Brian Noble
Gratefully in Recovery
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2004
- Messages
- 18,580
Apparently, we only thank posters who provide information that agrees with our expectations and biases. Others who have had more satisfactory experiences with RCI are apparently wrong, irrelevant, or simply ignored.
For example, I recently rented out an Easter Week at Bonnet Creek, after advertising on TUG for all of five days---and that's in the current, depressed travel market. I got significantly more value for it than I would have by exchanging it in RCI. The renter was in some completely different state. I would never have gotten exposure to that renter 15 years ago. I would have had to make do by asking friends and family (none of whom wanted it) or advertising in the local paper's classifieds. That's a much smaller potential market---I would probably have simply deposited the time instead, just to get something in return.
Just as owners with summer weeks at Hershey in RCI would be fools to deposit their time, so too would owners with spring weeks at the Westin St. John in II. Yes, RCI rents inventory. So does Interval. Some of that inventory was never eligible for exchange. Some of it was "internally exchanged" with developer deposits. The fact that the Class Action has been settled before finding anything of substance against RCI suggests to me, quite strongly, that either the smoking gun simply wasn't there, or the suit was a sham foisted by the lawyers to begin with.
DVC has a unique offering---even those hurricane weeks are taken eagerly by folks in Interval now, and those weeks will be exposed to a larger pool of potential exchange guests in RCI, unless there is a very aggressive 1-in-N rule (which is entirely possible.)
And---to repeat myself---for DVC owners wishing to exchange out, this is almost immaterial. You are almost always better off renting your DVC points to someone else, and using the proceeds to rent the non-DVC logding you desire. Exchanging more than once in a blue moon is almost certainly a poor use of points, no matter what external exchange company you use.
The real people who are impacted are those wishing to exchange in. Based on reading their posts, my sense is that many of the most vocal objectors are those who routinely exchange *in*, not those who routinely exchange *out*. As someone who routinely exchanges in, I do expect the switch to RCI to make it more difficult (and a little more expensive) to obtain frequent stays at DVC. But, them's the breaks.
Any resort with extremely high-quality/high-demand units will rarely be deposited to either RCI or II---both exchanges have seen available inventory drop. Why? Because owners have significantly more options available to them to extract value from their time. There are several independent exchanges that specialize in high-end properties or hard-to-get areas. The Internet has also made it possible to get significant exposure for renting weeks that simply wasn't possible 15 years ago.
For example, I recently rented out an Easter Week at Bonnet Creek, after advertising on TUG for all of five days---and that's in the current, depressed travel market. I got significantly more value for it than I would have by exchanging it in RCI. The renter was in some completely different state. I would never have gotten exposure to that renter 15 years ago. I would have had to make do by asking friends and family (none of whom wanted it) or advertising in the local paper's classifieds. That's a much smaller potential market---I would probably have simply deposited the time instead, just to get something in return.
Just as owners with summer weeks at Hershey in RCI would be fools to deposit their time, so too would owners with spring weeks at the Westin St. John in II. Yes, RCI rents inventory. So does Interval. Some of that inventory was never eligible for exchange. Some of it was "internally exchanged" with developer deposits. The fact that the Class Action has been settled before finding anything of substance against RCI suggests to me, quite strongly, that either the smoking gun simply wasn't there, or the suit was a sham foisted by the lawyers to begin with.
Not all red weeks are "equally red." Some are bright searing red. Some are the palest shade of pink. Orlando is "red" year round. But it is obvious that a mid-September hurricane week in, say, one of the Celebrity resorts (a bottom-of-the-barrel set of RCI-affiliated resorts if ever there was one) is not going to have trade power comparable to an HGVC Sea World Christmas, New Years, or Easter Week.
DVC has a unique offering---even those hurricane weeks are taken eagerly by folks in Interval now, and those weeks will be exposed to a larger pool of potential exchange guests in RCI, unless there is a very aggressive 1-in-N rule (which is entirely possible.)
I also think every timeshare owner would benefit by spending some time at TUG. But, it's important to recognize that individuals there do have biases---both for and against RCI. But, by carefully sifting through everything, one quickly gets a sense for the potential benefits and losses of this change.
And---to repeat myself---for DVC owners wishing to exchange out, this is almost immaterial. You are almost always better off renting your DVC points to someone else, and using the proceeds to rent the non-DVC logding you desire. Exchanging more than once in a blue moon is almost certainly a poor use of points, no matter what external exchange company you use.
The real people who are impacted are those wishing to exchange in. Based on reading their posts, my sense is that many of the most vocal objectors are those who routinely exchange *in*, not those who routinely exchange *out*. As someone who routinely exchanges in, I do expect the switch to RCI to make it more difficult (and a little more expensive) to obtain frequent stays at DVC. But, them's the breaks.
Can't forget my poster "Dean"!!! 
