I belong to RCI, but having no experience with II, I can't compare the two. I have been happy with RCI, but their fees keep going up. Are you familiar with Tug2.net ? It is a timeshare website that has a BBS forum. There has been a lot of negative posts about RCI lately. It seems that people are having a hard time finding decent exhanges lately. Unlike II, on Rci you can't check to see what's available before you make your deposit.

We belong to both RCI and Interval International and have done so since we bought our first timeshare week in 1996.

We have used both and found both good- but as we now have 2 of our 3 weeks in Rci points we have not used Interval International for exchanges for years now.

I have found that RCI has a better selection of choice and points is far more flexible.I am going to let our Interval international membership lapse as basically all we get now is the magazines and their bonus weeks which we used to pick up are no cheaper than with RCI.

We deposit 2 timeshare weeks each year and get over 100,000

points.

Now that only 2 of us travel now we can pick up weeks for as little as 14,500 (thailand) and 20,000- 25,000 points Mexico.

This means for 2 weeks we can get 4 weeks a year.

We have kept our 1 bedroom unit in Taupo each year to use ourselves.

We use that as a short break and our points for longer overseas trips.

This year we had 3 weeks in Mexico for 64,500 points.

Next year we have 3 weeks in Thailand and Bali on points plus 9 days hotel stays.

We have also given my mother and my sister aweek in Bangkok on points next year.

I would never go back to week for week- points goes so much further for us and we are really reaping the rewards of timeshare travel

We own 1 1bedroom and a 2bedroom in Taupo NZ and a 2 bedroom in Pacific Palms -tuncurry NSW Australia

We have a RCI week we have been using for about 12 years, I have been to 5 star resorts using my RCI trade and I have been to 1 star resorts. When you get the RCI book (directory of resorts) they have the resorts marked with RCI reward symbols: RCI Gold Crown, RCI Silver Crown & RCI Hospitality - these ratings really help you to know the quality of the resort you are considering - I also call the resort with questions such as: Air condt. in units?, age?, recent remodels? etc.. We also own a Fairfield timeshare, the Fairfield resorts are always top quality, but the selection is low, RCI has a resort in almost every place we have wanted to go. Somtimes we sacrifice quality for location. I have not used the bonus weeks or getaweeks yet. Happy Travels :)

You couldn't give us RCI again! We owned two timeshares about ten years ago ,one RCI and other with II.

II you get higher standard rooms in most cases. You can also request a trade without losing your unit until you get what you want.

We owned a three bed room whole top floor in PV( LOS TULES ) and it was great.

One year we traded for Hawaii and had friends going with us and made trade nine months in advance. One month before we were to go we still had no trade but ours was gone in minutes so we couldn't use it. Our friends booked a hotel with three weeks left before trip. RCI came up with a small one bedroom unit nine days before we left and told us that was the best they could do.

The next year they took our unit and gave us a one bedroom broken down hotel in Lake Tahoe that was so old the wooden garage was so small you couldn't park small car in it. We went home after one night. This hotel was torn down the next year.

After calling them RCI gave us another week but our vacation time was gone for that year.

We went back to Lake Tahoe the next year and bought at Ridge Tahoe with II.

With II we have been to Hawaii twice, Cancun and Flordia twice and had great rooms and never kept us waiting for months to get our trade.

We have been members of RCI for about 15 years now and have all but once been satisfied with our exchanges. (We are not members of II so can't compare - only give our opinion of RCI).

The one time we were not happy was when we had to accept an exchange or lose our exchange deposit. We had to accept a studio with pull down bed and no view for our deposit of a 2 bedroom unit, both in Florida.

I used to belong to the RCI community when they had a forum and the information I gathered from there was that most people who weren't happy were the ones who banked at the last minute and expected to get a specific resort for a specific week within a couple of months.

The best way to use any exchange is forward planning - bank as early as possible (even 2 years out) and put your request in with as many options of dates and resorts/areas as possible as early as possible. This usually works for us, but not everyone can forward plan like this.

Angela, You have been very lucky that it worked for you and the fact that you know two years in advance you want to trade!

Most people could never do this or want to. My wife and I are both union so we don't start getting our vacation weeks until at least Feb.

We sold our condo in PV because we were sick of RCI and there treatment of take it or don't take it.

Los Tules was great as our first timeshare (We won a trip there from the OAKLAND A"s) but wasn't good enough to be with II so we dumped it. Rci always have excuse why you get short changed.

RCI does have more choices but less quality by far. Our unit wasn't on their books 30 seconds after we made deposit sleeping 14 with three br/bathrooms. After we took screwing from RCI two years in a row we rented the unit next year and person bought it from us after stay.

RCI has some nice units and some really bad ones and we feel that if we had to use most of their choices we wood stay in a nice hotel like Marrott or something.

II and RCI belong to some of the same timeshares with owners having choice.The difference comes when you trade it.

Here is what I mean, We traded our RCI unit for Flordia, Disney area and stayed at Vastana because at the time it was one of the best in the area. We had a two bedroom second floor unit with view of city street and mile from club house.

We thought about buying there before we went but were not interested in these units, again we could have stayed within a mile of Disneyworld for less than belonging to RCI and owning the timeshare.

After we bought the Ridge Tahoe we traded back into the Flordia (Vastana) but this time had two bedroom at club house area over looking the swimming pools.Short walk to the lakes and other sites they had.

Bottom line for us is with RCI we wouldn't have had two years in a row of vacation time wasted because we still could have enjoyed our condo. With II this is a choice you have so we don't get one of our choices we stay at our own place that we really love.

Also this is why I tell everyone that when you buy a timeshare don't listen to the sales people that it doesn't matter if you like your unit because your going to trade it anyway,this is bull! Remember if you don't like your unit chances are other people won't like it and your trade line sure drops.

You notice how many of these units are advertised for cheap extra vacation time. You can stay in many of these places simply because Rci got stuck with the weeks because no one traded for them! PHIL

We also belong to both RCI and II. I much prefer II. Like most posts here state, the quality of accommodations are much better, the customer service is great and I have never had problems with II.

Softballdad

I know we are lucky being able to book 2 years in advance if necessary. We love the US and at the moment I am trying to visit as much as possible which is why I like to book in advance. There may come a time when we cannot do the long haul which is when we will have to go to our home resort, which we also love.

At the moment, yes we have our preferrences as to where we want to go, but are willing to accept a different option if we have not already visited the area.

Up to now I have been able to visit Los Angeles, Florida, Yellowstone NP via timeshare by choice and we have just returned from Oregon with a timeshare week on the coast. This last exchange has taken four years of searching and in between we visited Nashville and Helen (Ga) not of a request, but they appeared on exchange list and we had not been. Basically I am saying we are open to all areas of the US.

I agree that you do not believe anything a timeshare salesman says regarding easy exchanges as some are not easy, which is why when purchasing a timeshare you should always do so with a view to holidaying there and never buy one solely for exchange.

Thanks for all your replies.

We bought our home resort about 6 years ago and love it. It is about a 3 hour drive away, and our family still enjoys going out to our "retreat" for one week, once a year. Thus far we have never traded it. However, we are starting to travel during our second week of holidays, and like to hop onto a plane to try out different resorts and destinations. We have bought "getaway" weeks from Interval International and have travelled to Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo,. We have been VERY happy with the service of Interval International, and with the quality of resorts that we have booked, and for what I feel, a very fair price for the type of accommodations that we have stayed in.

However, I find that the amount of inventory that Interval International has, is somewhat lacking ...especially when I see so many more resorts listed with RCI. But it is true....quantity does not make up for quality. I am going to contact Interval International to see if they are working on building up their inventory of available resorts.

Thanks for all your opinions.

Cheers

Our families also ahve both RCI and II.

We like II much better, the resorts seem to be a bit nicer. However, RCI has more resorts.....in many more places.

Many complain that they have a hard time getting what they want (in exchanges) from RCI. As you are probably aware, RCI has a class action lawsuit due to their renting of units that were given in as exchanges.

Until about 3 years ago, the RCI contracts said they could not rent a unit given in for exchange, but they changd the wording.

Not to forget II. They also rent out weeks via the internet. (This renting from II & RCI is to the general public...NOT T/S Owners). But II still seems to put their members first....many feel RCI has forgotten their members.

Last minute travel....ie....getaway weeks on II or Last Min Vacations on RCI.....both are excellent if you are flexible and can travel in out of best times.

RCI seems to have these weeks much cheaper than II.....I saw a Fairfield 2 bed 2 bath in Atlantic City in the slowest times (fall) for less than $200 a week. (A Gold Crown)

Most II getaways (5 Star) are higher priced.....$299 or 399 a week.

It might be helpful to know that II is now part of the Trip Advisor family of companies.......it was sold by the consortium a few years ago to Barry Diller....US Interactive Corp.