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As long as you deposit at least 9 months before the start date of your ownership week, you’ll receive 100% of your Deposit Trading Power. For years you’re not using your timeshare, you can use Guest Certificates through RCI to gift it to a family or friend. By doing this, you can give the gift of travel to any resort in the RCI network. There is a Gift Certificate fee for transferring your membership for the year.
If you are the type of traveler who mostly makes long weekend trips, then this is the RCI membership program ideal for you. When talking to your home resort about your timeshare exchange company affiliation, ask them if you’d be an RCI Weeks Member or an RCI Points member. While these two RCI Memberships are similar, some differences exist, and some owners are only eligible for one type of membership. For example, we are RCI Weeks members and didn’t have a choice in the matter. Also, not all timeshare ownerships qualify for an RCI membership.
What is RCI?
This question recently popped up in one of the RCI Members Facebook groups I am in. Based on the responses, it seems like this is a common question especially among long-time members. See, this is something that you used to be able to do with your deposited weeks. With an RCI Membership, you see all the same resorts whether you own the most expensive timeshare or the least expensive one.
Before your account is set up, your home resort will confirm your ownership. Another option is to trade up by depositing multiple weeks and combining them and/or any Deposit Credits you might have for greater trading power. By doing this, you can trade into a resort that may have been out of your reach before, or vacation at a different time of year. You will find rooms at huge resorts, like Vacation Village Parkway in Orlando or Massanutten Resort neighboring Shenandoah National Park, which has thousands of rooms.
What is RCI Trading Power Protection?
Let me repeat that again – The resort or week you may be looking for may NEVER get put into the search inventory as they are all being taken by savvy members who put in an Ongoing Search. If you want to treat a family member or perhaps send someone on a memorable getaway like a birthday trip or even a honeymoon, that is possible with an RCI membership. And since I’m here to give you the honest truth, some resorts in the RCI system are older, run-down, and not well maintained. That’s why it is crucial to research the resort on TripAdvisor before you book. No system is perfect, and you must take 5 minutes to do your own due diligence.
When you trade, you can select a week with the same point value. Alternatively, if you choose a week with a lower point value than yours, the leftover points will become a credit for you to use for a different trade. You can also combine deposits, or add deposit credits for a fee, and trade up to a week with a higher point value. Another fun option is trading your week for a cruise vacation! There are fees for exchanging, so be sure to check out our RCI fees blog to learn more.
An Owner’s Guide To Successful Timeshare Rentals: 6 Options with Their Pros and Cons
They offer a large network of destinations for owners to trade their home resort week for. There are 35,000 exchange options for members in over 100 countries. By becoming a member, while paying your yearly membership fee, you will have access to the entire catalog of incredible resorts. RCI doesn’t own any timeshare properties, but they are affiliated with some of the biggest timeshare brands in the world. Some of these brands include Holiday Inn Vacation Club, Hilton Grand Vacations Club, and Club Wyndham.
The people who get these timeshare vacations are ALWAYS the first ten people in the line. If you are in the back of the line or haven’t put yourself in the line at all, you’re not going to get this RCI exchange. You will get the Hawaii resorts that everyone else passed on. Go far by exchanging your timeshare for RCI Points travel currency. Points are an annual allotment given each Use Year that you can use to book resorts and hotels around the world. Each resort has a Points value based on demand, unit type, and season.
3There is a fee to combine and/or extend deposits and/or deposit credits. 3 There is a fee to combine and/or extend deposits and/or deposit credits. Using RCI Weeks, you can trade your Royal Resorts interval for a vacation at the resort of your choice in destinations around the world.
With RCI Weeks you can also exchange your week or Deposit Credit for a cruise. Thousands of cruises are available on all the world’s major routes. Matti Pennington is a Baylor University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Corporate Communication.
This is one of the most commonly asked questions in RCI Membership groups. And the answer given by veteran timeshare owners and travelers is that it depends. It depends on how much you use RCI and what type of traveler you are.
These are two programs included with an RCI membership that doesn’t require you to use any of your trading power points. What differentiates them from each other is the price and included resorts. Those extra costs can be found in the Fees tab when looking at all-inclusive resorts in the RCI system. You can rent your owned week out, but not your RCI exchanges. It is against the Terms and Conditions that you agreed to when signing up for your RCI membership. If RCI catches you selling trades, they will cancel the reservation and potentially cancel your RCI membership.
Am I slightly bothered that I’ll never exchange into Marriott’s or Westin’s? If you’re looking for more information on RCI, you’ve come to the right place. As a happy timeshare owner of 16 years, I believe that an RCI membership is one of the key ingredients to making the most out of your timeshare ownership.
Of course, there is no reason to rush buying a timeshare, as it is a buyer’s market. But if you’ve already done this necessary work and are looking to make the savviest purchase out there, I’ve got you. Bougainvillas Barbados resort in 2021 for my birthday with our RCI Membership. Even the locals love this family-owned and operated resort located next to Sandals. Share the gift of new memories in all-new places with Guest Certificates.
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