Time-share rentals can be bargain

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 05/26/02

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Resort Condominiums International, best known for managing the exchange network that allows time-share owners to swap their weeks, has just moved into a new business: renting time shares and other apartment-like vacation units to travelers around the world.

It's not as good as it sounds because the availability of rentals is still somewhat limited. But the business (found online at the Web site RCIHolidayNetwork.com or by phone at 800-730-9981) has potential, and it could work well for flexible travelers, particularly families, looking for a practical alternative to hotel rooms.

For example, someone traveling to Hawaii this summer would find a number of time-share units available for rent. On the island of Kauai, there are several one- and two-bedroom units on the beach with all the resort amenities, and including full kitchens, washers and dryers, and VCRs. Several are identified in RCI's directory as gold crown resorts, the highest quality ranking.

The units are renting for $700 to $900 a week, which compares very favorably with hotels that often charge as much or more for less. I also found luxurious, highly rated accommodations for this summer and early fall in Palm Springs, Calif., Hilton Head, S.C., and several resort areas in Mexico and Saint Maarten.

What's nice about the Holiday Network is that you get all the benefits of a time share without the upfront payment of thousands of dollars or the interminable sales pitch. It's also an easy way to check out rental opportunities in your destination area without scouring local newspapers or contacting local real estate agents.

What's frustrating about the Holiday Network is its narrow focus. It's not a full-blown rental network taking listings from any and all sources, but rather a mechanism for renting time shares spun off by RCI's exchange business.

As a result, availability tends to be limited during peak travel periods. Most of the timeshares I mentioned above, for example, were located in warm-weather areas and available during summer and early fall, in most cases off-peak periods.

On Cape Cod, for example, I could find nothing available this summer. No doubt units on the Cape will be available for rent in the winter months when relatively few people are interested in going there.

The Holiday Network rental business obtains most of its time share listings from RCI's exchange network. Holiday Network takes weeks that RCI's 3 million members either don't want or can't use, or surplus weeks made available by developers and individual owners, and lists them for rental. In many ways, rental customers end up with the RCI leftovers.

There are two exceptions. Time shares exchanged by RCI members for RCI points, which can be used for cruises, air tickets, and car rentals, are put up for rental. These time shares are often at top resorts in peak seasons. Also, owners at resorts managed by RCI or condo complexes affiliated with RCI's management unit can post their units on the Holiday Network rental site.

RCI's parent company, Cendant, also has acquired a series of resort rental companies in Europe and is now making their inventories available under the Holiday Network banner, giving them wider exposure. Most of these units are cottages in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Scandinavia.

John Barrows, an RCI spokesman, stressed that the company's rental business is designed to support and supplement its time-share business, although he said that could change in the future.

The subordinate role of the rental network is evident in the way surplus time-share weeks are first offered to RCI members at lower prices than they are to rental customers.

RCI, for example, is currently offering its members the chance to rent a one-bedroom unit at the Kauai Beachboy Resort in Hawaii for $699. RCI Holiday Networks is offering a one-bedroom unit at the same resort for $949. At the Pahio at Bali Hai Villas on Kauai, a two-bedroom unit rents for $816 a week. RCI members have access to the same unit for $566.

"We don't necessarily position these as bargains," Barrows said. "They're affordable. They stack up very well compared to hotels, but we're not guaranteeing they are the lowest of the lowest prices."

Manchester keeps busy

Manchester Airport in New Hampshire continues to grow in a down market, while Logan International Airport in Boston and T. F. Green Airport in Rhode Island are still struggling.

In April, Manchester's passenger traffic grew 4.26 percent over the same month a year ago. It was the fifth month in a row Manchester has exhibited steady growth in the low single digits. For the year so far, traffic is up 3.8 percent, while most other airports nationwide continue to reel from the aftershocks of Sept. 11.

Logan's passenger traffic in March, the latest month for which figures are available, was off 16.4 percent from a year ago. For the first quarter, passenger traffic was off 20 percent from last year. At Green, in Warwick, R.I., traffic was off 5.48 percent in April and 4.58 percent for the year so far.

Eating on the fly

With airplane meals increasingly scarce and the potential for delays greater than ever, a physicians group is offering tips on healthy eating and flying.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington-based group promoting nutrition, suggests foods that travel easily, like dried fruit, pita bread with hummus, individual applesauce and fruit cup servings, rice cakes, instant soups, and plain bagels.

For children, the group suggests a cup of the child's favorite cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole-grain bread, and bottled water. It recommends staying away from milk on the day of travel (causes sniffles and ear troubles) and caffeinated colas and sugary drinks.

Bruce Mohl can be reached by e-mail at mohl@globe.com.