What is the best way to make use of your Wyndham points when trading thru RCI?

[scottmindib]

Hey everyone,

One more question about trading out my Wyndham points thru RCI. How many points does it take to get a 2 bedroom trade through RCI (does it depend on location and season and how far out you book)? Also, I know you get an RCI account with your Wyndham points but when you deposit points for a trade do you still pay the RCI exchange fees? I guess ultimately I want to know what is the best way to work the RCI exchange system to get the most use for my points? Thanks

Scott

 

[ausman]

Join www.WyndhamOwners.org and read the primer and the worldwide exchange document especially.

Although I think I responded to a post of yours there, if so you have not done the required reading.

You do pay the exchange fee for RCI or any other exchange system. As those fees have increased, working the system at any one time may be a different way from another time.

28K points will get you a two BR in overbuilt areas as well as many others, best to look a year or so out in RCI, need to experiment with your desired destinations.

 

[lprstn]

Hey...look at my list below...I got those for 28K points trade with RCI...

- All are 2 bedrooms...

These are the other vacations I got for 28K (weeks with banked points that I did a search 1yr to 2 yrs in advance ( or in 90 days).

2008

NOV. 21
- Bonnet Creek, Orlando
- Vacation Village Parkway, Orlando
DEC.24
- Wyndham Smokey Mountains

2009

JAN.17 (SAT)
- Massenutten, VA
FEB.14 (SAT)
- Shawnee, PA
APR.04(SAT)
- Smugglers Notch, VT
MAY.21
- Grand Mayan, Acapulco, MX
- Sheraton Vistana, FL (Sat - Mon)
JUN.30(TUES)
- Cliffs @ Peace, NV (Tues-Sat)
JUL.24(FRI)
- Wyndham Onshore, RI
AUG.14(FRI)
- Morrits Tortuga, Grand Caymans
SEP.05(SAT)
- Royal Mayan, Cancun MX
NOV.21(SAT)
- Orlando International, FL
DEC.25(FRI) - JAN.02(FRI)
- Mirror Lake, Wisc. Dells
2010

JAN.15 (FRI) - WILLOW VALLEY RESORT -MLK DAY WKEND
- Boone, NC
MAR.26 (FRI) - COLD SPRING RESORT -SPRING BREAK
- Ashland, NH
APR.24 (SAT) - BARNESDALE RESORT (70K points)
- England

JUL.3 (SAT) - SEA GARDENS, - INDEPENDENCE DAY
- Pompano Beach, FL

 

[bnoble]

I want to know what is the best way to work the RCI exchange system to get the most use for my points?

Partly, you have to learn what it takes to get the trades you are specifically looking for. 28Ks work really well for offseason time, over-deposited areas, or last-minute exchanges. If you look at lprstn's list, there aren't a lot of what I'd call "bright red" weeks there, but there are plenty of fine vacation destinations. As another example, I'm sending my mom on a "mini-snowbird" trip to Orlando in February for less than $350 a week, including all fees, for a 1BR at Summer Bay.

I've used a mix of 28, 42, and 70K weeks. I've seen a small difference between 28 and 42, and a larger gap to 70.

70 is good for "moderate" trades, especially within Wyndham. With the exchange fee, 70K is about equal to 105K-110K points, give or take, depending on whether you have transactions left or not.

In the last two weeks, I picked up a Week 25 '09 2BR at Smoky Mountains (166K to book internally) and a Week 26 '10 3BR at Dolphin's Cove (195K), so at about a 35% and 45% discount, respectively.

So, WynFSP through RCI can give you some nice discounts. However, it requires more planning, more patience, and you don't want to be changing your mind once you've booked something, or your savings quickly evaporate. What's more, even the largest generic points deposits can't see the really prime weeks in prime places.

 

[theo]

Follow up question...

With the exchange fee, 70K is about equal to 105K-110K points, give or take, depending on whether you have transactions left or not.

Sorry to be dense, but I don't comprehend the above statement. Are there two entirely different points "currencies" being compared (i.e., RCI vs. FSP) when you say that "70K is equal to 105K-110k points, give or take..." or are you saying something else entirely?

And secondly, what does "whether you have transactions left or not" mean (...or even matter)?

Not being a wise guy; I'm trying to decypher the "World of Wyndham" and found myself a bit befuddled by the above quoted statement. Clarification would be genuinely appreciated.

 

[lprstn]

Yeah bnoble is right...I can't ever get my greedy hands on a Manhattan Club week or some highly coveted weeks....unless I use my Sheraton Vistana to draw it in and request to book it with my Wyndham week. However, I am not a picky person when it comes to accomodations and most of the locations I select I can drive to from my home. Other more exotic locations...I can basically use my points within Wyndham or trade with other friends.

There is only Wyndham's points. Wyndham allows you to chose the size, season and type of week you wish to deposits.

That week you deposit with RCI is given a FSP points value.

For instance;

28,000 points (a blue studio week) = 1 blue week deposit into RCI (off-season)
70,000 points (a red studio week) = 1 red week deposit into RCI (high season)

 

[Jya-Ning]

when you say that "70K is equal to 105K-110k points, give or take..." or are you saying something else entirely?

And secondly, what does "whether you have transactions left or not" mean (...or even matter)?

Not Brian, but RCI exchange fee is $164, and assume your MF is aout $5/k so if you use RCI deposit to exchange back to Wyndham resort, it is same as you use 33k (164/5) + 70k or 103k on that reservation. And if you don't have a lot of Wyndham points, you will have very little transaction to start with, so if you have to pay Wyndham transaction on this reservation, you will end up like spend less if you go through RCI. Wyndham transaction fee is $30, so you will like use 97k on this transaction.

Given the number of unit and uncertainty you will find using RCI exchange, I probably will add more points on this type of transactions if I am looking at trying to strech my point.

Jya-Ning

 

[bnoble]

Jya-Ning has it exactly. I'm converting the out-of-pocket cash costs into FSP points on a $5/K basis for an apples-to-apples comparison on the "cost" of getting a unit.

 

[bookworm]

Hey...look at my list below...I got those for 28K points trade with RCI...

- All are 2 bedrooms...

These are the other vacations I got for 28K (weeks with banked points that I did a search 1yr to 2 yrs in advance ( or in 90 days).

2008

NOV. 21
- Bonnet Creek, Orlando
- Vacation Village Parkway, Orlando
DEC.24
- Wyndham Smokey Mountains

2009

JAN.17 (SAT)
- Massenutten, VA
FEB.14 (SAT)
- Shawnee, PA
APR.04(SAT)
- Smugglers Notch, VT
MAY.21
- Grand Mayan, Acapulco, MX
- Sheraton Vistana, FL (Sat - Mon)
JUN.30(TUES)
- Cliffs @ Peace, NV (Tues-Sat)
JUL.24(FRI)
- Wyndham Onshore, RI
AUG.14(FRI)
- Morrits Tortuga, Grand Caymans
SEP.05(SAT)
- Royal Mayan, Cancun MX
NOV.21(SAT)
- Orlando International, FL
DEC.25(FRI) - JAN.02(FRI)
- Mirror Lake, Wisc. Dells
2010

JAN.15 (FRI) - WILLOW VALLEY RESORT -MLK DAY WKEND
- Boone, NC
MAR.26 (FRI) - COLD SPRING RESORT -SPRING BREAK
- Ashland, NH
APR.24 (SAT) - BARNESDALE RESORT (70K points)
- England

JUL.3 (SAT) - SEA GARDENS, - INDEPENDENCE DAY
- Pompano Beach, FL

Wow - did you really get July in Newport and Thanksgiving at Bonnet Creek with a 28K RCI deposit? This surprises me. I thought there weren't many Bonnet Creek holiday weeks deposited. I guess the 28K is still good for Wyndham weeks. I tried a while back for 2 bedroom Christmas week I knew was available at Vacation Village in the Berkshires but couldn't even pull it with 70K. I could get a 1 bedroom with 28K but that wasn't big enough for us. I guess my timing was off.

 

[scottmindib]

How do you know that you can get a certain unit with a certain amount of points? Can you look on RCI's website to see what is available for a certain amount of Wyndham points? Also, I have heard the word 'trading up' when doing an RCI exchange with Wyndham points- What is this? After you deposit your Wyndham points with RCI do you go look on RCI's website to see what exchanges you can get for the points or does RCI contact you with a possibility? Thanks again for helping,

Scott

 

[lprstn]

Wow - did you really get July in Newport and Thanksgiving at Bonnet Creek with a 28K RCI deposit? This surprises me. I thought there weren't many Bonnet Creek holiday weeks deposited. I guess the 28K is still good for Wyndham weeks. I tried a while back for 2 bedroom Christmas week I knew was available at Vacation Village in the Berkshires but couldn't even pull it with 70K. I could get a 1 bedroom with 28K but that wasn't big enough for us. I guess my timing was off.

There was a bulk deposit that I caught awhile ago. My friend also caught a 28K depost with RCI for Bonnet Creek in a 2brd for her Spring Break week.

Sometimes I think its just luck..

 

[Caius]

How do you know that you can get a certain unit with a certain amount of points? Can you look on RCI's website to see what is available for a certain amount of Wyndham points? Also, I have heard the word 'trading up' when doing an RCI exchange with Wyndham points- What is this? After you deposit your Wyndham points with RCI do you go look on RCI's website to see what exchanges you can get for the points or does RCI contact you with a possibility? Thanks again for helping,

Scott

Hi Scott,
The documents Basham referred to in post #2 should give you a more in depth answer, but briefly....

When you deposit Wyndham points into RCI for a week deposit, you may request the week be "visible" (online searchable). Some time ago there were a lot of posts stating these visible weeks were hard to come by, and if none were available you'd get a "generic" week (one which requires you to call RCI to search for an exchange) instead. I don't know if the lack of recent complaints about limited availability of visible weeks means they have become easier to get, or people just got used to their scarcity.

Recent posts have suggested that the visible weeks have less trading power than a generic week of the same point value, due to Wyndham providing RCI last minute and otherwise less desirable weeks when we deposit our points.

Again, a very brief answer. The exchange document on the Wyndham Owner's Forum site was very helpful when I was using an exchange company for the first time.

 

[Maryland_jim]

I have read the Wyn FF primer - it is a big help. I wanted to get a little more info about "ongoing search". Okay, to initiate, first, I start by calling Wyn VC and request a generic deposit. Then step #2 I call RCI VC. Suppose I request FF to deposit my 140,000 points to make it into two 70k (red studio) deposits... I am thinking about several possible trips. I call RCI and request an ongoing search for say 5/15/09 Newport RI property xyz. I also ask for an 8/15/09 ongoing search for Oceanside CA.
Questions:
1. If I subsequently book Oceanside CA using Fairshare Plus points, what happens if RCI calls two days after that booking and tells me that they found that requested RCI week? Can I tell them I no longer need it? Or am I obligated?
2. In the above example, if I really wanted to book three prospective trips, could I include more than one week or one property in the search. Ie could I tell RCI VC, that I want week 27 in Oceanside or week 26 at Dolphis Cove first week that becomes available against one deposited week. At the same time I am also waiting on the ongoing request that I made for the Newport RI property - how specific does one need to be? can you give multilple search request against 70k block? or are we limited to one ongoing search request per week deposited?
When these types of scenarios come up, what are the strategies?
Thanks, Jim

 

[Caius]

Hi, my responses are below in blue. I may have answered a question of yours on the wyndham owner's site....

I have read the Wyn FF primer - it is a big help. I wanted to get a little more info about "ongoing search". Okay, to initiate, first, I start by calling Wyn VC and request a generic deposit. Then step #2 I call RCI VC. Suppose I request FF to deposit my 140,000 points to make it into two 70k (red studio) deposits... I am thinking about several possible trips. I call RCI and request an ongoing search for say 5/15/09 Newport RI property xyz. I also ask for an 8/15/09 ongoing search for Oceanside CA.
The Wyndham VC will connect you to RCI.

Questions:
1. If I subsequently book Oceanside CA using Fairshare Plus points, what happens if RCI calls two days after that booking and tells me that they found that requested RCI week? Can I tell them I no longer need it? Or am I obligated?
You are not obligated to accept a search-first match. You can cancel the search, and you will still have your week to use up until 2 years from the deposit date.

2. In the above example, if I really wanted to book three prospective trips, could I include more than one week or one property in the search. Ie could I tell RCI VC, that I want week 27 in Oceanside or week 26 at Dolphis Cove first week that becomes available against one deposited week. At the same time I am also waiting on the ongoing request that I made for the Newport RI property - how specific does one need to be? can you give multilple search request against 70k block? or are we limited to one ongoing search request per week deposited?
I have done an ongoing search with two timeframes, but have not tried two timeframes at two specific resorts. So, I'm not sure.

When these types of scenarios come up, what are the strategies?
Thanks, Jim

 

[Jya-Ning]

.1. If I subsequently book Oceanside CA using Fairshare Plus points, what happens if RCI calls two days after that booking and tells me that they found that requested RCI week? Can I tell them I no longer need it? Or am I obligated?

No you can refuse the exchange. However, you have paid the exchange fee in front, and sometimes, they will hold the exchange without tell you, then when you found out, it already pass the 24 hr time frame when you can refuse the exchange without penalty, so when put in on-going search, call them from time to time just make sure you don't get some unexpected suprise.

For your case, you can cancel FSP reservation or refuse RCI exchange. FSP probably cost you more. And because of the above reason, if you are very likely to cancel RCI, you may want to call when you get FSP exchange. or restrict RCI search to be similar or very close match the FSP ones

2. In the above example, if I really wanted to book three prospective trips, could I include more than one week or one property in the search. Ie could I tell RCI VC, that I want week 27 in Oceanside or week 26 at Dolphis Cove first week that becomes available against one deposited week. At the same time I am also waiting on the ongoing request that I made for the Newport RI property - how specific does one need to be? can you give multilple search request against 70k block? or are we limited to one ongoing search request per week deposited?
When these types of scenarios come up, what are the strategies?
Thanks, Jim

The best they can do on search is either 2 different time slots (You can have one continuous for upto 10 week time frame), or 2 different area at 2 different slots, you can see the screen shot.

By the way, don't expect you can pull or see too many (if at all) beach deposit during summer.

Jya-Ning