No you do not HAVE to use RCI. RCI would like you to believe that with their logo in most lobbies of the resorts, but you can use an independent just like Carolinian says. I own a floating week, so what I do is book a week that corresponds to my season that I own. For you you’ll want to book the best week that you can so you have an edge in case you decide to use II or RCI. With the independents season doesn’t usually matter but how far in advance you deposit will matter. I believe you could possibly even deposit half of your unit to one company like RCI and then give the other lock off to an independent so you could test the waters.
The indepdents use size as a determining factor in exchanging so if you want a 2 bedroom, then deposit a 2 bedroom, or you’ll have to pay an upgrade fee of usually around $100 to get a bigger unit. If you’re going with RCI then they’ll give you TPU’s or a currency that you trade with them along with your exchange fee. You could potentially get as few as one or as many as 10 trades depending on how many points they give you corresponding to the value that they place on the week you reserve. That’s why it’s important which week you reserve and why you’ll want to play with the term deposit calculator to have an idea of what they are going to give you.
You may have to pay your MF”s a year in advance to book a prized summer week so that means planning in June 2012 for July 2013, when your booking window opens. At most resorts it’s 11 months but check with your resort to be sure, and mark your calendar and pay your MF’s in advance. You do need to plan pretty far in advance in order to get great trades in any exchange company. RCI can be great if you’re a planner or a last minute opportunistic traveller but they do have their strengths and weaknesses. One of their weaknesses IMO is SW Florida. For that I own Hilton Vacation club where my odds are greater to get what I want.