Resort went to RCI Points

[maddogmt]

Hi Everyone,

I just received a letter from the Park Plaza that they went to an RCI Points resort. I listened to the pitch and basically they wanted $4000 to "convert" my week to RCI points. Is this typical? I tried to call RCI to see if I could enroll directly like the "Weeks Program", but they sent me back to the resort.


I know I could just go buy a points based week on Ebay or Redweek, but I really don't want another week of vacation.

It just seems crazy to pay $4K and then be tied into annual fees with RCI and my maintenance fees. Is this the true price of flexibility or is there someway around the system.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[Passepartout]

I don't think you HAVE to convert your week. You can just keep it in the underlying week as it is. The actual amount RCI charges is a much smaller amount (I've heard only about $300) so it seems like a money grab on the part of the resort.

Jim Ricks

 

[ronparise]

A small resort where I own has gone to RCI points. This resort has a large number of weeks, in the control of the association that are not generating fees. As I understood it. the reason to go to rci points was to give some additional value to these weeks and make them easier to sell.

This makes some sense to me because points does add some flexibility to a fixed week ownership,

What this conversion doesnt do is to add value to an existing owners week. If I have my mf bill in front of me and Im thinking of ignoring it and walking away; the conversion to points does not encourage me to pay my fees and stay invested in the resort.

put another way...Having to pay my mf plus $4000 to convert to points does not turn me from a dissatisfied owner into one that is happy and eager to pay my mf.

If the reason for converting to points is to add value and stem the downward spiral of walkaways with the resulting increases in mf, causing more walkaways; I think a conversion to points is an exercise in futility doomed to failure. If owners dont already see the value in what they own, points wont help; especially if they have to cough up additional money (throwing good money after bad) for the conversion.

Ive had this conversation with the president of our association...he's not convinced

 

[fishingguy]

you don't need to convert

You don't need to convert your existing week into points, your deed and right to use and/or exchange your week won't change. Given that units already converted to points are going for next to nothing on the auction site, it makes no sense to pay that kind of money for a points conversion IMO. If you are happy with what you have then you don't need to do anything.

Even if the week you own earns poor TPU in RCI weeks, and you might get more exchange potential with points [e.g. if you own a shoulder season that is low in demand], it still wouldn't be worth the high cost. (Sometimes the RCI Points awarded from an averaged seasonal value, can end up a little better than the RCI Weeks TPU based on actual supply and demand, when all things are considered.) Resort sales staff will work hard at trying to get weeks owners to do a points conversion -- to the point of exaggerating benefits.

What this will also do is preclude other owners at the resort who happen to already be in RCI Points, to no longer be able to do Points for Deposit (PFD) of their week into RCI Points. That won't make them happy.

 

[theo]

Important, correct, and worth repeating...

You don't need to convert your existing week into points, your deed and right to use and/or exchange your week won't change....If you are happy with what you have then you don't need to do anything. <snip>

Resort sales staff will work hard at trying to get weeks owners to do a points conversion -- to the point of exaggerating benefits.

Exactamundo --- and well said! These resort conversions to RCI Points are certainly great "cash generators" for a resort, but the resort program change has absolutely no impact on the strength or validity or legal permanency of your existing fixed week deed.

If you are that enamored of RCI Points, then you can just pick up a resale RCI Points package for "chump change" --- any day of the week. To pay $4k to a resort to diminish the value of an existing ownership (...assuming of course that you like your fixed week, just as is) would be a complete waste of $4k and would be outright foolhardy, at least in my personal opinion.

 

[maddogmt]

Thanks for the replies. I am not trying to increase my value, as one of you pointed out that would be futile. I currently own 2 weeks at the resort, one would have good trading power in RCI, the other not so good. My thought was that if I converted them to Points, I would have a greater number of points and therefore have the option to get a premium period at some other resort.

I'm not going to throw good money after bad, but I couldn't understand why they were trying to charge such a high rate and more importantly if there was some way to beat the system. Doesn't sound like there's a way to do this. I don't want more weeks, I just wanted some power on with the two weeks I have to get a nice place somewhere should I decide that I don't want to ski one year.

Mike

 

[Conan]

RCI Weeks since its conversion to the TP system is generally a better and more useful exchange system than RCI Points. Don't forget you can aggregate the TP from your two weeks for $99 if there's an exchange you need to reach for in a given year. You could do that for 40 years and your outlay would still be less than $4,000.

 

[M. Henley]

Probably...

Likely not a good investment!!

 

[theo]

My thought was that if I converted them to Points, I would have a greater number of points and therefore have the option to get a premium period at some other resort.

I'm not going to throw good money after bad, but I couldn't understand why they were trying to charge such a high rate and more importantly if there was some way to beat the system. Doesn't sound like there's a way to do this. I don't want more weeks, I just wanted some power on with the two weeks I have to get a nice place somewhere should I decide that I don't want to ski one year.

Mike:
I respectfully submit that another factor to always keep in mind in the decision process is availability.
Even if you acquire substantial RCI Points (whether by conversion or by separate purchase matters not), those points won't help you if you can't get space where you want to go, when you want to go there.

I'm no fan of RCI (...to say the least...) and I readily acknowledge a strong personal bias in that regard. Nonetheless, I believe that the indisputable fact of limited availability is too often just conveniently avoided and / or overlooked entirely in discussions of the alleged "flexibility" provided by RCI Points.

 

[eal]

And don't forget the alternate exchange companies, like Platinum Interchange, that will take your not-so-popular-with-RCI week and give you some great exchange options.

 

[Passepartout]

I didn't realize until post 6 that the OP has 2 weeks at the resort. Gosh, that makes the cost $8,000 to convert. Even more reason not to. And as Conan brought up, combining TPUs will give access to better weeks- especially as the OP says he doesn't want MORE weeks.

Seems to me this is a slam-dunk. Do nothing. Keep your weeks as they are, and in those years you want 'better' exchanges, just combine TPUs.

Jim

 

[maddogmt]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. The one thing the resort did say was it is $4k regardless of how many weeks you own. However, I still thought this was a bad investment and all of you helped me to confirm my feelings.

I will look at other options and exchanges when I decide to go elsewhere. I use one week regularly, however the other week usually goes to waste since I haven't been able to use it during ski season like I did when I first got it. At this point I'd love to just get rid of it, but that's a different story and another thread.

Thanks again to everyone for the awesome input.


Mike

 

[bnoble]

With the new RCI TPU system, you can get the benefit of "combining" two weeks into one that's worth "more" without having to convert to Points.

Theo's caveat about availability still holds, but many find the system still provides reasonable options.