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Time to Join II or RCI and I need help! [Merged]

hopetotimeshare

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Hello All, First off it's been a while since I have been here and this is a newbie type question so I hope that I am posting it in the right place. If not, I apologize for any inconvenience.

Here is our situation. We are happy owners of one week flex week at Sheraton Vistana Lakes and have decided this year to go elsewhere as we need a break from Disney and would like to stay closer to home (CT). We never joined a trading co. and now have to chose between the two RCI and II by 12/31 and bank our week so that we don't lose it. I admit I entered blindly into this and put aside the thought of trading out and now I am lost. So here are my questions:


1. Are the choses between the two companies personal preferences or is one better than the other?

2. How can I tell what my week will "pull" for the areas we are interested in?

3. What are the membership fees for each?

4. We would like to go to a beach location either on the Jersey Shore or Maryland...any suggestions (clean, family orientated on or close to the beach)

As always, your advice/suggestions are appreciated thanks in advance!

Jacki
PS - just renewed my subscription waiting for it to be activated so I can research resorts.
 

teepeeca

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WHY do you have to do everything by 12/31 ??? I'll take a stab at the answer. You want to deposit your "2008" week with an exchange company.

If that is the correct answer, it is almost "too late" to deposit. "IF" the exchange company will take your week, I believe that you would only be able to make a reservation 60, or 45 days out of the check-in date, since your deposit is "late".

You will be able to use II or RCI "if" your resort is affiliated with one, or the other, or both. Many resorts are only affiliated with one of the "big two", so you could only deposit your week with the affiliated company.

There are many "other" exchange companies (which usually do not charge an annual fee), so you might want to look to them, and see if they could give you the service in the areas that you would like.

Tony
 

Bill4728

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I see that you own at Sheraton Vistana Resort, are you a member of SVN (Starwood Vacation network) ? ( some owners in the older phases have recently been allowed to join SVN when their phase of the resort did a major upgrade)

If yes, then you are already a member of II.

Assuming it is no, You have a tough choice because:

In II, as a Starwood owner, you'll have a starwood preference with II so trading into the other *wood resorts should be easier for you than non-*wood owners.

In RCI, you have the chance to convert to RCI points for <$300. Therefore you wouldn't be trading in RCI weeks, where you don't know if your week will trade well or not, but will be trading in RCI points where you will have a clear idea of how much your week is worth in RCI points.

IMHO, the *wood perference with II would be the deciding factor.
 
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nra4usa

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Starwood owner - what exchange company to join?

Hello everybody,

I would be most appreciative if you tuggers could make a recommendation as to what exchange company we should join. Below is our situation.

We own a July annual week (no points) 2-bedroom unit at Starwood's Sheraton Broadway Plantation - located in Myrtle beach, South Carolina. It is my understanding, given the resort and time of year, that this is a high demand week.

We live in Ohio and generally prefer to vacation to states east of the mississippi. We typically invite another family to spend the week at the timeshare with us. We prefer to vacation in the summer when our kids are out of school. We prefer to do our trading via the web instead of the telephone.

Which exchange company would most likely give us the best value for the membership/trading fees? I have heard that Starwood owners get some type of preferential treatment at Interval International but I don't know if this is true or, if it is true, if it is really worth it. I am willing to pay for good trades and good customer service. Some places we would like to go to in future summers are Branson, Gatlinburg, and the New England area.

Thanks in advance!
 

DeniseM

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I moved both your posts to the Starwood Board.

And yes, with II - Starwood owners can see and reserve other Starwood timeshares 3 days before non-Starwood owners. For more info., here is an article about Starwood and II.

For info. on the kinds of exchanges Starwood owners can make during the 3-day priority period, go to the Sightings Board (below the TUG Lounge) and look for Starwood Sightings.

One challenge you are going to have, no matter what exchange company you use, is finding exchanges during school holidays. It happens, but the highest demand and lowest supply of deposits is during school holidays.

There are lots more resources posted at the top of the Starwood Board.
 
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hopetotimeshare

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What will we get for our week?

I have joined II for the first time and am getting through all of the membership redtape right now and waiting for everything to be set up. If anyone knows how long this might take that would be great, II says they are waiting on Vistana and Vistana is waiting on II. SO I am going to give it a week or so before I follow up.

In the meantime, I am anxious to see how this works, I am dying to know we'll get for our week! We are looking in VA Beach, we have a 2br floating week at Sheraton Vistana Resort Lakes - if anyone knows how we can tell what we would be able to get on an II exchange for 7/19 - 7/26 2br in VA beach that would be cool. We are also considering Myrtle Beach for the same week...thanks in advance for any advice/info.
 

DeniseM

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Since Starwood has some unique rules with II, I moved your post on this topic to the Starwood board - to join your other post from a few days ago.

And easy way to find your old posts is to click on Quick Links and then Your Posts.
 
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calgarygary

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I have joined II for the first time and am getting through all of the membership redtape right now and waiting for everything to be set up. If anyone knows how long this might take that would be great, II says they are waiting on Vistana and Vistana is waiting on II. SO I am going to give it a week or so before I follow up.

In the meantime, I am anxious to see how this works, I am dying to know we'll get for our week! We are looking in VA Beach, we have a 2br floating week at Sheraton Vistana Resort Lakes - if anyone knows how we can tell what we would be able to get on an II exchange for 7/19 - 7/26 2br in VA beach that would be cool. We are also considering Myrtle Beach for the same week...thanks in advance for any advice/info.

I wouldn't be holding my breath at getting that prime week - remember that Orlando units typically do not have great trading power. I could not see anything with either Vistana Villages or SDO during the summer at VA Beach. You might luck out with SBP at Myrtle Beach showing up but there are no summer weeks showing right now.
 

Sea Six

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I will not be renewing my RCI membership because I can not trade my gold crown week for anything I want anymore. I went through this back in the late 80's/ early 90's and will not put up with it again. You deposit your week, hoping to make a trade. Then you try to make a trade, but nothing good comes up. So, then they want money to do an "ongoing search". Then if anything does turn up (which rarely happens), you pay more to make your trade. Too much trouble just trying to do something you were told would be so easy when you PAID for your week (and your RCI membership). No thanks. I've been an RCI member since around 1981, and can't believe the crap I've put up with over the years.

I've recently become a member of Starwood, and can now call an 800 number and get just what I want, right away with no up front fees and charges. I'm able to book the resorts I want - when I want them. Bye Bye RCI.
 
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