What’s new in club 2019 - RCI Select Exchange - More difficult if not elite

[regatta333]

RCI used to have some great exchanges and last call inventory. In the 5 years from late 2004 to late 2009, we booked 29 exchanges through RCI, although it became more of a challenge as time went on and more and more inventory was pushed into the rental side.

After a long hiatus and a change in how Wyndham owners exchange through RCI, we resumed some exchanging activity beginning in early 2014. In the last 5 years we have done only 9 exchanges, going from an average of 6 per year to only 2 per year. Finding anything good inside of a year is very difficult, even with ongoing searches. Six of the nine exchanges matched at between 12 and 24 months. In the earlier exchange period, 7 of the 29 occurred in that window; the majority were inside 12 months.

If anything, things should have improved, because in the past things were based on trading power, but now it's simply a points grid, so theoretically the universe of possible exchanges should have expanded as long as you had the available points to book it, but the opposite has happened, because of RCI's inexorable shift to the rental model. I will still use them occasionally, but recognize that I need to place an ongoing search 2 years in advance and even then it's often low odds. (I have four searches that have been ongoing for a couple of years now without a match--I keep shifting the dates into another time period. All of the searches are for shoulder season, as we never travel in the summer.) Four of the nine exchanges we've had in the last 5 years have been matches to ongoing searches; the other 5 have just been doing expanded regional searches and finding resorts that I thought would work for us.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I have looked for ways to shift deposits away from RCI. I own properties that participate in points programs HGVC, Wyndham, and HICV.

Thankfully Wyndham pays for a straight up RCI weeks account through MFs (in addition to the Portal), so one less bill there. I have 3 remaining timeshares I have not yet managed to divest that are straight up weeks. One is a dual II/RCI but I am trying NOT to pay for yet another annual fee, so I am not depositing it in II for now, I shall see where that goes in the future. I have had an II account, but wasn't much happy with the results.

Using RCI current fees as a basis, booking reservations are $239 and adding a Guest Cert is $89, I will compare other system to book as an alternative to RCI.

HICV
2 of the 3 weeks are eligible for Global Choice in HICV. I pay $75 to convert that RCI deposit into HICV points. Booking a reservation in HICV is $64 and there in NO guest cert fees should I need one. At RCI's current booking fee of $239 that saves me $100 per booking over RCI costs, considering the costs of getting and booking ($75+64) in HICV. I flat out save on GCs as there is NO charge in HICV for the first 15 GC you need. I live in TX and there are a good number of resort options within driving distance, so HICV works ok for me, considering I didn't buy into this a resort I owned became HICV, so I joined for $100. Use HICV for plan ahead bookings, or last minute getaway.

HGVC
If I book 7 nights I pay NO fee (I am Elite via a resale), so that saves me $239 over RCI bookings, if I book less than 7 nights the fee is $67, so that save me $142 (239-67),over RCI bookings. HICV also wins the GC charge of $54 vs the $89 at RCI, so save $35 per GC. Plus if I booked at HGVC via RCI I would now also have to pay the Resort fee of $25 per day. So although I would book through RCI before for HGVC to save on points, I will not now, as the cost negates the points savings. Use HGVC for planned ahead vacations, nothing is within driving distance.

Wyndham
I am VIPP with Wyndham, so at the 2 month mark I get inventory at 50% off and if available I get complimentary upgrades. So for short notice stays Wyndham always get the vote over RCI, HGVC or HICV. I pay No reservations fees, No Housekeeping fees, and get 30 free GC per year. So I save not only points but also all the booking and guest fees of $239 and $89 per reservation.

RCI
So what is left is my leftover TPUs that I have been trying to use. I have over 300 on deposit. RCI is used for anything that I can get via HGVC, HICV or Wyndham. Which is not much that I want. I would want to use it for the Caribbean but that has always been hit or miss and with the Hurricane damage of 2017 many resorts are still not back and available and that has impacted trading opportunities. I recently booked an escape at $209. I could have paid $239 and used 7 TPUs, but why would you. My major use of RCI had been access to the TX Worldmark resort. I can access them through Wyndham but I do not guess free booking fees and discounts as they are in Club Pass program, so if they are available in RCI they are generally cheaper. My use of RCI has really dropped off, no wonder I have 300 TPUs remaining.

 

[Tamaradarann]

The Shell exchanges through RCI are very costly. I can get the same exchange for much less using RCI Points. i cannot imagine owners using RCI to get anything. It's just so over-the-top for MF value to exchange with RCI. It's a disappointment.

I general I agree with you. However, a few month ago I saw a Studio at the Hilton Club on 6th avenue in NYC on RCI. It was about 80,000 RCI points for a week which is a little less than what we get each year for our non HGVC 2 BR in South Florida. However, it was 2200 HGVC points which is half the points we get for our standard 1 BR units with HGVC. I booked it with HGVC points.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

There are still a few gems remaining on RCI which don't charge resort fees and IMO RCI has a few locations that have a better selection of resorts than II offerings e.g. Cabo, Park City, Disneyland, NYC. (II has several locations that have better selection than RCI as well e.g. Steamboat, Key West, Caribbean, Tahoe.) Plus on the RCI portal you can click on "all-inclusive optional" and it will give you the Mexican resorts that fit this criteria - which is nice.

It's sad to see HGVC adding resort fees, however this was always been somewhat of a loophole (some other systems don't allow this - at least we have access and can use when it is economically feasible). As an HGVC owner, I would rather see them use RCI resort fees to maintain the resort rather than raise our maintenance fees. Why should people who pay a fraction in maintenance fees at other resorts have access to HGVC resorts when we are paying full boat?

I wonder if the resort fees are different by user? e.g. Are Disney users, Worldmark, or crap 80s condo RCI traders charged the same resort fee?

 

[escanoe]

As an HGVC owner, I would rather see them use RCI resort fees to maintain the resort rather than raise our maintenance fees. Why should people who pay a fraction in maintenance fees at other resorts have access to HGVC resorts where we are paying full boat?

In my perfect world they would all be included in everyone’s MFs.

My 2nd favorite way to do it:
This would be too complex to administer, but I wish if HGVC must charge resort fees, they would charge the same resort fee as the resort the person is trading out of. If their resort has a $100 fee for us going there, HGVC would charge them $100 to come into our resorts.