Rookie question about RCI points

[revlis01]

Hi all.

Please excuse my ignorance, but I'm still pretty new to this stuff.

Currently exploring resale ads on TUG, and I'm looking at a few which would include 90k+ points EOY. Am I missing something, or is that a really nice amount of points to work with? Upon first glance at the RCI exchange grid which I found online, it seems like weeks in most locations can be had for 30 or 40k, which means my 90k points should easily get me two weeks/year. What am I missing?

 

[Passepartout]

You aren't missing anything. 30- to 40K points will get many 1 bedroom units and some 2BRs Bear in mind that EACH Point exchange costs that roughly $300 exchange fee on top of annual MF of the 'home' resort PLUS any resort fees- like additional cleaning fees on stays shorter than 7 nights.

RCI famously nickel and dimes members, except the nickels and dimes are $50's and $100's.

Jim

 

[revlis01]

You aren't missing anything. 30- to 40K points will get many 1 bedroom units and some 2BRs Bear in mind that EACH Point exchange costs that roughly $300 exchange fee on top of annual MF of the 'home' resort PLUS any resort fees- like additional cleaning fees on stays shorter than 7 nights.

RCI famously nickel and dimes members, except the nickels and dimes are $50's and $100's.

Jim

Thanks very much. Ya, so that's sort of where I was at. Thank you for confirming. I totally get the 'nickel and dime' feeling, but I guess that's their model - everything is based on fees. Is it true that you can never make a booking through RCI without paying these booking fees? Are some higher than others? What are the determining factors?

 

[Passepartout]

Thanks very much. Ya, so that's sort of where I was at. Thank you for confirming. I totally get the 'nickel and dime' feeling, but I guess that's their model - everything is based on fees. Is it true that you can never make a booking through RCI without paying these booking fees? Are some higher than others? What are the determining factors?

You have to have a current membership- that means the $125/yr membership. Then you have to be current on your MFs. Then you have to pay the exchange fee. They go up a bit almost annually. Sometimes there are 'resort fees' you pay at the resort at check-in- allegedly to cover crap like parking, wi-fi- activities, etc.

Determining factor? You wanna stay, or not?

 

[timeshare trader]

You aren't missing anything. 30- to 40K points will get many 1 bedroom units and some 2BRs Bear in mind that EACH Point exchange costs that roughly $300 exchange fee on top of annual MF of the 'home' resort PLUS any resort fees- like additional cleaning fees on stays shorter than 7 nights.

RCI famously nickel and dimes members, except the nickels and dimes are $50's and $100's.

Jim

RCI fees have increased but, housekeeping fees are a resort expense not RCI. While $300 does seem like a lot my trades still save me hundreds of dollars a week at minimum over what it would cost to rent. I am not sure that the big points clubs by resorts are different I would assume they still get their $$$

 

[moonstone]

We get 77K RCI points for our 1 annual maintenance fee. We always get 3-5 vacations, all 7-13 nights long, from those points. Of course we need to pay an exchange fee for each one but it still makes for some cheap vacations. The RCI exchange fee is the same for 7 nights as it is for 13 nights, so we try to book as long of a stay as we can now that we are retired. This use year we have just 120 points left over. There is a section to search for stays of 10K points or less on the RCI website and I always look there first to stretch our points as far as we can.
We also could blow all or nearly all those points on a week long stay at a Gold Crown resort in a prime area at prime time but we'd rather get lots of vacations at other resorts at other times of the year. Our favorite places are at the beaches in Florida.


~Diane

 

[The Colorado Kid]

We get 77K RCI points for our 1 annual maintenance fee. We always get 3-5 vacations, all 7-13 nights long, from those points. Of course we need to pay an exchange fee for each one but it still makes for some cheap vacations. The RCI exchange fee is the same for 7 nights as it is for 13 nights, so we try to book as long of a stay as we can now that we are retired. This use year we have just 120 points left over. There is a section to search for stays of 10K points or less on the RCI website and I always look there first to stretch our points as far as we can.
We also could blow all or nearly all those points on a week long stay at a Gold Crown resort in a prime area at prime time but we'd rather get lots of vacations at other resorts at other times of the year. Our favorite places are at the beaches in Florida.


~Diane

@moonstone - Intrigued by your tip that RCI exchange fee is the same no matter how many nights...I am not great at using the RCI site but only seem to come up with 7 days when searching in my points account...what do I need to tweak in my searching?

 

[revlis01]

Hey, another question y'all. Sorry for sidetracking. If I purchased a resale that doesn't mention RCI points, but I know is an RCI-affiliated resort, could I then get points on my own once I purchase - or is that too simple?

 

[SmithOp]

@moonstone - Intrigued by your tip that RCI exchange fee is the same no matter how many nights...I am not great at using the RCI site but only seem to come up with 7 days when searching in my points account...what do I need to tweak in my searching?

In the filter there is a Length of stay:
1-6 is points inventory
7+ is weeks inventory

at least that is how it works through the HGVC portal into RCI. Shorter stays are pro-rated exchange fee.

Example shows RCI Points when I selected 4 nights.

 

[Passepartout]

Hey, another question y'all. Sorry for sidetracking. If I purchased a resale that doesn't mention RCI points, but I know is an RCI-affiliated resort, could I then get points on my own once I purchase - or is that too simple?

You CAN, but generally that conversion is a profit center for the resort. We see they often charge $3000ish to convert. Buy a resale that's already converted.

 

[revlis01]

You CAN, but generally that conversion is a profit center for the resort. We see they often charge $3000ish to convert. Buy a resale that's already converted.

Thanks, that's what I'm looking at. If I buy a resale that is already converted to points, does that mean I have to pay an RCI exchange/booking fee even to book my home resort?

 

[Passepartout]

Thanks, that's what I'm looking at. If I buy a resale that is already converted to points, does that mean I have to pay an RCI exchange/booking fee even to book my home resort?

I don't mean to make this a primer on using RCI Points- or not. When you own an RCI Points TS, you either get the points on the agreed anniversary date, usually a few months after you pay the MF. OR you can book a week stay using the underlying deeded ownership. If you choose to use the week you own, there is no exchange fee. You usually have to notify the resort of your intention before the points are allocated to your account. After the points are allocated, and you want to book at your home resort, they would (probably) assess an exchange fee. I haven't done this and really am not sure.

 

[moonstone]

@moonstone - Intrigued by your tip that RCI exchange fee is the same no matter how many nights...I am not great at using the RCI site but only seem to come up with 7 days when searching in my points account...what do I need to tweak in my searching?

In RCI there is a few different price points for exchanges, but the fee for 7 to13 nights is the same, there is a higher fee for 14+ nights, the amounts are listed on the RCI website. There is no housekeeping fee to stay longer than 7 nights, unlike when you stay 6 or fewer nights. After logging in and choosing exchange, look on the left side filters for the length of stay, check off 7+ nights. Then I choose the location and number of bedrooms. When you click on a resort that interests you (not all resorts allow longer than 7 night stays), click on available units and then the check in date box. You usually need to search quite a few (8-10?) months in advance. A calendar will pop up and after choosing your desired check-in date, the check out date calendar will show what check-out dates are available. I know certain resorts (ie; Vacation Village resorts) have long stays so I look at them first. The available units list will show the number of points required for the longer stay. I have also found that with some resorts when you play around with the check-in date you can save some points. I recently booked a 10 night stay and saved 3K points by choosing a Tuesday check-in rather than a Saturday check-in. Now that we are retired we don't care what day of the week we check-in.


~Diane

 

[youppi]

In RCI there is a few different price points for exchanges, but the fee for 7 to13 nights is the same, there is a higher fee for 14+ nights, the amounts are listed on the RCI website. There is no housekeeping fee to stay longer than 7 nights, unlike when you stay 6 or fewer nights. After logging in and choosing exchange, look on the left side filters for the length of stay, check off 7+ nights. Then I choose the location and number of bedrooms. When you click on a resort that interests you (not all resorts allow longer than 7 night stays), click on available units and then the check in date box. You usually need to search quite a few (8-10?) months in advance. A calendar will pop up and after choosing your desired check-in date, the check out date calendar will show what check-out dates are available. I know certain resorts (ie; Vacation Village resorts) have long stays so I look at them first. The available units list will show the number of points required for the longer stay. I have also found that with some resorts when you play around with the check-in date you can save some points. I recently booked a 10 night stay and saved 3K points by choosing a Tuesday check-in rather than a Saturday check-in. Now that we are retired we don't care what day of the week we check-in.


~Diane

Friday and Saturday nights cost 20% of a full week each and the other nights cost 12% each for a total of 100% for a 7 days stay.
So, if your length stay is not a multiple of 7 days then less number of Friday/Saturday nights you have in your stay less it cost in pts.
This is an example of the cost depending on the checkin day and the length stay at a resort where the full week cost 30k pts

 

[moonstone]

Friday and Saturday nights cost 20% of a full week each and the other nights cost 12% each for a total of 100% for a 7 days stay.
So, if your length stay is not a multiple of 7 days then less number of Friday/Saturday nights you have in your stay less it cost in pts.
This is an example of the cost depending on the checkin day and the length stay at a resort where the full week cost 30k pts
View attachment 72188

Interesting chart -thanks, I will save that.

I've never spent that many points on a 10 night stay, even one that included 2 weekends or was a 2 bedroom. Our 10 night stay in May cost 26,800 RCI Points and was booked 6 months out.


~Diane

 

[youppi]

Interesting chart -thanks, I will save that.

I've never spent that many points on a 10 night stay, even one that included 2 weekends or was a 2 bedroom. Our 10 night stay in May cost 26,800 RCI Points and was booked 6 months out.


~Diane

I forgot to mention that this chart is valid only if all your stay are in the same season.

 

[california8399]

I happen to have spent a number of hours on the Chat feature with RCI over the past couple of days. For what it's worth, I will share what I learned. I am managing someone else's timeshare which was a specific week in Tahoe but converted to RCI points some years ago. At the time, the sales pitch was that the points are more flexible because they can be used for shorter stays. In order to help the owner cover the cost of the maintenance fee they are not using and understanding you can't rent an exchange, I tried to make a Home Resort reservation which could be rented, even if it only covered part of the MF. They make this option very complicated. We don't qualify for A Home Week reservation which would allow us to book at 13 months but we can book under the Home Resort priority window 11-12 months out for a $50 exchange fee. If I want to book in the 13 month window I would pay the full regular exchange fee. That makes sense to me because it is before my priority level. The frustrating part is that they hold inventory waiting for owners to book in the 12-11 month window and when it is not booked it is released. But by the time it is released, it is in the 10 month window and so is now subject to the full exchange fee again. Despite chats with many RCI agents, nobody can give me any clues as to how to ever actually book a week in my Home Resort Booking window and yet they have multiple units available either side of my window that I can exchange into the for the full exchange fee. The exchange fees are:
1 night: $59 USD/$86 CAD
2 nights: $79 USD/$115 CAD
3 nights: $129 USD/$187 CAD
4 nights: $199 USD/$289 CAD
5 nights: $239 USD/$347 CAD
6 nights: $259 USD/$376 CAD
7-13 nights: $269 USD/$391 CAD
14+ nights: $339USD/$492CAD

Where RCI pays off, in my opinion, is if you have flexibility, short notice availability, and are not seeking top resorts in top locations. For example, in May 2022 we got a one week exchange into a 1 bedroom at the Welk resort in Escondido for less than 10,000 points (we get 29,100 points per year) an exchange fee of approx $200 and a guest certificate fee of $109 (because I am managing the account for someone else I need a guest certificate.) Since I don't pay the annual MF, less than $400 for a week was a great bargain for me. I will say, I like the chat feature. They will check availability, advise on exchange fees, etc. I get frustrated with RCI and do not want to blame the poor agents so I find I can keep the deep sarcasm out of my tone much better on the chat box than by phone! I am using it now actually and the second agent of the day seems to have found me a unit for a 7 night check in on 12/20/23 for the reduced exchange fee. We'll see if it gets all the way through to be a reservation.

 

[youppi]

I happen to have spent a number of hours on the Chat feature with RCI over the past couple of days. For what it's worth, I will share what I learned. I am managing someone else's timeshare which was a specific week in Tahoe but converted to RCI points some years ago. At the time, the sales pitch was that the points are more flexible because they can be used for shorter stays. In order to help the owner cover the cost of the maintenance fee they are not using and understanding you can't rent an exchange, I tried to make a Home Resort reservation which could be rented, even if it only covered part of the MF. They make this option very complicated. We don't qualify for A Home Week reservation which would allow us to book at 13 months but we can book under the Home Resort priority window 11-12 months out for a $50 exchange fee. If I want to book in the 13 month window I would pay the full regular exchange fee. That makes sense to me because it is before my priority level. The frustrating part is that they hold inventory waiting for owners to book in the 12-11 month window and when it is not booked it is released. But by the time it is released, it is in the 10 month window and so is now subject to the full exchange fee again. Despite chats with many RCI agents, nobody can give me any clues as to how to ever actually book a week in my Home Resort Booking window and yet they have multiple units available either side of my window that I can exchange into the for the full exchange fee. The exchange fees are:
1 night: $59 USD/$86 CAD
2 nights: $79 USD/$115 CAD
3 nights: $129 USD/$187 CAD
4 nights: $199 USD/$289 CAD
5 nights: $239 USD/$347 CAD
6 nights: $259 USD/$376 CAD
7-13 nights: $269 USD/$391 CAD
14+ nights: $339USD/$492CAD

Where RCI pays off, in my opinion, is if you have flexibility, short notice availability, and are not seeking top resorts in top locations. For example, in May 2022 we got a one week exchange into a 1 bedroom at the Welk resort in Escondido for less than 10,000 points (we get 29,100 points per year) an exchange fee of approx $200 and a guest certificate fee of $109 (because I am managing the account for someone else I need a guest certificate.) Since I don't pay the annual MF, less than $400 for a week was a great bargain for me. I will say, I like the chat feature. They will check availability, advise on exchange fees, etc. I get frustrated with RCI and do not want to blame the poor agents so I find I can keep the deep sarcasm out of my tone much better on the chat box than by phone! I am using it now actually and the second agent of the day seems to have found me a unit for a 7 night check in on 12/20/23 for the reduced exchange fee. We'll see if it gets all the way through to be a reservation.

Home Week can be booked only 12 to 13 months in advance and it's free.
After that owners can't recover their week without paying an exchange fee.
Owners can book at their home resort (full week only) during the 11 to 12 months for a fee of $50. It can be their own week or another week.
During the 10 to 11 months (Home Group), owners can book at another resort of their home group for 1 to 21 nights at variable exchange fee as you shown.
0 to 10 months, points owners can book any points units (any resorts) for 1 to 21 nights at variable exchange fee as you shown.
0 to 24 months, points owners can book any weeks units (any resorts) for 7 nights only at the week exchange fee.

When you search for vacation, in the top right there is this:

When you click on See Options, you get this:

When you click on the + sign on the right of Home Resort, you get this:

When you click on the Home Resort red button, your resort will appear with a red button Available Units. Click on that button and you will get the availability at your resort in the range of 11 to 12 months (full week only)

 

[escanoe]

Home Week can be booked only 12 to 13 months in advance and it's free.
After that owners can't recover their week without paying an exchange fee.

I have no doubt this is how it works for you (and many others).

But in RCI Points YMMV depending on what you own. For both of my ownerships that are in RCI Points, a home week can continue to be booked less than 13 months out as long as inventory is available.

 

[escanoe]

They will check availability, advise on exchange fees, etc. …. I am using it now actually and the second agent of the day seems to have found me a unit for a 7 night check in on 12/20/23 for the reduced exchange fee.

Does the home resort booking search option not work on the web for you? Or are you calling in and they are finding matches when your searches don’t?

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Hi all.

Please excuse my ignorance, but I'm still pretty new to this stuff.

Currently exploring resale ads on TUG, and I'm looking at a few which would include 90k+ points EOY. Am I missing something, or is that a really nice amount of points to work with? Upon first glance at the RCI exchange grid which I found online, it seems like weeks in most locations can be had for 30 or 40k, which means my 90k points should easily get me two weeks/year. What am I missing?

All TS points programs ; (including RCI points and RCI weeks / TPU's ) are virtual currency and therefore have arbitrage possibilities.
The overhead / fees charged are a cost of doing business in these virtual currencies.

TUG is a good place to do research since a significant number of members have knowledge in maxlmized trading.

 

[youppi]

I have no doubt this is how it works for you (and many others).

But in RCI Points YMMV depending on what you own. For both of my ownerships that are in RCI Points, a home week can continue to be booked less than 13 months out as long as inventory is available.

You are right. I didn't read the smaller text.

 

[revlis01]

Home Week can be booked only 12 to 13 months in advance and it's free.
After that owners can't recover their week without paying an exchange fee.
Owners can book at their home resort (full week only) during the 11 to 12 months for a fee of $50. It can be their own week or another week.
During the 10 to 11 months (Home Group), owners can book at another resort of their home group for 1 to 21 nights at variable exchange fee as you shown.
0 to 10 months, points owners can book any points units (any resorts) for 1 to 21 nights at variable exchange fee as you shown.
0 to 24 months, points owners can book any weeks units (any resorts) for 7 nights only at the week exchange fee.

When you search for vacation, in the top right there is this:
View attachment 72252

When you click on See Options, you get this:
View attachment 72253

When you click on the + sign on the right of Home Resort, you get this:
View attachment 72254

When you click on the Home Resort red button, your resort will appear with a red button Available Units. Click on that button and you will get the availability at your resort in the range of 11 to 12 months (full week only)

Speaking to another owner at Grandview, and he told me that if he books his home week at home resort, then no points are used, and the week is essentially "free". Make any sense?

 

[Passepartout]

Speaking to another owner at Grandview, and he told me that if he books his home week at home resort, then no points are used, and the week is essentially "free". Make any sense?

Nope. If you book your week at your 'home' resort, no points are deposited into your Points account, and you still pay your annual MF fee. That isn't 'free'.

I haven't looked for some time, but one hack I've seen is to book Grandview in Last Calls for a cash rental (sub $300) after your points have been issued. You'd still have to pay an exchange fee to book a points exchange.

You seem hung up on booking the underlying week, and still having the points to use. It's one-or-the-other. Not both.

Jim

 

[revlis01]

Nope. If you book your week at your 'home' resort, no points are deposited into your Points account, and you still pay your annual MF fee. That isn't 'free'.

I haven't looked for some time, but one hack I've seen is to book Grandview in Last Calls for a cash rental (sub $300) after your points have been issued. You'd still have to pay an exchange fee to book a points exchange.

You seem hung up on booking the underlying week, and still having the points to use. It's one-or-the-other. Not both.

Jim

Not hung up on it at all. Just trying to clarify something I was told.