Bygone Days - Value of RCI Exchanges

[Timeshare Von]

I just shared this detail buried pretty deep in my thread about the old Fairfield/Wyndham FAX Program. I thought it was interesting (and important) enough to share as a stand alone thread here.

I went back to review all of my timeshare ownership and exchanges/vacations to just see how things have evolved since 2001.

1984-2003 - Owned RTU (20 years) Split Rock Resort (Poconos) - bought in 1982 PRECONSTRUCTION
2001 bought Kingsgate wk#20 3 BR lock-off; sold via TUG in 2012
2003 bought Lifetime in Hawaii (floating 1-52 RTU Studio through 2041) - STILL OWNED
2005 acquired (for free) Flagstaff wk#13 2 BR; deeded back to POA in 2010
2008 acquired (for free) Westwinds 77k point contract from my sister - STILL OWNED

The trades I made BITD were amazing! The "monetary value" (MF+RCI exchange fee) used to get 2BR units in Hawaii made timeshare ownership a great deal. Today with TPU, the Lifetime in Hawaii (when strategically booked/deposited) is still a good value . . . but not great. For a $665 MF (2023 rate) plus exchange fees, I can still book Hawaii timeshares at a decent value. Roughly the math works out for two weeks as $665 (MF) + $579 (RCI) = $1,224 for two weeks. Anything less than $200/night with full kitchen in Hawaii is a bargain in my book. Of course, I could just stay my one week on Waikiki for the $665 MF and no RCI fees but that "value" isn't as good a trading with RCI even when having to pay the exchange fee(s).

Some of the GREAT RCI exchanges to Hawaii that I did with those Fairfield/Wyndham fixed weeks include:
2002 Kingsgate 2BR for Embassy Kannapali Maui 1BR for $446 ($297 MF + $149 RCI)
2004 Kingsgate 2BR for Kona Hawaiian Village 2BR for $502 ($353 MF + $149 RCI)
2006 and 2007 Flagstaff 2BR for 2 weeks @ Paniolo Greens 2BR for $644 per week ($495 MF + $149 RCI)
2008 Kingsgate 1BR for Moana Loa Village 2BR for $496 ($220 MF + $112 SA + $164 RCI)
2009 Kingsgate 1BR for Kona Hawaiian Village 2BR for $416 ($252 MF + $164 RCI)
2010 Kingsgate 1BR for Royal Sea Cliff 2BR for $416 ($252 MF + $164 RCI)

When RCI went to TPU in 2010, that was the end of the great value trades where "Wyndham to Wyndham" exchanges were awesome! And check out that RCI only increased their exchange fees $15 over 8 years!

The timeshare industry has continued to evolve, and if you're an owner wanting to maximize your vacation dollars, you MUST pay attention to what's going on. Continuing to evaluate how you want to use your ownership and the opportunity costs (whether with or without timeshares) is critical. This is why at this point in my life . . . and looking forward towards retirement . . . I will be divesting myself of all of my timeshare ownership by the close of 2024.

 

[CO skier]

The timeshare industry has continued to evolve, and if you're an owner wanting to maximize your vacation dollars, you MUST pay attention to what's going on. Continuing to evaluate how you want to use your ownership and the opportunity costs (whether with or without timeshares) is critical. This is why at this point in my life . . . and looking forward towards retirement . . . I will be divesting myself of all of my timeshare ownership by the close of 2024.

I was a member of Interval International a decade ago and booked some great vacations during school breaks by using Request First and the excellent trading power offered through WorldMark.

I found better value booking WorldMark vacations directly without any exchange fee.

Now that retirement is imminent within a year and being able to travel to the "offest" resorts at the "most off-seasons", I have tripled my WorldMark ownership and joined RCI. Within the first month of RCI membership, I have booked 3 Last Call vacations. I hesistate to write this next part for fear of increasing my competition, but this is TUG, after all:

Three(!) weeklong ski vacations in a 1 bedroom with full kitchen (not studio units) for $339/week and no exchange fee; now that is value. I could have booked two of the weeks in a 2 bedroom unit for $379/week, if I needed or just wanted the extra space.

I was thinking about re-joining Interval International to increase my chances for successful exchanges, but it looks like that might not be necessary, or maybe I will try it for a year or two to see how II's version of "Last Call" dovetails with what I can find in RCI.

No question, though; I will be spending a lot more time in timeshares over at least the next 5 years.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I am still suffering sticker shock from an RCI trade I am using for a 2 bdrm garden view at Cabo Azul. $249 exchange fee + $420/week ($60/night resort fee) + taxes. That tacks on to my MF of $730 an extra $669 per week just in exchange fees plus taxes! I am accepting these exchanges because I want to try out this resort and it is less commitment and risk than buying more in our mini-system but some of these exchanges are getting to be outrageous. I may start to explore renting for the cost of MF with owners to avoid these charges and get better room placement.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I was a member of Interval International a decade ago and booked some great vacations during school breaks by using Request First and the excellent trading power offered through WorldMark.

I found better value booking WorldMark vacations directly without any exchange fee.

Now that retirement is imminent within a year and being able to travel to the "offest" resorts at the "most off-seasons", I have tripled my WorldMark ownership and joined RCI. Within the first month of RCI membership, I have booked 3 Last Call vacations. I hesistate to write this next part for fear of increasing my competition, but this is TUG, after all:

Three(!) weeklong ski vacations in a 1 bedroom with full kitchen (not studio units) for $339/week and no exchange fee; now that is value. I could have booked two of the weeks in a 2 bedroom unit for $379/week, if I needed or just wanted the extra space.

I was thinking about re-joining Interval International to increase my chances for successful exchanges, but it looks like that might not be necessary, or maybe I will try it for a year or two to see how II's version of "Last Call" dovetails with what I can find in RCI.

No question, though; I will be spending a lot more time in timeshares over at least the next 5 years.

That's awesome you're able to make MORE time for timeshare vacationing! I/we love our timeshares and the great places we've been and experienced. I just don't see it financially feasible for us in the long-run. The airline expense is really what is killing our ability to afford travel. We were pretty spoiled using mileage programs in the past to fly free or very inexpensively. Now paying full fares has been a reality check for us. PLUS the rental car expenses doubling over the past couple of years.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I am still suffering sticker shock from an RCI trade I am using for a 2 bdrm garden view at Cabo Azul. $249 exchange fee + $420/week ($60/night resort fee) + taxes. That tacks on to my MF of $730 an extra $669 per week just in exchange fees plus taxes! I am accepting these exchanges because I want to try out this resort and it is less commitment and risk than buying more in our mini-system but some of these exchanges are getting to be outrageous. I may start to explore renting for the cost of MF with owners to avoid these charges and get better room placement.

I agree. I had initially booked our first week for Hawaii later this year, but "forgot" about the resort fees. When I looked them up, I realized I was tacking on another $400 to the out-of-pocket costs for the week. After doing the math, I was able to cancel within the initial 24 hour reservation window to get my full exchange fee back. I'm now very careful to read all of the fine print on added fees before booking with RCI.

 

[CO skier]

The airline expense is really what is killing our ability to afford travel.

100% of my timeshare stays will be "drive-to" destinations. The savings from air travel costs and car rental will make all the difference.

There may be some interesting randomness to it if I can link 4-6 consecutive weeks in whatever resorts become available for Last Call vacations.

 

[WManning]

I was a member of Interval International a decade ago and booked some great vacations during school breaks by using Request First and the excellent trading power offered through WorldMark.

I found better value booking WorldMark vacations directly without any exchange fee.

Now that retirement is imminent within a year and being able to travel to the "offest" resorts at the "most off-seasons", I have tripled my WorldMark ownership and joined RCI. Within the first month of RCI membership, I have booked 3 Last Call vacations. I hesistate to write this next part for fear of increasing my competition, but this is TUG, after all:

Three(!) weeklong ski vacations in a 1 bedroom with full kitchen (not studio units) for $339/week and no exchange fee; now that is value. I could have booked two of the weeks in a 2 bedroom unit for $379/week, if I needed or just wanted the extra space.

I was thinking about re-joining Interval International to increase my chances for successful exchanges, but it looks like that might not be necessary, or maybe I will try it for a year or two to see how II's version of "Last Call" dovetails with what I can find in RCI.

No question, though; I will be spending a lot more time in timeshares over at least the next 5 years.

RCI last call has always been a great value. Being retired and flexible with travel plans helps to make RCI last call work out. Good luck in retirement and I hope you got out early enough to enjoy. Most people just dont know good health does not ladt forever.

 

[tschwa2]

As a massanutten weeks owner with a $159 exchange fee and a $60 resort fee for a 2BR for owners plus a fairly low tpu amount most of the year- $300 all in per week for a drive to location is still a good deal through rci for me. We usually do 2-3 a year with 2 of those only using 3-5 night long weekends. Non owners pay the same tpu's but have a $289 exchange fee and $98 resort fee.

I also have several weeks booked into my home resort in Ocean city MD this summer. They waive the $80 resort fee for owners of any week at the resort trading back in through rci. I used rci points and have some booked into rci weeks inventory and some into rci points for 14 and 13 nights each. My costs are under $700 for each week I am using myself and $780 for overlapping weeks with family and friends. I won't have to pay a guest cert because I can check them in but the resort won't waive the resort fee when I have over lapping weeks.

I am trying to rent out my home weeks to cover MF's rather than deposit unless I can't avoid it and adjust portfolio a bit to avoid having to do exchanges.

 

[Carolinian]

(delete-duplicate post)

 

[Carolinian]

I have also seen timeshare exchanging evolve, and not in a good way for exchangers. That is why we now own one own-to-use week and are in the process of buying another, both at a drive to location (NC Outer Banks in summer). I have owned as many as six weeks at a time, mostly for exchange and changed my portfolio as I went along to improve value in exchanging.

I started to see RCI go downhill with the introducion of RCI Points and started my exodus from RCI at that time, It was the handwriting on the wall. When "points lite" (TPU's) came in, I was already at the stage that I only deposited with RCI right before I wanted to make a trade and did not leave deposits with them. After Points Lite was imposed, I let my RCI membership expire, but continued to use DAE, SFX, and UKRE for exchanges. When my work situation made time commitments chancy, I reduced and then completely got out of exchanging.

Was RCI great and a wonderful exchange company back in the day? Absolutely. I really enjoyed those years of exchanging through RCI before the vultures took over. In those days, timeshare exchanging was fun and was great value. Now? Not so much. I would at present, never advise anyone to buy a timeshare for exchanging. Buy where you want to go regularly.

RCI founder Christel DeHahn organized the company so that it gave value to members, to HOA's, and to her own company. She realized that making it work for everybody was just good business for her own company. The new owners are more interested in extracting every dollar they can from it, regardless of what it may do long term to the timeshare industry.

A good example of a now ended DeHahn policy was the 90-day window, when all trading power was turned off. If it was there for exchange, one could get it with any deposit. This was promoted in the RCI promo films they made for developers for sales tours to help them sell off season weeks, as it gave value to those weeks. This also helped HOA's retain those off season owners and to market offseason weeks that came back to the HOA through foreclosures or deedbacks. At the resort where I served on the HOA board, we had an owner in New Jersey and one in Washington state who owned multiple weeks, one of them five weeks and the other four, all blue weeks that they used for trading in the 90-day window. The New Jersey owner regularly showed up at the resort because he also owned a whole ownership condo on the OBX and when he and his wife came down to use that, he would often stop and say hello to our manager. He never used his weeks at the resort but he often came to the annual HOA meetings, and in fact was the one who nominated me for my first term on the board. Both divested of their weeks after RCI changed the rules on the 90-day window.

I am very glad I got to experience RCI in its heyday, but would not join now if they gave me a membership free.

 

[regatta333]

Agreed. We have been RCI members through our Wyndham ownership since 2004, when exchange fees were $129 and you could get great trades using 28K points deposits, especially when Wyndham did bulk deposits into RCI. You also used to be able to reserve a week at a resort where you owned and deposit it to RCI directly. I used to regularly reserve a week 52 Branson studio, which was low season in Wyndham (28K points), but red season in RCI. I reserved at the 13-month ARP window and got an extra 13 months to trade with RCI, because the deposit was good for 2 years from the actual reservation date of the deposit.

Wyndham did away with that ability late 2005/early 2006. Then sometime in 2011 or 2012, they increased the points grid for Wyndham by 20-30% depending on unit size and season. Grid was fixed, so there was never any advantage to exchanging last minute. Nail in the coffin for me, though, was when they eliminated the points boost for VIP owners. I could still get some value when I was depositing an off season studio (35K) and was able to get it upgraded to off season 1B (68K).

I used the last of my points for an exchange in December and will not be making any more deposits to RCI. Where it makes sense, we may take advantage to Last Call and their other rental inventory. In many situations, I've found that cost to be less than the cost of depositing and exchanging.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We have been RCI members since about 1985. The TPU's have gone up for the resorts we trade into and trading power has declined. Add in an exchange fee, and means expensive vacations through RCI, then add in the fees the resorts charge, and that affordable vacation is no longer affordable. I have been trying to get out from under RCI for a couple of years, and still the fees increase and trading power of my weeks decrease.

II still has value for us but I did buy some weeks that had significant increases for 2023. I will be re-evaluating those ownerships. As long as I can get our money back, I will sell the weeks.