Do RCI points make sense at all to you, with the new weeks' system, Points Lite?

[rickandcindy23]

Today there were two Wyndham Shearwater for next February, 25 and 27 TPU's each in Points Lite, RCI weeks.

My TPU's cost between $12-30 each, depending on the resort and week. My blue week is only $30 per TPU.

My highest cost on the 25 point week would be $750 + $179 exchange fee.

With RCI Points, the same week is 109,500 points X my cost of .0116 = $1,270 + $139 exchange fee for the same exact thing.

A DVC one bedroom in prime summer is 71K RCI Points; 118,500 for a 2 bed and in weeks, both are only 25 TPU's. Huge difference in cost.

How does RCI Points make sense now? Even if you have a lower cost than my RCI Points, you still have a higher cost overall, simply because the values are so high.

 

[pranas]

I have found the reverse to be true. 27 TPUs versus 17,000 points, so I used my points account both times.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have found the reverse to be true. 27 TPUs versus 17,000 points, so I used my points account both times.

For what exchange? How much are your RCI Points costing you per point?

Everyone:
Please be specific in this thread, so we can evaluate and compare. And last-minute stuff is still a bargain in weeks, whether you use points or TPU's. They had a Hilton discounted today on the Big Island.

Something else to consider is the lack of inventory in Points vs. weeks. You will never see some resort systems in RCI Points at all. Weeks has much more inventory overall. I have examined this quite thoroughly since November. My impression is that RCI Points is really expensive. I will still use it, don't get me wrong, but I gave away my deed to > 250K annual points, just to rid us of the liability.

 

[Keep Traveling]

Pyramisa Sharm el-Sheikh Resort (#4405)

RCI Points 19500 = $195 in Points Costs
RCI Weeks 34 = 15(TPU) * 34 = $540
WM Points 12000 = $720
Bluegreen Points = 18000 = $1200

So it's important to have a variety of options available to you.

I however too don't know if I am going to keep RCI points much longer.

KT

 

[Keep Traveling]

Sheraton Broadway Plantation Aug2012

RCI POINTS 60500 = $605
RCI Weeks TPU 44 * $15 = $660

Not much savings here but some others would have been good values.

Others not as the TPUs were lower.


KT

 

[rickandcindy23]

KT, that is a great example. It is sometimes all about location and times of year.

 

[GPLACERS]

Doesn't make sense to me. I own Cliffs Club in Hawaii, I do not have access to the weeks only side, but someone helped get me some figures on some resorts I like to stay at in Hawaii and here is what we came up with:

Points for 1 bedroom, early December:

Cliffs Club: 60,000
Bay Club: 44,500
Ka'anapali Beach Club: 60,000
Lifetime in Hawaii (Royal Kuhio): 36,000

Weeks TPU:

Cliffs Club: 19
Bay Club: 18
Ka'anapali: 26
Lifetime in Hawaii (Royal Kuhio): 36


Oahu is up and down though, that week in Oahu might be a surfing championship week, maybe why its 36 TPU. I've seen points vary from 23,500 for a studio at Lifetime in Hawaii for most of the year to all of April being at 64,000.

I know my Vista Mirage in Palm Springs (Silver Crown, 2 br) would never get a good TPU to equal what 55,500 points would get me, heck with the revamped points system, a silver crown 2 bedroom is now only 46,000 points for Palm Springs, and I am locked in at 55,500...I even saw Worldmark Indio 1 bedrooms get knocked down from 43,500 to 32,000 points, same weeks, after the update.

 

[tschwa2]

Smaller units at high demand location and times (30 tpu and over) are often better deals in points than weeks. This is expecially true if its a standard or hospitality rated resort that costs less points.

Shoulder season when tpu's drop in weeks are often full point values in points, so the above usually only works for bright red peak season weeks.

 

[california-bighorn]

Oahu is up and down though, that week in Oahu might be a surfing championship week, maybe why its 36 TPU. I've seen points vary from 23,500 for a studio at Lifetime in Hawaii for most of the year to all of April being at 64,000.

Isn't the new RCI weeks program the system with transparency so you will always know what your week is worth and what it will exchange for? It appears there is no consistancy.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Smaller units at high demand location and times (30 tpu and over) are often better deals in points than weeks. This is expecially true if its a standard or hospitality rated resort that costs less points.Shoulder season when tpu's drop in weeks are often full point values in points, so the above usually only works for bright red peak season weeks.

It depends on the price you pay per TPU. Some of my TPU's are very cheap.

I keep looking at our favorite exchanges, and those are not a good value in RCI Points at all, like Disney Vacation Club and Shearwater.

Kahana Villas might be a decent value in the weeks side of Points.

 

[tschwa2]

In the MD, DE, VA area there are not that many oceanfront TS. There are more 1 bedrooms than 2 bedrooms. The main season is relatively short June 25-Aug 25.

A one bedroom in July and August usually rates 29-34 TPU's but points values are typically 24,000-27,000 points in weeks(generic crossover). With Points I don't have to pay to combine and my TPU's average $15 a point and inevidably I will either need to combine or let some stray leftovers go to waist so that will bump up the TPU cost some more.

Also with points, Pre-changeover it was easier to buy something with good MF ratio, with weeks it was always a crap shot. Hopefully I will be able to adjust my portfolio to bring down my TPU cost ratio

 

[chriskre]

From one Disneyphile to another I've been following Vero's availability and this is why I'll be keeping and maybe even addding RCI points and I've found this to be the case not just with DVC but also with other resorts that I enjoy.

Here is availability for 2/9/11 in TPU's at Vero Disney resort:

2 measley units to choose from and not even decent dates IMO.

map resort Available Unit Size
1 Bedroom
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
28-Oct-2011 - 26-Nov-2011
Exchange Trading Power
14


Here's what was available the same day with RCI Points:

27 units to choose from.

Studio 4 (2) Partial Fri 17-Jun-2011 Fri 24-Jun-2011 32,000
Studio 4 (2) Partial Sun 19-Jun-2011 Sun 26-Jun-2011 32,000
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Fri 19-Aug-2011 Fri 26-Aug-2011 45,500
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Fri 26-Aug-2011 Fri 2-Sep-2011 45,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sat 27-Aug-2011 Sat 3-Sep-2011 77,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 4-Sep-2011 Sun 11-Sep-2011 55,000
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 11-Sep-2011 Sun 18-Sep-2011 32,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Fri 16-Sep-2011 Fri 23-Sep-2011 55,000
Studio 4 (2) Partial Sun 18-Sep-2011 Sun 25-Sep-2011 22,500
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 18-Sep-2011 Sun 25-Sep-2011 32,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 18-Sep-2011 Sun 25-Sep-2011 55,000
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Fri 23-Sep-2011 Fri 30-Sep-2011 32,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sat 24-Sep-2011 Sat 1-Oct-2011 55,000
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 25-Sep-2011 Sun 2-Oct-2011 32,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Fri 30-Sep-2011 Fri 7-Oct-2011 55,000
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sat 1-Oct-2011 Sat 8-Oct-2011 32,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 2-Oct-2011 Sun 9-Oct-2011 55,000
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Fri 21-Oct-2011 Fri 28-Oct-2011 55,000
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sat 22-Oct-2011 Sat 29-Oct-2011 32,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 23-Oct-2011 Sun 30-Oct-2011 55,000
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Fri 28-Oct-2011 Fri 4-Nov-2011 55,000
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sat 29-Oct-2011 Sat 5-Nov-2011 45,500
2 Bedroom 8 (6) Full Sun 30-Oct-2011 Sun 6-Nov-2011 77,500
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 13-Nov-2011 Sun 20-Nov-2011 45,500
Studio 4 (2) Partial Fri 25-Nov-2011 Fri 2-Dec-2011 32,000
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sat 3-Dec-2011 Sat 10-Dec-2011 32,500
1 Bedroom 4 (4) Full Sun 4-Dec-2011 Sun 11-Dec-2011 32,500

It may be a little cheaper to use TPU's but if the cupboard is bare what good is it? I don't want to shop in slimpickinsville mall. :annoyed:

I think since more people are in weeks there is way more competition for the good stuff. These units just sat online for a few days in points while weeks was slim pickins' and it was like this for days at a time. I've already booked my summer beach weeks in RCI points and am very pleased with what I got and it wasn't stressful and I didn't have to live on the sightings threads to do it.

 

[pranas]

For what exchange? How much are your RCI Points costing you per point?

Everyone:
Please be specific in this thread, so we can evaluate and compare. And last-minute stuff is still a bargain in weeks, whether you use points or TPU's. They had a Hilton discounted today on the Big Island.

Something else to consider is the lack of inventory in Points vs. weeks. You will never see some resort systems in RCI Points at all. Weeks has much more inventory overall. I have examined this quite thoroughly since November. My impression is that RCI Points is really expensive. I will still use it, don't get me wrong, but I gave away my deed to > 250K annual points, just to rid us of the liability.

My exchanges were not last minute deals and are in hard to get areas (Florida Keys next spring) at nice resorts. You pointed out in your first post that you had to use a lot of points for 27 lite points. I merely pointed out that I only used 17,000 points for the same number of lite points.

 

[MichaelColey]

In general, I've found RCI Weeks to be a much better value than RCI Points for the places I go, but I still find value in RCI Points.

1. Sometimes the points required is less than the TP required on the Weeks side. There's one example listed earlier in the thread.

2. With RCI Points, you can book less than week. For instance, I booked 2 nights in Destin, FL to break up our upcoming 18 hour drive to Orlando. I wouldn't have wanted a full week. (We'll be gone nearly a month as it is.)

3. With RCI Points, you know when to check for availability. I wanted to stay in the Manhattan Club or one of the HGVCs in NY 4 nights for an upcoming conference. I was able to book it 10 months out through RCI Points. Getting it through RCI Weeks would have been hit or miss, and it would have been 3 nights longer than I needed.

4. With RCI Points, you can sometimes find things that you can't find in RCI Weeks. I'm interested in trying out all of the DVC properties in Orlando, but BCV can be hard to find in RCI Weeks. I picked up a week through RCI Points. It cost me about 50% more than it would have through RCI Weeks, but the cost was acceptable to me.

5. The exchange fees are lower with RCI Points and you don't have to pay any combine fees.

6. You have Points Platinum available for free upgrades, fee rebates, etc. (I'm not sure I see the value in this, but some may.)

 

[rickandcindy23]

The benefits of nightly stays are a good reason to hold onto some RCI Points, along with the exemption from 1-in-4 rules RCI has in weeks. We can also get Shearwater in points more readily than we can in weeks. In weeks, it's hit or miss, in points, there are lots available at ten months out.

I have seen very little agreement with me, that RCI Points are too expensive to use, but I think it's because I have some very cheap TPU's, but even my highest cost on TPU's are cheaper for the resorts I want.

We travel in off-season to Orlando, when the weather is cool, and the parks are not busy. I can get Grand Beach resort, 3 bedrooms, for 8-11 TPU's. I like the resort just fine.

 

[MichaelColey]

I have seen very little agreement with me, that RCI Points are too expensive to use, but I think it's because I have some very cheap TPU's, but even my highest cost on TPU's are cheaper for the resorts I want.

No, I agree with you than RCI Weeks is much cheaper (especially off-peak), but there are still some benefits to RCI Points.

 

[chriskre]

My exchanges were not last minute deals and are in hard to get areas (Florida Keys next spring) at nice resorts. You pointed out in your first post that you had to use a lot of points for 27 lite points. I merely pointed out that I only used 17,000 points for the same number of lite points.

I agree with this too. Quite a bit more availability at nice FL beach resorts for summer in RCI points and not so in weeks. Studios are certainly a great value for beachfront if you only need the small unit.

The benefits of nightly stays are a good reason to hold onto some RCI Points, along with the exemption from 1-in-4 rules RCI has in weeks. We can also get Shearwater in points more readily than we can in weeks. In weeks, it's hit or miss, in points, there are lots available at ten months out.

I have seen very little agreement with me, that RCI Points are too expensive to use, but I think it's because I have some very cheap TPU's, but even my highest cost on TPU's are cheaper for the resorts I want.

We travel in off-season to Orlando, when the weather is cool, and the parks are not busy. I can get Grand Beach resort, 3 bedrooms, for 8-11 TPU's. I like the resort just fine.

Cindy, since I would only get 20 TPU's for $450 MF's it's not such a bargain for me and for a unit that I just got rid of I was only going to get 19 TPU's for $800 MF's so that would have been totally unacceptable with RCI's new system but did okay for me in II.

I think a mix of both systems would be necessary for me if I wanted to get into DVC since my RCI points resort is in Orlando anyway and can't get in but at least with my 20 TPU's I could pay the combine fee if I really needed to but with the Wyndham and HGVC portals that is probably how I'll be getting those units going forward. It's just easier than worry about expiring TPU's that I'd have to keep paying to combine to save to use on something or anything just to "use them up".

No, I agree with you than RCI Weeks is much cheaper (especially off-peak), but there are still some benefits to RCI Points.

Cheaper for those of you who did your homework before buying a week but I bought my weeks before I discovered TUG so I'm SOL in TPU's til I get rid of what I've got and replace it.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Cheaper for those of you who did your homework before buying a week but I bought my weeks before I discovered TUG so I'm SOL in TPU's til I get rid of what I've got and replace it.

We also have weeks we bought years ago that aren't worth their cost in RCI. I am trying to get rid of those weeks, because we have too many TPU's right now. We have well over 400 TPU's.

 

[prickler]

I was ready to give up on the RCI points system now that the weeks system is generally much cheaper and provides an advanced search. I thought to myself, who needs points anymore?

Then I thought of my 10 day St Lucia Windjammer RCI points exchange. I got a 2 bedroom for 115,000 points at .008 per point. (.008 * 115,00 = $920) + ($139 exchange fee) = $1059 total.

Definitely my most expensive trade, but where else am I going to find a 2000 sq foot villa with plunge pool over looking a tropical beach at such a low price? (Mexico doesn't count :hysterical The flexibility of nightly stays and resort selection make keeping reasonably priced RCI points worth it IMO.

 

[lonniegolf]

How to acquire inexpensive RCI points exchanges

Hi all, I have been reading alot here and haven't got an answer on how to get the least expensive exchanges. I have been a member for awhile but only owned wyndham points. Since the new wyndham RCI portal I am no longer able to get really cheap exchanges. I always try to get multiple units (2 or 3) for the same week in vegas or palm springs in summer when its the really hot and slow time. I was able to get 2 bedroom units at gold crown or silevr resorts for a total cost (points and exchange fees) of about $400 each. I am wondering if I bought RCI points if I would be successful getting multiple units 45 days out in these same locations for 9000 RCI points. Any and all advice would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

[tschwa2]

It's hard to tell. First of all the 45 window is down to 30 and in some case non existantant if RCI doesn't want to discount. The same trades that are available in that window are generally reduced down to 4-10 with TPU's so weeks are getting the discount too. Some weeks in slow times are valued in the 4-10 TPU range far in advance but the points in weeks don't reduce until 30 days before. Also this will be the first summer since the latest change and its hard to tell how last minute summer inventory will be valued.

I definitely don't think this is the time to be buying points in the hopes of getting 6500-9000 last minute trades.

 

[Larry]

Both systems work for me.

I have owned timeshare since 1992 and have gotten some fantastic trades over the years including;

Allen House London
Grand Mayan Aca and Riviera maya
French Riviera
Rome
Melia Paridisus
Royal Mayan Cancun
Beaches ( Now Sandal's ) Villa Resort Ocho Rios
Windjammer Landing St. Lucia
Morrits Grand
Tradewinds cruise Club

I purchased an RCI Points package on ebay last year and at first couldn't find the value in my searching for exchanges until I discovered the 10 month window and now check at the exact time I am able to search for specific locations.

Since 1992 I could never find an exchange to Aruba for January.

Exactly ten months before my desired dates I got two consecutive weeks at a gold crown resort. You can check out my very recent TUG review;

Divi Village Golf and Beach Resort

I recently did another RCI points exchange and got confirmed to

Residence at the Crane Barbados

Irregardless of all of the TPU calculations vs RCI points calculations the bottom line is I was able to get 3 great RCI points vacations which have never been available in all of my years of searching through RCI weeks.

So does it pay for me to have an RCI points account??? Well as long as I can still get these types of results on both the RCI weeks side as well as RCI points side I am very happy to have both.

 

[jerseygirl]

There was quite a bit of 9000 point inventory in the Caribbean this morning -- first time I'd noticed it in a while.

I think RCI will continue to "fiddle" with the points values for last minute inventory on both sides (weeks and points). The bottom line -- they'd rather rent it. But, when it hasn't rented, they'll drop the points accordingly to salvage an exchange fee out of it. I suspect they wanted a "big hit" on their hands when they rolled out points lite -- and the weeks owners benefited at the expense of points owners (the weeks owners were overdue for a break!). But, now that they got their "big buzz" on points lite, I think you'll see more 9000 point inventory again. Does anyone think they really care who takes it? They get the same exchange fee either way.

 

[ronparise]

It looks like you guys are comparing the cost of a week, and what that week can be traded for; to the number of points it would take to book the same week...and how much you are paying for those points (mf)

I did a little different comparison to conclude that points made sense to me

I own Wyndham points, I also own a fixed week in a Wyndham resort, that resort is a RCI points resort and I now own an RCI points account

heres what I see

1) My fixed week studio unit, week 12, costs me $495 maintenance per year

2) I can reserve a studio week at that same resort for 126000 Wyndham points that cost me $5 per 1000 points mf....so using my Wyndham points my cost to reserve that same week would be $630

3) With RCI points, the same week12 studio in the same resort is 17500 RCI points, my mf cost is a penny a point or $175, plus the reservation fee of $139, plus the annual membership $124. total is $438

So $495 vs $630 vs $438

Clear advantage is RCI points

based on this little bit of analysis my last timeshare purchase was RCI points

 

[catcher24]

Unless they have changed the system of converting weeks to points - and they may well have, I have to admit I haven't been paying attention - RCI points works very well for me. What I have always done in the past is convert my one red week at Massanutten Woodstone resort into points. I believe I figured that I could get 20 or 21 points lite if I split it into two, two bedroom lockout weeks. If I do the same but convert each unit to points, I then get 121,000 points (60,500 for each unit). The cost to convert to points is $52 ($26 per unit), and my maintenance fee is $640, so my cost per point is one half of one cent. I also can travel during the off season period and take advantage of the under-45 day reduced points (sounds like it's under 30 now, though) because I'm retired. I feel that everything considered, I can get a lot more out of my 121,000 points than I would using my 20 or so points lite through the weeks side. The downside is I am also forced to keep my RCI points property, which is MUCH more expensive. That one is Tanglwood Resort, where my 33,500 points per year costs me a dear $575 in maintenance fees, or 1.7 cents per point. However, my overall cost combining both is still only eight tenths of a cent per point, so the system does still work for me.

I have seriously considered simply selling both properties and taking advantage of Last Calls and Extra Vacations through RCI, or even using Vacation Rental By Owners website. Still trying to decide if that would be the cheapest choice overall, but for now I'll be sticking with points.