RENTING AN EXCHANGED WEEK IS AGAINST EXCHANGE COMPANY RULES...

Renting an exchanged week is against RCI and II rules. From RCI's Terms and Conditions below:

It is a violation of RCI's Terms and Conditions of Membership (Section 8) to rent, sell, barter, or auction, a deposited week or confirmed exchange, even if a Guest Certificate is purchased. Violation of this guideline could result in the termination of your RCI membership.

You may give a vacation to a friend or family member via the RCI Guest Certificate; however, you may not receive any compensation beyond the price of the exchange and Guest Certificate fees. Compensation includes anything of value, even another exchange vacation.

Following are a few of the reasons RCI prohibits deposited weeks and exchange vacations from being sold:

1) Accurate representation of Trading Power value -- RCI has contracts with its affiliated resorts and is in a better position to influence information provided about its program.

2) Fair exchange policy - RCI's program strives to provide a vacation that is comparable to the one you own. If members buy a deposited week from a resort they've never visited, RCI has no way to gauge their expectations.

3) Support for timeshare sales and purchases -- Most people who want higher quality vacation exchanges invest in the purchase of higher quality weeks. When these weeks are deposited with RCI, they in turn provide exchange families with a better selection and quality of inventory from which to choose. Travelers would not be incented to upgrade their purchases if they could simply buy the "interest" for a fraction of the purchase price per year.

4) The demand among RCI members for certain areas and times of year is overwhelming (school breaks, holidays, etc.) This is magnified when non-members can compete for the same space.

If you can't use a confimed exchange, cancel it and make the unit available to other RCI members who may be requesting it. When members rent or swap confirmed exchanges, they undermine RCI's program to the detriment of other members. If a member is waiting for a vacation, he would indeed be upset to think that prime exchange units were being offered to the general public or traded among friends instead of being released.

RCI works hard to keep its exchange program viable and to satisfy its subscribing members. Maintaining control of our inventory is crucial to our ability to do this.

The reasons you gave for RCI's position sound member friendly, but Section 6c of the Terms and Conditions of Membership, allows them to do whatever they wish with the deposit after RCI receives the deposit. Members have no overview at to how they operate. Based on Section 6c, RCI can rent all the deposited weeks if they wish. I have used RCI for the first time in the last 2 months, and except for an exchange in the UK, have gotten what I wanted, maybe not at exactly the time I originally sought. I am fortunate that I can be flexible with my travel plans, and am not limited to summer when the children are out of school. So far, I am relatively happy with RCI. However, my sister has been in RCI for many years, and is not too thrilled with their service.

Deleted by Phill12

The main reason RCI does not allow selling of spacebanked weeks or rentals of exchanges is actually a benefit to their membership. If those two acts were legal then ALL the good weeks would be exchanged for and rented out by many RCI members.

The reason they do not allow selling of spacebanked weeks is because there were many RCI members that ran a business of doing this before RCI was forced to change their Terms and Conditions. Formerly you would see spacebanked weeks for sale all the time on Ebay before the rules were changed.

I'm not defending RCI by any means, but the above two rules were forced upon them (and II) by some members.

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that all of the timeshare rentals listed on Redweek.com are from owners and not through exchanges?

We were told during the sucker-you-in-ploy, uh I mean sales presentation, about people who would book weeks specifically to sell them. Upon being stuck with a banked week that we probably won't get to use, we wanted to do this, but evidently can't...so much for truth in sales.

Yep, many of the vultures (timeshare salespeople) will tell you anything, including lies, to sell you a week.

anne56 wrote:

Pardon my ignorance, but does this mean that all of the timeshare rentals listed on Redweek.com are from owners and not through exchanges?

We were told during the sucker-you-in-ploy, uh I mean sales presentation, about people who would book weeks specifically to sell them. Upon being stuck with a banked week that we probably won't get to use, we wanted to do this, but evidently can't...so much for truth in sales.

I have just looked in RCI terms and conditions and do not see the statement of the above.

amyh216 wrote:

I have just looked in RCI terms and conditions and do not see the statement of the above.

============ From the Terms & Conditions for Points account 15.0. GUESTS/GUEST CERTIFICATES. ... Guest Certificates may only be used by the individual(s) named on the certificate and their guests. Guest Certificates are non-transferable, and may not be used for any commercial purpose, including auction, rental or sale. (same paragraph is the Weeks T & C)

19.9. Non-Commercial Use. Use of the Network and/or RCI Points® by a guest or a Member may not be for commercial purposes, including through auction, rental or sale.

From the Weeks T & C 18.8. Non-Commercial Use. The RCI Weeks Exchange Program, including without limitation, Confirmations, Guest Certificates, Vacation Time and Alternative Inventory, may not be used by a Guest or a Member for commercial purposes, including through auction, rental or sale.

PLEASE DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER

jayjay wrote:

Renting an exchanged week is against RCI and II rules. From RCI's Terms and Conditions below:

It is a violation of RCI's Terms and Conditions of Membership (Section 8) to rent, sell, barter, or auction, a deposited week or confirmed exchange, even if a Guest Certificate is purchased. Violation of this guideline could result in the termination of your RCI membership.

You may give a vacation to a friend or family member via the RCI Guest Certificate; however, you may not receive any compensation beyond the price of the exchange and Guest Certificate fees. Compensation includes anything of value, even another exchange vacation.

Following are a few of the reasons RCI prohibits deposited weeks and exchange vacations from being sold:

1) Accurate representation of Trading Power value -- RCI has contracts with its affiliated resorts and is in a better position to influence information provided about its program.

2) Fair exchange policy - RCI's program strives to provide a vacation that is comparable to the one you own. If members buy a deposited week from a resort they've never visited, RCI has no way to gauge their expectations.

3) Support for timeshare sales and purchases -- Most people who want higher quality vacation exchanges invest in the purchase of higher quality weeks. When these weeks are deposited with RCI, they in turn provide exchange families with a better selection and quality of inventory from which to choose. Travelers would not be incented to upgrade their purchases if they could simply buy the "interest" for a fraction of the purchase price per year.

4) The demand among RCI members for certain areas and times of year is overwhelming (school breaks, holidays, etc.) This is magnified when non-members can compete for the same space.

If you can't use a confimed exchange, cancel it and make the unit available to other RCI members who may be requesting it. When members rent or swap confirmed exchanges, they undermine RCI's program to the detriment of other members. If a member is waiting for a vacation, he would indeed be upset to think that prime exchange units were being offered to the general public or traded among friends instead of being released.

RCI works hard to keep its exchange program viable and to satisfy its subscribing members. Maintaining control of our inventory is crucial to our ability to do this. If this is the case, is RedWeek acting legally by promoting timeshare rentals??

Citing the hypocritical "do as I say, not as I do" double standard practices of RCI, adriennek11 asks: >>If this is the case, is RedWeek acting legally by promoting timeshare rentals??<< ===============================================

The question is a comparison of apples vs. oranges, I respectfully submit --- but the answer is still YES!

Owners are always free to rent out weeks they actually own --- anytime, anywhere, at any price and on any terms they choose, as long as they literally OWN those weeks. Weeks acquired by "deposit one, in exchange for another" are an entirely different matter, however.

The RedWeek exchange program is NOT the RCI program and is not affiliated in any way with RCI. Accordingly, the RedWeek program simply does NOT have the same rules, terms or conditions as RCI. They are entirely different, completely unrelated and thoroughly dissimilar programs.

RCI rents out its members' deposits directly to the general public (at the expense of RCI members' own ability to acquire quality exchanges, even after "depositing for exchange" with RCI). RCI rents directly, and also more subtly through Lesiure Link and SnapTravel (two entities now wholly or partly owned or controlled by RCI after being separately acquired by RCI within the past year). Meanwhile, RCI members can't seem to get prime exchanges anymore, even those formerly accomplished with relative ease. This is exactly why RCI is currently the defendant in a class action lawsuit (Murillo vs. RCI), brought about by dissatisfied RCI members unable to any longer acquire the quality of exchanges formerly available to them.

With these facts in mind, RCI's hypocritical double standards hardly make RCI a respectable benchmark for comparison rearding exchanges. If RedWeek allows the rental of RedWeek exchanges within the RedWeek program, that's their call to make. At least RedWeek is open, honest and upfront about it --- unlike RCI which "talks the talk", but isn't actually able or willing to "walk the walk" themselves.

For the record, I don't currently exchange with ANYONE, haven't done so in quite a while, and don't plan to do so anytime in the foreseeable future. I certainly have "no dog in this fight" and no hidden agenda. However, I will readily state that I personally find RCI current practices with acquired weeks to be hypocritical, reprehensible and a grave disservice to its own fee paying RCI membership. Just my personal view and opinion on the matter.

adriennek11 wrote:

If this is the case, is RedWeek acting legally by promoting timeshare rentals??

Each exchange company has it's own rules. Redweek's rule is that rentals of exchanges are permitted. I believe Redweek is the only exchange company that allows this rule.

I realize these posts are all over a year old, so I have 2 questions:

1. Has RCI changed its policy in any way? I have 2 deposited weeks that I'm trying to figure out what to do with. One expires the end of October 2009 and I guess it will do just that - expire. The other expires in 2011.

2. If I were to not deposit future weeks that I have in Hawaii - and I'm not planning to go back - and deposit them with RedWeek as well, how does that work? Would I have to book a specific week at my resort and then how would I "bank" it with Redweek? Could I then exchange it for another timeshare at another resort - whether RCI or II or points, etc? I believe, and tell me if I'm wrong, that if I booked a specific week, I could, in fact, list it on RedWeek for rent, but it would be limited to my week and if it expired, as with RCI, I'm sunk -- true?

Thanks for your help. Carole

PS - is jayjay an RCI official or a knowledgeable RCI member?

Thanks again, Carole

Hi, Jayjay is knowledgeable. Don't let your week expire, give it to a friend or relative. Rent it for the Exchange Fee and Guest Certificate Cost which is allowable under RCI rules. If you let the week expire, you are putting money in RCI's pocket. You can also extend for 6 months for about $99. At least that was the fee when I extended a week last year. I agree with everything that Ken 1193 says, howver I have very good luck with RCI exchanges. I however plan about a year in advance. RCI has not changed it's rules about renting.

As I understand Redweeks rules, you have to reserve a specific week more than 3 months in advance of the deposit. Your maintenance fees, and all other obligations relative to the week have to be current to the week you deposit. You can then use the Redweek Points to exchange into other Redweek deposited weeks. Redweek allows one to use cash at a dollar a point to obtain a week which requires more points than you have. Assume you have received 1000 points for your deposited week and the week you want to acquire requires 1200 points you can use your 1000 points plus $200 plus the exchange fee to obtain the week which you want. While Hawaii weeks are not as desirable as they once were because of travel costs, and the economy, they are still desirable weeks if in the right location in Hawaii. Hope this helps you. Stan.

carolep10 wrote:

I realize these posts are all over a year old, so I have 2 questions:

1. Has RCI changed its policy in any way? I have 2 deposited weeks that I'm trying to figure out what to do with. One expires the end of October 2009 and I guess it will do just that - expire. The other expires in 2011.

2. If I were to not deposit future weeks that I have in Hawaii - and I'm not planning to go back - and deposit them with RedWeek as well, how does that work? Would I have to book a specific week at my resort and then how would I "bank" it with Redweek? Could I then exchange it for another timeshare at another resort - whether RCI or II or points, etc? I believe, and tell me if I'm wrong, that if I booked a specific week, I could, in fact, list it on RedWeek for rent, but it would be limited to my week and if it expired, as with RCI, I'm sunk -- true?

Thanks for your help. Carole

No, the rule has not changed .... RCI/II deposited weeks are not permitted to be sold or rented . Why don't you look for an exchange for the 2009 week before it expires and you have plenty of time to use or exchange your 2011 week. The worst thing any timeshare owner can do is to let their deposited week(s) expire.

With Redweek, if you own a particular week you can deposit it and rent or sell it ... if you own a floating week or points you have to reserve a week, deposit it then exchange, rent or sell it .... as far as I know Redweek is the only exchange company that allows this.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer. Maybe keeping the membership with RCI isn't such a good idea. I realy appreciate the reply.

Carole

Thanks Stan - great ideas.

I did an exchange with RCI last year to Germany, and it was great. My trouble is I own too many timeshares and not enough time.

I'm printing these suggestions out and really apprciate all the time and effort expended to reply.

Carole

Stan said," If you let the week expire, you are putting money in RCI's pocket. " Actually, RCI makes most of its money through exchange fees. Unexchanged expiring inventory is the last thing it wants. That is why you see special last-minute offers. They try to get some use out of the "Burn weeks". That is also why they let you extend your exchange period if you have not been able to make an exchange within two years. RCI usually sends you a reminder when your time is running out and sometimes adds a list of locations that are immediately available to you. (That is how we ended up in Iowa at Lake Panorama one summer. Not something we would have thought to request, but we enjoyed it and the drive was reasonable.) MD

adahiscout wrote:

Actually, RCI makes most of its money through exchange fees.

While that was certainly true in years past, I'm not sure that it's still the case today at all. With RCI having aggressively entered into direct rentals in recent years, including the acquisition of two additional, separate direct rental outlets (SnapTravel and Leisure Link), rentals are now certainly a HUGE (maybe the PRIMARY) source of income for RCI. Consider, just for example, that a single rental generally brings about TEN TIMES the amount of money into RCI coffers as one exchange fee. Viewed another way, it takes the collection of ten (or more) individual member exchange fees being paid to RCI to bring in the amount of money that just ONE single direct rental brings into the RCI coffers.

I also note with considerable interest that in its' own press releases in recent years, RCI has openly and plainly described ITSELF, in writing, as a "Rental and Exchange company". The fact that "Rental" is now clearly listed FIRST by RCI describing itself really speaks volumes...

I readily admit I'm no fan of RCI, but the above is still objective fact.

RCI has many sources of rentable properties beyond those we bank for exchange. One example I know of concerns the practice some groups have of accepting an "outside" week from one of their owners in exchange for points/time in their own group. I know I can give Wyndham some of my time at others resorts where we own and they will give me Wyndham points for it; Bluegreen can do the same. What does Wyndham DO with these "alien" weeks? They tell me they give them to RCI. Since I will not be asking RCI for any time in exchange for that week, they are free to rent it out. I should think they would then pay part of that back to Wyndham, which actually DID supply the week I received. Resorts which have unsold inventory also try to get it into circulation through exchange organizations. They want these unsold properties to be filled with prospective customers. What could be a better sales tool? MD