Need help from an RCI expert, please!

[nifferearly]

My parents have said I could use a week they have deposited with RCI. We are DVC owners but I'm always borrowing points, so I'd love to save some and use this for a trip instead!

We're planning to go to Disney for a week in Aug, 2012. The RCI person I spoke with said that nothing was available but she set up a search where I listed 6 resorts. I chose 3 DVC (OKW, SSR, and AKL - which I figured would be easiest to get) and 3 others (Orange Lake, Sheraton Vistana, and Hilton). She also suggested that I could keep calling back for a "re-search".

Would calling daily improve my chances of scoring DVC? Because of when the points were banked, I can't book it online. If calling increases my chances, is there a certain # of months out when resorts would start showing up for my trip?

I prefer DVC but we'll have a car and AP so it's not a big deal to stay off-site. Should I change all resorts in the search to DVC to improve my chances? Or do you think it'll be close to impossible and I should focus on getting a nice off-site resort?

Thanks in advance for any help! I appreciate it!

 

[Brian Noble]

What was the trade power assigned to the deposit? Is the deposit (if combined, any portion of it) from an Orlando-area resort? What week, specifically are you looking for?

 

[nifferearly]

This is why I needed help from an expert! I don't know about "trade power" and the RCI rep didn't mention anything about it. I can call back - do I just ask for the trade power on the banked week? If I have a low trade power, does that mean it won't be possible to trade into DVC?

No, the resort is not based in Orlando.

The search is set up to check in either the weekend of 8/18/12 or 8/25/12.

Thanks!

 

[Brian Noble]

I went back to take a look. There are 2BR units sleeping at least 6 for every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in August 2012 at Vistana currently in the spacebank. So, I'm afraid you have a trade power problem. The Vistana weeks require between 20-23 trade power units for the most part (though 8/31 is only 12). A DVC resort will require at least 25 given current valuations.

Your best hope is to allow the search to run, and hope one of those Vistana units dips below whatever threshold you have on deposit. DVC units won't go below 25 until just a few weeks out, and those are very rare.

 

[Brian Noble]

Looks like my post crossed yours in the aether.

You can call to ask what trade power is assigned to that deposit, or you can log in using your parents' RCI credentials and check. Every deposit is assigned a (fixed) value, anywhere from 1 to 60 units. Every week in the spacebank requires some number of units to confirm (again from 1 to 60), but spacebank week values fluctuate over time. An ongoing search should check "all the time" to see if one of the weeks you are searching for *ever* dips below your deposit-value, and if so, will "match" the week.

If you are in the mid to upper teens somewhere, I can imagine Vistana falling that far as time draws near. For example, Thanksgiving weeks were all in the mid-20s a month or two ago, but are now high teens to low 20s now. But, DVC is probably out of the question, because it has a "hard floor" of 25. DVC units do not generally go below 25 regardless of size or season, except for last-minute weeks (within about 30-45 days).

 

[Brian Noble]

Searching only for sleeps-six units or larger, the week of 8/18 has:

Hilton Grand Vacations Club at SeaWorld International Center (#3517) 4 available units
Orlando
FL, 32821
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
3 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
17-Aug-2012 - 19-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power Range
23 - 26



Hilton Grand Vacations Club on International Drive (#6309) 2 available units
Orlando
FL, 32821
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
3 Bedroom
Check-In Date
17-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power Range
24 - 26



Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort - East Village (#8896) 2 available units
Kissimmee
FL, 34747
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
18-Aug-2012 - 19-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
22



Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort - North Village (#8897) 2 available units
Kissimmee
FL, 34747
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
18-Aug-2012 - 19-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
22



Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort - West Village (#0670) 3 available units
Kissimmee
FL, 34747
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
17-Aug-2012 - 19-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
23



Sheraton Vistana Resort (#0450) 5 available units
Orlando
FL, 32821
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
17-Aug-2012 - 19-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
23



Sheraton Vistana Resort-Fountains Villas (#V450) 3 available units
Orlando
FL, 32821
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
17-Aug-2012 - 19-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
23


Searching the following week, the values are slightly lower:

Hilton Grand Vacations Club at SeaWorld International Center (#3517) 4 available units
Orlando
FL, 32821
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
3 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
24-Aug-2012 - 26-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power Range
20 - 22



Hilton Grand Vacations Club on International Drive (#6309) 2 available units
Orlando
FL, 32821
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
3 Bedroom
Check-In Date
24-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power Range
20 - 23



Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort - East Village (#8896) 3 available units
Kissimmee
FL, 34747
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
24-Aug-2012 - 26-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
19



Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort - North Village (#8897) 2 available units
Kissimmee
FL, 34747
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
25-Aug-2012 - 26-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
19



Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort - West Village (#0670) 3 available units
Kissimmee
FL, 34747
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
24-Aug-2012 - 26-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
20



Sheraton Vistana Resort (#0450) 5 available units
Orlando
FL, 32821
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
24-Aug-2012 - 26-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
20



Sheraton Vistana Resort-Fountains Villas (#V450) 3 available units
Orlando
FL, 32821
USA

map resort
Available Unit Size
2 Bedroom
Check-In Date Range
24-Aug-2012 - 26-Aug-2012
Exchange Trading Power
20

 

[nifferearly]

Thanks so much for the info, Brian! My parents usually trade within their resort brand (Wyndham) so they don't know much about booking through RCI.

Unfortunately, my trading power is only 11. I saw something on the RCI website about combining deposits to increase your trading power. My parents said they had 4 weeks to use through RCI. If they could give me another week, then would I have a 22 trading power for my week? I was going to have to pay a $59 guest fee and a $199 booking fee. Do you know if these fees would double if I did this?

I appreciate all your help!

Jennifer

 

[chalee94]

I saw something on the RCI website about combining deposits to increase your trading power.

i'm not an RCI expert but i think the fee to combine deposits is $99.

 

[Brian Noble]

Jennifer, this might be even more complicated. Do your parents own Wyndham points, or a fixed/floating week?

If they have Wyndham points, it sounds like they have old-style "Wyndham generics" on deposit. Unfortunately, those cannot be combined, because they were all done by hand pre-dating the current transparent trade power system.

Here is what I would do in your situation. When the time draws closer, say in mid-spring 2012 or so, book something for cash that you can cancel on short notice, and plan your trip for a specific week. Then, revise your search for that specific check-in day, and just let it run. You might want to consider broadening your resort choices to include Wyndham Bonnet Creek, all of the Orange Lakes, and any others you might find reasonable. Also, let them know you are willing to take a "Close Date Reservation", which will match between 3-14 days (usually, ongoing searches terminate at 14 days). Trade power values will drop as your dates draw near---right now, nothing in all of August 2011 is over 10 trade power units, except for the DVC units (which are still at 25). Orlando has so much inventory, that there are cancelations every day---you stand a good chance of catching one. I've played this catch-and-release game before for short-notice trips to Orlando; it works well.

 

[nifferearly]

Thank you so much for the advice! You're right about all the inventory in Orlando. I was getting hesitant about paying $260 for a not-so-nice resort, even if it is really cheap, when I've rented at Bonnet Creek and the Sheraton for $400-500 for a week.

I'll call and change the resort search to all non-DVC properties (I had forgotten about Bonnet Creek when I was on the phone with RCI). Hopefully if I wait it out long enough, I'll get a match.

Thanks!

 

[cpbjgc]

I was glad to see this thread as I am trying to understand how RCI and DVC work together. I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I had a related (I think) question. I was wondering whether the Trading Power concept would also apply to RCI points or it is only related to RCI weeks? I keep considering whether to buy an RCI points timeshare, but would like the ability to use it to book DVC as well (for as long as DVC and RCI continue their relationship, that it).