanks again.

 

[somanyfees]

Heh, I'd happily buy you a couple years RCI membership and a year of platinum access for free transfers if you wanted to transfer your current points to me ;-) If by the end of that time you still didn't see the value in continued membership, you could decline to renew it and never have spent a penny.

 

[Jan M.]

Heh, I'd happily buy you a couple years RCI membership and a year of platinum access for free transfers if you wanted to transfer your current points to me ;-) If by the end of that time you still didn't see the value in continued membership, you could decline to renew it and never have spent a penny.

That is a great offer if you are serious. Do yourself a favor and take him up on it WVBaker.

 

[breezez]

Heh, I'd happily buy you a couple years RCI membership and a year of platinum access for free transfers if you wanted to transfer your current points to me ;-) If by the end of that time you still didn't see the value in continued membership, you could decline to renew it and never have spent a penny.

I find points go so dang far I have a hard time using them. Buying accounts with points in the account seems to reset expiration date to current use year based on your points account or month you establish a new points account.

 

[Egret1986]

VACATION TIME BEING TRANSFERRED
Interval Week# 51, "fixed", Number of Points: 92,500, First year of use: 2018.

First year of use: 2018

Was the 2018 week reserved? If not, then all that is available are the points. Just cancelling the points contract with RCI will not automatically get you that week for 2018. Once the 12-13 month mark for reserving has passed, you won't be able to get that week back from RCI. Your first use of week 51 wouldn't be until 2019 and that would require cancelling the contract before the next 12-13 month mark comes for reserving the 2019 week (which would be in a couple of months.) Will the closing and transfer be completed by then or will the Seller guarantee that the reservation for 2019 is in place? Timing is everything.

 

[montygz]

As always, the wealth of knowledge here is outstanding. For those that have taken the time to help, thank you.

If anyone else has the same question now or in the future, here's why I think joining RCI may not be the right decision, at least for me.

Should you obtain a week at another resort via an exchange and find you're unable to use the week, you'll be prohibited by RCI to rent out the unit in order to recover any lost funds. This is expressly prohibited by both RCI and Interval International.

Most agree that RCI was great at one time. That seems to have changed since Wyndham Resorts has taken over.

The additional RCI fees on top of the maintenance fee, can add several hundred dollars to a vacation.

As noted, becoming an RCI member may work fine if you plan on visiting different resorts. I had more than few tell me that you just have to know how to work the system. I would have liked to offer those points to someone here but, RCI has implemented additional rules and fees for that process.

Anyway, thanks again.

If it's not for you, why not sell to someone who can take advantage of it? Right now, it is worth something. If you let it lapse, it will be worth nothing.

You can always rent a timeshare week if you miss staying in one and you'll pay no fees, ever.

 

[WVBaker]

This is what I have learned from management.

I can not join RCI and reserve the week for 2018 and each year following, up to 2 weeks prior to week 51.

If I join RCI, then the reservation should be made 12-13 months in advance because, you are using points. Which of course means that this year is beyond the time requested to secure the reservation.

Does any of this make sense?

Seems as though, if I want to use the week this year, simply don't join RCI. If I do join RCI, the week will only be available 2019 and beyond. I wouldn't be able to join RCI, not use the points this year, give them away, and still be able to reserve the unit only 2 weeks prior to week 51 this year.

 

[Jan M.]

This is what I have learned from management.

I can not join RCI and reserve the week for 2018 and each year following, up to 2 weeks prior to week 51.

If I join RCI, then the reservation should be made 12-13 months in advance because, you are using points. Which of course means that this year is beyond the time requested to secure the reservation.

Does any of this make sense?

Seems as though, if I want to use the week this year, simply don't join RCI. If I do join RCI, the week will only be available 2019 and beyond. I wouldn't be able to join RCI, not use the points this year, give them away, and still be able to reserve the unit only 2 weeks prior to week 51 this year.

Yes you are beyond the timeframe to claim your week instead of the points for 2018. You could still book your week but you would have to pay the exchange fee. If you book your home resort the exchange fee is less.

I just checked on RCI and right now week 51 at VV at Pkwy in a 2 bedroom unit is available to book starting on any of the week 51 check in days, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. If you wanted to book a 10 night stay starting on Saturday, December 22, checking out on Tuesday, January 1, so you could stay the whole Christmas break, it would be 133,200 points and the exchange fee would be $209. If you pay the $224 to have an RCI account and leave your week in points that will include the first year membership in RCI and you will get to keep 113,300 remaining points. Wouldn't you and your family like to be able to take a vacation this summer maybe to the beach somewhere, maybe the Smoky Mountains, maybe Branson, or even back to Orlando? There are so many places you could go with that many points and most of us could easily get two or more weeks with that many points depending on where we wanted to go and how far out we were booking the stays. That leaves you with enough points to claim your week for 2019, 92.500 points, and still have 20,800 points left.

Do you have any idea what I did with 20,800 points this year? I booked the week of January 12, Martin Luther King week, at Wyndham Bonnet Creek in Orlando for 7500 points and upgraded it to a a one bedroom unit at Disney's Saratoga Springs. I booked the week of Valentines Day at the newly opened Wyndham Austin resort, in Austin, TX for 6000 points, I only booked the one bedroom because that is all I needed but there was a two bedroom available. I booked the week of March 2 at Wyndham Reunion in Orlando in a three bedroom/3 bath unit for 7500 points. I booked the week of May 20, so checked out on Sunday of Memorial Day week end in a two bedroom at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for 7500 points. I also booked the week of December 8-15, 2019 in their only two bedroom stand alone cottage at Caribe Beach Resort on Sanibel Island for 19,500 points. No more than once a year do I use full points for a reservation and this is the third time I've been willing to do it at this resort. The only other time I did it was to get a two bedroom unit at Casa Ybel, a Hilton Grand Vacation Club resort, on Sanibel and I used 46,000 points for that week. We love Sanibel and try to take our now 7 year old granddaughter there when she comes for her vacations with us. So take your pick, I either got three of the four discounted point weeks for 21,000-22,000 points, two of which were paid holiday weeks, and all the 4 resorts are far desirable resorts than VV at Pkwy, or I booked a full point reservation for 19,500 points in the very hard to find reservations for only stand alone cottage at that resort for 2019.

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