>>Why has RCI points dropped by so much?s<<<
I know lots of folks love RCI points, but I am disillusioned with the system, and I imagine there are lots of others out there like me. I have no interest in buying more points weeks and other points owners I know are the same, which means you're not fighting us on Ebay lol. Why am I disillusioned? Fees are high (RCI membership fee, PLUS fee to keep the week in points, and PFD fees which used to be free and now aren't). My points weeks are penalized because they are so flexible--one of them, for example, floats over almost the whole year so includes all red, all white, and some blue weeks. As a weeks trader it trades really well and is valuable to me for this flexibility. As a points trader, the points value is diminished because the weeks are averaged, and the points assigned are based on the average which brings the overall points value down. I will be pulling that week (and one other) out of points when the three-year agreement expires.
While the value of my week in points is bupkis, the values of the weeks I like to trade into are so high that I would need two or three weeks' worth of points to get one week in return. If I use that week as a weeks trader, it would trade one-for-one. I'm not looking to trade significantly higher--just want to trade a one-br red season week for a one-br red season week, but since the week is pointed low due to including some white and blue weeks, I cannot trade like for like with it.
What I do like about the points system is the last-minute weeks, but it seems to me that the availability has been dwindling each year.
If you have a great underlying fixed week, and get an appropriate number of points for that week, then the points system would work better. I personally prefer a floating week for flexibility, but that means my weeks are penalized under points but not penalized under weeks. So for me--RCI points doesn't work as well as weeks. YMMV.