• A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!
  • The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!
  • The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!

I already have RCI account. Should I add II as well?

meetseti

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
118
Reaction score
63
Location
Nashville, TN
Hi all! I've been an RCI member for many years. Now I'm acquiring a resale week at a dual-affiliated resort. Would you recommend opening an II account as well?

What benefits would II add, other than the potential to trade into resorts that aren't available in RCI? For those who have both, which do you prefer and why? Is it worth it to have both?
 
Hi all! I've been an RCI member for many years. Now I'm acquiring a resale week at a dual-affiliated resort. Would you recommend opening an II account as well?

What benefits would II add, other than the potential to trade into resorts that aren't available in RCI? For those who have both, which do you prefer and why? Is it worth it to have both?
you would also get access to some getaways and some sales that may not be available on RCI.

If you don't buy getaways, then the only advantage is what you mentioned - - access to ii unique inventory. That includes Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, and Hyatt. Right now Welk is primarily trading through RCI, but in 2 years they are likely to be switching back to ii (Hyatt bought Welk recently).
 
I belonged to both back when DVC was in II, but I let my II account lapse and haven't felt the need to re-start it. I'm sure there are things in II that I would really enjoy and might even prefer over RCI, but RCI has delivered plenty of good options. It doesn't hurt that my RCI account is paid for out of one of my other ownerships.
 
I have both and like them for different reasons.
RCI: more inventory in New England where I travel alot
II: Like the quality of resorts more for travel to other locations (Marriott, Hyatt, Westin, etc)

I use the extra vacations/getaways on both.

I would suggest you pay for II membership if you think you may deposit with them or if you could utilize their getaways.
 
We have had an account with both for several years. We actually started with Interval. But, we use RCI more than we use II. Currently, that's because of our Vacation Village status. But, before that it was because of availability. It seemed to us that most times when we wanted to travel to a certain locale we had difficulty finding anything available with Interval. For quite some time I continued to search both sites for places to stay. Eventually, that stopped because we usually find what we want in RCI. Now I only visit Interval if we don't find what we want on RCI.

There's 2 reasons why we still keep the Interval account. First, because one of the resorts we own at is affiliated with II and not RCI. Although we usually stay at their resort locations. And, second, because that resort system pays for the account. If they didn't pay for it we'd probably drop Interval.
 
I have been curious enough about II that I am in the process of buying an RCI/II dually affiliated resort that is a good trader and starting an II Membership. I am kind of like @rboesl based on needs and geography (Mid-Atlantic), I expect RCI to be my go-to account. But I do want to try the ability to go for a Hyatt or Marriott trade every once in a while.
 
We have a dual-affiliated resort too. We've had an RCI account for years, and we had an II account for a few years too.

RCI has more in the northeast, where we usually travel, and I never really learned the II system very well. I don't like that II doesn't let you hold an exchange unit overnight while you check dates and everything--you can cancel the next day, but you have to call. For some reason I always found that very off-putting.

And we have been constrained by the school calendar up to now. We might give II another try now that those days are finally ending. They do have some very nice resorts that you can't get with RCI.
 
If you can get a 2 for 1 or a 3 for 1 membership to start I would try it. Otherwise unless you take more than 3 timeshare vacations per year or 1 or more in Orlando or Vegas per year I wouldn't bother at the normal per year membership rate.
 
Out of the six (6) II exchanges I used, four (4) were only available via II. Granted, I tend to need bigger units for all my friends, with specific cities, unit size, and dates. II has come in very handy for me. YMMV.
 
I enjoy having the flexibility of having both RCI and II accounts. I have resorts which are RCI Only, II Only, and dual affiliated resorts.

RCI has better availability and it's not uncommon to find good exchanges 2 years in the future while most II availability starts around 11 months out.

II has, in general, a higher percentage of higher quality resorts.

I use both systems extensively. Often times I need multiple units for family members and get exchanges to a given dual affiliated resort through both RCI and II.

I would recommend you take a look at the resorts in the II resort directory (you can access this directory without having to have an II account) to determine if there are any you would be interested in exchanging into. Keep in mind that some of them may be hard to exchange into though.
 
I enjoy having the flexibility of having both RCI and II accounts. I have resorts which are RCI Only, II Only, and dual affiliated resorts.

RCI has better availability and it's not uncommon to find good exchanges 2 years in the future while most II availability starts around 11 months out.

II has, in general, a higher percentage of higher quality resorts.

I use both systems extensively. Often times I need multiple units for family members and get exchanges to a given dual affiliated resort through both RCI and II.

I would recommend you take a look at the resorts in the II resort directory (you can access this directory without having to have an II account) to determine if there are any you would be interested in exchanging into. Keep in mind that some of them may be hard to exchange into though.
Ditto
 
If you can get a 2 for 1 or a 3 for 1 membership to start I would try it. Otherwise unless you take more than 3 timeshare vacations per year or 1 or more in Orlando or Vegas per year I wouldn't bother at the normal per year membership rate.
Does this mean two or three years of membership for the price of one? How would I find this deal?
 
Does this mean two or three years of membership for the price of one? How would I find this deal?
You would need to call and see. Sometimes they have offers like this especially for new owners of dual affiliate resorts to try to lure them away from using rci.
 
I like II better than RCI because Hawaii inventory is more available. I also like exchanging into Marriott resorts, especially in Orlando. The Hiltons are equally as nice and are with RCI exclusively (Orlando and Hawaii Hiltons), but there are fees for exchangers at Hiltons, so why would I choose Hilton with $30 per day fees with nothing to show for it? I won't go to Hilton again, unless I can get a Hilton through SFX. So far no fees for those.
 
Hi all! I've been an RCI member for many years. Now I'm acquiring a resale week at a dual-affiliated resort. Would you recommend opening an II account as well?

What benefits would II add, other than the potential to trade into resorts that aren't available in RCI? For those who have both, which do you prefer and why? Is it worth it to have both?
I have both RCI and II and like II much better. Interval has better quality resorts overall and has one special feature RCI does not have. When I make a trade I always pay the extra $59 fee that allows you to trade for another resort or another date in the same resort at a later date. You can trade that resort up to three times. For example I traded for a Marriott in Hilton Head in June this year but the resort was not on the ocean. I later was able to trade again for another Marriott on the ocean during the 4th of July. This is great if your plans change or you want to find a different resort. In RCI this is not possible.
 
Do you have a Marriott preference on the resort you traded? As someone weighing the pros and cons of II I am wondering if anyone with a high quality resort could expect to get trades like this or is it something you would generally need to have Marriott preference in order to pull off.


I have both RCI and II and like II much better. Interval has better quality resorts overall and has one special feature RCI does not have. When I make a trade I always pay the extra $59 fee that allows you to trade for another resort or another date in the same resort at a later date. You can trade that resort up to three times. For example I traded for a Marriott in Hilton Head in June this year but the resort was not on the ocean. I later was able to trade again for another Marriott on the ocean during the 4th of July. This is great if your plans change or you want to find a different resort. In RCI this is not possible.
 
I would probably not use 2021 as a basis to evaluate anything---the timeshare world has been very wonky in all sorts of ways that are unlikely to persist.

Fair enough. Could someone comment if trades like the one discussed in #15 above could be expected in a non-COVID year if someone did not have Marriott preference.
 
Fair enough. Could someone comment if trades like the one discussed in #15 above could be expected in a non-COVID year if someone did not have Marriott preference.
I think getting a non ocean front Marriott in the summer is possible without Marriott, especially if you put in an ongoing request early. I often see the shelter cove resort deposited quite early. Most Marriott owners skip over them because they are waiting/hoping for the oceanfront ones using an ongoing search. Getting an eplus retrade into an ocean front in the summer without preference would be very very difficult but if you check often it could happen especially if there is a cancellation within 3 days of check in.
 
Do you have a Marriott preference on the resort you traded? As someone weighing the pros and cons of II I am wondering if anyone with a high quality resort could expect to get trades like this or is it something you would generally need to have Marriott preference in order to pull off.
I did not put in a preference. I have a platinum Marriott week in Branson that I always trade for Hilton Head. I usually trade at least a year in advance for the first Hilton Head Marriott available in the summer and pay for E-trade. Then I continue to look for a trade for other Marriott resorts in Hilton Head until I get the trade I want. I also have two Sheratons in Myrtle Beach that I trade for Marriotts in Hilton Head. Marriott now owns Sheraton and I am able to trade them easily for Marriotts. We have a vacation home in the mountains only 5 to 6 hours from Hilton Head and visit the island often. We will be there 5 straight weeks this summer and two weeks in the fall and one week next spring during spring break while our grandkids are out of school. The grandkids love Hilton Head and we love pleasing them. We have traveled all over the world in recent years. We spent 6 weeks in Europe in 2019. We went to England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. We have been to Hawaii 5 times and the West Coast several times. We have now decided we prefer travelling closer to home and enjoy Hilton Head. The main reason I prefer Interval is they have the best resorts available in Hilton Head compared to RCI. I have already reserved 6 weeks in Hilton Head for June and July 2022. That is how far in advance I plan. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Top