Should we own TS again?

[chwclark]

Hi guys,

I'm not a newbie. We owned timeshare a few years ago (Grandview, 61k RCI points annually with a 2 bedroom unit). However our life got busy and we were not able to travel as much as we'd love to so we gave away our timeshare on TUG.

Long story short, we're finally able to travel a bit more now and really enjoy going to Las Vegas so we've been renting from other timeshare owners on TUG to the point we're seriously reconsidering getting into another timeshare again.

This time around, however, we're thinking perhaps we just need to find something with the lowest maintenance fee possible because Las Vegas is our most common destination and it's so easy to find Last Minute deals + Extra Vacation deals for Vegas. Basically we just need to find the least expensive way to be an RCI member in order to take advantage of those deals.

I did find a blog posting saying that there are ways to sign up as an RCI member without owning a timeshare. However I do find it a bit unethical and do not want to go that route at all.

If anyone has any great suggestion. I am all ears.

Thanks guys!

 

[DaveNV]

My two cents: If you expect LV is your main destination, why sign on for the commitment and expense of owning a timeshare there? As you know, Maintenance Fees go up every year. RCI charges ever-increasing membership and exchange fees just for the privilege of using their website. If you compare costs of what you've been paying for rentals vs. what it costs you (in total) for owning, exchanging, and whatever, you're probably money ahead to just keep renting.

If you wanted to exchange out to other areas, then things might be worthwhile financially. But on its face, I would just keep things as they are.

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

Keep an eye out for a Las Vegas every other- or every third year. You'd have to pay the RCI membership every year, but that would give access to Extra vacays and Last Calls, as well as going to Vegas often enough to catch a new show whenever you want to use your home week.

Jim

 

[DeniseM]

You can almost always rent Grandview on RCI for less than maintenance fees.

 

[chwclark]

I am currently paying about $650-700/week renting from Tuggers and we spend about 4-5 weeks in Vegas per year.

 

[chwclark]

Keep an eye out for a Las Vegas every other- or every third year. You'd have to pay the RCI membership every year, but that would give access to Extra vacays and Last Calls, as well as going to Vegas often enough to catch a new show whenever you want to use your home week.

Jim

Are you talking about the biannual or trienniel ownership? I have been looking at a few of those actually.

My two cents: If you expect LV is your main destination, why sign on for the commitment and expense of owning a timeshare there? As you know, Maintenance Fees go up every year. RCI charges ever-increasing membership and exchange fees just for the privilege of using their website. If you compare costs of what you've been paying for rentals vs. what it costs you (in total) for owning, exchanging, and whatever, you're probably money ahead to just keep renting.

If you wanted to exchange out to other areas, then things might be worthwhile financially. But on its face, I would just keep things as they are.

Dave

Yes, the commitment of owning a timeshare is why we hesitate to jump back in.

 

[Karen G]

I am currently paying about $650-700/week renting from Tuggers and we spend about 4-5 weeks in Vegas per year.

Sounds like you're doing quite well renting! Another option you might want to consider: move here! It's a great place to be retired and there's always something fun to do.

 

[chwclark]

Sounds like you're doing quite well renting! Another option you might want to consider: move here! It's a great place to be retired and there's always something fun to do.

I'd love to retire in Vegas but we're Canadians and would really hate to leave the safety net of free health care even though everything else we have over here in Canada is 1.5x more expensive

 

[OldGuy]

I did find a blog posting saying that there are ways to sign up as an RCI member without owning a timeshare. However I do find it a bit unethical and do not want to go that route at all.

I'm mildly dumbfounded!!!

Did you have an RCI membership? I assume yes, or else you would have mentioned RCI. I would reactivate it:

If after the 120 days, you decide to Reactivate your RCI Weeks membership, there will be a $49USD charge to reinstate your account, which is in addition to your standard membership fee.

RCI welcomes their subscribers to continue their membership after they no longer own a timeshare. We still own some, but don't give RCI anything, and would continue with RCI even if we didn't own, after doing more than 150 exchanges.

The last 22, or more, RCI vacations have been Extra Vacations and Last Calls I have gotten for other people. Our RCI account is more active now than when we were exchanging.

There's absolutely nothing unethical about it.

The Grandview at Las Vegas (#6923)

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Las Vegas, NV USA
1 Bedroom Full4/4 Max Occupancy/Privacy
Sun 26-May-2019 toSun 2-Jun-2019
USD 294.00

PS: If you are not familiar with this, it's a "Last Call", and that is the fee for the entire week.

 

[chwclark]

We had an RCI points membership and had to discontinue it because we no longer owned our Grandview timeshare. This was years ago so it's outside of the 120 day window.

The part I found unethical is the fact that in order to sign up as a new member again we'd need to fill out a form including details of timeshare ownership. I did not want to lie about owning a timeshare. Where did you find on the RCI website that says 'we welcome subscribers to continue their membership after they no longer own a timeshare'?

Yes, the prices for those Last Call vacations are amazing which is why we're super tempted to get back into timesharing again but obviously if there's way of joining RCI without owning a timeshare we'd be all over it!

I'm mildly dumbfounded!!!

Did you have an RCI membership? I assume yes, or else you would have mentioned RCI. I would reactivate it:

If after the 120 days, you decide to Reactivate your RCI Weeks membership, there will be a $49USD charge to reinstate your account, which is in addition to your standard membership fee.

RCI welcomes their subscribers to continue their membership after they no longer own a timeshare. We still own some, but don't give RCI anything, and would continue with RCI even if we didn't own, after doing more than 150 exchanges.

The last 22, or more, RCI vacations have been Extra Vacations and Last Calls I have gotten for other people. Our RCI account is more active now than when we were exchanging.

There's absolutely nothing unethical about it.

The Grandview at Las Vegas (#6923)

​

Las Vegas, NV USA
1 Bedroom Full4/4 Max Occupancy/Privacy
Sun 26-May-2019 toSun 2-Jun-2019
USD 294.00

PS: If you are not familiar with this, it's a "Last Call", and that is the fee for the entire week.

 

[OldGuy]

What I posted is from RCI, and it says after the 120 day window you can reactivate for $49.

So, if it was me, and I was asking myself if we should own a timeshare again, my answer would be No.

If I/we wanted to go the Vegas for $294/week.

 

[chwclark]

I looked into it a bit more. Here's the link:
https://www.rci.com/pre-rci-en_US/help/miscellaneous/reactivating-your-membership.page

It looks like the reactivation only applies to people who previously owned 'weeks' membership. I think I remember talking to the support person on the phone and she mentioned that if we had the weeks membership we would have been allowed to keep the account. I wonder why such a difference.

What I posted is from RCI, and it says after the 120 day window you can reactivate for $49.

So, if it was me, and I was asking myself if we should own a timeshare again, my answer would be No.

If I/we wanted to go the Vegas for $294/week.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Do you think this reactivation would work if you previously owned Hilton and accessed RCI only through the HGVC portal? If not, can an HGVC owner buy a separate RCI account, citing their HGVC (or Disney or Wyndham) ownership before selling the unit and then reactivate the RCI account after sold?

This would be additional revenue for RCI and more people to buy their packages.

 

[chwclark]

Hm... what do you mean?

Do you think this reactivation would work if you previously owned Hilton and accessed RCI only through the HGVC portal? If not, can an HGVC owner buy a separate RCI account, citing their HGVC (or Disney or Wyndham) ownership before selling the unit and then reactivate that account after sold?

 

[chwclark]

Sorry, I should have said I am not familiar with HGVC.

Do you think this reactivation would work if you previously owned Hilton and accessed RCI only through the HGVC portal? If not, can an HGVC owner buy a separate RCI account, citing their HGVC (or Disney or Wyndham) ownership before selling the unit and then reactivate the RCI account after sold?

This would be additional revenue for RCI and more people to buy their packages.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I am referring to @OldGuy who said you can rejoin RCI and reactivate your account if you owned a timeshare in the past.

 

[OldGuy]

Section 20 of the Terms and Conditions of RCI Points Subscribing Membership:

In the event of termination, an initiation fee will be required to re-activate the membership.

Section 21:

Failure to pay membership for a renewal term may result in termination of membership and may require additional payment to reinstate membership.

2018-2019 RCI Points Disclosure Guide:

In the event of termination, RCI may, in its sole discretion, grant a request by the former Member to re-activate membership. RCI may require payment of a new Subscription Fee, among other conditions.

D. Re-Enrollment. If the Member’s membership in the Network terminates or is terminated by the Network Administrator for any reason, and the former Member desires re-enrollment in the Network, the former Member may be required to execute a new Network Participation Agreement and pay all applicable fees that may be required by Network Administrator. The former Member’s re-enrollment is subject to the Network Administrator’s right to refuse any Network Participation Agreement and the payment of the applicable fees thereto. A re-enrollment fee, plus Network Dues for the current Use Year, may be payable

 

[OldGuy]

Do you think this reactivation would work if you previously owned Hilton and accessed RCI only through the HGVC portal? If not, can an HGVC owner buy a separate RCI account, citing their HGVC (or Disney or Wyndham) ownership before selling the unit and then reactivate the RCI account after sold?

This would be additional revenue for RCI and more people to buy their packages.

dunno, but I like the sounds of this:

As part of your Hilton Grand Vacations Club ownership, you automatically become an RCI® subscribing member.

Select “RCI Account” to link to your RCI subscribing member account

In addition to exchange reservations using Points, Club Members also have access to Last Call clearance-priced, cash paid vacations. Typically available less than 6 weeks prior to check-in, these accommodations are located within the same great RCI-affiliated resorts and include the same great amenities as other RCI Exchange vacations.

ask here:

feedback@rci.com

 

[OldGuy]

What do you like about timesharing?

What do you dislike about timesharing?

 

[dayooper]

dunno, but I like the sounds of this:

As part of your Hilton Grand Vacations Club ownership, you automatically become an RCI® subscribing member.

Select “RCI Account” to link to your RCI subscribing member account

In addition to exchange reservations using Points, Club Members also have access to Last Call clearance-priced, cash paid vacations. Typically available less than 6 weeks prior to check-in, these accommodations are located within the same great RCI-affiliated resorts and include the same great amenities as other RCI Exchange vacations.

ask here:

feedback@rci.com

Your RCI membership exists through the HGVC portal and it’s pretty restrictive. There was a whole thread the other week on how certain members could see the sale on extra vacations and others couldn’t. Tug member @alwysonvac figured a work around, but I’m not sure if any HGVC member was supposed to see it.

HGVC is a great system that has great resorts in some very nice locations. As entrance into RCI? Eh, not so much. You lowest non Scotland MF’s are going to be just under $900 plus the club dues (currently $176). To get that resort (HGVC on the Strip), you will be paying around $7000 plus another $1020 in HGVC transfer and activation fees. That doesn’t include any title, deed prep or any other costs to put the deed in your name. If you want to go places where there are HGVC resorts and use the RCI Last Calls and Extra Vacations as a perk, go for it. If not, I would suggest buying into a different system or continue renting.

 

[chwclark]

What do you like about timesharing?

What do you dislike about timesharing?

Good questions.

What I like about timesharing:
-Unbeatable prices for weekly rentals at nice condo style resorts where we get to prepare our own food with nice amenities.
-Since we're very flexible with our schedule we can jump on any last minute deals that may come up in the system

What I dislike about timesharing:
-Life happens and it can be a burden to pay annual fees
-It's a pain to unload/get rid of timeshare ownership

 

[chwclark]

Your RCI membership exists through the HGVC portal and it’s pretty restrictive. There was a whole thread the other week on how certain members could see the sale on extra vacations and others couldn’t. Tug member @alwysonvac figured a work around, but I’m not sure if any HGVC member was supposed to see it.

HGVC is a great system that has great resorts in some very nice locations. As entrance into RCI? Eh, not so much. You lowest non Scotland MF’s are going to be just under $900 plus the club dues (currently $176). To get that resort (HGVC on the Strip), you will be paying around $7000 plus another $1020 in HGVC transfer and activation fees. That doesn’t include any title, deed prep or any other costs to put the deed in your name. If you want to go places where there are HGVC resorts and use the RCI Last Calls and Extra Vacations as a perk, go for it. If not, I would suggest buying into a different system or continue renting.

Wow, it sounds quite expensive to own HGVC.

 

[OldGuy]

Good questions.

What I like about timesharing:
-Unbeatable prices for weekly rentals at nice condo style resorts where we get to prepare our own food with nice amenities.
-Since we're very flexible with our schedule we can jump on any last minute deals that may come up in the system

What I dislike about timesharing:
-Life happens and it can be a burden to pay annual fees
-It's a pain to unload/get rid of timeshare ownership

Bingo

Doing what I suggest . . . mostly $300/week total expense, amazingly good supply of many of the same top resorts people exchange to. . . . No ownership, so no annual fees. . . nothing to unload.

I am saying what I'm saying because you brought up Vegas. Why spend $1000/week to stay there when $300 will get it, with no ongoing obligation?
- - - - -
As far as my HGVC response, I was assuming a person was already in HGVC, not purchasing HGVC to get into RCI.

 

[chwclark]

Bingo

Doing what I suggest . . . mostly $300/week total expense, amazingly good supply of many of the same top resorts people exchange to. . . . No ownership, so no annual fees. . . nothing to unload.

I am saying what I'm saying because you brought up Vegas. Why spend $1000/week to stay there when $300 will get it, with no ongoing obligation?
- - - - -
As far as my HGVC response, I was assuming a person was already in HGVC, not purchasing HGVC to get into RCI.

I'd love to be able to reactivate our RCI account (without owning) if possible. That seems like the best option for us for sure.

 

[alwysonvac]

For timeshare stays, here are some rental sites frequently mentioned on TUG

• https://www.tripbeat.com/
• http://www.skyauction.com/
• https://www.endlessvacationrentals.com/
• https://www.condodirect.com
• https://www.tradingplaces.com/ (See Hot Deals)

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• https://www.caesars.com/ (scroll down and click on deals)
• https://www.mgmresorts.com/ (scroll down and click on offers)
• https://www.sands.com/properties/all-properties.html (click on each property and select offers).
• https://www.travelzoo.com/

For example, here’s the latest email offer from MGM

Book by April 30, 2019 with Up to 40% off rates for stays available now through September 30, 2019.










Here’s what I see at the Caesar’s website





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