RCI Points confusion...can they go down?

A penny is what I meant, lol.

87,000 points, $950 or so maintenance fees.

Not sure why I said a dollar.

I own RCI Points at a resort where SOME of the owners in prior ownership of my deeded week PAID over $4,000+ to converted their fixed week ownership to RCI Points.

They could USE their underlying week ... the deeded fixed week (or in a floating week ownership at their HOME RESORT) reserve their (owned and deeded) week inside of an early booking window (13 months before checkin). No exchange fee.

At the 12 month window, they can book ANY available RCI points week at their HOME RESORT. $40 exchange fee; 7 nights only.

At the 11 month (out from checkin) window, they can book any available RCI points week at their HOME GROUP RESORT (like VRI management operated resorts). Full exchange fee applies and 7 night stays ONLY.

At the 10 month til checkin day, they can book any available unit in the RCI points inventory for the full exchange fee and for 7 or fewer nights.

Understand WHAT is involved with the different exchange system .. .and really work thru the costs of what a nightly stay is and a weekly vacation plan is. Some people feel TRAPPED in 7 night vacation stays; others want to roost at least 7 nights or 14 nights in a resort without moving.

Value of RCI Points

I have read the thread and feel the answer to the original question was only partially answered. RCI definitely sets the points for exchange in the RCI system. If the resort goes down in upkeep or even has enough bad reviews by users it can lose status and go down in points value. However, the points you are being assigned with the purchase are already space banked into the RCI system and will transfer over to you on the sale - they cannot go down once an owner has given them up for another to use through the RCI system.

So, if the resort goes downhill, losing it's rating, it will give fewer points in the future, but that will not affect the points you are purchasing, which are already in the space bank.

Another point of information is that, that high of points deposit for only one year's ownership of a vacation week tells me that this is RCI Points system, which is not RCI Weeks system, which has very low trading point values - like from 13 to 35 points. All-inclusives are as low as 5 to 8 points, since you would be paying a large amount for the all-inclusive package in cash, above the cash Exchange and Registration fees. I have found that the RCI Points system has it's own problems with availability. For many reasons it's much more difficult to find what you want unless you can do with 2,3 days, and even then it's hard to be able to tack that onto a week you have at any specific resort.

RCI Points

I am reading some of this thread and am a little confused between just RCI Points (not tied to a timeshare) and RCI Points (associated with a timeshare) Could someone please explain the difference? If I was to purchase just RCI Points what would the yearly maintenance fees be for it? Also I currently have an RCI Points account so if I just purchase RCI Points could I add them to this account or would I have to open up another RCI account? Thanks for any clarification on these questions.

The only time RCI points aren't tied to a deeded resort is through some kind of RTU contract or vacation club. For those the club can set MF by the point and then offer then to the members for that cost.

For most points are tied to a deed. The week gets a certain number of points. The MF for the week is a certain price. Divide the cost for week by the points you get to determine the cost per point. You really are paying for the week not the points.

ccarr67 said:

I am reading some of this thread and am a little confused between just RCI Points (not tied to a timeshare) and RCI Points (associated with a timeshare) Could someone please explain the difference? If I was to purchase just RCI Points what would the yearly maintenance fees be for it? Also I currently have an RCI Points account so if I just purchase RCI Points could I add them to this account or would I have to open up another RCI account? Thanks for any clarification on these questions.

Click to expand...

Where do you buy RCI Points that are not tied to a timeshare? Points are assigned to a specific week at a specific resort. Maintenance fees are paid to the resort, not RCI. If you have an RCI Points account, you can add to that account by buying another week at a resort that is linked to RCI Points, or by having a friend or relative 'give' you some of their RCI Points, or you can add to your account by buying them direct from RCI at (iirc) $.02 each. Most of us would consider this a very high price, as most resorts dole out points at around $.01. Some a little more, a few a little less.

I own a RCI points resort along with a traditional week resort. The points or number of points that I get every year is the same through my unit. The concern is the value of those points once I deposit my points with RCI....who could charge more or less points to exchange into a resort. So my points could decrease or increase based on RCI,s description.....which is another argument to try to stay within the developers network etc

I own a RCI points resort along with a traditional week resort. The points or number of points that I get every year is the same through my unit. The concern is the value of those points once I deposit my points with RCI....who could charge more or less points to exchange into a resort. So my points could decrease or increase based on RCI,s description.....which is another argument to try to stay within the developers network etc......so 75000 Holiday Inn points that I get might not be the same week value etc as points converted to RCI

I would actually look for a different resort that is cheaper per point. Mine gets 104,500 points per year for a $780 MF. That's a much better value than $926 for 87,000 points. Vacation Village at in Parkway in Florida yields 92,500 points for $812, and Grandview in Las Vegas has a lot of points too. Search for "RCI points" on Ebay.

My brother-in-law's Bahamas TS actually got kicked out of RCI a few years ago, but they still have plenty of crappy resorts in the system. However, his had a TPU in the weeks system of 21 (his MF was $1000). I own a weeks unit at the same resort where I have points, and I'm currently getting 63 TPU. It has dropped from 75 (it was 95 when a friend first told me about it a few years ago!). RCI claims the Myrtle Beach area has so many properties it dilutes value, but that's BS -- and my points value has stayed the same.

I own in both systems because it varies so much as to which system gets the better bang for my buck. The same week at the same resort can be $100-200 cheaper in one system vs the other. Buy a well-rated resort with a good per-point value and you won't have to worry so much.

We went ahead and pulled the trigger. The couple needed out because they were divorcing and neither wanted to take over the expense.

They actually had two at the same place, one which had been given to them by the wife's parents, so we took over both.

Maintenance fees are $1,852 per year (with taxes) and it brings 174,800 points. They paid all closing costs and one of the RCI $98 transfer fees.

As well, they had 174,800 points from 2016 still banked and those are transferring as well.

Our out of pocket is $98 for one of the RCI transfer fees. But with that, we get 174,800 points to start with another 174,800 in 2017 once we pay the maintenance fees.

I thank everyone above for their insight and we're looking forward to closing.

Purely out of curiosity, which resort did you buy?

The RCI Points value went up at one of my resorts following a small special assessment. The resort was Fairways of the Mountains, a VRI-managed resort in Lake Lure, NC. The special assessment paid to convert the partial kitchens in the "B" side of the lock-off into full kitchens.

There are no RCI-owned resorts. RCI Points are simply a currency that RCI uses to evaluate trade value, and in that sense RCI Points are like TPUs. There are a few right-to-use resorts that provide short-term points packages, but the source of these RCI Points are still weeks owned by that resort.

RCI does offer Points members the right to rent one-time use of Points at the very expensive rate of 2 cents per point. Those Points are probably from RCI's Points Partners program, which lets Points members use a limited number of Points for non-timeshare travel products such as air fare.