RCI timeshare. Anybody have experience with this company or concept? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Rerun · 07-05-2010, 04:20 PM

Went to Meadow Lake Golf Resort in Montana. Got the 90 minute speech about the benefits of RCI membership.

I can buy part of a condo in Meadow Lake (1/52 which is 1 week a year) which is valued at 45,000 points per year. If I don't want to stay at Meadow Lake I can go elsewhere (basically anywhere in the world) and use my points to stay somewhere else. I can accumulate points for up to three years to go somewhere expensive and for a few weeks.

Basically from what I understand, I would physically own part of a condo in Columbia Falls Montana but never would have to go there again if I didn't want to.... I could just use the point value of my condo ownership to go somewhere else.... apparently they also great last minute deal values... ie book someplace within 45 days of when you want to stay there and get it at a discounted rate... therefore your 1 week value in Meadow Lake now turns into 3 weeks in Mexico.. or someplace similar.

The costs are:

Cost of my condo for 1 week (1/52 of total condo value)
Yearly maintenance cost for said condo (1/52 of total maintenance cost).

So? Anybody on here already into this type of deal?

Ducay · 07-05-2010, 04:44 PM

People are still hawking timeshares? I thought those died in the 90s

DownhillGoat · 07-05-2010, 04:50 PM

We've got a time share in Fairmont. We used to have the option to trade weeks at other resorts but ended up opting out. The annual fees were rediculous. That's the first thing I'd look into is the annual condo and time share fees.

albertGQ · 07-05-2010, 04:51 PM

I got the whole spiel when I was in Vegas. I think the original cost was $50k. We kept saying no. They lowered and lowered the price all the way down to around $3k or $4k.

IMO, a waste of cash.

DownhillGoat · 07-05-2010, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ducay

People are still hawking timeshares? I thought those died in the 90s

Yeah, but they're about 12x the price now.

SeeBass · 07-05-2010, 04:52 PM

I know timeshares very well as I sold them 20 years ago.

A timeshare is best when used as a home base that you would use at least every second year.

Have you checked how many points you need for these other expensive options?
If it could take 3 years to accumalte points don't forget that is 3 years of fees you are paying and not using it. If the fees are $500 per year I could rent you a nice place in Paris for $1500 for a week not including the initial cost of your timeshare too.

Those places that they say you can get specials are always the best stories and are generally the exception.

Living in a smaller airport city like Calgary can make it difficult too. Odds are your arrival flights never match with your exact possesion days for your condo and you are always forking over extra hotel $ for that extra night in Paris/Hawaii.

If you are really interested look on line at sites that resell used timeshares for a fraction of what this place would be and perhaps it would be at a location you would use often.

PS: always check on past history of the maintenance fees to see how they have climbed. It is not uncommon to see a condo fee go from $250 to $500 in one year. Always buy in a country that you have faith in the legal system too.

All I can say is the timeshare principal is very appealing but buyer beware.

Yeah_Baby · 07-05-2010, 04:54 PM

Has anyone ever gone to Subway for lunch? I hear they tessellate their cheese now.

ken0042 · 07-05-2010, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rerun

The costs are:

Cost of my condo for 1 week (1/52 of total condo value)
Yearly maintenance cost for said condo (1/52 of total maintenance cost).

Funny- I don't see any numbers there. Did they give you any?

Last timeshare I looked at had a $20K up front cost and then $1500 per year. That's the thing; at $1500 per year I can hit a nice little all inclusive; and have meals and air already included.

Kjesse · 07-05-2010, 04:58 PM

I could relay some horror stories but they'd take too long to tell.

There are a pile of potential problems with "owning" a timeshare, the first of which is, in most set-ups, you don't actually own anything. A separate company will own the title to the property and they can mortgage it all they want. So don't take the value of the property you are buying, and think the timeshare right is worth 1/52 of that.

Also, the timeshare is not owned by RCI. RCI is simply the network trade mechanism for timeshares. It always gets pushed as the selling point because they say, "go look at RCI's site and look, you give us money, and you can go stay anywhere else in the world." Sometimes it works out, sometimes it does not. RCI has strict policies which include obligations owed to them by your home resort. If your home resort doesn't meet those obligations you can't use your "points" anywhere.

I know of one "good" timeshare story, where things have worked out for a friend. I also have a colleague who has bought one in the last few months, but with an organization backed by a well known international hotel chain, so he should be OK, but he hasn't used anything yet. Beyond that I know of about a dozen bad stories.

SeeBass · 07-05-2010, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

Funny- I don't see any numbers there. Did they give you any?

Last timeshare I looked at had a $20K up front cost and then $1500 per year. That's the thing; at $1500 per year I can hit a nice little all inclusive; and have meals and air already included.

Yup and if you were saving three years for a better place to stay that is $4500. That is more than a week at a Sandals Butler Suite.

Shazam · 07-05-2010, 05:02 PM

Check eBay if you want timeshares. There's loads of them offered up by desperate fools.

Winsor_Pilates · 07-05-2010, 05:52 PM

There are boatloads of people trying to dump off timeshares now. So many people bought them years ago and now realize they were ripped off. Especially Americans who have had financial troubles due to the rescission and housing issues.

I wouldn't buy a time share, but if I was going to I'd be looking at the desperate re-sale market.

Azure · 07-05-2010, 06:28 PM

You can buy how much of a real condo for $50,000?

Hell, thats a considerable downpayment on a house right there.

FlamesFaninTO · 07-05-2010, 07:37 PM

Actually almost everyonewho has posted so far doesnt seem to know anything about modern timeshare ownership. It's not the sleazy business it was back in the 80's and actually can be a good vacation spend if you do your homework. I actually own in MeadowLake and it does offer high points value for the $ which can be used in places like mexico etc where you can get 3 weeks or close to it for your one week. Also by being a part of the RCI network you get unbelieavable hotel deals without even using your points. We stayed in a great little hotel right on the beach for $250 bucks all in for a week and we didnt even use any of our points to do it. It isnt anywhere near 50 K to buy a timeshare, more like 10 K and for that it can make some sense if you vacation a week or two a year anyways, your basically prepaying your vacation at todays rates. PM me if you need more info from someone who actually understands the pros and cons.

Montana Moe · 07-05-2010, 08:01 PM

^Sucker

To_be_Quite_Honest · 07-05-2010, 08:07 PM

my parents bought at meadow lake like 20 years ago, they had to get 6 weeks a year to buy in for under 10 grand - so that tells me if they are trying to sell you just one week, that weeks might be pretty scarce.

they would build up their points pretty easy, use the thing a few times a year and were able to trade to other places all around the world. I was able to trade and get condos in downtown vancouver and banff for under 50 bux a night for a kitchenette suite that sleeps 4-8.

sure you can buy a place in phoenix or vegas, but thats all you get. plus you are on the hook for maintenance, managing renters, collecting rent money, dealing with renters that may wreck your stuff. Owning straight up vacation property has its pro's and cons itself.

GreatWhiteEbola · 07-05-2010, 08:18 PM

I have been given access to an RCI membership, from my folks. I have no idea how to use it. I know that it hasn't been used in years. The maintenance has been kept up to date. What info should I have to make use of this time share?

Thank you for your help.

SeeBass · 07-05-2010, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlamesFaninTO

Actually almost everyonewho has posted so far doesnt seem to know anything about modern timeshare ownership. It's not the sleazy business it was back in the 80's and actually can be a good vacation spend if you do your homework. I actually own in MeadowLake and it does offer high points value for the $ which can be used in places like mexico etc where you can get 3 weeks or close to it for your one week. Also by being a part of the RCI network you get unbelieavable hotel deals without even using your points. We stayed in a great little hotel right on the beach for $250 bucks all in for a week and we didnt even use any of our points to do it. It isnt anywhere near 50 K to buy a timeshare, more like 10 K and for that it can make some sense if you vacation a week or two a year anyways, your basically prepaying your vacation at todays rates. PM me if you need more info from someone who actually understands the pros and cons.

I agree sometimes ownership does work but you need to do research.
A timeshare doesn't work for everybody though.

I would also recommend getting a two bedroom at least, as a one bedroom doesn't carry the same point value and the extra cost would be worth it.

Northendzone · 07-05-2010, 08:50 PM

meadow lake seems like a nice place, golf course is nice and the splash pad seems like it would be fun if you had kids.

my only concern would be that one week is a pretty short amount of time, if you got a week in-between seasons it might suck.

we listened to s spiel in mexico a few years ago - i had to laugh how they started at $50k and without me eving trying they were soon down to $4 - between all the fees they laid out it did not seem like a good deal to me and then as we were checking out i overheard a couple complaining that they were having trouble using thier rime share.

on the otehr hand my sister had an ownership at a place in Fairmont - it worked out well for them except for the fact that my BIL kept forgetting to book his preferred weeks in advance and he was left with limited choices.

Seems to me that renting a place using VRBO has less overall risk as they only commitment is the time you rent - also waht seems like the right choice today may change as you get older and your personal/family situation changes