Trading RCI points to Europe, Hawaii, Mexico, ect....

These forums mostly talk about trading within the US...

I am looking to buy 60-80K RCI points and only interested in traveling overseas..How hard is it to get the rentals in Paris, Milan, England, Cancun, Hawaii, ect...

Its only me and My Girlfriend, so I only really need a studio. I figure 60-80K points should get me 2 weeks in a nice exotic location. My main question is how hard is it to get these locations???

The RCI book has TONs of nice exotic places, but I fear that they will not be available once I buy. Is there any way to search avaialbility before becoming an owner???

Thank you all in advanced

Hawaii is very easy in Points, but there are few studios. You will likely use most or all of your points on something larger.

England is fairly well available, even summer weeks. (Much harder in the Weeks system.) That presumes that you will be okay with a timeshare located in the country. When you mention places like Paris, Milan, (London?), etc., major cities are near impossible no matter what system you use.

I don't know much about Mexico.

Thanks for your response....

That is bad news for sure... I am looking to own almost specifically for Europe trips. Now it seems like it might be better just to get a hotel through travelocity or something since RCI deals in Europe are so scarce....

Do you know if this applies during the slow seasons as well. Because the RCI book makes it seem like there are an abundant amount of hotels at all of these cities...

I've found good availability into Europe and Mexico using RCI Points. I have about 50K annual and have exchanged into beachfront 1br Mexico and Algarve Portugal very easily on less than 1 yr's points. Plenty left over for an off-season or last-call. That said, there's simply not much availability in European cities. Vacation areas, yes, cities, no.

Jim Ricks

If you are interested in Europe and especially cities, you should take a look at the Hapimag points system. Doesn't trade through RCI, resorts are owned by the Swiss timeshare company Hapimag and available to Hapimag members only. They have resorts in the center of Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, London, Athens, Paris and Rome and many other nice destinations in Europe, like Tuscany. You buy a share, get 12 points a year and pay a yearly maintenance fee. You can use the points for reservations. Most highseason 1B units will cost 24 points, but some resorts have weeks for 4 points only. www.hapimag.com .
We have already stayed at 9 Hapimag resorts and will be in Berlin Hapimag april. If you want more information, please e-mail me.

Loes

Europe

If you are diligent, you can trade into Europe with little problems. I use my points for that purpose. If you travel during the off season or shoulder season, you'll get some real bargains. One word of caution, the resorts in Europe are mainly not in towns and cities. That is because the people that use them most (the Europeans) are tryinjg to get out of the cities for a holiday. Having said that, I have traded into Rome, London, Paris, Budapest, Costa del Sol, the Algrave, Sweden, Dublin, Edinburgh and Athens.

We have used RCI points for many trades to Mexico, and for Europe to Greece, Scotland, Austria and now are going to Tuscany, Italy in May. Points works well as long as you aren't planning to be in a major city center. We used weeks years ago for trades to England, Spain and Rome. When it doesn't work, we just rent a hotel or apartment like we did when we went to Prague last May.

Europe timeshares

We own at Trenython Manor cottages in Cornwall England. Bought 2 weeks for around $7K a few years back, got 108,000 pts. Good price then, even with MF of around 300 pounds each. Now since the dollar is so bad, our MF is over 1000 pounds per year or nearly $2100 for those same two weeks. So if you buy in Europe be aware that the exchange rate can kill you.

As for exchanges, forget central city locations in Europe (or even US) with RCI. They are usually hard to come by. We have exchanged for the Cotswolds, Spain, and in the US, but again, luck of the draw when you want to travel. Summer is the hardest. Hope this gives another point of view.
Diane

ViperGQ said:

Thanks for your response....

That is bad news for sure... I am looking to own almost specifically for Europe trips. Now it seems like it might be better just to get a hotel through travelocity or something since RCI deals in Europe are so scarce....

Do you know if this applies during the slow seasons as well. Because the RCI book makes it seem like there are an abundant amount of hotels at all of these cities...

Click to expand...

The book shows "member resorts" and not deposited weeks available for exchange. Major difference!! Plus, the book isn't going to tell you how many weeks they slice off to put in the public rentals program that a member doesn't get first crack at.

Check daelive.com as they tend to have more European availability.

I thought that it was Club La Costa that was a European based chain? That might be worth looking into for what bennies the owner gets.

But, yeah, you might be better off just getting hotels if you're looking to be where the action is in the major cities.

Timeshares Europe

As to off season--better but still a bit dicey.

European cities

Here are my exchanges:

Carpe Diem- Rome
Royal Regency Paris
2 Hyde Park Square-London
Fitzpatrick Castle-Dublin
Petnehzy-Budapest
Sun Holiday Club-Athens (actually Marathon, but close enough to tie into the metro)
Edinburgh-Edinburgh Residence

So, it can be done-but it is difficult. Also some people may not like these resorts but they served me well. I also had exchanges for places outside urban areas in Europe but the OP asked about the cities.

geekette said:

The book shows "member resorts" and not deposited weeks available for exchange. Major difference!! Plus, the book isn't going to tell you how many weeks they slice off to put in the public rentals program that a member doesn't get first crack at.

Check daelive.com as they tend to have more European availability.

I thought that it was Club La Costa that was a European based chain? That might be worth looking into for what bennies the owner gets.

But, yeah, you might be better off just getting hotels if you're looking to be where the action is in the major cities.

Click to expand...

Club La Costa and Hapimag are both Europe-based chains, and there are others like Seasons. Hapimag probably has the best group of resorts, however, and all the cities they offer show that Europeans enjoy city breaks as much as rural areas. I have visited the new Hapimag resort in Budapest, bang on Castle Hill in a restored historic building, a far better location than the RCI resorts there.

You might also try www.daelive.com . They have gotten me a UK canalboat and a French Riviera week, both 1BR's, two summers ago, and a 2BR on the Croatian coast this summer. My vacation plans got scrambled last summer as a result of taking a new job.

We used RCI Points for a summer week at MacDonald Villacana in the south of Spain.
Great place!

And for Hawaii trades, try www.htse.net