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Possible to use II instead of RCI with Vacation Village Ownership?

connect1

connect1

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
54
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7
Location
Michigan
RCI fees increase every year and the good inventory seems to be decreasing. It also drives me crazy that you can't filter out the Exchange Plus results when searching for stays. Our VV Parkway week auto deposits into RCI each year. (We actually have never stayed there we use it to trade to other resorts in RCI inventory). We have points, not weeks.

I am curious:
1. if we can trade into II instead of RCI next year
or
2. Do not transfer our week but use the points within VV - book direct with VV for other VV and affiliate resorts next year instead (so don't use RCi and don't stay in our deeded resort)

Any other ideas on how to achieve these goals are welcome.
Thank you
 
VV@Parkway does not appear to be in the II directory, so I think the answer to #1 is probably no.

That said, while Interval has more name-brand resorts, RCI has more inventory overall.
 
For # 2, you can book into VV and affiliated resorts through RCI using your points. I believe there is a discount available for that, too, though I don't remember for sure. You can't book other VV or affiliated resorts using your points without going through RCI if your ownership is enrolled in RCI points. Even going back to your home resort in your home week has to go through RCI.

It's been a while for me since I owned an RCI-points enrolled week; I took it out of points because of the limitations and typically use it for WorldMark credits through the Exchange Plus program. I do better with it overall that way.
 
connect1 said:
RCI fees increase every year and the good inventory seems to be decreasing. It also drives me crazy that you can't filter out the Exchange Plus results when searching for stays. Our VV Parkway week auto deposits into RCI each year. (We actually have never stayed there we use it to trade to other resorts in RCI inventory). We have points, not weeks.

I am curious:
1. if we can trade into II instead of RCI next year
or
2. Do not transfer our week but use the points within VV - book direct with VV for other VV and affiliate resorts next year instead (so don't use RCi and don't stay in our deeded resort)

Any other ideas on how to achieve these goals are welcome.
Thank you
Click to expand...
In the end, if you don't like your RCI points membership, or can't afford the exchanges to take advantage of it, I think the best strategy is to sell it or give it away.

1. VV at Parkway is RCI-only.

2. The way I understand it, you can avoid paying an exchange fee by booking your home week. Of course, if you are like me you bought this unit to exchange and not stay in. As I understand it, you can only stay in your home unit if you don't pay an exchange fee.

If you are curious about comparing exchanges. the main competitor to RCI, Interval International, also charges membership and exchange fees. With the resort I own via Interval, I lock it off and get two exchanges every two years: I own via weeks in Interval. No points.

Examples:

Year one:
Exchange my 2 bedroom unit for a 2 bedroom unit:
Interval membership: $99
Exchange fee: $219
Cost: $318

Year two
Exchange my 1BR for 2BR
Interval membership: $99
Exchange fee: $219
Unit upgrade fee: $99
Cost: $417

With my RCI points membership, I can get many more exchanges out of the same cost of maintenance fees and annual charge. Or course, with every exchange you are paying an exchange fee.

RCI membership: $134
RCI: Exchange, $269
No unit size upgrade for RCI exchanges:
Cost: $403

Both systems offer membership discounts if you buy more years. RCI will sometimes discount exchanges. I don't know if Interval does.

Perhaps there is a way to get even more exchanges out of Interval with a different timeshare ownership than mine, but the costs of the two exchange systems look fairly similar. I do think if you want to travel, and aren't super-picky, you can get a lot more weeks of vacation with RCI and the per-week cost will be much lower than on the open market. Of, if you can't afford to travel it doesn't matter.
 
This may not be helpful, but I will make an observation. If you own VV and primarily exchange into VV ( or want to), you are ahead owning weeks (or trading in RCI) instead of points. It is only a $159 exchange fee to do that, and often weeks (especially those not in prime season) are discounted more in weeks than in points.

Unfortunately, if your week is enrolled in RCI points, it must be disentitled from points to be traded in weeks.
 
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