Is there a benefit to joining RCI too?

[mindy35]

I know that Vistana covers the cost of II membership and makes the deposit of a week incredibly easy. All these years of experimenting with and depositing for trades in Interval, I've always wondered if the inventory and process is any better at the competing company?

Is the process more transparent? Are the fees similar? Does RCI have associations with higher caliber properties?

I am finding it hard to find enough resorts and units that of similar quality to our Westin Villa and wonder whether the inventory that can be found on RCI would be worth the difference of the membership fee?

 

[silentg]

Go to RCI.com see if your resort is listed. Then do your own membership. Our membership is not attached to a resort. It was always our independent membership. We have added and subtracted resorts from our RCI account. We have one timeshare in our RCI account. Overall I prefer RCI to II been member of both.
Silentg

 

[DeniseM]

In general, no:

1) Most Vistana resorts are not affiliated with RCI - just some of the older ones that affiliated before they were Starwood resorts.

2) You have to pay a high membership fee every year, whether you exchange or not, so you don't want to join RCI, unless you are actually going to use RCI right away. You will probably have to join for 2 years, because your membership must extend until after the exchange occupancy date.

3) In general, RCI has more resorts, but II has more of the top resorts because they have Hyatt, Vistana and Marriott. RCI has Hilton and DVC.

4) With II you have priority for exchanges with other Vistana resorts. You have no priority with RCI.

 

[OldGuy]

The sad news is you really won't know before-the-fact.

I'm sensing some frustration/disappointment with II, and you will have that with RCI, too.

It is what it is.
- - - - -
Not that it matters, but we are something like 165 with RCI and 6 with II.

 

[jhac007]

I think once you read DeniseM's reply and with what knowledge you have, your (quality) question has been answered. If you are finding it hard to get quality trades in II (not sure why you aren't with a Westin) then I don't believe you will be happy with RCI. There are recent posts about how Disney units have not been readily available to trade or at least not quantity. Some one else can comment about Hilton availability because I let RCI go. However, in II with my Marriotts, Westin, Hyatt and other brands I find trading for better unit quality in still pretty decent. What Westin do you own and what times do you like to travel? (Just wondering)

Jim

 

[schenriq]

I got tired of asking (aka begging and waiting) for a 2-for-1 II membership break so as of 2017, RCI is the preferred destination of our SDO/SBP voluntary weeks and it seems to actually work for us. Notice I didn't say better. It's just another great option in the sense that I can stretch the TPUs I earn from our SBP deposit (into multiple 1BR vacations-es [sic]) so much that I ended up renting the SDO week instead for a little profit. So that's one benefit of exchanging with RCI. The other is more international choices (vs II) esp. in east Asia which is a must-have destination for my family.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have a "free" RCI account by virtue of owning Wyndham points, ie. it's part of our "program fee". I told II about this but that II membership break stayed elusive. Guess who's smiling now.

 

[schenriq]

Anticipating the reply of II fans about getting 2 (or more?) weeks for a single II deposit by using AC certificates, my experience is that those ACs are pretty worthless because of the (extreme) limits put by II on (a) search region and (b) time window of availability.

To be fair, by virtue of increased TPU point requirement on some locations (HI for instance), RCI also has a systematic limit on stretching TPUs into multiple vacations.

Just sharing my own exchange experiences. YMMV.

 

[tschwa2]

I know that Vistana covers the cost of II membership and makes the deposit of a week incredibly easy. All these years of experimenting with and depositing for trades in Interval, I've always wondered if the inventory and process is any better at the competing company?

Is the process more transparent? Are the fees similar? Does RCI have associations with higher caliber properties?

I am finding it hard to find enough resorts and units that of similar quality to our Westin Villa and wonder whether the inventory that can be found on RCI would be worth the difference of the membership fee?

If you are a VSN member (points with Vistana), you do not have the option to join RCI. Vistana covers you II membership and will not verify you ownership with RCI even if you had one of the few that exchange through RCI. Non VSN (no points -just deed weeks) owners at dual affiliated resorts have the option of RCI or II or both.

 

[DeniseM]

I am finding it hard to find enough resorts and units that of similar quality to our Westin Villa and wonder whether the inventory that can be found on RCI would be worth the difference of the membership fee?

Are you putting in ongoing searches with II, well in advance, or do you only search the online inventory? Ongoing searches are filled first, so if you only search the online inventory, you only see the "leftovers."

 

[OldGuy]

There are recent posts about how Disney units have not been readily available to trade or at least not quantity.

Back in the day, I searched RCI every day, sometimes several times a day, and was able to see anything/everything anyone could.

I saw a few Disneys when it was first made available, but none since, or now.

The only benefit we get from RCI any more is EVs and LCs, which I get for other people, and which is the best value of anything we have ever done with RCI.

Relation No: 00165

 

[zinger1457]

I've gotten some excellent trades depositing my small 1-BR WKV unit in II (Marriott Newport Coast, Four Seasons Aviara, Highlands Inn Carmel, Manhattan Club, etc.). The key is flexibility, the wider the date range you're willing to accept the better your chances are. If you're requesting a specific week the chances of getting a popular resort are very slim.