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cheap way to do last minute deals?

abdibile

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Hi,

I read a lot in this forum about RCI 45 days and II 60 days before check in date bargain trades.

As I am really flexible with travel time and where I want to go (have not seen much of the world yet and can get last minute airfare very cheap) I only want to concentrate on last minute exchanges.

But what I did not get in all these chaotic systems:

What is the cheapest to buy and own in order to book such a last minute exchange?

1) Wyndham (Ex FairFields) seems to be related to RCI and offer some deals using Wyndham points to book last minute RCI Points resorts and RCI weeks resorts
4) Worldmark points seem to be able to be used to book RCI as well as II last minute exchanges

Which one is the cheapest way to get such a last minute week?

Next thing I am considering:

Like PFD for RCI Points there should be a way to convert straight RCI weeksto Worldmark Points or Wyndham points.

Would I get a "free" RCI or II membership included in my Wyndham or Worldmark timeshare?

Thanks a lot for helping me!
 

lprstn

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Wyndam points is the way to go, the best bargain on pricing right now and you don't have to pay your RCI fees. Also you pay your maintenance fees monthly, and can bank a week of 28,000 pts with RCI for off season trading or advance booking (about a year out), also with your RCI account you can get the "Last Chance" vacations that go for as little as $169.
 

Jya-Ning

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What is the cheapest to buy and own in order to book such a last minute exchange?

1) Wyndham (Ex FairFields) seems to be related to RCI and offer some deals using Wyndham points to book last minute RCI Points resorts and RCI weeks resorts
4) Worldmark points seem to be able to be used to book RCI as well as II last minute exchanges

!
Neither

FF's MF is in the middle to high range. WM's entry cost is higher than FF. You buy them because you like their location and standard resort equipment. Not because RCI last min.

If you are really flexible, there are a lot of other cheap entry, cheap MF, and allow you to access both RCI week and point system. Usually an unknow resort works best.

I believe there are method to just saty in the RCI membership after you become a member, so you pay no MF except membership fee.

Next thing I am considering:

Like PFD for RCI Points there should be a way to convert straight RCI weeksto Worldmark Points or Wyndham points.

Would I get a "free" RCI or II membership included in my Wyndham or Worldmark timeshare?

Thanks a lot for helping me!

You do get one free membership (either RCI or II). Not sure about WM, but you can not do point for deposit in FF. And resell alone does not give you access to RCI point standard reservation time.

There are some programs allow you to do PFD and some resort allow you to access both RCI and II. And some does not have membership fee at all.

Jya-Ning
 

cr4909

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Wyndam points is the way to go, the best bargain on pricing right now and you don't have to pay your RCI fees. Also you pay your maintenance fees monthly, and can bank a week of 28,000 pts with RCI for off season trading or advance booking (about a year out), also with your RCI account you can get the "Last Chance" vacations that go for as little as $169.


I believe the intent of the OP is to get a glut of cheap weeks and use them for instant exchanges with RCI. If that's the case, then Fairshare points may work out as the quality of the week does not matter for last minute exchanges. If you truly don't care about the Wyndham resorts, then find the best points/MF ratio and reserve 28,000 blue weeks to deposit into RCI. A quick look at some eBay auctions yields a rough estimate of $120 to $130 for a 28K week (based on 154K points for $696 annual MF's) Fairshare packages can be bought pretty cheaply on eBay or other sites. The question that remains, though, is if you can search RCI online with these cheapie deposits, or if you need to call RCI and have them do it for you. The best is if you can search yourself, otherwise, you're at the mercy of RCI and need to wait for their office hours to call.
 

bnoble

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You have to call, with very very high probability. There are next to no "real" 28K weeks in Wyndham's system, so you end up with bookkeeping entries.

You can get around this in part by having one fixed week in your portfolio that you leave on deposit. Then you can hold the week you want with the fixed week online, and then call and confirm it to a 28K week when the office opens.

This is pretty much the only way to get the "good stuff" in the 45-day window, because it's usually all gone by the time the office opens in the morning (and you have to call the WynFF-RCI line, which has shorter office hours.)
 
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