Please teach me the nuts and bolts about RCI points

[1st Class]

I'm interested in learning about RCI points and how they relate to HHI resorts. I've looked at the charts to see points required, but have no idea whatsoever about availability and ease of use. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience using points on HHI, and also why I should or shouldn't consider purchasing, and the benefits of short-term lease vs. full deeded points ownership. Do you buy a home resort or do you just buy points? Sorry if this has been asked and answered previously. If anyone knows where to find a mini-tutorial I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

{edited to add: I know nothing about RCI, and even less about points}

 

[AwayWeGo]

A Timeshare That's In Points Won't Have Any More Availability Than A Weeks Timeshare.

Do you buy a home resort or do you just buy points?

With RCI, points is just 1 way of exchanging time in your own timeshare for time in somebody else's timeshare -- i.e., you've got to own your own points timeshare (or lease 1, in a few cases) in order to participate in RCI points-based exchanges.

Resorts that are hard to exchange into because of high seasonal demand & limited supply won't be any easier to get just because they're in points. HHI in prime summer vacation time, for example, will be just as hard to snag via points as it is via straight week-for-week exchange.

We took the points plunge mainly because we were interested in partial-week exchanges & week-long Instant Exchange reservations for 9,000 points (or fewer) when the reservation is made with 45 days of check-in.

Since taking the plunge, we have done a straight-points exchange once, we've done Instant Exchange more times than I can remember, & we've never made a partial-week timeshare exchange reservation.

Who'd a-thunk ?

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

 

[tschwa2]

I own points at a HHI resort and have used them for a different HHI resort. What resort are you trying to stay at? Most (if not all) RCI points resorts on HHI are not on the ocean. If you want to PM me on the specifics I could probably advise from my experiences.

Tracey

 

[1st Class]

With RCI, points is just 1 way of exchanging time in your own timeshare for time in somebody else's timeshare -- i.e., you've got to own your own points timeshare (or lease 1, in a few cases) in order to participate in RCI points-based exchanges.

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

Do I understand correctly that if I own the points at my own timeshare, there's no need to exchange? What's the process for making a home resort reservation with points? Is the reservation placed through RCI or directly with the resort? Is it difficult to get spring/fall weeks?

 

[AwayWeGo]

Take The Points Or Take The Week At Your Timeshare, But Not Both.

Do I understand correctly that if I own the points at my own timeshare, there's no need to exchange? What's the process for making a home resort reservation with points? Is the reservation placed through RCI or directly with the resort? Is it difficult to get spring/fall weeks?

If you're not going to exchange, you don't need RCI -- points or weeks mox nix.

If you own an RCI Points timeshare, then instead of getting a fixed or floating week when you can show up & check in, you get a set number of annual points added to your RCI Points account as of the (arbitrary) Use Date for your annual points. If you prefer to show up & check in at your points timeshare some year, you simply tell the timeshare that's what you want to do before you get your annual injection of points, & then you'll get a check-in date that year instead of getting any points. (That way, you don't pay an exchange fee for using your own timeshare.)

Any time you make a points-exchange reservation to stay at somebody else's timeshare, you do that through RCI rather than through either timeshare (yours or the other people's).

Our dinky points-timeshare (just 15,000 points per year) that we recently deeded back to the resort was just our toe-hold into the points system. Via Instant Exchange, 15,000 was enough points to get us two -- 2 -- week-long reservations to stay at other people's weeks timeshares. If we wanted more points than that in any given year, we could add to our total by doing Points For Deposit with our straight-weeks timeshares.

Right before deeding back our dinky 15,000-point timeshare, we bought a triennial eBay 55,500-point timeshare that nets us 18,500 points annually for annual fees that are less than 1/2 the amount we were paying for the 15,000-point timeshare. In fact, the excessive annual fee is the reason we turned our deed back to the timeshare. We bought the dinky triennial points-timeshare as our replacement toe-hold into the points system.

BTW, we were never interested in actually going to our dinky 15,000-point points timeshare. What season it is & what size it is & where it is & how highly or lowly rated it is are all mox nix, because points are points & the timeshare they come from is immaterial. Even so, sometimes when we were browsing the RCI Last Call offerings, we noticed that we could snag a whole Last Call week at that timeshare if we wanted, for $249 or so --cash only (no points & no weeks).

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

 

[shifty1981]

AwayWeGo, did you ever factor in the additional cost sometimes incurred for getting plane tickets or car rentals so close to the travel date? I don't fly often, though I have flown plenty of times. But from the people who do, it always seems like they say to save money they have to book months if not over a year in advance. I'm open to just doing last chance exchanges but it sounds like most of the places for doing this are going to be non-peak weeks and non-prime locations. Or is there just so much inventory right now. Aren't last chance units just the places that weren't popular enough to get exchanged into? Forgive me, but I'm new at this too.

One other question: how much for international last chance weeks?

 

[AwayWeGo]

Flying & Driving & Driving & Flying.

AwayWeGo, did you ever factor in the additional cost sometimes incurred for getting plane tickets or car rentals so close to the travel date? I don't fly often, though I have flown plenty of times. But from the people who do, it always seems like they say to save money they have to book months if not over a year in advance. I'm open to just doing last chance exchanges but it sounds like most of the places for doing this are going to be non-peak weeks and non-prime locations. Or is there just so much inventory right now. Aren't last chance units just the places that weren't popular enough to get exchanged into? Forgive me, but I'm new at this too.

We're willing to drive as far as Florida, & when we go there in orange-picking season we have to take the minivan just to haul all the fruit home. When we're not picking oranges & grapefruits, we're open to flying if we can snag bargain fares.

Sometimes, though, there are no bargains to be had. Or you can get a deal on airline fares but not on accommodations, or vice versa. I'm going to San Diego later this week. Three nights in a PriceLine 2-star Best Western at El Cajon are costing me more than the round-trip tickets on SWA. Sometimes we bite the bear. Other times the bear bites us. So it goes.

One other question: how much for international last chance weeks?

If you're talking Instant Exchange, it's 9,000 points (maximum) + exchange fee.

Last Call (cash only, no points, no exchange week) varies according to unit size.

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

 

[shifty1981]

Thanks.

Is there any way for people to see what's available without being a member?

My wife and I are considering this strategy where we have low MF and just do last call and instant exchanges, but we have no idea if going somewhere local and family friendly is ever on there for the New England area.

We're willing to drive as far as Florida, & when we go there in orange-picking season we have to take the minivan just to haul all the fruit home. When we're not picking oranges & grapefruits, we're open to flying if we can snag bargain fares.

Sometimes, though, there are no bargains to be had. Or you can get a deal on airline fares but not on accommodations, or vice versa. I'm going to San Diego later this week. Three nights in a PriceLine 2-star Best Western at El Cajon are costing me more than the round-trip tickets on SWA. Sometimes we bite the bear. Other times the bear bites us. So it goes.
If you're talking Instant Exchange, it's 9,000 points (maximum) + exchange fee.

Last Call (cash only, no points, no exchange week) varies according to unit size.

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

 

[brucecz]

Do I understand correctly that if I own the points at my own timeshare, there's no need to exchange? What's the process for making a home resort reservation with points? Is the reservation placed through RCI or directly with the resort? Is it difficult to get spring/fall weeks?

Lets say you own at resort X and your Deeded (fixed or floating)week for inventory purposes is a week 34 at your RCI Points resort.

Basically, if you want to reserve that same numbered week for your own use you contact RCI about at least 11 to 12 months before that weeks check in date to reserve that week for next year. You have priority at (most home resorts) or you can also in some cases can grab a different week depending on availability at your resort.

Of course you will use the points value assigned for that week to use that home week or for a different week and paying the amount of points needed if not the same amount points as your home week .

WE do that with most of our RCI Points home weeks and then we can also rent them out as we use them as RCI Weeks For Points For Deposit dump bucket Accounts for our various Christmas Mountain UDI's. But if we do rent them out RCI requires a RCI guest certificate for the renter.

I hope this helps answers your at least part of your questions.

Most Hawaii Points resorts in most but not all cases require more RCI Points than comparable mainland resorts for pime times in compareable rated Gold Crown units with the same amount of bedrooms and bathrooms.

Bruce

 

[Mary Jo]

I'm doing the legwork for my daughter to learn all about this TS experience..She owns a 3 bedroom Lockoff, Flex week #37(E) at SBR..she's had the thing since 2006 and only used it the first year.It says in the Purchase Agreement she gets 100,500 points with RCI that she pays for annually.(I'm assuming they don't rollover from year to year if unused) The way I read it ( I've read and read and still get confused) IF she wants to go on a vacation using this TS she should call now and make a reservation for her unit for 2012 as that is the "even" year she is qualified for (to late now for this year) and she also uses up those 100,500 points to do this? I don't understand why one would have to use their points to stay at their own "Home Resort" ? is this the case?..I would have thought for the price she paid for the TS plus M/F annually there should be no fee's or points..just make the reservation far enough in advance, as it is "Flex" not "Fixed"..Then she could use her 100,500 points to go other places through the year..I realize that during her "Off" year she would have to use her RCI points to find a places to vacation..Am I WAY off base here on how I understand the use of the RCI points..

Other questions if they can be answered here..

1. Do you have to stay enrolled in the RCI program? What happens if you drop it..

2. Is it good or bad to stay enrolled in the SBR RSI Vacation Club as this is another annual fee.

 

[rickandcindy23]

You never have to stay in points, but points is better than weeks, IMO. I wouldn't give up my points account ever.

If you enjoy that deeded week, you need to talk to the resort directly to find out when you must reserve it and not use the RCI Points. With an RCI Points account you get a free weeks account. The Points account is only slightly more money, but 2 accounts is better than one.

There are so many nuances to RCI Points, most people are clueless, which is why there are so many points packages on ebay. If you don't know the secrets, you cannot take advantage. Ask questions on TUG, and you will realize what you own is not altogether different from what your salesman told you. :ignore:

 

[AwayWeGo]

RCI Points Membership Is Optional.

1. Do you have to stay enrolled in the RCI program? What happens if you drop it.

Once you own the timeshare, it's yours. If you drop your RCI Points membership but you keep the timeshare, then the timeshare works pretty much like any other straight-weeks timeshare -- you can stay there yourself, you can rent it out, & you can exchange it on 1 of the week-for-week systems, including RCI Weeks.

What you can't do with a non-points week at a points timeshare is use your week for PFD. Points For Deposit only works for timeshare weeks at non-points timeshares.

2. Is it good or bad to stay enrolled in the SBR RSI Vacation Club as this is another annual fee.

Hard to imagine how you get enough value from membership in more than 1 timeshare exchange plan to justify the added cost.

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

 

[1st Class]

Thank you all very kindly for your explanations. It's getting through but not making much sense yet. Since this is a little more complicated than I expected, I'll have to study this a bit and come back with more questions.

 

[Mary Jo]

OK..so it sounds as though she should keep the RCI point program..you all know best and I thank you for sharing this information..and as she just paid the July statement annual dues for the SBR RSI Vacation Club, we'll wait on cancelling that next year..

Now, the one last thing for now...could one please tell me what "banking" or "depositing" points mean and how it's done? and for what reason this is done?

 

[Mary Jo]

1st Class
TUG Member


BBS Reg. Date: Jun 3, 06
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 345 Thank you all very kindly for your explanations. It's getting through but not making much sense yet. Since this is a little more complicated than I expected, I'll have to study this a bit and come back with more questions.

I can SO relate to your post.I'm SO overwhelmed by how you are expected to understand all of the "thereto's" "unto" "whereas's" in the Purchase Agreement I'm about to have a meltdown..LOL :rofl:

BTW: I did join the TUG yesterday but see I'm still a "guest" here..and wanted to say thank you all for the reviews of the resorts you all visit..it gave me great insight to using (if I ever figure out how) the TS plan and RCI points.

 

[rickandcindy23]

It can be difficult to formulate questions, if you are just considering it. Talking about it can also be confusing, but the one thing you need to know is that bottomline, cheap points is best. People on TUG say < 1 cent per point.

A <45 day reservation in the Weeks side is 9K points. So at 1 cent, it's $90 for the points, add into that $179 for the exchange fee.

But if you desire to go to Shearwater in February, you cannot get that with < 45 days, because Shearwater is a Points resort, and a February week requires 109,500 points. The total cost for that at 1 cent is 1,095.00 + $139 exchange fee (RCI Points exchange fee is lower). The only way you can save big money on RCI Points exchanges is if you have cheaper points, so if you can find a good points package for under 1 cent, then use PFD with cheaper weeks, you can do so much better. You can spend less than half of the above costs with points under .005 per point, net. Some people on TUG have figured that out.

A UDI product can get you cheap PFD, and you can even deposit additional prime red weeks into SFX and RCI, even II. So talking to someone knowledgeable about that is my advice. And I am not the one with all of the knowledge.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Points For Deposit.

Now, the one last thing for now...could one please tell me what "banking" or "depositing" points mean and how it's done? and for what reason this is done?

If you mean banking your points-timeshare week with RCI Points, it's automatic -- you don't have to do anything other than keep up on your timeshare maintenance fees & your RCI Points membership. So long as you're in good standing with both the timeshare & with RCI Points, the process of getting points for your points-timeshare week each year happens automatically. The only time you have to do anything other than let the process work is when you want to go to your points timeshare yourself instead of receiving a year's worth of points. Then you let the timeshare know that's what you want to do before the date comes round when you otherwise would get your automatic injection of points.

An interesting & useful feature of RCI Points membership is depositing your straight-week non-points timeshare week(s) into RCI Points instead of banking them with RCI Weeks for regular week-for-week exchanges. Doing that is called Points For Deposit. It gets the points-equivalent value of your non-points week added to your points total in RCI Points. The fee for doing that is $27 or so each time you do it.

Points For Deposit is optional & it is not automatic; you have to call up RCI every time you want to do Points For Deposit. Some people on TUG own only dinky points timeshares & get most of their points by doing Points For Deposit with their straight-weeks timeshares. A non-points week at a points timeshare is no good for Points For Deposit. It has to be a straight week at a regular RCI Weeks timeshare resort.

Points For Deposit is not the same as points conversion. Conversion is where a non-points week at a points timeshare is brought into the points system -- for a fee, naturally.

Confusing, eh ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

D. I. Y. Status Change On TUG-BBS.

I did join the TUG yesterday but see I'm still a "guest" here.

There's something you can click to change your status to TUG Member. I forget where the clicker is -- maybe mouse around in the FAQs & stickies, etc., & you'll find it.

Meanwhile, welcome to TUG.

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

 

[Mary Jo]

Confusing, eh ?

Holy Cow.. I'm going to be counting points in my sleep.

ETA: Thank you for the warm welcome AwayWeGo.

 

[1st Class]

An interesting & useful feature of RCI Points membership is depositing your straight-week non-points timeshare week(s) into RCI Points instead of banking them with RCI Weeks for regular week-for-week exchanges. Doing that is called Points For Deposit. It gets the points-equivalent value of your non-points week added to your points total in RCI Points. The fee for doing that is $27 or so each time you do it.

Points For Deposit is optional & it is not automatic; you have to call up RCI every time you want to do Points For Deposit. Some people on TUG own only dinky points timeshares & get most of their points by doing Points For Deposit with their straight-weeks timeshares. A non-points week at a points timeshare is no good for Points For Deposit. It has to be a straight week at a regular RCI Weeks timeshare resort.

Points For Deposit is not the same as points conversion. Conversion is where a non-points week at a points timeshare is brought into the points system -- for a fee, naturally.

Confusing, eh ?

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

No, not any more. This is actually beginning to make sense. Thanks for an excellent tutorial.

 

[1st Class]

It can be difficult to formulate questions, if you are just considering it. Talking about it can also be confusing, but the one thing you need to know is that bottomline, cheap points is best. People on TUG say < 1 cent per point.

A <45 day reservation in the Weeks side is 9K points. So at 1 cent, it's $90 for the points, add into that $179 for the exchange fee.

But if you desire to go to Shearwater in February, you cannot get that with < 45 days, because Shearwater is a Points resort, and a February week requires 109,500 points. The total cost for that at 1 cent is 1,095.00 + $139 exchange fee (RCI Points exchange fee is lower). The only way you can save big money on RCI Points exchanges is if you have cheaper points, so if you can find a good points package for under 1 cent, then use PFD with cheaper weeks, you can do so much better. You can spend less than half of the above costs with points under .005 per point, net. Some people on TUG have figured that out.

A UDI product can get you cheap PFD, and you can even deposit additional prime red weeks into SFX and RCI, even II. So talking to someone knowledgeable about that is my advice. And I am not the one with all of the knowledge.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and good advice. This is beginning to make some sense now.