HELP!!!! HGVC? Melia? Raintree?

[exnewyorker]

hi all
i am SO CONFUSED!!!
i am researching the different TS systems, and although i love the resorts from raintree and melia (one for skiing, one for amazing resorts) i havent seen any great "press" or info on them. it seems to me that hgvc has alot more info, and comfort level among members. i would like a TS system that i can do easy exchanges within the system, and not do confusing RCI exchanges etc.

can anyone tell me the pros and cons of melia and raintree and (hahahaha) quickly summerize???????????

OR do i just "pick one" and enjoy what i have????????????

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH help!!!!

 

[Twinkstarr]

I'd give someone a medal if they could explain the Raintree system.

 

[UWSurfer]

Yeah Pick one...and then learn everything you can about it.

Then pick another one...and learn everything you can about it.

If you aren't sure yet, pick another one....

I'm unfortunately not familiar with the other two systems you mentioned, and I've posted enough about HGVC on the other boards that I'm sure you can get a good feel about that system looking over the HGVC board.

The most important thing is to find something which addresses your needs and desires.

 

[exnewyorker]

okay, so i am still confused!!!
one thing i do keep coming across though is the trend towards buying into more than one system.

it seems like timeshares are a little like potato chips...
cant have just one!!!

lauren

 

[UWSurfer]

Yeah...it's a dirty little habit. :ignore:

For us we have:

HGVC which has access to RCI

San Clemente Inn which accesses VR*ety program (VRI) & can trade via RCI or II

Gardens of West Maui accesses II

Summer Bay Desert Club LV which gives us RCI points.

SCI and Gardens we use ourselves. HGVC we own Vegas and use the points to stay in Hawaii & Vegas last year, Orlando and Vegas this year, and RCI Points (Summer Bay) to stay at HGVC LV Hilton and SCI for a weekend get away. (Go figure!)

Still have a healthy compliment of RCI points left and looking to use them to do a weekend later in the year (Sept/Oct), a trip near Sacramento for River Rafting in late Summer & to book Kauai 2010 as well as Vegas again in 2010.


It's nice to have options.

 

[jgirvine]

I would also like info on Raintree and am having a hard time finding out anything. Sigh

 

[cdn_traveler]

still learning about Raintree

Everything I know about Raintree, I learned on Tug.

Before we bought our gold membership from e-bay, I did a search on Tug with the terms Raintree, Club Regina, Whiski Jack and RVC. There were quite a few threads and many nuggets of information on Raintree. Thank you fellow Tuggers!

After the transfer of ownership, we pleasantly discovered that we had inherited the previous years points for free. So far, we have used some of our "free" points to book a partial week at Kaanapali Beach Club for May. This was a really nice surprise because we didn't expect another Hawaii property in RVC other than the one in Kona. I learned from a previous thread on TUG that Diamond and Raintree were test driving each other out and that there are currently a few common resorts between them.

Here is my understanding thus far of Raintree Vacation Club:

1) Raintree is a collection of 18 properties and membership in RVC allows you to book at any of these 18 resorts as long as you have the necessary number of points. Partial weeks may be booked within 59 days of check in.

2) Raintree Whiski Jack properties in Whistler are not automatically in RVC, I believe that the owner may have to pay a fee to join THE CLUB. However, if the previous owner had joined, membership does transfer with the sale.

3) Club Regina deeds may also not be part of RVC. Club regina members may only be restricted to the use of the properties in Mexico.

4) Different gem levels indicate the amount of points allotted per year.
for example- silver - 27000 points, and gold is 45000 etc.

5) My favourite feature of RVC - if you can travel during off peak times, you can really maximize the points and stretch them out to many weeks of accommadations.

6) And finally, Raintree points can be used to book RCI points properties too, but since you don't get online access to RCI inventory, you need to call and speak with a Raintree vacation guide to check inventory.

And, I just found out today from a Raintree Vacation guide that the 27000 point level had increased this year to 30000, but before I got too excited, I also found out that the points required per night at all the resorts had also increased.

If I was to do it over, considering how much we paid on Ebay, I would definitely buy Raintree again! But if we had more money, I would buy Worldmark points because Worldmark has more properties for internal exchange.

 

[scobrn]

I have two Raintree memberships at Cabo. One with 45,000 points and one with 27,000. Bought them on Ebay. I also was pleasantly suprised to find that I had points from 2007 and 2008 still available, if I could just figure out how to use them.

We tried to book a 2 BR lockoff for Jan. 2010. We should have had enough points total, but the reservationist said that we couldn't combine our points. So we ended up reserving a 1BR and a Studio. Hopefully they'll be adjoining, but they can't even guarantee that they'll be in the same building.

Is there any way to find your running point totals?

 

[geoand]

I have two Raintree memberships at Cabo. One with 45,000 points and one with 27,000. Bought them on Ebay. I also was pleasantly suprised to find that I had points from 2007 and 2008 still available, if I could just figure out how to use them.

We tried to book a 2 BR lockoff for Jan. 2010. We should have had enough points total, but the reservationist said that we couldn't combine our points. So we ended up reserving a 1BR and a Studio. Hopefully they'll be adjoining, but they can't even guarantee that they'll be in the same building.

Is there any way to find your running point totals?

The Raintree reservation person should have been able to explain the problem for you. Did they supply an explanation? If not, contact them again and ask about the problem. They have always been very helpful to me when making reservations and for explaining the ins and outs of the program.