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[Q=ken1193] mackf4 states, quoted only in pertinent part: >>The thing is, bad idea or not, I want to play the game. I think I can win it. << Nobody "wins" it except RCI. Shoot for "break even" or "stay ahead". ====================================== >> I've been corresponding with Elise, a very kind and helpful RCI Customer Communications Specialist (yes, they do exist!). << Kind and helpful is great --- but knowledgeable and well informed would be so much better. I'd gladly deal with the biggest jerk in RCI --- just as long as s/he knew what on earth they were talking about. ======================================= >> Next, I did one better and found a username/password so I can log into the RCI member area myself! I've found all sorts of great point deals/availability there, both in the next few months and in the distant future. It's a fun site to play around on. << Also, the published points grid is quite straightforward and spells out points requirements for any and every size unit and season, anywhere in the world. I tip my cap to RCI (something I very rarely do) for having gotten that info into print a while back. You sound like a determined individual with intellect, an adventurous spirit and a good measure of resolve. You will routinely need ALL of those attributes in order to successfully deal with RCI. I've now actually come to regard my interactions with RCI as a "game", one in which the opposition wants to deceive and mislead me in order to deflect me from making my way around the game board. However, in this "game" I'm determined instead to find accurate facts, with or without RCI help, and work with those facts to prevail. That philosophy has helped to keep me (mostly) sane in two decades of dealing with RCI. ====================================== >> RCI's website seems to be fully automated so I should never need to call the annoying customer service center (fingers crossed). << Ahhh..... you'll soon find, over time, that the RCI site apparently has functionality problems on a surprisingly frequent basis for such a large company. That fact is a source of much complaint and ridicule on numerous other Internet timeshare forums. That said, I rarely visit or use it myself, so this is "relayed reports" rather than the results of my own personal experience. Good luck. You're going to need it, but I'm also willing to bet that you have the mettle and fortitude to prevail in this "game".[/Q] ======= I've concluded that the RCI Weeks site sometimes "times out" when you poke around too long looking at exchange options. It does not exactly SAY so, but suddenly the dozens of options you have been reading about disappear. If you log out and then log in again, they usually reappear. MD