Advice for using RCI with a flexible travel schedule - wife and I “nomad” between March - September.

[Scarface74]

My wife and I started “nomadding” across the US this year from March through September and then we live in a condotel we own in Orlando from October - early March.

For those who don’t know a Condotel is where we own the entire condo unit and it’s rented out like a unit in a hotel when we aren’t there. The income basically cover the costs (mortgage + fees) when we aren’t there.

We started by staying in midrange Hilton and Hyatt brand extended stay mid range hotels and using the collected hotel points for real “vacations”.

I just bought into a timeshare through Diamond exclusively for access to RCI. I don’t have my login yet. But I have been doing my research.

So one advantage we have is that we have the ultimate flexibility for those seven months and we can take advantage of Last Call deals.

On the other hand, from the research I’ve done, most of the timeshares are outside of major cities except in mostly Las Vegas and Orlando.

We love Las Vegas and we have enough going on here (we will be here for 45 days) - that we can come back here often. My wife is part of the fitness industry and has met a lot of instructors to hang out with. We live in Orlando so that doesn’t help.

We don’t have cars and use Uber how is RCI availability near major cities in the US and how is availability between March - September?

On the other hand, are the hotel prices that you can book through RCI really as good of a deal as they showed us? We don’t have our login yet to compare. Either way, we can save enough taking advantage of the Last Call deals a few weeks out of the 27-30 weeks so it was still worth it.

Yes, I know timeshares are hard to get out of. We plan to be doing the “nomadding” for the foreseeable future. If we do decide to get rid of it, I’m well aware that I would either basically give it away or even pay someone an incentive to take it off of my hands .

 

[CO skier]

We love Las Vegas and we have enough going on here (we will be here for 45 days) - that we can come back here often. My wife is part of the fitness industry and has met a lot of instructors to hang out with. We live in Orlando so that doesn’t help.

There always seems to be a ton of RCI Last Call and Extra Vacations Getaway available in overbuilt Las Vegas.

The best selection of good deals in RCI, anywhere, will always be at Club Wyndham resorts versus independent resorts that deposit into RCI.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

You might want to also get a unit that trades through Interval so that you can get access to their Getaways.

You said: "most of the timeshares are outside of major cities except in mostly Las Vegas and Orlando". I live in the San Diego area (I consider it a major city) and there are timeshares here or close (like Escondido, and Ramona). Every year I go to Phoenix (a Marriott and a major city), every year or two to Tucson, every year or two to Lake Tahoe, every year to New Port Beach Ca. (near Long Beach/Anaheim/LA). We also go to Palm Springs/Palm Desert a couple of times a year. So, since you are "Nomading it" you may want to consider those places as well. But it does get pretty hot in the desert (which would include Vegas). If I was Nomading it, I don't think that I would find much of a "draw" for a major city. YMMV.

Minnesota has a bunch of timeshares in the northern part of the state. None are 4 or 5 star. But if you can book them in the summer or spring, perhaps you'll enjoy the fishing.

 

[dioxide45]

I just bought into a timeshare through Diamond exclusively for access to RCI. I don’t have my login yet. But I have been doing my research.

When did you buy? Did you buy resale?

 

[Scarface74]

When did you buy? Did you buy resale?

It wasn’t Diamond. It was Sapphire. I bought last week and no it wasn’t resale (unfortunately). It was “only” $7K. At the rate we spend on hotels for 27 weeks a year. It was still worth it.

For instance, we spent close to $5000 for 35 days between two hotels in Las Vegas (we are still here). With 15 days off the strip. Now we can stay at the Jockey Club for $350 a week with 60 days or $500 a week outside of 60 days.

We had already planned to come back for a month next year.

 

[dioxide45]

If looking for last call type inventory, you certainly need to look at places with lots of supply during low demand. You might also want to consider picking up a cheap Interval International affiliated week that will give you access to their Getaways and Accomodation Certificates. If you are okay spending summer months in Palm Desert or Phoenix/Scottsdale areas, then you can get weeks for about the same prices you are finding at Jockey Club. You should be able to find a free or close to free week that is II affiliated. Just watch out for the annual maintenance fee.

 

[Scarface74]

If I was Nomading it, I don't think that I would find much of a "draw" for a major city. YMMV.

I have to think about my wife. While I work during the week, she is going to want to go to gyms with fitness classes where she can guest teach and take classes based on people she meets through her organization. Uber gets expensive if we are too far out.

 

[Scarface74]

If looking for last call type inventory, you certainly need to look at places with lots of supply during low demand. You might also want to consider picking up a cheap Interval International affiliated week that will give you access to their Getaways and Accomodation Certificates. If you are okay spending summer months in Palm Desert or Phoenix/Scottsdale areas, then you can get weeks for about the same prices you are finding at Jockey Club. You should be able to find a free or close to free week that is II affiliated. Just watch out for the annual maintenance fee.

We don’t mind the heat. For…reasons…cold has started affecting my joints. That’s the reason we stay in Orlando from October - early March and then start traveling.

We experimented with “nomadding” October - December between our move to Orlando and it was hit or miss.

What are some other major cities with low demand/high supply from March - September?

I was thinking about II eventually.

 

[Jan M.]

Do you know if your ownership gives you a weeks account or a points account with RCI? Here's how to know which you have. With the RCI Points account you'll automatically get RCI points every year unless you arrange 11-12 months out to use your underlying week. With the RCI Weeks account if you aren't going to use your week you'd have to contact your resort to deposit your your week in RCI which would give you TPUs, Trading Power Units, to book other resorts. When booking with either points or TPUs you'll pay an exchange fee.

RCI Points accounts see more availability than RCI Weeks accounts. I haven't checked but I'm assuming the Last Call inventory would be the same for both.

We travel extensively with our Wyndham ownership and the RCI Points account we have from the several points weeks we own at Grandview at Las Vegas, a Vacation Village property.

With our RCI Points account I've booked Wyndham and Worldmark Austin in Austin, Texas and Wyndham La Cascada in San Antonio. However I doubt you'd find either resort in Last Call Weeks. We've flown into both cities and took the bus from and back to the airport. It was cheap and easy. Big cities are easy to get around using public transportation. We walked to do a lot but took the bus to do some things that were farther away. We took our empty suitcase and walked to the grocery store with it. After we paid for our groceries we filled the suitcase with them and walked back to the resort. That solved the problem of me buying more than we could carry without overloading ourselves. In Austin there's a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods a little less than a mile from the resort. At La Cascada there's an H-E-B grocery store less than half a mile from the resort. There's a few other big city resorts through Wyndham we've also stayed at without a car. Not sure you'd ever find any of them in Last Call Weeks or even more than rarely in RCI points or weeks available inventory.

With our RCI Points account I can sometimes book resorts for more than 7 nights in one reservation for a slightly larger exchange fee. Currently a 7 night reservation exchange fee is $289 but for longer stays booked in a single reservation the current exchange fee is $339. I've seen a few resorts that I could even book 3-4 weeks in one resevation. Not all resorts offer stays longer than 7 nights and you can't always find them even at the ones that do.

You can often find the longer stays at the resorts in the Vacation Village family of properties. We've booked longer stays at Grandview at Las Vegas, VV in the Berkshires in Massachusetts and VV at Parkway in Orlando. I haven't booked the Colonies in Williamsburg, another VV property, but I could most likely find something there for a longer stay. We have a 20 night stay coming up at the Lodges at Timber Ridge in Branson. It's a Welk resort. I think the HICV resorts, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, probably offer some longer stays too. Last year I saw a longer stay available at Wyndham Branson at the Falls. You won't often find longer stays at the Wyndham or Worldmark resorts.

You mentioned Vegas as an option but if you like the Branson, MO area or the Williamsburg, VA area you could probably find availability at either in Last Call Weeks anytime except probably Christmas week. Same with the three VV resorts in Weston, FL.

We travel for 2.5-3.5 months in the spring and again in fall. Plus we have some 1-2 week stays in the winter and summer months. A word to the wise. You aren't going to want to move resorts every week. That gets old quick; so old! On our 2022 Spring trip we started out with six weeks at six different resorts. Sounded great when I was planning it but lesson learned; don't ever do that again! The next resort we stayed at for three weeks. It was such a relief to not be moving every week.

Some information would be helpful to determine if RCI Last Call Weeks will work like you need them to. How do you get from resort to resort in your nomading months? Fly or rent a car? Do you do short term leases for vehicles vs rentals where the max is 30 days? Do you only want resorts within a certain mile radius of major airports if you won't have a vehicle? Do you get groceries delivered, take an Uber or Lyft to get groceries when you need them or go to restaurants or need restaurants and grocery stores in close proximity to the resorts?

We also have an Interval International account but I've never used it. Maybe I just don't check the Getaway weeks often enough but I haven't been impressed with what I've found. A lot of studios and partial kitchen one bedroom units. That's a no thanks for us as we want a full kitchen and a bedroom that's separate from the living room. The exception for us is the studio units at Wyndham/Worldmark Austin. They have a full kitchen. The bedroom has no windows and sliding barn doors between it and the living room instead of a regular door. Since I like a dark bedroom to sleep in no windows in the bedroom is perfect for me.

Another tip. Read the unit descriptions carefully and look at the pictures on the RCI website. Go to the resort website for more information and sometimes more or better pictures. Some will have the unit layouts. Make a list of your questions about the resort and/or unit you're considering and call the resort at a time when they're not busy with check outs (8-10am) and check ins (2-6pm). If you're reading the reviews on Trip Advisor keep in mind that some people have no idea how timeshares work and think they're staying in a hotel with daily maid service, room service, etc.

II Getaway Weeks cost a lot more than RCI Last Call Weeks. The main draw for II seems to be the Marriott resorts. Not sure if you'll find the Marriott resorts in the Getaway Weeks. And if you do if you'll find a full kitchen one bedroom or a two bedroom unit. A second bedroom is nice if either of you are working from the unit or want to invite family or friends to stay with you once in awhile.

Edit: Our longest trip was 110 nights with not a single night in a hotel. All timeshare stays. The last time we needed a hotel for one of our long trips was on our 2020 fall trip. We had two nights in hotels. One in an area we had an activity booked where there weren't any timeshare resorts closer than 3 hours away. The other night was our last night before we flew home. Both I booked through Priceline Express Deals and used a coupon code I found online for extra off. We a refrigerator in our room at both and a mini kitchen with a microwave at the one of them. The one that only had the refrigerator had a microwave we could use in the breakfast area. They had a nice free breakfast too.

 

[Scarface74]

Do you know if your ownership gives you a weeks account or a points account with RCI?

I still haven’t gotten my RCI login. I’ve got 33K points every 3 years through Sapphire (not Diamond).

A word to the wise. You aren't going to want to move resorts every week. That gets old quick; so old! On our 2022 Spring trip we started out with six weeks at six different resorts. Sounded great when I was planning it but lesson learned; don't ever do that again! The next resort we stayed at for three weeks. It was such a relief to not be moving every week.

We’ve mostly settled on three weeks when we are “nomadding” and one week when we are “vacationing”.

How do you get from resort to resort in your nomading months? Fly or rent a car? Do you do short term leases for vehicles vs rentals where the max is 30 days?

We take one way flights and we have been using Uber. Which is no big deal since I work during the week and my wife makes one or two trips during the week to gyms.

But that also means we need to be nearish the city.

When we go back to Orlando, we will be doing monthly rentals from SixT for about $700/month.

Do you only want resorts within a certain mile radius of major airports if you won't have a vehicle?

It would be nice. But it’s more important that it’s not too far from the downtown areas.

Do you get groceries delivered, take an Uber or Lyft to get groceries when you need them or go to restaurants or need restaurants and grocery stores in close proximity to the resorts?

A combination of both. We were doing Instacart last year. But I really like going to the store if I can. It depends.

We also really need a separate bedroom. Especially on the West Coast where I am working East Coast hours. But we have been managing in one room Suites like Home2 occasionally.

For reference this year we have already planned:

- Houston (Homewood Suites)
- Cabos (3 weeks in a Hyatt Place)
- LA (1 week free with Hilton points)
- Austin (Homewood)
- Atlanta (Embassy Suites)
- Richmond (Hyatt Place)
- Niagara Falls Canada (free with points)
- Toronto (free with points)
- Chicago (Hyatt Place)
- back home

We won’t start using Sapphire/RCI until next year. We’ve already bought most of our flights and booked all of our hotels for this year.

 

[bizaro86]

It wasn’t Diamond. It was Sapphire. I bought last week and no it wasn’t resale (unfortunately). It was “only” $7K. At the rate we spend on hotels for 27 weeks a year. It was still worth it.

For instance, we spent close to $5000 for 35 days between two hotels in Las Vegas (we are still here). With 15 days off the strip. Now we can stay at the Jockey Club for $350 a week with 60 days or $500 a week outside of 60 days.

We had already planned to come back for a month next year.

Are you inside the rescission period? If so you should rescind. You are a great candidate for a cheap (free!) resale which would give you the exact same access to last call type inventory.

Buy something resale that is dual affiliated and get the cheap deals from both RCI and II instead.

 

[Scarface74]

Are you inside the rescission period? If so you should rescind. You are a great candidate for a cheap (free!) resale which would give you the exact same access to last call type inventory.

Buy something resale that is dual affiliated and get the cheap deals from both RCI and II instead.

Unfortunately, by the time I learned about the better way it was too late for the rescission. $7K is not bad and this will easily save us that much in two years.

 

[Scarface74]

Are you inside the rescission period? If so you should rescind. You are a great candidate for a cheap (free!) resale which would give you the exact same access to last call type inventory.

Buy something resale that is dual affiliated and get the cheap deals from both RCI and II instead.

Unfortunately, by the time I learned about the better way it was too late for the rescission. $7K is not bad and this will easily save us that much in two years.

 

[Jan M.]

Unfortunately, by the time I learned about the better way it was too late for the rescission. $7K is not bad and this will easily save us that much in two years.

The percentage of Tuggers whose first purchase was a developer purchase is greater than the percentage of Tuggers who bought resale right from the start. You have lots and lots of company.

I call it paying for a degree from an Ivy League college when a degree from a state university or community college will get you the same job/same pay. With our Wyndham developer ownership my degree is a doctorate from an Ivy League school. With our resale Grandview RCI point weeks I bought after finding TUG my degree is an associate degree from the community college I could walk to in 5-7 minutes from our house where we used to live before moving to Florida.

Buying developer isn't necessarily a waste of money. There can be perks you get with a developer purchase that you don't get with resale. Btw all the timeshares/timeshare groups I know of give you an account with either RCI or Interval as your exchange company. That means everyone gets access to Last Call Weeks or the Getaway Weeks so that isn't what I'm talking about. Were there any other perks they told you about?

Something I'm not clear on. You'll have 33k points every 3 years. Is that points to use in Sapphire or RCI points? If it's points to use in Sapphire then you'll have an RCI Weeks account not a Points account.

Based on what you said you're looking for, you're going to have to check what's available in Last Call Weeks frequently to find something you can use. The bulk of availability is typically in Orlando and Weston, Florida, Las Vegas, Williamsburg and Massanutten, Virginia, Branson, Missouri. The end of March/beginning of April through about mid November is off season at the ski resorts out west and in the New England states. Those regions have availability in the Last Call Weeks but they're not close enough to big cities for what you want/need.

Once you have your RCI account, whichever type it is, you'll be able to watch the Last Call Weeks for say a month to see what's available. That should tell you if they'll work like you're hoping they will.

You posted your schedule for the remainder of this year. Last Call Weeks are 45 days or less from the check in dates. Do you/will you have the flexibility to make that work for you?

I think a better plan would be to consider buying something that will give you more points if you will have a Points account or to get a Points account with RCI. That will give you access to more of what I think you want/need and allow you to book/plan much farther out than with the Last Call Weeks.

Watch for a 122k point two bedroon week or a 61k point one bedroom week at Grandview at Las Vegas. The 2023 maintenance fees are $910 for a two bedroom and $455 for a one bedroom regardless of how many points the week gets. Those are the highest point weeks and give you the most bang for your buck. There are lower point weeks too. The second level that you'll see a lot of and isn't bad is 98k points for a two bedroom week and 49k points for a one bedroom week. There are two other lower point levels that are a poor value.

Another good one to look for is Regal Vistas in Massanutten, VA. Look for a 178k point four bedroom week or a 89k point two bedroom week. I'm not sure what their maintenance fees are but I'd guess around $1100-$1150 for a four bedroom week. Those Regal Vistas high point weeks don't get offered all that often and unless you luck out you'll pay more for them than you would for the Grandview weeks I mentioned.

I don't remember which resorts they are but I think there's one or two other resorts that give you a lot of bang for the buck in the points:maintenance fees ratio.

 

[Scarface74]

Buying developer isn't necessarily a waste of money. There can be perks you get with a developer purchase that you don't get with resale. Btw all the timeshares/timeshare groups I know of give you an account with either RCI or Interval as your exchange company. That means everyone gets access to Last Call Weeks or the Getaway Weeks so that isn't what I'm talking about. Were there any other perks they told you about?

I guess a “perk” would be that we can book any Sapphire Resort with cash for $399 60 days out or book more than 60 days out for $550 a week for up to 30 days at once.

$2200 a month for a guaranteed place in Vegas is way below are budget.

We were thinking about making Vegas our “west coast home” and renting a fully furnished apartment for six months between March and September and then keeping Orlando as our “East coast home” (we own our Condotel in Orlando) the rest of the year when we are ready to take a break for a year.

In other words, we really have found a home, friends, etc here. So we can always come back and it’s nice to have guaranteed availability at a reasonable price without waiting until the last minute. We might also find some other places we like.

Something I'm not clear on. You'll have 33k points every 3 years. Is that points to use in Sapphire or RCI points? If it's points to use in Sapphire then you'll have an RCI Weeks account not a Points account.

I looked again after my last post. Those points can be used at “RCI Points resorts”

Based on what you said you're looking for, you're going to have to check what's available in Last Call Weeks frequently to find something you can use. The bulk of availability is typically in Orlando and Weston, Florida, Las Vegas, Williamsburg and Massanutten, Virginia, Branson, Missouri. The end of March/beginning of April through about mid November is off season at the ski resorts out west and in the New England states. Those regions have availability in the Last Call Weeks but they're not close enough to big cities for what you want/need.

We can always try places for a couple of weeks and see whether we like them. We aren’t opposed to car rentals through Sixt and Costco. Our expenses for accommodations will be go down meaning we have a little more flexibility to rent cars.

We originally had a budget of $3800 a month for hotels. This will save us a lot.

Once you have your RCI account, whichever type it is, you'll be able to watch the Last Call Weeks for say a month to see what's available. That should tell you if they'll work like you're hoping they will.

I’m not too concerned. This is our “bucket list year”. After this year we can be more experimental. My wife will be happy as long as I can get her to the fitness scene in Vegas one or two months a year.

I’m still collecting hotel loyalty points when we stay in hotels that gets us a lot of free weeks (5 in 2023) from Hilton and Hyatt. I can see it’s going to be a combination of RCI to save money that will let our hotel stays be more expensive and still balance out between Sapphire properties with guaranteed availability by booking in advanced, Last Calls through RCI, hotels and free hotel weeks via Hilton and Hyatt points.

For instance, by the end of this year we should have enough Hilton points to go to Hawaii for 10 days for free next year.

You posted your schedule for the remainder of this year. Last Call Weeks are 45 days or less from the check in dates. Do you/will you have the flexibility to make that work for you?

This year, probably not. We scheduled this year around meeting friends in certain places like Cabos ($2800 for 3 weeks), conferences for my wife and our free stays.

 

[Jan M.]

That's a good perk to have with Sapphire! Another perk they might have is day use of the pools, fitness center, etc. if you're staying somewhere else close to one of their resorts.

There's enough Last Call Weeks in Vegas that you should be able come in at around $1500 for a month. Significantly below your budget and even below Sapphire at 60 days. If the Grandview at Las Vegas location works for you they usually have availability in Last Call Weeks.

If you're going to be in one place for several months, you could ask the Uber or Lyft drivers if they would be interested in giving you their number to have you contact them directly for future rides. You'd need to pay them in cash.

 

[garciajason7]

You might want to also get a unit that trades through Interval so that you can get access to their Getaways.

You said: "most of the timeshares are outside of major cities except in mostly Las Vegas and Orlando". I live in the San Diego area (I consider it a major city) and there are timeshares here or close (like Escondido, and Ramona). Every year I go to Phoenix (a Marriott and a major city), every year or two to Tucson, every year or two to Lake Tahoe, every year to New Port Beach Ca. (near Long Beach/Anaheim/LA). We also go to Palm Springs/Palm Desert a couple of times a year. So, since you are "Nomading it" you may want to consider those places as well. But it does get pretty hot in the desert (which would include Vegas). If I was Nomading it, I don't think that I would find much of a "draw" for a major city. YMMV.

Minnesota has a bunch of timeshares in the northern part of the state. None are 4 or 5 star. But if you can book them in the summer or spring, perhaps you'll enjoy the fishing.

Are all these places you went to last minute getaways? How much did you pay?

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Are all these places you went to last minute getaways? How much did you pay?

I've done getaways to Tahoe Marriott, Marriott Palm Desert, Marriott Phoenix, Shell Tucson/Starr Pass and a few others. The prices varied but were always less than the owner would pay in maintenance fees. Post covid, the getaway offerings seem thin. There is more inventory in the off season and shoulder seasons. If you can use an efficiency there is more inventory.

 

[garciajason7]

I've done getaways to Tahoe Marriott, Marriott Palm Desert, Marriott Phoenix, Shell Tucson/Starr Pass and a few others. The prices varied but were always less than the owner would pay in maintenance fees. Post covid, the getaway offerings seem thin. There is more inventory in the off season and shoulder seasons. If you can use an efficiency there is more inventory.

Are getaways cheaper then buying directly from the resort?

I'm thinking about buying a resale marriot week but I'm going to walk into a sales office tomorrow and ask if I can surf interval.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Are getaways cheaper then buying directly from the resort?

I'm thinking about buying a resale marriot week but I'm going to walk into a sales office tomorrow and ask if I can surf interval.

I think that "typically" getaways are cheaper than buying from the resort. But getaway availability is low or lower during high demand periods.