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Re: Points or Weeks? (by Marie M.):

RCI Points is just one of many "points based" programs. You should take the time to investigate all of them and see which have resorts in the locations where you are most interested in vacationing. Some ot the most popular programs include Fairfield, Trendwest, Hilton Grand Vacation Club, Marriott Vacation Club, Disney, Starwood, BlueGreen, WorldMark, Equivest, Royal Holiday Club, Sunterra, etc... Some have most of their timeshare properties on the west coast of the U.S.. Others are concentrated in the southeastern states. Fairfield Points are considered to provide the greatest number of choices.

Each program has its own rules and benefits. Take the time to explore the pros and cons of each. There is a lot of information available on the bulletin boards/forums at the Timeshare Users Group www.tug2.net. especially on the board devoted to Points Systems Discussions. Make sure to read the "sticky notes" at the top of the board.

There are several Yahoo Groups where members post charts and discuss various topics related to the ownership of the particular points system they have purchased. You can do a Google search for "Yahoo Group XXX e.g. Fairfield timeshare"

Points provide more flexibility than "fixed/deeded" weeks but there are disadvantages as well.

With RCI Points, if you want a resort other than the "home resort" to which your points are attached, you can search for weeks or days only 10 months in advance of the check-in date.

Owners of fixed weeks can deposit their week with RCI or Interval International up to 2 years before the check in date, and can use it for an exchange up to 2 years after the check in date. Theoretically this allows them to obtain a week exchange anytime within a 4 year period.

Owners of "floating" time can sometimes reserve a week and deposit it with RCI and I.I. up to two years before the check-in date. It depends upon the policy of the individual resort. Some will only allow reservations a year in advance. But whatever "floating week" is deposited, it can be used to search for exchanges for at least one (if not two) years before the check-in date, and always for two years after.

Because the owners of "fixed deeded" weeks can begin searching for a desired exchange so far in advance, many RCI Points owners are complaining that all of the prime weeks have been "snatched" by fixed week owners before they (the RCI Points owners) ever had a chance to be offered the weeks.

The owner of a fixed week always has the right to use, loan, gift, or rent out the week they own (as long as the mainenance fees, taxes, and other billed items have been paid AND the week has not been deposited with RCI, II, or any other exchange company).

Weeks (or nights) obtained by using RCI Points cannot be rented out. And if you wish to allow a guest to use the week or nights, you must obtain a "guest certificate" at an additional cost. I think it's about $59. per week now, but I'm not sure because the fees keep going up.

There are many other differences between owning a fixed week vs. Points. But the above information should alert you to the fact that much research should be done before buying into any type of timeshare product.

When you finally figure out which program best meets your needs, give serious thought to purchasing directly from an owner, or elsewhere in the RESALE market. While some Points-based programs offer additional "perks" for buying from the developer, most times the perks do not provide sufficient extra benefits to justify paying "full price" when so many Points-based programs are available for up to 90% below the developer price on the resale market.