Should I Convert to Points - Need to know ASAP

[webdizzy]

You are making a wise choice by not parting with the $4300. But just out of curiosity, how did you come to learn of this "opportunity"?

LOL Calypso Cay has recently switched from II to RCI. They are also trying to get owners to convert to points.

So, I guess I need to learn more about how to best use my RCI weeks membership to get where I want to go. . .

 

[tschwa2]

or you can stay with II if that's what you want to do. According to the FAQ I linked, if you want to stay you just need to let your resort know. Wyndham did the same thing with the resorts that exchange through II. If owners wanted to stay they had to notify the management if not they would be auto changed to RCI. Once they change to RCI they lose their chance to use II.

 

[webdizzy]

I never heard of having to reserve a fixed week/unit you already own, unless it is in points. I have 3 fixed weeks and all I do is show up. Why should you pay money to reserve it anyway? You own it!

Calypso Cay charged it when reserving the week before depositing. I thought it was crazy, too! It will no longer be charged now that they've switched to the RCI membership.

 

[webdizzy]

or you can stay with II if that's what you want to do. According to the FAQ I linked, if you want to stay you just need to let your resort know. Wyndham did the same thing with the resorts that exchange through II. If owners wanted to stay they had to notify the management if not they would be auto changed to RCI. Once they change to RCI they lose their chance to use II.

I don't want to stay with II. I did extend my II membership a couple of years so that I can use the weeks I already have banked there.

I think I'm gonna like the RCI "credits" thing. What I'm not clear on yet is how or if I have to deposit my week or if it's done automatically. I don't have any credits yet. The left hand columns shows "0" credits for "Current Use Year" and 82,000 for "Future Use Year".

 

[missyrcrews]

Are you sure it's not a float week?

Calypso Cay charged it when reserving the week before depositing. I thought it was crazy, too! It will no longer be charged now that they've switched to the RCI membership.

That sounds like a float week to me. My parents have one, and they have to call to reserve the week, and then deposit it. There isn't a charge, though. And they deal with TPU's, not credits. You must have some sort of a strange hybrid!

Fixed weeks for me all the way. If I want to stay less than a week, say for a long weekend, then I'll reserve a last call/extra vacation week, and leave early. Has worked fine for years.

Good luck figuring it all out!

 

[webdizzy]

That sounds like a float week to me. My parents have one, and they have to call to reserve the week, and then deposit it. There isn't a charge, though. And they deal with TPU's, not credits. You must have some sort of a strange hybrid!

Well, I'm not positive on that. Never was. I know my week is week 14, but I still had to call to reserve it.

 

[Roger830]

About 12 years ago, I went on aa tour at Calypso Cay and we were told that it was floating weeks.

It's my understanding that floating week resorts assign a week for deeding purposes, not ussage.

They tried to sell us based on the outstanding exchanges that would be abtainable.

 

[webdizzy]

About 12 years ago, I went on aa tour at Calypso Cay and we were told that it was floating weeks.

It's my understanding that floating week resorts assign a week for deeding purposes, not ussage.

They tried to sell us based on the outstanding exchanges that would be abtainable.

That sounds right. We purchased about 10 years ago. We did have good success with exchanges at first. At least I thought getting a 5-star resort in Maui 2 years in a row was pretty good! But then I think travel to Hawaii was on a decline due to the economy back then.

A big THANKS to all who have replied. You all have been extremely helpful!

 

[webdizzy]

The TPU for this unit looks to be 35 if it falls around Easter, but 24 if it doesn't.

Can you please tell me how you looked that up?

 

[presley]

Can you please tell me how you looked that up?

When you have an RCI account, you can look up the resort and the week to see how much it is worth before you deposit it.

I don't know if someone else mentioned this already, but when you have RCI weeks, you can pay to combine 2 years of points to get a higher level exchange. If your week gets you 25 points, you can combine 2 years and have 50 points, for a fee, of course.

 

[tschwa2]

If you own a float week you will still need to call and reserve something. You should see if they will let you choose which week to deposit. If they say yes then great. If they say no, you should still try to reserve the week with the highest value (in orlando it is usually going to be week 52) and don't tell them you are depositing. Then try to deposit the week yourself. One problem I see to this is according to the FAQ, you don't get a regular RCI account. You get a special resort specific account which you can't add other ownerships to. General rules and perks we tell you that pertain to everybody might not pertain to you. You may have to feel it out and see how it works and then if others from your resort have questions you can be the one with the answers.

 

[webdizzy]

When you have an RCI account, you can look up the resort and the week to see how much it is worth before you deposit it.

I found Calypso Cay in the directory, but I don't see anywhere that shows any kind of value for any specific week. Furthermore, it says "RCI Points" on it! how can that be if I own at that resort but have a weeks membership? I looked at available and nothing came up, which I know can't be true.

Now I'm confused. . . LOL

 

[presley]

I found Calypso Cay in the directory, but I don't see anywhere that shows any kind of value for any specific week. Furthermore, it says "RCI Points" on it! how can that be if I own at that resort but have a weeks membership? I looked at available and nothing came up, which I know can't be true.

Now I'm confused. . . LOL

I am confused, too. Do you have an RCI account already set up? If you do, you can look at depositing it and there should be some type of drop down menu where you can look up your resort and your week. If you don't already have an RCI account, you won't be able to do it since you won't be able to deposit your week.

Many of the RCI resorts are also RCI points resorts. You'll see that with lots of resorts. Some of the deposits will be weeks and some will be points for those resorts. It will depend on what membership the owner has who makes the deposit. Resorts will also do bulk deposits and that can be any combination of weeks and months.

What was the problem with II? Did you put in ongoing searches and never get matched? Or, did you just surf online inventory? RCI works in the same way as II. You either pay to start an ongoing search, or you keep looking at the leftover online inventory and hope you see something that you like and can use. RCI points is a little different because they don't have ongoing searches and you can only see online inventory 10 months out vs. 2 years out in RCI weeks.

 

[WinniWoman]

The float week that I own at Smuggs is "attached" (when I purchased I had to buy both- that's how they sold them) to my fix week. It is always a different week every year - an off-season week in spring or fall-and is pre-assigned for like 20 years out at a time so we always know when it is. But, again, even for the float week, we just show up.

I guess float weeks are different at the different resorts.

 

[tschwa2]

It sounds like they set up a points account. If that is the case it won't have a place to look up the value when deposited as weeks. Also it isn't a regular RCI points account. It is a resort specific one with a different set up of fees and probably other rules. When consolidated resorts switched to rci points, they went with a modified rci points account as well.

 

[webdizzy]

It sounds like they set up a points account. If that is the case it won't have a place to look up the value when deposited as weeks. Also it isn't a regular RCI points account. It is a resort specific one with a different set up of fees and probably other rules. When consolidated resorts switched to rci points, they went with a modified rci points account as well.

I think you're right in that it's a specific membership for my home resort. I just spoke with someone from Calypso Cay and they said that my RCI membership fees ARE paid by them every year and it is a "platinum" membership. I don't have to deposit my week every year. They have contracted with RCI to do all of that. Once I pay my maintenance fees the credits for that week show up in my account and can be used towards exchanges for weeks at other resorts.

 

[tschwa2]

Ask them if you don't pay to convert to points, how many credits would you get for your week?

 

[webdizzy]

What was the problem with II? Did you put in ongoing searches and never get matched? Or, did you just surf online inventory?

Both. RCI looks like it will be cheaper (less fees and cheaper exchange) and easier and will give me more value. It appears that "credits" are similar to "points", except that they can only be used for accommodations.
I have 82,000 credits for 1 week since I already paid my MF for this year.

 

[Rjbeach2003]

Weeks to Points charge

I have Shell points in Hawaii. Points were all that was offered when I purchased. For me the points work better.

However, companies are trying to get week owners to switch to points because it gives them more flexibility. In other words it is to their benefit.

They then have taken advantage of that change by "offering" benefits to switch.

I don't think I would pay $4300 to help them out. Maybe they will do it for less. I know points or weeks sold at timeshare presentations have very flexible pricing.

As suggested you could buy points on the secondary market, ie bargain basement here on Tug for as little as $.01 for a week or varying amounts of points.

 

[tschwa2]

Both. RCI looks like it will be cheaper (less fees and cheaper exchange) and easier and will give me more value. It appears that "credits" are similar to "points", except that they can only be used for accommodations.
I have 82,000 credits for 1 week since I already paid my MF for this year.

Did you already pay the conversion fee ($4300)? If you didn't and they are giving you 82,000 credits, I am confused as to what you would get for $4300. Generally on the weeks side of RCI the values are in the 2-60 range for units.

 

[webdizzy]

Did you already pay the conversion fee ($4300)? If you didn't and they are giving you 82,000 credits, I am confused as to what you would get for $4300. Generally on the weeks side of RCI the values are in the 2-60 range for units.

No, I decided not to convert thanks to the great advice and info given on this thread.

 

[moonstone]

I currently own a 2 BR red week which equals 82,000 credits in RCI weeks. I have an opportunity to convert them to points for $4300. Is that a good deal? I'm very interested in switching to points due to all the advantages in flexibility. Are there any disadvantages? I'm not sure what other info would be helpful to anyone who wants to reply, so let me know if more info is needed.

Others please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but if you have 82,000 credits - that means you have points! RCI Weeks have a TPU value (depending on what resort you own at, what week you have & what size unit, maximum of 65 I believe), not thousands of credits. If you already have 82,000 RCI points (not credits) then you should already have a points account. You might want to call RCI to see what you actually have & get it corrected if its wrong.

I have RCI points associated with a resort in TN, I have never called the resort to assign me a week for those points, they are in my RCI account & I just book what ever resort I want for the timeframe needed off the availability list.

~Diane

 

[WinniWoman]

Others please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but if you have 82,000 credits - that means you have points! RCI Weeks have a TPU value (depending on what resort you own at, what week you have & what size unit, maximum of 65 I believe), not thousands of credits. If you already have 82,000 RCI points (not credits) then you should already have a points account. You might want to call RCI to see what you actually have & get it corrected if its wrong.

I have RCI points associated with a resort in TN, I have never called the resort to assign me a week for those points, they are in my RCI account & I just book what ever resort I want for the timeframe needed off the availability list.

~Diane

This is exactly what doesn't make any sense to me either.

 

[theo]

I'm baffled...

Others please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but if you have 82,000 credits - that means you have points! RCI Weeks have a TPU value (depending on what resort you own at, what week you have & what size unit, maximum of 65 I believe), not thousands of credits. If you already have 82,000 RCI points (not credits) then you should already have a points account. You might want to call RCI to see what you actually have & get it corrected if its wrong.

I have RCI points associated with a resort in TN, I have never called the resort to assign me a week for those points, they are in my RCI account & I just book what ever resort I want for the timeframe needed off the availability list.

Perhaps webdizzy is using the word "credits" in place of "RCI Points" (...but if so, this still begs the question about "converting" (and / or paying out $4,300 to do so) if webdizzy's account is actually already in RCI Points). What could those 82,000 "whatevers" be? --- certainly not TPU's; I just simply have no idea what those "credits" might be or how / when / where they could be utilized.

As far as "calling the resort to reserve a week", that much certainly sounds like a "floating" week ownership, with maybe the week 14 mentioned just being identified for inventory control purposes?

We no longer "exchange" at all, but very little in this thread makes much sense to me. Frankly, the more I read the more puzzled I became.

 

[webdizzy]

It is definitely not a points membership; it is credits. When I login my account shows 82,000 credits. The difference is that credits can only be used for accommodations but points can also be used for airfare, car rentals and other things through RCI's "partners." I also don't think I can book shorter stays than one week. I'm also a little confused as to how they could justify the cost to change to points when there's seemingly little difference. I originally was thinking that the exchange fees were less in a points membership but I don't think that's the case. Supposedly, with points you also have many more resorts to choose from.