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How many keep membership at RCI?

FlyKaesan

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My first year with RCI and I was too disappointed I decided to expire without even with one exchange or Last calls, extra vacations.
Gave my next year's TS to Tradingplaces.
 
I only have 1 resort that only trades with RCI. So this year, I deposited my 2009 week with RCI and traded it. So I will let it expire at the end of the year. My idea is that RCI might give me a great deal to keep me.
 
I have had RCI and II since 1997. I have become increasingly disgusted with exchange availability in RCI. So much so, that when I had the opportunity to add my one lone RCI property to my II acct. for free (it now trades in both and if you add a resort when you extend your II membership, it's free to add), I did so. Now, as soon as I use up the one last remaining week that I have on deposit with RCI, I will cancel that membership.
 
One deposit left in RCI to trade, then I'm gone.

I'm mostly using DAE these days, or renting out at least one of my weeks.
 
HGVC includes RCI membership in it's club fee's so there's not getting out of that one. At our last owners update I made it clear that HGVC didn't have enough variety with Hilton built timeshares to interest me in increasing our ownership and that I had no desire to deal with RCI as an exchange company based on recent history. It fell on deaf ears as far as I'm concerned.

We have one other resort we purchased at that is with RCI but, we purchased that resort to use and not exchange. I would never intentionally buy a resort that is affiliated with RCI unless I felt I would use it long term for personal usage rather than exchange. Should we ever decide we want to exchange that resort I'll look towards one of the independant exchange companies rather than RCI.
 
I'm still using RCI...it's working well enough for our purposes. In fact, I have one week in DAE, and that hasn't been successful for us.
Connie
 
Ok, maybe I am the only one here that loves RCI...ok I said it I love them, don't have a problem getting what I want, but I aint picky either. Usually I do a search so far in advance and with such a wide range of places I am willing to go, that I take what I get as a surprise. I went in not having high expectations and have given many of the Last Chance and Extra Vacations to family members and clients to join me on vacation. I just joined II and they are ok, as I am not to prudish about the resort quality as I know you can stay at "upper crust" resorts and still have horrible service depening on the day/time/and staff there at that time. I like having both, just used a getaway from II, and was able to get a faster booking in Cancun for next year there, but other than that...all of my vacations thus far are with RCI, and I am not giving in to doom and gloom. As long as it works for me I am going to keep using them, when I can't then I will book within Wyndam or stay at my Vistana.
 
I'm still using RCI and getting what I want. (You can see our good trades in my photos link). Good exchanges to Europe and Hawaii (but lately I have to wait for the 45 day window for Hawaii). Snagged a nice week in Vancouver for this fall. My membership doesn't expire until 2011 and I'll probably give them at least one of my two weeks every year.

Only twice have I given a week to another company (DAE) once it expired without me finding anything I wanted. I have another week with DAE now that I have until 2010 to use. I specifically gave it to DAE since I know they have lots of Scotland available.

I don't have a tiger trader so I do better with RCI in the off season which is when we prefer to travel anyway. It seems that people who have the most trouble with RCI want high end trades in the most popular seasons (summer, spring break, etc. - travel seasons that we avoid due to the crowds).

I like the flexibilty with RCI that I can trade my 1BR for a 2BR without an upcharge so that makes getting a 2BR unit cheaper with RCI than Trading Places or HTSE (but DAE is still the cheapest).

I've also been happy with my Extra Vacation rentals with RCI.
 
I'm keeping RCI. I am still getting great trades in prime time at hard to get resorts. Same with II.
 
Both of the resorts/mini's I own are administered by VRI. Rightly or wrongly, that was one reason I bought them. RCI membership is 3 years for each 2 purchased, so the cost is more reasonable. I maxed out my membership last fall before the last price increase. RCI reps are in the same room as VRI agents when I call so deposits/RCI exchanges are very easy.

Right now the reservation system leaves much to be desired, but they promise it will be better by the end of the year, with more resort choices and lower costs than RCI, so I will stick it out for the foreseeable future.

More exchange companies and more choices are better for the TS industry and owners alike.

Jim Ricks
 
RCI Trades

We have done over 50 trades in the last ten years with RCI.

We bank a year or more early, and trade at least a year out. We have obtained exceptional high quality trades with RCI.

Some of our better trades have been Carlsbad Inn, Carlsbad, Ca. HGVC Seaworld, Marriott Monarch at Sea Pines, Samoset Resort in Maine, Clowance in Cornwall England, Resort on Cocoa Beach, Caloosa Cove Florida Keys.

We have also booked several extra vacations and last calls with RCI.

Overall, we are satisfied with our RCI membership.
 
For us standard week for week trades are dinosaurs

We dropped out as paying RCI members in 1996. Although, because of Wyndham FSP, we have a full membership in RCI weeks covered in the FSP fees. We decided to join RCI Points in 2004 and still maintain that membership.

We joined II as paying members in 1997. We dropped the membership in 2003 and haven't missed it one bit. We do get access to all of II resorts through Diamond Points (The Club) and find that (corporate membership) to be far superior to an individual II membership. And it costs nothing.

We also use SFX as all our resorts but one qualify. They are the best at getting truly equal, top quality week for week exchanges. As a boutique trader they can delver that type of service. The majority of our "trades" are simply using one of the three points systems we are members of (FSP, Diamond Club or RCI Points).
 
I'm keeping RCI. I am still getting great trades in prime time at hard to get resorts. Same with II.

Same here I am keeping both although it's getting harder to get those good exchanges, I am set for now through December of 2008 but will look for something with II for this summer.

I have one exchange so far with RCI for 2009 and will be looking for more but so far no luck. I am very persistent and patient and still feel I will find some more great exchanges.:cheer: :wall: :hi:
 
We're keeping RCI

We're getting very good trades with RCI and haven't really experienced any issues with availability of trades. We plan well enough in advance and get to the places we're interested in. We've got most of our plans through to summer 2009 all set, just waiting on 1 more week.
 
What do you own and in what time period and what did you try to exchange for in what time periods?

Bruce :D

My first year with RCI and I was too disappointed I decided to expire without even with one exchange or Last calls, extra vacations.
Gave my next year's TS to Tradingplaces.
 
I have an RCI Points membership and i have been satisfied with my "exchanges". I will admit, though, I'm not too picky. Just give me a clean, functional unit with a courteous staff and I'm happy. My only pet-peeve is that a resort can charge a housekeeping fee if the Points reservation is less than 7 days. I just wish RCI would list this potential fee in the directory.

I own a NH timeshare that exchanges with both II and RCI. I've never deposited the unit with RCI (I do not like their deposit first method).
 
All in the eye of the beholder I guess, but except fot the increasing fees, I am a happy camper. Probably depends a lot on your flexibility and where & when you want to travel. We specifically choose to travel to the Caribbean during spring or fall to avoid the crowds and kids. I have been able to get everything I want using both weeks & points. I like to go to nice places in the Caribbean, exclusively by trading through RCI. Two of the weeks I own are also in II and I may give them a try in the future. But since I am getting good trades through RCI, why pay the second membership fee?? TUG is a wonderful source of information on how to make the system work for you. I have read up and put the knowledge to good use. It does take time and effort to search daily, but it can work. See my list below. I would gladly go back to any of these places except Sarasota Sands.

2293 Eagles Trace at Massanutten - 1BR Massanutten VA 8/31/2002
2481 Fairfield Williamsburg at Kingsgate - 2BR Williamsburg VA 10/11/2002
2091 Port de Plaisance Resort & Casino - Studio ST Martin 01/12/03
4905 Mauna Loa Village by the Sea - 2BR Hawaii 4/26/2003
3681 PAHIO Kauai Beach Villas - 2 BR Hawaii 5/3/2003
6494 WorldMark at Kihei -2BR Hawaii 5/10/2003
0301 Sarasota Sands - 1 BR Sarasota FL 6/21/2003
0301 Sarasota Sands - Studio Sarasota FL 6/21/2003
6055 The Alexandra Resort & Spa - 1BR 2 weeks Turks & Caicos 11/22/2003
3686 Bougainvillea Beach Resort - 1 BR 2 weeks Barbados 6/5/2004
6390 Residences at The Crane - Hotel Barbados 6/12/2004
5930 Morritt's Grand Resort - 2 BR 2 weeks Grand Cayman 11/6/2004
1715 The Four Sails - 2BR New Years Eve Dance VA Beach 12/26/2004
4856 Palm Beach Shores - 1BR Palm Beach FL 4/23/2005
0650 Suntide Island Beach Club - 2BR Sarasota FL 4/30/2005
3865 Umbrella Beach - 2BR Sarasota FL 9/10/2005
3025 WindJammer Landing - 1BR/pool 18 days ST Lucia 10/8/2005
1715 4 Sails - 2BR New Years Eve Dance VA Beach 12/31/2005
7543 Fairfield Atlantic City - 1BR New Jersey 1/12/2006
5930 Morritt's Grand Resort - 2 BR 2 weeks Grand Cayman 4/22/2006
6390 Residences at The Crane - 1BR/pool Barbados 4/22/2006
5356 DIVI ST Croix - 1BR ST Croix 4/29/2006
0259 Las Olas Beach Club - 2BR Satellite Beach FL 9/19/2006
1858 Sunterra Flamingo Beach - 1 BR ST Martin 10/7/2006
3984 Sunterra Royal Palm Beach - 2BR ST Martin 10/13/2006
4856 Palm Beach Shores - 1BR Palm Beach FL 3/10/2007
6390 Residences at The Crane - 2BR penthouse/pool Barbados 6/2/2007
6390 Residences at The Crane - 1BR/pool Barbados 6/9/2007
5044 Jamaican on the Gulf - 1BR ST Pete FL 9/22/2007
2150 Southwind II - 3BR HH Island SC 10/13/2007
2886 Sandyport Beach - 2 weeks in 1BR Bahamas 5/3/2008
0865 Little Gull - 2BR Sarasota FL 8/30/2008
2666 Playa Naco Resort - 1BR 2 weeks Dominican Republic 11/1/2008
2083 Four Winds of Longboat Key - 1BR Sarasota FL 4/25/2009
5249 Carambola Beach Resort - 1BR 2 weeks ST Croix 6/13/2009
0865 Little Gull - 1BR Sarasota FL 11/14/2009
0914 Half Moon Club - 1BR Jamaica 11/21/2009
 
Locked Into R. C. I.

We're not only locked in, but re-upped too -- i.e., we paid for a few years of RCI Points membership extension under the old rates right before the rates went up.

What locks us in is having a dinky points timeshare that's only good for points-based exchanges via RCI Points. That also lets us do Points For Deposit with our straight-weeks (i.e., non-points) timeshares any year we choose.

The years of paid-up timeshares that were part of our 2003 South African timeshare purchase are finished this year. No problem -- membership in RCI Points is supposed to include side-by-side membership in RCI Weeks as well at no additional cost. Starting January 2009 I guess we'll see whether that actually happens.

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

 
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Both of the resorts/mini's I own are administered by VRI. Rightly or wrongly, that was one reason I bought them. RCI membership is 3 years for each 2 purchased, so the cost is more reasonable.

I now own an EOY at a VRI resort. My RCI membership expires in June. I only made one trade through them and I've used SFX since then. Because I've only had 2 weeks of vacation the last few years, I didn't have enough vacation time to use extra vacations and last call. I've just taken a job with 3 weeks of vacation so I'm thinking about what to do. Join II? Rejoin RCI taking advantage of the VRI deal? Or just forgetting about those memberships since I've been happy with SFX.

I guess I can just let the membership lapse and decide what exchange company to use if/when I need another one. Any ideas or comments?

Sue
 
Easy to rank 1 to 3

I now own an EOY at a VRI resort. My RCI membership expires in June. I only made one trade through them and I've used SFX since then. Because I've only had 2 weeks of vacation the last few years, I didn't have enough vacation time to use extra vacations and last call. I've just taken a job with 3 weeks of vacation so I'm thinking about what to do. Join II? Rejoin RCI taking advantage of the VRI deal? Or just forgetting about those memberships since I've been happy with SFX.

I guess I can just let the membership lapse and decide what exchange company to use if/when I need another one. Any ideas or comments?

Sue

Speaking from personal results you would be best off sticking with SFX, adding RCI back in if there aren't enough choices there and, as a true last choice, joining II. Of the three II offers the least value.
 
No problem -- membership in RCI Points is supposed to include wide-by-side membership in RCI Weeks as well at no additional cost. Starting January 2009 I guess we'll see whether that actually happens.

The weeks membership should be combined with the Points at no extra charge. My NH unit was under the weeks system. When we bought into a points resort, the two were combined. I have separate sign-ins for each.
 
I'm getting out of RCI

I've got an exchange in 2009 and after that I'm letting my membership of RCI lapse. I'm selling the timeshare and just carrying on with my DRI points and II membership. I find that if I want to travel to the US then RCI is fantastic but if I don't (and increasingly I don't because money is getting tighter all the time) then it's actually cheaper to rent a week in Europe than to pay the maintenance fee, the RCI membership fee and the HUGE exchange fee.

So after my exchange to the Manhattan Club :whoopie: in April 2009 it'll be bye bye RCI...

Sue
 
I belong to RCI and II. Each has their merits and each has provided me with great trades. My summer Cape Cod VRI week is dual affliated and I added it to II when I renewed at no cost to see what it pulls in hopes of dropping one for ease of use. I still am a member of both for the following reasons.

RCI-I have always gotten great trades with RCI for Marco,Sanibel and Sarasota Florida, OBX coastal and urban locations like Manhattan Club. I do not like their online system to view available weeks. It is cumbersome.
I love that RCI shows really great trades up to 2 years out and that is the main reason I am still a member. Large variety of coastal locations that we enjoy. I am thinking about Bermuda for 2009 which is only with RCI.

II- Superior online sytem. Love the view all locations feature. Good trades are best within a 6-8 month window further out than that is very poor. That part I do not like at all. I normally go to Hilton Head but have traded to Harborside Atlantis and Westin Maui so no complaints there. Three HH beachfront resorts are with Marriott but I can see many other very good HH weeks with RCI.
 
We joined RCI in 1993, when we bought our first ts. We had no problems with exchanges for a long time, but began to feel the difference after points system arrived. Besides, we were always irritated with their frequent fee increases, requiring "guest certificates" with ridiculous (our opinion) fees for them. We let our membership lapse in 2006, I believe. There are too many less expensive, or free exchange companies to warrant staying with RCI. We haven't missed them a whit.
Now, with our Marriott and Welk, we've ended up with II again, but we're glad we don't have to deal with RCI anymore. It's strictly a matter of choice.:)
 
We have RCI weeks membership until 2018, thru the now-defunct membership add-ons that used to be available when buying a South Africa timeshare, so I don't have to think too hard about whether to continue, at the moment.

Mostly I'm still happy enough with the variety of choices at RCI... though there are such obviously huge numbers of member spacebank deposits going into rentals, and correspondingly less availability for trades, that if the trend continues, perhaps there won't be much left to exchange into by 2018!

I do get very irritated and frustrated at times when I'm searching for something with a good trader - nada comes up, but Extra Vacations is full of stuff. Sometimes I ask a VG whether I can have something off that list for an exchange, and get told No - even when the rental charge is under $600.

In comparing RCI with the independents, there's still no question that RCI currently still has about 100 times more choices for a given date than the indies. Being able to travel off-season or shoulder season helps somewhat - yet even that inventory is being siphoned off into rentals at RCI.

The indies are so much better w/customer service and personal contact. We've used DAE a couple of times, and the ability to communicate back and forth by phone or email with one specific human has been very nice.

So at this point I can't yet imagine being able to fill all our travel desires with just the indies - but if thousands more folks deposit with them, and RCI rents out more and more deposits, by 2018 it could happen!
 
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