Are all RCI points equal?

adahiscout wrote:

markt139 wrote:

Hi, I've read that all RCI Points are equal, so I'm wondering if anyone can explain why some points resort are more expensive than others. I was at a presentation for the Banff Gate Mountain Lodge, and they were selling their 20,000 points package for roughly around the $15,000, while when I do online comparison, I found a 30,000 point resale list for $4,000, at the Paradise Canyon Golf Resort, and many others with quite high annual points for significantly much l At the presentation, they pushed a VIP package that from what I recalled, offered certain benefits like purchasing flex points at a penny per point, the ability to borrow points from the next year, and carry forward points that are unused. Are these exclusive to Banff Gate, or does everyone who has a RCI points account have this ability.

Also, does owning a membership with a points resort give you access to the RCI website?

========= If you are not yet an owner at an RCI POINTS resort, be aware that those who are may NOT rent out either their home resort time or the exchanges they make through this program. If your intention is to use the vacation time yourself of truly gift it to friends and family, that is fine, but don't go into RCI POINTS with any expectation of profiting from rentals. That is not permitted. MD

I put some info in a new topic. See http://www.redweek.com/forums/messages?thread_id=13626

ken1193

adahiscout wrote:

asks: >> Are there any limitations on when you can ask to roll over RCI Points or what you can use "saved point" for? Is there a fee to do this? Expiration date? ==================================================

RCI Points can be rolled over from one year to the next, but all such "rolled over" points MUST be used in that second year (or they just disappear) and cannot be further extended. Rolled over points can be used in exactly the same manner as current year points --- no difference there. If your question is "how far in advance before the points expire must they be "rolled over to the next year?", I honestly don't know (except that it must obviously be BEFORE one year from their actual annual issuance date (which is determined individually by date of initial purchase, not by "calendar year").

I can't claim to know the full range of potential "products" to which RCI Points can be applied, having never personally looked beyond applying them to airfare or car rentals (and timeshare use, of course). RCI Points may also be applicable toward cruises if booked directly through RCI Points, although I'm not certain (having no personal interest whatsoever in cruises).

Fees? Of course --- there is ALWAYS a fee to do virtually ANYTHING with or through RCI. There is a fee to roll over points from one year to the next (don't know fee amount, having not yet done this). There is also a fee to convert a week into "RCI Points for Deposit" as well.

Effective tomorrow (January 10, 2008) there will be changes to the value of RCI Points when used with RCI Points Partners. By my crude and preliminary math, for "Partners" applications, in these changes RCI has devalued RCI Points from about 1.7 cents to a bit less than one cent per point (about $.008, to be exact). Yet, RCI still charges TWO cents per point if you want to buy RCI Points from RCI. Typical of RCI "spinning", these changes are being heralded as.....drum roll here please......."Enhancements"!!! Nice racket. Good for RCI, bad for RCI Points members.

Regarding cruises. RCI still offers discounts for 10,000 points (and on rare occasions 50,000 points). On average it is probably in the 10% range (I've seen higher and lower percentages). If you book a more expensive cabin, you might get up to a 20% discount. There are no set guidelines; everything is based on availability.

I'm investigating the purchase of a timeshare. I found this point overview for those of you trying to figure out what the point fees are in specific areas.

http://www.rci.com/CDA/Common/Documents/PointsPartners-en_US.pdf

Don't spread it around too much or RCI may just take it down, then we'll never know.

We just found this web site www.TimeshareRevealed.com and it is too bad that we did not know about it before we bought our timeshare from Point To Point Destinations. If we knew all the facts instead of listening to their sales presentation, we would never buy it to begin with. We are very disappointed with Point To Point Destinations (West Coast Timeshare or PTP Destinations). We sent them the following letter but there was no reply other than a short phone call telling us that there is nothing they can do about anything.

=======================================

"TO: Point to Point Destinations / RCI

To Whom It May Concern:

Dear Sirs:

I would like to bring to your attention the following points and I would like you to address it to the right person to provide me with a prompt response.

I just returned from a vacation in Hawaii and these are my comments and concerns:

-I used my points to pay for a one bedroom in a “Gold Resort” category, Kahana Falls and to my surprise it was only a “Silver Resort”. I was not notified of the change nor given a refund for the difference in points. -I paid a fee for the use of the condo at the time of booking. -I paid membership fee of $118 August 30, 2007. -I paid my annual maintenance fee or strata fee of $239 for the year, which is supposed to cover maintenance, electricity, power etc. -Then to my surprise I had to pay another a fee of $114 for electricity on top of the regular charge for the use of the condo electricity at my check out time. -By the time I was done paying all the fees for the use of one week I would have been better off renting a beach front condo for the same amount and without all the hassle of having to book 1 year in advance. -January 1/2007 the fee went up from $239 to $276.25 this is a 17% raise. -January 1/2008 the fee went up again another 12% to $309. -I bought this points to ensure I could vacation in my old age as a pensioner. In the next 20 years by my retirement date this fees will be up over 320% or more? This is absolutely ridiculous and I would call it a s**m. -I do not record voting or proxy voting to increase strata fees. Strata fee increases in BC have to be voted on by all owners. -In August 2007 I booked another short vacation in the Okanagan and to my surprise I was not in a Resort, I was in a “Trailer Park”. There was no beach access and the Trailer park was located in a no-swim lake. This is not my kind of vacation resort.

For all these reasons I would like to have someone contact me as soon as possible to discuss the back purchase of my points or to sell them since I am not happy with the RCI system and is not going to be useful to me in the future. I am very disappointed."

I am trying to do what you have done - buy the cheapest points resort relaative to maintenance fees so that I can get into the RCI points system. That will allow me to convert my weeks timeshares to points for a nominal yearly cost.

any suggestions on how to identify the best resorts for my objective?

as a former owner of rci points at paradise valley let me give you a bit of advice. Run away!!!! Flee!!!!! Complete waste of money. Do your homework.