RCI vs II

[superfriend620]

hi investing in a property that can trade via either and know II because of my Mom's MOW week and my DVC points but I don't see trading DVC stays via II.

What are the upsides or downsides? Seems a lot of people leverage both or prefer one? Can you share insight?

I own 270 DVC points, possibly a SBR plantation 2/2 LO resale or SWR 2/2 LO depending on which resale I buy.

Thanks!
Jenn

 

[e.bram]

II will let you see trades BEFORE you deposit your unit. RCI deposit first!

 

[bnoble]

What are the upsides or downsides? Seems a lot of people leverage both or prefer one? Can you share insight?

They are different, and I've used both over the years. I have a couple weeks that are good traders at a resort that is dual-enrolled. The short version:

• II has better-quality resorts on average, but RCI has more options--and many of those options are perfectly serviceable.
• RCI's exchange fee is higher, and RCI does not have anything like ePlus, both of which are plusses for II.
• My weeks do not have Marriott/Starwood preference in II, which does limit them a little bit but they've still done well there. In contrast, there are no such limits in RCI.
• RCI is more transparent: you know what your week will be worth if you deposit it, and you can see precisely what things cost in terms of trade power.
• Along those lines, RCI's ability to give "change back" and to combine (parts of) weeks for more trade power makes it a little more flexible, though it comes at the cost of extra exchange fees or combine fees.

I've had some good-to-great exchanges in RCI, and haven't really had a dud yet, but that may be because I am insufficiently picky. I've also done well in II despite not having preference. I think if I had to pick only one for the dual-enrolled weeks, I might pick II, but that's partly because I also own Wyndham which only uses RCI.

 

[superfriend620]

II will let you see trades BEFORE you deposit your unit. RCI deposit first!

Ahhhh! Key point - I did not know. Thank you.

 

[superfriend620]

T

They are different, and I've used both over the years. I have a couple weeks that are good traders at a resort that is dual-enrolled. The short version:

• II has better-quality resorts on average, but RCI has more options--and many of those options are perfectly serviceable.
• RCI's exchange fee is higher, and RCI does not have anything like ePlus, both of which are plusses for II.
• My weeks do not have Marriott/Starwood preference in II, which does limit them a little bit but they've still done well there. In contrast, there are no such limits in RCI.
• RCI is more transparent: you know what your week will be worth if you deposit it, and you can see precisely what things cost in terms of trade power.
• Along those lines, RCI's ability to give "change back" and to combine (parts of) weeks for more trade power makes it a little more flexible, though it comes at the cost of extra exchange fees or combine fees.

I've had some good-to-great exchanges in RCI, and haven't really had a dud yet, but that may be because I am insufficiently picky. I've also done well in II despite not having preference. I think if I had to pick only one for the dual-enrolled weeks, I might pick II, but that's partly because I also own Wyndham which only uses RCI.

Thank you. My family are the worst advance planners and always move stuff on me. The eplus option with II is a huge win for me in those cases so I think I am going to go that way.

 

[escanoe]

I am all about research before you buy a timeshare. That said, you don't completely know how it works until you own and are using it. You have made the commitment to buying a dual resort. Paying an annual fee to try out II or RCI just to check it out (costs like $100) may not be a bad thing to do.

 

[4TimeAway]

I am all about research before you buy a timeshare. That said, you don't completely know how it works until you own and are using it. You have made the commitment to buying a dual resort. Paying an annual fee to try out II or RCI just to check it out (costs like $100) may not be a bad thing to do.

The worst thing is it depends.

There is only one optimal solution, and you'll go crazy finding it.

At some point, we get to this is good enough.

 

[GTLINZ]

i have used both RCI thru HGVC and II thru HRC - and i much prefer the Interval resorts. But i never had a problem with trading power. Although HGVC may be a lot of what people want to trade into - and i already had internal access.

I have also found a lot more getaways in II that i would use.

It likely depends on what you own, and what you want to get into.

 

[escanoe]

There is only one optimal solution, and you'll go crazy finding it.

And once you find it, they change something up.

 

[bnoble]

Exactly so. The only thing that is constant about timeshare exchange is that the game is always changing.

 

[2rebecca]

II will let you see trades BEFORE you deposit your unit. RCI deposit first!

I'm unfamiliar with the two resorts the OP is considering purchasing. Your comment might be accurate for them, but it isn't the case for all resorts. I have to deposit mine into II before I can search with it.

 

[dougp26364]

Interval has several premium resorts such as Marriott, Hyatt, Westin, DVC (for now). They also have many high quality resorts like Wyndham, Sheraton, Bluegreen, Westgate and Welk

RCI has Hilton

 

[bnoble]

Small correction: Wyndham is primarily in RCI, not II.

 

[dougp26364]

Small correction: Wyndham is primarily in RCI, not II.

I was soooo close.

 

[Carolinian]

One key factor is which system has resorts in the areas you want to trade into? I greatly enjoyed RCI in its heyday and did lots of exchanges, but once the new owners started making changes like points and rentals, I bailed out. I thought about II but they were light on affiliates in places I wanted to go. Until RCI bought out DAE Europe, they were great for exchanges, and UKRE is fine for exchanges in the British Isles. I have also done some good trades, including London twice with SFX.

Presently, we use the two summer weeks on the OBX that we own ourselves, and no longer play the exchange game.

 

[davidvel]

I'm unfamiliar with the two resorts the OP is considering purchasing. Your comment might be accurate for them, but it isn't the case for all resorts. I have to deposit mine into II before I can search with it.

You can't enter a dummy reservation # and date?

 

[rickandcindy23]

I am getting rid of almost everything we own in RCI. I am sticking with some, for my own reasons, and I am certainly stuck with Wyndham right now, which exchanges in RCI. But if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't buy anything that trades with RCI. II has better resorts, cheaper exchange fees, and eplus retrades.

 

[Ski-Dad]

I'm unfamiliar with the two resorts the OP is considering purchasing. Your comment might be accurate for them, but it isn't the case for all resorts. I have to deposit mine into II before I can search with it.

With II you definitely are not required to deposit first. You can search for trades first. Half of my trades are obtained through search now. I own three 1 bedroom weeks at SDO. The manner of search though is all II.

 

[rickandcindy23]

What's SWR?

I would never deposit SBR into RCI. I know what I can get in II.

 

[Hindsite]

With II you definitely are not required to deposit first. You can search for trades first. Half of my trades are obtained through search now. I own three 1 bedroom weeks at SDO. The manner of search though is all II.

I have seen reports from some people who do not have MVC, Sheraton or Westin timeshares, who do have to deposit before they can see inventory, so the feature does not appear to be universal across II.

 

[2rebecca]

You can't enter a dummy reservation # and date?

No. I've tried all the suggestions folks have made on the II forums over the years. It doesn't work for me.

With II you definitely are not required to deposit first. You can search for trades first. Half of my trades are obtained through search now. I own three 1 bedroom weeks at SDO. The manner of search though is all II.

With II some owners can search first, but others cannot. I can Request First, but that is not the same as searching first and it is more restrictive than depositing first. As I mentioned in my post above, I don't know which is true for the two resorts @superfriend620 is considering. I was just commenting because I don't want her or anyone else reading this thread to think that statement holds true for all timeshares. They need to verify it for each resort they are considering. There are enough Sheraton Broadway owners on these forums, I'm sure someone can give a definitive answer on it. I don't recognize the other resort code.

 

[GTLINZ]

With II some owners can search first, but others cannot.

Interesting. I think a lot of us do not realize that we may have advantages based on what we own.

As i mentioned before i have HRC points and i can search. I wonder if it is because I always have points stored away in EEE (a points bucket for Interval only, points last 2 years past the use date). In essense, i have a deposit ..... as points are the only thing i can deposit. We also can use non-deposited (essentially still HRC) points for an exchange. So now i wonder if i had NO points anywhere if i could search - and also if i had less than a low season studio number of points if I could.

 

[Hindsite]

Interesting. I think a lot of us do not realize that we may have advantages based on what we own.

As i mentioned before i have HRC points and i can search. I wonder if it is because I always have points stored away in EEE (a points bucket for Interval only, points last 2 years past the use date). In essense, i have a deposit ..... as points are the only thing i can deposit. We also can use non-deposited (essentially still HRC) points for an exchange. So now i wonder if i had NO points anywhere if i could search - and also if i had less than a low season studio number of points if I could.

There are lots of variations across II for the different systems. e.g Westgate owners can't see Westgate getaways. Hyatt owners can't see Hyatt exchanges (not sure about getaways). MVC club points can't access any MVC, Sheraton or Westin resorts, but their weeks can. MVC uses II as their internal weeks exchange programme so there is a priority period of +20 days for them to access other MVC inventory.
II accommodation certificate can come in many flavours also, some being very similar to weeks in that they can have requests made, others limited to 60 or 45 day windows but having a 12 month duration, as well as variations in the inventory that they can see.
There will be many more features that we don't see day to day.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Anyone who hasn't jumped into the II exchange program yet should give it a try with a Marriott or Sheraton/ Westin trader and see the difference.

We used to do trade tests, and it was a lot of fun, but I no longer need to do trade tests because now we own Sheraton and Marriott and even Westin Desert Willow platinum. We also own Foxrun week 52 and Blue Ridge Village week 23, so I do trade tests across all of those weeks on my own, and I love the lower trade fees of the Sheraton/ Marriot/ Westin to the same system of $164.

I love that Foxrun still pulls pretty well, and I have always been happy with my week 23 at BRV, unilt the dreaded SA of the last two years. That was ridiculous.

 

[2rebecca]

Interesting. I think a lot of us do not realize that we may have advantages based on what we own.

As i mentioned before i have HRC points and i can search. I wonder if it is because I always have points stored away in EEE (a points bucket for Interval only, points last 2 years past the use date). In essense, i have a deposit ..... as points are the only thing i can deposit. We also can use non-deposited (essentially still HRC) points for an exchange. So now i wonder if i had NO points anywhere if i could search - and also if i had less than a low season studio number of points if I could.

Over the years I've come to realize many things in II vary based on what we own. When it comes to searching prior to depositing, I think some owners have the ability to search with their units with no "trickery"; others are able to search by entering a dummy reservation #; and some of us can't do either. I think those in the first category can immediately deposit and exchange if they see something they like. I've always wondered what happens to those entering a dummy reservation if they see the perfect exchange opportunity while searching that way. Can they immediately make the exchange or will they get an error message?