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RCI Weeks is the familiar tried
and trusted style of ownership and has been around for over 25 years. Within
the system there are fixed weeks and floating weeks. Fixed weeks are a
specific week number whereas floating time is usually High medium or low
time banded weeks within a specific unit size. Membership to RCI Weeks is
around £65 a year with exchanges per week at £88 in Europe or £119
Worldwide. Bonus weeks (spare capacity when available) can be from £82 -
£250 a week, usually in lower demand times and locations.
Choose a fixed week of timeshare in a specific week and you know what
trading power you have or if you want to convert to RCI Points. Choose
floating time if you want flexibility within a club that has an internal
exchange prior to the option of RCI Weeks exchange, such as Compass Club or
Atlas Club above. Avoid MDC’s that don’t specify exactly how and what they
supply your week for RCI exchange.
The weeks
system generally works on exchanging like for like within a set of rules.
The variable.
Banking
(Spacebanking) your weeks with RCI Weeks as far as possible into the future
caps at which level your unit is valued, so early banking increases trading
power, no matter what is owned (see Compass above). When you bank your
timeshare the RCI computer allocates your week a specific value which is
added to the like for like value of the week and is set according to the
specific date of banking set against the date of your week (Month, 2003,
2004 etc)
The fixed odds.
These are the like for like, location and quality factors which of course
determine demand. The size of unit, the season or week you own, the quality
level and award rating of the resort. In RCI blue time is low season and
gets a very low rating, white time, which is medium time, gets a modest to
low evaluation and red time which is high demand gets the maximum value. We
only recommend red time if you are going to use RCI or other exchange
methods. Compass Club, which has over 3000 members only has red time at its
resorts.
Large units
(sleeping 6 people) scores highest, smaller apartments score correspondingly
lower - a studio has a very poor score and is nowadays considered old
fashioned. Size of accommodation generally the bigger the better.
Demand How much other people
want your resort or the area it is in by demand.
Owning a timeshare in the
highest demand resorts of the World gives you a very substantial advantage
over other areas of lower demand. This should be your main consideration
when choosing you timeshare if you want the maximum exchange trading power.
Of course the RCI computer is dynamic and knows by requests which resorts
have the greatest demands and in which weeks and units and can re evaluate
on an ongoing basis.
Generally peak is considered to
be summer weeks, 25 to 35 or weeks 51 and 52 in the sunnier locations or
Easter and other public holidays and these weeks trade more powerfully than
say red time in March.
Ask us the RCI points value of
what you are looking at purchasing as it will tell you exactly its trading
power with RCI – no more guesswork before you buy! This can be of benefit to
those buying a fixed week with the view to going into points at a future
date.
As an example of values, a week in the 5
key rated Gold Crown Grangefield Oasis in Spain during School holidays is
79,000 points in value terms whereas the same week in the Cherry Orchard in
the UK would be just 47,500 or 68,000 for the magnificent Johannsen’s
recommended Kenwick Woods with its pro golf course and stunning Leisure
Centre. So it’s the demand for the resort that counts too, not just the
location.
Europe can get two weeks when
exchanging into the US, Canada, South Africa or India in non peak times.
Basically regions with a strong demand for exchange and insufficient space
to satisfy it score by far highest so it makes more sense to own in Europe
rather than in the US or South Africa for instance.
Don’t be late! What determines what
RCI say is available TO YOU comes
from the demand for the week that you own in relation to the demand for the
week you want to exchange into – its obvious, the greater the demand for the
week you own, the better your choice. The value of your week is directly
linked to when you “banked” it with the exchange organisation. So don’t bank
late or you will be with the majority of owners who only bank 3 months or so
ahead. Someone with a late banked week will not be offered the wide choice
given to someone with an identical week who had the foresight to bank early
and outsmart the competition.
All high seasons are equal but
some are more equal than others!
If
you have a 3 bed it is more powerful than a two bed and if you own August it
trades into August, but if you have March red time it would have a challenge
getting you into June on a like for like banked week scenario.
Everyone needs Quality
time! Our
advice is choose the best quality at the greatest demanded resorts and then
ALSO bank your weeks early to improve your choices over other owners of
similar ownerships. Choose high summer weeks (25 – 35) if you wish to
holiday in them as they generally carry greater weight. RCI Points values
can be a good indication of trading power.
Modesty.
Many of our owners have outflanked other ownerships by simply banking their
weeks early. Compass Club pre banks its weeks (all high season) up to 2
years ahead and this is acknowledged by RCI as giving their owners a greater
trading power in the RCI Weeks system.
How do RCI rate their
Affiliate Resorts?
RCI
analyse resorts, not just for resort quality but to reflect the likely
overall holiday experience. Apart from resort location and quality, there
are the opinions of the RCI members who have exchanged into the resort. This
information is collated along with exchange holidaymakers returning comment
cards out of a maximum scoring of 5. They evaluate…..
1.
Check in -
check out service
2.
Resort
Hospitality
3.
Resort
amenities
4.
Resort
activities
5.
Unit quality
6.
Unit
maintenance
7.
Unit
housekeeping
8.
Overall
holiday experience
9.
Weather
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