Best Value for RCI Points

[StapelmanMO]

We now know that RCI Points are nearly worthless for cruise vacations but we have scored some good deals on last minute resort exchanges. Rental car and airline tickets have yielded mixed results, but with RCI limiting the number of points that one can place into the RCI partner program each year, we are at a loss what else to do with our points.

Does anyone have any ideas for where one might actually gain value in exchanging points or what else one can do with points if they cannot be used for staying at a resort?

 

[smshick]

Sorry, we are new to timeshare. Bought a Hilton Grand Vacation Club last summer. We have only tried to stay at higher end RCI resorts, which I think would give you more value. We are going to be going to Hershey Suites this summer.

Good luck.

Siao Mei

 

[SteveChapin]

We now know that RCI Points are nearly worthless for cruise vacations but we have scored some good deals on last minute resort exchanges. Rental car and airline tickets have yielded mixed results, but with RCI limiting the number of points that one can place into the RCI partner program each year, we are at a loss what else to do with our points.

Does anyone have any ideas for where one might actually gain value in exchanging points or what else one can do with points if they cannot be used for staying at a resort?

I use my points for gifts or cheap vacations for friends and family. I can't, frankly, take enough vacation myself to use up all the points I can generate, but we do things like book rooms for family reunions, etc.

sc
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[AwayWeGo]

Points, Shmoynts.

Does anyone have any ideas for where one might actually gain value in exchanging points or what else one can do with points if they cannot be used for staying at a resort?

By us, timeshare points are great for snagging outstanding exchange reservations to stay at other people's timeshares, but they are semi-useless for anything else other than that.

One time we used stale timeshare points to buy some dumb Disney tickets. It was not a good deal, but it was better than letting the points expire before we got any value out of them.

Live & learn, eh ?

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

 

[robertr55]

I'd agree with Steve & Alan - I haven't found any deals with non-exchange use of points (in other words, every time I've researched other options and compared the cost of the points I'd have to use to trade vs. the cost of simply purchasing the options outside of RCI, it's always been less expensive to simply buy other options on the "open market")...so unless the only other option is letting the points expire, I'd stay away from trading them for anything other than staying at a resort (even if you "give" the stay away to friends/family).

 

[rickandcindy23]

RCI has great stuff in Points, but I haven't had much luck in weeks. Plus Partners was a great way to use those extra points. We bought Disney tickets and actually got a good value for those, upgraded them to annual passes each time.