Does anyone want to explain this "RCI" thing in simple terms????

[edk35]

For us DVC folks who are fairly new and have never ventured outside of WDW as far as our points are concerned. The other thread is A LOT OF INFORMATION. Anyone want to break it down in baby bites for me. PLEASE.

 

[toocherie]

I second that request!

 

[ekball]

Third! I'm learning that I have a LOT to learn about this little DVC purchase. I know nothing.

 

[toocherie]

We should start a club for the "timeshare know-nothings"!!!!!!!

 

[Dean]

We don't know the details but I'd say the only way to make it simple is to avoid the option altogether.

 

[mgriff75]

I'm suprised no one has responded yet. I will give it a try. I'm sure others could do a better job, but here goes.

One of your options with DVC is to exchange some of your DVC points to go to timeshare resorts outside of Disney. To get you a reservation outside of Disney, DVC contracts with an exchange company.

In the timeshare world there are 2 primary exchange companies, RCI (Resort Condiminums Internations) & II (Interval International).

Each of the exchange companies have there own group of resorts. Typically every timeshare belongs to either RCI or II, but there are some that belong to both.

When a DVC owner wants to go to go somewhere outside of Disney, DVC deposits a unit with the exchange company and the exchange company gives the DVC member access to a unit that someone else has deposited with the exchange company.

This is a really big deal because to some people and a non issue to others. You get the best value from your DVC membership by using your DVC points at DVC resorts. But its nice to be able to go somewhere else.

For example: Maybe you want to go to Williamsburg, VA. In my opinion the two best places in Williamsburg are Marriott Manor Club at Ford's Colony & Wyndham Governor's Green, but they are both only available thru II. Once DVC swithes to RCI, you will not be able to use your DVC points to stay at either of these resorts. But RCI does have a number of resorts in Williamsburg but they are not up to the quality of the II resorts.

I would not use my DVC points to stay in Williamsburg, its just not a good value. I would use one of my other timeshare to exchange into Williamsburg. But if you only have one timeshare, and you want to go to williamsburg, I would want to stay at the top resort in Williamsburg, which happens to be only available from II.

Now, if you look at the exchange companies as a whole. There are a number of locations where RCI has better resorts. But most of the top resorts choose II because the other top resorts are available there.

Hope this helps. Ask any questions.

Matthew

 

[toocherie]

Matthew: thanks for taking the time to try to explain this. One question I have is this: am I wrong to understand that you can't automatically get the exchange you want? That you have to more or less request a certain resort for a certain time period and then hope that someone else who owns that resort decides in the same time frame to exchange? And do they have to exchange exactly for your timeshare (i.e., DVC)? Or could they exchange into another timeshare and that unit then becomes available for the first person on the exchange list?

I think that is the part that is the most confusing to me.

I do understand now that the basic problem about RCI is that people don't feel the level of quality of their resorts is as high as II.

Thanks again.

 

[mgriff75]

You only get the exchange if its available, but it does not have to be a direct exchange. The deposits are put in the exchange bank. If 1000 people make deposits, each gets to make a withdrawal. There is also a system to rank the deposits, so if you deposit a high quality resort and time, you can withdrawal a high quality resort and time, but if you put in junk, you get out junk.

But it is very hard to tell whether your deposit is good or junk. Obviously a DVC deposit should be good, but all you really know is what is available to you. You don't get to know that a unit is available but you don't have enough trading power to get it.

Matthew

 

[Dean]

Matthew: thanks for taking the time to try to explain this. One question I have is this: am I wrong to understand that you can't automatically get the exchange you want? That you have to more or less request a certain resort for a certain time period and then hope that someone else who owns that resort decides in the same time frame to exchange? And do they have to exchange exactly for your timeshare (i.e., DVC)? Or could they exchange into another timeshare and that unit then becomes available for the first person on the exchange list?

I think that is the part that is the most confusing to me.

I do understand now that the basic problem about RCI is that people don't feel the level of quality of their resorts is as high as II.

Thanks again.

The only automatic way to get a timeshare week is to buy that resort in a fixed week or similar format. Both II and RCI are barter type systems. They do not use first come first served but rather an algebraic trade value based on unit size, resort quality, demand of a given week and demand of a given resort plus how far out it is deposited. Imagine a line of 100 people who are ordered from first to last and one unit comes available. Number one falls off the list then someone else joins the list. Given the way the order is structured, the last one to join the line may become the first in line. There are ways to improve your chances but they usually involve depositing far in advance and chosing the week you deposit. DVC members have had almost no control over these issues in the past nor are they likely to going forward.

Trading is very complicated, more so for DVC than most timeshares overall. In addition you ask the question at a time when DVC is apparently changing from II to RCI and almost no real details are known. Trying to trade DVC without knowing the full details is suicide IMO.

 

[Brian Noble]

I'd say the only way to make it simple is to avoid the option altogether.

I'd agree with this, with one addendum. If you want to stay somewhere other than a DVC resort, and you want to use points to do so, it is almost always better to rent out your points on the open market, and use the proceeds to rent a unit from someone who owns where you want to go. In almost all cases, you'll have money left over this way.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We should start a club for the "timeshare know-nothings"!!!!!!!

Yay,can I join? Will the next member's book have a points chart for each resort? If not, how do we find out how many points it will cost? And are stays at RCI resorts one week, as opposed to any # of nights?

 

[edk35]

We should start a club for the "timeshare know-nothings"!!!!!!!

PLEASE COUNT ME IN.....just when I think I know DVC this is thrown in there.

 

[edk35]

Yay,can I join? Will the next member's book have a points chart for each resort? If not, how do we find out how many points it will cost? And are stays at RCI resorts one week, as opposed to any # of nights?

yes let's just attached POINTS TO EVERYTHING then I will know exactly how to VACATION OUTSIDE WDW. Right now I am clueless.

 

[bwvBound]

I do understand now that the basic problem about RCI is that people don't feel the level of quality of their resorts is as high as II.

That is one half of the coin ... the other concerns trading into DVC using (our) other timeshare. We trade in regularly through II and have budgeted our DVC point purchase/ownership based on past inbound exchange performance. I doubt we'll see similar success using RCI. If DVC is handled exclusively through RCI Points (vs RCI Weeks) we'll be blocked out entirely.

 

[JudyS]

.... Will the next member's book have a points chart for each resort? If not, how do we find out how many points it will cost? And are stays at RCI resorts one week, as opposed to any # of nights?

This depends on what DVC and RCI work out. RCI actually has two different systems, RCI weeks and RCI Points. RCI Weeks is whole weeks only. RCI Points allows stays of anywhere from 1 night to 30 nights. So far, RCI and Disney have not said whether DVC will be in RCI Weeks or in RCI Points.

If DVC joins RCI Points, there may in fact be a Points Chart for each, or almost each, resort you can trade to, yes. If DVC joins RCI Weeks, probably the system will be similar to what it is now, where it costs a certain number of points for any one-bedroom in mid-season, a different, higher number for any two-bedroom in high season, etc.

.....I do understand now that the basic problem about RCI is that people don't feel the level of quality of their resorts is as high as II....

I would say the quality of RCI's resorts is just one problem. I own 20 timeshares. (Yes, really!) Besides my DVC week, I own several weeks that trade in II, plus some that trade in RCI Weeks and some that trade in RCI Points. I get good trades through all three exchange companies, but I find RCI much harder than II to use. (Although DVC members will probably not deal directly with RCI, which helps.) Other problems are that RCI has high fees (although DVC members may not pay the usual fees) and that they tend to have poor customer service. Plus, many RCI members suspect that RCI is taking the best deposits and renting them to the general public, rather than making them available for trade. In fact, RCI settled a class action lawsuit from its members a few days ago, regarding renting out of weeks instead of giving them in trade to their members. It amazes me that DVC would join RCI when that just happened.

One of the big problems with RCI, as I see it, is that they often only allow trades into the most desirable resorts once every four or five years. This is especially a problem in Mexico, where most of the nicer RCI resorts are managed by the same company (Grupo Mayan), and RCI members are allowed to go only once every five years to any of the 30 or so resorts managed by this company.

That said, all this is only an issue if you want to trade your DVC points to another resort. Most DVC members use their points at DVC resorts, so for them, it doesn't matter what exchange company DVC uses.

 

[Anal Annie]

For us DVC folks who are fairly new and have never ventured outside of WDW as far as our points are concerned. The other thread is A LOT OF INFORMATION. Anyone want to break it down in baby bites for me. PLEASE.

It means no more trades to Marriotts or Westins to name two II participants, which knocks out a lot of the quality trades to places like Maui or Aruba. Since they have not announced specific details yet we don't know how it will affect the required number of points for trading. Considering most 1 bedrooms at WDW cost well over 200 points during a peak period I always thought the 160 points to trade thru II was pretty reasonable if you were getting a 1 bedroom unit. But now, who knows how they will mess with us.

 

[tjkraz]

In fact, RCI settled a class action lawsuit from its members a few days ago, regarding renting out of weeks instead of giving them in trade to their members. It amazes me that DVC would join RCI when that just happened.

Am I the only one who thinks the timing of that settlement was not a coincidence?

 

[Brian Noble]

I think it was. The Class basically got nothing. RCI got the legal blessing to keep doing what it was already doing.

In other words, RCI won and won big in the settlement.

 

[hakepb]

I think it was. The Class basically got nothing. RCI got the legal blessing to keep doing what it was already doing.

In other words, RCI won and won big in the settlement.

How is the RCI rentals a balacned system. You deposit inventory, RCI gets a cahs rental so your unit is used, but what do you get? How can they have more inventory than exchanges?

 

[Brian Noble]

Rentals are balanced by two main sources of inventory: developer deposits and RCI Points members who use their points for things other than lodging.