Considering purchasing RCI - Questions

[clint]

We've never bought timeshare and want to now do so. We are relatively flexible with our travel, able to book 4 months or less - so the points systems seem like a great way to go. Specific to that we are investigating RCI.

It appears we'll want 55-65K per year in points, and would prefer to travel just off of high season which should make it a little easier to book, so some basic questions about the RCI program.

1. If we were to buy points and they were given on an even years I assume we still pay maintanence fees on odd years?

2. Would it be nuts to buy points from a resort that we have no intention of visiting?

3. Is there any advantage to buying through a well known seller like Trendwest versus a lesser known developer?

4. Is there any downside to buying through a reseller like holidaygroup?

5. A listing we looked at says "Floating Leisure Week 1-5, 19-25 and 37-52 in a 2Bdrm floating unit." What does this listing mean if RCI is just points based and isnt tied to a specific week or unit size?

6. All we want to do is have the flexibility to use our points and get into different places in the Caribbean or S. America. Is there any reason not to just buy points in rural ______ and use them to trade into the areas that interest us?

7. Outside of holidayvacations are there any other good RCI points resellers?

Thanks!

 

[cr4909]

Number 6 is the most important question. It seems the best thing in your situation is to do exactly that which you are contemplating, to buy any resort as cheaply as possibly to get into the RCI Points system. The vacation clubs (Worldmark, HGVC, SVC, etc.) can be the right choice for those who have the $$$ to spend and plan to spend most of their time at the club's resorts. I don't think those vacation clubs have many Carribean/South American resorts, though (but you can certainly look).
In my case, I have two resorts - a Points resort in rural Texas, and a weeks resort in South Africa. I convert the South African resort (2 BD, Gold Crown, Red Week) to points ($26 RCI fee to do this). This conversion yields me 44,500 points and my Points resort gets me 27,500, for a grand total of 72,000 points yearly. Couple this with low maintenance costs (about $270 for each) and a low initial purchase price (in the $1,000 to $2,000 range for each), and this can be a good deal.

By contrast, when we went to a Trendwest presentation for Worldmark, our complete apathy and disinterest got the price down to $10,000 before our presenter finally acquiesced and gave us our voucher for a free Vegas vacation. The vacation clubs do have certain advantages, of course, mainly that you have a high chance of exchanging into any of their high quality resorts. With RCI, you're always limited by their inventory of available resorts, and some resorts are less than desirable. However, with RCI Points you are able to see the entire inventory and exchanging into the Carribean shouldn't be too hard.

To give you an idea of what's available, I did a search with my Points account into March 2008 for Carribean Points resorts and came up with 19 hits: Virgin Islands (2), Bahamas (2), Dominican Republic (1), Barabados (1), Saint Martin (10), and Aruba (3), including several Gold and Silver crown resorts. South America has fewer RCI resorts and they look to be less desirable from a quick glance. However, I did find a beachfront hotel in Rio De Janeiro. A small sample of availabe 1 BD units and their point values in March 2008:

St. Thomas: Magens Bay Villas Club (27,500)
Bahamas: Sandyport Beaches Resort (58,000)
Aruba: Divi Village Golf and Beach Resort (68,500)
Saint Martin: Royal Islander Great Bay (64,500)
Rio De Janeiro: Hotel Marina Palace (32,000)


A few things to keep in mind when looking at RCI points:
1) Always look for the lowest maintenance fees. The initial purchase price you pay only once, but maintenance fees you'll pay yearly forever (or until you sell it).
2) Be wary of a resort in a hurricane-prone area, or one that is undergoing a major renovation or expansion (watch those fees skyrocket).
3) Consider supplementing a Points purchase with a South African Weeks resort. Although the exchange rate isn't as favorable as when I bought 3 years ago, they still can be a great deal.

 

[aliikai2]

If I am reading you correctly

We've never bought timeshare and want to now do so. We are relatively flexible with our travel, able to book 4 months or less - so the points systems seem like a great way to go. Specific to that we are investigating RCI.

You are setting yourself up for some serious aggravation. Timeshare works great for those that can plan 1 to 2 years into the future, or those that can travel on less than 45 days notice. Trying to make reservations into popular areas at 4 months in advance just doesn't work.

It appears we'll want 55-65K per year in points, and would prefer to travel just off of high season which should make it a little easier to book, so some basic questions about the RCI program.

1. If we were to buy points and they were given on an even years I assume we still pay maintanence fees on odd years?

This is going to depend upon the resort you purchase, some do , some don't.

2. Would it be nuts to buy points from a resort that we have no intention of visiting?

If you are talking about RCI points, points are points, the important factors are the annual costs per point, so it doesn't matter where, just how much.

3. Is there any advantage to buying through a well known seller like Trendwest versus a lesser known developer?

Now, if you are looking at Trendwest(worldmark) these are not RCI points and there costs are much higher to acquire.

4. Is there any downside to buying through a reseller like holidaygroup?

No, not if they have what you need.

5. A listing we looked at says "Floating Leisure Week 1-5, 19-25 and 37-52 in a 2Bdrm floating unit." What does this listing mean if RCI is just points based and isnt tied to a specific week or unit size?

Sounds like a Florida resort that I know of, anyway,it describes your underlying week. Your points membership is three years at a time, and if you drop RCI points, what you own is this week.

6. All we want to do is have the flexibility to use our points and get into different places in the Caribbean or S. America. Is there any reason not to just buy points in rural ______ and use them to trade into the areas that interest us?

Thanks!

Nope, except that unless I am misunderstanding your requirements, you really need to re-think buying a timeshare of any type.

fwiw, Greg

 

[clint]

Thanks so much for the detailed feedback! It is really, really helpful to be able to ask questions and have so much great help. We're feeling really good about the points system idea......your things to keep in mind are very helpful, we'll absolutely take those into account.

 

[clint]

Greg - thanks for the feedback as well. I wanted to clarify something in my original post. We are flexible enough to book less than 4 months in advance (travel on a whim) but booking 12-18 months out isnt a problem either. With that further background does your opinion change?

1 other question: do you have any experience with the Trendwest and RCI resorts? You mentioned Trendwest being more expensive....does this usually equate to higher quality resorts?

 

[cr4909]

Remember with RCI you have access to both Points resorts and Weeks resorts. With Points, availability does not open up until 10 months prior, and some resorts hold their inventory longer before releasing it. The RCI Points resort are generally of better quality than those you can get with a Weeks exchange, and the exchange fee is cheaper ($99 for 5 days or more, no matter how long you stay).

I don't have any experience with any of the vacation clubs, except for the Trendwest presentation I attended 3 years ago for Worldmark. Yes, they are of high quality. They all are basically the same floor plan and are Gold Crown status. With RCI you get a mixed bag - some are Gold Crown and just as good (if not better) than Worldmark, while some are good (but not spectacular) and a handful are dumps. Of the specific examples I gave you, three are Gold Crown (Divi, Royal Islander, and Hotel Marina) and the other two are not rated (although "recommended" based on their reviews). Just be sure to research a resort before you exchange for it. Also, certain resorts from Worldmark and other vacation clubs (Sunterra, Fairfield, etc) show up sometimes for exchange anyway with RCI Points.

You'll need to research yourself to see if the vacation clubs have the destinations you need. Off the top of my head there is Worldmark, Sunterra, Fairfield (now Wyndham), Hilton Grand Vacations, and Shell Vacations. You're going to pay top dollar for these but I don't think they have many Carribean destinations (if any), and I don't think any of them offer South America as a destination. Yes, you'll still have exchange rights with RCI (at least you do with Worldmark), but if you are going to primarily exchange anyway, why would you buy Worldmark and exchange it for another RCI resort if you could buy a cheap RCI Points resort for a fraction of their price? If your primary focus is Carribean and South America and you'd like to go to different resorts every year, then it seems that RCI Points is a better fit for your needs.

 

[aliikai2]

Sorry to take so long getting back with you

That changes everything, and you now sound like a great candidate for Timeshare ownership.

WM( trendwest) is a very good ownership, trades well with II and RCI, and once you get over the 10k ownership level the annual fees are reasonable.

My problem with them is their initial cost of some where between .70 and .80 per point.

To have enough points to travel a couple of weeks a year to high demanded areas during prime time you would need around 24k of points or about $17,000 in initial investment buying on the resale market.

For much less money, BlueGreen or Fairfield( now Wyndham) will give you greater return ( more vacation time) than WM.

Please continue to read, ask, and read some more. For great info on BG contact Boccabum1999@yahoo.com

The one thing that would sway me towards WM for you would be if you live on the West coast, then you may be able to take advantage of some of their short notice rentals.

On FF(Wyndham) there are several very knowledgeable folks that hang out in the Wyndham board down towards the bottom of the page here on TUG.

Greg

Greg - thanks for the feedback as well. I wanted to clarify something in my original post. We are flexible enough to book less than 4 months in advance (travel on a whim) but booking 12-18 months out isnt a problem either. With that further background does your opinion change?

1 other question: do you have any experience with the Trendwest and RCI resorts? You mentioned Trendwest being more expensive....does this usually equate to higher quality resorts?