1 Million Views For RCI Timeshare Information TV

Less than six months ago RCI launched their RCI TV and already over one million viewers have tuned in. RCI TV provides high-definition footage of the over 4,000 timeshare resorts that RCI promotes. This new method for informing vacationers about RCI accommodations and options has been an amazingly successful way to reach their audience. RCI invented the concept of a timeshare exchange more than 35 years ago and has since been devoted to providing its customers with the best services and accommodations to accompany their vacation plans.

RCI realized how unfamiliar many potential timeshare owners are with the whole idea of a timeshare. This new media venue allows them to educate and formally inform their viewers about all the wonders of an RCI timeshare vacation and show in full detail the sort of accommodations you will find at these resorts.

RCI has also just entered into the mobile marketing world with applications for the iPhone®, iPod touch®, and iPad™. These new methods for making timeshare information available will provide immediate access to RCI features that consumers are interested in. In addition to mobile marketing RCI has launched a YouTube channel, these combined resources will allow travelers to share their vacations through social networks.

Timeshare Exchanges – Benefit or Just Another Timeshare Fee?

One of the perceived best features of timeshares is the ability for timeshare owners to “exchange” their timeshare for another timeshare in another part of the world.  An owner will “bank” their week at their home timeshare resort and depending on the value of their timeshare, they will be granted access to a timeshare with similar value in a different location.  Some programs allow multiple banking opportunities so that timeshare owners can upgrade to more luxurious accommodations with their exchange.

When purchased, a timeshare exchange program sounds like you’re getting access to potentially thousands of timeshares for a price of one…or is it the price of one PLUS exchange fees.  Like maintenance fees, popular exchange programs require annual membership fees for the administration of the exchanges.  Although not exorbitant, these fees are required whether your timeshare is exchanged or not.  Then, there are fees when you execute an exchange.  There are also a la carte fees for other options and features in these exchange programs.

The results for many timeshare owners is similar to timeshare maintenance fees.  The exchange fees get paid because owners justify the cost of potentially using an exchange in the future.  It’s a mental trap that keeps people paying these fees year after year without much benefit.

Our advice is the same as fora  timeshare: USE IT OR LOSE IT.  If you don’t use your timeshare exchanges, then drop the program.  Luckily, exchange programs in general do not lock you into a long-term contract, so you can cancel.  Keep in mind that if you’ve banked time in the past, canceling your membership will most likely discard your accrued time.

And of course if you’re not using your timeshare, contact Timeshare Relief and let’s see what we can do to get rid of that timeshare.

View Timeshares as a Travel Aid, Not an Investment – Part IV

By Eileen AJ Connelly, ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Exchange System

Beyond the hard sell approach, another common complaint from owners is lack of success trying to trade in what they own for time at other resorts.

Gridelli, who volunteers on the Web site Timeshareforums. com, a site for owners to share information and strategies, said you can’t get full value from a timeshare until you learn the ins and outs of exchanging.

Because she has learned how to upgrade what she owns when she exchanges, she’s able to get more vacation time — and knowing the system helps her book the destinations she wants.

Many of the owners she tries to help are unable to get the exchanges they want because they own in locations like Orlando, Fla., and Las Vegas, where over-saturation has reduced demand for trades. Or they don’t plan far enough in advance and the spots they’re looking for are taken.

Gridelli said it’s up to owners to research the value of different locations before they buy, and learn how to use the exchange system to their advantage. “Unfortunately, you’re not going to get a company to teach you,” she said.

“That free dinner or that free round of golf seems to draw people in, and they purchase things after just a sales presentation. Nobody should do that,” she added. “Would you just walk in and buy a car that way?”

View Timeshares as a Travel Aid, Not an Investment – Part II

By Eileen AJ Connelly, ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Marketplace

“Timeshares are not an investment,” said Angela Gridelli, an interior designer and decorative artist who lives on Long Island, N. Y., and currently owns four timeshares.

“A timeshare is not like purchasing a condo or a home,” she said. “If anything, it’s like a car, where the value on your timeshare is going to depreciate every year.”

Gridelli said if she were to try to sell the two timeshares she purchased at full price — one in Aruba and one in New Jersey — she would take in 60 or 70 percent less than the roughly $25,000 each she paid. But she’s not looking to sell — she uses her timeshares as a way to travel extensively, typically getting nicer accommodations than she could otherwise afford.

The way she calculates it, Gridelli says over time, the total purchase price, plus her annual maintenance fees, compares favorably to how much it would cost for similar vacations staying in hotels.

The key is knowing how to exchange what you own for other travel opportunities. For instance, last year she traded time at one of her timeshares for a week in Spain. All she paid was the $333 maintenance fee for her timeshare, plus an $89 fee for the exchange. Her neighbors at the 2-bedroom condo were paying $500 a night to rent a similar unit.

The extra space in such facilities also means more comfort, and the potential to bring along more family members without having to pay for multiple hotel rooms.

Gridelli said she’s had so much success traveling using timeshares, she hopes to buy more on the resale market, especially since prices have dropped.

Multiple purchases are not uncommon. About 47 percent of sales are made to existing owners, according to the American Resort Development Association, the Washington-based trade and lobby group for timeshare developers.

Yet timeshares have a decidedly mixed reputation among the public at large, and Internet chat rooms can burn up with complaints from owners who are unhappy with various aspects of their purchases.