Bluegreen is GREAT ownership for RCI Points

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

If you are an 8000 point owner with a maintenance fee of $464, your real cost for that flight is:
- Maintenance fees and deposit fees (prorated): $440
- Cash difference: $35
- Booking fee: $49
Total ticket cost: $524 = 17.5% discount.

If you are a 60000 point owner with a maintenance fee of $2300, your real cost for that flight is:
- Maintenance fees and deposit fees (prorated): $333
- Cash difference: $35
- Booking fee: $49
Total ticket cost: $417 = 34% discount

YOU CAN USED SAVED POINTS to do this transaction!

Hello BocoBum99,

Thanks for your detailed example. It is very helpful.

Do you include the cost for your RCI point contract in this calculation?

This is where I get confused. My husband purchased Costa De Oro in Mazatlan for fixed week 13. The time share rep said he could rent the week, and after keeping 20% commission, my husband would make a profit.

That generally only worked if Week 13 was Holy Week that year. In 2006, my husband asked "How can I be sure to have Holy Week every year?" He then spent $5,000 to upgrade his contract to RCI Points/30,000 a year. So if I knew the cost of the original week and added $5K then divided by the new life of the contract that might be the 'contract price' per week.

Maintenance changes per year.

So if I add 'contract price' + current maintenance then that might = cost for 30,000 RCI points.

Even if it doesn't seem as significant of a savings, if I need airfare, I'll proabably want to compare:

- using Frequent Traveler points even though they have added fees
- paying for a discounted fare in cash
- using RCI points

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Hello BocoBum99,

Thanks for your detailed example. It is very helpful.

Do you include the cost for your RCI point contract in this calculation?

This is where I get confused. My husband purchased Costa De Oro in Mazatlan for fixed week 13. The time share rep said he could rent the week, and after keeping 20% commission, my husband would make a profit.

That generally only worked if Week 13 was Holy Week that year. In 2006, my husband asked "How can I be sure to have Holy Week every year?" He then spent $5,000 to upgrade his contract to RCI Points/30,000 a year. So if I knew the cost of the original week and added $5K then divided by the new life of the contract that might be the 'contract price' per week.

Maintenance changes per year.

So if I add 'contract price' + current maintenance then that might = cost for 30,000 RCI points.

Even if it doesn't seem as significant of a savings, if I need airfare, I'll proabably want to compare:

- using Frequent Traveler points even though they have added fees
- paying for a discounted fare in cash
- using RCI points

No, I didn't include the RCI Points contract in the calculation. That's because I am assuming your bought your RCI Points account to use RCI Points resort. Those costs should be assigned to the vacations you take at RCI Points resorts.

This analysis uses the incremental costs associated with using a Bluegreen Points resort in the RCI Points Points for Deposit program. It also does NOT include the cost of capital for owning your Bluegreen points. What I would probably do is take the cost savings and divide it by the capital cost for 8000 points. Then, you would have a return on invested capital.

[bobdobbs Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bobdobbs]

Question, Points for deposit.

1) How do you find out the RCI credit values to get the best MF => RCI points
2) How is the RCI that comes with BG membership differ from a RCI points account that you can do this with? Is it an RCI weeks membership?

3) I would assume that since RCI points for deposit could go away, that it wouldn't make sense to get a large BG account just for purposes of PFDing into to get travel reductions. AKA platinum elite => MF / club fees paid through points => PFDing for travel.

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

You could always get this rate or better with a Christmas Mountain Village UDI. I just figured out how to do it with a Vacation Club account.

Please be quiet Boca .

Bruce

[Jim McLaren Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jim McLaren]

Please be quiet Boca .

Bruce

Bruce, most of us have figured out what you do but don't really know exactly how you do it. I would love to learn but never will because I believe in buying where you want to go. CMV is attractive to me (being a [STRIKE]damned[/STRIKE] displaced yankee) but the rest of my family would rather stay further south. With the cost of airfare that kind of clinches the deal.

[swirg53 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swirg53]

However, you can look at it as a means to an end. You said you don't believe in buying at a place where you do not intend to go. What if it would allow you to go to the places you do want to go to for less cost?

I believe most RCI Points owners never vacation at the resort to where they are deeded. It is the whole point of the membership actually in RCI Points. I may be wrong for all but with my ownership, unless I direct the resort to NOT deposit my week into RCI Points, it automatically happens.

It's very similar to BG points as far as this goes. You are deeded at some location but you have these points you can use "for free" at any of the 40+ BG locations. I don't know that you own BG points, but if you did, would you only buy it, if where it will be deeded is a place you will go? And then would you only go there? (Not that you said this part.)

Now, I better not say any more or Bruce will get after me too! He is a wealth of information about Christmas Mountain Village and I would not be doing with timesharing what I am doing today (which is NOTHING in comparison to him) if it were not for Bruce. Thanks, Bruce! (And I already have dibs on all of his timeshares after he dies--I'm sure after I requested it that he put me in his will--ahead of his kids!!!! And geez....if he has a trust, with all his buying and selling, his attorney must have a head like an owl!)

Susan

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

However, you can look at it as a means to an end. You said you don't believe in buying at a place where you do not intend to go. What if it would allow you to go to the places you do want to go to for less cost?

I believe most RCI Points owners never vacation at the resort to where they are deeded. It is the whole point of the membership actually in RCI Points. I may be wrong for all but with my ownership, unless I direct the resort to NOT deposit my week into RCI Points, it automatically happens.

It's very similar to BG points as far as this goes. You are deeded at some location but you have these points you can use "for free" at any of the 40+ BG locations. I don't know that you own BG points, but if you did, would you only buy it, if where it will be deeded is a place you will go? And then would you only go there? (Not that you said this part.)

Now, I better not say any more or Bruce will get after me too! He is a wealth of information about Christmas Mountain Village and I would not be doing with timesharing what I am doing today (which is NOTHING in comparison to him) if it were not for Bruce. Thanks, Bruce! (And I already have dibs on all of his timeshares after he dies--I'm sure after I requested it that he put me in his will--ahead of his kids!!!! And geez....if he has a trust, with all his buying and selling, his attorney must have a head like an owl!)

Susan

Well Susan, we have vacationed at all 3 of our resorts of were our 4 RCI Points ownerships are located.

Bruce

[swirg53 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swirg53]

Yes, Bruce, but now that you opened the bag of worms-------with information I already knew---have you owned somewhere and not stayed there? (I know the answer but perhaps others might not.)

I really wasn't insinuating you didn't stay at those resorts. I know you prefer and try to purchase at resorts where you would like to stay if at all possible for when they pull the rug out from under RCI Points. Which some of you think they very will might do--or at least add that caution--especially in particular the points for deposit program. It is a young program, correct--that is the points for deposit program? Is RCI Points also a newer program than RCI Weeks?

I know the benefits are getting lesser valued as they make changes in the program but I still think it is a neat way to be able to get discounted air fare. Thanks, Jim, for the suggestion to go to them with another flight/price and ask them to try for that one. I didn't know you could tell them which one(s) you wanted.

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

I really wasn't insinuating you didn't stay at those resorts. I know you prefer and try to purchase at resorts where you would like to stay if at all possible for when they pull the rug out from under RCI Points. Which some of you think they very will might do--or at least add that caution--especially in particular the points for deposit program. It is a young program, correct--that is the points for deposit program? Is RCI Points also a newer program than RCI Weeks?

RCI Points isn't going away; it has way too many benefits for RCI. Now, RCI points for deposit, as you mention, will almost certainly go away at some point, it's a question of when. The change to limit deposits to 4/year/resort was a step in that direction.

And how does Bruce do it? Volume, baby, volume.

sc
--

[swirg53 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swirg53]

So, if they do away with the RCI Points for Deposit program, then does that mean that I would only have points deposited into RCI Points from my actual RCI Points resort ownership? If so, that doesn't sound like such a great deal as someone suggested RCI Points to still be even without PFD.

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

Susan, you would still beable to book partial weeksand the 9,000 point weeks. If you book a Sunday to Thurday like we did at the Fairfield Nashville the smaller amount of RCI Points used for that part of the week was very cost effective.

But seeing that the program is still in effect here is what we have done and our views of what our guesses are based on todays info for what may be in the future for PFD.


Over the last 3 or so years I think our savings on Airfare more than covered the total costs of the Purchase price of our 4 RCI Points resorts and yearly fees while the rentals/or use have more than covered the maintenance fees.

Seeing we can only have 3 active RCI Points accounts I will try to sell the
one deeded as a week 31 at Fox Hills in Wisconsin or one of our Cliffs in
Las Vegas. But if they do not sell asap then because of the maintenance fee cost ratio we can use them for airfare, Disney tickets or rent them out as before or use them to vacation at.

I am certainly glad that we own units were we would not mind staying at if
they do not rent out or if Points for deposit ended.

But IMO I think the weeks for RCI points program will be good for at least
about another 5 years.

One reason is that the mini systems have taken a lot of inventory that RCI
used to get and with RCI's many rental programs RCI I think needs that
inventory they get from the RCI Points for Deposit program.

RCI aware that many of us have different choices available to them
just besides RCI Weeks.

As an example with our UDI's I can besides putting deposits into RCI weeks
and Points we can also deposit into II Weeks, HTSE, TPI and other independent
exchange companies.

A number of you through our BG Points have access to the Shell vacation Club
and if the Diamond offer gets done I would guess that you would be able
access to their inventory similar to the Shell access through Bluegreen.

Bruce

[brucecz Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close brucecz]

I'm sure after I requested it that he put me in his will--ahead of his kids!!!! And geez....if he has a trust, with all his buying and selling, his attorney must have a head like an owl!)

Susan

It is a simple revocable trust. And you have a option to buy them at about Bluegreen Pinnacale pricing.

Special for you, only $12,000 for a CMV Cottage and $25,000 for a CMV Oak Timbers. No thanks needed.

Bruce

[swirg53 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swirg53]

You're all heart, Bruce! Do you want blood? or what?

After I said you were smooth, too!

[ianatseven@yahoo.com Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ianatseven@yahoo.com]

Question for BocaBum

Hey there,

I am new to the forum and have asked a few questions concerning the Bluegreen system. The answer generally comes back.... you need to talk to Boca Bum, he is the resident BG expert. So here goes.

I am very confused. Having owned my BG TS for about 12 years (Landmark) I have used it almost every year to trade to RCI for something in their weeks inventory. I recently attended a BG update meeting and became even more confused. They were explaining the benefits of the new silver and gold levels.
I currently have 9000 BG points so will need an additional 11,000 points to get to silver.
Question 1. the sales guy kept telling me that when I get to silver that I can book anything out of the RCI points book and pay $199 and not even use my points, is this true?
Question 2. He also told me that my existing BG resort would transfer into thr RCI points system instead of the current RCI weeks system. If this is the case what will 9000 BG points be worth in the RCI system, because it appears that 9000 points is good for about one night in the RCI system?
Question 3. If I were to purchase 11000 points resell will I then become silver in the BG system?
Question 4. If I continue to trade in everything to RCI each year how many weeks will this get me in a 1 bedroom red?
Question 5. As a silver member will I also be able to use the Shell Vacation resorts?

I know this is a lot of questions but beleive me I have even more. By the way I noticed you just happened to have 11k points for sales, what info can you tell me about that resort?

Thanks a bunch

[swirg53 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swirg53]

New Bronze Level

Do you know about the new bronze level at 16,000 points?

There is no longer a "preferred" member program but rather it is now called "premier", having changed a few of the benefits, adding some at the higher levels and unfortunately reducing some of the benefits across the board, but adding a 16,000 bronze level and a 60,000 platinum level.

I will send you a private message of how to contact me.

Susan