Interval International / RCI - ???'s

[Peggy Sue]

We are considering swapping a week of DVC time with someone who has Red Time at a Hawaii resort with RCI. They would like to stay on-site at WDW and RCI does not offer OKW or BW as an available location for a timeshare exchange. We would like to return to Hawaii, and we were considering using our DVC points for a week in Hawaii using the DVC II exchange feature (did this in 1998 and it worked out great for us) so we thought we could help each other out. The only issue I have with Hawaii, is her property is located on Kauai, but we want to stay on Maui. She brought in the RCI book for us to look through, and there are several beautiful resorts on Maui available, but I really know nothing about them. Quality? upkeep? etc.

My question for all of you who have other time shares..what is the difference between RCI and II resorts?? Anything we should be aware of? Any quality issues to be concerned about. I seem to remember DVC was affiliated with RCI at one time and then dropped them for II. Does anyone know what the issues were surrounding this change?

The last time MS traded our points for Hawaii they used 198 points for the exchange. This matches fairly close to the number of points I would need to use to make the reservations for my co-worker. I've already advised her I couldn't do an exchange with here during the peak travel times because the point requirements were to high. We were very happy with the exchange MS did for us in 1998. We stayed at the Cliffs club in Kauai.

Your experience, insight, thoughts, comments are welcome!

Thank you!

 

[PamOKW]

I can't tell you much about either company but you are correct that RCI was the original DVC exchange company.

 

[jbthi]

Peggy Sue,

I can give you a little info on RCI and II. I am a current member of RCI and a former member of II. In the RCI catalog it tells you if it is a Gold Crown resort, Resort of International Distinction or Standard Resort. Gold Crown is the highest and that is what you would want to be comparable to DVC. I don't always agree with their designations but it is usually right. II would give them top resorts a 5 star rating. I personally prefer RCI although I think their service is going downhill. They do have more resorts and especially more of the better resorts. At least this used to be true. I have not belonged to II for a while.

As to why DVC went to II from RCI I don't know. I do know sometimes the reasons a resort changes is they want something from the trading company the trading company is not willing to give. A lot of times they want special consideration for their members that the trading company thinks is unfair to the rest of their members.

I know this was true several years ago with the Marriotts.

 

[Dean]

RCI does have more resorts than II but the number of truly quality resorts is pretty close. Many of II's resorts though are in a priority trade group like Marriott. In some areas RCI is better and in others it's II. RCI is ahead in the overall volume of inventory and in the website direct exchange issue. RCI also has more incentive to induce early deposit which I wish II would do.

As for HI, what does your friend own? If it's a good enough resort, you might consider taking it anyway. If not, maybe it's a resort that has a trading preference to another resort much like the Marriott's and Embassy. There are not all that many timeshares on Maui and it is the most sought after area of HI making exchanges difficult. The only resorts i'd consider air direct exchange would be the Marriott, One Napili Way, Whaler, Sands of Kahana for II and for RCI Sands of Kahana again, Maui Lei at Maui Hill and the Embassy. Kahana Falls and the Sunterra resorts are worth considering but not really an even exchange. There are others to think about if you have no other choice but would definitely be a step or two down.

The resorts in RCI that I'd consider taking anyway for Kauai are Pahio at Shearwater and the Embassy. Also possibly the Lawaii Beach and Pahio at Ka'Eo Kai depending on the building and size unit. There are others to consider on Kauai but these are the best ones that are in RCI. For informational purposes, I'd add the Marriott, Hanalei bay and possibly Club Intrawest to that list for II.

Remember that some resorts block exchanges to certain resorts in their geographic area. II and RCI both do this in one way or another. That might be a roadblock depending on what she owns and also any previous trades within the last 4 years.

I talked to quite a number of independent exchange companies inlcuding those that specialize in HI with not much luck so far for Maui. Since I'm looking summer 2002 and using a Marriott to trade, I'm still quite optimistic though. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

 

[Peggy Sue]

JBthi and Dean, thanks for your insights. I've got the RCI book to look through and will check out the resorts you mentioned.

We want to try and stay on Maui because we have family there too. We liked Kauai, but don't think we want to spend another full week there like we did in 1998.

Dean..do you have any RCI suggestions for the island of Hawaii? We really loved Hawaii and might consider going there for a week if we would have a better chance of exchanging there.

Thanks again for your help! I'll let you know how it all works out!

 

[Dean]

Kona Coast and Bay Club are the only resorts I'm aware of that are nice enough to sway you to the Big Island. KCR is dually affiliated and Bay Club only with RCI. There are other resorts to consider if you have specific plans there. The Sunterra resorts are apparently decent. Some people are destination oriented and others are resort quality oriented for vacations. We are in between as I suspect most people are. There are a number of Gold Crown resorts on the island but the ratings and reviews don't get me excited about an exchange with any of them.

 

[Diznut84]

Hi Peggy Sue,

I would highly recommend becoming a member of Timeshare User Group (TUG). It costs you $15 for the first year (and $10 thereafter). It has invaluable information, including very extensive reviews of other resorts as posted by TUGgers. TUG's web site is located at:

TUG Web Site

I am a member of both RCI and II, and it is definitely a good idea to do a bit of research before selecting your resort.

Good luck!

 

[Diznut84]

Hi Peggy Sue,

Many TUG members look for resort ratings over 8.0. Others argue that you should look only at the reviews themselves. I like to look at both.

Here is some TUG rating info for you that is Maui specific. I personally am not familiar with the resorts, so Dean is likely a much better source to confirm or reject the following ratings:

Maui Gold Crown Resorts (RCI):
Embassy Vacation Resorts: TUG rating 8.13
Kahana Falls: TUG rating 8.36
Maui Lea: TUG rating 8.50
WorldMark: TUG rating 5.50

Sands of Kahana Vacation Club gets nice reviews as an II property (8.64). None of the other II 5 star locations have reviews and/or high ratings.

Availability of RCI resorts (with summer Aquamarine deposit):

Embassy Vacation Resorts has 1BR available with checkin dates from 10/26/01 - 11/04/01

Kahana Falls has a 1BR available 5/9/02, 8/23/02, 8/24/02, 8/30/02, 8/31/02, all of September through December 15th. There are 2BR available 11/15/02 and 12/05/02.

Maui Lea has a 2BR available 9/3/02, 10/1/02, 11/16/02, 12/15/02.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or are interested in any of them!

 

[Dean]

Greg, seems pretty much on target. Obviously you left out some II resots that I included earlier. The only suggestion is that the Worldmark only has one rating and one rating under Sunterra, as this is a mixed ownership property with at least 2 different companies owning some of the units. The same is true at Papakea where I believe there are three companies that control units there. I understand the Sunterra resorts (Valley isle and Papakea) are both great locations but average resorts so it depends on what's most important. Remember many don't have AC. Good luck.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Dean and Greg,

Thanks so much for all this wonderful information! I'm going to join TUG..heard lots of nice things about this site, and I agree, and informed person will have a better vacation experience! I also know to watch for the no A/C in Hawaii. The Cliffs Club in Kauai did not have any A/C...we found the unit to be very warm, even with the breeze blowing through. We had to close the windows because the breeze was so strong it kept knocking things over!

Thanks again for all your help!