[ 2009 ] What are RCI "Pure Points" (Canada only?)

Hi all, newbie here,

Anybody know what RCI Pure Points are? Apparently this is what I have as per a phone conversation I had with some guy at the resort I bought into. As he tells it, they can not be transferred, and yet when I talked to another guy (same place) he promised he would send along a scan of my agreement with them, as well as the correct form to be filled out to transfer my ownership.

So it looks like, according to the second guy, there is some way of transferring your membership (although I haven't heard from him since despite a reminder e-mail).

As a matter of fact, i'm finding it hard to get ANY info from RCI. Would it be necessary to send registered letters or something?

I'm looking to sell since I have been unable to make use of all the points I rack up. Any contact info with a responsible person dealing with RCI Canada would be appreciated. Bye for now

"Pure points" are a feature of the RCI-European division. Go to the "sticky" at the top of the TUG Points Discussion page (you are in that part of TUG right now) and you will find the explanation within my post comparing the RCI NA and RCI European points system.

Thanks Roger, I did in fact read that, but since I foolishly believed I was in North America, I thought it didn't apply.

I will most probably join MORPS to see if I can find some answers, and probably ask someone in RCI Europe about my situation. I can already imagine them telling me "No no, you should be inquiring at RCI NA".

In fact, this is a big peeve, it seems impossible to talk to anyone at RCI, except one of the booking agents (Sorry sir, nothing available).

Presumably some people are finding RCI points useful, as soon as I find out how to transfer my ownership I will be placing an ad in the classified section.

Thanks again Roger.

Hi,

I am very interested in your situation. You should be part of RCI - NA. I can imagine how you might have come into possession of Pure Points if you had bought a timeshare in Europe, but, it appears that you own in Canada? (I get that from your references to Canada in your message.)

In any case, pure points can be sold, but they have been very hard to get rid of because of the high maintenance fees. While RCI (RCI Europe) doesn't like to advertise the fact, they can also be ceded back to RCI. If you do that, you don't get any money for them, but you no longer have to pay the maintenance fees. (It would be a bit akin to those people who are desperate enough to sell their entire timeshare unit on EBay for $1 - a bit better, because the Pure Points are usually a small percentage of their investment with the major stake in the timeshare itself.)

MORPS would be a place to look for help, but I would appreciate if you would post a bit more about how you came into possession of some pure points living in Brazil.

Ha ha, good question. Actually I'm a Canadian, but have been living overseas most of my life. I am semi-retired, so its pretty easy to take holidays when I want, but its been surprisingly difficult to get anything I want through RCI when I want it (even rental cars, if you can believe it).

The resort I bought into, with this pure points business, is in Canada. I could have selected a home week at the time but I didn't (seeing no reason to). I don''t know if perhaps I should have (maybe picking a good week in the summer which would be easier to trade). In any case, I have been told that I can't get rid of it (its non-transferable), although other people have said that its just a matter of paperwork (and somehow proving that I'm the actual "owner"). That's why I've been asking RCI to send me scans of my agreement with them, so far without success.

I get 80,000 points per year, which usually end up expiring, and I've read that some people are very happy with their points and manage to use them every year, so I'm sure someone would be interested, similarly I have no illusions as to the worth of my "property" (if you can call it that, apparently they are undeeded). Obviously, I've been contacted by some of those time-share resellers, but I've read enough to know that I should avoid anybody asking for money up front, so I've given them polite refusals.

ANyway, I guess I'll try MORPS and see what they have to say. I might be at least able to get in touch with an RCI person who deals with RCI Canada. I will update you with any news in case other people are in the same situation.

Bye for now.

It might be worth noting that I couldn't care less about my credit rating in Canada or North America for that matter, so I'm aware that I could walk away from it. It just doesn't seem like the right way to go about it, like I say, SOME people find this system worthwhile, so I'd prefer to do it by the book.

Well, I'll keep you posted.

Admittedly this is new to me. I have never heard of "pure points" being sold in the NA region. I have to wonder if you have bought into some points system specific to the resort, one that allows you to use your points to exchange with RCI, but one that uses the term "pure points" to describe their own product.

Regardless, good luck!

Well, I managed to exchange e-mails with an RCI rep for Europe, but she couldn't help me. Understandably, since its hard to imagine a Canadian RCI member being part of their territory.

Hello! Any Canadians out there? Can anybody forward name/e-mail of anyone in RCI to whom I can send my request for info? I am getting no luck whatsoever with my "home" resort.

Thanks again and sorry about the bump.

RCI "Pure Points" On eBay.

Somebody on eBay is offering an RCI Pure Points deal, which I'm not able to understand from the eBay item description.

Click here for the eBay RCI Pure Points offering.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

$99 MF for 250,000 points!

AwayWeGo said:

Somebody on eBay is offering an RCI Pure Points deal, which I'm not able to understand from the eBay item description.

Click here for the eBay RCI Pure Points offering.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Click to expand...

What's that old adage about 'if it sounds too good..' That's certainly less than a penny a point!
Personally, I did convert 2 fixed weeks and 1 RCI points week that I've owned for more than 10 years at a Canadian timeshare last year to what was sold as a 'pure points' package from the resort. From what I can tell from the docs I signed, the points are still tied to the resort with regards to special assessments. I'm planning to move to the west coast this year and since I wouldn't be able to use my Ontario fixed weeks this seemed like a reasonable deal at the time. (I did try to sell/ give away my weeks for a while without success). I'll post more details if I can find the long form agreement.
Steve