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Should I trade into RCI or II?

LB002

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I am trying to decide if RCI or II is a better choice for us. I have a quarter share (13 weeks). With RCI we are Gold, with II we are Select. I have 3 weeks I would like to trade in this year (2 in low season (Spring), 1 in medium (Fall)).

Any pros/cons I should consider? Opinions on which company would be a better fit for us?

We live East Coast, prefer long weekend to week long exchanges (can you do a few days via II, or only weeks?), have to travel on school vacation scedule, prefer nicer resorts (I know II is better). We own DVC, so trading into Disney isn't a consideration in the decision.
 

wackymother

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With a quarter share and so many weeks, plus working around school schedules, you should probably do BOTH.

That said, I have used RCI almost exclusively for years. We are in the Northeast and had to work around school schedules for about twenty years. RCI has more choices in driving distance for us.
 

bnoble

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If you are talking about Spring 2023 you need to make a decision quickly. Interval deposits less than 60 days prior to use are restricted. Earlier is (marginally) better. RCI considers a deposit “not late” at about nine months; less than that trade power is reduced.

You probably also will need to be realistic about what is possible. You are trading off-season/shoulder season weeks but are locked in a school schedule where trade power required is likely to be at least moderate, especially for the more in demand resorts. In some cases, you will not be able to make a one-for-one exchange into the resort/time you want.

RCI is exclusively weeks, not partial weeks. (That is unless your ownership is eligible RCI Points, and it probably is not). I think II has a partial-week exchange system, but I’ve never used it.

I’ve been using both. Domestically, RCI has more inventory (and therefore more choices), but II has more of the nicer resorts and is a bit less expensive. (I am not sure about volume of international destinations in each system.) The ”resort quality” In II is a bit of a mirage, because Marriott and Sheraton both have an internal preference period, during which most new deposits can only be taken by another owner in that system. It sounds like you don’t own one of those, and it does make a difference. That doesn’t mean you can’t get resorts in those systems, but the more in-demand locations/times in those systems are probably going to be very difficult even if you had great trade power—and you don’t.

RCI has some features that might be helpful: for a fee, you can combine two (or more) deposits to trade for “better” weeks. It also allows you to get “change back” from a trade that didn’t require all of your trade power, and that “change” can be used for another exchange or recombined with yet another deposit, and so on. This makes trading even more expensive—the fee to combine, plus you are trading (part of) two weeks for one, but a three-for-two exchange might make a lot of sense for you depending on how much each of those quarter share weeks cost. RCI’s trade power evaluation system is transparent, so you know what each deposit is worth, and what each exchange might require. RCI also has a “deposit calculator” which will tell you how much a potential deposit would be worth if you made it that day. Those values can and do change with time.

In contrast, II has a feature that is also helpful: you can search against a week you haven’t yet deposited. This will let you see what II can do for you only for the cost of joining, and without committing a week to them. So, while it isn’t as transparent as RCI, you can “test the waters” a bit.

So, I think my advice is: join both RCI and II for now. Deposit your two spring weeks right now to RCI, and play around with it to see if they can individually get you something you might want, or if you’ll need to combine them. Use II’s feature allowing you to search without depositing to search against your Fall week to play around with what *that* system will give you. Then, adjust accordingly. No matter what, there is going to be a learning curve, and it will be very specific to what you own and what you want, so there is a limit to what someone else can tell you vs. what you can learn by experience. For me, that’s part of the fun, but I think I’m wired a bit backward.
 

bnoble

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Oh, and one more thought: poking around live inventory is only going to show you part of what is possible, because you are only seeing the “leftovers” after ongoing searches have been satisfied. If you really want to get a sense, you need to place a few searches. This is true in both systems.
 

LB002

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Super helpful, thank you!!!
 

geist1223

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With Worldmark I do not have to Deposit to see Trade Inventory in RCI. I do not Deposit until a Booking is confirmed.
 

CPNY

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Interval has Marriott and Hyatt which are great resorts with plenty of locations on the east. Plenty of options in Florida between Palm Beach, FLL, Miami, Gulf Coast, and the keys.
 

escanoe

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With RCI you can "combine" [for a modest fee by RCI standards] all your shoulder deposits and have more trading power (get fewer but better trades). In II it will all be 1:1 trades and there isn't anything to do if you don't have the needed trading power. I think the person above that suggested trying "both" to see how it goes probably gave you the best advice.
 
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wackymother

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I think if you have an RCI membership, even without a deposit, if you look at a specific resort, you can see Available Units and how many TPUs you need to get them.
 

bnoble

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In a straight Weeks account, I am unable to see any inventory past the expiration date of my latest-expiring deposit. I don't know what it would do if I had no deposits at all. In my mini-system portal, I can see to the end of the available calendar. That happens to be Wyndham, but I think they all work the same way.

The OP would presumably be in straight Weeks.
 

Eggrollcreative

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I am trying to decide if RCI or II is a better choice for us. I have a quarter share (13 weeks). With RCI we are Gold, with II we are Select. I have 3 weeks I would like to trade in this year (2 in low season (Spring), 1 in medium (Fall)).

Any pros/cons I should consider? Opinions on which company would be a better fit for us?

We live East Coast, prefer long weekend to week long exchanges (can you do a few days via II, or only weeks?), have to travel on school vacation scedule, prefer nicer resorts (I know II is better). We own DVC, so trading into Disney isn't a consideration in the decision.
 
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Eggrollcreative

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Always buy insurance on the II getaways. Better off: don’t buy getaways.
 

Eggrollcreative

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What's wrong with Getaways? OOTL
OOTL? Sorry don’t know the acronym. For starters all sales are final and that includes if the resort gets shut down for some reason. Which just happened to me. And then when you try to work with them to get an alternate lined up they lecture you heartlessly about how you should have bought the insurance which actually only pays on covered cancellations and then up to a certain amount. I just replaced my getaway for a resort closed due to hurricane damage. I was also told harshly I should have read the small print. It goes on for a dozen pages. Had a supervisor refuse to take my call. Also the notice was sent by email. Nothing in the app alerting me. My email is not a reliable communication mode. They also offered me some kind of scammy voucher that would cost me more than $200 to use and have to be used within a month. Check Yelp reviews and BBB complaints for some of the pitfalls. They do seem to try to work it out once it gets to that point. I hope I will be one of those made whole Here is a list of all the closed resorts right now, imagine all the folks like me getting the bad news…https://www.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=60&p=travel-advisories&confirmed=true
 

Eggrollcreative

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OOTL? Sorry don’t know the acronym. For starters all sales are final and that includes if the resort gets shut down for some reason. Which just happened to me. And then when you try to work with them to get an alternate lined up they lecture you heartlessly about how you should have bought the insurance which actually only pays on covered cancellations and then up to a certain amount. I just replaced my getaway for a resort closed due to hurricane damage. I was also told harshly I should have read the small print. It goes on for a dozen pages. Had a supervisor refuse to take my call. Also the notice was sent by email. Nothing in the app alerting me. My email is not a reliable communication mode. They also offered me some kind of scammy voucher that would cost me more than $200 to use and have to be used within a month. Check Yelp reviews and BBB complaints for some of the pitfalls. They do seem to try to work it out once it gets to that point. I hope I will be one of those made whole Here is a list of all the closed resorts right now, imagine all the folks like me getting the bad news…https://www.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=60&p=travel-advisories&confirmed=true

Here is more info on II’s fantabulous travel insurance:
 

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sfwilshire

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I've been members of both for decades due to the affiliations of my resorts. Much depends on where you want to vacation and the value of your owned resorts. Personally, I find RCI much easier to use for my specific travel needs and would have dropped II years ago were it not for my one resort that is only affiliated with them. RCI has many more resorts. II has some desired ones, like Disney Vacation Club.

After you do your research, you may want to join both for a couple of years and test the water. It might be worth it to belong to both. Then you have the best of both worlds.

Sheila
 

LB002

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I've been members of both for decades due to the affiliations of my resorts. Much depends on where you want to vacation and the value of your owned resorts. Personally, I find RCI much easier to use for my specific travel needs and would have dropped II years ago were it not for my one resort that is only affiliated with them. RCI has many more resorts. II has some desired ones, like Disney Vacation Club.

After you do your research, you may want to join both for a couple of years and test the water. It might be worth it to belong to both. Then you have the best of both worlds.

Sheila
Thanks for the feedback!

As a heads up, Disney switched from RCI to II this year (we own DVC too).
 

cowboy

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II is owned by Marriott rci is owned by Wyndham which should tell you about the quality of each.
 

sfwilshire

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II is owned by Marriott rci is owned by Wyndham which should tell you about the quality of each.

As a lifetime Titanium Elite at Marriott, earned by decades of staying in Marriott hotels, and several stays in Marriott Vacation Club properties, I can assure you that Marriott has it's good and bad properties just like other companies. I'd take Wyndham Bonnet Creek over most of the MVCs I've stayed in. I've stayed in wonderful RCI properties and others that were not so great. Ditto with II.

Every person has to evaluate what is important to them and read lots of reviews.

Sheila
 

Eggrollcreative

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I recommend you check out Yelp reviews and BBB complaints to see pitfalls to avoid. Gives you an idea what the worst things that can happen will be. If you research resort like these tuggers seem to do you will do well. If you take your chances high likelihood of problems.
 

adamrivers

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General question here - with RCI I know it is possible to take one week and trade it into a few weeks. Is that not possible with Interval International essentially... you are only doing 1 week for 1 week?
 

bnoble

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Correct. The exception is if the week you are depositing can be "locked off" into separate units. In that case, it is 2-for-1, but with more exchange fees and slightly less trade power for each "half".
 
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