Availability?: Trading into DVC from RCI

[nickcapp]

Hello all.

I am both a DVC and an RCI member. You can imagine my excitement when I learned of the partnership simply because I saw it as an added bonus to my RCI membership.

Anyway, long story short, I was able to add a week to my vacation by trading an RCI week for a 1-Bedroom at SSR.

Flast foward...Over the last couple weeks, I kept doing searches at the RCI site, finding all sorts of available dates through April 2010. However, today, NOTHING comes up in the search! NOTHING!

My RCI resort is considered one of the tops, gold crown and everything. I hold 13 weeks at this place....all bright red. What gives? Is it possible there are no places available or is there something far may sinister going on....

Any thoughts? Are any other RCI members able to pull up dates?

 

[bwvBound]

Head on over to the Timeshare User's Group (TUG) and read up on complaints since last weekend's "enhancements" to RCI's website. There are some hopeful comments that trade power will return to where it was just prior to the system changes ...

 

[littlestar]

Yeah, RCI made "enhancements" to their site about a week ago. It's been an absolute mess. I'd wait for the dust to clear before you panic.

I couldn't even browse their cash inventory for five days - every time I tried the site it would freeze up.

 

[Starr W.]

Yep, RCI is a mess! It took me days just to be able to log in, then it would kick me out if I tried to go into an area.

Luckily my TS week I deposit into RCI can't be deposited in until August, so hopefully the dust will settle by then.

 

[nickcapp]

Wow. I had no idea this was such a big deal.

Thanks for that link.

I will wait a little while before I flip out...

 

[Brian Noble]

Yep, as far as I know, no one has been seeing more than a handful units in total at any of the DVC resorts in Weeks over the past few days, so definitely don't panic. But, there is also some pretty good evidence that there may have been a global trade-power adjustment. It's too early to tell who the winners and losers are.

Just another reminder that if you really really have to stay in a particular resort, area, or system, the only way to guarantee it is to own there.

 

[5forDiz]

What kind of week / trading power needs to be owned with RCI in order to trade into DVC for 1 week ? DH & I were kicking around this possibility instead of doing add-on. So far it seems to me that it's not so easy to determine what you need in order to have the ability to do so.

TIA

 

[Brian Noble]

Two weeks ago, it was reliably known that you needed a top-shelf trader in Weeks, or a lot of Points. Right now, no one knows for sure what it takes in Weeks, or even what is (and is not) still a top-shelf trader in that system. We still know in Points---it takes a good chunk of them.

If you want to increase your DVC stays (and only your DVC stays) I'd actually encourge you to consider a resale DVC purchase---prices are as good as they've been in a very long time, and then you know what you have. If you want to increase your vacation time but could go places other than DVC, then by all means look beyond DVC for that purchase. It will be a much better value, but it won't necessarily get you DVC. And, even if it does this year, it won't necessarily next year, because the rules for exchange are changing all the time.

For example, a lot of people were really bitter when DVC switched affiliation from Interval to RCI. I "know" (in the online sense) several people who bought cheap Marriott resales to be able to exchange into DVC. But, now that DVC exchanges through RCI, those folks are all out of luck. We might be going through another one of those moments now, depending on how things shake out in terms of trade power adjustments.

 

[Starr W.]

What kind of week / trading power needs to be owned with RCI in order to trade into DVC for 1 week ? DH & I were kicking around this possibility instead of doing add-on. So far it seems to me that it's not so easy to determine what you need in order to have the ability to do so.

TIA

Don't really know until the dust settles, like Brian says there seems to be a "global" adjustment of trading power at the moment. What is it exactly, we don't know yet. The site was pretty wonky much of last week, couldn't even log in.

Yesterday's Tiger trader may not be as great as one in the new brave world of RCI.


So just join TUG and follow what's going on before you commit any money to a unit just yet.

 

[5forDiz]

Two weeks ago, it was reliably known that you needed a top-shelf trader in Weeks, or a lot of Points. Right now, no one knows for sure what it takes in Weeks, or even what is (and is not) still a top-shelf trader in that system. We still know in Points---it takes a good chunk of them.

If you want to increase your DVC stays (and only your DVC stays) I'd actually encourge you to consider a resale DVC purchase---prices are as good as they've been in a very long time, and then you know what you have. If you want to increase your vacation time but could go places other than DVC, then by all means look beyond DVC for that purchase. It will be a much better value, but it won't necessarily get you DVC. And, even if it does this year, it won't necessarily next year, because the rules for exchange are changing all the time.

For example, a lot of people were really bitter when DVC switched affiliation from Interval to RCI. I "know" (in the online sense) several people who bought cheap Marriott resales to be able to exchange into DVC. But, now that DVC exchanges through RCI, those folks are all out of luck. We might be going through another one of those moments now, depending on how things shake out in terms of trade power adjustments.

Thanks Brian for your reply. You're point is well taken - we're mainly considering it to add to our DVC stays, if not that then east coast beach or casino destination like AC or LV would be other destinations. For what we've got in mind doing an add-on via resale is probably safest bet.

Don't really know until the dust settles, like Brian says there seems to be a "global" adjustment of trading power at the moment. What is it exactly, we don't know yet. The site was pretty wonky much of last week, couldn't even log in.

Yesterday's Tiger trader may not be as great as one in the new brave world of RCI.


So just join TUG and follow what's going on before you commit any money to a unit just yet.

Thanks too Starr for your reply, we plan to join TUG & will definitely take a good look at things.