Experience using RCI?

[TiggerBouncy]

We always go to WDW. My DW hit me up this year with a request; she wants to go to Maine instead. I've never been to Maine; neither has she. She wants to use our DVC points to help pay for it - we have extra, so that's fine.

Please - I am sure there are a lot of people who are going to tell me I would be better off renting out the DVC points and using the money to go to Maine. I would rather not get into that.

Has anyone actually used their DVC points for a RCI rental? What was your experience? Are the hotel's nice? One of the places was a condo; how do those work since there is no place to check in?

Anyone here used an RCI place in Maine? Any opinions on those?

Any other general advice?

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Also, when I am looking at the RCI site (logged in from the DVC site), it tells me the "Number of RCI Points". Is that a 1:1 to DVC points? I.E. the one I am looking at is 56 RCI points. So is that going to chew up 56 DVC points?

 

[com_op_2000]

I have done two RCI exchanges:
One to Ft Myers - would not do again
One to Ft Lauderdale - would do again in a minute

I just called MS to have them check the resorts and points required for both as I can not get the RCI website to give me the information I am looking for when I need it.
The process is easy when MS does it for me.
I am looking at going to Destin sometime in the next couple of years and will be making use of RCI when I do.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Did Ka'anapali Beach Club in Maui. 150 points for a week, February 3-10, 2017, would love to do it again!!

 

[Dean]

We always go to WDW. My DW hit me up this year with a request; she wants to go to Maine instead. I've never been to Maine; neither has she. She wants to use our DVC points to help pay for it - we have extra, so that's fine.

Please - I am sure there are a lot of people who are going to tell me I would be better off renting out the DVC points and using the money to go to Maine. I would rather not get into that.

Has anyone actually used their DVC points for a RCI rental? What was your experience? Are the hotel's nice? One of the places was a condo; how do those work since there is no place to check in?

Anyone here used an RCI place in Maine? Any opinions on those?

Any other general advice?

I haven't been to timeshares in Maine but looking through the info on the resorts there, there are only 3 or 4 that look reasonable to stay in. Just investigate so you know you're getting what you think you're getting. And be prepared for anything you get to feel less than DVC in many ways. To investigate further I'd suggest you hop over to TUG (Timeshare Users Group). Realize once you commit you're basically stuck, you don't even have the 1 day cancelation period you may see mentioned elsewhere.

 

[Brian Noble]

For Maine, I would personally rent my points out, and use the proceeds to book the resort I wanted. There are very few coastal Maine timeshare properties, and they are rarely deposited to RCI for summer.

 

[a742246]

We always go to WDW. My DW hit me up this year with a request; she wants to go to Maine instead. I've never been to Maine; neither has she. She wants to use our DVC points to help pay for it - we have extra, so that's fine.

Please - I am sure there are a lot of people who are going to tell me I would be better off renting out the DVC points and using the money to go to Maine. I would rather not get into that.

Has anyone actually used their DVC points for a RCI rental? What was your experience? Are the hotel's nice? One of the places was a condo; how do those work since there is no place to check in?

Anyone here used an RCI place in Maine? Any opinions on those?

Any other general advice?

I stayed at the Samoset Resort in Rockport once, very nice resort (not thru DVC though). You may be too late for a summer/fall week in 2017. I looked for you in the RCI/DVC portal and there are three weeks available in the summer of 2018. A 1 BR will cost you 120 DVC points, 2 BR 260 DVC points. Good value for DVC points. Samoset nightly stay is $360 a night in the summer. Sometimes trading DVC points into RCI works out very well!

 

[bwvBound]

Also, when I am looking at the RCI site (logged in from the DVC site), it tells me the "Number of RCI Points". Is that a 1:1 to DVC points? I.E. the one I am looking at is 56 RCI points. So is that going to chew up 56 DVC points?

Yes, as you are looking at RCI through the DVC site -- the point 'costs' listed are in DVC points.

 

[double r]

I just used RCI for a ski week in Taos NM and it was fine, resort was a Wyndham but they only offered a studio unit, at first I was a little worried but it turned out to be ok but small. No real cooking in the unit but could borrow a skillet or crockpot and also a community kitchen and bbq grills available around the resort. I would try other RCI places but ski weeks are hard to get. Maine in the summer might be hard to book also and I would use MS to help with booking much easier has said before. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Dean]

I just used RCI for a ski week in Taos NM and it was fine, resort was a Wyndham but they only offered a studio unit, at first I was a little worried but it turned out to be ok but small. No real cooking in the unit but could borrow a skillet or crockpot and also a community kitchen and bbq grills available around the resort. I would try other RCI places but ski weeks are hard to get. Maine in the summer might be hard to book also and I would use MS to help with booking much easier has said before. Good luck and enjoy.

Looking on the direct RCI side there are reasonable options for this summer and next though not the top options. I would expect options for 2018 summer that were acceptable if one put in an ongoing search now since it's likely that some of the better resorts will be deposited later. A 2 or 3 BR need might be more of an issue though but this is true of a lot of places.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Thank you all for your replies! You have been very helpful!