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Why can't I seem to find anything in RCI to exchange into anymore? I don't even know what to search for...

nerodog

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RCI has several HHI resorts with 3BR units. We really enjoyed our summer exchange at Royal Dunes a few years back. All units are 3BRs, no fees, and I think it is still independent. It's not on the water, but an easy walk through the "back gate" to Islanders' Beach Park. Units are well-kept. It's not a Marriott, but the large summer units are not too difficult to snag with an ongoing search. It's also a location that Wyndham can't help you with.
Stayed here as well many years ago and liked it.
 

b2bailey

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Austin - The resort has a few fun games on the first floor. There's a nice lounge leading out to the pool. Next to the pool there are two longer rectangular fire pits with plenty of seating.

With the high cost of rental cars and parking Austin is an easy resort to stay at without a car if you're able to walk. And you can get cheap flights to Austin from a number of major cities.

If you're flying you can take the bus from the airport. It comes every 15 minutes and unless the fare's gone up it's $1.25 for a single trip or $2.50 for a 24 hour pass. The bus stop is right outside the door at the airport. Get on #20 and get off on 8th and Lavaca. You'll walk three blocks down the hill to the resort. To get back to the airport you get on at 8th and Guadalupe. It's a block closer as Lavaca and Guadalupe are one way streets. Ask someone to show you how to get to back the door by the old office. I think it was the sales office at one time. You can't get in that door unless someone would happen to be there and willing to let you in but you can get out of that door. Using that door cuts off the steepest block of pulling your suitcase up the hill when you're catching the bus back to the airport.

If you're flying and want to do some things that require a car the concierge will help you plan so you're not paying for a rental car and parking more than necessary.

There's a Trader Joe's just a little over half a mile from the resort. The Whole Foods store is about the same distance from the resort. It was the very first Whole Foods store so it's their flagship store and it's huge.

When we fly to Austin we take our empty rolling suitcase with us to the store to bring back our groceries. It works out well and that way DH doesn't get overloaded with heavy bags. And I don't feel bad because all I can do to help is carry a lightweight bag of groceries that far thanks to my back issues.

Bullock Texas State History Museum - HEB Free First Sundays. On the first Sunday of the month admission is free. I believe they also participate in free admission on the first weekend of the month, Saturday and Sunday, if you have a Bank of America credit card.

The governor's mansion tour. You'll need to sign up for this online well in advance. It's worth doing.

The State Capitol building and the Capitol Grill. The restaurant was still closed because of Covid when we were there in the Spring but it's now open again. I had the large fresh fruit platter, $7. Fresh fruit, cottage cheese and chicken salad. They didn't skimp and the fruit was really good.

Zilker Botanical Gardens - If you have a membership to one of the 330+ American Horticulture Society gardens, arboretums and conservatories around the U.S. admission is free.

Lady Bird Wildflower Center - It's also free of you have a membership.

Congress Avenue Bridge starting in later March through early fall to watch the bats come out from under the bridge around sunset. Check out one of the websites for the best time to be there so you don't miss it. It's a nice walk from the resort. You can rent a kayak, stand up paddleboard, canoe or water bike to watch from the water and there are also boat tours.

Take a drive down to the Gruene Hall, New Braunfels. It's 47 miles; about a 50 minute drive. Gruene Hall is the oldest dance hall in Texas and they get some big name entertainment. Most Wednesday evenings a group called The Georges play and there's no cover charge. On our Spring trip we were there two times while they were playing and will go at least once in the two weeks we're in Austin. You can check out the entertainment schedule on the Gruene Hall website. The big name events do get sold out so if there's someone you want to see get your tickets asap.

Perry's Steakhouse & Grille - On Friday for the lunch-cut portion of their signature seven-finger-high pork chop dinner.

Texas Chili Parlor - If you like nicer restaurants this wouldn't be the place for you, lol. You go for the food and it's part of the Austin experience. DH usually has the three bowl chili taster with a side of their excellent mac n cheese and I get Freida's Chili Enchiladas with the black bean and Elgin sausage chili.

Voodoo Donuts

The food truck down at the bottom of the hill on Nueces St. by Little Woodrow's has good breakfast tacos/burritos.

Ranch 616 - We like their quesadilla of the day.

Casino El Camino for a beer and one of their great burgers. We like to sit out back in their enclosed courtyard. Again don't expect anything fancy.

Iron Cactus - We haven't eaten there in awhile but the food and service were excellent. Hopefully we'll make it there this coming trip.

Coopers BBQ - Because DH refuses to wait in line at Franklin's for a couple of hours before they even open.

Salt Lick BBQ - According to my phone it's 28 miles from the resort. We haven't been there but have heard a lot about it.
Austin has been on my bucket list -- thanks for all of your suggestions.
 

Nowaker

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HGVC: 41,520 points - Coylumbridge, Flamingo, Elara, Trump, 2x Boulevard
Are there any gems that don't have extra fees?

- HICV Scottsdale - I booked a full week, and I didn't pay any fee. (I wouldn't call it a "gem" though. It's anything but.)
- Sheraton Vistana Village - I booked a full week, and I didn't pay any fee.
- Hilton Club New York - I booked 3 or 4 nights, and I didn't pay any fee. (That was unexpected because RCI page disclosed extra fees. Maybe the fact I'm a HGVC member caused the fee to be waived? Can't tell.)

All this year.
 

Jan M.

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Wyndham Presidential Reserve at Panama City Beach
Club Wyndham Access
Grandview Las Vegas and Discovery Beach Resort - Both in RCI Points
Woodstone and Summit at Massanutten - Both in RCI weeks used as Wyndham PICs
- HICV Scottsdale - I booked a full week, and I didn't pay any fee. (I wouldn't call it a "gem" though. It's anything but.)
- Sheraton Vistana Village - I booked a full week, and I didn't pay any fee.
- Hilton Club New York - I booked 3 or 4 nights, and I didn't pay any fee. (That was unexpected because RCI page disclosed extra fees. Maybe the fact I'm a HGVC member caused the fee to be waived? Can't tell.)

All this year.
There was no exchange fee? Did you have any credits or an account balance from reservations you'd cancelled?
 

Nowaker

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HGVC: 41,520 points - Coylumbridge, Flamingo, Elara, Trump, 2x Boulevard
There was no exchange fee? Did you have any credits or an account balance from reservations you'd cancelled?

The question was "Are there any gems that don't have extra fees".
The way I understand "extra fees", is, as per the definition of "extra: more of something, in addition to the usual or standard amount or number", fees charged by resort, which vary.
RCI booking fee applies to everyone, therefore, does not pass the muster of being an "extra fee".

I did pay standard RCI reservation fees on all of these. I didn't pay any resort/housekeeping fees on them.
 

Jan M.

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Wyndham Presidential Reserve at Panama City Beach
Club Wyndham Access
Grandview Las Vegas and Discovery Beach Resort - Both in RCI Points
Woodstone and Summit at Massanutten - Both in RCI weeks used as Wyndham PICs
The question was "Are there any gems that don't have extra fees".
The way I understand "extra fees", is, as per the definition of "extra: more of something, in addition to the usual or standard amount or number", fees charged by resort, which vary.
RCI booking fee applies to everyone, therefore, does not pass the muster of being an "extra fee".

I did pay standard RCI reservation fees on all of these. I didn't pay any resort/housekeeping fees on them.

Thanks for clarifying.

I've learned to explain things in my posts. Some people aren't always clear on the terminology get confused. We get a lot of new people both to the group and to RCI.

However it isn't always new people who use terms interchangeably or incorrectly. As in I've seen people call the exchange fee an extra fee. To them it makes sense to call it that as it's something extra they pay in addition to their maintenance fees when they use their deposited week. Usually they're cranking because they weren't happy with their unit and/or the resort they got in trade.
 

chellej

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I haven't been with rci in a long while but check out Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. There are a lot of really nice independent resorts that don't charge extra fees. The shores at pend orielle, timbers at island park, lots inwestern Montana near Glacier, big sky and flat head lake. Also look at the resorts near Lake Chelan. Inland Oregon has several like whispering woods. Peak summer might be tough but early fall is a great time to come
 

heitmullerj02

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I just left RCI because my Vistana would not bring up any decent Sedona properties. However when I goin thru Hilton, many of the resorts I want are there but it’s a trade down to use Hilton points, plus fees! I’M not sorry I left RCI, have not moved over to II yet. Was thinking of contacting Marriot about Abound, seeing what the buy in was? Does anyone know?
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
there is a new company named Airbnb we have found plenty of timeshare units there.
 

DeniseM

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WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
Airbnb was founded in 2008, and you certainly cannot make RCI exchanges there! :rolleyes:
 

Luanne

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San Diego Country Estates
there is a new company named Airbnb we have found plenty of timeshare units there.
You have to be careful with Airbnb as they are not legal in many locations.
 

stevio99

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The straw that broke the camel's back for me for RCI is the "exchange plus" hotels that show up in searching. This does nothing but litter the landscape, and make searching like consume 2-3X the effort
 

Lsfinn

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Tried RCI once, maybe 15-20 years ago. Was a Silver-something-or-other resort in the Bahamas. Nice pictures in the catalog, but in reality the place was a dump. We left several days early: it was that unpleasant.

Have looked at the RCI listings several times since, always at "Gold Crown"(?) resorts. There aren't enough of them and they aren't where we want to travel. And, of course, our one experience left a bad taste. For us RCI is not a benefit.
 

rickandcindy23

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Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge,Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau;Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms; WKORV-OF (2),Westin Desert Willow.
Tried RCI once, maybe 15-20 years ago. Was a Silver-something-or-other resort in the Bahamas. Nice pictures in the catalog, but in reality the place was a dump. We left several days early: it was that unpleasant.

Have looked at the RCI listings several times since, always at "Gold Crown"(?) resorts. There aren't enough of them and they aren't where we want to travel. And, of course, our one experience left a bad taste. For us RCI is not a benefit.
And you own Shell, which is very expensive to trade. A 2 bedroom in RCI is 5,000 points or about $1,500 in MF's + exchange fee. RCI has gotten to be very expensive for anyone owning Shell.

I am hoping for a bunch of places, and ongoing searches are coming up empty, which is disappointing.
 

rickandcindy23

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I just confirmed an RCI exchange into Old Key West about two weeks ago. It's for 4/16-4/23. That was a great exchange. Used up a lot of exchange power at 45 points. I was hoping RCI would keep Disney for a while longer, but I do have a lot of deposits in II I can use, I would just like to use RCI for more.
 

rickandcindy23

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@rickandcindy23
Do you have any interest in San Jose del Cabo / Cabo San Lucas?
What resort do you recommend? Most have fees. We haven't been to Mexico and should maybe try it sometime.

We go to Hawaii a lot for sunshine and palm trees.
 

HudsHut

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I just realized they both have resort fees. But I was considering these two:

Raintree's Club Regina Los Cabos​

San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Resort ID 3531
Mandatory Lodging tax is 3 %. Cash or Credit is accepted. Mandatory Environment Tax is 33.68 local currency. Only Credit Cards accepted. Fee is per night per unit: Hotel, Studio,1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom & 3Bedroom units.
Resort Fees
Parking fee is 17.00 to 19.00 U.S. dollars. Cash or Credit is accepted. Service fee is 11.00 U.S. dollars. Only Credit Cards accepted. Per day StudioService fee is 14.00 U.S. dollars. Only Credit Cards accepted. Per day 1BDService fee is 17.00 U.S. dollars. Only Credit Cards accepted. Per day 2BD

and

Cabo Azul Resort and Spa
San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Resort ID DN82
Resort amenities fee is 1200 local currency. Cash or Credit is accepted. The fee (plus tax) is per day/per unit and covers the use of amenities.
 

CalGalTraveler

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Check out Welk Sirena, Playa Grande, Pueblo Bonito Sunset, Blanca and Rose in Cabo. They are AI optional. Not sure about fees. They didn't previously have them.
 

tschwa2

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A few in S and VA, a single resort in NC, MD, PA, and UT, plus Jamaica and the Bahamas
The straw that broke the camel's back for me for RCI is the "exchange plus" hotels that show up in searching. This does nothing but litter the landscape, and make searching like consume 2-3X the effort
Most locations if you filter for hospitality and above, it will filter out the exchange plus resorts. Hotels don't get rci ratings. It doesn't work if you are specifically looking in an area with older timeshares that you are willing to stay at though.
 

rickandcindy23

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Mexico is a lot easier to get to---at least it is for me. By a lot.
You mean flight-wise? Yes, even Southwest goes to some of the Mexico airports.
 

skimeup

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Inn at the Opera, Grand;view for RCI points - 196000 , Hyatt Carmel, Hyatt Sedona
New to RCI this year and so far happy. I have made some good exchanges with II but also have often been frustrated by lack of availability for where I want to go. As an owner of two Hyatt units, I am definitely into II and lately have gotten into some nice Marriott exchanges and others. I'm not so much of a beach person - much more mountains and cities and I've found success in both exchanges. I wish I could play golf. Last week I stayed at Marriott Desert Springs II and am heading tomorrow to Sedona (Hyatt) and Marriott Canyon Villas. Two golf course vacations and I cannot get a club to hit a ball despite serious efforts to learn!

I agree that you need to look at total cost: MF of unit or points you are exchanging, fees, and RCI exchange fee. I recently purchased a Grandview at Las Vegas which came with 98, 000 RCI points at MF $910. (It also came with 196, 000 unused points so I've definitely had some advantages when exchanging recently!) Here are some costs: one week in 1 bedroom at Villas de Santa Fe in August. It is Saturday to Saturday but will cover all the Santa Fe operas plus Indian Market for one day. Total, after MF, exchange fee, and "resort fee" will be $700. Walking distance to the downtown so I'm super happy with that. One week at a one bedroom at The Wren in Vail during Vail classical music festival. Walking distance to town and theaters. Total $600. 9 days at the District by Hilton Club in DC. $985 There is a housekeeping fee if you are there less than 7 days so not applicable to me. Location Georgetown close to public transport. 11 days at Hilton Club New York: 11 days Hilton Club (basically a hotel room I think) at $1280 (includes a $40 housekeeping fee.) These seem like great deals to me. Definitely The Wren and Villas de Santa Fe are only Silver crown but the Hiltons are gold crown and more importantly, they are located where I want to go at a time that is pretty busy. Not quite sure how to factor in membership fees here, but since there are several exchanges I think those are of minimal impact.

Also, though I haven't quite grasped this yet, I gather that Grandview is a Vacation Village property, and I get special offers for VV properties through RCI or VV from time to time. I can definitely see myself working on that in the future though most of them are not places I particularly want to visit. I agree that the exchange fee and points protection fee have become outrageous but I still think the overall cost to me to stay in prime city locations is a huge advantage. The thing that amazes me the most is that the points protection fee only gets me back my points. Unlike the e-plus with Marriott that allows me to exchange into something else if I cannot go or see something better of interest. In the end, it boils down to whether they have availability where you want to go when you want to go there in a facility that meets your minimal requirements for a place to stay.
 

Lsfinn

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And you own Shell, which is very expensive to trade. A 2 bedroom in RCI is 5,000 points or about $1,500 in MF's + exchange fee. RCI has gotten to be very expensive for anyone owning Shell.

I am hoping for a bunch of places, and ongoing searches are coming up empty, which is disappointing.
Actually, we own Wyndham now (we converted). In any event, it's not the expense: there just isn't anything (or anything of reliable quality) in the places we'd like to travel.
 

rickandcindy23

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Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge,Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau;Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms; WKORV-OF (2),Westin Desert Willow.
One thing that I have learned is to check often for places we want to go. Ongoing searches will no longer match under 60 days. So if the kids want ski weeks at our home resort, I have to watch a couple of times a day. I was able to grab a week for 1/13 and 1/20 for the kids, so they can use it for a long weekend of skiing at Copper Mountain.

I see our kids traveling more when the kids are out of school, but for now, they are tied to school schedules, and our son is taking that very seriously now. At first he was more flexible on it, but now he won't take our granddaughter out of school for any reason, unless she is sick.

Still hoping for Door County in August-September of 2023 or 2024. I have searches set for those. Fingers and toes crossed. We loved it there, and it's a beautiful drive from Colorado.
 
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