Is anyone familiar with Aviawest?

We are a Canadian couple considering buying 40,000 RCI points from Aviawest Resorts. They told us we can use these points for short term travel and stay at participating hotels such as Sheraton and Hilton, and do it on a short notice too. Does it sound realistic? Is anyone familiar with Aviawest? How easy is it to book properties on a short notice if you want a specific date?

I cannot speak specifically about Aviawest Resorts, but I can tell you about RCI Points. I am assuming RCI operates the same for Canadian owners as it does for US owners. Yes, you can use points for shorter stays and you can actually use points for stays of greater than 7 nights. There are different fees for stays of various lengths ranging from $39-$139 USD ($48-$172 CAD). Many resorts charge an additional cleaning fee for stays of less than 7 nights. This varies by resort, but I've seen fees ranging from $30-$60 USD per unit regardless of whether you stay one night or 6 nights. IMO, because of this, 1 or 2 night stays are not very cost effective. Weekend nights use a large percentage of points. For example, if a weeks stay is 40,000 points, staying a Friday and a Saturday night will “cost” almost half (16,000 points).

Using Points for hotel stays is through the RCI Points Partner program. Basically you use points instead of cash when paying for your hotel stay. RCI has recently limited the amount of points a person can use for this program. In your case, with 40,000 points the most you can use in a given year is 25,000 points. Presently 25,000 points gives a discount of $235 USD (plus a transaction fee of $29 USD). Unless you have a large number of points which are going to expire, this is not the best use of points.

Also, 40,000 points is not a lot of points in the RCI world. I don't know your family or travel situation, but if you would be looking for using your RCI points for 2 BR units, Gold Crown resorts, or to travel during peak periods, you will find that 40,000 points will not be enough. If you are willing to stay in 1 BR units, at lesser rated resorts, or travel in the off-season, 40,000 pts will be good for a one week vacation in most locations. If you can travel on short notice (45 days), especially in the off-season, you can get some great deals. Seven night stays are offered for 7500-9000 points for a week.

Now, that being said...Before you buy from the developer, look for resales. You will save yourself a ton of money. Unless you want to be a part of the Aviawest resort system, there are plenty of RCI Points resort on the re-sale market that will get you more than 40,000 pts/year. There is also a resort in California that offers a 3-year "lease" or Right-to-Use on an RCI Points membership.

If this is your first timeshare purchase, the biggest pieces of advice I can give you is buy resale at a resort will you want to go every year.

Good Luck

Thank you so much for replying to my post. This is very helpful.