Let's work together on the letter.

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

I don't have time to check that right this very minute but if it's true...

Will you Marry Me?

It takes a few clicks to get there but it's still there.

1.click on Exchange Your Week

2. select a deposit to use for your exchange

3. click on a a region on the left side of the screen under the Search by List column.

Voila - on the right side of the screen you see the Ongoing Search option which will take you to the old 10 week search screen.

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

First, to get that you have to do at least one search, at least one step more than just selecting the deposit to search on.

Then, it appears to be only for Ongoing Searches, cuz that's what it says it's for, not that I entered something and clicked Continue, cuz I don't wanna tempt fate.

I just realized that the old 10-week drop down system IS still available. If you click on link in the blue box on the right side of the page that says:


"Can’t find the exchange you’re looking for?
An Ongoing Search saves you time by continuously searching for RCI exchange options on your behalf.

Ongoing Search"

it will pull up the old search window.

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

Voila - on the right side of the screen you see the Ongoing Search option which will take you to the old 10 week search screen.

Ok, I've played around with this a bit. It may look like the old search screen but it doesn't function the same way.

You type in your places, dates and number of weeks to search. It starts searching using your start date, but you can no longer limit the length of time for how long it searches. It searches and pulls inventory up until the end of your deposit period (ie. search summer coastal socal starting June 28,2009 for 8 weeks - pulls deposits from Jul 1,2009 - Oct 2010). The second thing is that if you have more than 1 page of results, it glitches when you try to go to page 2 or change it from the standard 10 resorts per page to 25 per page. When you do the first, it gives you the "your transaction cannot be completed at this time" message. If you try to switch to the 25 resort pp view, it brings up all resorts.

In my mind, the old way is dead, unless someone else comes up with different results.

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

In other words, it's working just fine.

Really!!!??? What will the Ongoing Search advocates say about the Ongoing Search not working?

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

I have been grappling with my feelings about the new system. There is/was something about it that is/was unsettling, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Then it hit.

I grew up with an RCI shrouded in secrecy, the only thing I was allowed to know was the one resort that a VC told me I could get. My first almost ten years I was like a mushroom, kept in the dark and fed ----.

That complaint, the not knowing what something is worth, the whole trading power cloak and dagger situation, has been a big, if not the biggest, complaint all along. We have pleaded with them for years.

Now, suddenly, without warning, nothing is hidden. A brand new owner the very first search the very first day can see everything their deposit will get. No BS, no lies, no smoke and mirrors.

A new newbie can know just as much just as fast as an old oldie.

Wow!!! I am shocked!!!

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

I have been grappling with my feelings about the new system. There is/was something about it that is/was unsettling, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Then it hit.

I grew up with an RCI shrouded in secrecy, the only thing I was allowed to know was the one resort that a VC told me I could get. My first almost ten years I was like a mushroom, kept in the dark and fed ----.

That complaint, the not knowing what something is worth, the whole trading power cloak and dagger situation, has been a big, if not the biggest, complaint all along. We have pleaded with them for years.

Now, suddenly, without warning, nothing is hidden. A brand new owner the very first search the very first day can see everything their deposit will get. No BS, no lies, no smoke and mirrors.

A new newbie can know just as much just as fast as an old oldie.

Wow!!! I am shocked!!!

Is that why I'm having feelings of inadequacy these days?

I'm just kidding you know. Someone has to keep watching for "stuff" or what would the Wynfield people do for exchange ideas? Not to mention for myself. Who knew I wanted to go back to Monterey until that unit was sitting there taunting me. It would not have occurred to me to put an on-going search in for that. Of course now I have dates to work around for the second week.

I still am having days where I just can't tolerate the new system, which is why I just searched with Points this morning. I never thought I'd prefer the Points search to the weeks system but I'm close.

Trade power is still something that is very much in evidence but now they have quantified it. Of course if you only have the one in your account how would you know without a comparison?

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

I Put A Week On Hold

I can pull great exchanges this AM, but when I go to confirm them, there is a glitch and I can't confirm. I called RCI and got the usual doublespeak. They are showing me the whole inventory but not allowing me to confirm with the blue 2BR I am using. Unfair to tease like that.

I put a week on hold yesterday. I got an email saying it was on hold. Today I went online. I tried to confirm 2 times. I got an error message to call RCI. I talked to a RCI VC and after he put me on hold for 5 minutes, he came back and told me there is a problem with the computer and he will get back to me in an hour. That was 3 hours ago. I got on line and tried to confirm again and got the error message. However, RCI charged me $164.00 three times for the tranaction fee. I now have a credit balance of $492.00.

Walt

However, I do like the new way to search with more options.

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

Of course, what I meant is what you are saying. We are still mushrooms when it comes to how trading power is determined, but the result of it is now fully visible.

For exactly the same trvel window I can see that one of my deposits is good for 162000 trades while the other only 115000, and I can determined the difference if I care to, without having to have an uneducated Guide hired off the street and put through a few of hours of training, try to tell me the difference.

Everyone now knows what they have.

The next logical step, another of our long-time complaints, would be to provide that information before the purchase.

Trade power is still something that is very much in evidence but now they have quantified it. Of course if you only have the one in your account how would you know without a comparison?

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

And today's problem......my online account now says I have NO confirmations. Sheeeeesh.

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

An Observation

For the past several years RCI has been emphasizing early deposit and early exchanging. Yet, for January 2009, just a month from now, there are half again more trades available than for January 2010.

That would suggest that regardless of how hard they try, they can't force people to do things that are not natural or that require more timely information, such as planning for a vacation.

Most people cannot do it 6 months out, not to mention a year, and certainly not to mention two years.

[bezerk Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bezerk]

For the past several years RCI has been emphasizing early deposit and early exchanging. Yet, for January 2009, just a month from now, there are half again more trades available than for January 2010.

That would suggest that regardless of how hard they try, they can't force people to do things that are not natural or that require more timely information, such as planning for a vacation.

Most people cannot do it 6 months out, not to mention a year, and certainly not to mention two years.

Unless you are obsessed like me.....a very bad sickness...I plan at least a year ahead........

Last night was first night I could get The new Enhanced site to do anything but hang, and hang, and hang. So I found a trade I wanted early in evening...tried to put on hold, message call RCI...tried numerous times. In the wee hours I tried again and lo and behold it worked....did not get too excited...today I go on computer figuring I'll have troubles with RCI site again and will not be able to confirm, well much to my surprise it even confirmed, so unless another glitch....Acapulco in May 2009 at Grand Mayan is confirmed.

I do not mind the new site, (hough it does take longer ), if it functioned properly......but this has been first time it has worked for me, so we shall see how long that lasts!!!

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

Along the same line, today for me peak availability is May 2009 @ 12000 units, Oct. 2009 @ 11500, Nov. 2009 @ 10000 & Jan. 2009 @ 9500.

So, availability peaks at 6 to 12 months out, excluding the more popular summer vacation months.

I don't know what's up for Jan, why it is so high when Feb through April are lower, other than maybe Snowbirding does not really ramp up in January.

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

Along the same line, today for me peak availability is May 2009 @ 12000 units, Oct. 2009 @ 11500, Nov. 2009 @ 10000 & Jan. 2009 @ 9500.

So, availability peaks at 6 to 12 months out, excluding the more popular summer vacation months.

I don't know what's up for Jan, why it is so high when Feb through April are lower, other than maybe Snowbirding does not really ramp up in January.

School breaks. Northeast is off Presidents week in Feb and school breaks across the US run thru March until mid-April. Week 1 is generally a dog trader.

Bootleg always used to say that the bulk of member deposits were made in the 10 to 6 month mark before check-in dates. Seems that is still true.

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

The new system provides some meaningful data, much more so than Red, White and Blue.

You can see popularity by Region . . . peak availability for Florida is May & August though November, or

by Sub Region . . . peak availability for SW FL is Aug, Sept and Oct . . and for Orlando it is May.

Do you think they are giving us more info than they should? Have they thought this out? Will we behave the same when we actually have real info?

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

I think that a lot of the data reinforces what we have managed to learn about RCI over the past 10 or so years since they went on-line.

There is a lot of data, numerically supported now. What we can do with it remains to be seen.

What their ulterior motives are I cannot guess but believe me they will turn a $ on this.

I do know that showing some poor shmoe that he can get 86,000+ exchanges for his white week is a nice way of saying "Well you can't get what you want but surely you can settle for ONE of the 86k+ things you CAN get". Perhaps that does improve the customer experience for the uneducated.