Confused - or being ripped off?

[Timesharenewbie Rob]

I own 2 weeks timeshare at a Celebrity Resorts in Florida and have been using II. They are calling trying to get me switch to RCI. they get a fee of $3000 to do this. It appears that all they do for this fee is make the calls, send out the paperwork, and record it. My questions are:

1) Is RCI so much better that I'd want to spend $3K for the traansfer? and

2) Is this just part of a money making scheme by Celebrity Resorts or is there some sort of significant work done to reflect a $3K cost?

Any miscellaneous guidance on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[timeos2]

I own 2 weeks timeshare at a Celebrity Resorts in Florida and have been using II. They are calling trying to get me switch to RCI. they get a fee of $3000 to do this. It appears that all they do for this fee is make the calls, send out the paperwork, and record it. My questions are:

1) Is RCI so much better that I'd want to spend $3K for the traansfer? and

2) Is this just part of a money making scheme by Celebrity Resorts or is there some sort of significant work done to reflect a $3K cost?

Any miscellaneous guidance on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Sounds like they are selling RCI Points. While that is a good way to use timeshares for trade $3K is WAY too much to pay for it. Tell them "no thanks". If you want RCI Points there are cheaper ways to get them.

 

[JudyS]

Is the $3000 in order for you to convert to RCI Points? Regular RCI (RCI Weeks) should have no fee to join, other than the RCI annual membership fee (which is maybe $89 or so; I'm not sure of the exact amount.)

Whatever its for, it's a ripoff. If you decide to join RCI Points, you can buy a good week that's already been converted, and spend far less than $3000.

 

[theo]

Celebrity shenanigans...

I own 2 weeks timeshare at a Celebrity Resorts in Florida and have been using II. They are calling trying to get me switch to RCI. they get a fee of $3000 to do this. It appears that all they do for this fee is make the calls, send out the paperwork, and record it. My questions are:

1) Is RCI so much better that I'd want to spend $3K for the traansfer? and

2) Is this just part of a money making scheme by Celebrity Resorts or is there some sort of significant work done to reflect a $3K cost?

Any miscellaneous guidance on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I agree with timeos' assessment that this call is very likely just a ploy to get you to convert to RCI Points. For you to spend $3k to do so would be ourtright foolish.

With Celebrity Resorts in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since March, I certainly wouldn't personally consider for one moment giving Celebrity one red cent for any reason, other than to pay your inflated annual maintenance fee bills. The "RCI Points peddling" is likely just Celebrity looking to raise some much needed cash.
Don't let it be yours...

 

[Timesharenewbie Rob]

FOLLOW UP questions

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Much appreciated!

I think I figured it out now after speaking to an RCI rep.
I am with II. If I changed to RCI on the "weeks" program, no major conversion fee. But RCI has a 2nd program called the "points" program" in which your property has a point value and you book vacations based on yor accumulated points. The major benefit as I understand it is that you could book a vacation for less than a week or book a room with a lower number of bedrooms or resort ameneties to try to get the best bang for your bucks. It would appear that if you use your vacations in 1 week chunks this would seem like a bad decision but if you prefer more 4 day vacations there is a potential big upside to the RCI "points" program.
The RCI rep said that they cannot switch me over to the "points" program and "ONLY the resorts could do that." The only exception being a newly purchased property at a resort who is part of the points system. The RCI rep also said that $3000 is a typical or common rate for that switchover.

So in view of what I just learned and your comments, I now have these follow-up questions:

1) is the "RCI points" system that much better ($3000) than either the RCI or II "weeks" systems?

2) Do you think that the Resort's $3000 is a set rate, or is it like how these resorts always seem to do business where they overinflate a price and keep backing it down to a mysterious bottom line amount they would still do the deal for? If you think the latter is the case, what do you think that amount would be? and

3) Would changing over to RCI "points" still be a ripoff if they converted me over for a much lesser amount?

Thanks again for your previous help and thanks in advance to all who assist with these questions

 

[timeos2]

If you can talk them down maybe

So in view of what I just learned and your comments, I now have these follow-up questions:

1) is the "RCI points" system that much better ($3000) than either the RCI or II "weeks" systems?

In our experience, yes. But NOT at $3000 to convert. You can "get into" RCI Points for far less (although to convert YOUR current week to RCI Points you are limited to dealing with your resort & the very inflated $3K "offer". Still not a good deal IMO. While 3K is probably an average to convert the actual cost to do so is only $200 from RCI. The other $2800 is going to the seller and that is way too much of a markup)

2) Do you think that the Resort's $3000 is a set rate, or is it like how these resorts always seem to do business where they overinflate a price and keep backing it down to a mysterious bottom line amount they would still do the deal for? If you think the latter is the case, what do you think that amount would be? and

They may cut t a bit if you negotiate hard enough but it's doubtful you could get them down to a far more reasonable $800-$1200 which is where they should be. Anymore than that and you are seriously overpaying as you can get into the RCI Points system easily for that amount.

3) Would changing over to RCI "points" still be a ripoff if they converted me over for a much lesser amount?v

If you can get them to $800-$1200 (MAYBE even $1500 for the convenience of having just one timeshare ownership to deal with vs owning a week & an RCI Points one) then it would be worth it to us as RCI Points is a vastly superior trade system to II & RCI Weeks. But you have to get in at the right price to get reasonable value out.

 

[TUGMT]

another question on points system

Rob, I have a week that is not on the points system either. I question if we are not better off to just keep our week, knowing that it will always be a week stay. Seems like moving to the points system could open the door for the resort or RCI to skim off a day or two of your week by requiring more points in the future - just to get the same 7 day stay. I don't know if there is any protection from this or not?

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Much appreciated!

I think I figured it out now after speaking to an RCI rep.
I am with II. If I changed to RCI on the "weeks" program, no major conversion fee. But RCI has a 2nd program called the "points" program" in which your property has a point value and you book vacations based on yor accumulated points. The major benefit as I understand it is that you could book a vacation for less than a week or book a room with a lower number of bedrooms or resort ameneties to try to get the best bang for your bucks. It would appear that if you use your vacations in 1 week chunks this would seem like a bad decision but if you prefer more 4 day vacations there is a potential big upside to the RCI "points" program.
The RCI rep said that they cannot switch me over to the "points" program and "ONLY the resorts could do that." The only exception being a newly purchased property at a resort who is part of the points system. The RCI rep also said that $3000 is a typical or common rate for that switchover.

So in view of what I just learned and your comments, I now have these follow-up questions:

1) is the "RCI points" system that much better ($3000) than either the RCI or II "weeks" systems?

2) Do you think that the Resort's $3000 is a set rate, or is it like how these resorts always seem to do business where they overinflate a price and keep backing it down to a mysterious bottom line amount they would still do the deal for? If you think the latter is the case, what do you think that amount would be? and

3) Would changing over to RCI "points" still be a ripoff if they converted me over for a much lesser amount?

Thanks again for your previous help and thanks in advance to all who assist with these questions

 

[AwayWeGo]

You Typed A Mouthful.

You can "get into" RCI Points for far less

Click here & here for 2 current examples of eBay opportunities for getting into RCI points for lots less money.

Full Disclosure: We sprang for 1 of those recently -- $162 for a triennial 55,500-point unit that works out to 18,500 points every year. On our eBay deal -- but not on all of'm, so be sure to read all the fine print -- we paid only the bid amount of $162 + $100 RCI Points transfer fee (because we already belong to RCI Points). Closing costs + resort transfer fee + 3 years of resort maintenance fees were free. When that went through, we deeded back to the resort (a different timeshare in another state) the dinky points unit we had owned since mid-2005. There was nothing wrong with the points, but the maintenance fees had escalated beyond our comfort zone. Same thing could happen with our newly bought points-timeshare -- but not for at least 3 year or so.

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

 

[Timesharenewbie Rob]

clarification

So if I get into RCI points a different way -- either by buying a new property or buying someone's existing property who already belongs to RCI points, I should be able to get the resort I own 2 weeks at to transfer those to be RCI Point properties without paying a huge fee?

This is all unnecessarily confusing and supports a concern of mine that this business is rather shady.

 

[timeos2]

So if I get into RCI points a different way -- either by buying a new property or buying someone's existing property who already belongs to RCI points, I should be able to get the resort I own 2 weeks at to transfer those to be RCI Point properties without paying a huge fee?

This is all unnecessarily confusing and supports a concern of mine that this business is rather shady.

IF that resort belongs to the RCI Points system you cannot bring it into the system without paying that resort their price (whatever it may be).

It is not shady BUT it is, unfortunately, viewed as a cash cow by far too many resorts. Bottom lne its just another exchange company and paying $3K is just too much for that. For a reasonable price it can be a good way to go.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Buying A New Points Property Means Paying Way Too Much.

So if I get into RCI points a different way -- either by buying a new property or buying someone's existing property who already belongs to RCI points, I should be able to get the resort I own 2 weeks at to transfer those to be RCI Point properties without paying a huge fee?

This is all unnecessarily confusing and supports a concern of mine that this business is rather shady.

Buying a newly deeded RCI Points property means buying it at full freight, which means buying it from a timeshare company, which means paying way, way too much. Nothing that the timeshare companies are selling at full freight is worth the money, and that goes for RCI Points timeshares just like all the others. Buy timeshares resale & you'll do OK -- points or straight weeks mox nix.

Buying an RCI Points timeshare resale can be an OK way to go -- just so you complete your due diligence before pulling the trigger so that you know for sure (a) that the timeshare week has already been converted to points & (b) that it stays converted upon resale ownership transfer to you.

Unfortunately from the perspective of already owning unconverted weeks timeshares like yours at a resort that has switched to RCI points, you can't get points for those weeks without swallowing hard & coughing up whatever "conversion" fee the resort is demanding. For 2 weeks, I'm surprised they want "only" $3,000 -- I'd expect them to charge $3,000 apiece to convert those weeks.

Unconverted weeks at RCI Points timeshares are still good for showing up & checking in & for renting out, & for conventional straight-weeks exchange through I-I or RCI. What they're not good for is what RCI calls Points For Deposit -- depositing conventional non-points timeshare weeks at non-points timeshare resorts into the points exchange system instead of depositing'm into the weeks exchange system, thereby getting the points-equivalent value of the straight week added to your RCI Points account along with the points you already have in the account from your RCI Points timeshare.

I'm not sure all that folderol is shady, but it is semi-confusing at 1st. And I believe it is designed to nudge the whole system in the direction of switching to points -- people & resorts both. It's nearly as complicated as the rules of mahjong. Sometimes I think of timesharing as resembling a board game in which real people go places instead of moving tokens around on game boards, & in which the money is real dollars & cents instead of Monopoly money. Winning the game means enjoying luxury timeshare vacation accommodations at Motel 6 & Super 8 rates.

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

 

[siesta]

do NOT buy anything from the developer, plain and simple.

That being said, ebay is a great place to look for resale contracts.

 

[theo]

Good "point" (no pun intended...)

Seems like moving to the points system could open the door for the resort or RCI to skim off a day or two of your week by requiring more points in the future - just to get the same 7 day stay. I don't know if there is any protection from this or not?

This is a legitimate concern and an insightful question with no certain answer.

RCI will always do whatever is best for RCI and, as historical performance has very clearly and repeatedly demonstrated, RCI can (and will) continually invent and contrive assorted new "enhancements"
(a.k.a. "unilateral actions resulting in ownership devaluation and/or higher costs to RCI members").

Personally, I would not consider converting an existing ownership to RCI Points for a dime over the actual $200 RCI cost. If you are truly enamored of RCI Points, you can always just pick up a RCI Points ownership for pennies on eBay virtually any day of the week. Even after paying the next 5 years of maintenance fees thereafter, you'd likely still be financially "square" with (maybe even ahead of) the cost of a $3k "conversion" of an existing week. Just my own thoughts and personal opinion...

 

[funtime]

I would continue using II, the trades are much better and the trading cost is slightly less. Funtime