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Smugglers Notch: weeks vs. points

3gymrats

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I would like to hear peoples' ideas, pro and con, regarding going from weeks to points at Smuggs with a non-vacation period ski week. The conversion is expensive but it seems to offer more flexibility in scheduling (I have 2 in H.S. now and one 4th grader). Taking the older ones out of school just isn't an option for us. That leaves me with thinking about going to points. We don't get a winter week off--just a floating spring weekand 2 long weekends. Is it a hassle trying to find long weekends (especially MLK & Presidant's Day) using the points system? How long ahead would I need to put in for it and will RCI give me a choice of where to stay if they have more that one unit available? Do Smuggs owners get priority with RCI when using points to go back into your home community? Are there any hidden costs I should know about? Anything else that would be useful for helping me make up my mind would be great. Thanks in advance!
 

lprstn

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
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I would not pay to go from weeks to points with Smugglers, as there are so many Points programs you can purchase for pennies on the dollar that would complement your smuggler's resort wee.

Save your money, keep or sell what you have, and purchase a "points" program that has an internal number or resorts that you would want to go to.
 

hdmass

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I was talking to a RCI rep the other day and she mentioned that Smuggs owners are able to trade back in earlier than others. Also, the 1 in 4 rule does not apply to owners.
 

e.bram

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Owners of vacation weeks wil probably not convert(why should they), leaving the points owner with points but no inventory of vacation weeks to trade into.
Stick with your ski week you might not even be able to trade back into that.
 

janej

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I have RCI points and traded in to a 3 bedroom Smuggs after Christmas for 4 nights. It cost me over 70k points. I read many people do not like RCI points program. I like like much better than weeks. I think it is a better system. It encourages people to deposit best weeks since they will get lots of points that allows them to trade for more than one week. I am willing to pay for more than my week worth of points for 4 nights. In the weeks system, I can only buy a stronger trader or count on luck.

I don't know how much you have to pay to get your weeks converted. It does not make sense to pay thousands to convert. You can buy a RCI point week with that money. But you won't be able to deposit your week as points since Smuggs is already a point resort.

I've met a few happy Smuggs points owner there. They especially liked to be able to deposit the floating week and get points.
 

charford

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I'm a Smuggs familyshare owner. I converted my float weeks to points. I had too many float weeks to ever use in trades. I don't think I'd do that with my fixed weeks, unless I was planning to never use them.

If you do convert to points, RCI automatically takes your "week" unless you call about 13 months in advance to reserve. When I have looked into trading into Smuggs using points, I have seen a lot more availability in the summer than I ever did using weeks. I haven't really looked at trading in for winter.

You do get a choice of where to stay if there is more than one unit available, just like weeks. Smuggs owners get a one month lead time before availability is released to other points owners.
 

ctreelmom

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I'm a Smuggs summer owner and we will not convert to Points. While I can see the advantages of the program, I cannot justify an additional $3000 investment in our ownership.

We continue to use our summer week every year, so our situation is a bit different from yours. However, since the resort converted to Points, we've found we can no longer use our white (never mind blue) float weeks to trade back in for an additional prime summer week. We can still get trades to other resorts that work for us though, for example Orlando or Massanutten for April vacation. We've managed to pull Smuggs in the winter, but not during school vacation time. (we don't get a winter week, either) Like you, we just can't pull our HS and MS kids out of school anymore to travel. As has been suggested, if I really wanted "in" to the Points system, I'd pick up a cheap Points membership at another RCI resort.
 
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