• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Book through RCI

S

saddlebrooketraveler

newbie
Joined
May 27, 2024
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Resorts Owned
Hilton Grand Vacations
[Note: This post has been split off into its own thread]

natarajanv said:
The Crane, Barbados. 2br with plunge pool.
28000 HGVC points, but booked via RCI for 7680 points.
Click to expand...
Hi, we are new to HGVC and are looking for tips on how to best utilize/stretch our points. How did you book via RCI?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm presuming they went to RCI via the HGVC portal, found it available (or maybe did and OGS for it) and that's the RCI point cost (converted automatically into HGVC points). Of course, doing it that way also costs the $299 RCI exhcange fee, but compared to the MF cost difference there that's well worth it.
 
saddlebrooketraveler said:
we are new to HGVC and are looking for tips on how to best utilize/stretch our points.
Click to expand...
Some members have reported how they used RCI to book back into HGVC resorts. You will need to do the math because there is an RCI booking fee and possibly resort fees but hopefully less required HGVC points.
 
For many HGVC resorts the resort fee usually kills any advantage of booking back in via RCI. There are some resorts in RCI that don't charge resort fees but they are becoming rarer and rarer.

Also be aware that with RCI you need to remain flexible and usually won't get high season or the best rooms.
 
saddlebrooketraveler said:
[Note: This post has been split off into its own thread]

Hi, we are new to HGVC and are looking for tips on how to best utilize/stretch our points. How did you book via RCI?
Click to expand...
See this recent thread
tugbbs.com

Best RCI Option through HGVC Membership

Anyone have a great RCI experience and want to share their favorite RCI vacation? I know that booking RCI isn’t the best way to use points, but I’m curious if there are any RCI options that are worth it?
tugbbs.com tugbbs.com


Keep in mind, some resorts within RCI have lots of weeks available for exchange and some have very few to none.

In general, expect high demand locations and/or high demand weeks to be used by owners. I’m not saying it’s not possible to snag a high demand week/location but expect lots of competition during peak travel period and/or high demand locations. Some owners bought into a specific resort or timeshare system for a reason ;).

With exchanging you need to be very flexible with your travel dates and travel locations. Similar to HGVC reservation system, high demand resorts and travel dates will be taken first. If you’re interested in a specific resort, it’s best to ask questions and do a little research (read reviews and TUG posts). You can also search the TUG sightings forum to see if there are any patterns from past sightings (available months, unit sizes, frequency, quantity, etc). For example, HGVC does an annual bulk deposit into RCI (link).

Depending on the timeshare, deposits into the exchange company can be made by individual owners and/or the developer. Traditionally, a bulk deposit is when a developer (aka timeshare system) dumps a large number of weeks into an exchange company. Lots of TUG members take advantage of what’s available via a bulk sighting.

It's always best to setup an ongoing search request for your preferred resorts but to also have flexibility to take advantage of current exchange availability. Over the years, I've also changed plans from time to time to take advantage of exchange sightings. Some resort sightings are rare (harder to find availability) and some are frequent.

Examples of bulk sightings from the TUG Sightings Forum (link)
Note: These are typically the leftovers after all ongoing search requests have been satisfied ;)

Crane (link)
Wyndham (link)
Hilton (link)
Non-hotel brand names as well (link)

NOTE: Need to be a TUG member to view links to TUG Exchange Sightings forum
 
Last edited:
GT75 said:
Some members have reported how they used RCI to book back into HGVC resorts. You will need to do the math because there is an RCI booking fee and possibly resort fees but hopefully less required HGVC points.
Click to expand...

I used to do this years ago. But back then the RCI exchange fee was less than $100? And there were no other fees involved.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top