Vacation Village "Extra Weeks" question

[rlgtict1]

I recently closed on a resale points week at Grandview in Vegas. I'm aware from this board that I get a week deposited every year, and I contacted the resort and RCI to get that week put in my account.
Using it looks tricky. It does NOT show up anywhere on the rci.com website when I log in (I thought from reading prior posts here that it would show under "My Offers"). I've talked to 2 different people at RCI and they tell me it is deposited in my account, but it won't show up online as it is an internal item, and I have to call them to book it. My question is--how can you even see which properties and dates are eligible for the usage, as I know the properties eligible are limited and could really be tricky to narrow things down on a phone call without searching on the website first.
Grandview or VV owners that have this and use it--any tips on best ways to utilize this? Is RCI giving me correct information? Thanks in advance!

 

[tschwa2]

If you have a weeks account it should show up in your units. Go to Manage my deposits and then to deposited units. You should see something like-

I think that is what the rci people are thinking.

For points account it should show in my offers. I believe technically these bonus weeks aren't contractual supposed to transfer to the new resale owner but they almost always do. if they don't, I don't think you have an actual claim on them as they are a developer perk. It may just take time for it to appear as mine have specific dates they renew and yours may not appear until that happens. If you can call and book then that may be what you have to do.

In terms of what you can use them for it is generally low value exchange weeks. For the most part it is similar to what you can see in last calls but it would be for the $249 exchange fee vs the cost of the last calls.

This is how the bonus week looks in my offers in my points account.

 

[Jan M.]

This is just what's available in the US as of a few minutes ago. Sorry that the pictures aren't very good.

You will get two of these weeks per calendar year.

 

[moonstone]

We have a special Vacation Village owners telephone number within RCI to call to book ours. There are usually just limited resorts available as mentioned above and are only available for booking within 45 (I think) days of check-in. Often only 1 bedroom units are available but I have been able to grab a 2 bedroom unit a couple of times by telling the rep there were 5 or 6 of us travelling, which there were.

~Diane

 

[AwayWeGo]

It's basically a bonus rental offering. It is not a timeshare week that you can deposit, trade, rent out, etc.

With bonus weeks, you don't so much get a timeshare week as get an opportunity to rent a timeshare week, often at attractive rates.

When I log on to RCI Points, I click My Offers. That scrolls the screen down to a bunch of illustrated boxes, including 1 that says . . .

Vacation Village Extra VacationsSM getaway Certificate
As a valued Vacation Village owner you can use this certificate to confirm a vacation 2 - 45 days before check-in without using your points!

There's no actual certificate, just that place on the screen to click.

The offerings vary. What was shown today as available for a resort & date we're interested in was $20 cheaper than the same thing shown on Last Call this morning.

Our current reservation for check in Feb. 27, 2021, at Fantasy World Club Villas (Kissimmee FL) was a bonus week. Even after making that reservation earlier this month, the bonus week offer still shows in the My Offers box when we're logged in to RCI Points. I was led to believe we'd get 1 bonus week each year. In reality, it looks like there's nearly always a bonus week available, even if we've already reserved a bonus week.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[pharmacistking]

It's basically a bonus rental offering. It is not a timeshare week that you can deposit, trade, rent out, etc.

With bonus weeks, you don't so much get a timeshare week as get an opportunity to rent a timeshare week, often at attractive rates.

When I log on to RCI Points, I click My Offers. That scrolls the screen down to a bunch of illustrated boxes, including 1 that says . . .

Vacation Village Extra VacationsSM getaway Certificate
As a valued Vacation Village owner you can use this certificate to confirm a vacation 2 - 45 days before check-in without using your points!

There's no actual certificate, just that place on the screen to click.

The offerings vary. What was shown today as available for a resort & date we're interested in was $20 cheaper than the same thing shown on Last Call this morning.

Our current reservation for check in Feb. 27, 2021, at Fantasy World Club Villas (Kissimmee FL) was a bonus week. Even after making that reservation earlier this month, the bonus week offer still shows in the My Offers box when we're logged in to RCI Points. I was led to believe we'd get 1 bonus week each year. In reality, it looks like there's nearly always a bonus week available, even if we've already reserved a bonus week.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Basically you can stay anytime at VV resort if there is availability with this kind of promo. Not bad. YMMV

 

[Jodyv]

The choices are similar to the Last Call choices. An agent told me (when I was, like, " Big Deal......") The choices appear a day earlier on the extra week choices. I check them frequently....and sometimes there is a great value. Most of the time they are a little ho-hum...BUT.....they do offer a bit of an advantage, and if you have a specific area in mind, i think you could find something near. It's always great to get away!!

 

[rboesl]

The number of days in advance that you can book varies. The standard is 2-45 days out. Premium members get 2-90 days out. And Premier get 2-180 days out. Due to those differences the inventory varies and expands as the number of days varies.

Mine, by the way, are contractual.

 

[tschwa2]

The number of days in advance that you can book varies. The standard is 2-45 days out. Premium members get 2-90 days out. And Premier get 2-180 days out. Due to those differences the inventory varies and expands as the number of days varies.

Mine, by the way, are contractual.

are they contractual that specify that they will transfer to the next owner if you sell, or just contractual for you because you bought direct?

 

[AwayWeGo]

are they contractual that specify that they will transfer to the next owner if you sell, or just contractual for you because you bought direct?

Bonus weeks must be connected with the deed somehow. We've been getting bonus week "certificates" nonstop ever since we bought our resale triennial Grandview points unit via eBay.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[tschwa2]

Bonus weeks must be connected with the deed somehow. We've been getting bonus week "certificates" nonstop ever since we bought our resale triennial Grandview points unit via eBay.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

My experience has been that the bonus weeks do transfer but I don't know that the contract specifies that they do and if they don't transfer or stopped giving them out to resale owners I am not sure that resale owners could demand them.

 

[AwayWeGo]

I'm still baffled by the apparent connection between RCI & the Grandview & Vacation Village timeshare chain.

The parent company of RCI is also the parent company of Wyndham timeshare resorts. Wyndham timeshare resorts compete with Vacation Village resorts in the timeshare market. Yet there is some kind of special arrangement between Vacation Village timeshare resorts & RCI.

After I log in to the RCI web site, I see the Vacation Village timeshare emblem right up there at the top of the screen next to the RCI emblem.

Plus, RCI members who own Vacation Village timeshares have their own special RCI phone number to call for exchange reservations, etc.

Is the parent company of Wyndham & RCI also involved in the ownership or management of Vacation Village timeshares ?

What's going on ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[tschwa2]

No they are different but they have a cozy relationship with there own "back room deals" Vacation Village dumps a lot of unsold inventory into RCI. They probably have a specific amount they are obligated to dump in. In return they get higher than average points for many of their resorts still in active sales- like grandview and VV at Parkway. They also have negotiated lower internal exchange fees on the weeks side. They also have premium and premier levels that they sell in as a part of their retail sales that gives bonus weeks with longer lead in time and other exchange incentives. There are quite a few developers that have dedicated rci phone numbers.

 

[rlgtict1]

Thanks to all for the great feedback. I called Grandview and they gave me a code to give RCI to get the week deposited, which the agent did on the phone. The issue I’m having is it does not show up anywhere on rci.com. I don’t have a “my offers” tab on my page (RCI points) anywhere. Two RCI reps have told me they see the bonus week attached to my account, but say it won’t show up and I have to call.
I’ll try them again in a few days. If itet can’t get it to show up, I’ll just look at “last calls” to get an idea of what might be available.

 

[moonstone]

I don’t have a “my offers” tab on my page (RCI points) anywhere.

It isn't a 'tab' but the words are printed in red on the first page that comes up when you log into your account.
See them right above the "My Alerts" gray box?

~Diane

 

[tschwa2]

I don’t have a “my offers” tab on my page (RCI points) anywhere. Two RCI reps have told me they see the bonus week attached to my account, but say it won’t show up and I have to call.

Page down from the rci landing page
On mine there is a Let's go on a Road Trip.
Further down- Great Hotel Deals in great Cities.
Further down- My Offers Starting off with Vegas Exchange Vacations on Sale now.

 

[Jan M.]

This is just what's available in the US as of a few minutes ago. Sorry that the pictures aren't very good.

You will get two of these weeks per calendar year.

The picture in my previous post is what you should be seeing on your home page when you log into your account. As others have said it's partway down the page. Sometimes the full page doesn't show for me so I click on that red half moon RCI logo in the upper left corner to get it to open fully.

You don't have to do anything to get these Vacation Village Extra Vacations certificates. You just click on the picture you can see in my previous post and it opens to show you what's available to book.

When you called I'm wondering if they thought you were asking to have the use of your week instead of getting the points for it. Every year you have the option of automatically getting the points or at 11 or 12 months out (sorry I don't do it so I never remember exactly when you have to call) you contact both the resort and RCI to arrange to use your week instead of getting the points.

 

[AwayWeGo]

After I log in to the RCI web site, I see the Vacation Village timeshare emblem right up there at the top of the screen next to the RCI emblem.

When I was back on the RCI Points website just now, the Vacation Village timeshare emblem was gone from the spot where I noticed it previously.

What's up with that ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Jan M.]

I'm in my account now and this is what I see. It takes longer to load all these boxes you see under My Offers.