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Would you buy a TS just to have access to RCI?

APRIL770

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We do a lot of last minute travel so the RCI last minute deals seem like something we'd use a lot. It sounds like you have to make reservations a year ahead of time to be able to actually stay at different places other than your home resort...Is it worth buying a cheap TS with a low MF just to use RCI? Can you pretty much always find places to stay through RCI (not using points)?
 

sue1947

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We do a lot of last minute travel so the RCI last minute deals seem like something we'd use a lot. It sounds like you have to make reservations a year ahead of time to be able to actually stay at different places other than your home resort...Is it worth buying a cheap TS with a low MF just to use RCI? Can you pretty much always find places to stay through RCI (not using points)?

The answer for me is a resounding "no". I've never found a last minute deal in RCI that was worth it for me. I travel off season a lot so I'd seem to be a good candidate. The answer for you is unknown. The last minute deals are places and times that nobody else wanted. If you want to travel to places in the very off season and don't mind lesser quality resorts, then it may work for you. If you live someplace where a location with lots of timeshares is within a day's drive, it may work for you.

Sue
 

Passepartout

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There might have been a time that this was a viable tactic- one TUGger bought a tri-annual Las Vegas TS with very low annual fees just for access to those 'Last Calls' and Extra Vacations From RCI. But now the pickin's are not as good- i think RCI rents the better weeks through other venues, and the economy has improved to the point that more people are traveling. That just means there are less left-over vacancies that resorts will turn back to RCI rather than sit vacant.
 

Jan M.

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I make our reservations no more than about 5 weeks out and get some great stays. In 2017 we used well over 10 weeks a year. I booked a week at the Lighthouse Resort on Sanibel for the week of December 16th about 2 weeks beforehand. We are points owners and see more available inventory than weeks owners.
 

Panina

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I make our reservations no more than about 5 weeks out and get some great stays. In 2017 we used well over 10 weeks a year. I booked a week at the Lighthouse Resort on Sanibel for the week of December 16th about 2 weeks beforehand. We are points owners and see more available inventory than weeks owners.
Were these trades or last calls/extra vacations?
 

Jan M.

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Woodstone and Summit at Massanutten - Both in RCI weeks used as Wyndham PICs
Were these trades or last calls/extra vacations?

Most of the weeks were stays booked with points. Two weeks were the extra weeks we get being owners at a Vacation Village Resort and several were sale weeks.

I should have said that I have the time and inclination to keep checking for the stays I find. Not everyone can or wants to have to do that.
 
Last edited:

kwelty

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I make our reservations no more than about 5 weeks out and get some great stays. In 2017 we used well over 10 weeks a year. I booked a week at the Lighthouse Resort on Sanibel for the week of December 16th about 2 weeks beforehand. We are points owners and see more available inventory than weeks owners.

I have found the same thing, that there is more and better quality availability with RCI points than weeks. We traveled 16 weeks this year and had some great vacations but we were able to go when school was not out, which makes a big difference.
 

Free2Roam

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I would not buy a resort that deposits to 'RCI weeks' just to have access to RCI. I do, however, own a few RCI points contracts... and if I had a chance to reboot, I would do it again.

I've gotten some pretty good last minute discount deals using my RCI Points... and I frequently use RCI extra vacations and last calls (cash only... no points required).

I live on the east coast. I check often, and there's usually something available thru RCI at the last minute that I can drive to in a few hours; it just depends on where you live and what you're interested in... or perhaps, what you'll settle for.
 

bogey21

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After my TS Weeks were long gone RCI didn't seem to care. If "Last Call" Weeks interest you, you could pick up a free Week from someone, join RCI, then give the Week away. If you did this right, your cost would be Closing Costs and the RCI Membership Fees. I don't know if this is worth the time and trouble but it more than likely will work.

George
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Yes -- although that's where we are currently, not how it was when we took the timeshare plunge initially in 2002.

We started out just owning an outstanding (resale) Orlando 3BR-3BA lock-off unit. Then we joined TUG, where we soon found out about Tiger Trader bargain timeshares in South Africa. After looking into those, we bought 1 for $750 (total) that came with several years paid-ahead membership in RCI. Our only purpose in buying in South Africa was to swing nice RCI trades into other people's USA timeshares. That worked great.

By & by, thanks to TUG-BBS, we got interested in RCI Points also. Before long we bought a small eBay points timeshare as a toe-hold into the points system, so we were cruising in both lanes of RCI. Within just a few years, however, we noticed that we were practically always going for RCI Last Call & on-sale Extra Vacation Getaway & minimal-points Instant Exchange timeshare reservations, rather than straight-points exchanges. Even with our low annual allocation of points, that meant we were accumulating more timeshare points than we needed for timeshare vacationing. One year we even had to use a bunch of excess points to buy Disney tickets, because the points had gone stale & would have expired without getting us anything if we had not used them for the tickets.

Eventually we downsized to the max -- gave away all our weeks timeshares & reduced our points timeshare ownership to the bare minimum, a triennial 1BR points unit in Las Vegas.

That's where we are today -- owning a timeshare just so we can have access to RCI.

Is this a great country or what ?

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

Panina

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Yes -- although that's where we are currently, not how it was when we took the timeshare plunge initially in 2002.

We started out just owning an outstanding (resale) Orlando 3BR-3BA lock-off unit. Then we joined TUG, where we soon found out about Tiger Trader bargain timeshares in South Africa. After looking into those, we bought 1 for $750 (total) that came with several years paid-ahead membership in RCI. Our only purpose in buying in South Africa was to swing nice RCI trades into other people's USA timeshares. That worked great.

By & by, thanks to TUG-BBS, we got interested in RCI Points also. Before long we bought a small eBay points timeshare as a toe-hold into the points system, so we were cruising in both lanes of RCI. Within just a few years, however, we noticed that we were practically always going for RCI Last Call & on-sale Extra Vacation Getaway & minimal-points Instant Exchange timeshare reservations, rather than straight-points exchanges. Even with our low annual allocation of points, that meant we were accumulating more timeshare points than we needed for timeshare vacationing. One year we even had to use a bunch of excess points to buy Disney tickets, because the points had gone stale & would have expired without getting us anything if we had not used them for the tickets.

Eventually we downsized to the max -- gave away all our weeks timeshares & reduced our points timeshare ownership to the bare minimum, a triennial 1BR points unit in Las Vegas.

That's where we are today -- owning a timeshare just so we can have access to RCI.

Is this a great country or what ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
Great you found what works for you! That's what all timesharers need to do, figure out what works best and then enjoy.
 

capjak

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I would for interval international but probably not RCI. You could buy one for access to both. There are a few like worldmark and a few Marriott and or Starwood I believe


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WinniWoman

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Alan has a good point. I guess if you purchase a triennial, it has limited maintenance fees and trading would also be minimal and then maybe it would be worth it. But I probably still wouldn't do it, though.
 

pedro47

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May I suggest you purchase a resort with dual exchange privileges with RCI and Interval International. Personally, I liked II.
Good luck.
 
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