RCI Points vs WorldMark credits--how easy to actually use?

[tartanwood]

We are debating several options. One is to convert our fixed week to a vacation club membership. During years when we do not use internal exchanges, we would have 64,000 RCI points. Another option is to sell our week and move over to WorldMark.

There are a great many variable to consider in terms of costs, etc., but for this thread I just want to focus on how we actually could use RCI points vs WM credits.

How many WM credits do you need to get something comparable to 64,000 RCI points? I've seen a chart that shows the types of units you can get for RCI points. Is there a similar chart for WM?

Even more important, what can you really do with RCI points? When we bought our originial week, we were "promised" that we could go anywhere we wanted in the RCI book in exchange for our Gold Crown Red week. The reality has proven to be much less impressive.

Do RCI points really get you into the resorts listed in the charts or is exchanging still a big problem? What about using the points for airfare, hotels , etc? My frequent flyer plan offers tickets for 25,000 mileage points, but the reality is that I need 50,000 mileage points to fly when I want. Will I experience the same kind of frustration when I try to use RCI points?

Are things any better with WorldMark credits? There are several WM resorts within driving distance, and I like the idea of being able to take short mini-vacations. Would those actually be available to me when I want to travel? We are limited to travel during summers and school breaks. Will we find it hard to schedule ourselves into northwest WM resorts at those times even if we do have enough credits?

What can we really do in either system? Is either one worth it?

 

[BocaBum99]

I would sell your week,buy 5000 WorldMark credits and rent the rest.

Depending on the location 64000 RCI Points is about the same as a nice 2 bedroom unit in WorldMark worth 10-12k credits.

It'll cost about $4000 to buy the WorldMark and you can rent them for about $.06/credit.

No internal reservation fees. And, much better exchange possibiliities since you can access II, too.

 

[GreenMum]

WM is on-line. You can book whatever you can see. You won't have an agent saying, "Nothing is available for that month. . ."

For resorts that are favorites, be there to book at 13 months out, but if you wait a little longer during a red season you don't need to book the entire seven days because there won't be a full week left. As you try the system you get more use to what does and doesn't work for you, but WM is a good company & a good trader.

http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/resorts/ec/ this links you to the WM website & the Eagle Crest resort in Oregon. You don't have to be a member to look at the resorts. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you can see how many points are required per night per unit size per season & the total if you stayed a week. On the left side of this screen is a list---inventory specials will give you an idea of places that recurrently have spots available. (Requests through reservations can work for you as well---so you're not doing all the work. Your MF covers all of this.)

Don't know a thing about RCI, sorry.

 

[tartanwood]

GreenMum,

Thank you for the WM link. It is nice to be able to see exactly how many credits are needed for specific resorts. That plus the RCI points grid gives me a general idea about how the two compare in terms of "cost" for a unit.

It sounds as though both you and BocaBum99 recommend the WM system.

Does anyone have additional information to share about the RCI side of my question?

I am especially anxious to know how RCI Points actually work, not just how they are supposed to work according to developers or charts. Weeks exchanges proved to be more frustrating that "promised". Will I encounter similar frustrations when it is time to actually reserve something with RCI Points?

At this time, I do not have either RCI points or WM credits. I am just trying to fully understand all of my options (convert my fixed week to a vacation club enhanced by RCI points, sell and buy WM, or sell and just stay home).

There are many other variable that will influence my final decision, but for now I am just trying to get a sense of how easy/frustrating it is to actually use these two systems.

Bonnie

 

[HudsHut]

tartanwood:

WorldMark is practically a "must-own" timeshare for Oregonians!!

Boca is suggesting that you buy the minimum account size (5,000 credits, on the resale market). This way you pay the minimum maintenance fee.

Typically, it takes 10,000 points to reserve a 2 bedroom unit during high season. Boca is suggesting that you "rent" the additional credits you'll need from another owner for "one-time use". The credits will cost approximately $0.06/credit, (5,000 would cost ~$300). If you don't mind going through that "rental" exercise, it's a very economical way to own WorldMark.

Another option open to WorldMark owners is the ability to take your fixed week timeshare and convert it to WorldMark points. This option is described here:
http://www.wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6079

Honestly, I think WorldMark is a no-brainer for you. If the days you want aren't immediately available, you put yourself on the wait list. Because of the "owner-friendly" cancellation policy, owners can cancel reservations without penalty, so it's very likely that you'll get the days you need, just by getting on the wait list.

In addition, you're within driving distance of many resorts when, due to last minute cancellations, a few days become available on "bonus time" -- then you have the option to use cash to pay at a discounted rate instead of your credits.

Maria

 

[tartanwood]

.....Another option open to WorldMark owners is the ability to take your fixed week timeshare and convert it to WorldMark points. This option is described here:
http://www.wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6079.....

This option is totally new to me. I assume this option is only for people who already own WM.

Let me see if I am reading this correctly:
The proposed plan:
I would buy a minimum WM membership to obtain 5000 WM credits.
I would then deposit my current 2 BR Red week in RCI to obtain 8000 additional WM credits.
This would give me a total of 13,000 WM credits each year.

My annual costs would be:
Maintenance fee for 5000 WM credits (how much is this?)
Maintenance fee for my current fixed week (about $500)
$129 fee to WM for this kind of exchange.

To figure out whether or not this is a good deal, I would need to know the MF for 5000 WM credits.

It seems as though I might be better off renting the additional 8000 WM credits for $.06 each rather than depositing my fixed week in order to obtain them. Renting the additional WM credits would come to $480 which about the same as the MF on my current fixed week. This would eliminate the $129 fee for this kind of exchange, or does WM charge any other fees if you use rented credits?

How much would maintenance fees be for 13,000 WM credits if I were to buy the total amount outright?

 

[BocaBum99]

In general Exchange Plus is not a good deal which is what you will determine once I give you the numbers.

5000 WM credits has an MF of $310.95.
10000 WM credits has an MF of $499.99
20000 WM credits has and MF of $878.07

You can buy WM credits for about $.70/credit plus $.06/credit for all available credits in the account. A good deal is $.60/credit plus $.06/credit for all available credits in the account.

 

[BocaBum99]

Does anyone have additional information to share about the RCI side of my question?

I am especially anxious to know how RCI Points actually work, not just how they are supposed to work according to developers or charts. Weeks exchanges proved to be more frustrating that "promised". Will I encounter similar frustrations when it is time to actually reserve something with RCI Points?

Bonnie

Bonnie,

My very first purchase was RCI Points. I got a pretty good deal at the time by buying from Jerry Naugle in www.austimeshare.com. My cost was $2850 for 91800 RCI Points deeded at the Mansfield Country Resort. The MF is about $.0075/RCI Point. The $2850 included purchase price, closing costs, RCI Points fees and first year's MF. If you net out the costs (MF: $688, Closing: $300, RCI Points fee: $299), my real purchase price was $1563. That would be a purchase price/RCI point of $.017/RCI Point.

It is very difficult to get a deal this good today even from Jerry. That said, I would NOT do it again knowing what I know now. I would probably just buy it to flip it since RCI Points sell on eBay for around $.04-.06/RCI point or more depending on the MF.

Why?

1) RCI Points fees are getting out of control. I don't like paying exchange fees unless I am getting a great deal. I really don't like paying extra housekeeping fees for partial week stays. So, sometimes I book an entire week because it's cheaper than paying the extra housekeeping fees. The $26 fee for points for deposit really was the nail in the coffin for me.

2) Even at $.0075/RCI Point, the amount you end up paying for an exchange is relatively high. This is about the breakeven level for using RCI Points for airline tickets and other stuff like Disney Tickets. So, I am not doing better than simply paying cash. I am just breaking even. There are simply better alternatives.

3) Availability of resorts I requested was decent. But again, I was always finding better deals elsewhere. Now, I only plan on using RCI Points for places like the Manhattan Club and Orange Lake River Island and such places. That does seem to be better than RCI weeks. But, it is nowhere near the availability of WorldMark. All inventory gets loaded at 13 months in advance of check in. You can get almost any week you want simply by calling in on the right day. You are not 100% guaranteed to get what you want because some people game the system to book ahead of time. But, it is 10000% better than RCI Points.

If you don't want to rent credits, you can buy 10000 credits for around $8000. WM credits have held their value on the resale market. That's a strong vote of confidence by the market for WM credits.

Good luck in your decision making.

 

[PerryM]

WM by a mile

Tartanwood,

This is a no-brainer – buy WM.

We own both WM and RCI Points and currently use RCI Points for just airline tickets and in a few years will use them for last minute exchanges.

WM has 60+ resorts and has some of the highest exchange power in both II and RCI. You can use just 4,000 WM credits to get ANYTHING in II at the 59 day mark and RCI at the 45 day mark. Just this morning you had your choice :

Marriott Ko Olina for 9/16/06 Studio
Kona Coast Resort 10/27/06 1BR
Westin Ka’anapali 9/17/06 1BR (NW airlines has a special last minute flight for $385 from the NorthWest)

Just 4,000 WM credits would get you anyone of those and if you live on the west coast last minute flights are available. We pay just 4¢ a credit in MF so that’s $160 + $135 exchange fee.

The Ka'anapali Westin is one of the finest timeshares in the world.

10,000 credits will get you a ski week at a Marriott right on the slopes – I did that last Christmas.

 

[GreenMum]

You are not 100% guaranteed to get what you want because some people game the system to book ahead of time.

So BB you sound very experienced in both. What is "gaming the system"?

 

[Warren Scaman]

Misunderstanding Minimum WM Account at 6,000

I thought I saw that we needed 6,000 points to 1st set up a WorldMark Account, then Start to rent what ever we needed.

Can someone confirm, I am in the second stage for my model portfolio , However I live in the ChicagoLand Area and not the West Coast! :whoopie:

 

[RichM]

In the WorldMark system, you can book 13 months ahead at the North America resorts (excluding a couple like Dolphin's Cove where it's not a normal ownership). The actual interpretation of booking 13 months ahead is that your check-in date can only be 13 months from today (Oct 11, 2007, for example, if booking today, Sep 11, 2006). However, there is no limit on how many contiguous days one can book so you could book 14 days in a row and you would get a jump on people that wanted to book the week of Oct 18, 2007 that would normaly have to wait until Sep 18.

In addition to this, there are "group" reservations. While you must book contiguous days after your initial check-in that far out, you can book at more than one resort, and even varying unit sizes, in a single reservation. So, you could book an off-season studio unit for the first few days of your reservation and then book a 3BR Penthouse at your desired destination immediately following that. You would be responsible for more than one housekeeping charge (for each resort or unit size change) and you can't cancel any part of the grouped reservation without cancelling the entire thing. Some people just consider the lead-in bookings as "throwaway" days - others give them to friends/family members to use or even rent the lead-in days to other people.

This has become a fairly common practice to get desirable units with a desirable check-in day (oceanfront units in Seaside, OR with a Fri/Sat check-in) as well as getting popular weeks like Christmas, spring break, 4th of July, etc. Often You'll find "holes" in availability beyond what is currently bookable - that means someone booked it via lead-in days somewhere else.


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[RichM]

I thought I saw that we needed 6,000 points to 1st set up a WorldMark Account, then Start to rent what ever we needed.

Can someone confirm, I am in the second stage for my model portfolio , However I live in the ChicagoLand Area and not the west Coast! :whoopie:

Per the bylaws, the smallest individual "unit" of membership allowed is 5,000 credits. However, 6,000 seems to be the smallest that Trendwest seems to sell anymore and the smallest you're likely to find on the resale market.

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- www.wmowners.com