Cheapest way to do last minute deals?

[anapur]

Hi,

I read a lot in this forum about RCI 45 days and II 60 days before check in date bargain trades.

As I am really flexible with travel time and where I want to go (have not seen much of the world yet and can get last minute airfare very cheap) I only want to concentrate on last minute exchanges.

But what I did not get in all these chaotic systems:

What is the cheapest to buy and own in order to book such a last minute exchange?

1) weeks resort with cheap MF
2) RCI points using only 9.000 points
3) Wyndham (Ex FairFields) seems to be related to RCI and offer some deals using Wyndham points to book last minute RCI Points resorts and RCI weeks resorts
4) Worldmark points seem to be able to be used to book RCI as well as II last minute exchanges

Which one is the cheapest way to get such a last minute week?

Next thing I am considering:

There seems to be the possibility to convert normal weeks to RCI points (PFD) and to Worldmark Points or Wyndham points.

How does that work, how much does it cost and which one is the most efficient one to go?

I also have to take RCI membership fees into account, as it looks like that RCI membership is included with Worldmark and Wyndham, correct?

Are these included RCI memberships the same as a normal RCI points paid membership or do they offer less possibilities?

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[JanB]

Ooops! Posted in wrong thread.

 

[cr4909]

As there are no takers on this, I'll try my best to answer some of your questions:

What is the cheapest to buy and own in order to book such a last minute exchange?

1) weeks resort with cheap MF
2) RCI points using only 9.000 points

I regularly monitor last minute exchanges with RCI, so this one I can answer. Last minute cancellations usually offer the best selection and appear regularly every night after midnight Eastern (exact time varies). By morning, most of the best exchanges are gone. With a Weeks resort, you are able to see everything, even those from Points-affilated resorts. However, with an RCI Points account you are able to snatch up weeks for 9K points, but you can only see Weeks-only resort. For example, HGVC Las Vegas Hilton is a Points based resort, but sometimes has weeks available. With the RCI Points account, you'd never see it, but with a weeks exchange, you could snag this at the last minute. Realistically, the window is more like 1 to 3 weeks for the best last-minute pickups.

The difference, of course, is in price. If you buy the bluest of the blue weeks, you can get that cheap. Look for off-season CO weeks. I recently purchased one with MF's of $224 (guess where) directly from the resort for practically nothing. With RCI Points, you probabably pay $0.01 per pt, hopefully less per point (I pay about 0.7 cents). Since the exchange fee is the same ($164 currently), the difference is in MF's. Per point, that would be $60 to $90 for the 9,000 points pickup, versus $224 for the Weeks pickup. I'm a bigger fan of using a straight Weeks exchange because of the better availability, but if you do this a lot and go to places where exchanges are easier, then RCI Points may be best.

3) Wyndham (Ex FairFields) seems to be related to RCI and offer some deals using Wyndham points to book last minute RCI Points resorts and RCI weeks resorts

I don't own Fairfield so it's best to post a separate question in the Wyndham forum. However, I do know that Wyndham/Fairfield does have their own points system. They also are affiliated with RCI and you can call and request weeks be desposited with RCI for exchange. You could get several blue weeks to deposit with RCI for very cheap. However, I don't believe you can search online (correct me if I'm wrong). If not, this is a HUGE disadvantage. As mentioned earlier, the best last-minute pickings are gone by morning.

4) Worldmark points seem to be able to be used to book RCI as well as II last minute exchanges

Worldmark is a bit higher on the totem pole and trades really well with II. Once again, I don't own so you'll need to post a specific question on the Wyndham forum. However, it does seem that you can use II to get last minute exchanges for Marriot's, DVC's, etc. Worldmark is going to cost you more to get enrolled, though, about $4500 to $5000 for the smallest points account, but you can rent points as need from other owners for a fairly cheap price

There seems to be the possibility to convert normal weeks to RCI points (PFD) and to Worldmark Points or Wyndham points.

How does that work, how much does it cost and which one is the most efficient one to go?

Worldmark and Wyndham/Fairfield are separate from RCI, although they are affiliated. You can not convert an RCI week to to Wyndham/Fairfield or Worldmark points. You can convert an RCI week to poins on a yearly basis using PFD IF that resort is Weeks-only. Once the resort has changed its affiliation to RCI Points, then you must convert the week to Points on a permanent basis, which will cost you from several hundred to several thousand depending on the resort.

I also have to take RCI membership fees into account, as it looks like that RCI membership is included with Worldmark and Wyndham, correct?

Are these included RCI memberships the same as a normal RCI points paid membership or do they offer less possibilities?

Once again, post on the Wyndham forum. I believe that RCI/II memberships are optional for Worldmark, but included for Wyndham/Fairfield, but verify that. I will say that for RCI, their accounts will be a weeks account and not a Points account. As such, you can only do straight weeks exchanges.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Okay, I am a semi experience Wyndham owner who has been spending most of a week learning about my new RCI Points account - the solar guys are here installing a 10K system on my roof.

Wyndham properties seem to be "RCI Points" properties - so you can't use a RCI PFD option to get more RCI pts - even with deeded fixed weeks. You can pay a conversion fee to make a fixed week Wyndham property a Wyndham Pts value, but your 13 month ARP is your fixed week unit, not a different time. So a Florida fixed deeded week (& it HIGH maintenance fees), does not improve your Winter in Florida lottery odds (in Wyndham units), unless it started out as a Winter week - so WHY would you want to convert to Wyndham pts and pay the Fairshare fees, use it? The Wyndham PIC program gets you Wyndham points for a non Wyndham property, but I believe you must pay $100 per week per year (plus your maintenance fees to your resort) to keep it in the PIC program - plus you can only get into the PIC program when you buy some Developer Wyndham points (not resale). Plus, to convert your Wyndham fixed deed week, you must buy Developer points also. Wyndham is a very complex (and constantly changing system) and IMO (and many others on this BBS), the yearly "improvements" seem to degrade owner friendly and beneficial options, replaced with new nickle and dime fees. Fees which go to Corporate Wyndham, not the HOAs running the resorts.

RCI points is the newer option over deeded RCI fixed weeks. If you have a points account, the membership fee includes a Free RCI weeks account. If you own a possible PFD resort (a non RCI converted weeks resort, NOT just a nonconverted week), it costs $26 yearly to make it into RCI points after your maintenance fees. Limit is 4 PFD single resort weeks per RCI points account/3 RCI points accounts per person. Of course, there is the conversion degrading factor which requires you to be sure you do it MORE than 90 days before your fixed week checkin date. You get to book for 7,500-9,000 point vacations (45 days out or less) - which you can guest certificate to your friends and family for a measly additional $59 - but you can NOT collect a rental fee for these units or any other RCI Points vacation.

I mention the guest certificate fee as you can't distribute the RCI Weeks Last Call Vacations to others. RCI Weeks Extra Vacations, yes (and for the same $59 guest certificate fee).

Borrowing RCI points from future year is free; renting points gets expensive at $.02 per point - maximum number of rental points is 1/2 your yearly allotment. Points extended life is an automatic 2 years; fee to extend for a 3rd year - longer than Wyndham Points unless you exchange into RCI as a weeks exchange (and pay a deposit fee). To buy a already converted into RCI Points week, the most important things are Home Resort Week, Home Resort and Home Resort Network - which gives you at 13 months Home Resort - keep my fixed week for my own person use for no fee; let me use points at Home Resort to reserve another unit at 12 months out for $40. and Home Resort Network which is 11 months out, but with a full exchange fee (is it $169)... still ahead of the masses (everyone else with RCI Points). I know the name of my home resort network, but I would need to figure out where in the world is the rest of these resorts are located, etc.

Which now moves us to the Standard Reservation on RCI Points - which is the ONLY one that allows (and charges more/less in points) for week stays different than 7 nights/standard week format - either shorter or longer. All Standard Reservations come with the exchange fee of $169 (except foreign fees more $). As more individual resorts and their HOAs become educated in RCI Points and more TS RCI Points owners change their thinking and travel plans to this new TS way, resorts are reacting. The Wyndham points model has a thing called the FairsharePlan which is a fee to participate as a points accounts, based on the number of points a Wyndham owner has. There is a cost for short stays (more front desk activity, more housekeeping, more keycards, even more empty and disconnected units, less efficiencies in turnovers activities) which the HOA (and resort managements might not have understood). So resorts are beginnning to charge "housekeeping/cleaning fees" verses passing them on the traditional weeks owner ... passing them on to occupants much like parking charges, electric usage fee, safe rental fees.

This is NOT a simple answer. I am NOT an expert and admit to learning new stuff almost daily. If you don't understand many of these points, terms, or concepts, you will make decisions which you will have to undo or live with - it is only money. I picked an area of the country I wanted to vacation in, picked resorts that I liked the looks of and location of (should have visited all before buying (the PINK unit took by breathe away - pictues lie)), learned about due diligence (showed up on the wrong checkin day-early) and local festivals (bike week, was a good one). TS has had some super benefits and I don't regret purchasing - nor do most of my family and friends. But I have spent more time learning this avocation/hobby than I would have thought possible. Only to realize I don't know much.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Free R. C. I. Guest Certificates.

I mention the guest certificate fee as you can't distribute the RCI Weeks Last Call Vacations to others. RCI Weeks Extra Vacations, yes (and for the same $59 guest certificate fee).

We get guest certificates el freebo for the 5 people we listed as official Additional Users when we signed up with RCI Points -- our 2 sons, our nephew, my brother, & The Chief Of Staff's sister.

The guest certificates are free for weeks reservations, points reservations, Last Call reservations, & Instant Exchange reservations. We haven't done Extra Vacations yet -- too expensive -- but no doubt guest certificates for those are also freebies.

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

 

[janej]

We get guest certificates el freebo for the 5 people we listed as official Additional Users when we signed up with RCI Points -- our 2 sons, our nephew, my brother, & The Chief Of Staff's sister.

The guest certificates are free for weeks reservations, points reservations, Last Call reservations, & Instant Exchange reservations. We haven't done Extra Vacations yet -- too expensive -- but no doubt guest certificates for those are also freebies.

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

Alan,

Do you have to get guest certificate for the additional users on your account? I am about to add my sister. I am going to buy a week with her. I was concerned that we could not add the week to my RCI account unless she is on the account. I called RCI twice about it. I was told that as long as I am on the deed. They don't seem to care.

Thanks,

Jane

 

[AwayWeGo]

Users, Shmoozers.

Do you have to get guest certificate for the additional users on your account? I am about to add my sister. I am going to buy a week with her. I was concerned that we could not add the week to my RCI account unless she is on the account. I called RCI twice about it. I was told that as long as I am on the deed. They don't seem to care.

The way I get it -- not that my understanding (such as it is) is in any way authoritative or definitive -- is that guest certificates are needed for timeshare reservations on my account for anybody but the 2 of us who "own" our RCI & RCI Points memberships (i.e., The Chief Of Staff & me). For our 5 official Additional Users, those guest certificates are issued at no additional charge. For anybody else, we pay the regular rate for a guest certificate.

Our timeshare deeds are in 4 names -- the 2 of us plus our older son & our daughter-in-law. But only The Chief Of Staff & I "own" the RCI & RCI Points accounts. So even though our son is already on our timeshare deeds, that means nothing when it comes to RCI reservations. What counts is having him on our Additional Users list.

If we'd been shrewd, I suppose we would have put our RCI & RCI Points accounts jointly in the name of The Chief Of Staff & our son. That way The Chief Of Staff & I would be covered just by a straight-ahead RCI reservation of any kind. Ditto our son & his spouse, since our son would be the other person shown as RCI account owner. Doing it that way, that is, would have meant we could have named 1 other person -- via the Additional Users list -- to the group for whom we can get RCI reservations without paying for guest certificates.

But it all works out OK for our little family group just as it is, so there would be no advantage to any of us in trying to reconfigure it now.

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

 

[janej]

Thanks a lot, Alan. I think both ways would work for us too. My sister used my exchange a few times before without guest certificates. So far, we have not had any problems. We have the same last name.

Do you call to get the guest certificate after your confirm an exchange?

Thanks,

Jane

 

[AwayWeGo]

For Free Guest Certificates, We Use The Telephone. (We Don't Trust The Web For That.)

Do you call to get the guest certificate after your confirm an exchange?

Yes.

The reason we arrange by phone for guest certificates is that the online method offers no way to skip the associated fee -- even when the guest certificates are in the names of people on our Additional Users list. (I'm not saying it can't be done free online, only that I don't know how.)

So we call up RCI & reference those 5 Additional Users on our list, get the RCI person to acknowledge them, & then say we want a guest certificate at no charge for somebody on the list. At that the RCI person has always said OK.

So far, so good.

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

 

[glenmore]

Are you able to have additional users on your weeks account . . or just on your points account? Duh . . since this is a points discussion, I think I know the answer

 

[AwayWeGo]

- - - - - - - - - - - -

-- due to circumstances beyond my control, this TUG-BBS entry (#12) showed up twice back to back --

-- seemed like the only decent thing to do was erase the accidental entry
since there is no earthly way I know of to undo an extraneous BBS entry -- ​

 

[AwayWeGo]

I Don't Know -- But I Suppose I Will Find Out 1 Way Or Another.

Are you able to have additional users on your weeks account . . or just on your points account? Duh . . since this is a points discussion, I think I know the answer

I don't know how it works with weeks. I get the idea that my basic RCI connection now is via Points, with Weeks as an extra no-added-cost accessory.

After this year, my paid-for RCI Weeks membership will run out & I will thenceforth participate in RCI Weeks via the free weeks account that (according to various TUG-BBS reliable sources) comes along at no extra cost with paid membership in RCI Points.

I intend to proceed on the assumption that my RCI Additional Users are Additional Users, period -- not just RCI Points Additional Users.

If I'm wrong about that, no doubt the nice folks over at RCI will straighten me out 1 of these days.

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

 

[pranas]

I added my daughter to my RCI points account and no guest certificate was needed when I made a reservation for her last year. The reservation was made in both of our names automatically. My account reads XXXX and YYY ZZZZ. Maybe if you add more names to the acount you need to get a free guest certificate,I don't know. I will be adding her to my weeks account and then combining my weeks account into my points account.
RCI wouldn't let me combine until both accounts have the same names. Not a problem because my RCI weeks account was free the first year.