RCI, what happened??

[thedukeofmontague]

I was looking at some RCI exchanges (I know, I know, not the 'best' deal with dis points), but it seems that the availability of resorts is..dwindling. For example, there are only 2 pennsylvania resorts, but the regular RCI site lists over 20, and one that i was looking at in particular was removed for the Dis options through RCI. I know i didn't buy DVC to go someplace else, but seriously for the cost of the points and maintenance I could have bought something through, lets say Marriott, paid less in price and points and still would have been able to stay at DVC resorts if I wanted to.

 

[disneynutz]

Maybe you should add your post to the vanishing perks thread.

Bill

 

[Brian Noble]

DVC "filters" the set of RCI resorts to a small set that are deemed to be satisfactory for exchanges. That will remove many older resorts, etc. This was done with II, as well.

 

[dvccruiser76]

Another thing to note on RCI is that there may be "hidden" fees.

I called to book 3 nights on the Cape since we have a little one and wanted something short without a flight and the resort that we were looking at on RCI was $205 per night if you booked with cash, so I figured $95 for 3 nights compared to $615 not bad right?

Wrong! When MS confirmed that there was availability, they wanted to read me the notes on the resort before finalizing anything and I was told that there was a $50 per day housekeeping fee.

Are you kidding me? After waiting patiently to book within the proper booking window, I realized that I had wasted my time and I kindly turned down the offer and apologized to the nice man from MS.

Jeez Louise

 

[DenLo]

I've heard that before that other timeshares have a daily charge for housekeeping. I was pleasantly surprised that at the DVC it's an optional service you can buy ($50 for a 2 BR) but desired.

 

[maleficent esq.]

I have been considering buying a timeshare /vacation club for over 5 years. (Brett Favre and my husband have serious issues) to make a long story longer, nearly every time share/vacation club that I have visited has told me I can book Disney. Every time I have told them if they are able to book me a trip within the next year on Disney property I would buy the timeshare. To date I do not own a single time-share and think DH is convinced it is time to buy Disney. So don't feel like you are loosing out

Best Regards
Mal

 

[bwvBound]

Every time I have told them if they are able to book me a trip within the next year on Disney property I would buy the timeshare.

LOL! I used a variation of that approach a few years back w/out first briefing my husband on the 'plan' when we toured Shell Vacation Club (SVC). I knew SVC had nothing available in Barcelona ... yet I promised to buy if they could "fill my need" for specific travel dates. My poor husband was nearly ready to panic ... he had no clue that the request couldn't be met at that time.

 

[Dean]

Every non DVC RCI timeshare I am aware of (there are likely a few exceptions) charge a housekeeping fee for less than a full week, it's usually listed on the paperwork but not always. As noted, DVC filters them and in part it is due to quality but there are other criteria. One is that they tend to leave out resorts will little activity, another is they don't include other Orlando resorts. It gives you around 500 of their over 5600 or so resort options. Given these are the resorts you'd want to trade to for the most part it's not as bad as it might seem. Given that to my knowledge no one has traded in to DVC for less than a week and EVERY resort has the option, we really don't know if DVC will charge a fee or not above the $95 one they charge everyone.

I have been considering buying a timeshare /vacation club for over 5 years. (Brett Favre and my husband have serious issues) to make a long story longer, nearly every time share/vacation club that I have visited has told me I can book Disney. Every time I have told them if they are able to book me a trip within the next year on Disney property I would buy the timeshare. To date I do not own a single time-share and think DH is convinced it is time to buy Disney. So don't feel like you are loosing out

Best Regards
Mal

I've booked Disney many times through II previously and now DVC.

 

[natt]

I had posted something similar a few months back on the same topic, but in regards to Virginia Beach. II had some nice choices to exchange with II and we'd gotten a match (our first exchange ever) and were thrilled!! Then with RCI, now there are NO options to VA Beach, which for us is a nice change of pace.. close enough to drive (plus Busch Gardens) yet are enough to feel like we're going away.

I did email DVC and they did respond (DH took the actual call).. They thanked us for the feedback and "are still working with RCI to find what works for DVC". But it seems to me like the RCI trade-off for being able to book nightly has limited the choices that II had previously offered. I personally am becoming vigilant of how things are working for/against us DVC owners and will decide if choices need to be made in the next few years if it just isn't feeling like a positive fit anymore

 

[Babsbeast]

I too see the RCI options as being prohibitively limiting. I bought right before the changover from II to RCI, and stayed a week on points in Williamsburg, VA at a resort that was still under construction, with no pool or resort amenities. This was never disclosed to us, we dicovered it on our own, but went ahead anyway, because we wanted the LOCATION.

When I looked recently, RCI had nothing available to us for exchange in an area we were interested in (we were looking at VA Beach too...) I think that I might like to stay in a resort that doesn't meet some etheral "criteria" if it was where I wanted to vacation... but I am not given any choice about that... I understand keeping standards and the value of DVC points being protected... but at what cost to us in being able to go where we want to go? Give us more choices, please!

What really annoyed me is when I visited the "Doorways to Dreams" that they're running at Roosevelt Field Mall, and looked at some of their offerings... They make a rather large point of being able to exchange to go anywhere in the world... Hmmm.....

 

[Allie in Wonderland]

DVC now has 2 average resorts in Aruba, as compared to 8 resorts, many being much nicer. I did call and complain and they said they were constantly meeting with RCI to try and add more. They know that the RCI offerings are much more limited than I.I. Call and voice your displeasure.

 

[Dean]

While I agree that RCI is inferior to II from DVC's standpoint, that's not to say there are no good options. There are also areas where RCI has better options than II, it just depends on where you're looking. The big differences are two, namely Marriott and Westin.

 

[fallcolors]

Thanks for sharing the Disney/RCI challenges!

 

[disneymom3]

I have been considering buying a timeshare /vacation club for over 5 years. (Brett Favre and my husband have serious issues) to make a long story longer, nearly every time share/vacation club that I have visited has told me I can book Disney. Every time I have told them if they are able to book me a trip within the next year on Disney property I would buy the timeshare. To date I do not own a single time-share and think DH is convinced it is time to buy Disney. So don't feel like you are loosing out

Best Regards
Mal

I am staying BCV in January on a trade through RCI. My in laws do own in Maui in Feb so they have high trade power, but it can be done. We had a plethora of choices.

 

[DeeCee735]

Wow, in reading this, I'm sooo glad there's only one place we'd consider trading into so far! I'd look at Vegas, and maybe Sedona for the next two years, but we don't really trade out. We go to DVC HH, and DVC WDW with our DVC ownership. My DH isn't much of a traveller other than that, and that's exactly why we bought! Works for us and again, I'm glad we don't look to trade out at all, since all these changes don't sound so great!

 

[BevS97]

What really annoyed me is when I visited the "Doorways to Dreams" that they're running at Roosevelt Field Mall, and looked at some of their offerings... They make a rather large point of being able to exchange to go anywhere in the world... Hmmm.....

Anywhere but Europe. RCI have properties all over Europe but the DVC list has NONE in northern europe, we are looking at a trip to Germany/France/Holland/Belgium next summer and there are NO DVC approved RCI properties in these countries.

European standards may be different to DVC standards, but I'd prefer to make that decision rather than have it made for me.

 

[Dean]

Anywhere but Europe. RCI have properties all over Europe but the DVC list has NONE in northern europe, we are looking at a trip to Germany/France/Holland/Belgium next summer and there are NO DVC approved RCI properties in these countries.

European standards may be different to DVC standards, but I'd prefer to make that decision rather than have it made for me.

I'm with you, that's why I would prefer if were were able to join RCI as individuals rather than having a corporate membership. I'd rather pay for RCI and the higher exchange costs to have direct access, internet access and more choices and control. There are other benefits of direct membership that DVC members also give up with the current setup.

 

[CarolMN]

I'm with you, that's why I would prefer if were were able to join RCI as individuals rather than having a corporate membership. I'd rather pay for RCI and the higher exchange costs to have direct access, internet access and more choices and control. There are other benefits of direct membership that DVC members also give up with the current setup.

If that were allowed, would the DVC member member choose the week to deposit rather than DVC? If so, I understand why DVC wants to maintain control.

 

[Dean]

If that were allowed, would the DVC member member choose the week to deposit rather than DVC? If so, I understand why DVC wants to maintain control.

There are many reasons why DVC wants control including that they likely get other kickbacks and benefits from RCI with the current setup, I know Bluegreen does and have been told that Wyndham does and this is likely one of the main set of reasons for the change from II to RCI. DVC members would likely be able to chose both the week and resort for deposit and would pay the applicable points costs. They can do that now with the independent exchange companies. That would actually be one of the best features for the members that want to trade. You get all the other benefits of direct membership AND you get to vary your trade power as needed for a given exchange. And while I know some are thinking that all the good weeks/resorts will be gone because of this, I'd personally expect more use of the less in demand resorts and weeks overall than is currently being deposited in RCI, not that it should matter if an owner is using their week by exchanging it. I will disclaim that it is my opinion that any member can do what they want within the rules with any week they can reserve so it really doesn't matter to me either way. Unless there are major changes, I'll never exchange my DVC points with RCI or similar. Even if I was able to add DVC to my RCI account directly, I doubt I'd be exchanging with it without major changes in either my situation or the facts of the game.

 

[bwvBound]

If that were allowed, would the DVC member member choose the week to deposit rather than DVC? If so, I understand why DVC wants to maintain control.

Not necessarily. Worldmark, a points-based timeshare, still controls the deposits to RCI/II even though membership to RCI/II is individual, not corporate.