RCI: How does it work?

[DVC SSR Owner]

So, I know RCI is not considered a great trade, but how does it work?

Do you call member services and get an immediate answer on availability or do you give them an idea of a week and resort and they call you back later?

If later, how much later?

Are the gold crown resorts any good? Anyone have any luck booking RCI gold grown resorts?

Is it true that you give them (RCI) your 160 points up front or can you wait until you find a resort/time that you want?

Do those points deposited expire in 3 years?

Thanks

 

[Dean]

I'll describe the main and best method. You do your research as to what resorts and locations you will accept then call MS and give them the dates and list. They will check availability and if there's a match, you can accept it, pay the $95 fee and they will take your points permanently. If there is no match, you can either call back or put in an ongoing request, the ongoing request is the best by far. To decide which resorts I'd start with an idea of where and what you want, look at the DVC RCI list then investigate the resorts that seem interesting to you. Personally I'd look at the reviews and ratings at the Timeshare Users Group as the main/best way to investigate and feel that tripadvisors is a poor substitute but YMMV. Generally you're best off looking 1-2 years ahead but for RCI points resorts, anything over 10 months should be OK. Does that help?

ETA: Pay attention to the start days of the week and unit size/configurations when doing your investigations. If you do deposit first, you can do 160 points for a 1 BR or 270 points for a 2 BR and have up to 2 years from the date of the week that DVC gives RCI, not quite 3 years. But you MUST travel by that date and since it can take a year or 2 to match, you need to start that process at the time you would make any deposit. GC doesn't mean a lot but gives you a ROUGH idea of the resort quality and amenities.

 

[DVC SSR Owner]

Thanks!

Great info!