RCI Exchange

[Andasibe]

We are looking at purchasing a 150 point contract through resale. But, we do not vacation at Disney every year. Does RCI exchange work well? Not at all? Etc? What has been your experience with the exchange? Thanks, everyone, in advance for your thoughts.

 

[bwvBound]

What are you hoping to accomplish through RCI? What general locations, unit size, dates?

I've been trading through RCI for about 17 years using other timeshare. We've done quite well -- but I live w/in certain expectations. Here are a few of our highlights, each booked through RCI:

• Two weeks, back to back, in South Africa. Both units were 2BR chalet homes in great locations for sight-seeing.
• 3BR Grand Villa at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort for F&W. (FYI: You can't book this on DVC points. This was a very unique trade.)
• 3BR Worldmark Arrow Point, ID, over Memorial Day holiday.
• 1BR Wyndham Flagstaff over New Years holiday.
• 2BR Grand Pacific Palisades over Memorial Day holiday. (Multiple times.)
• 2BR at Boambee Bay Resort, Coffs Harbour (AU) with less than 2 weeks notice.
• 1BR at Disney's Boardwalk Villas. (Multiple times. But again, this exchange is not possible if booking with DVC points.)
• 1BR at Smuggler's Notch, VT, for Leaf Peeping! (1st week Oct of that particular year -- great color!)

Rules of thumb for booking via RCI:

• Expect mostly 1BR units.
• Expect expensive "All Inclusive" fees if booking anything in Mexico or the Caribbean. (Booking some of these properties via exchange may be more expensive than booking direct with the same property. Be sure to compare!)
• Do not expect peak seasons or holidays. Expect lots and lots of Spring/Fall weeks.
• Do not expect many mid-city options. Generally speaking, timeshares are located outside city center in the rural, relaxing areas used by locals to escape city life. Thus, timeshares are not particularly great locations for hitting all the city-sites when traveling abroad.
• Expect check-in dates on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
• Start looking for exchange options early. Some of my reservations were booked 18-22 months from travel. Most are booked 8-14 months from travel. Sometimes I'll snag something late ... and simply call it "opportunity!"
• Expect to use an Ongoing Search (aka "waitlist").
• Expect to spend hours of manual searching, online, through the inventory to get a feel for what is available. Becoming an expert takes years of conditioning through personal, first hand, experience.
• Expect to spend time researching potential trades through the Timeshare User's Group or other sites. Read those reviews! Ask questions! Get to know a property, if possible, before you confirm the exchange.

What to expect if trading out using Disney Points:

• Some "good" inventory, the occasional "great" inventory but lots of "meh" inventory.
• A mixture of "full week" and "partial week" (nightly stay) offerings. Be warned that partial week reservations may carry additional fees for housekeeping.
• Disney Points cannot be used for booking back into Disney properties through RCI.
• While DVC includes a 'free' access to RCI exchanges -- it does not include access to RCI's rental weeks.
• For planning purposes, expect every trade to be at the high end of the scale. That is, when DVC lists a range of point requirements for a given trade, assume the exchange will be at the high end of that range ... and then be pleasantly surprised should the exchange come through for fewer points. (Background: Many resort locations are designated "High Season" year round ... even if we might expect cycles of low/mid/high seasons throughout the year. Oh, well!)

Good luck with your research!

 

[bwvBound]

Adding my bottom-line thought as a separate post: While exchanging out from DVC through RCI once in a while is not bad ... I think you'll get more bang for your buck if your plan followed this basic outline:

• Own DVC points to use at DVC locations. If you think your typical DVC stay requires 150 points but will only be every-other-year, buy 80 points. Bank the points to have 160 points available the following year. Repeat: Bank one year; use ~160 points the next.
• Look at owning some other timeshare for direct access to RCI,II, and other exchange services via individual memberships. These will give you access to lots of spare inventory as rental weeks with rates starting below $250 for an entire week's stay.
• If considering some other timeshare, stack on as many features as possible. Look for one that offers one or more locations w/in easy driving distance from home; day use of pools, fitness center, golf-course, etc.; bonus time; member social events; multiple exchange affiliations; etc.

 

[Dean]

We are looking at purchasing a 150 point contract through resale. But, we do not vacation at Disney every year. Does RCI exchange work well? Not at all? Etc? What has been your experience with the exchange? Thanks, everyone, in advance for your thoughts.

IMO buying planning to exchange is an extremely poor choice. There are a few, very few, options that are reasonable exchanges given the value of DVC. If you won't use the points at DVC resorts, you may want to consider not buying.

 

[Lynne M]

If you plan on using DVC every other year, and timeshares every other year, consider buying only enough DVC points to cover your DVC stays (banking on the off years), and picking up a resale contract for some other timeshare for your off-year vacations. You'll pay a whole lot less that way.

DVC is very expensive, as timeshares go, even if you buy it resale. Using such an expensive product for RCI trades doesn't make a lot of financial sense when you can get some other timeshare in RCI's system that will get you into the same resorts at a small fraction of the cost.

 

[Dean]

If you plan on using DVC every other year, and timeshares every other year, consider buying only enough DVC points to cover your DVC stays (banking on the off years), and picking up a resale contract for some other timeshare for your off-year vacations. You'll pay a whole lot less that way.

DVC is very expensive, as timeshares go, even if you buy it resale. Using such an expensive product for RCI trades doesn't make a lot of financial sense when you can get some other timeshare in RCI's system that will get you into the same resorts at a small fraction of the cost.

I would agree that just buying enough DVC for DVC is best by far. As for a non DVC timeshare for the off years, it depends. Other than going to a specific location and buying like an EOY week or something easy to rent off years, it usually takes enough volume to justify the other expenses. IMO that's a 2 BR Every year or equivalent. And that requires a considerable amount of additional investigation. Otherwise for one option to cover both it's often best to do a non DVC timeshare and not buy DVC at all or just pay cash for non DVC stays depending on how valuable it is to the individual to be on property. For non DVC purchases then an important consideration for trading possibilities is II vs RCI. I like Bluegreen, Wyndham, Marriott (weeks more than trust), Hilton GVC, Worldmark and RCI points for this depending on the goal. Which one would be best for a given situation/individual would vary greatly.

 

[Lynne M]

I would agree that just buying enough DVC for DVC is best by far. As for a non DVC timeshare for the off years, it depends. Other than going to a specific location and buying like an EOY week or something easy to rent off years, it usually takes enough volume to justify the other expenses. IMO that's a 2 BR Every year or equivalent. And that requires a considerable amount of additional investigation. Otherwise for one option to cover both it's often best to do a non DVC timeshare and not buy DVC at all or just pay cash for non DVC stays depending on how valuable it is to the individual to be on property. For non DVC purchases then an important consideration for trading possibilities is II vs RCI. I like Bluegreen, Wyndham, Marriott (weeks more than trust), Hilton GVC, Worldmark and RCI points for this depending on the goal. Which one would be best for a given situation/individual would vary greatly.

Good points, Dean, thanks.

Disney sort of markets DVC as a one-stop-shopping solution for all your vacations, and when I bought, I thought wow, I can pay this one price and all my vacations are covered. I never used it that way, for a lot of the reasons others have mentioned above. My non-Disney vacations just don't fit into timeshares. I want to stay in a particular hotel, or am going to a place that didn't have an RCI resort within a convenient distance. I rarely take a week-long trip, most of them are 3-4 nights.

I figured out very quickly that I was never going to make my travel fit into a specific list of places and resorts, and the times I can plan far enough ahead to make an RCI trade work are few and far between. So, OP, don't feel like you have to use DVC for all of your travel. I use mine exclusively for DVC resort stays, and have gotten very good value out of it that way.

 

[bwvBound]

Disney sort of markets DVC as a one-stop-shopping solution for all your vacations, and when I bought, I thought wow, I can pay this one price and all my vacations are covered.

Yes! We thought the very similarly in the afterglow of our first timeshare purchase. We tried, for a short while, to try to book all land-travel via timesharing ... either through our new timeshare directly or via RCI rentals, exchanges, or air/car/hotel travel services. We were successful booking a few nightly stays, here and there, via RCI's services but continued to book our cruise travel as we had before.

FWIW, we purchased our first timeshare (not DVC) in the midst of our 'cruising' period. We were concerned that owning timeshare would displace cruising -- which it did, somewhat. The reality is that the major changes rolled out by the cruising industry following Sept 2001 influenced our travel behaviors ... which, as it turns out, then favored timesharing.

Timesharing very quickly spoiled us. We found we really, truly loved the space and amenities timesharing offered. We discovered that we love grocery shopping and cooking while vacationing. (Who knew!?!) So, timeshares set a new standard for our land-travel: must have kitchen, must have living room, must have laundry, must have private spaces for everyone, etc. We developed different travel styles: some trips were about the location as a launch pad for sight-seeing, others were for the resort itself and comfortable down-time.

Timesharing also invited us to travel more frequently with family and friends. What treasured memories! I am so very glad we formed habits of traveling with extended family and friends.

I never used it that way, for a lot of the reasons others have mentioned above. My non-Disney vacations just don't fit into timeshares. I want to stay in a particular hotel, or am going to a place that didn't have an RCI resort within a convenient distance. I rarely take a week-long trip, most of them are 3-4 nights.

I figured out very quickly that I was never going to make my travel fit into a specific list of places and resorts, and the times I can plan far enough ahead to make an RCI trade work are few and far between.

The good news, from a DVC-perspective, is that the DVC<>RCI relationship includes access to RCI Points locations for nightly stays. It is very possible to use your DVC points for short-stays at various locations. I'm not attempting to argue the "value" point, it is both valid and appropriate, but I don't see the occasional trade-out as evil. As always, look for best uses of the tools available to you: cash (!), tent camping, timesharing, crashing at an Aunt's home, etc. Happy travels!

 

[Dean]

Good points, Dean, thanks.

Disney sort of markets DVC as a one-stop-shopping solution for all your vacations, and when I bought, I thought wow, I can pay this one price and all my vacations are covered. I never used it that way, for a lot of the reasons others have mentioned above. My non-Disney vacations just don't fit into timeshares. I want to stay in a particular hotel, or am going to a place that didn't have an RCI resort within a convenient distance. I rarely take a week-long trip, most of them are 3-4 nights.

I figured out very quickly that I was never going to make my travel fit into a specific list of places and resorts, and the times I can plan far enough ahead to make an RCI trade work are few and far between. So, OP, don't feel like you have to use DVC for all of your travel. I use mine exclusively for DVC resort stays, and have gotten very good value out of it that way.

And that's the reason to make the points, for those that haven't made the mistakes yet and can thus make a better and more informed decision.