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RCI vs. Fairfield vs. HGVC?

markbernstein

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Can anyone give me some comparative pros/cons for RCI Points, Fairfield Fairshare, and HGVC? Those seem to be the three most popular points-based systems you can get via resale. I'm hoping the details will help me figure out which one best meets our needs.

Thanks,
Mark Bernstein
Ann Arbor, MI
 

rickandcindy23

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Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge and Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau; Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms(selling); WKORV-OF ,Westin Desert Willow.
You need to study past discussions on all of those points systems, right here on the Points threads.

I don't own HGVC, but I wish I would have bought there long ago. Great resorts, great system and resales are pretty reasonable. I would buy lots of points to go to Hawaii and Orlando.

Fairfield looks like an okay way to go as well. I am leary of the maintenance fees for these big companies. They are higher than what we pay, by a lot.

We own RCI points, purchased through Jerry Naugle at an Australian resort called Mansfield Country Resort. We pay LOW maintenance fees of $671 for 92,000 points. That is a great deal. We can stay anywhere we want for that cost + exchange fee of $99 through RCI, but we choose to use the points for airfare instead. We saved $400 for the two of us on airfare to Hawaii using the points. :cool:
 

jjking42

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I own hgvc points and ff points and have access to my friends rci ponts account.

IMHO buying rci ponts with fees greater than .75 per 1000 points is not a good idea. There are some good deals out there. the Australian weeks are a good investment. I have been told that airline tickets are a good deal if the maint fee is less than .75 per 1000. Rci points are a great deal if you can trade in to rci weeks on the weeks side ( using generic grid ) and also on last minute weeks exchanges. I am not impressed with what they can get in the 10 month points reservation window.

FF points are probably the best low cost entry in to points. They have their own inventory (mostly east coast) with better availability than rci trades. you can make very low cost trades via rci using small point deposits (28k to 70K) and you can get great rci trades back in to FF. I have booked many two bedroom gold crown units using 28 and 70 k deposit. These small points totals only cost me 112.00 to 280.00 in maint fees. Remember that your ff maint fee includes rci membership . try to buy converted fixed weeks with maint fees under 500.00 for 2 bedroom units . by the time they add the fsp membership it will cost about 600.00 per week. Ff will not get you much in Hawaii except back in to ff resorts. FF is only a moderate trader



Hgvc this is the high end of points. they get top trades in rci and have better customer service than ff or rci. They also have their own inventory. One of the nice things about owning hgvc is that you can trade back in to hgvc with your other non hgvc weeks without a 4 in 1 block. hgvc open season rental rate are also a nice advantage for extra vacations. Hgvc is the only hotel company that will let you convert to hotel points on resale purchases. hgvc resort also trade with sfx and some trade with II as well.

so in summary.
If you only want top quality gc resorts than get hgvc. If you like hawaii,vegas, sw florida than hgvc is for you.

If live on the east coast than ff is very good choice. they have lots of resorts to choose from and good availability with reasonable costs.

If you like to travel on a budget or like to use points for airline tickets than consider rci points. it can provide the lowest cost vacations of all if you can travel last minute and off season.
 

BocaBum99

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Unless there are some specific resorts that you like in RCI Points, HGVC or Fairfield, I think you may be better off with WorldMark or Bluegreen. You should include those systems into your selection mix. WorldMark for the west coast and Bluegreen for the East Coast

RCI Points has the most number of resorts from which you can reserve partial week stays. And, they have a nice program in Points for Deposit where you can get more points by depositing RCI weeks into your account. The problem with RCI points is that the fees are getting out of control.

HGVC has some nice resorts and they have great trading power in RCI. It's good for use in SFX for high quality exchanges. But, they don't exchange with II which is where most of the highest quality timeshares exist. The entry cost and maintenance fees are high.

Fairfield has a lot of nice resorts. And, the upfront costs to buy into Fairfield are very low. These two reasons by themselves are a good reason to buy into Fairfield. However, it's a complex system that can be confusing at times. And, their maintenance fees are a bit high.

WorldMark and Bluegreen have moderate upfront costs (higher than Fairfield, but lower than HGVC), but their maintenace fees are low. This makes your ongoing costs for usage and exchange very attractive. And, both allow you to exchange through all exchange companies including II, SFX, DAE, RCI, etc. WorldMark has the best online reservation system. Bluegreen has the best bonus time program with very cheap rentals to owners less than 45-days out.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of these point systems. The most important decision is which resorts do you like the most and which ones will you most likely use. When you answer that question, it will lead you naturally to one system over another.
 
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Giselherr

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BocaBum99 I don't think you can go wrong with any of these point systems. The most important decision is which resorts do you like the most and which ones will you most likely use. When you answer that question said:
Do you have any thoughts on how these various systems stack up for getting into European locations (especially German & Italy)?
 
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