rci online exchange?

[holdem]

I'm no longer a member of rci. Wanted to know if you can exchange online like II or do you still have to call them? Thanks.

 

[matbec]

RCI does have online services

RCI has had online exchange and other services for a few years. You'll have to register for an online account first though (https://www.rci.com/RCIW/RCIW_index?body=RCIW_GettingStarted). Other services include depositing your week(s), starting an on-going search, booking bonus/extra weeks(or whatever they're now called),

Hope that helps.

 

[holdem]

Can I search available weeks that are available and then confirm the exchange online?

 

[chellej]

You can only search if you have already made a deposit. You can not "search First" like a lot of the other exchange companies like II, Trading Places and DAE

 

[AwayWeGo]

R.C.I. Web Site Not Trouble-Free In Our Experience.

Wanted to know if you can exchange online like II or do you still have to call them?

In our experience, the RCI web site can be trouble-prone.

A few times now we've tried doing exchanges & Last Call reservations on line only to have the whole thing bog down & refuse to go any further right at the moment of truth.

Recently, after repeated retries, we gave up & went to bed & called RCI next morning on the electric telephone. Over the phone that time the RCI guy gave us the $25 Internet booking discount anyway because of the trouble we were having with the web site.

The guy asked if we had "reset our cookies" or some bits & bytes mumbo-jumbo like that. I said No. Also, I politely refrained from mentioning that the whole frustrating experience with the RCI web site brought me close to tossing my cookies.

Everybody was cordial & we got our outstanding Last Call reservation at the Internet price.

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

 

[holdem]

I never had any luck getting any exchange I wanted when I called RCI. That's why I'm not a member anymore. I have much better luck with II online. One of my resorts can be deposited with either RCI or II. I thought if RCI changed there online exchanging I would try them again. Sounds like things are the same as before. I think I'll stick with II. Thanks for the help.

 

[JLB]

I have been searching and confirming exchanges on rci.com since 1997, when it started, which was before II's. I have searched almost daily.

I almost never experience problems, technical or otherwise, and I have totally eliminated problems associated with dealing with Guides, IMO the source of the majority of RCI's problems when exchanging.

We have gotten better exchanges since I started doing it myself, rather than either calling in or relying on an ongoing search. If you are a person who likes to be the driver, searching online yourself is the only way to go.

Others' experience may vary, mine is not necessarily representative, and objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.

 

[JLB]

Also, each company has it's favorite. A deposit may do well with one and not the other, well with both, or poorly with both.

Yeah, that covers it.

If you deposit a week with RCI, it's trading power will be what it is when you can first search with it. If you do not like it, you can take the deposit back provided that it has not been taken by someone else, or (and this is a little-known or) if it has been taken but another identical deposit from your resort has been Spacebanked.

 

[holdem]

Does RCI show every available exchange like II does? They sure didn't before.

 

[JLB]

You search by areas or specific resorts. You see everything your trading power allows you to see. You search for five to 10 week periods, and since you can do two searches at a time, that means you can do one search for 20 weeks.

Pick a search out and I will do it for you and show you the results. We'll let the bosses say if I can post it here, since this is about how searches work, not really a Sighting. If they won't allow it, I will email or PM you.

Does RCI show every available exchange like II does? They sure didn't before.

 

[susieq]

We have gotten better exchanges since I started doing it myself, rather than either calling in or relying on an ongoing search. If you are a person who likes to be the driver, searching online yourself is the only way to go.

Others' experience may vary, mine is not necessarily representative, and objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.

I'm with you there ~~ I find I like to be in control. And taking charge myself means much less frustration.

Sue

 

[Larry]

I have been searching and confirming exchanges on rci.com since 1997, when it started, which was before II's. I have searched almost daily.

I almost never experience problems, technical or otherwise, and I have totally eliminated problems associated with dealing with Guides, IMO the source of the majority of RCI's problems when exchanging.

We have gotten better exchanges since I started doing it myself, rather than either calling in or relying on an ongoing search. If you are a person who likes to be the driver, searching online yourself is the only way to go.

Others' experience may vary, mine is not necessarily representative, and objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.

I totally agree with you JLB!!! I have both RCI and II and I never call anymore to do an exchange. Ever since I have been going on line I can see resorts or destinations that perhaps I never would have requested that have been fantastic exchanges. One time I was looking for Paris and expanded my search to France and got a fantastic exchange to the French Riviera in June no less. I combined the timeshare with four nights in a hotel in Paris prior to going to the French Riviera and it turned out to be a much more enjoyable trip than if I just got a one week exchange to Paris.

I tell everyone who calls RCI or II to make exchanges instead of going on line is like shopping in Macy's blindfolded, with a salesman . You ask for a blue 3 button suit and maybe there is a fantastic grey or black pin stripe suit that you didn't ask for and will never get to see.

 

[JLB]

There are those who would not advocate this method, who say that you have to be in the que to get what you want.

That is not something I am denying or picking a fight with.

But, how can a Guide or a computer know what you want (unless you use a Specific Resort Search--and even then, there are ones on the list you'd really prefer to not get)
- - - - - -
Here is what I am saying, the point that so many miss for so long once becoming exchange company members:

1. If you seach using an ongoing search, how many resort choices will you be given? . . . (music playing softly, like on Jeopardy . . .duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh . . . duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, da-da-da-da-da) One. The computer will match to one resort and confirm the exchange.

2. If you call a guide to do a search for you, how many resort choices will they give you? . . . (same music, pause to build suspense) One.

The Guide typically says something like, "Here's a really great resort; you'll really like it!" having never been to it or, likely, having never owned a timeshare themselves.

You never really know what your total selection is or how good/bad your deposit is.

When you search online you take control, assume responsibility for your own destiny, become educated, and make a decision relative to your own wants and needs.

Is an Ongoing Search or calling a Guide not like putting all the possible choices in a bag and then sticking your hand in and drawing one out without looking?

Like Larry says.

 

[JLB]

Here is the online search form, some stuff abbreviated and rearranged to work here:

First Choice
Region
Sub Region
Preferred Check-in Date
Number of Weeks to Search (0-10)

Second Choice
Region
Sub Region
Preferred Check-in Date
Number of Weeks to Search (0-10)

Resort ID(s)
You May Enter Up To 48 Resort IDs
Preferred Check-in Date
Number of Weeks to Search (0-10)

 

[JLB]

It is the belief of some in the know that II's Search First is a failed model, the thinking being that it discourages deposits.

That seems logical. If you don't have to deposit, others don't have to deposit, and you can't match with a week whose owner is just thinking about depositing it. As in accounting, where FIFO and LIFO could be named LISH and FISH, Search First could be named Deposit Last.

Dave can probably decipher that last thought.

 

[JLB]

Back to the OP, and not meaning to insult them, I find it amazing that even on an informed forum like this one, something as basic as searching online, something that has been around for 10 years, is not known about by some.

Imagine how much less-obvious stuff is unknown by timeshare owners!

I believe we tend to take a lot for granted, not considering that others have not experienced the things that we have.

Just imagine the confusion about 30 seconds after Bruce starts explaining his methods!

 

[AwayWeGo]

A Shot In The Dark.

You never really know what your total selection is or how good your deposit is.

With timeshare points, I have an approximate & semi-reliable idea of what my timeshare is worth & what it will snag via exchange.

With straight-weeks timeshare exchanges, it's more of a crapshoot.

However that may be, my timeshare exchange expectations have evolved into something not all that much different from my Florida flea market shopping expectations -- that is to say, I don't know what I want till I see it.

I have even mulled the fantasy of taking a timeshare-exchange total shot in the dark -- you know, "Hey RCI, sign me up for something, anything anywhere, & I'll take a week there any time between Martin Luther King Jr. Day & Memorial Day."

Then I talk myself out of it (with appropriate assistance by The Chief Of Staff) on account of the unknown vagaries of getting to whatever vacation spot we might pull out of the grab-bag -- e.g., Dominican Republic, Quebec, Mexico, etc.

Part of the early attraction of timeshare vacationing, when we were raw rookies, was the new & semi-exotic nature of it compared to, say, Motel 6 & Super 8. Now that the novelty of timeshares has worn off, we're settling into enjoyment of the added space & luxury as we learn the seasonal rhythm of what's hot & what's not.

I go with on-line reservations & exchanges as much as the quirky RCI website lets me. When I call up RCI on the electric telephone, it's not to search or ask for advice -- it's just to complete transactions by phone that DubDubDub-Dot-RCI-Dot-Com can't or won't let me finish.

RCI needs to wake up & smell the sushi -- totally overhaul its website or farm the whole thing out to some savvy Internet company like eBay that knows what's what with the electric Internet.

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

 

[Lisa P]

I never had any luck getting any exchange I wanted when I called RCI. That's why I'm not a member anymore.

Holdem, you mentioned in another thread that you'd had trouble finding a decent exchange with RCI in the past, using a Mexico week. For whatever reason, many people have reported low trade power with Mexico deposits in RCI. It may be that RCI has more affiliated resorts in Mexico than demand. Or your particular week may be during a less demanded period. Or you may be trying to get exchanges into locations that are extremely undersupplied for their popularity or you may not be requesting early enough or ... well, you get the idea. If that week is the only one that you have affiliated with RCI and it's fixed, not floating, and if you deposited it more than a year ahead and requested a reasonable search more than a year ahead... then you are not likely to get different results now than before. However...

Have you tried trading any other resorts through RCI?

Where are you trying to travel/go and when?

How far in advance are you searching?

What week(s) are you able to deposit?

 

[JLB]

Alan:

Your entire post speaks to the advantages of searching online, whether Weeks or Points, to be able to learn what is available where and when you want it, rather than a Guide or an ongoing search telling you the one resort they had decided you should have.

Just having Points does not tell you what's available, or the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Points gives you a rough estimate of what you could get if you could get it. Heck, the very first salesman at OL way back in the last century told me that . . . everything, everywhere, any time.

FWIW, when I wake up to the smell of sushi, you can bet I look around to find what it is.

 

[bnoble]

I know II allows you to spot-search with a week that is also dedicated to an ongoing search. Does RCI allow the same thing? I only have deposited Wynfield points "invisible" weeks to RCI, so I have to call no matter what.

If RCI supports spot-searching with such weeks, then, problem solved! Just put in your ongoing "really want it" search, but augment this with your own spot-searches. If RCI doesn't support this, then I think you have to decide what best suits your needs at the time. If you have fairly specific desires, then it's probably to your advantage to start an ogoing search for exactly what you want. If you're "just looking", or are somewhat flexible, then the educational value of spot-searches may well outweigh the fact that you're getting the ongoing-search leftovers.

 

[holdem]

Lisa P. The resort I had with RCI is a 2 bedroom fixed "week" on Hilton Head Island in August. I tried all kinds of requests with very little results. I could never get there website to finalize anything. With II I got an exchange online this winter at the Disney Vero Beach Resort using a non red week resort. No hassle, no request first. Sounds like RCI is the same old same old. Only advantage they have is more resorts. Well, more resorts I couldn't exchange into.lol.

 

[JLB]

Repeating the many reports others have made here (because I don't do that), yes, you can do that.

I know II allows you to spot-search with a week that is also dedicated to an ongoing search. Does RCI allow the same thing?

 

[JLB]

Wow! All this over an HH summer weeK!!!

Common sense, logic and reason suggests that you should have considerable trading power. The earlier in August the better, say Week 31 or 32.

Those with considerably less wind up doing fairly well.

I sense a lack of understanding of how to go about exchanging through RCI, so you should not be hasty to place blame on them for something they have not yet done.

Again, common sense, logic, reason, and 20 years of experience suggests that you should be pro-active on your own behalf. I believe you would do quite well through RCI, but only you can find that out. You would need to re-up (if you once had a membership, you have an RCI account number, and you just need to renew), deposit a week at least 1 year in advance (at this point your 2009 week), set up your online account, and start searching your desired destinations.

There's plenty of folks here to guide you through it.

The resort I had with RCI is a 2 bedroom fixed "week" on Hilton Head Island in August.

 

[bnoble]

yes, you can do that.

Well, then problem solved! It isn't an either-or sort of thing. You get the queueing properties of an ongoing search, and the educational benefits of spot-searching. It's not like you can't refuse a match the ongoing search comes up with if you decide you don't want it.

 

[JLB]

So you would think.

There have been reports that would tend to complicate this, something that appears to be a relatively simple solution.

Well, then problem solved! It isn't an either-or sort of thing. You get the queueing properties of an ongoing search, and the educational benefits of spot-searching. It's not like you can't refuse a match the ongoing search comes up with if you decide you don't want it.