New Timeshare...Do I Want RCI Points?

[Steve]

I recently purchased a week at Meadow Lake in Montana. It's a fixed summer week in a 2 bedroom lockout unit in one of the newest buildings. I love the resort, and I plan to use this week rather than exchange.

Having said that, I am wondering if I want RCI Points with the week. The previous owner had "converted" to RCI Points. I can transfer the points membership with a fee of a little over $200. I had told the closing company I didn't want the points. I just want the underlying deeded week...and that's how the purchase contract was written.

Nevertheless, the purchase is closing now and they are giving me one more chance to transfer the RCI Points membership. If I take it, I have to pay the transfer fee and and yearly RCI fee. (I let my RCI Weeks membership lapse and haven't missed it. I have never belonged to RCI Points.) So it would be a couple hundred dollars now plus about $100 a year. If I don't take the points now, and later decided that I wanted them, it would cost around $3000 to "convert" the week again.

What would you do? My thinking has been that I will just rent out my week and then pay to rent where I want to go if I decide I want a change from Meadow Lake. Or I could rejoin RCI Weeks...or use an independent exchange company like Redweek or SFX. (I belong to II and tend to prefer hotel branded timeshares when I exchange, but Meadow Lake doesn't belong to II, so that isn't an option.)

The week will convert to 99,000 RCI Points if I go that route. If I were to use RCI Points, the main locations I would be interested in would be: the Oregon Coast, Santa Fe, Jackson Hole, and the Carlsbad Inn in California. Are these locations available through RCI Points? Or am I likely to be disappointed in the availability in RCI Points?

I'm not interested in stays of less than a week, exchanging for points partners, etc. I'm also not too interested in last minute exchanges for only 9000 points as I typically need to plan more than 45 days in advance.

Based on all of this, and the fact that I hope to use my deeded week most of the time, I tend to think that RCI Points would be a waste of money in my situation. Or is it worth it because the entry fee is cheap now, and I may want it in the future? Any thoughts or comments?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[JimS]

Take the points!!!! More flexibility and more marketable.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Take The points! More Flexibility & More Marketable.

I can transfer the points membership with a fee of a little over $200.

What JimS said.

$200 is how much it costs to join RCI Points, so it sounds like you're getting the previously converted points el freebo & then paying for your own RCI Points membership, which you would have to do anyhow unless you already belonged to RCI Points.

(Even if you already belong to RCI Weeks, they make you pay $200 to join RCI Points. There's no reason for it. That's just the policy.)

Once you're good to go with RCI Points, you can snag those 9,000-point full-week Instant Exchange reservations -- when you make the reservation within 90 days of check-in.

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

 

[UWSurfer]

In the short term, accessing your week is a natural goal and it does seem like a waste of money to go points now. HOWEVER, I agree you should take the points!

You are getting a significant number for that week and you can do far much more with the points, providing you flexibility and the ability to get quite a bit more out of your week in the long run at almost no cost to you.

Take the points.

 

[Passepartout]

I think I'd take the points. You may be perfectly happy with your fixed week, but you never know. Circumstances change. You may want to expand your horizons further. We recently spent a week in Europe on less than a quarter of what you will have annually.

They and their use aren't free, but the flexibility is worth it. Me, I'd consider using the Montana week 2-out of 3 years and using 'weeks-for-points' get 3-4 or more weeks elsewhere. You have 3-years to use the points (borrow them from next year- use year- and the remainder held over til the next year) so I'd go for it.

Jim Ricks

 

[Latravel]

Take the points!!!!!

This gives you a whole new world of options and flexibility for very little investment. The previous owner paid dearly for this benefit and it is being offerred to you for very little cost. It would be a shame to let this go and that's probably why they keep asking you if you are sure!

 

[ira g]

Take the points

One of the best things about RCI is the flexibility of points. We own both weeks (4) with RCI and points and we use both for different purposes. Take the points and you won't be sorry.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Take the points. 99,000 is a LOT of points and as you stated that it is a lockout, you can use or bank either side or both.

Plus, you can BOOK at the 12 month HOME RESORT time and get a 2nd unit or week from the next year points or previous years points for only $40. Actually ANY unit booked 12 months at your HOME RESORT has any exchange fee of ONLY $40. Just think of it as an INTERNAL exchange system it you really like the Montana T/S. Plus, if your t/s is part of a mini-system (VRI, for example), you get 11 month preference at their resorts (although the exchange fee is $164).

I really like my RCI Points over the Fixed Week exchanges. I too know where I want to go and RCI Points lets me snag out of the Fixed Week inventory also. The 7,500-9,000 point weeks are a great deal, if you can find dates you can use.

You can still rent you HOME WEEK/UNIT, as you own that week (no exchange fee, if you reserve it at the 13 month mark).

With that RCI Points membership, you get a RCI Weeks account again - if you have other t/s units to tradE.

I own Wyndham Points, which might have made RCI Points a little faster to learn to use. And I too got into RCI Points with a surprise ebay purchase (ah, your week is a points week letter). I have since brought a couple more RCI points weeks, as I love them for all the right reasons - cheap internal exchanges, mini-system preferences, 7,500-9,000 point exchanges, 2+ years on the floating "life" of the points (so much better than Wyndham's 12 month life), etc.

 

[riverside]

I agree with the previous posters. Take the points! We get 72,500 points for our week and usually end up with 3 weeks vacation from that. We have a week's resort also but much prefer points for trading.

 

[pranas]

Take the points. You can reserve your home week 13 months in advance for $0 and give it back 120 days before the reservation starts with no penalty. A previous poster stated that there was a $40 charge but unless this fee was instituted very recently this is incorrect informmation. I just pulled two weeks at my home resort for personal use and paid $0 to RCI for this service. Returned another week last Friday and received all my points back.

 

[Egret1986]

I don't think you have gotten a response yet to NOT take the Points

I have been a Weeks owner since 1984 at several resorts over the years. I bought my first RCI Points timeshare two years ago on eBay at a resort where I initially bought a Weeks resort in 1984. I added a second one about 8 months later, also purchased on eBay for a very low cost. In the last month due to selling 3 of my timeshares, I have found myself owning no Weeks resorts. It seems a bit strange not owning a Weeks resort, but I love the flexibility of Points and I don't think that not owning any Weeks resorts is going to be detrimental to my timeshare health. Not having to worry about trade power is great. I have been able to get into resorts in prime seasons that for years I couldn't think about getting into unless it was off-season. I also enjoy the preference of trading back into my home resort for a $40 exchange fee only and the preference for trading within my resort group (VRI). I have always planned my vacations 1-2 years in advance, so I didn't think I would be able to benefit from the 7500-9000 point vacations. It's amazing how many that I have been able to take advantage of in the last year. It's awesome to be able to get several vacations out of the points from one year of maintenance fee (plus exchange fees).

Keep the Points. If you find it doesn't work for you, you can opt out in the future. But I believe you will enjoy the flexibility the Points will give you.

 

[Steve]

I'm taking the points.

Thank you to everyone for all of your comments. I really appreciate them. It seems to be unanimous...everyone advises me to transfer the points. Taking that into account and thinking things over during the past few days, I have decided to go for it. I filled out the paperwork today to join RCI Points. I think I'll be glad I have them even if I do end up using my home week in Montana the majority of the time. Thanks again,

Steve

 

[Carolinian]

Just saw this. Points with its various extra fees is of no more use to an own-to-use person than a bicycle is to a fish. It will cost you that RCI fee every years, which will serve no purpose, plus that $200 transfer fee. That is just throwing away money.

On top of that, you will have the aggravation of having to remember every year at the appropriate time to reserve your own week. What an unnecessary hassle to have to pay extra for. And if you forget, too bad, someone else gets to use your week and you are stuck finding something to do with those points.

I think if you had asked this question on the exchanging board rather than the points board, you would have gotten a better balance of answers.

 

[Texasbelle]

Wonder what you decided--?? Your letter sounded as though you wouldn't be using points or RCI so why would you pay for points or membership? Now if you decided you wanted to trade, that would be different.

 

[Steve]

Wonder what you decided--?? Your letter sounded as though you wouldn't be using points or RCI so why would you pay for points or membership? Now if you decided you wanted to trade, that would be different.

I decided to take the points. I don't plan on doing much trading, but it gives me more options for the future...just in case my plans change.

Steve

 

[Jennie]

For several years we have owned fixed/deeded weeks 7 and 8 (2 bdrm lock-off units) at a Ft. Lauderdale resort we love . We used them every year and wanted more. I gradually acquired weeks 6 and 9 at the same resort via Ebay aunctions, at unbelievably low prices. Both had already been converted to RCI Points and I had the same options and choices you now have.

After much research, I decided to pay the fee to join RCI Points for the following reasons:

You just need to call RCI 13 months in advance and tell them you will be using your unit instead of receiving the points for that year. I believe you can call anytime during the 13th month, not just on one day. There's no charge to do this. The $40. fee is for when you reserve a different week at your home resort.

You can then continue to look for exchages you would like for other vacations. If you find something you want, you can put it on hold and then call RCI and tell them you want to cancel the 13 month advance reservation you made for your own unit, and use the Points instead to confirm this new week. As long as you do this more than 120 days before the check-in date of your unit, there is no fee for canceling the reservation. You will pay only the exchange fee for the new week.

Or you can leave your home unit reservation in place and borrow the points from the following year to lock in the new week. The new week can also be canceled 120 days before the check-in date, and the Points will be returned to your account, although you will forfeit all or part of the exchange fee. You can cancel either your home resort reservation, or the exchage week, much closer to the check-in date but you then get back only a percentage of the points and pay higher fees.

When your RCI Points account is established, you are able to set up (or in your case, reinstate) the RCI Weeks account and there is no additional charge. The Weeks account is free when you have a Points account.

Because you have a lock off unit, you should reserve both parts of it for the following year, and if you find a nice exchange, you might want to cancel part of your unit and use the returned Points for the exchange, while still being able to vacation in the other part of your home unit. If the lock-off side of your unit is worth say 42,000 Points, you may be able to use those points to reserve a one or two bedroom unit up to 2 years in advance, or about 5 different weeks in any size unit on shorter notice.

If the prior fixed week you own is at a resort that is not in the RCI Points program, you can deposit that week into the RCI Points program, known as pfd ("Points for Deposit") and receive RCI Points for it it to get an extra vacation (or 2 or 3). This is a particularly good way to get better trades for a week with low trading value in the Weeks account.

If for some reason you are not happy with the Points program, you can just decline to renew your membership and it will automatically revert back to being the original fixed week.

So by paying about $200. to put your new week in the RCI Points program, you will be buying the right to try out the program and see whether it meets your needs. Remembering to call and reserve your own week once a year should not be a big deal.

One other possible negative is that if you confirm the use of your week, and do not withdraw it, RCI will make you purchase a rip-off guest certificate if you decide to rent out or loan your unit instead of using it yourself. While most of us object in principle to having to pay for a guest certificate under those circumstances, it's still not a "deal breaker." IMHO it's a small trade-off for the other benefits that come with your Points membership.

I resisted joining Points for many years. The only reason I did so is because the fixed weeks I was looking for, to match up with the two I already owned, just happened to become available on Ebay at a bagain basement price, and had already been converted by the prior owners. So I decided to give it a shot and I am soooo glad I did.

PM me is you need any help in understanding the ins and outs of the program. RCI does have an excellent explanation of the options, costs, etc...at their website.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[LynnW]

Do you always need a 2 bedroom unit? If not you have the option of booking a 1 bedroom unit most of which have 2 baths for the $40 fee which might give you enough points for another week somewhere else. We have been Meadow Lake owners since 1994 when they were selling 3 week packages on a 20 year rotation. We paid $1500 to convert all 3 weeks to points when the program first started. Meadow Lake was one of the original six points resorts. The first couple of years were difficult but now I'm happy we did it as we have much more flexibility.

Lynn

 

[Egret1986]

I agree, there's definitely more flexibility and more opportunities for more...

Do you always need a 2 bedroom unit? If not you have the option of booking a 1 bedroom unit most of which have 2 baths for the $40 fee which might give you enough points for another week somewhere else. We have been Meadow Lake owners since 1994 when they were selling 3 week packages on a 20 year rotation. We paid $1500 to convert all 3 weeks to points when the program first started. Meadow Lake was one of the original six points resorts. The first couple of years were difficult but now I'm happy we did it as we have much more flexibility.

Lynn

...than one week out of the yearly Points. One of my Points resorts is a September (East Coast beach) week lock-out (2BR/2BA). Last year, I was able to exchange back into my home resort for a Summer (July) week into a 2BR/1BA unit for 19,000 less points. Then I completed two last minute exchanges for a total of 15,000 points (2BR/2BA each, red weeks). That still gave me 4,000 points left over and I got 3 weeks out of the points.

 

[Steve]

Thanks to all for the additional tips and suggestions. They are very helpful. I think I'll be happy that I have the points down the road. One thing that I'm kind of excited about is that I could trade my prime summer week at Meadow Lake for a fall week...and then have enough points left over to go someplace else as well. That would be a good value. I love Montana in the fall. So, I'll probably do this some years.

Thanks again,

Steve

P.S. Lynn, I hope you have enjoyed being an owner at Meadow Lake.

 

[LynnW]

Thanks to all for the additional tips and suggestions. They are very helpful. I think I'll be happy that I have the points down the road. One thing that I'm kind of excited about is that I could trade my prime summer week at Meadow Lake for a fall week...and then have enough points left over to go someplace else as well. That would be a good value. I love Montana in the fall. So, I'll probably do this some years.

Thanks again,

Steve

P.S. Lynn, I hope you have enjoyed being an owner at Meadow Lake.

Steve that's exactly what we do. We go in either June or Sept and yes we love Meadow Lake!

Lynn

 

[bonniedwan]

Take the Points!

I own 3 timeshares & they are all weeks. It costs a pretty penny to upgrade to points. The flexibility with points is great! If you can get points for only I think you said $200.....take it & RUN!!

Bonnie

 

[bekachan]

Points

Hi. I have a question about points and fees. Suupose I get a week and get 50,000 points. (I am thinking about purchasing an RCI week). A maintanence fee will be associated with that week. If I utilize the 9000 points deal, I know I will have to pay the maintanence fee but will there be a fee associated with every additional exchange? What are the fees associated with the 9000 points deal? Thanks

 

[Egret1986]

You will have the associated RCI exchange fee.

Hi. I have a question about points and fees. Suupose I get a week and get 50,000 points. (I am thinking about purchasing an RCI week). A maintanence fee will be associated with that week. If I utilize the 9000 points deal, I know I will have to pay the maintanence fee but will there be a fee associated with every additional exchange? What are the fees associated with the 9000 points deal? Thanks

And if your RCI Points are used up and you need to rent some, I have found that it is still an economical vacation even going through RCI to get the additional points (as long as it is one of the 6500-9000 last minute exchanges). I ran out of my use of Points and still took several last minute vacations. All three were 6500 Point last minute exchanges (prime summer in Newport RI and Ocean City MD, two bedrooms). $164 exchange fee + $130 Points Rental ($.02 per point) = $294 for each 7-night vacation.

However, when you decide to buy (do as much research and reading before taking the plunge) and get the most points you can for the least amount of yearly fees).

On the other thread, you asked about buying on eBay. I don't buy anywhere else anymore. However, do your research there also. There is a long, long thread on Wanted Weeks and Shaun Fletcher. It's been a nightmare for some who purchased timeshares. However, there are many reputable sellers on eBay.

You should also do research on the resort where you're buying. Consider the underlying week also.

My latest RCI Points purchase for 69,000 yearly points with a maintenace fee of $550 cost me $104 + closing and RCI fees. I have purchased from this seller before and was satisfied with previous transactions. I am familiar with the resort. Maintenance fees have remained stable over the years. There have never been special assessments. If I ever needed to sell the week and someone did not want to keep it in Points, it has a good underlying week.

RCI Points timeshares are like any other timeshares. They are easy to buy and possibly hard to resell. You will always have the yearly fees and may also have special assessments. Do your research and take your time before jumping in. You will also find threads about a 3-Year RCI Points lease if you decide you just want to try it out first without making a long term commitment.