RCI Information is posted on DVC's Website

[littlestar]

Thanks Dean.

I looked at Tree Tops in Gatlinburg for March. I noticed that we could stay in a 2bdrm for a week for about $500 in cash.

Why would anyone give up 160 points that they paid $800 in MFs [much less the cost of the contract] to stay somewhere that they could get for $500 in cash??? I guess that is why I never trade out.


ON A SIDE NOTE: THIS IS MY 1500TH POST!!

Actually, if you're a regular member of RCI and can travel within 45 days of check-in, you can get it for even lower than that, anywhere from $219 to $249 a week on a "Last Call":

"Unit Type Max Occup
(Privacy) Kitchen Check-In Date Check-Out Date Price
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, January 09, 2009 Friday, January 16, 2009 $219.00
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, January 10, 2009 Saturday, January 17, 2009 $219.00
2 BR 6 (6) Full Saturday, January 10, 2009 Saturday, January 17, 2009 $249.00
2 BR 6 (6) Full Saturday, January 10, 2009 Saturday, January 17, 2009 $249.00
1 BR 4 (4) Full Sunday, January 11, 2009 Sunday, January 18, 2009 $219.00
2 BR 6 (6) Full Sunday, January 11, 2009 Sunday, January 18, 2009 $249.00
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, January 17, 2009 Saturday, January 24, 2009 $219.00
1 BR 4 (4) Full Sunday, January 18, 2009 Sunday, January 25, 2009 $219.00
2 BR 6 (6) Full Sunday, January 18, 2009 Sunday, January 25, 2009 $249.00
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, January 24, 2009 Saturday, January 31, 2009 $219.00
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, January 24, 2009 Saturday, January 31, 2009 $219.00
1 BR 4 (4) Full Sunday, January 25, 2009 Sunday, February 01, 2009 $219.00
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, January 30, 2009 Friday, February 06, 2009 $219.00



Urgent Information
RESORT CAN NOT ACCOMMODATE REQUESTS FOR UNIT UPGRADES OR CHANGES. OCCUPANCY LIMITS ARE STRICTLY ENFORCED (INCLUDING INFANTS AND CHILDREN) !!!!!! DO NOT TELL THE MEMBERS THE RESORT WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE THEM. !!!!!!!!!!!! UNITS THAT START WITH 1, 2, 3 DO NOT HAVE ELEVATORS IN THE UNITS THAT START WITH 4,5,6,7,8 & 9 HAVE ELEVATORS IN THE BUUNITS ENDING IN "P" DO NOT HAVE ELEVATORS. TOWNHOUSES HAVE STAIRS INSIDE THE UNIT, NOT SUITABLE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN OR HANDICAP. 6F MEMBERS CONFIRM USING THEIR POINTS THEY COULD HAVE TO CHANGE UNITS, PLEASE ADVISE THE MEMBER EFFECTIVE MARCH 1 07, ALL UNITS ARE NON-SMOKING YOU CAN SMOKE ON THEBALCONIES AND OUTSIDE ON THE GROUNDS."

Oh, and here's another gold crown/new resort in Gatlinburg. And this isn't Last Call, but a regular Getaway. This is for Crown Park Resort:

Unit Type Max Occup
(Privacy) Kitchen Check-In Date Check-Out Date Price
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, January 09, 2009 Friday, January 16, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, January 10, 2009 Saturday, January 17, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, January 17, 2009 Saturday, January 24, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, January 23, 2009 Friday, January 30, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, January 24, 2009 Saturday, January 31, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Sunday, January 25, 2009 Sunday, February 01, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, January 30, 2009 Friday, February 06, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, January 31, 2009 Saturday, February 07, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, February 06, 2009 Friday, February 13, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, February 07, 2009 Saturday, February 14, 2009 $278.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, February 20, 2009 Friday, February 27, 2009 $341.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, February 21, 2009 Saturday, February 28, 2009 $341.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, February 28, 2009 Saturday, March 07, 2009 $341.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, March 06, 2009 Friday, March 13, 2009 $386.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Saturday, March 07, 2009 Saturday, March 14, 2009 $386.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Friday, May 01, 2009 Friday, May 08, 2009 $638.99
1 BR 4 (4) Full Sunday, May 03, 2009 Sunday, May 10, 2009 $638.99

Urgent Information
ALL RESERVATIONS WILL PAY HOUSEKEEPING FEES HOUSEKEEPING FEES: 1BR:$35, 2BR:$45, 3BR:$50 PER WEEK

RCI has some great deals on a cash basis, but unfortunately DVC members probably won't be able to participate. Has anyone called RCI and asked if we can join as a DVC member and have access to Last Calls and Getaways? I'm curious. As you can see above, you can get some nice deals - pretty nice in this economy! I like my II (Interval International) and RCI accounts really well if for nothing else, the cash Getaways. But if I could only keep one, it would be II (Interval) because of the Cadillac resorts like Marriott, Westin, and the Royals in Cancun. Luckily, I own a silver crown dual affiliated resort (that I paid very little for) that gives me access to both RCI and II -

 

[tomandrobin]

But, realistically, it's still a non-event. With a few exceptions, it has always been better to rent out your points and pay for the lodging you prefer than to exchange---even in II.

RCI will have its handful of exceptions, just as II did.

Renting your points and paying cash is recommended for 98% of all exchanges. Only that top 1-2% is actually worth the points exchange, if you can even get it.

 

[Brian Noble]

It's just how RCI works compared to II.

It also depends on what you are trading with. The weaker your trade power, the more important it is to catch those bulk banks---when the bulk deposit goes in, it creates a temporary imbalance of supply and demand. This allows weaker traders a window of availability.

The stronger your trader, the less important these are. For example, for summer 2009, (which would have been considered late even by II standards) there are two HI resorts on The DVC List with availability:

Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort (#5971)
Be the first to write a review
75-5961 Alii Drive
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
USA
808/334-4700
www.wyndhamvacationresorts.com

Units that meet your criteria Total Units Available: 61
Unit Type Max Occup
(Privacy) Kitchen Check-In Date Check-Out Date
2 BR 6 (4) Full Friday, July 03, 2009 Friday, July 10, 2009
2 BR 6 (4) Full Sunday, August 02, 2009 Sunday, August 09, 2009
2 BR 6 (4) Full Friday, August 07, 2009 Friday, August 14, 2009
2 BR 6 (4) Full Sunday, August 09, 2009 Sunday, August 16, 2009
2 BR 6 (4) Full Friday, August 14, 2009 Friday, August 21, 2009
2 BR 6 (4) Full Sunday, August 16, 2009 Sunday, August 23, 2009
2 BR 6 (4) Full Friday, August 21, 2009 Friday, August 28, 2009
2 BR 6 (4) Full Friday, August 28, 2009 Friday, September 04, 2009


Shell Vacations Club at Holua Resort at Mauna Loa Village (#5851)
Be the first to write a review
78-7190 Kaleiopapa St.
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
USA
808/324-1550
www.shellvacationsclub.com

Units that meet your criteria Total Units Available: 16
Unit Type Max Occup
(Privacy) Kitchen Check-In Date Check-Out Date
1 BR 4 (2) Full Friday, August 21, 2009 Friday, August 28, 2009
1 BR 4 (2) Full Sunday, August 23, 2009 Sunday, August 30, 2009
2 BR 6 (4) Full Sunday, August 23, 2009 Sunday, August 30, 2009

When you deposit/exchange seems to be the main factor in trading power in RCI, not the quality of your resort.

The main factor used by RCI is supply and demand. Naturally, higher-quality resorts will have more demand than lower-quality ones, all other things being equal, but all other things are rarely equal. For example, an older beachfront resort is likely to have a better supply/demand curve than a shiny new, luxurious resort that's five blocks inland.

There is also a component having to do with when you deposit, but for strong traders, this doesn't matter as much as you'd think. The week I'm searching with above was deposted at about 8 months in advance. In RCI, that would be considered "late", and its trade power was not negatively affected as near as I can tell.

Resort quality in RCI is used only as a "downward filter". Owners are prevented from exchanging very high-quality resorts for lower-quality ones, on the theory that such owners are likely to be unsatisifed. RCI members can often get that filter waived if they insist. Going the other direction is not a problem. If your week has a high-enough demand, you can exchange into a "better" resort, no matter what you are trading in exchange.

II used resort quality as a filter in both directions. So, if you owned an older resort with few amenities, you could not exchange into the "better" resorts no matter how strong your supply/demand curve. But it wasn't too tight of a bound. I used to exchange my II-Silver property into II-Gold properties regularly.

 

[tomandrobin]

Well, I really have my heart set on the Royal's and Harborside II-Atlantis. Won't be possible thru RCI.....

I got your back, just give at least a year's notice!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I got your back, just give at least a year's notice!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Ko'Olina will be nice if you want to go to Oahu for a few days...but there's like NOTHING good available for Maui. The new DVC resort is not going to be on our favorite island. We will use it but normally only spend 2-3 nights on Oahu. Looks like we will still have to book thru Costco Travel or something if we want something decent on Maui.

That's my thought too. I was hoping to do another great exchange to Hawaii when DH retires, but I can't find anything on that list that looks really good to me. I'd do Kona Coast II again, but none of the Kauai resorts interest me at all. All of the RCI ones available to us are definitely what I would call 2nd class places. When I saw the Cliffs on there and NOT Shearwater (with the same group), I was flabbergasted. Shearwater I would consider, but NEVER the Cliffs! It's a dump! You can buy an every other year resale there for a couple thousand!

 

[Dean]

I'm sure i'm about to get flamed or at least charred a little but has anyone seen any informaiton about booking DVC going the other way. We own an RCI resort in NC under the RCI points plan. I see that the DVC Points to an RCI resort is out there.

Anyone????

You likely won't until RCI formally is the carrier next week. Even then many, if not most of DVC's deposit for the first half of next year have gone to II already. I think it's still an unknown as to how this will work but it may actually work better trading RCI to DVC than it did II to DVC. For example, one can take a studio deposit and formally search for a 2 BR, something you couldn't do with II other than as an instant match. RCI also favors those that plan early even more so than does II. I haven't seen anything about going the other direction. One question is whether RCI members will have the extra $95 fee to trade in as II members have had. I'm not certain but thinking they did not have that fee when DVC was with RCI previously.

I added up the resort count provided for each location to get 485 resorts.
Did you use the count provided under RCI Awards? The website show 459 resorts associated with "Any Award".

NOTE: There are resorts on the DVC list without any RCI award such as:
Royale Beach & Tennis Club (#4304)
Catalina Beach Club (#2060)
Celebrity Resorts Palm Coast (#1114)
Fishermen's Village Resort Club (#4851)
Hurricane House Resort (#3041)
Ocean Towers Beach Club (#1619)
Sanibel Cottages Resort (#3042)

You're right, I read it as any rating, not only those with some type of higher rating. A standard RCI resort scares me even more than does an standard II resort as their standards seem to me to be a little lower overall.

After reading this thread and checking out the RCI options, all I can say is I'm glad I didn't buy into DVC with the idea of doign ANY trade-outs.

It looks like for us, DVC will stay DVC and RCI can go you-know-where.

Given the setup, no one in their right mind would buy into DVC planning to exchange routinely whether it be DC, CC, DCL or the WPC. I may step on a few toes with that one but I truly believe it and may as well be honest about it. And anyone who is a member and plans to exchange periodically for timeshares should consider buying a non DVC timeshare of some sort.

Thanks Dean.

I looked at Tree Tops in Gatlinburg for March. I noticed that we could stay in a 2bdrm for a week for about $500 in cash.

Why would anyone give up 160 points that they paid $800 in MFs [much less the cost of the contract] to stay somewhere that they could get for $500 in cash??? I guess that is why I never trade out.

I can't speak much to Tree Tops but Doc owns there. Giving up the points for DVC for exchange has always been a sucker bet. While there were, and still are to a degree, worthy candidates, they are few and far between. Only top resorts during peak times are truly a good deal to exchange DVC for and the truth is those owners/resorts rarely deposit those units and weeks into II or RCI. They use them, rent them or trade them privately. Sure a few do just like a few DVC members are fool enough to trade $3000 worth of DVC points for something they could rent for one third to half that but the odds are not in your favor to get a 2 BR Xmas week at a top Maui resort. Same will be the case for many of the best RCI resorts but possibly to a slightly lessor degree. With II you were standing in line behind other Marriott owners for those weeks and with Westin you were in line behind other starwood points owners AND other Westin non points owners. For RCI some of the top resorts will be the Hilton's and Wyndhams and once again there will be others that have both a first and second crack at those weeks before any regular DVC member including DVC. I am still convinced that DVC would have been far better off expanding the BVTC. Wyndham, Hilton, Hyatt, Shell and BG would have been easy targets that would have fit in well with that system. Marriott would be possible if they do take over internal exchanges as rumored. Even if you ended up with 100-125 resorts you could book directly, you'd be far better off than either II or RCI.

 

[Dean]

Wow. The all inclusive fees are that high?

Most are actually higher than that for exchangers and often you are required to pay it for the occupancy of the unit no matter how few you have. Fees in the $1200-1600 a person prime time are not uncommon.

Why is this? (Or did you already explain that somewhere?)

Because the culture in RCI is to plan more 2 years out where it's more one year out for II. Also a LOT more of the resorts deposit closer to 2 years out with RCI than II. So at one year out a lot of resorts have already deposited many of their weeks AND there are more people in line ahead of you (more members and a higher % of people planning ahead.

 

[Dean]

That's my thought too. I was hoping to do another great exchange to Hawaii when DH retires, but I can't find anything on that list that looks really good to me. I'd do Kona Coast II again, but none of the Kauai resorts interest me at all. All of the RCI ones available to us are definitely what I would call 2nd class places. When I saw the Cliffs on there and NOT Shearwater (with the same group), I was flabbergasted. Shearwater I would consider, but NEVER the Cliffs! It's a dump! You can buy an every other year resale there for a couple thousand!

This may save you some money. Do a direct exchange with an owner or Shell points owner for KCR and Wyndham for some of the others mentioned.

 

[Brian Noble]

With II you were standing in line behind other Marriott owners for those weeks and with Westin you were in line behind other starwood points owners AND other Westin non points owners. For RCI some of the top resorts will be the Hilton's and Wyndhams and once again there will be others that have both a first and second crack at those weeks before any regular DVC member including DVC.

II and RCI treat "the line" a little bit differently. In II, your "place in line" is always determined by trade power---the relative supply of and demand for your resort and area for the time you deposited. You could have had a request in for months, but if someone with a "better" week joins the line, they get to jump in front of you.

In RCI, your "place in line" is based on how long your request has been running. So, in RCI, even though Orlando DVC units are not likely to not have the very best trade power in system, they still have a good chance at being in the front of "the line" for those who plan well in advance.

RCI does have some internal-preference periods, but they are less well-defined (and shorter) than they typically are in II. For example, Wyndham owners get a "boost" in trade power for internal exchanges, but (with a few exceptions) non-Wyndham owners are not excluded during the early days of the deposit.

 

[Dean]

II and RCI treat "the line" a little bit differently. In II, your "place in line" is always determined by trade power---the relative supply of and demand for your resort and area for the time you deposited. You could have had a request in for months, but if someone with a "better" week joins the line, they get to jump in front of you.

In RCI, your "place in line" is based on how long your request has been running. So, in RCI, even though Orlando DVC units are not likely to not have the very best trade power in system, they still have a good chance at being in the front of "the line" for those who plan well in advance.

RCI does have some internal-preference periods, but they are less well-defined (and shorter) than they typically are in II. For example, Wyndham owners get a "boost" in trade power for internal exchanges, but (with a few exceptions) non-Wyndham owners are not excluded during the early days of the deposit.

Brian, I'm going to disagree slightly. RCI has the same algebraic formula to determine trade power (unit size, resort quality, time until week deposited) and that is the main criteria they use for your place in line. However, they do put more emphasis on lead time to deposit in that formula than does II. RCI does not have a first come first serve system but it is certainly more so that way than in II. The only company I can think of that works strictly on date of request is Dial an Exchange.

 

[Brian Noble]

Not just lead time to deposit---the "age" of the request matters (a lot) as well. If you have two weeks with comparable supply/demand curves that were deposted the same number of days in advance of use, searching for two requests, and one 'got in line' before the other, the first has preference.

As far as I know, II completely ingores "request age". RCI doesn't---it plays a significant role according to various official (and unofficial) RCI insiders. They may have mis-spoken (or I may be mis-interpreting) but that's my understanding.

As an aside: RCI's new search mechanism makes it relatively easy to compare trade power of two weeks. As far as folks have been able to discern, trade power is a very coarse measure, with perhaps a half-dozen to a dozen different "levels".

 

[Dean]

Not just lead time to deposit---the "age" of the request matters (a lot) as well. If you have two weeks with comparable supply/demand curves that were deposted the same number of days in advance of use, searching for two requests, and one 'got in line' before the other, the first has preference.

As far as I know, II completely ingores "request age". RCI doesn't---it plays a significant role according to various official (and unofficial) RCI insiders. They may have mis-spoken (or I may be mis-interpreting) but that's my understanding.

As an aside: RCI's new search mechanism makes it relatively easy to compare trade power of two weeks. As far as folks have been able to discern, trade power is a very coarse measure, with perhaps a half-dozen to a dozen different "levels".

II does not ignore the lead time to deposit but they don't put as much emphasis on it as does RCI. They also don't ignore date of request but only use it as a tie breaker if the requests are otherwise of comparable trade power. Same for home resort priority, only a tiebreaker.

If you have two weeks with comparable supply/demand curves that were deposted the same number of days in advance of use, searching for two requests, and one 'got in line' before the other, the first has preference.

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that when there are two deposits of similar trade power, RCI puts more emphasis on when the deposit was placed, I would agree. The caveat being of similar trade power. Again, RCI puts more emphasis in the trade power formula for when a deposit was made than does II but neither make it supreme. With DAE, it's essentially the only factor. Technically one could make this exact statement about II as well.

 

[Brian Noble]

No, not (only) when the deposit was placed. RCI also considers how long ago the ongoing request was initiated.

As far as I know, II ignores the "search initiation date" except as a tiebreaker (which pretty much means they ignore it), but not the "deposit placement date." My understanding from people like Madge and bootleg over on TUG (both now long gone) is that RCI weighs both, and with a hefty bias. At least, they did at some time.

 

[cinderella97]

What makes the Registry so much better? Are these the all inclusive resorts? We own also in Kauai, and at least that resort is listed.

 

[Dean]

What makes the Registry so much better? Are these the all inclusive resorts? We own also in Kauai, and at least that resort is listed.

They are high end resorts but not necessarily difficult to trade for. Most are available directly in RCI for regular members there. I don't think (but haven't checked) that any of them are mandatory all inclusive and the DVC points costs would not include any all inclusive charges. As I noted I have 2 weeks in one of these resorts gotten easily and cheaply. They Mayan resorts are outliers because they're bad to play bait and switch giving you a lessor room, even different and lessor resort, than you exchanged to. And they not only have and enforce a NOW 1 in 5 rule, it applies to their entire system. So I won't be able to go to anyother Mayan resort anywhere in any way through my RCI weeks account for 5 years from next Jan, 2010. I doubt DVC will be able to bypass this rule since it's controlled by the resort though it's administered by RCI.

 

[Dean]

No, not (only) when the deposit was placed. RCI also considers how long ago the ongoing request was initiated.

As far as I know, II ignores the "search initiation date" except as a tiebreaker (which pretty much means they ignore it), but not the "deposit placement date." My understanding from people like Madge and bootleg over on TUG (both now long gone) is that RCI weighs both, and with a hefty bias. At least, they did at some time.

That's true to a degree. My understanding is it's the original request and not when you modified it that comes into play. II does considers it but generally does only use it as a tiebreaker. But RCI doesn't give it as much emphasis as it seems you have been led to believe from the info I've gathered. But it does have some emphasis. No one knows for sure as this is one of those trade secrets that they don't let out. This should be fun the next year or so seeing how this sorts out.

 

[Brian Noble]

My understanding is it's the original request and not when you modified it that comes into play.

That's correct.

I'm getting my sense of its importance from two erstwhile TUG posters---both RCI employees. One, Madge, was "official", in that she was posting on TUG as part of her job duties at RCI. The other, bootleg, was quite unofficial, but a more interesting source of information.

They could have been mistaken, misleading, or I could be mis-remembering, but the sense I took from their posts was that initiation time was very important. I'll have to go back to see if I can find specific threads.

 

[dclfun]

It was my understanding that II wasn't pleased that not enough DVC members traded out so that their members could trade in to DVC. That said, I wonder if the same won't happen with RCI. I can't imagine wasting my points this way when I can easily go on Skyauction or another site and get a week at an RCI resort for a really low cost. I haven't stayed at an RCI yet that I thought was anywhere near comparable to DVC and I wouldn't take that chance either, esp. since we got the "bait and switch" one time. Seems that many of their resorts have sections built at differing times with vastly different accomodations and quality. I bought DVC because I love to stay at Disney and value the Disney quality I've always received. To each his own with exchanges via RCI. I appreciate everyone's input here- I'm learning alot I never knew about the world of timeshare and exchange policies.---Kathy

 

[Dean]

It was my understanding that II wasn't pleased that not enough DVC members traded out so that their members could trade in to DVC. That said, I wonder if the same won't happen with RCI. I can't imagine wasting my points this way when I can easily go on Skyauction or another site and get a week at an RCI resort for a really low cost. I haven't stayed at an RCI yet that I thought was anywhere near comparable to DVC and I wouldn't take that chance either, esp. since we got the "bait and switch" one time. Seems that many of their resorts have sections built at differing times with vastly different accomodations and quality. I bought DVC because I love to stay at Disney and value the Disney quality I've always received. To each his own with exchanges via RCI. I appreciate everyone's input here- I'm learning alot I never knew about the world of timeshare and exchange policies.---Kathy

I'm thinking less or about the same. Less full weeks because RCI has less resorts that DVC members will want to trade to. This will be somewhat tempered by an easier trade option that is other than a full week. I figure we'll see a dip down to around 1% for year 1 or less (plus the II exchanges) and 1.8-2% for year two. I'd guess it'll creep back up to around or just over 3% in a few years unless there are changes that make it more or less desirable than it's currently looking. That info we'll actually get hard data on.