RCI does it again...this time Platinum fees going up

[Free2Roam]

Currently one year is $69...effective August 21, one year is $89.

Apparently they are "adding valuable new benefits to the RCI Platinum membership tier on 8/21/17."

Please correct me if I'm wrong about the history of platinum membership...
- 2011 - $55
- 2014 - $59
- 2015 - changed the program... savings dollars instead of rebates
- 2016 - $69
- 2017 - $89 also "adding valuable new benefits"

 

[dougp26364]

They can keep their "valuable" new benefits and I'll keep my $$

Of course I dropped my personal account with RCI several years ago and don't plan on joining them anytime soon. IMHO their membership and exchange fees are to high to be of value to me

 

[Panina]

Platinum with RCI isn't worth $69, no way will I join for $89.

Only 33 TPUs to use and I'm done with RCI. This cost isn't the reason. I just have experienced RCI being so unfair with the Tpu system and prefer Internal over them.

 

[klpca]

Yep, not signing up for this either. Almost done with RCI. I am down to two remaining exchanges and 11 remaining TPU's which I may not use. I gave my last two RCI affiliated deposits to SFX and Grand Pacific. Both offer better choices for us on the west coast with cheaper exchange fees to boot.

 

[melissy123]

I'm done with RCI as well. Platinum expires in one month and no way will I renew. I have one huge combined deposit left to use...hopefully will be able to get into Ireland for next fall to match up.

 

[travs2]

I'm done with RCI as well. Platinum expires in one month and no way will I renew. I have one huge combined deposit left to use...hopefully will be able to get into Ireland for next fall to match up.

J

RCI is charging an exorbitant am't for Canadian exchange. Yesterday we paid $359 for an exchange and $119 for a Guest Certificate. Getting out of hand and when all of our points are DONE we are DONE.

 

[Born2Travel]

Dropped Platinum after trying it for a year. There was no real value for us except not having to pay upfront exchange fee when making a request. We have some TPU's left to use up, but haven't found anything we want to use them for. Also done with RCI when those are gone. Not enough value for the fees.

 

[m4travels]

Just saw on RCI that the date for the increase has been changed. It is now 9/25/17 for the updated fee schedule.

 

[Free2Roam]

I'm interested to see details of the new benefits.

I have a Platinum RCI points account and so far I have managed to get value from it. I receive a free bonus week deposit (with a limited shelf life) from one of my ownerships. In the past I have combined them with leftover deposit credits to extend the expiration date (in the complimentary linked weeks acct.) Of course that option is not as attractive since they've shortened the life of combined deposits. But a discounted fee for combining may entice me to combine rather than lose my free deposit.

My current free deposit expires 9/30/17. Hopefully I'll get details and be able to combine it I choose to before that date.

 

[silentg]

I am using RCI very little. I have 2 resorts that I use for trades. My membership is up in 2020, so I will make use of them til then. I prefer to stay at my own resorts or do TUG exchanges. RCI is very expensive , I look for deals thru RCI too, sometimes they are less than exchange fee!
Silentg

 

[Free2Roam]

I am using RCI very little. I have 2 resorts that I use for trades. My membership is up in 2020, so I will make use of them til then. I prefer to stay at my own resorts or do TUG exchanges. RCI is very expensive , I look for deals thru RCI too, sometimes they are less than exchange fee!
Silentg

Mine is paid thru Oct 2020. The last few years I have rented out most of my fixed weeks and traveled using those cheap RCI sales. The kids are grown and my schedule is a lot more flexible. I don't have to go to the beach when the huge summer crowds are there.

 

[rapmarks]

I have enough tpus left for three more exchanges, but have rci membership thru 2023. I have nothing left to deposit and will be done with them in about 15 months


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[flybefree]

Yep, not signing up for this either. Almost done with RCI. I am down to two remaining exchanges and 11 remaining TPU's which I may not use. I gave my last two RCI affiliated deposits to SFX and Grand Pacific. Both offer better choices for us on the west coast with cheaper exchange fees to boot.

With SFX and Grand Pacific, are you doing unit for unit exchanges, or do you get a certain amount of credits for your deposit? I have a 3 BR lock-off that gets enough TPUs in RCI for me to take 3-4 trips with my deposits. If I only got one exchange out of it with another system, it wouldn't save me any money and wouldn't be as valuable to me unless it were for something higher end, like a Marriott resort. Thanks for any info!

 

[klpca]

With SFX and Grand Pacific, are you doing unit for unit exchanges, or do you get a certain amount of credits for your deposit? I have a 3 BR lock-off that gets enough TPUs in RCI for me to take 3-4 trips with my deposits. If I only got one exchange out of it with another system, it wouldn't save me any money and wouldn't be as valuable to me unless it were for something higher end, like a Marriott resort. Thanks for any info!

At this point, I am doing a unit for unit exchange. I only have one bedroom units that trade in Grand Pacific. RCI used to give me 50 TPU's for those units, and they've dropped down to the mid-thirties. So it's no longer quite enough for two exchanges of comprable quality. Plus there's the one in four issue in RCI that make the trades I would like to do, very difficult. If you watch sales, Grand Pacific has nice bonus weeks available.

 

[flybefree]

Thanks. Mine is currently 63 TPU if I deposit separately, but the change in combining deposits only extending it for one year, not two, is beyond aggravating. I own two units at the same resort, an annual in points that gets more than I seem to be able to use, and an EOY odd year in weeks. I was planning to combine my two current deposits with the stragglers from the ones expiring July 31, but I'd lose a year to use the 2017 deposit. That's complete BS. Many of the resorts we exchange into are cheaper through points, but sometimes there's greater availability in weeks. I don't need as many as 63 TPUs at this point so if I could find one with an even lower MF as long as the points are of comparable cost, I'd probably buy that just for the access to the inventory. We've had great luck exchanging so far...just went to Paris and are heading back to the Bahamas in November. We've figured out how to make RCI work for us while still being a great value, but they're eroding that value enough in weeks that I'm definitely going to sell the EOY.

 

[klpca]

Changing the rules for combining is a definite downgrade. I recently received an email survey and was happy to give them feedback on their changes in this area.

 

[Panina]

Changing the rules for combining is a definite downgrade. I recently received an email survey and was happy to give them feedback on their changes in this area.

Initially I was unhappy about combining only having one year
But
I can see a different point of view, that members that own a high Tpu week should have a higher benefit of inventory available for two years versus two low weeks combined.

In the past when I deposited a high Tpu week in rci I was competing against the combined deposits with a on going search thus I stopped depositing that great week in RCI as I never matched to higher Tpu resorts. I used II instead as I get like trades and competed against less ongoing searches.

Maybe the new policy will encourage owners to deposit those high demand weeks with RCI.

 

[tschwa2]

Initially I was unhappy about combining only having one year
But
I can see a different point of view, that members that own a high Tpu week should have a higher benefit of inventory available for two years versus two low weeks combined.

In the past when I deposited a high Tpu week in rci I was competing against the combined deposits with a on going search thus I stopped depositing that great week in RCI as I never matched to higher Tpu resorts. I used II instead as I get like trades and competed against less ongoing searches.

Maybe the new policy will encourage owners to deposit those high demand weeks with RCI.

But it also gives the advantage to RCI points owners and systems who exchange with fixed points grids who can start a request way early without even depositing anything or worrying about points getting ready to expire while waiting for a match. This would be fine except the searches are going into weeks inventory that weeks members may then not have access to.

 

[Panina]

But it also gives the advantage to RCI points owners and systems who exchange with fixed points grids who can start a request way early without even depositing anything or worrying about points getting ready to expire while waiting for a match. This would be fine except the searches are going into weeks inventory that weeks members may then not have access to.

Good points, didn't think of those. Just my experience, but even with Hgvc points I can't get equivalent trades with RCI. RCI still won't get my prime weeks as me getting equivilant trades will still be difficult.

 

[DianneL]

I have been with RCI since I bought my first timeshare in 1993. I have two fixed weeks I never use, always deposit. I have other weeks I never deposit, always use. I do agree that RCI fees are high but find with the TPUs I get can usually get three and sometimes four weeks of vacation from them. One reason being is that we travel off season. I also sometimes book RCI extra vacations at reasonable prices. I have never been a platinum member as I don't see any value there for me.

 

[happymum]

Wow. I've got 8TPU's expiring this month and thought it was worth combining, even with the limitation of a 1 year expiry. But this seems beyond exorbitant:
"You will be charged CAD 194 and the Combined Deposit will expire 12 months from the date of the combine." Definitely not worth it to save 8!

 

[Kozman]

Wow. I've got 8TPU's expiring this month and thought it was worth combining, even with the limitation of a 1 year expiry. But this seems beyond exorbitant:
"You will be charged CAD 194 and the Combined Deposit will expire 12 months from the date of the combine." Definitely not worth it to save 8!

I have a few cats and dogs expiring soon (2,4,5) and used to combine them with a near future larger chunk since I'd still have almost two years to use. But now with only a year extension (at the same fee) I may have only 7-10 months to use. That is a definite disadvantage to the new rules.

 

[Rene McDaniel]

I am glad we were able to do the great trading we did when our kids were young. RCI's annual nonstop fee escalation for exchanges is beyond ridiculous.

Now that we are retired and empty nesters, we find that oftentimes RCI Extra Vacations are actually cheaper than using your TPUs. So, for that reason we will continue to keep our RCI membership. We usually rent our timeshare weeks we don't use, and use the cash to go where we want to go. We have a few TPU's left that we need to use, and now that RCI is reducing the combine to be only good for 12 months--- I will have to hurry to get them used up. Nowadays with Booking.com, VRBO, AirBnB, and hotels like Residence Inn, it is easy to find a nice place with a mini kitchen and book it immediately/no waiting for the exact days you need. Timesharing has spoiled us with the costs savings of being able to cook a few meals, or make some sandwiches to take on the road. But we are now finding we can often get those same amenities without it being a timeshare.

But -- we booked 3 RCI Extra Vacation weeks this year for only $199 per week, all at beach-front resorts in the shoulder season. Same price as over 20 years ago when we tooks our first RCI Extra Vacation to Puerto Vallarta in October. So I say, "why throw out the baby with the bath water"? Since RCI continues to up the costs of exchanging to ridiculous levels-- they get very little exchange business from us. We've gotten rid of all but one of our RCI timeshares that is close to our home and easy to rent. But cheap Extra Vacation weeks can definitely make having an RCI membership worth having.

We added a 2-bedroom EOY lockoff Marriott week to our timeshare ownership in 2009 and we have been really happy doing our exchanging through I.I. now instead of RCI. Yes, we now have to pay for 2 Exchange company memberships, but we enjoy getting the access to higher quality resorts through Interval International. Plus, we get 3 weeks from our 1-week deposit with Interval- we lock it off so we have the 1-bedroom side to trade, the studio side to trade, and then I.I. always puts an Accomodation Certificate into our account. Being a Marriott, Starwood, Hyatt, etc. gives you preference on other trades into your group and we have gotten some really great trades that would have cost us $400+ per night on Expedia.

So, I think timeshare exchanging is not yet TOTALLY dead, although RCI is probably one of my least-favorite corporations in the entire world. In the final anaylsis -- we all have to do the math and figure out what systems work best for us. It's seldom a one size fits all, since we have different family needs, different financial situations, and different places we want to travel.

-- Rene

 

[Free2Roam]

Very well said... especially the part about "hotels like Residence Inn."

After I started timesharing (about 20 years ago) I would cringe at the thought of staying more than one night in even the nicest hotels (and didn't want to pay the cost for the suites.) But I've recently stayed in suites with mini kitchens at a few hotel chains and they're pretty darn nice... and affordable! I could actually see myself staying longer than a couple days.

Of course that still doesn't beat RCI's $199/week specials, which I use often.

 

[rapmarks]

In about fifteen months, all our tpus will be gone. Somehow I have rci membership for five more years. I have investigated buying another timeshare, but add the maintenance fee and exchange fee and renting is cheaper. I don't know if I will find extra vacations to use until 2023 to make use of my rci membership


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk