"Something Big is Coming"

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

I can't understand what people have to be afraid of. It never ceases to amaze me how many people complain about RCI but continue to use them. There are alternatives. I dropped RCI 15 years ago when it was obvious that they were not what I wanted. If you are not happy with RCI. then the easy solution is to go elsewhere.

John,

That is easy to say and not so easy to do. For many of us stuck here on the east coast, that would prefer to vacation here on the east coast, RCI is just about the only game in town.

I use them as little as possible. MOST of my vacations for 2009 ( 5 of 6 ) have been gotten thru Independents or Direct Exchanges.

Many of us have and probably will continue to have RCI memberships.

It is a job I have taken upon myself to help people learn to use those memberships to the best of their abilities. If changes are being made it behooves the intellegent to understand what they are and then find ways to make it work.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

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

John,

That is easy to say and not so easy to do. For many of us stuck here on the east coast, that would prefer to vacation here on the east coast, RCI is just about the only game in town.

I use them as little as possible. MOST of my vacations for 2009 ( 5 of 6 ) have been gotten thru Independents or Direct Exchanges.

Many of us have and probably will continue to have RCI memberships.

It is a job I have taken upon myself to help people learn to use those memberships to the best of their abilities. If changes are being made it behooves the intellegent to understand what they are and then find ways to make it work.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

There are always alternatives. SFX has many resorts on the East Coast from Florida to Maine. I just completed an exchange into the Manhattan Club in NYC last month through SFX. I am sure there are other alternatives as well.

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

There are always alternatives. SFX has many resorts on the East Coast from Florida to Maine. I just completed an exchange into the Manhattan Club in NYC last month through SFX. I am sure there are other alternatives as well.

No unfortunately for the masses there aren't. Not from a timeshare exchange model.

I really had to plan my vacations next year to key on areas that Independents stood a better than good chance of satisfying my requests. Let me tell you I am THRILLED with what I have lined up for next year. HOWEVER I cannot afford the time or money to go to Hawaii every year for 2 or 3 weeks and Mexico has NO appeal for me. I live 30 miles from midtown Manhattan. Cali is doable and on the list every year anyway and Independents can help me there.

I would pay for your airfare if you could get into Smuggler's Notch in primetime summer using an alternative. As well as most beachfront "resorts" from Maine to North Carolina (the offer to pay air does not include those ).

I push the Indies as much or more than many, particularly when I know they can fill the bill. That is not going to make the need for RCI go away.

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

I'm actually quite pleased with what I get through RCI. I kid because I care.

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

I am not going to argue with you about this matter as it really doesn't matter to me. I really have absolutely no interest in what RCI does or doesn't do. My original comment was one of curiosity of why people would use a service that they complain about so much.

As far as getting into those resorts you mentioned, I will never really know as the only resort on the East Coast that interests me is the Manhattan Club in NYC and I know I can get that one. However, the SFX directory lists many resorts in all states from Florida to Maine. I would expect that I could do better exchanging through them than RCI but that is a moot point as I have no intention to try.

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

I am not going to argue with you about this matter as it really doesn't matter to me. I really have absolutely no interest in what RCI does or doesn't do. My original comment was one of curiosity of why people would use a service that they complain about so much.

This is not meant as an argument. It is meant to be a debate.

If I am mis-leading people I think I (and they) have the right to know. I have tried many times to get a better grasp on SFX's inventory flow here in the northeast. It is not their business model to share that information.

When I see inventory I push it hard from the others when it is available.

What it comes down to is I AGREE WITH YOU. Independents are preferable in all cases. We dearly wish that something other than Manhattan Club, Williamsburg and Orlando would show up with more regularity. We would all be more than happy to jump ship if we could.

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

......My original comment was one of curiosity of why people would use a service that they complain about so much.......
.

If you are with Wyndham(Fairfield) for most points members your payment for RCI account is automatically included (you have no choice) Yes we could use the independents and sometimes do but we still pay for the RCI account and for deposits we cannot make as many deposits from our points in any of the independents as we can if RCI. The fact that Wyndham and RCi are both the same company and the good trades that they sold us on when purchasing the property to start and which we used to get plenty of have been much deminished by RCI's tactics gives up reason to complain about them not living up to their commitments. As far as just dropping RCI if we don't like how they act may be the easy solution for you but is not so easy for many others for a variety of reasons. I have seen you do your share of bitching and moaning on things that affect you more directly so why would you criticise others when they do so?

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

I am not going to argue with you about this matter as it really doesn't matter to me.

Except that you did and so, evidently, it does.

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

I have seen you do your share of bitching and moaning on things that affect you more directly so why would you criticise others when they do so?

I have NEVER "bitched and moaned" about timesharing as you say. I would love to know where that came from as I have nothing to complain about. I have alway received what I wanted since switching from RCI and II several years ago. I simply stated that RCI nor II could not deliver what I wanted so I chose an alternative. That is hardly "bitching and moaning". I am not criticizing anybody but am simply asking why.

When Wyndham took over my resort, I sold it rather than have to deal with them. I have never had points so I can't discuss that as I have no knowledge about it nor do I care to.

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

Except that you did and so, evidently, it does.

No, it really doesn't bother me. Again, it is out of curiosity of why somebody would use a service that they are not happy with. It is sort of like banging your head against the wall and them complaining about having a headache.

For your sake and others I hope that whatever RCI plans to do doesn't impact any of you too much.

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

This is not meant as an argument. It is meant to be a debate.

If I am mis-leading people I think I (and they) have the right to know. I have tried many times to get a better grasp on SFX's inventory flow here in the northeast. It is not their business model to share that information.

When I see inventory I push it hard from the others when it is available.

What it comes down to is I AGREE WITH YOU. Independents are preferable in all cases. We dearly wish that something other than Manhattan Club, Williamsburg and Orlando would show up with more regularity. We would all be more than happy to jump ship if we could.

SFX's resort directory has resorts in the following East Coast locations:

Maine - 4 resorts
New Hampshire - 2 resorts
New Jersey - 1 resort
New York City - 2 resorts
Rhode Island - 1 resort
Vermont - 1 resort ( Smuggler's Notch Resort )
Charleston - 1 resort
Hilton Head - 14 resorts
Myrtle Beach - 3 resorts
Williamsburg - 7 resorts
Florida - 54 resorts in all parts of Florida.

I realize that just because a resort is in their directory is no guarantee that you can get an exchange there. However, it does indicate that they accept those resorts for deposit and do make exchanges into them. There are also several resorts that you can trade into that are not in the directory.

Obviously RCI has far more resorts than SFX does but you also have a lot more people competing for them. As far as inventory goes, you are right about SFX having a much different business model. Some people do not like their business model but it works very well for most people if you understand it. Personally, I am not interested in what they have in inventory. Anything in inventory is not going to be in heavy demand as it would have been matched to somebody before it would ever get into their inventory. There are a couple of exceptions, namely Mayan Palace/Grand Mayan that they almost always have in inventory because of MP/GM's affiliation with SFX giving them lots of developer weeks.

In our case, I reserve the top trader at my home resort, typically July 4th week, and automatically deposit it to SFX. My banked weeks never expire. I do not pay any attention to SFX or timeshares until my wife and I decide we want to go somewhere. When we decide, then I make my request and wait until it comes through which it always has for the past 11 years. I tend to request specific resorts and usually 2 consecutive weeks depending on where we are going.

I know that this is somewhat deviating from the original topic but it illustrates that there can definitely be alternatives other than RCI for most people.

[pcgirl54 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pcgirl54]

I hope this "Something Big" is a new RCI search engine because the current one is just awful.

In our case we have gotten wonderful exchanges thru RCI for over 10 years wit h our summer Cape Cod week.

We mainly vacation at coastal beaches. Anywhere from OBX, Myrtle Beach, Monarch in Hilton Head and wonderful South Seas Plantation in Captiva, UBC in Anna Maria Island and Charter Club Marco Island. We also exchanged to Manhattan Club in 2003 the Royals in Cancun.

[regatta333 Member Find all posts View Profile Close regatta333]

There are also several resorts that you can trade into that are not in the directory.

Why would they not include all resorts in their directory?

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

Why would they not include all resorts in their directory?

Unlike RCI and II, the resorts that SFX deals with do not have to be affiliated with them. The RCI and II directories list all of the resorts that are affiliated with them. The only resorts that I know are affiliated with SFX are Mayan Palace/ Grand Mayan and HGVC. Therefore SFX's directory is more of a guide as to what resorts they accept rather than a hard list. SFX does not care about the affiliation a resort may have whereas RCI and II only deal with resorts that are affiliated with them. SFX will only accept good resorts in high demand locations during prime time for deposit UNLESS a member has requested a resort, location or time that they would normally not accept for deposit.

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

For someone who doesn't want to argue about this, you sure are typing a lot.