When is the best time of day to check RCI availability?

[swp1216]

I deposited my RCI week in Jan 2007 and have had an ongoing search since then for this August, week 32 on the east coast. (Now) I understand that I need to deposit my unused week at PBSR in FL at least a year in advance. This was information that I have recently learned!! Thanks to everyone who helped me gain useful TS knowledge!! I also now understand that this week has weak trading power since it was not deposited prior to a year before, and because it is week 42 in Florida, and because I am requesting a 2 BR unit when we own a 1 BR. However, our planned vacation week is now 8 weeks away, and we have nothing!! There is nothing that pulls up under my ongoing east coast 2 BR search, and when I open the search up to the entire US, the same few resorts show week after week. Most are in the Orlando area, but we went there last year in August and it was sooo hot we had to stay indoors most of the time. Definitley not and enjoyable vacation!

Anyway, my question is...when is the best time to search online for available weeks? Someone had mentioned after 12 midnight, so I thought I would ask to see if there were any more thoughts on that. My ongoing search is for the east coast, but I like to go in periodically to open the search a bit, but not save it, just to see what is out there. At this point I feel like we are not going to get a unit on the coast of VA-GA or northern FL. I am really beginning to get paranoid that we won't even find anything!! Any advice anyone?

 

[AwayWeGo]

You've Got To Wait Till The Midnight Hour.

Anyway, my question is...when is the best time to search online for available weeks?

I like to start clicking 1 minute past midnight.

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

 

[Egret1986]

Your only hope to get an exchange for Week 32...

... on the East Coast is a Last Minute Exchange and from 12:00 am to about 1:00 am is when I've found that weeks are added. I have been watching for the last week right after midnight up until about 2:00 am since I'm up then. I have checked East Coast resorts for this summer. Most of the weeks that have shown up are 1 to 3 weeks away. Nothing in August has shown up. Since you have a weak trader, all trade power becomes a moot point for Last Minute Exchanges. I believe an extremely strong trader would have difficulty pulling week 32 East Coast at this late date outside of Last Minute Exchanges. If you can do it, I would be up at midnight checking. There's been 2 Bedrooms.

 

[pranas]

After reading some posts in this thread yesterday afternoon, I searched RCI for a last minute deal and found a last minute exchange into Key West. Since I live in SE Florida, I grabbed it even though I cannot be there all week. Boy, am I happy.

 

[Mel]

For this year, you will need to search in the wee hours - midnight to 1am eastern, as already suggested.

For future years, when you search is just as important as what you are using to search. Even the strongest trader is going to have just as much difficulty pulling something on the east coast during a specific summer week this close in, because the inventory just doesn't exist.

Think about what you have already learned - you need to deposit at that one year mark to maimize your trade power. That means you week is in the system a year ahead, and someone can reserve it then. If you're looking for something highly popular (and school vacation times fit that description very well), you have to request it before the weeks are deposited - one year out.

Most of us here already have our requests in for NEXT summer, some already have our weeks book, and some have already placed requests for summer of 2010! Given a group of owners all with enough trading power to get a given week, it will be given to the one who placed the request first. So, while you're waiting for this year's vacation to come through, start planning for next year also.

 

[andre68]

rci availability in 2009

Does anyone know what is the best time to lookup Rci inventory in 2009 ??
It does not seem to be around 12:30 AM anymore ...

 

[lprstn]

Hey, also, I call throughout the day, as I was told by a Customer Service rep that they get hourly updates.

 

[cr4909]

Does anyone know what is the best time to lookup Rci inventory in 2009 ??
It does not seem to be around 12:30 AM anymore ...

I concur that RCI seems to have changed their release times. Now it seems that if you have a Points account, you can search for last-minute exchanges at around the same time (9:30-10:00 PDT). However, these exchanges do not show up in my Weeks account right away. I believe that it is sometime after midnight PDT (3:00 AM EDT). I don't really stay up that late to check. It does seem that Points accounts owners do have a big advantage now to take those last-minute (9000 point) exchanges. However, the Weeks owners still have exclusive access to non-converted weeks from Points resorts that a Points owner will never see.

 

[bccash63]

I agree--I use to see availability between 11:30-12:30 am cst. It now seems to be about an hr later before I see an increase in units--too late for me to stay up most nights. Dawn

 

[hajjah]

What's the latest on the "witching hour" to search on RCI east coast? I use to be good at this, but now it doesn't seem to matter what time I check. I'm up searching at midnight, 1 AM-3AM and there's nothing. Last year it was about 3 AM. Prior to that it was 4 AM. Have any of you had any success recently? I have been looking now for about a month and can't seem to find the right time.

This only goes to show that it is getting harder to search for exchanges on RCI. I'm losing too much sleep trying to search for vacations these days.

 

[rickandcindy23]

You know, I haven't figured it all out quite yet. I look early in the morning, mid-afternoon, and late at night, and I see no particular time of day when listings are added in large numbers. Used to be 1:00 Eastern Time, before they made the change to the new system.

I also notice much less in that short window, which is how I have always used my blue weeks, so my blue weeks lost a great deal of value with the change. At least I pay less in maintenance fees for those.

 

[bnoble]

I've noticed that the "total number of units" seems to be lowest in the morning (about 6:45-7:00 AM Eastern), and it tends to increase gradually over the course of the day. It looks like inventory is updated in real time now, rather than batched over night---as soon as a deposit is confirmed by the resort, it goes in and is available.

 

[anne1125]

I got one of my best exchanges on 3:00 pm on a Sunday. Go figure.

Anne

 

[hajjah]

I'm going back to that 3AM time again as well. Of course, that is, if the website is working. The last time I stayed up on Sunday AM, the website was down. I lost sleep for nothing.

 

[Kozman]

I'm going back to that 3AM time again as well. Of course, that is, if the website is working. The last time I stayed up on Sunday AM, the website was down. I lost sleep for nothing.

Depending on what time AM you try, they are always down for maintenance late Sat. through early Sun.

 

[bccash63]

I've been tracking this for the past week as I work night shift. It is no longer just after midnight that inventory goes up like I use to see. I've been seeing an increase in inventory starting at 4am central and peaking at around 8-9:00am central. Dawn

 

[Judy]

I think a better question might be, what day of the week, month, year? This morning the number of units my deposit can see jumped up by 3,000 over what I've been able to see at any time of the day or night, searching over the last few weeks.

I got interrupted and when I returned to rci.com, it was spinning, spinning, spinning. Is there a connection? Maybe someone made a mistake, making all those units available for exchange and now they're busy moving them into rentals :ignore:

 

[hajjah]

Are there any updates on this question? I seem to search all hours suggested and still come up with nothing. It used to be so easy searching around 4 AM. What's the best time now on the east coast?

 

[Egret1986]

It depends if it's last minute availability or other dates in the future

I find that they add their last minute availability between 12:30 am and 1:30 am Monday am through Saturday am and between 3:00 am and 4:00 am on Sunday mornings after maintenance.

I don't think that there is any specific time for future dates. I think new availability can be added any time. I've seen weeks added in the mornings and afternoons.

 

[Carolinian]

I concur that RCI seems to have changed their release times. Now it seems that if you have a Points account, you can search for last-minute exchanges at around the same time (9:30-10:00 PDT). However, these exchanges do not show up in my Weeks account right away. I believe that it is sometime after midnight PDT (3:00 AM EDT). I don't really stay up that late to check. It does seem that Points accounts owners do have a big advantage now to take those last-minute (9000 point) exchanges. However, the Weeks owners still have exclusive access to non-converted weeks from Points resorts that a Points owner will never see.

ANother RCI outrage! Giving points people priority for Weeks inventory. Weeks needs a bomplete firewall between it and the parasitical points system.

 

[rickandcindy23]

ANother RCI outrage! Giving points people priority for Weeks inventory. Weeks needs a bomplete firewall between it and the parasitical points system.

It seems that the Points system is still on the old RCI search engine, where updates happen at 1:00 Eastern Time, on the weeks side of points. That is the best time to find anything new in points, and if you are determined to get that week you want, it is the only time to look in points. The inventory in RCI Points, weeks side, is also very different from the weeks inventory, even last minute. For example, I never see Ka'anapali Beach Club on weeks, but points on the weeks side, it shows up often at 1:00 a.m.

 

[davenlib]

ongoing searches

I am confused.. why would the timing matter if you have an ongoing search in the system..?? shouldnt that just pull what is available and save it for you?? why do I need to get up and check throughout the night?? what good is an ongoing search if you have to manually check??

 

[Judy]

I am confused.. why would the timing matter if you have an ongoing search in the system..?? shouldnt that just pull what is available and save it for you??

It should, and sometimes it does. But not always.

 

[hajjah]

I must tell you that I always booked my weeks and points using the "witching hour" times until everything changed. For some reason, I could get the units even though friends had ongoing searches. The new system has changed everything. I am having the hardest time getting units within the 45 day window.

 

[Egret1986]

I really don't see a 45 day window when I check for last minute

I must tell you that I always booked my weeks and points using the "witching hour" times until everything changed. For some reason, I could get the units even though friends had ongoing searches. The new system has changed everything. I am having the hardest time getting units within the 45 day window.

It's more like a 14-21 day window. Right now I'm looking for a 6/20 check-in and expect that to start popping up this weekend. Right now I'm seeing check-ins for 6/13 weekend and nothing past that.