How many have changed their TS ownership since Points Lite?

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

How many here have changed their timeshare ownership since RCI's Points Lite hit?

We have. Prior to Points Lite, we were depositing one week at a time in RCI and still making limited use of it while also using independent exchange companies. After Points Lite, I added an SFX membership and quit using RCI. On ownership, we are renting our OBX summer week which rents like a charm for a nice profit through the local timeshare broker, and have otherwise downsized by one week. We dropped one of our South African weeks we used to trade through RCI. I had thought about posting on these boards to sell it cheap or give it away but a colleague who had used a timeshare in Thailand for his honeymoon found out I wanted to get rid of it and took it off our hands. He and his bride and been through a sales presentation in Thailand, liked the timeshare concept, but did not think they could afford the purchase price. He was extremely happy to get the SA week virtually free and with a low SA m/f. Our summer UK weeks, we are splitting between SFX and DAE, and this year will likely give one to Donita's, which I have also joined. The other SA we give to DAE.

The decline in exchange inventory due to RCI's rental practices was bad enough to push us to other exchange companies for much of our exchanging, but it was Points Lite that pushed us there for all of it.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

I changed my ownerships WAY before Points Lite. I can read between the lines but of course I have always "studied" them. HARD. EVERY DAY. For years.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

nah. exchange companies don't really impact me as I own to use or go the rental route.

[Laurie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Laurie]

I've always owned just to trade, and I changed mine many times before Points Lite. I haven't changed them since (though I've thought about losing one ownership).

Points Lite makes it much easier to decide what/whether to buy/acquire and what/whether to sell/divest. I've held back from an additional acquisition or 2 since Points Lite, because so much of the guesswork is taken out of it, and I like that. So much easier to do the math, and compare.

[jlwquilter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jlwquilter]

I actually added a few specific ownerships after TPUs and which ownerships to go for was a pretty straight forward decision - which was nice. No guesswork - for right now that is. I fully expect things to change over time (short or long) and I'll change too.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

OK.

Explain how we go about changing our ownership(s).


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I agree with the others, that it is easier to see nothing is available, and never will be.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

I too have been re-allocating my "portfolio".
I've given away one week and am giving away another week away along with an RCI points account, but I've replaced them with another smaller RCI points account that isn't in Orlando so I can trade into Disney and a CMV UDI which is extremely versatile and seems to be accepted by every exchange company except SFX.

So far I've mostly deposited to RCI but have given a week to Platinum Interchange which I've yet to find a suitable exchange week for. I'm still hopeful that I'll find something decent with them. Next I'm going to deposit to Trading places and II. I think it's good to have units with multiple exchange companies although I gotta admit that most of my vacations are from RCI's exchange inventory. Lucky for me I live in FL and am not that picky where I stay so I've got a ton of cheap options. I think DAE has the best deal on last minute getaways and have used them before.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

OK.

Explain how we go about changing our ownership(s).


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I agree with the others, that it is easier to see nothing is available, and never will be.

In the old days, it was selling. Sometimes you can still do that, but now giving away is much more common. On the other side, buying for $1 or free is also more common.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

I actually added a few specific ownerships after TPUs and which ownerships to go for was a pretty straight forward decision - which was nice. No guesswork - for right now that is. I fully expect things to change over time (short or long) and I'll change too.

You have the point right about expecting things to continue to change. One can plan one side of the numbers on a short to medium term basis, but the other side remains something of a question mark due to RCI's widespread practice of requiring more points lite to trade in to a particular week than they give for deposit of the same week, sometimes significantly more.

At the time of the changeover, RCI made some rather arbitrary changes in valuations that in some cases benefited owners while in other cases hurting owners, but the big takeaway is that the trading system is now less stable and dependable than it was, so planning value relationships for trading into the future becomes more of a crap shoot. For rare weeks that almost never appear online, members are now completely at RCI's mercy as to how many points lite they will charge for an exchange.

Personally, my medium traders in SA were impacted negatively and my great traders varied. My summer OBX week continued to hold a similar relative value to most of the things I am interested in as it had before the change, at least as to the ones I can see. My summer UK weeks, which used to trade a good bit better than the OBX weeks, and are rarer in the system, however now only get about 2/3 the points lite of the OBX week. Needless to say, I would not give those to RCI on a bet any more! From a valuation standpoint, I could probably trade the OBX week in RCI okay, but I simply don't trust a system that is somewhat transparent on one side of the equation but not transparent on the other.

I recall another poster here commenting on her tiger trader now getting less points lite than her medium traders. There are obviously many flawed valuations in the new system and RCI does not seem to be sorting them out. Either those discrepancies are intentional or they just don't care.

There are certainly strategies out there for those who want to continue to play the RCI game, such as buying weeks that are currently overpointed and hoping there will not be a major shift in valuations too soon. Some of the lockoffs in overbuilt areas seem to work at least for now.

Personally, two of my three resorts are in areas I like to go myself and are at member-run resorts, and that is the type of place I like to own. I do not relish buying at a developer-run resort just to bag some high points lite for the immediate future, but some may find that okay.

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

There are certainly strategies out there for those who want to continue to play the RCI game, such as buying weeks that are currently overpointed and hoping there will not be a major shift in valuations too soon. Some of the lockoffs in overbuilt areas seem to work at least for now.

You know, buying in places that are over pointed like Europe and The outer banks does tend to work for some, but personally, i like places that have been established as places people actually like to visit, like Myrtle Beach and Williamsburg, because when i buy in these places its not only a good value, because its a great vacation spot i'd like to visot, but i get the points the resort is worth and not just some trumped up 15-20 points like the outer banks gets...who knows when RCI will catch on that no family(The majority of TS owners) wants to pay the money to fly to europe and drop the Points level to where it should be (IMO 5-6TPU for all of europe)

[bravesfan Member Find all posts View Profile Close bravesfan]

There are of course tons of trades with less points lite required than what RCI gives them as a banking as well.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Ride, you bought after Points Lite came in, from your posts, and bought lockouts, which have been annointed by RCI with extra points lite, so you followed a strategy that makes at least short term sense. While you did not change your ownership, you based your new ownership on today's RCI valuations. Whether they wil still be tomorrows valuations, we will have to wait and see.

And based on your previous posts, I don't think its worth my time to try to explain supply and demand to you again or what the term ''overbuilt'' means in that context. But at least summer in Myrtle Beach does have a great supply / demand curve so you have at least one place figured out correctly.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

There are of course tons of trades with less points lite required than what RCI gives them as a banking as well.

Quite right, and the overpointing is just as big a problem with the integrity of the system as the underpointing. If someone wants a short term bonanza, the overpointed resorts are just the thing, but they should not count on it always remaining that way or maybe not even for the medium term.

I remember someone OY finding weeks in Orlando that RCI was giving out 50 points lite for deposits while at the very same time they had the exact same weeks availible to trade into for 10 points lite. Things like that corrupt the system.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Ride, have you lost your mind? : 5 or 6 points for all of Europe. Do you forget there are people who live in Europe who travel to Europe. And just because you don't like the OBX, there are plenty of people who do. I want whatever you're on shaggy

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

What I did was take over a Wyndham account so I wouldn't have to pay exchange fees, walked away from my Highlands of Sugar ( no one wanted it) and am still using my MROP where the fees are much much less. shaggy