Special RCI Perks for Board members - Acceptable??

[Mel]

Would then be fair for the BOD to receive "perks" from vendors and contractors who do business with thte TS. Essentially RCI is a supplier of services(managment) to the TS.

If RCI membership were mandatory for all owners (a few vacation clubs have special accounts set up, where RCI dues are included, but that is not an individual membership), I might feel differently. I also might feel differently if it was a paid board.

RCI is not outright giving anything to these members. They are offered an improvement to the trading power of a single week they choose to deposit. In most cases, I see it as more of an incentive to use their exchange program. Most people who buy timeshares for trading purposes don't really care that much about the specifics of their home resorts, other than keeping the fees down and the exchange values up.

If your board members stay at your home resort rather than exchanging, they don't really know anything about the company with which they are negotiating a contract. Is that something you want, or would it be better if they know understand that contract by using the exchange company's services?

Maybe your HOA is considering contracts to supply toilet paper for the next 3 years. Do you want them to accept the bid for the cheapest paper, or do you want them to weigh the cost with the quality? We're talking not only about the roll(s) provided when you check in to your week, but those used in all the common areas.

The other benefit to your board members using the exchange service is that they visit other resorts, and maybe get some ideas for improvement to your resort. Which of these 3 scenarios is more likely to impact your board member - 1) An exchanger who fills a comment card out, and suggests improvements at the resort (which he doesn't own and won't pay for). 2) An owner who saw something at another resort (who will pay for the improvement, but might never use it). 3) A board members seeing an improvement is person. When the idea comes up for discussion among the board members, this board member can speak from experience, and doesn't have to wait for you to answer questions about your experience.

The reality is that once a resort is affiliated with RCI, them offering an incentive to the board members doesn't really mean anything to you - if the board chooses to affiliate with II instead, in most cases you still retain the right to exchange with RCI. You also retain the right to exchange with someone else.

I've sat on a non-profit board (not at a timeshare), and know how much work it is. I doubt any board members do it only for the perks - when you consider the value of their time, they become pretty expensive perks.

 

[e.bram]

If the BOD is paid by HOA, no problem. If the get compensation from vendors, this is a conflict of interest.
If they buy toilet paper from a company that gives them a kickback no good. It is not a quality vs. price issue.

 

[Mel]

If the BOD is paid by HOA, no problem. If the get compensation from vendors, this is a conflict of interest.
If they buy toilet paper from a company that gives them a kickback no good. It is not a quality vs. price issue.

Yes, it is a quality/price issue. Your HOA board negotiates the contract between the resort and RCI. Within that contract are details that might just be important to you. That contract dictates when RCI will accept deposits, whether there will be trade restrictions (1 in 4 rule, regional blocks, etc), what fees you can charge to exchange guests. If your resorts has unit configurations that are unusual, that contract spells out how your unit will be treated. If you own a lock-off unit, it will dictate whether you can deposit it as two units, must deposit as a single unit, or maybe have the choice of depositing the full unit or just the larger half (Orange Lake West Village 3BR units are configured as a lock-off, but cannot be deposited as such (or couldn't when first introduced) because there were already so many lock-offs in Orlando. That contract spells out how your calls to RCI will be routed - Orange Lake has a special member number we can call, rather than the regular 800 number. When we call that number, we get more experienced vacation guides. We also have an "RCI Desk" onsite - and individual RCI Vacation Guide who works from an office in the clubhouse. A handful of resorts have a guide onsite, but not many (I recall Carlsbad Inn being one of those).

When the board is considering improvements, it helps the board members to understand the perspective of exchangers. The same applies when creating the budget, and services included in your maintenance fee. Do you charge for local phone calls, or do you include the cost of unlimited local calls in the maintenance fee? Do you offer free Wifi (making all owners share the cost), or charge for access? Those decisions impact the way exchangers view your resort, and end up reflected in the trade power. The board needs to know that "equation" to balance a higher fee/higher trade power vs. lower fee/lower trade power.

Quite frankly, while RCI/II membership is a selling point used by developers, many board members would probably be happy if the resort wasn't part of an exchange system - it would certainly reduce costs for everybody, and the resorts would be easier to manage.

 

[e.bram]

I guess the senator from Alaska thought if he did a good job for his state, he have a few perks here and there. I guess he was wrong.

 

[Timeshare Von]

Do the boards pay for travel to board related meetings and working weekends like you just described?

I don't know about other boards, but my Lifetime in Hawaii HOA does pay for the board members to come to the meeting(s). Sometimes they are at the resort in Waikiki and other times it's at our management company's offices in Solana Beach, CA.