RCI. Somebody help 'cause I don't understand.

[uofawildcat]

I have so many questions and so few answers. I've reached out to RCI and get nowhere with them so maybe someone here can help.

I have 32 (16ea) total trading power somethings (points???) which equates to 2 weeks. So I'm on the exchange program not points. I have not combined them but will need to apparently (159 bucks to do that) and when I do, yeah me, I get an extension on the expiration dates. I have lots of time so that doesn't make me want to pull the trigger on combining just yet. Need more info so here goes....

I want to stay at Disney sometime in the summer of 2020. Probably June is my guess. We are still in the planning stages so I don't have dates locked in. In 2020 I will deposit 2 more weeks into RCI (maybe...they're kind of pissing me off so I may just sell my weeks on VRBO but that's another thread already posted) so I will have 64 total trading power somethings (someone...what are these somethings called?)

I search WDW resorts on RCI and get Saratoga Springs for 30 exchange trading power in Sept of 2019. Not even close to my dates. So, I contacted the not so helpful customer service rep at RCI and he says I can't see more because right now I don't have enough trading power and have to combine my weeks but they won't tell me what I might be able to get if I do combine now. That's what I'm getting irritated with because that's like a bait and switch. I want to know what I 'might' be able to do before I decide to do it and what if the answer is nothing. Then I'm out 159 bucks.

Here's my questions:

Is Saratoga Springs the only resort that does exchange weeks? If so, why is only the one week showing up?

When I search without dates or with the exchange box unselected, I get more than one resort but it says nothing is available on all of them.

When I search under the resorts directory/WDW, I see all the on property resorts. They ALL say "no units currently available for this resort" and I did not put any dates in. I'm weeks does that mean I don't have access to those or can they 'translate' my weeks into whatever they require? ALTHO...it says under the resort detail tab that Weeks Resort check in days are....

I hate RCI right now. I want to love this whole TS thing, but I'm so frustrated that we can't go and stay where we want to 18-20 months out. Even if I don't have enough exchange weeks right now doesn't mean I won't in 18-20 months.

Finally, should I decide to combine all my weeks, is the 159 per transaction or per week combined or per transaction. So if I combine now, I pay 159 for the two weeks. If I wait and combine when we pay our MF in Oct I can combine my 2020 weeks and pay one 159 charge for all 4 weeks.

I'm so confused. Please help me. Sorry for the long thread.

​

 

[bnoble]

There is a long answer.

The short answer: The "things" are called Trade Power Units, or TPU. Summer DVC is very likely to be (much) more than 30 TPU. You can see anything that is in open inventory, whether you have enough or not, but very little makes it to open inventory. It is instead matched to an ongoing search. And, you have to have enough TPU in a single deposit against which to search for that to work. SSR has the vast majority of all deposited weeks. You only see one because there aren't that many, and they get taken quickly.

You pay a single fee for either two or four weeks combined at once. The question is do you really want to spend almost all of four different deposited weeks on a 1BR at Saratoga Springs? There are lots of great resorts in Orlando. Most of them are much easier to get and will cost you less in TPU.

The short short answer: Join TUG, and as a member you can see the Sightings forum, where there is tons of data on DVC.

 

[jackio]

Holiday and choice summer weeks have been up to 60 TPU in RCI. 2 years in a row, I had an ongoing search (referred to as an OGS) in for President's Week with a deposit of 50 TPU and it did not match either times.
However I did match an OGS for a July week 3 weeks prior to the check in date last summer for 11 TPU. It must have been a cancellation that RCI discounted when it was put back.

So if you are flexible and can travel on short notice, you can put in an OGS for the summer time and it may match for a 1BR SSR.

 

[AwayWeGo]

After we took the timeshare purchase plunge (2002, resale all the way), we became owners of a nice 3BR-3BA non-Disney timeshare 1 mile away from the entrance to Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney). That was the good news. The bad news was that our daughter-in-law was (& is) a major serious Disney fan, so there was sure to be a measure of disappointment when she stayed there with her husband & young son & us grandparents 1 time.

To ease the let-down, we bought a bunch of Mickey Mouse timeshare soaps & shampoos & conditioners & lotions, etc., via eBay & took those with us when we checked in at our non-Disney timeshare. We got there ahead of our son & daughter-in-law & grandson, in plenty of time to grab up all the existing timeshare soap & shampoo (etc.) & to set out in their place a bunch of replacements that were official DVC replacements from actual Disney timeshare resorts.

That gesture, plus the fact that our non-Disney timeshare was only a mile away from WDW and featured larger, nicer units than DVC accommodations, mostly made up for the disappointment of going on a Disney vacation not actually on Disney property.

In the years since, we have never been able to swing timeshare reservations at any DVC resort. That has not stopped us from enjoying ourselves greatly every time we have taken an Orlando-Kissimmee timeshare vacation, with & without guests.

Is this a great country or what ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Sandy VDH]

It is a supply and demand issues as well. Disney inventory does not just sit out there. People have OGS for it and most never even hit the available inventory.

The reality is that it might be upward to 60 TPUs for a Disney week, although there are some reports that lately they have seen some in the 30 TPU range. Last minute cancellations do pop up with discounted TPU but that is NOT a reliable method.

As someone else suggested, to you want to pay the premium to stay at a Disney and Saratoga Springs at that, which is the resort with the most deposits into RCI weeks program.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I would give up on getting Disney. I don't think summer in Orlando is going to be 30 TPU's.

If you can put up with a unit somewhere other than on Disney property, you would do well to change your expectations and take some horrendous resort like Hilton. We love Hiltons, so I am joking, of course.

 

[sue1947]

I hate RCI right now. I want to love this whole TS thing, but I'm so frustrated that we can't go and stay where we want to 18-20 months out. Even if I don't have enough exchange weeks right now doesn't mean I won't in 18-20 months.
I'm so confused. Please help me. Sorry for the long thread.

The main problem is that you don't understand how timeshare exchanges work. I went through the same thing only with Interval and a Labor Day week exchange. Once you get it figured out, you will learn how to play the game. To use an analogy; you are playing checkers when the real game is chess. You just need to understand the rules of the game you are playing.
First and foremost, there isn't a pool of inventory sitting out there waiting to be reserved like you are used to with motels. Each of the units you might want is owned by somebody and they can choose to use it themselves, rent it out or deposit into an exchange company. Think about which of those three options you would choose, especially if you could rent that week for more than your maintenance fees. You want a school holiday week at the most popular kid vacation spot. As a result, the chances of those weeks being deposited are less during school holidays. Then consider that there are more timeshare owners like you who want a week at Disney than there are weeks, especially for family size units. As a result, the chances of those weeks making it into open inventory for you to see are pretty slim. They will go to those who put in an ongoing search first and never make it to the online inventory.
It's all about supply and demand. You can follow the sightings threads and check RCI frequently and eventually will get a feel for what is realistic. You now know that you don't have the trading power to get what you want for your 2 weeks. You can either decide that it's worth 4 weeks of MF and combine fees and put in an ongoing search for Disney and hope for the best. OR you can move a short distance away to an equally nice timeshare that probably has a shuttle. There are so many timeshares in Orlando that you can get a really nice place if you just give up on the Disney name on the building, especially considering how much time you will spend in the room. Checking current inventory fo June 2020, I see 13 resorts with 2 BR units. For June 2019, I see 32 resorts including Hilton and Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Book one of the latter 2 via an ongoing search set up now and pay half the price.

Sue

 

[breezez]

You can find DVC stuff from time to time, but the best stuff will always be pulled through ongoing search. I am more familiar with RCI Points than weeks, But you would probably need to combine your to pools to get enough TPU for something decent.

SSR is most prevalent DVC resort to pop up in RCI. But, I would consider looking at Wyndham’s Bonnet Creek also. Nicer in my opinion, plus they don’t charge you an addition exchange fee at checkin as Disney Resorts do. Much easier to get a 2 bedroom also. There are also several nice Hilton locations.

I was on RCI a couple nights and saw Bonnet Creek availability for 2 bedrooms in June of 2019. 2020 might still be to far away to see much.

 

[tschwa2]

My take from reading here and facebook is that 90-95% of the rci deposits are SSR 1 BR units. 5% and maybe a little more- hard to judge all the OGS matches would be 1 BR units from AK and OKW. Since the overall deposits vs demand isn't that great I wouldn't exclude SSR unless you have the whole year or multi year flexibility and are willing not to match. I agree that a summer exchange deposited 4-6 months prior would probably have a tpu value of 50 or more. Starting an OGS with less will only catch cancellations closer to check in. Unfortunately if you set up an OGS now you really can't reliably keep your place in line if you have to combine another deposit when you have it available.

If you are new to this you may not realize in top of the $239 exchange fee and the multiple deposits and combine fees you also have a mandatory DVC resort fee of $195 or so the last time I paid attention. I still am unclear if exchangers now need to pay a parking fee at the resort per night as well. Like I said not something I pay that much attention to because there are so many nice resorts in Orlando all of the fees required to go to DVC not worth it for a 1 BR.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Ask yourself Is the mouse really worth 60 TPU's

******
-If you really need the mouse .
- There are a couple of rental places that pay Disney point owners** for their points
and then do rentals . ( one reason why there are not that many deposits into RCI )

I occasionally scan the TUG Disney forum & have seen this mentioned .

** - some of those owners take that cash profit and use it to visit other very nice Orlando resorts that cost less than Disney .
( "free vacation" is how some see it )

 

[silentg]

Can I ask what timeshare you own?

 

[uofawildcat]

Can I ask what timeshare you own?

Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach in Cabo

 

[uofawildcat]

OK...WOW lots of great information and I sincerely appreciate your patience with my lack of knowledge. In reading this I am realizing that I don't really "need the mouse" (great line btw) and will explore other options. We stayed on property last year and really enjoyed the ease of transportation, purchases, meal plan, etc. But....given that I have uber picky eaters I'm not sure we got back what we put in. When you are there you are caught up in the Disney moment and everything is great but then you get home and reality hits and you realize you paid $25 (est) for a bowl of cereal. SO....I will give up on staying at a DVC resort and move onto the suggested resorts here. You all are the best and I am feeling much better about using RCI.

 

[uofawildcat]

There is a long answer.

The short answer: The "things" are called Trade Power Units, or TPU. Summer DVC is very likely to be (much) more than 30 TPU. You can see anything that is in open inventory, whether you have enough or not, but very little makes it to open inventory. It is instead matched to an ongoing search. And, you have to have enough TPU in a single deposit against which to search for that to work. SSR has the vast majority of all deposited weeks. You only see one because there aren't that many, and they get taken quickly.

You pay a single fee for either two or four weeks combined at once. The question is do you really want to spend almost all of four different deposited weeks on a 1BR at Saratoga Springs? There are lots of great resorts in Orlando. Most of them are much easier to get and will cost you less in TPU.

The short short answer: Join TUG, and as a member you can see the Sightings forum, where there is tons of data on DVC.

Thanks for info! I do not want to spend all 4 weeks for a 1 bedroom at Saratoga Springs. I will check out the other resorts, confer with my banker (aka spouse) and see what we really want to do. AND...I will wait until we pay our MF and then decide if I want to combine my weeks all at once for one fee or not.

 

[klpca]

Thanks for info! I do not want to spend all 4 weeks for a 1 bedroom at Saratoga Springs. I will check out the other resorts, confer with my banker (aka spouse) and see what we really want to do. AND...I will wait until we pay our MF and then decide if I want to combine my weeks all at once for one fee or not.

As someone mentioned above, it would really help you to spend the $15 to join TUG. Then you can see the members-only "sightings forum" which will help you see what inventory has popped up in the past, and you will also have access to the members-only resort reviews so that you can decide on which resorts to request for your visit.

 

[bogey21]

I hate RCI right now. I want to love this whole TS thing, but I'm so frustrated that we can't go and stay where we want to 18-20 months out. Even if I don't have enough exchange weeks right now doesn't mean I won't in 18-20 months.

This is exactly why back in in our Timesharing heyday we sold our 4 Floating Weeks and bought six Fixed Week, Fixed Units in HOA Controlled Independents in six places we intended to visit annually. The Fixed Week thing wasn't as limiting as one might think as most of our Resorts would swap our Week for another Week where they had empty units (which was most of the ime). Incidentally, none of them charged for doing this...

George

 

[vacationhopeful]

Agree with bogey21 post above .. writing this post from my fixed week 1bdr/1.5bath, sleeps 6 Week 52 unit .. just a short block from the Atlantic Ocean in Ft Lauderdale, FL for NYE week. MFs under $110 per night.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Staying onsite is expensive. I would personally never buy the dining plan. There is no way you can get your money out of it.

The only true benefit of staying onsite is the 60-day FP+. Even at that, going first thing in the AM, you can generally get on the current popular ride within 45 minutes. We did that last May for Flight of the Avatar. We went to the park an hour ahead, and the gates opened at 8:45 AM. We finished the ride by 9:30 AM. We rode it a second time later in the day, when the lines went down to 45 minutes for standby. Last month no one wanted to get up that early, so we didn't ride it once, but it would have been worth it to me to go early. The family was not good with going an hour early.

We stayed at Hilton SeaWorld. The units are gorgeous, recently renovated. They were gorgeous before the remodeling. I didn't think they needed anything.

I would love to have the old drapes they take out of these units.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I know you hate RCI right now, and I have felt the same in my life, as a member of RCI for over 35 years. We actually had our trading power adjust years ago, and the only thing we could do was call in every morning at RCI opening time to see if there were cancellations we could get last-minute. That was before you could book online. I thought RCI was the worst company in the world.

Online searches are so great, and I know most people on TUG cannot relate to the above situation.

What I did about ten years ago was add to my ownership with a unit that gets incredible TPU's. The TPU's for maintenance fees is better than any other resort we own. If you can get around 70 TPU's for a maintenance fee under $1,000, you are doing great, and that is what we did. RCI saw what a great thing it was, and so they reduced the trading power from 101 TPU's for the 3 bedroom lockoff to about 70 a few years ago. I haven't check for the newest numbers lately.

We basically got the week for $1,800 on eBay. Add those TPU's into yours, and you have some decent trading power. I see people giving these weeks away free on TUG. They are crazy. I would take every single one, but I cannot use that many weeks.

 

[Firepath]

I totally agree on Bonnet Creek, and we also own DVC. BC is so close to Disney, I think it's actually closer to EPCOT and DHS than some of the Disney resorts. BC in my opinion is nicer and better maintained than most DVC resorts and you can get a 1 or 2 BR at BC thru RCI. With DVC if you're lucky even to get an exchange when you need one, it'll always be 1 BR and most likely Saratoga Springs (which we like but many don't). Staying at BC you need a car because you won't get Disney's transportation from the airport or to the parks. You also won't get a Magic Band or the ability to book Fast Passes 60 days out (it's 30 days out for those staying off Disney property) but you pay $190 at check in (in addition to the exchange fee) for those perks. You'll also have to pay daily parking at Disney parks if you're not staying on property, but I know some just take Uber to avoid that too. We have found the dining options at BC to be lacking (no food court) but we always buy groceries and do most of our own cooking. BC has a nice lazy river and lots of activities. We haven't stayed in the area yet outside of DVC or BC but the choices with RCI seem plentiful and some really nice ones. I have had an OGS for DVC and the furthest out I've matched thus far is Sept. 2019. I don't think they release DVC to RCI more than 9 months out, but I agree that setting up an OGS now is a good idea. Good Luck!