Canceling RCI points - possible to reinstate later?

We are currently looking at a unit in a mini–system that has been enrolled in RCI points. However, the mini-system is now mostly with II, so availability with RCI is very limited...

We mainly want the unit for the ability to exchange within the mini–system as we already have another resort in RCI points, but as long as we keep the unit in RCI our only options will be our home week or an RCI exchange. This pretty much guarantees we will not be able to exchange within the mini-system.

I am wondering if it is possible to remove the unit from RCI points and just do internal exchanges or stay at our home week, and then restore RCI points down the road if we want to sell or give away the unit to make it more desirable OR if we change our minds and want point back later. Would this mean we have to pay a hefty conversion fee again?

And I completely misunderstanding how this works? Still quite a newbie.

(PS. Sorry for all the posts today and yesterday, just trying to make a good decision! Thanks for all the help.)

My understanding is that if you drop RCI, and wish to reinstate, it is the same as a 'virgin' enrollment. Big bux and all.

I thought with RCI points you always had the option to use your week vs deposit for points. Is this no longer the case?

I personally would not ditch RCI Points if I thought I might want them back as RCI has a way of extracting their pound of flesh. Further, I don't think you need to "renounce" the points program, I think you can stay in it and not use it. It is, after all, a timeshare securing anything and RCI owns no timeshares.

geekette said:

I thought with RCI points you always had the option to use your week vs deposit for points. Is this no longer the case?

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This is the case as far as I know (I own both fixed weeks and RCI Points) If you want to actually use your deeded week and it's been converted to Points, you DO have to let the resort know BEFORE they (automatically) deposit it into RCI points. If you just show up, someone else will be in your unit.

I should have no issue using my deeded week, but my main concern is ability to use that deeded week to exchange internally in the mini-system rather than through RCI since there is hardly any RCI inventory. Suggestions?

I guess you'd have to discuss this part with the reservations people at the mini-system. Call them.

Passepartout said:

I guess you'd have to discuss this part with the reservations people at the mini-system. Call them.

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I did that and they weren't clear - I can call again. Was wondering more about the restoration of RCI points later since some comments on other threads seemed to imply that it was possible. I am hoping someone has been through it or has more insights. Thanks!

It is up to the resort what they charge to reconvert again. I would think long and hard before dropping RCI points. Some resorts charge thousands. IMHO, there's lots of RCI inventory--but the best stuff books up quickly. Where did you want to go? Pure RCI points can be booked 10 mths out. But, a few days past 10 mths--gone.

To answer questions the mini-network is Divi, and they switched to II a few years ago meaning RCI inventory is limited and it is difficult (not impossible, but hard) to get the weeks you want by exchanging through RCI.

We have been looking for a week 11 or 12 at this specific resort (Little Bay in St Maarten) for over a year and have not seen any good resales (either overpriced e.g. $5000 for a studio poor week or $19,000 for a good week, or a really terrible week on eBay for almost free), and our OGS has turned up nothing for exchanging. We really like this resort and area, and hear great things about their other resorts, so would like access to their internal network.

Sorry for the wordiness… Long story short it seems like keeping RCI may not be the best bet for this goal, and we do have a good RCI points unit elsewhere at the moment so that is not our top priority. That said I also know how expensive it is to convert to points, and points make it more desirable should we want to sell/give it away years from now, so we are weighing our options.

Gaozhen said:

To answer questions the mini-network is Divi, and they switched to II a few years ago meaning RCI inventory is limited and it is difficult (not impossible, but hard) to get the weeks you want by exchanging through RCI.

We have been looking for a week 11 or 12 at this specific resort (Little Bay in St Maarten) for over a year and have not seen any good resales (either overpriced e.g. $5000 for a studio poor week or $19,000 for a good week, or a really terrible week on eBay for almost free), and our OGS has turned up nothing for exchanging. We really like this resort and area, and hear great things about their other resorts, so would like access to their internal network.

Sorry for the wordiness… Long story short it seems like keeping RCI may not be the best bet for this goal, and we do have a good RCI points unit elsewhere at the moment so that is not our top priority. That said I also know how expensive it is to convert to points, and points make it more desirable should we want to sell/give it away years from now, so we are weighing our options.

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Like someone already said, keep rci points, just call the resort and tell them that you want to reserve your week, that you want to prevent it from going to Rci FOR THAT YEAR ONLY. Once you have your week reserved you should be able to trade it in the mini system, or even II.

No that isn't true. Most resorts won't be able to verify the deposit (of the week) or allow it to exchange in the mini system if it is enrolled in another points system (RCI points). Smaller exchange companies will go through the trouble of verifying the home week when pre reserved if they are able and will allow you to deposit but II will not. I own Island Links on HHI and it is dual affiliated but I can not deposit it with II as long as I have it enrolled in RCI points.

I would imagine the mini system would require some kind of conversion which they may not allow as long as it is enrolled with RCI points.

As to the re-enroll in RCI points, it is a difficult question. I tried to get RCI reps to answer that question and they refused to answer saying any kind of enrollment had to go through the home resort, even if it had previously been converted to RCI points. Any resort in active sales is not going to re-enroll you without a large fee. A resort that no longer offers RCI points isn't likely to want to help facilitate the process either. There is no documented path to re-enrolling into the points system and RCI refuses to answer and most resort have their own agenda so I would be very hesitant to withdraw from points knowing that I might want to re-instate them at a later date.

I agree with what Tschwa2 said. You should be able to book your home resort for your own use. But if you try to deposit it into II, it will almost certainly fail, because it technically has already been deposited into RCI.

If you cancel your RCI Points enrollment, it will probably costs thousands of dollars to reinstate it.

As for whether you can exchange you resort within the Divi system, I don't know. That is up to Divi.

I can understand your desire to go to Divi Little Bay in week 11 or 12. Great resort! But are you sure it is even available through Divi's internal exchange system?

wow, interesting twists!

I understand how II would consider it already deposited.

I guess my question is, why would you want back in RCI Points if they don't have what you want? Aren't you better off using what you own via Divi to deposit anywhere or rent out and use proceeds towards non-exchange stay?

Disclaimer: I am no big fan of RCI and owned before the points scheme showed up to try to get existing owners to re-buy what they own to use RCI Points. RCI fee is lowish, I think $199, but resorts hopped onboard the opportunity to gouge their owners for this "opportunity".


Were I you, and for sure I am not, I would ditch RCI Points and not look back. It would be a different matter if you were happy with the program, but you clearly are not. Why even consider wanting back in to a scheme that doesn't work for you and you would most definitely have to pay to get back in? Not sure why you think it might be worth it the second time.

Keep calling Divi, keep asking for supervisors. Someone there must guide you through their rules but sounds like you are not getting right people yet.

Hang in there!

Alright everyone, after numerous phone calls I *may* have some answers. I have spoken with RCI and the resort system management several times apiece.

As always, this depends on the policies of each specific resort and your situation may differ. Also, verbal statements may or may not be reliable, but this is what I 'know' thus far:

• If we keep the unit in RCI, as discussed we can use our home week by notifying them 13 months out, or can exchange with points through RCI, with inventory becoming available 10 months out.
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• We cannot book our home week and then exchange internally; in this scenario all exchanges must go through RCI.
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• It turns out that there is still quite a bit of RCI inventory, so we could always try that for the first year or two.
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• If RCI exchanges do not work, we can remove the unit (semi-)permanently from RCI points at any time, and then would be able to exchange internally.
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• Internal exchanges can be booked only six months out, but I've spoken with other owners that have successfully exchanged into the weeks we want without difficulty numerous times.
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• tschwa said:

  I tried to get RCI reps to answer that question and they refused to answer saying any kind of enrollment had to go through the home resort, even if it had previously been converted to RCI points. Any resort in active sales is not going to re-enroll you without a large fee. A resort that no longer offers RCI points isn't likely to want to help facilitate the process either. There is no documented path to re-enrolling into the points system and RCI refuses to answer and most resort have their own agenda so I would be very hesitant to withdraw from points knowing that I might want to re-instate them at a later date.

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  RCI did say that a conversion must go through the resort, but clarified that regardless of what ever the resort does, RCI will also require a re-convert fee of around $300-$500.
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• Allegedly, (and this is where I would not feel comfortable relying 100% on the info provided from the resort) if we remove it from RCI points and want to restore it later, Divi will recognize the previous conversion and not charge a new conversion fee. Right...:hysterical:
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• If we would rather switch to II points, the resort would no surprise charge a new $3000 conversion fee.
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• Depositing into weeks in either II or RCI is of course always an option. RCI generally assigns 30-35 TPUs for this unit which is not shabby.

Having all of this information does make me feel somewhat better about the options, and the worst-case scenario does not seem awful even if the no-Divi-fee reenrollment is not as promised. Maybe I can get that promise in an email…? :rofl:

geekette said:

I guess my question is, why would you want back in RCI Points if they don't have what you want? Aren't you better off using what you own via Divi to deposit anywhere or rent out and use proceeds towards non-exchange stay?

...[snip]...

Were I you, and for sure I am not, I would ditch RCI Points and not look back. It would be a different matter if you were happy with the program, but you clearly are not. Why even consider wanting back in to a scheme that doesn't work for you and you would most definitely have to pay to get back in? Not sure why you think it might be worth it the second time.

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Good questions; we have another unit that generates RCI points for us and we are generally happy, but don't really need more points right now. Those points usually go for family trips though, and since we like Divi want this a unit there more for the guarantee that we can get there. The RCI points are kind of bonus in this case, and we would just want to keep them to make it easier to sell/give away years down the road.

Thanks everyone for the help, and I hope searches for this information down the road will find this thread helpful.

It sounds like the resort is signed up for Club Interval Gold. I would suspect that if they have, they would no longer be selling RCI point conversions. So if you cancel the RCI points option on the interval, there would be no getting it back if the resort is no longer selling that option in favor of the Club Interval Gold.

Another thing to consider is that with RCI points you actually would have priority to other Divi points units at your home resort (but a different week at 12 months in advance and at 11 months at other Divi points resorts. I don't know if there are a lot of RCI points owners from that group but you might want to check out availability at 11 and 12 months out to see what is available.


I would not convert to Club Interval Gold.