Why is RCI exchange a bad deal?

[danrosen80]

I have read numerous posts stating that RCI is not an efficient use of DVC points. While I understand that the purpose of DVC is to stay at DVC, it seems to me, unless I'm missing something, that RCI is a good deal for DVC members, and that other RCI Points members have a very hard time getting into DVC resorts. For example, we are using 194 points for a studio this April at VGC. However, 160 points would have gotten me a 1-bedroom through RCI. Am I missing something? Thanks!

 

[joelnkelly]

Different people will say different things, but to our family it seems to me rci gives us additional options. They are your points, use them as you want. It doesnt really matter what others say.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You can't use DVC points to get a DVC reservation. You'd have to get something offered by RCI.

 

[danrosen80]

Do you mean an RCI member can't trade into DVC? Just curious about that post.

As for our points, the ability to trade into RCI and get larger accommodations at those resorts was a selling point for us, especially with buying a small number of points direct. So we intend to use them as we wish, I was just curious if, other than the $95 fee and booking restrictions, if there was some reason why trading into RCI is an "inefficient" use of points, as it's been described.

 

[vicki_c]

I know little about RCI or much about other timeshares in general, but I think the usual message is that DVC ownership is a very expensive way to trade into other locations. You could buy a much less expensive timeshare if you are interested in trading to other locations.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Do you mean an RCI member can't trade into DVC? Just curious about that post.

As for our points, the ability to trade into RCI and get larger accommodations at those resorts was a selling point for us, especially with buying a small number of points direct. So we intend to use them as we wish, I was just curious if, other than the $95 fee and booking restrictions, if there was some reason why trading into RCI is an "inefficient" use of points, as it's been described.

From what I understand, what you trade for with your DVC points doesn't quite meet the same quality.

 

[nolanboys]

When I've looked at RCI options on the web and priced them out, they do are not a good value to use points on. They are cheaper to book with cash - usually quite a bit cheaper. Some of them do not look that nice to me as well. We may trade out some day, but I haven't seen anything that makes me think it's worth it. I would rather try and stay at HH, Aluani, or Vero if I need a break from WDW.

 

[disneymember2000]

We have found RCI to be a great option for occassional use. Just be picky with your choices, there are some very nice ones.

 

[rascalmom]

Here's my viewpoint on this, fwiw.

We bought our DVC points to use at Disney and have already enjoyed several years worth of vacations there....and anticipate many more. I look at my points as sort of a "pre-payed" vacation (at least the accomodations) each year.

Is DVC nicer than some/most of the properties that we can trade for with our membership? Sure. Could I get a week's stay at those other places for less than what the "rental" rate of my DVC would be? Sure.

However, if I want to go to the beach or to a city for a week and don't want to spend the cash on my lodging (or go through the hassle of renting), the exchange to me IS worth it. It is still a pre-paid week and meets MY intended purpose of my purchase - to give me a reliable, budgetable vacation each year at a place I'd like to visit.

If I was regularly vacationing at a place that had a better or comparable timeshare, I would have considered Disney's competition. However, my regular routine will be to stay at Disney. Being ABLE to trade to occasionally have some variety to me. My long-term commitment is to Disney - but I enjoy the flexibility of sometimes being able to select other choices without a big cash outlay. With two daughters in college right now - that is important!

 

[Lynne M]

Here's my take on it:

Using points you've already purchased, and use primarily at DVC resorts, for an occasional RCI trade can be a decent value. IF you're careful to investigate the quality of the resort; one thing I've learned on here is that there are many that aren't at all comparable to DVC resorts in quality.

If you're considering becoming a DVC member, and you plan on trading out to RCI resorts frequently....that's a really poor value. You can buy timeshares that trade with RCI for a few bucks on E-bay, and that will get you into the same RCI resorts that DVC will. As opposed to paying thousands for DVC.

 

[cmanuli]

It totally depends on who your talking to, it comes down to your personal opinion, if your satisfied with a trade you make then so be it. I have not yet made a RCI exchange, I did however make an exchange when it was Interval. We made a excahnge to Aruba, we got a 1br unit at the Mariott, for like 135 points, I thought it was a great exchange considering the rate for the room was $399 a night, we wound up doing a week and then I paid cash for a cpl more days.

 

[frank808]

I have read numerous posts stating that RCI is not an efficient use of DVC points. While I understand that the purpose of DVC is to stay at DVC, it seems to me, unless I'm missing something, that RCI is a good deal for DVC members, and that other RCI Points members have a very hard time getting into DVC resorts. For example, we are using 194 points for a studio this April at VGC. However, 160 points would have gotten me a 1-bedroom through RCI. Am I missing something? Thanks!

VGC has not appeared on RCI trades at all
Seeing that VGC is so small it might never be available via RCI.

 

[disneynutz]

Don't forget that there is a $95 fee for each trade and there is no guarantee that your trade will happen. I have read posts where the DVC member waited for two years for a trade that they never got.

Bill

 

[JimMIA]

I think there are three aspects of using DVC through RCI that make it less valuable than using the same points for DVC vacations:

• If you want to exchange via RCI (or II), there are other timeshares which can be purchased very inexpensively for that purpose. For example, some other timeshares can be purchased for $1 on eBay. In addition, there are several other timeshare systems which offer a much broader portfolio of resorts in their internal exchanges than DVC, and can also be purchased very inexpensively.
• With DVC exchanges, you choose from only about 600 of the more than 6500 RCI resorts. If you owned another timeshare, you would have full RCI membership and access to all of their resorts. If you can find a suitable exchange out of your 600 choices, you can still get a good exchange but that limitation makes things much more difficult.
• To exchange through RCI, you have to make your reservations through DVC MS. If you have a full RCI membership through another timeshare system, you could do your exchange online and directly.

However, any prospective DVC purchaser should know that exchanging out through RCI with ANY timeshare product is much more complicated, and requires more planning and effort than making a direct reservation. You have to go to school and learn not only your own system, but also RCI's. Many DVC owners DO find good exchanges through RCI, and as stated previously they're your DVC points and if you are satisfied with the value you get, don't worry about the "conventional wisdom."

 

[Sandisw]

Here's my viewpoint on this, fwiw.

We bought our DVC points to use at Disney and have already enjoyed several years worth of vacations there....and anticipate many more. I look at my points as sort of a "pre-payed" vacation (at least the accomodations) each year.

Is DVC nicer than some/most of the properties that we can trade for with our membership? Sure. Could I get a week's stay at those other places for less than what the "rental" rate of my DVC would be? Sure.

However, if I want to go to the beach or to a city for a week and don't want to spend the cash on my lodging (or go through the hassle of renting), the exchange to me IS worth it. It is still a pre-paid week and meets MY intended purpose of my purchase - to give me a reliable, budgetable vacation each year at a place I'd like to visit.

If I was regularly vacationing at a place that had a better or comparable timeshare, I would have considered Disney's competition. However, my regular routine will be to stay at Disney. Being ABLE to trade to occasionally have some variety to me. My long-term commitment is to Disney - but I enjoy the flexibility of sometimes being able to select other choices without a big cash outlay. With two daughters in college right now - that is important!

This is pretty much our feeling. We bought for Disney, but if we need and/or want to go somewhere else, we have that option via our points. Even with the Disney cruise, while not the best value, if I decide that year that I want my vacation to be a 4 day cruise instead of a 6 day one in the parks, then it works for me.

I do believe, however, that someone who wants to trade a lot, should really investigate because there are certainly cheaper timeshares out there that would allow the trades as well. Buying DVC to do a lot of trading, from everything that I have read, would be an expensive way to do it.

 

[Dean]

I have read numerous posts stating that RCI is not an efficient use of DVC points. While I understand that the purpose of DVC is to stay at DVC, it seems to me, unless I'm missing something, that RCI is a good deal for DVC members, and that other RCI Points members have a very hard time getting into DVC resorts. For example, we are using 194 points for a studio this April at VGC. However, 160 points would have gotten me a 1-bedroom through RCI. Am I missing something? Thanks!

Obviously they are your points and you can do what you want. Specific to the question, there are several aspects to look at. These include the value of the DVC points, the chance of actually getting a given exchange and what it would cost to secure the desired exchange (or a similar replacement) by other means. Personally I'd value DVC at a minimum of $10 a point in such a situations. Taking those parameters, that leaves few RCI options that hold up enough value to qualify. There are a few top resorts in top places during peak seasons. OTOH, if one has the points you wouldn't use otherwise and don't want to rent or use them for other options, an exchange certain becomes more of a reasonable option.

I know I've had many exchanges that would have cost 160 or 270 DVC points that in reality cost me $300-500 total including exchange fees and underlying expenses. A number of those are at the same resorts or areas (often better resorts) than actual exchanges reported here by DVC members. My last trip to HI was 15 nights with a 1 BR at the Wyndham Beach Walk for a week and a 1 BR at the Maui Westin, first class air, rental cars, all food and all direct and indirect (main fees, exch fees) was $2500. I sent my daughter to HI for 10 days for a similar trip (Maui Marriott & Ko'Olina) for as similar per day amount. I know some would say that's because of the way I've position myself with timeshares and that would be partly true but it's also a position that anyone could accomplish easily and cheaply if those so chose.

 

[Brian Noble]

Ultimately, there are two options for using DVC points to vacation elsewhere:

1: Use one of the exchange systems.
2: Rent out your points, and use the proceeds to secure the vacation lodging you desire.

In a dollars-and-cents sense, #2 is almost always superior. But, cost is not measured only in dollars-and-cents. It takes time to rent out points. It also takes time to find something to rent. *And* it takes time to figure out how to make use of the exchange system. On balance, it probably takes more time to complete both ends of the rental process than it does to secure a successful exchange---especially if you place an ongoing search for things that interest you.

For those who already own: only you can decide how much your time is worth vs. the financial "cost" of forgoing the rental proceeds. For those considering a purchase: it would be wise to size your purchase to what you think your *long term* DVC needs will be. If you aren't entirely sure, and think you also want to vacation places other than Disney semi-regularly, it would probably be better to under-size, rather than over-size, and look elsewhere for your other vacation lodging options.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am an "inbound" exchanger---I stay at DVC resorts by virtue of the fact that other people trade out. I've saved a good chunk of money this way, but it took a lot of time to figure it out. When I invested that time, I had the time to invest. But, over the past 18 months or so, my consulting business has really taken off. Today, I would have to think harder about the tradeoff, because every hour I spend on managing my timeshares is an hour I can't spend on billable work for a client. And, that hour of lost billable work has a specific and very much non-trivial value.

 

[Dean]

Ultimately, there are two options for using DVC points to vacation elsewhere:

1: Use one of the exchange systems.
2: Rent out your points, and use the proceeds to secure the vacation lodging you desire.

In a dollars-and-cents sense, #2 is almost always superior. But, cost is not measured only in dollars-and-cents. It takes time to rent out points. It also takes time to find something to rent. *And* it takes time to figure out how to make use of the exchange system. On balance, it probably takes more time to complete both ends of the rental process than it does to secure a successful exchange---especially if you place an ongoing search for things that interest you.

For those who already own: only you can decide how much your time is worth vs. the financial "cost" of forgoing the rental proceeds. For those considering a purchase: it would be wise to size your purchase to what you think your *long term* DVC needs will be. If you aren't entirely sure, and think you also want to vacation places other than Disney semi-regularly, it would probably be better to under-size, rather than over-size, and look elsewhere for your other vacation lodging options.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am an "inbound" exchanger---I stay at DVC resorts by virtue of the fact that other people trade out. I've saved a good chunk of money this way, but it took a lot of time to figure it out. When I invested that time, I had the time to invest. But, over the past 18 months or so, my consulting business has really taken off. Today, I would have to think harder about the tradeoff, because every hour I spend on managing my timeshares is an hour I can't spend on billable work for a client. And, that hour of lost billable work has a specific and very much non-trivial value.

I would add a couple of other minor options, that of a private exchange and that of exchanging through one of the independent exchange companies. Most of our stays are by nature of exchanges in as well thus my suggestions for the best use for members is counter productive to my personal needs.

 

[Bacon Bits]

We have gone through RCI twice since becoming DVC members in 1998. We basically did this just to get a change from WDW. Both times we went through MS without any problems. Only one time did we get put on a wait list because we needed a set week. RCI could not accommodate us. Our $95 fee was re-imbused. As other posters have written it is nice to occassionally have the options of going outside DVC and not have to lay out additional funds for accommodations but you always have the other Disney resorts to stay at as well.