NEW MEMBERS JOINING

[Sue B]

Hi Ralph

Welcome to MORPS. Sorry that no one else on the committee has got back to you - we have been away on holiday and are just back.

Joining RCI Points may be to your advantage as many of our members have found out. It depends on when and where you holiday. Not sure how many points a summer week at Langdale is worth but it is probably worth a good few thousand points. If you are happy holidaying out of season when points values are low, then your one week could stretch to two or three weeks of exchanges, rather than the week for week exchange you have at present. If you only want a one-bed apartment when you holiday, these will be less points than a two-bed, so, again, you may be able to use a points allocation to book more than one week.

It would cost you to convert your week to RCI Points and you would possibly have to buy additional points. It is worth shopping round for a points vendor as they all charge different prices and some resorts charge much higher prices than others. We can points you in the right direction!!

By the way, don't you get two credits with Dial an Exchange for depositing a two-bed summer week with them?

Sue B

[catmoonlighter]

Hi there, I own points and weeks.Personally I prefer to own weeks and exchange mainly through Dial an exchange.Once anything is in points you have to give a years notice to get out of it as I found out to my cost when I sold a timeshare and then could not transfer it to the new owner!!
Also ifyou want to use your own week you have to remember to book it over a year in advance or else it goes automatically into the points exchange"pot"
Also if you want to guest the booking to a friend, RCI make you pay a guest cerificate fee, which most resorts DO NOT NEED and RCI pocket the cash!!
They also have a premium rate phone number and play really annoying music.
I do still use RCI but mainly use Dial an Exchange who have a normal phone number, answer the phone immediately and you can book on line.

[catmoonlighter]

Just to say in respnse to a previous posting, you can deposit any size unit with DIA and take anything out.I.e. deposit a studio and take out a 2 or 3 bedder.No silly points values with them.You can also be a gold member and get priority notice if you want to request a particular resort.

[norman]

Hi
I'm new to the forum and am looking to sell my fixed week which is currently ceded to RCI points. I was advised to see if an existing RCI points member might be interested in an upgrade.

Norman

[Sue B]

Hi
I'm new to the forum and am looking to sell my fixed week which is currently ceded to RCI points. I was advised to see if an existing RCI points member might be interested in an upgrade.

Norman

Welcome Norman.

Have you posted the details of what you are selling in our For Sale section? You haven't actually said what you own.

You may have to uncede your week from the points system if you cannot find an existing points owner to buy your fixed week. Or you might find someone who wants to join the points system and is looking for a week that is already ceded. They will have to pay around £250 to RCI to do that though as they have to pay a joining fee.

Do you know how much resort charges to transfer ownership deeds of fixed week to a new owner?

Sue B

[norman]

Hi Sue
Yes I have now posted the details in the for sale system. I thought I'd try and find an existing points member to buy the week - maybe someone wanted an upgrade. Its a very high value week. 105,000 points for a 1 bed unit, week 30 which is a peak summer holidays week at Thurnham Hall in Lancashire UK

If we uncede the week from RCI points the resort will charge £200 to transfer to a new owner. Total transfer to a points member would be £275.

[costadelsol1]

Hi Everyone,
was glad to find this site where there can be a frank exchange of the pluses and minuses of the points system.
Cheers

[Tim]

welcome Costadelsol1,
We all hope you will continue to enjoy the site.
Please let let us know if we can be of any help.
Have you thought of becoming a morps member?

[dmpete]

Hi Colin

Excellent resource for all timeshare owners, thank you.

Am on holiday at the moment. Still with weeks have been pestered each year to move to points but always seemed far too expensive for what a. RCI do and b. What I get for it. Any idea how much I should expect to pay for moving into points with a 2 bed week 34 and 35 in Delta Mar #1513. On site rep says price dependant on a lot of things including how long we have been with RCI? I understand RCI fee is £250, would the rest be rep commission?

Very new to points detail but have struggled to find exactly what my points will get me when I come to book my hols next year as it seems I need to be a points member to see what holiday I can actually get for my points value. Any ideas before I sign pleas?

Pete

[colin]

Hi

I have asked the resident experts to advise here - depending on which country they are in, you should get a reply and begin a discussion quite quickly!

[Sue B]

Hi Colin

Excellent resource for all timeshare owners, thank you.

Am on holiday at the moment. Still with weeks have been pestered each year to move to points but always seemed far too expensive for what a. RCI do and b. What I get for it. Any idea how much I should expect to pay for moving into points with a 2 bed week 34 and 35 in Delta Mar #1513. On site rep says price dependant on a lot of things including how long we have been with RCI? I understand RCI fee is £250, would the rest be rep commission?

Very new to points detail but have struggled to find exactly what my points will get me when I come to book my hols next year as it seems I need to be a points member to see what holiday I can actually get for my points value. Any ideas before I sign pleas?

Pete

Hi Pete

The onsite rep is telling porkies as the length of time you have been with RCI does not affect the price. What affects the price is how much profit the resort wants to make. The size and week of the apartment has no bearing on the conversion price either - it only influences the number of points you get allocated for your weeks.

You could well be being asked to pay between £2000-£3000 for moving to points when dealing with resorts in Spain. If you contact UK points vendors such as Richmond Park or Quaysiders Club, you will pay far less - somewhere in the region of £1100. Your points deal will usually include the purchase of 12,000 points (a rule that RCI decided upon to help big vendors sell their points and some vendors will say they are 'giving you them for free' - not true) so there will be an annual management charge on these points. this will vary from one vendor to another, so it is worth checking on how much it wll be.

I am not sure whether you can check points values online on the RCI website without being a member. You could always ask to see the RCi Points brochure at the resort where you are staying. Just checked in my points brochure and Weeks 34/35 in two-bed at Delta Mar are worth around 48,000 and 43,000 respectively. an extra 500 each if you have 2 bathrooms. If you want to book during school holidays, then you will have to find weeks with similar values to your own. The best way of using points is to holiday out of peak time and your points will 'stretch' further as the points values are lower. So your 90,000 points may be able to get you 3 weeks of exchange at 30,000 points each. If you don't always need a 2-bedroom apartment, then a 1-bedroom will be less points. If tied to school holidays, you may not get any benefits from moving to points. Whichever system you are in, there are always problems of finding availability.

Another thing, be careful the reps in Spain don't try to sell you an additional product - Ambassador Gold, Diversified Gold, Additions - unless they have changed the name again!! It is where you can obtain extra weeks holidays, not using your points, but paying for them. It is all subject to availability and not always as good as they make out. You are usually charged around £895 for this holiday club but people are told that it is a deposit for the points conversion. Not true - it is a non-refundable payment for this holiday club.

You should not be asked to pay any kind of a deposit when entering into a points deal and should have a 14-day cooling off period with all relevant documentation. You are not entering into a contract with RCI (although their logo is often on the paperwork) you are entering into a contract with whichever vendor you choose to go with. The points values of your weeks will be the same whichever vendor you use, and these should be shown on the contract, along with the number of addiitional points you are purchasing.

Hope this is of some use and you don't get persuaded to pay more money than you need to.

Sue B

[dmpete]

Hi Sue

Thank you for this reply.

The meeting with the onsite rep here in Spain was quite interesting, not so much hard sell but the uneven task for him of selling a flaky concept for a lot of money. He correctly told me the points value of 107,500 for the 2 weeks and wanted c£3,300 for the transfer (including a 10% discount for long RCI membership which he later conceded was not the case) and a ‘free’ gift of 15000 points which had a £145pa maintenance/admin fee sting in the tail!!

Your guide price of £1100 is more like what I would expect to pay as an asking price but I am still unable to relate this cost to what RCI and others are doing for me. Am I right to understand I still use the RCI website but reserve accommodation using points rather than exchanging weeks? Isn’t this just them operating the database differently? I am aware of the potential benefits to me but all of these are merely verbal and perceived from websites such as MORPS.

One point you mentioned was rather concerning in that I do not have a contract with RCI (or indeed my home resort) but with a ‘random’ points vendor. What services do they supply after the exchange that I will miss if they go bust or will my exchange to points still be valid if they are out of business?

Overall I have found timeshare to be a good product even if some of the scams surrounding it were extremely suspect if not illegal. So I am still suspicious that I am offered a transfer into points before I am able to see the financial value. It seems it is a secret until I join the club by parting with more than £1000. All I have is an indication that I can get this and that which I have to take on trust; if points is a good system, why the secrecy? Any thoughts on this Sue?

I have the feeling that Points is a good idea but am not ready to take a leap of faith by parting with my hard earned and tax & NI paid until I know more about what I am buying.

Sorry about the rant, thanks for any help.

Pete