RCI points....if I have XX points for my week...how do I..?

I'm still looking at points (and seem fixated on RCI due to the number of resorts and to use as a baseline to understand how things work.....but I haven't ruled out others yet... )

I'm using http://www.rci.com/GPN/CDA/Common/pdf/RCI_ExGridsUpdate1.pdf

As the basis for my questions...(RCI's points grid...not sure how current it is)

If I buy a TS that is valued at 59k RCI Points...and I want to stay in a 2 BR Gold Resort, Red Week in the South East, it says you need 60.5k points...am I out of luck, or can I 'Buy' points somehow to make up the difference (yes, I know about last chance for only a few points, but I'm using their chart for a "planned" vacation. If I can't "afford" it with the points, but there are no Silver or Standard resorts (less points) during the time I want to travel...what happens?

I got the 59k number from a TUG ad...2 Br Lock off "worth 59k RCI points"...I don't see that listed on the chart...so I don't even know how RCI values the week at 59k...any ideas?

And, finally...they don't make much distinction between "red weeks"...the ad is for a place in the post Labor Day period (still "summer" and a "red week")...but prime season there is actually Memorial Day to Labor Day (weeks 25 to 35)...when RCI values the TS, do they take the difference into consideration (i.e...a 4th of July week is worth more than a September 18th week...despite them both being "red weeks").

Thanks!!

Some responses...

RCI Points makes it very easy to borrow points from the next year, so if you're just a little bit short, you're not out of luck. You can only borrow a certain percentage of your total points - maybe 50%? I can look and repost if I find the answer.

The RCI Points grid usually has a range of points for a given month if there is variability in what you'll get. So if early September is still high season and late September is low season, your number of points for that month is listed as a range. You can probably call the RCI Points number and ask them specifically what number of points the particular week is worth. I'm sure they'd tell you. You can also look on RCI's resort directory. Pull up the resort you're interested in. At the bottom left down in the resort description section there is usually a link that says RCI Points Values. It will list week by week what the points are.

And this is probably very obvious but I'd be very cautious about the cost per point you're buying. I've seen some ads that claim they have a great MF for the number of points and they were very expensive, so don't trust the ads!

If a resort is going to cost you 59,000 points for a 2 bedroom for a week, and you pay 1 1/2 cents a point in MF, you're paying $885 PLUS your exchange fee ($139 or $179) PLUS your RCI points account fee for that week. So try to get your MF below a penny a point and you'll be happy.

Anita

The chart you are looking at is the generic crossover of weeks resorts. Using your points you can stay at a resort that is only in RCI weeks using those amount of points. The search engine to do this in RCI is not user friendly and you have to search in 8 week or less periods for upto a 2 year period. Any resort that has had 1 or more weeks convert to points becomes a points resort which is given the amount of points that RCI and the resort has agreed upon based on size, season, class plus other factors. One 2 bedroom gold crown resort in June in Orlando might get 75,000 points and another might get 100,000 points. If you search the directory and it lists the resort as being in points, you should be able to click on that link and see most points configuarations for size and season at that resort. The search engine for points resorts is different but also user unfriendly. You can search from 1 week to 10 months in 30 day increments and it will show you the first available match in each size. 10+ to 11 months can be searched for resorts affiliated with your home resort (managed by the same company or same developer) and 11+ to 12 months can be searched at your home resort.

If you don't have enough points you can borrow from next year's allotment or pay RCI to rent/buy additional points (.02 per point). You are not allowed to buy or sell your own points but if you have other accounts or a friend who wants to transfer points to you it can be done.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

Tracey

Other RCI Points hints -

Keep an eye on the mini-systems within RCI Points.
13 months before checkin you can reserve your underlying week for free.
12 months before checkin you can reserve a week at your HOME RESORT for $40
11 months before checkin you can reserve a week at your HOME GROUP RESORTS for the regular exchange fee ($139, I believe)
10 months is everywhere else in RCI Points.

As my RCI Points are in the VRI minisystem, it gives me a 30 day booking advantage over other RCI non-VRI owners. I still tend to book other weeks at my home resort.

Thanks for the tips....

Another question then...

I had seen the advice on the penny or less a point...makes good sense.

If (hypothetical, obviously)...you could find an RCI resort with 90k points, MFs of about $500, but it was in Outer Abudabistan (i.e..a place you would have no interest in going at all)....better to skip it (since it's still a deeded week somewhere), or call it a great deal because of the higher points/lower MFs?

Which goes back to a TUG wisdom saying, "Buy where you want to vacation". Point values can change at a resort by RCI - they just went UP at my RCI Point resort, but they can also go down. That 90K points might be 68K next year for the same MF cost.

Knowing how and where you want to vacation is important. Yes, I pay a higher point ratio but it gives me the advance booking period and lower fee to book back into my Home Resort.

I did not initially buy or convert to RCI Points. It came with a Fixed Week I brought and a letter from the management company asking what I wanted to do about the RCI Points membership. A surprise! I had looked a little before on getting a points week, but this made the decision for me. I have since added a couple more (previously converted) weeks to my account. I have been to DVC, have a Manhatten Club reservation in 2010, and some weeks back into my Home Resort.

This is why RTU's make sense

If you are fortunate enough to get a low MF/good location but it gets devalued then you are stuck. I don't think you'll ever go wrong with buying where you know you will vacation but if all you want is an entry into RCI points then a short term lease make sense.

I will probably get shot for saying this, but here goes….. Buying where you want to go is not always the right answer. You need to buy what works for YOU. Some people enjoy exploring new & different locations every year. I go to NYC every year and therefore bought Royal Holiday Club in order to have access to their NY location. We plan on moving to the Sarasota-Bradenton area in a couple of years and bought a week on the Siesta Key Beach that permits day usage. Most years we deposit this week into our RCI points account since we rarely vacation there during our week. Recently we had a fellow Tugger give us 2 weeks in ST Thomas that we plan on using every year after we fully retire in 2012.

As to Points, we purposely bought two weeks in Australia at resorts in RCI Points. These weeks have a low MF to points ratio and we use these points, along with the points from our Siesta Key week, to travel to many different locations. I made sure to buy in a location with a stable government, weeks in Gold Crown resorts and also which are 5-Star in II, and weeks that are fixed prime holiday weeks that will trade well or which would rent well if I decided to rent them, and at resorts that had a reputation for good stable management. Yes when buying in a foreign country with a different currency, your currency conversion will fluctuate. As example over the last 7 years that we have owned our points, our ratio has gone from $0.00623 to $0.00814 per point due to slight increases in MF, but mostly due to the economic changes of the last 2 years effecting the conversion rate. It is still a good ratio, well under a penny per point.Yes you take a chance that the resort will go downhill, lose status and have the points devalued. But that can happen to a regular weeks resort as well where you would lose trade value. So the message is to do your homework and buy at a good place with a good ratio, not necessarily the cheapest MF/point ratio. I would not purchase in an unstable third world country.

I owned Australia points since 2003. I agree with Patty. The downside of owning a foreign location is the currency exchange rate fluctuate. But I also found the MF at my Australia resort much much more stable than the US ones. This year is the first year we had one small increase. With all my US timeshares, an increase every year is the norm.

I agree completely with Caribbean.

My advice would be to look for the best Points deal you can find (most Points/MF), with the only caveat that you should consider buying at a resort that would appear to have decent underlying value. In other words, there are ads for some pretty shoddy resorts that offer attractive Points/MF ratios. But if something happens (Points devaluation, MF increase, sick of TS'ing, etc) you'd like to be able to sell your ownership, or at least deposit the week at another exchange company. So I'd look for a resort that has good reviews, is highly rated by RCI (Gold Crown), and yet is still attractive economically.

Cool...conflicting advice!

Actually, not really conflicting....the people (Aussie Owners) seem to be saving enough from their MFs (and with good points) to offset any future drops in points or increases in MFs. They just won't (likely) go to their home resort.

I'll still probably look for a place where I'll be willing to go, in a time I'm willing to go, but it's good to hear the different opinions.

AFARR

Oh, we do plan on going, just not until we retire in 4 years. We want to go visit both of our resorts and also spend 3-4 more weeks in Australia and New Zealand. So have to wait till we have that kind of time. Admittedly, we bought the points for trading purposes since we got a really good deal on both the purchase as well as the MF.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the "buy where you want to go" advise that seeks to assure useful value even if exchanging becomes a problem with your timeshare or the exchange company.

MOST knowledgable folks buying into RCI points on the resale market are primarily looking to utilize the benefits of the RCI points exchange system and are not buying to stay at their home resort. Given that priority "the best bang for you buck" on low costs for your RCI points is IMO the more significant consideration than what you own. Obviously, you want the factors that make your "best choice" "your best choice" to remain stable so that if you want to sell in the future those factors are working to your benefit and those of a potential buyer.

Another consideration is if you are targeting a specific exchange destinations like Disney then you don't want the source of your RCI Points to be affected by the local area block (eg. don't buy an Orlando area ownership).

I would only buy points with a decent underlying week

Even if I pay a bit more in MF, I want a decent underlying week that I could use myself, trade on the weeks side (some RCI points weeks give you the "out" option every 3 years--ex. mine is a Hilton Head points week that floats weeks 24-32--I can reserve my week, let the points be auto-deposited to my RCI Points account, or, I can opt out of points every 3 years)--if I even become disenchanted with points, I will just opt out and trade via the weeks side (once out--I assume you can't "opt" back in). I bought this week for well under $1K on ebay 3+ years ago, when the economy was still great---I'm sure the deals are even more plentiful now--so much so that I have had to "self-ban" myself from ebay. Elaine

Look into the RCI points lease option. You get to try points for 3 years and pay the MF's and then walk away. No long term comittment. It is a nice way to try it out. Many here have liked that option.

I swear I've been trying to search and find some of these answers myself, but the more I search the more confused I get so I figured I'd post while I still have my sanity :hysterical:

Let me see if I have this right - if I buy a TS that's affiliated with RCI, RCI will allocate a certain number of points to it depending on what they perceived the value is. Hypothetically let's say that this amount is 60K points. This means that with those points, that I can book anything available in RCI for 60K points or less, correct ? The more in demand the unit (both the one I deposit and the one I'd like to book) determines the amount of points.

If I'm looking at predominantly 2BR units, some may be worth 45K and others 100K, depending on the location, season, and demand that it has. The question is, how do I have a clue as to how many points RCI will value something if I can't find that info in the ad on Ebay (or elsewhere) ?

In addition to having somewhere else to travel, I'm looking for something that we can use to travel to different areas, and will also be able to see DVC. I realize that I'm somewhat searching for the Holy Grail here, but any recommendations ? A trip at some point in the next 5 years to Hawaii would be great too :rofl:

I don't have a set location in mind for a "home resort," and to be honest the only family trips we've taken so far are to Disney, and Arizona to visit the in-laws. Living in Chicago there aren't a ton of TS's that are within driving distance (some in the Wisconsin Dell but not many that intuitively I would think could have much trading power), so I'm somewhat resigned to the fact that we'll be flying regardless of where we go.

Have been looking at various resorts in Myrtle Beach/HHI area, and checking the TUG reviews but geez is this overwhelming !!

Have spend enough time here on TUG to know that it's much easier to buy than sell so trying to get this figured out before I even put a low-ball bid on anything.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

Chris,

RCI has 2 (two) systems for exchanges. It the resale ad states that the exchange company is RCI or the resort is affiliated with RCI or the RESORT is an RCI points resort, the ad IMPLIES it is a weeks exchange unit which they are selling. Not a converted to RCI Points week.

IF and ONLY IF the ad states that the WEEK is an RCI POINTS week worth xx,xxx number of points and if you are NOT a member of RCI Points, your RCI Points transfer fee is $224 or only $100 if already an RCI Points member.

But also call the resort, as a few RCI POINTS Resorts do NOT allow the previously converted weeks to be transfer as an RCI Points week...if reverts back to ONLY the fixed underlying week.

Hope this helps ...

Chris,

I'm new myself, but I can probably answer a couple of the questions...maybe someone here will be good enough to correct me if I'm wrong or answer the other questions...

RCI has both weeks and points systems. You can buy resorts that are either (or both). If you own a week (deeded) in a resort that has converted to points, you can convert YOUR week to points....but you have to pay a hefty fee to the resort to actually convert it to points. So, if I buy at a resort that's an RCI points resort....and the owner I'm buying from has NOT converted it to points, I am only buying that deeded week.

For me to 'convert' the week to points, I'd be looking at (per most people on here) about $3000, paid to the resort after I buy the week from the owner.

The general advice here is that if you want points...buy a points week (that someone else has paid to convert) rather than buying a week and paying yourself to convert.

RCI (from what I've read here...again, correct me if I'm wrong) puts more energy into their Points system rather than the week to week exchange (that was the "traditional" way of trading timeshares). They also rent out the prime weeks instead of putting them out for exchange (there's a thread on the RCI Class Action Suit in the exchange forum, I think).

AFARR

vacationhopeful said:

Chris,

RCI has 2 (two) systems for exchanges. It the resale ad states that the exchange company is RCI or the resort is affiliated with RCI or the RESORT is an RCI points resort, the ad IMPLIES it is a weeks exchange unit which they are selling. Not a converted to RCI Points week.

IF and ONLY IF the ad states that the WEEK is an RCI POINTS week worth xx,xxx number of points and if you are NOT a member of RCI Points, your RCI Points transfer fee is $224 or only $100 if already an RCI Points member.

But also call the resort, as a few RCI POINTS Resorts do NOT allow the previously converted weeks to be transfer as an RCI Points week...if reverts back to ONLY the fixed underlying week.

Hope this helps ...

Click to expand...

So if it's a weeks exchange unit, you don't really know what it's worth in RCI until you deposit it, unless you can find a TUGGER that also owns at that resort or one comparable to give you an idea of the trading power.

I've seen some 4800/5000 pt HGVC auctions on ebay going for a little under $1/pt (LV location), I'm assuming these must trade fairly well, are there other systems that "typically" trade well in RCI ?

We own DVC now, and even plunking down another $5K isn't going to be enough to upgrade us to a 2BR on our own points. While I clearly don't WANT to spend that much if not necessary, I would be willing for a "tiger" especially if it gets us a nice place to go every year.

Thanks again for the help,

Chris

But also call the resort, as a few RCI POINTS Resorts do NOT allow the previously converted weeks to be transfer as an RCI Points week...if reverts back to ONLY the fixed underlying week.

Click to expand...

Linda,

Thanks for the heads up. Every time I read something here, I learn something new..I wouldn't have considered that.....I'm guessing it's so the resort can soak the new owner for the $3k conversion fee.

AFARR

logan115 said:

So if it's a weeks exchange unit, you don't really know what it's worth in RCI until you deposit it, unless you can find a TUGGER that also owns at that resort or one comparable to give you an idea of the trading power.

Click to expand...

NO, If it is a RCI "weeks" unit, then you will not get RCI pts for it ever. Unless you pay the resort ~$3000 to convert the unit to RCI points. BUT if you're asking "what is the trading power of a RCI weeks unit?" Then there are so many things which effect the trading power, that the trading power for the same week chances significantly year to year.

I've seen some 4800/5000 pt HGVC auctions on ebay going for a little under $1/pt (LV location), I'm assuming these must trade fairly well, are there other systems that "typically" trade well in RCI ?

We own DVC now, and even plunking down another $5K isn't going to be enough to upgrade us to a 2BR on our own points. While I clearly don't WANT to spend that much if not necessary, I would be willing for a "tiger" especially if it gets us a nice place to go every year.

Thanks again for the help,

Chris

Click to expand...

HGVC trades via RCI and "HGVC corporate RCI" pts. So every HGVC member has the same great trading power in RCI.

ONE last thing, There are a hand full of RCI pts resorts which do not charge ~$3000 to convert to RCI pts. They only charge $300 - $500. The biggest is Sheraton's Vistana resort in Orlando (also Wapato Pt in WA state is a cheap convert too.)

Hope this helps

I've got a separate thread going about what it costs to convert

to RCI points.

Bill...thanks for the info. I think it's good to hear what various resorts charge...when I last did a timeshare tour/ sales (a good, long time ago), I don't think points was very prominent (hardly at all). I have to wonder if at some point most places will go to a points system?

AFARR

Bill4728 said:

NO, If it is a RCI "weeks" unit, then you will not get RCI pts for it ever. Unless you pay the resort ~$3000 to convert the unit to RCI points. BUT if you're asking "what is the trading power of a RCI weeks unit?" Then there are so many things which effect the trading power, that the trading power for the same week chances significantly year to year.


HGVC trades via RCI and "HGVC corporate RCI" pts. So every HGVC member has the same great trading power in RCI.

ONE last thing, There are a hand full of RCI pts resorts which do not charge ~$3000 to convert to RCI pts. They only charge $300 - $500. The biggest is Sheraton's Vistana resort in Orlando (also Wapato Pt in WA state is a cheap convert too.)

Hope this helps

Click to expand...

Thanks so much Bill -

Funny you should mention Vistana. My folks own a week there, and have for probably close to 25 years now - was my first ever experience in a TS !

Chris

P.S. AFARR - sorry for hijacking your thread.