phone: 01604 861 364 | email: info@timeshare-solutions.co.uk

You may not be aware but RCI Points was launched over ten years ago as a direct result of the changing holiday patterns of RCI Members.

Today there are over one million RCI Points members who have made the move to this way of exchanging their holiday time and the satisfaction levels of RCI Points members is nearly 90%.

However even though so many have made the move to Points there still seems to be considerable misunderstanding about Points and how timeshare owners can become involved. And resorts can also make joining RCI Points unnecessarily confusing – and expensive.

The following is a simple explanation for current timeshare owners who are looking to join RCI Points.

How to convert For the majority of timeshare owners who own week/s at a European resort, joining RCI Points is a simple process of CEDING weeks to RCI Points.

This simply means that you give RCI the right to deposit your week/s every year into their pool of accommodation and to receive Points back in return.

CEDING does not mean that you pass over the ownership of your week/s to RCI – it is more like long term Spacebanking just like you do now. So you still own your week/s but every year the week/s go to RCI and they give you Points back in return.

The Point, known as Cession Points, that RCI gives you in return for your week/s is a fixed amount of Points that are added to your account every year on your anniversary of membership. These Points are different for every resort, every week number and every apartment size.

So typically, week 34 (August) in a three bedroom apartment at a Gold Crown resort will be allocated more Points than a studio apartment in week 3 (January) in a standard resort.

Even if you own in an area where it has been allocated RED time all year round, RCI has acknowledged that there is more demand for the peak summer weeks than, for example, in March. As such, the values at these resorts will be different week by week based on the demand from other RCI members for that particular destination.

Points values are fixed and over the past eight years only one resort has had their values changed – and this was because the resort went through a great refurbishment programme and all the Points values went up.

Remember the Points that you receive for your timeshare week/s is what other RCI Points members will pay if they want to book your week. The only change is if your week falls into Easter or half terms when the Points value to visit your resort will increase for other RCI Points members.

If you have had a presentation on RCI Points you will know that when you join RCI Points you are also required to add to your ownership at the same time. The reason for this is that should you decide to sell your original timeshare weeks you will always have sufficient Points in your account to enjoy RCI holidays.

The minimum number of extra Points that you need to purchase when you join RCI Points is 12,000 Points. These Points are called Pure Points.

However, you may be encouraged to purchase more. And if you only have a small number of Cession Points allocated to your current timeshare week it might be a good idea to purchase some additional Points.

You can tell by taking a look at the RCI Points charts which show you what Points are required for the holidays that you want to take.

So if you need school holidays you are going to need at least 75,000 Points. If you holiday in low season only you will need less Points every year.

Once you have decided to CEDE your week/s to RCI Points, it is a simple case of filling out an Agreement.

For owners at non-European resorts we are unable to assist you with converting to RCI Points. However we recommend that you speak directly with your resort who might be able to assist you.

There are also a small number of European resorts which cannot be converted to RCI Points. There are a number of reasons for this including the quality of your resort and the developer’s request that their owners are not offered this opportunity.

Benefits of converting

There a number of benefits to converting to RCI Points. These include:

NO more banking – every year your week/s go automatically to RCI so you don’t need to remember to bank and no more phone calls from RCI reminding you to bank. And in return, you receive RCI Points into your account.

NO trading power – this simply means that you enjoy the full value of your week/s every year and have access to everything in the RCI pool of accommodation. This increases your choice of resort destinations as you can see exactly what is available and if you have the Points you can book it.

MORE value – as every week has been valued by RCI at every resort you can see that by using your Points wisely you could enjoy more holidays. If you own a two bedroom apartment but only need a one bedroom you could enjoy two weeks holiday each year from your one week of ownership. This makes your timeshare even better value.

LOWER reservation fees – when you make a reservation with RCI Points you pay just £79 per booking – even if that booking is for two weeks or more. With RCI Weeks the price is between £115 and £145 per week depending on your destination.

MORE FLEXIBLITY – with RCI Points you can spend your Points on more than just timeshare accommodation. You can use Points Partners to book flights, car hire, hotels, Country Cottages, insurance, Disney Passes and lots more.

And there is more. Points members can save and borrow their Points from one year to the next and members can make all their reservations online. Some UK resorts offer split week reservations so you can holiday for a weekend or a mid week.

Remember, you only spend the Points you need for the holiday that you want. This means that you can be left with change in your Points account which could be used for another holiday or one of the Points Partner options.

Can you still use your week?

The answer to this is simply yes – because you still own your week and continue to pay the management fees.

If you want to use your week in a year rather than receive the Points you simply need to contact RCI 13-12 months before the start date of your week and they will book this for you.

There is no reservation charge if you book your week during this period.

What are the costs involved

The cost to convert to RCI Points is much less than you think. However, before you decide what you want to do and if you need any extra Points, it is important that you find out the true RCI Points value of your current week.

How many RCI Points are your weeks of timeshare worth?

If you go to our FREE Valuation Form, we will send you a valuation of your timeshare week/s in Points. This comes directly from RCI and is not estimation.

Please complete the form with as much details as possible including your RCI WEEKS membership number.

RCI Points Valuation