Searching in Weeks and Points

[JLB]

Thanks to another TUGger, today I am doing my standard daily searches for the next two years through both Weeks and Points.

Anyone interested in the results?

 

[dcmoony]

I would be interested in the results. Being new to points I had been comparing my weeks to my points. However both are on the low trade side of timesharing. Would like to see what you have come up with.

 

[Kenny]

RCI Points

I would be interested in the results. Being new to points I had been comparing my weeks to my points. However both are on the low trade side of timesharing. Would like to see what you have come up with.

Check out funrealty.net there is a lot of good information that will help you.
Kenny

 

[Eilead]

I would be interested in the results too.
Thanks

 

[JLB]

Ok, adding the private messages to these, I might as well share the results.

I'll do so with the caveat that this is my first Points search, so I really don't know what I'm doing. If there are any secret nuances to Points I don't know about, I obviously did not use them.

(There's an admission you don't hear every day, a veteran TUGger admitting he doesn't know squat about something, anything.)

I won't try to do a price comparison, as to which method provides the less expensive exchange, but I really don't believe Points would be less expensive than our Weeks trades, at least for these searches. There is no doubt that Points would be a much more expensive method if you took into account the high prices of conversion to Points.

I searched Florida for the next month, and my standard daily January Florida searches for 2007 and 2008 (through 1/22/08, of course).

Here's the results.

Searching Florida for the next month through Points I saw nothing on the Weeks side and 9 Points resorts. They required a minimum of 19,000 Points and a maximum of 154,000 points. Most appear to be in the 40,000 to 60,000 range. From what I understand about the cost of Points and annual fees per point, and other Points fees, that does not strike me as a deal.

Searching Florida for the next month through our own Weeks account, I saw 13 resorts.
- - - - - -

Using Points, searching for January, 2007, the way I understood it I can only search for Weeks resorts since that timeframe is more than 10 months out. Doing that I could see 4 resorts in SW Florida and 35 Resorts On the Beach.

The minimum points required for the SW FL resorts is 22,000 and the maximum is 45,500. For Resorts On the Beach, the minimum is 17,000 and the highest is 57,500. The bulk appear to be around 35,000-40,000.

Using my Weeks account I saw the same 4 resorts for SW Florida, but I saw 57 (not 35) Resorts On The Beach.
- - - - - -

Searching Weeks resorts through Points for January, 2007, I saw nothing for SW Florida and 13 Resorts On The Beach. They went from 17,000 to 45,500, with no real common amount.

Through our Weeks account I saw 2 SW Florida resorts and 19 Resorts On The Beach.
- - - - - -

In every case I saw at least as many resorts through Weeks, and in some cases, many more than through Points. I also did not see that Points would help in securing prime Florida resorts during a period of high demand.

I found it interesting that Points could not search for dates less than 10 days in the future, whereas through Weeks it is 5 days. So, with Points you cannot search for the next week.

I'm sure I've probably missed something, something it takes more than a degree in Business and Economics to comprehend and just as certain that what I have missed will soon be pointed out.

If I have shared something I should not have, in violation of my own Tug-Kiss-of-Death or Lose-What-You-Brag-About axioms, I do so because in this case I am too dumb to know any better.

 

[dcmoony]

JLB, Being new to points that is about the same thing I see. A good example is if I wanted to trade into my week in branson at .02 cents it would cost me $800.00 for the week that is based on the points grid for that week. My Branson weeks resort Maint fees are $659.00 per year. So that would not be a good trade to me. Now maybe I am looking at this all wrong. But as I said the points game is still new to me and I am trying to figure it out.

 

[JLB]

Of course, if you want to stay at Holiday Hills, it is available most of the year through Extra Vacations, for less, and without having to give up a week or Points.

 

[jjking42]

nice topic JLb

i need to add some info for you to consider. I also have been running my searches using my top traders and also using a friends points account.

One of the things that I found was that . when searching the weeks side of a points account the points resorts availability did not show up 11-24 monhts out . However they did show up on the weeks only account.

Example
rcI points account weeks side searching 18 months in advance i could not see landmark panama city. But I did see it in my regular weeks side.

After running lots of tests I found that the only difference in my searches was the rci points account blocks out points resorts on the weeks side when searching 11-24 months out. other wise I got the same results.

I think that their is a vep issue but both the accounts i was searching with were gold crown.

For short term . less than 10 months the points side pulled way more Florida than the weeks side and points weeks and regular weeks pulled the same.

My conclusion

when searching less than 10 months in Florida Points resorts are more available( except last minute deals on regular weeks account)

when searching 11-24 month out
use the weeks side of a points account for non points resorts only.
Compare the cost with points to the cost of trading a regular week. Some deals can be had using the generic grid.

If you want to book a points resort 11-24 month out use a regular weeks account. then you can see all the points and non points resorts.
For example this is the only way to see landmark at 11-24 months. It wont show up on the weeks side of a points account.

 

[JLB]

I believe what you are saying is that the reason I am seeing so many more resorts through my Weeks account for January, 2007, is because it is showing both Points and Weeks resorts, whereas a Weeks search through Points will only show the Weeks resorts.

There would be no way to search for Points resorts further than 10 months out through Points.

 

[djyamyam]

I believe what you are saying is that the reason I am seeing so many more resorts through my Weeks account for January, 2007, is because it is showing both Points and Weeks resorts, whereas a Weeks search through Points will only show the Weeks resorts.

There would be no way to search for Points resorts further than 10 months out through Points.

Help me understand this. You have kept a separate Weeks only account in addition to your Points/Weeks combined account? Is paying the extra annual fee for the extra account worth it? Based on what you say you are seeing in that account vs. the combined Points/Weeks account maybe it is? I don't have a separate one now but we just bought another Weeks unit and maybe we'll get that one set up on its own. Its got low VEP so based on Bootleg's comment from a previous posting, that would also help us on Last Call, for what that's worth now.

 

[jjking42]

Help me understand this. You have kept a separate Weeks only account in addition to your Points/Weeks combined account? Is paying the extra annual fee for the extra account worth it? Based on what you say you are seeing in that account vs. the combined Points/Weeks account maybe it is? I don't have a separate one now but we just bought another Weeks unit and maybe we'll get that one set up on its own. Its got low VEP so based on Bootleg's comment from a previous posting, that would also help us on Last Call, for what that's worth now.

Yes two diferent rci accounts.
1 is a weeks only account that come with my fairfield membership and the other is a seperate points account

 

[jperkins]

Do you have a special method to do these searches or are they done manually?

I have both weeks and points and searching can take a lot of time.

 

[JLB]

Do you have a special method to do these searches or are they done manually?

I have both weeks and points and searching can take a lot of time.

Hi Guy! When are you coming to check on your property? You know how things are down here.

How's the lovely Mrs.?

Did you know that Ledgestone is redoing the course. They are swapping the fairways on 10 and 18, but leaving the greens the same. Hard to picture, huh?

I've searched Weeks almost every morning since RCI.com began, which, by the way, was the Spring of 1996, with online transactions first available in April, 1997.

I do four searches every morning and including the very long time it takes RCI.com to load, it takes less than 15 minutes. On high speed I can do it in 5. It is as much a habit as my morning cup of hot chocolate.

Points did seem to be slower. The pages did not move as quickly and reloaded worse than Weeks pages. Plus there are more options. Weeks is cut-and-dry.

 

[Spence]

When you have a Points account you can also get a free 'sister' Weeks account that will do everything any weeks account will do.

 

[JLB]

When you have a Points account you can also get a free 'sister' Weeks account that will do everything any weeks account will do.

I will gladly trade my brother for a free sister.

 

[tanguayc]

When you have a Points account you can also get a free 'sister' Weeks account that will do everything any weeks account will do.

Could you please explain this? I have a points account, which I am finding not as good as I once thought. What will a "sister" weeks account do for you? I am pretty discouraged with points right now. After they raised the amount of points to use a weeks resort, the reason for owning points for us went right out the window. I don't understand the whole thing, I guess. I understand weeks feeling they get "raided" by points, but when there are only a few points resorts and you can't get into them, there is no other option. Or is there another option and I just don't know what it is? Honestly getting very frustrated trying to figure all this out. Not even sure it is worth it anymore. Sorry, guess I got a bit off track. If someone wants to take the time to e mail, please feel free. Thanks.

 

[Spence]

What will a "sister" weeks account do for you?

allows you to deposit other traditional weeks that you may own without having to pay for an additional weeks account. People like JLB may not need this because they have a weeks account that comes automatically with their Fairfield ownership. But I do. I deposit weeks into the 'sister' account, play with them, and if they don't work out I transfer them Through Points For Depsot (PFD) to the points account prior to the 90 day full credit deadline.

 

[djyamyam]

allows you to deposit other traditional weeks that you may own without having to pay for an additional weeks account. People like JLB may not need this because they have a weeks account that comes automatically with their Fairfield ownership. But I do. I deposit weeks into the 'sister' account, play with them, and if they don't work out I transfer them Through Points For Depsot (PFD) to the points account prior to the 90 day full credit deadline.

But according to JLB and JJking, the weeks "sister" account doesn't allow them to see the same thing as the separate Weeks account. The "sister" account automatically filters out some resorts because it is tied to the Points account. So in essence the two weeks account are not the same even though they are "weeks" accounts. Did I misinterpret that?

 

[JLB]

As I said up yonder, it appears that when you search with a Weeks account you see both Weeks and Points resorts, but when you search Weeks with a Points account, you see only Weeks resorts.

If I am understanding this correctly, what this mean is that you cannot search for Points resorts more than 10 months our through Points but you can through Weeks. I did not do the breakdown in my test to see if that is the case, but it would not be hard to do.

Should it be this confusing?

 

[cclendinen]

Consider expanding your search.

JLB,
Consider doing three searches.
1. Standard search from weeks account.
2. Weeks search from points account.
3. Standard points search. (This is more limited for long range searches because you can't see anything but you home resorts past 10 months)

Depending on the quality of the week used for the weeks account search, searches 1 & 2 can have very different results. Since the points-for-weeks search filters out weeks with a low VEP, a dog-week trader can reveal weeks that will the points-for-weeks search will never see but a points-for-weeks search will always show the medium to high VEP resorts.

Another interesting point is that most points resorts also have weeks that have not been converted to points. So you see the points avaiability via the standard points search and the weeks availability via a weeks account search. But a points-for-weeks search will not show anything because all points-resorts are filtered out of a points-for-weeks search. So there are times when resorts that require very high points can be obtained through your weeks account with a so-so trader. This is even more obivious when the resort exchange is in the 45-day-window, because standard points exchanges do not get cheaper in the 45-day-window.

 

[JLB]

That's what I did.

I have not studied the searches to see why straight Weeks saw so much more than Weeks through Points. I sense that I saw higher quality, and many, resorts through straight Weeks, but that is subject to evaluation, which I could do since I save all the searches.

For what I know about where we go, I would feel very uncomfortable about searching it as short as ten months out (Points resorts through Points). Peak availability where we go is from 15-20 months out. By 12 months out on in very little is ever available, of any quality.

That's why I say I don't see Points as any answer to the availability problem for January in SW Florida.

I find it interesting that Weeks also saw more for the near future, the next month, than Points.

I guess I concluded that for us Points is best, except for the near-future and all timeframes after that.

 

[jjking42]

That's what I did.



I guess I concluded that for us Points is best, except for the near-future and all time frames after that.

Now if they would let you search for points resorts 24 months out using points that would be something

 

[JLB]

Now if they would let you search for points resorts 24 months out using points that would be something

That was my biggest surprise. I wonder how many points members, ones who bought Points new, don't realize you can search at 2 years out.

It has been years since I confirmed an exchange at 10 months out or less, except for those that don't become available until 6 months out.

 

[Conan]

Here's what I've concluded after a few years of dual accounts:

1. Points used on the Weeks side carry an upper-middle-class VEP, very good but not top best, and of course are limited to non-Points affiliated resorts.

2. Points used on the Points side avoid the headache of VEP altogether - - do your search 10 months to the day in advance of the day you want to travel and you'll almost always get what you want among the Points-affiliated resorts [the rare exception being resorts whose owners totally exhaust the inventory of the week you're looking for via their ability to book 13 months in advance]

3. The challenge for a dyed-in-the-wool Tugger is remembering NOT to book a vacation two years to 10 months ahead on the Weeks side, so you'll have Points to spend and an empty spot on your calendar when the 10 month Points window opens up.

 

[jjking42]

Here's what I've concluded after a few years of dual accounts:


3. The challenge for a dyed-in-the-wool Tugger is remembering NOT to book a vacation two years to 10 months ahead on the Weeks side, so you'll have Points to spend and an empty spot on your calendar when the 10 month Points window opens up.

thats my problem. i book so far out with rci that my calender gets full before II or SFx can get me a week. I am already starting on 2008