May not be using my RCI TPUs - what can I do with them?

[MLR]

Is there anything at all a person can do with TPUs they probably won't use? Made the mistake of banking TS and now cannot find anything suitable to use TPUs for. Can they be sold? Any suggestions? Seems EVERYONE is traveling this summer/fall - even tried looking into next summer. Lousy inventory on RCI (try non existent). We hesitated for some time before banking the week, now wish we had tried renting it instead.

(Ad removed as ads are not allowed in the discussion forum. Use the Marketplace.)

 

[escanoe]

Patience, grasshopper.

It is largely too early to look for next summer. Looking at inventory available at any one time on RCI is simply a snapshot of what the leftovers are on that day. An ongoing search (OGS) can be your friend. Had you set one up a few months ago, you might have pretty good chances for the fall. At this point I would create one looking for what you really want to do in the fall and what you would like to do next summer.

How many TPUs do you have? People on TUG would be happy to listen to what you want and suggest a realistic trading strategy to do the best you can.

Note: It may just be me and what I look at, but RCI inventory does not look all that different right now than I think it does in a typical year. Up to this point, there has been much more churn than usual. A late OGS can snag something, and it is not that strange for quite a bit of last minute inventory to pop up.

 

[tschwa2]

Is there anything at all a person can do with TPUs they probably won't use? Made the mistake of banking TS and now cannot find anything suitable to use TPUs for. Can they be sold? Any suggestions? Seems EVERYONE is traveling this summer/fall - even tried looking into next summer. Lousy inventory on RCI (try non existent). We hesitated for some time before banking the week, now wish we had tried renting it instead.

(Ad removed as ads are not allowed in the discussion forum. Use the Marketplace.)

There really isn't much you can do with tpu's. You can extend them once for fee or you can combine them indefinitely each time for a fee under the current rules. The current rules do not allow you to sell anything you have banked with rci but people do it. Keeping in mind there is a $119 ish fee to transfer plus likely the new owner would have to pay to extend or combine the tpu's unless the expiration date is more than a year in the future plus the fairly high exchange fee for what you describe as not a lot of inventory basically makes any tpu's on the blackmarket worthless. A 25-30 tpu might be worth about $100 (plus the $119 transfer fee) if you could find a buyer. If you have smaller amounts you might find someone willing to pay the transfer fee if you are willing to give it to them.

Where are you trying to go and what size do you need. Most of the good stuff requires an ongoing search of 6-18 months plus some luck or very very deligent daily searches unless you are exceptionally luck.

 

[bnoble]

A late OGS can snag something, and it is not that strange for quite a bit of last minute inventory to pop up.

This is really good advice. Pick a couple of areas and put in an ongoing search for as much of summer as you can cover---the first week or two might be too close in already, but not much more than that. We had a week blocked off for mid-June, and found lots of interesting weeks that came and went in the "leftovers" before settling on a 2BR at HGVC Sunrise Lodge in Park City. If you're willing to check periodically, you never know what you might find.

 

[MLR]

I have never done an ongoing search on RCI. We have 36 TPU. Need a 2 bedroom. FL panhandle next summer would be nice.

If anyone can suggest some nice places to search for - would greatly appreciate the help.

 

[bnoble]

You can specify that as a region (USA -> Florida - Other -> FL - Panhandle). I'd enter that in for as much of "summer" as you are interested in and see what comes up.

 

[escanoe]

I have never done an ongoing search on RCI. We have 36 TPU. Need a 2 bedroom. FL panhandle next summer would be nice.

When does your 36 TPU deposit expire and is it all in one deposit? An OGS can not search past the expiration of the deposit. Of course, you can pay to extend the deposit.

 

[CPNY]

I have never done an ongoing search on RCI. We have 36 TPU. Need a 2 bedroom. FL panhandle next summer would be nice.

If anyone can suggest some nice places to search for - would greatly appreciate the help.

Try club Wyndham in Miramar #6053 or there is a Wyndham and hoiliday inn at Panama City beach Florida.

 

[escanoe]

I would do that now so your OGS starts to age (priority is given to older searches).

The downside to such a broad regional search is it may yield hits for many things you do not want.

I would go into the RCI Resort Directory, and select the ones you have a high interest in (you could let the directory help you by sorting it down to gold crown or gold crown and silver crown first).

Once you have a list of (maybe as many as 20) that you have interest in you can go in and change the regional search you set up today. Then you are more likely to get something you want. I would not start to get anxious about what the search may yield until we get into at least early next year.

Note: Set your OGS up now. When you want to change it, be sure you modify it instead of canceling it and starting a new one.

You can specify that as a region (USA -> Florida - Other -> FL - Panhandle). I'd enter that in for as much of "summer" as you are interested in and see what comes up.

 

[tschwa2]

There aren't a lot of panhandle resorts that get deposited for the summer. If you could travel in May or early June, your chances will increase but April through September an a nice oceanfront 2 Bedroom is still difficult.

 

[bnoble]

There aren't a lot of panhandle resorts that get deposited for the summer.

That's what I was thinking when I suggested searching the region. You can always decline a match, but you can't confirm something you aren't searching for.

But, in the interests of full disclosure, I typically do what @escanoe suggests, identifying a specific list of resorts.

 

[escanoe]

That's what I was thinking when I suggested searching the region. You can always decline a match, but you can't confirm something you aren't searching for.

But, in the interests of full disclosure, I typically do what @escanoe suggests, identifying a specific list of resorts.

And I am advising on my general approach, I am not a Panhandle expert. You could easily go with @bnoble’s approach and wait to change strategies only if your OGS keeps getting sidelined with results you do not like.

 

[MLR]

Thanks so much everyone. We are good until Nov. 30, 2023 - so I will play with an ongoing search and see what turns up. thanks again for all the tips.

 

[MLR]

One last question. Is there a charge for an ongoing search? Considering the Wyndham Clearwater Beach in October - hoping off season might pick up something. Anyone know approximately how many TPU it might require for a week there in a 2 BR? Thanks again!!

 

[tschwa2]

One last question. Is there a charge for an ongoing search? Considering the Wyndham Clearwater Beach in October - hoping off season might pick up something. Anyone know approximately how many TPU it might require for a week there in a 2 BR? Thanks again!!

Not a charge per say but unless you have a platinum account they make you prepay the exchange fee at the time you set up the ongoing request. So $249 at the time you set it up. If you match and accept the exchange then you are even. If they don't match or you don't accept the exchange and want to discontinue the search, you can cancel the search and request the money back to the original form of payment. You can only have one search per deposit credit although you can put multiple areas and or resorts on that single search but the minimum unit size has to be the same regardless of area or resort.

 

[Grammarhero]

I love travelling to Williamsburg, Massanuetten, and Shenandoah. For each 2BR, the TPU there are usually 10-14, but sales drop often them to 3-8. In the midst of COVID last summer (after I had COVID in the spring), I remember getting Orlando units usually 25 TPU going for 11 TPU.