Rci

[famo3cruise]

Has anyone experienced using RCI?? I am looking at using a hotel in California for my trip in November for just a few days?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The sooner you call the better. We have had nothing but bad luck trying to make RCI reservations even with a 6 months notice. We have tried getting a room in Washington DC, New York and other Florida locations and have yet to ever get a room.

 

[disneynutz]

There is a reason that some people start searching 2 years in advance and some never find a match.

Bill

 

[JimMIA]

If you have a full RCI membership through another timeshare, be sure to check Extra Vacations and Last Calls. You have a great chance of getting something that way.

If DVC/RCI is your only option, your chances will not be good. In addition, for just a few nights you'll probably come out cheaper paying cash.

 

[DeeCee735]

Your chances will be better if your dates and hotel are flexible. I did get a match for what I wanted for next April, but I booked it 10 months out.

Best of luck, hope it works out for you.

 

[Dean]

Has anyone experienced using RCI?? I am looking at using a hotel in California for my trip in November for just a few days?

What location and dates are you looking at? It's unlikely you'll find anything acceptable for just a few days in Nov for the higher demand areas. You'll have a better chance for a full week.

 

[RobPickles]

We also have never had any luck with RCI.

We have a week's worth of points for over two years now that are ready to expire at the end of this month that are just going to go to waste because NOTHING was EVER available in the last two years that was worth going to. We tried California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and even New York (where we live) among other more obscure locations, for a getaway and as flexible as we were, the RCI people never had anything available.

All I can say is NEVER use your points for an RCI exchange - It is a complete waste of time.

 

[disneynutz]

IMO the vacation possibilities advertised by Disney, other than DVC resorts are for sales purposes only. They deliberately limit the possibilities and even tried to convince us that it's a bad deal by adding on a $95 fee. Sure some owners are successful but it's a crap shoot and who wants to plan a uncertain vacation.

Bill

 

[DeeCee735]

We also have never had any luck with RCI.

We have a week's worth of points for over two years now that are ready to expire at the end of this month that are just going to go to waste because NOTHING was EVER available in the last two years that was worth going to. We tried California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and even New York (where we live) among other more obscure locations, for a getaway and as flexible as we were, the RCI people never had anything available.

All I can say is NEVER use your points for an RCI exchange - It is a complete waste of time.

I am so sorry to hear that you are unable to exchange and will lose your points. That's a lousy thing.

In the 11 years we are DVC members we are only first trading out for next April, as we just can't get enough of the DVC resorts
That said, we were able to secure an RCI trade out for our exact, first choice dates and in our exact desired location.....Sedona, AZ. We used 134 points for a studio for a full week and are very much looking forward to it. We also had the option, as it was available, to add on and stay in Vegas, but we had to cut our trip alittle short and so we are only doing 2 nights in Vegas after our Sedona stay.

Therefore, in our very limited experience, we have had no problems with an RCI trade out. Best of luck in the future....

 

[Dean]

We also have never had any luck with RCI.

We have a week's worth of points for over two years now that are ready to expire at the end of this month that are just going to go to waste because NOTHING was EVER available in the last two years that was worth going to. We tried California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and even New York (where we live) among other more obscure locations, for a getaway and as flexible as we were, the RCI people never had anything available.

All I can say is NEVER use your points for an RCI exchange - It is a complete waste of time.

Rob, timeshare exchanging requires a balance of advanced planning, realistic ongoing searches and nerves of steel. For DVC you've got to plan at least a year out to give you the most and best options and for some resort, a full 2 years out. Even then there is unlikely to be availability at top place for peak times, like Maui Xmas or top ski week. They certainly do happen which is why you want to give yourself every opportunity by playing the game correctly. The only harm in shooting for top options on a whim is that you might actually get them. Exchanging is not for the faint of heart. In addition, most exchanges using DVC (and other top options) is that most exchanges are downtrades you could have more easily gotten with a timeshare that cost pennies compared to DVC.

 

[RobPickles]

I understand most of that. Ever since we had the option to transfer the points, which was about two years ago, we were attempting to book something, somewhere... Unfortunately, it seemed that no matter what place we tried to book or what time of the year, there was not much available.

We are both teachers and have off select times of the year, mostly summertime and all the vacation/off from school times, which tend to get very busy. We had at one point just asked "What is available in Jan, then Feb, etc.." but they say they cannot check availablility like that. So we started narrowing it down to ... ok California in July, California in August, New York in Jan, New York in Feb, etc... and still never any combo we made up, still there was no availability.

After a while of doing that over the course of almost two full years, it started to get very frustrating. We were willing to go anywhere, even locally, just to use the points, even if we only did a weekend and not the full week, but still couldn't get a thing.

Even if I wanted to give the week away, I don't know if I would be able to find a reservation now anywhere.

These were originally DVC incentive points for SSR or Disneyland that were going to expire and were told that we could switch them over to RCi and get an additional 2 years to use them. If I knew I was going to have this much trouble I would have just let them have expired or done something with them here on the DIS boards.

Someone did tell me once that if i was annoying enough, I might be able to get my guide or someone to revert them back to DVC points for me, but it hasn't happened. In fact, I think my guide has been ignoring our phone calls and emails because she does not want to do it. I feel bad because she is a sweetheart and if she would have just said that she couldn't do it, it would have ended there. She has become more of a friend than a guide over the last 3-4 years and i'd hate to lose that friendship over this.

Anyway, that's why I hate RCI and tell people not to bother with them. Maybe DVC will smarten up and switch to a more accomodating timeshare company and have a true relationship that translates points back and forth with each other freely.

 

[Dean]

I understand most of that. Ever since we had the option to transfer the points, which was about two years ago, we were attempting to book something, somewhere... Unfortunately, it seemed that no matter what place we tried to book or what time of the year, there was not much available.

We are both teachers and have off select times of the year, mostly summertime and all the vacation/off from school times, which tend to get very busy. We had at one point just asked "What is available in Jan, then Feb, etc.." but they say they cannot check availablility like that. So we started narrowing it down to ... ok California in July, California in August, New York in Jan, New York in Feb, etc... and still never any combo we made up, still there was no availability.

After a while of doing that over the course of almost two full years, it started to get very frustrating. We were willing to go anywhere, even locally, just to use the points, even if we only did a weekend and not the full week, but still couldn't get a thing.

Even if I wanted to give the week away, I don't know if I would be able to find a reservation now anywhere.

These were originally DVC incentive points for SSR or Disneyland that were going to expire and were told that we could switch them over to RCi and get an additional 2 years to use them. If I knew I was going to have this much trouble I would have just let them have expired or done something with them here on the DIS boards.

Someone did tell me once that if i was annoying enough, I might be able to get my guide or someone to revert them back to DVC points for me, but it hasn't happened. In fact, I think my guide has been ignoring our phone calls and emails because she does not want to do it. I feel bad because she is a sweetheart and if she would have just said that she couldn't do it, it would have ended there. She has become more of a friend than a guide over the last 3-4 years and i'd hate to lose that friendship over this.

Anyway, that's why I hate RCI and tell people not to bother with them. Maybe DVC will smarten up and switch to a more accomodating timeshare company and have a true relationship that translates points back and forth with each other freely.

If I'm reading correctly, you didn't put in an ongoing search far in advance and kept calling in asking for leftovers. While you might get lucky, this is not a recipe for success. While RCI is no where near perfect, and the DVC connection is even worse, the blame for lack of success in your situation appears to be your approach, again, if I read your method correctly.

 

[tink'smom2B]

Since your points are already in RCI you should have decided where you wanted to go, and be put on a wait list. That way, you would most likely have a reservation. We were put on a waitlist last January and just received a confirmation for Paradisus Palma real ( which I totally forgot about and now don't want) . We've had two RCI exchanges and both happened. I'm not sure why we are so lucky(?)!

 

[RobPickles]

Since your points are already in RCI you should have decided where you wanted to go, and be put on a wait list. That way, you would most likely have a reservation. We were put on a waitlist last January and just received a confirmation for Paradisus Palma real ( which I totally forgot about and now don't want) . We've had two RCI exchanges and both happened. I'm not sure why we are so lucky(?)!

Weird... Would have loved to have gone on a waitlist....Didn't know they had a waitlist too. Wish the rep would have told us we could have done that.

 

[JimMIA]

We also have never had any luck with RCI.

We have a week's worth of points for over two years now that are ready to expire at the end of this month that are just going to go to waste because NOTHING was EVER available in the last two years that was worth going to. We tried California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and even New York (where we live) among other more obscure locations, for a getaway and as flexible as we were, the RCI people never had anything available.

All I can say is NEVER use your points for an RCI exchange - It is a complete waste of time.

Rob, I'm sorry this is not going to help you this time, but for future reference and other readers, there are TWO ways to get RCI exhanges through DVC.

The one everyone thinks of first is simply calling MS and seeing if what you want is available. If it is, you deposit your points, pay the fee, and book the vacation. If not, you call again another time. That's a real low-percentage crapshoot.

The second method is called an "ongoing search." You deposit your points and pay the fee. Those points are GONE and the fee is non-refundable. You give parameters for resorts, dates, unit types, etc and if something that matches becomes available, you get it before it becomes available to the general public.

"Ongoing search" is the reason why you were not able to get anything -- your preferences, IF they became available, were snatched up by the ongoing searches.

In your case, it sounds like you had the worst of all possible worlds. You apparently deposited your DVC points into RCI because they were expiring with DVC, and then didn't know to set up ongoing searches.

Yes the reps should have helped you more, but I think you also deposited about the time DVC was making the transition from II to RCI and the reps may not have been very knowledgeable.

Hopefully, at least your difficulties will alert some other DISer to the problem and they'll have better luck.

 

[Dean]

Weird... Would have loved to have gone on a waitlist....Didn't know they had a waitlist too. Wish the rep would have told us we could have done that.

If they didn't tell you this and you didn't know about it, I would contact DVC and ask if they could help you since they may have dropped the ball. The one thing of question is whether the developer points had any additional restrictions, I don't recall if they did. I do find it hard to believe that no one along the way didn't ask if you wanted to put in an ongonig search and pay the $95 "nonrefundable" fee to do so. It does seem that having to pay the fee puts a lot of DVC members off but it's actually a good thing for those serious about an exchange.

 

[tink'smom2B]

If what you want isn't available, you can be put on a waitlist and it doesn't cost you any points. They didn't take the points out of our account until they booked the reservation last week. But, I did have to pay a $95 fee up front for the waitlist. As for not telling you, they won't tell you anything! I had to ask all the questions and they gave the answers. I've been a member for 7 years, so I guess I just knew what to ask. However, when I changed the reservation this week, they didn't tell me the points were different until I had already made the reservation. Now I have 20 points that will be sitting there until Dec. 2012! If I had booked a reservation for summer, the points would have been the same. You think they would have told me that! Frustrating, but I'm still happy I got what I wanted.

 

[joihan777]

My family tried to go to San Diego last year with no luck from RCI (limited selection for a family of 5).

Our second option was Las Vegas.

We found a VERY quiet and out of the way resort called "The Cliffs At Peace Canyon." It was basically a converted upscale apartment complex. It had a nice pool, a smallish workout room and a few other features. The suites were clean and comfortable. There were many nearby restaurants, shops, supermarkets etc. It was about 15-20 mins from strip... depending on if you took main road or hopped on freeway. Aside from casinos, Vegas had many other attractions. The museums were nice, Red Rock Canyon park was gorgeous and of course Hoover Dam & Grand Canyon aren't too far away. It was a **fantastic** vacation for us. Although the resort was simply not on par with Disney offerings (A+), it was a solid B+.

I know this doesn't solve your California dilemma, but I hope it gives you some ideas for surrounding areas.

 

[Kelblum]

New to this whole RCI thing. Question about the waitlist--Can you have more than one? Can I give them a list of destinations and hope that something comes up? We are fairly flexible on dates! Thanks!

 

[tink'smom2B]

I would call Member Services and tell them what you want to do. Make sure you have specific places you want to go to and dates also. I'm not sure what they'll tell you, but I know you have to pay $95 to be on the waitlist. We had a specific place and dates in mind, so I don't know exactly what you need. I do know there is a way to deposit a week in the RCI system which allows you to book up to two years in advance. MS told me that's what most people do if they want a specific resort.