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Where to deposit - RCI or II?

C

Corky

TUG Member
Joined
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Location
upstate New York
I own Cape Winds resort in Hyannis, Ma, a spring week on Cape Cod. I can deposit with RCI or II but am not sure which will give me more trading power.

Has anyone had experience they could share?

Thank you.
 
Much better results, meaning bigger units, more choices, better dates, nicer resorts, with RCI over II. Especially with Cape Cod time. YMMV.
 
You can search for exchanges before you deposit if you have your unit in your II account. With RCI you cant see how your unit will trade until after you have deposited it.
 
Your choice...

RCI - allows you to search 2 years out, has more destinations, you can possibly upgrade to a larger unit if available and you can get some pretty good selections with your trade

II - you can search first, most likely will only get lucky searching 1 year out, and you will only be able to really make a like for like trade.

So.....I would chose RCI...I seem to have pretty good luck with them.
 
Thanks for your input.

I didn't know you could search before making a deposit with II. How is that possible? Does the II rep do it for you or could I do it online?
 
II puts paying members at the bottom of the list

Are you already a member of RCI and II? If not you have to pay to join. Don't waste your money on II unless you enjoy being at the bottom of the pecking order as a mere paying member. If you do decide to try II request first is the only remote chance you have of a desirable trade. But in my experience you will be disappointed in II compared to RCI. Especially with a smaller unit in the Northeast in not quite prime time.
 
The resorts that I have had that could deposit in RCI or II always traded better in RCI without fail. If all my resorts would I would cancel II in a second.
 
II: non-exchange deals?

We are RCI members, but have friends in II. Does II have offers similar to Last Call and Extra Vacations? If so, what are the chances for a Marriot in Spain in May and what are the guest fees?
 
II also has a money back guarrantee. If you join and find you dont get offered the exchanges you want they will refund your membership fee.
 
I never knew II promised a refund to dissatisfied members. You learn something new every day.

I have membership in both RCI and II but only Cape Winds could trade in either. The II exchanges haven't been very good, and that's why I'm considering switching to RCI this year.
 
Corky said:
I never knew II promised a refund to dissatisfied members. You learn something new every day.

I have membership in both RCI and II but only Cape Winds could trade in either. The II exchanges haven't been very good, and that's why I'm considering switching to RCI this year.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt expect a spring week in Cape Cod to trade very well in either II or RCI but if your trading power with II isnt good give RCI a try.
 
We like II better than RCI

We've had better luck with II over RCI, and we like the ability to search before banking. Our most recent exchange was for a two bedroom ski week in exchange for a one bedroom summer Caribbean week. II has offered us bonus weeks (accommodation certificates) for most of our weeks, and RCI has nothing similar. We've had several RCI banked weeks expire because we couldn't find a trade we liked. We'll probably let our RCI account expire when/if we exchange our last banked week.
 
You should also take a look at independent exchange companies. I don't know if SFX would take that season on the Cape ( www.sfx-resorts.com ) but all of the following probably would:

Hawaii Timeshare Exchange ( www.htse.net )
Dial an Exchange ( www.daelive.com )
Platinum Interchange ( www.platinuminterchange.com )
Trading Places International ( www.tradingplaces.com )

All are reputable. All have either free membership or cheaper membership than the big boys, all have cheaper exchange fees, and all have request first systems. With the independents, it is the individual owner who affiliates, not the resort, so your resort does not have to have an agreement with them for you to use them. At least one also gives you three years after deposit to trade your week.

I primarily due DAE myself and have gotten some very good traces through them - summer oceanfront French Riviera, summer oceanfront Croatian coast, Thanksgiving Puerto Rico, summer Myrtle Beach, summer So Cal coast, etc.
 
No exchange company is going to change a sow's ear into a silk purse. Inland on the Cape off season is a sow's ear. It is wishful thinking to believe otherwise. With II you might get lucky durring Flexchange.
 
The Real Deal? Or A Timeshare Trade Urban Myth?

e.bram said:
No exchange company is going to change a sow's ear into a silk purse. Inland on the Cape off season is a sow's ear. It is wishful thinking to believe otherwise. With II you might get lucky durring Flexchange.
Click to expand...
What about that supposed RCI phenomenon in which all trading power is out the window & all bets are off -- i.e., anything goes -- when it's 45 days or less before check-in at the timeshare being exchanged into?

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

 
AwayWeGo said:
What about that supposed RCI phenomenon in which all trading power is out the window & all bets are off -- i.e., anything goes -- when it's 45 days or less before check-in at the timeshare being exchanged into?

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

Once RCI started its rental to the general public program, much of that inventory was diverted there. The points operation also diverted a bunch of it. The 45 day window is a pale ghost of what it was in RCI. At least in II, there is not the massive diversion into rentals or diversion into a points program at a tiny point number. The pointers do not get a 45 day window on their own inventory, they get a 45 day window on Weeks inventory and that stinks.
 
beejaybeeohio said:
We are RCI members, but have friends in II. Does II have offers similar to Last Call and Extra Vacations? If so, what are the chances for a Marriot in Spain in May and what are the guest fees?
Click to expand...

If you haven't tried II Getaways, available one year in advance, ask your friends to help you out. Some Getaways include top quality resorts incl. Marriott's in off-season. We are going to stay at Marriott's in Arizona in November at a very attractive price. As to your specific question about Spain, no one can predict what may be available in any location, let alone at what price. Keep searching. Its well worth it.

K.
 
RCI hands down. You don't own a Marriott or DVC to trade, so you will get left over availability after the preferred resort owners choose what they want with II. RCI has a lot more choices and a lot more availability for the average deposited week than II in my opinion. RCI has problems and I am mad as h*** that they rent out weeks we should be able to trade into, but they consistently provide me with a quality resort in the time frames I need to travel at my desired destination.

I leave Friday for a hard to get 2 bed room 2 bath Gatlinburg timeshare that I received from an RCI trade. Not only is it a big football game weekend (Ala-Tenn), but it is prime leaf season. For all of the complaining we all do, I have gotten virtually every trade I have asked for (as long as I am flexible on dates and the specific resort) except for Aruba through RCI.

Overall I like RCI and I won't quit until something better comes along. Should they be able to rent out our deposited weeks? NO!!! Is there an exchange company out there that has proven to work better for me than RCI? Sadly, once again no.
 
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II legacy is favoritism and do anything to get a name listed

tombo said:
Overall I like RCI and I won't quit until something better comes along. Should they be able to rent our deposited weeks? NO!!! Is there an exchange company out there that is proven to work better for me than RCI? Sadly, once again no.
Click to expand...

Tombo - You post such well thought out and realistic takes on a very imperfect system (trading timeshares) especially as it applies to RCI. Despite the all too obvious flaws and negative changes they had had since they first came to exist the bottom line is they still are the most likely to get you what you want and at a reasonable price. That's what its all about. Not cute slogans, not sweetheart deals to preferred groups to get their name on the trade list that makes paying members second class or worse and most of all decent service which RCI gives and II has no clue about. II is a clear pretender and RCI, flaws and all, leads the pack for a reason. They deliver. II hassles you trying to pass off lesser resorts/times.unit sizes, blocks you from the best times by design and agreements with their favored groups and was the first to allow unfair fees that RCI fought off for years (but, unfortunately, recently gave in on that - thanks II for helping to destroy the concept of fair and equal trade as two owners). Given the choice between the big 2 there is only one answer - RCI.
 
Preemptive Observation.

Pointing out that RCI is generally a better alternative for timeshare exchanges than I-I in no way amounts to saying that RCI Can Do No Wrong.

Far from it -- in fact both tombo & timeos2 specifically zing RCI for its various flaws & zingworthy offenses.

Just thought I'd mention that before anybody tries equating recognizing RCI's superiority with whitewashing RCI.

Full Disclosure: I have no I-I experience, & thus no basis for drawing my own compare & contrast conclusions about the differences, if any, between I-I & RCI. Around here, we're strictly RCI. We joined RCI because a 6-year paid-up membership was thrown in free with our 2002 purchase of a far-off overseas timeshare. If free I-I membership had been part of the deal instead, then we'd have gone with I-I. Then in 2005, just to gain a dinky entry-level toe-hold into timeshare points, we bought into RCI Points in a penny ante kind of way. If the I-I folks had been offering points, we might well have considered going with their version of timeshare points instead. So it goes.

Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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depends upon what you want - out of US - definitely RCI - it just has more.

DVC or Marriott - then II.

if you are going to Disneyworld - definitely II - it has the better ones in the area - you might get a DVC resort (onsite at disney) one.
 
When depositing with RCI keep in mind that even though you have a confirmation RCI may cancel your reservation at the last minute.
 
gmarine said:
When depositing with RCI keep in mind that even though you have a confirmation RCI may cancel your reservation at the last minute.
Click to expand...

Rarely - and it happens with II too (maybe more often as a percentage of total exchanges) The one time we had it happen, they not only got us the resort we wanted (it was a room size issue - they claimed the resort overbooked the limited 2 bedrooms) but gave us back the exchange fee and 2/3 of our points (the difference in value of the two room styles was less than 15%) so they handled a bad situaton that may not have been their fault with QUALITY SERVICE - not the "tough luck - take a resort 1000 miles away in the wrong size, wrong date" approach II takes. Day and night difference in service levels which, after all, is all these companies really offer. RCI is again the clear winner. There is a reason they are the biggest and its not from groveling and twisting rules to get the "big names" in their book. Its delivering what owners want from exchange and treating the member resorts fairly. II has never learned that trick and embraces a "class" system that hurts most paying members. Bad choice.
 
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