[ 2008 ] RCI points for airfare

Have people here been successful with this recently? I have heard complaints re: availability of flights. Also, do you deal with RCI to arrange - customer service or is online possible?

Thanks for any info!

RCI Travel

spehar said:

Have people here been successful with this recently? I have heard complaints re: availability of flights. Also, do you deal with RCI to arrange - customer service or is online possible?

Thanks for any info!

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I have been successful. RCI Travel Agency handles the transaction just like any travel agent, by phone. I tested them by looking through Kayak and Priceline etc. etc and RCI found me the best deal.

spehar said:

Have people here been successful with this recently? I have heard complaints re: availability of flights. Also, do you deal with RCI to arrange - customer service or is online possible?

Thanks for any info!

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I don't think that there is an availability issue any longer. That was with the old system in which you received tickets for a set amount of point (45,000 domestic and 65,000 international).

Now you can shop for cheap airfare as BillR said in post #2 and call them to make the reservation using points for a portion of the cost. Points are simply converted at a flat rate (ex. 55,000 points = $500 discount) and discounts in $100 increments (ex. $300, $400, $500, etc). One discount (point conversion) and $49 fee per ticket.

To make it really cost effective you need to own points at a very good cost per point.

However, you may just need to use up points before they expire and since that's money already spent..... you may as well just take what you can get for them. Although you may be able to rent them to someone else for more!!

JMAESD84 said:

I don't think that there is an availability issue any longer. That was with the old system in which you received tickets for a set amount of point (45,000 domestic and 65,000 international).

Now you can shop for cheap airfare as BillR said in post #2 and call them to make the reservation using points for a portion of the cost. Points are simply converted at a flat rate (ex. 55,000 points = $500 discount) and discounts in $100 increments (ex. $300, $400, $500, etc). One discount (point conversion) and $49 fee per ticket.

To make it really cost effective you need to own points at a very good cost per point.

However, you may just need to use up points before they expire and since that's money already spent..... you may as well just take what you can get for them. Although you may be able to rent them to someone else for more!!

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This is great to hear - thanks!

Excellent explanation, but...

JMAESD84 said:

Although you may be able to rent them to someone else for more!!

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I thought that RCI points could NOT be rented to someone else.
Am I simply mistaken in this belief?

I did okay with using RCI points for airfare recently. I was interested in only one particular flight going and returning (only non-stop from/to my city), and the rates were very high. Dropped in half one day, and I really didn't want to put the charge on my cards so I figured I'd see what I could do with points. It worked out to costing us about $80 more after figuring in the RCI charges, but we had the points and not the money so it was a good thing! Since then the cost of that flight has tripled over what it cost us in points/fees.

The one problem I had, when the charges from RCI appeared on my credit card, I absolutely did not recognize who it was from. It said something like YourGPN with a bunch of numbers, and said membership fee. I called the phone number associated with the charge and got a sex phone hotline , seriously. So I disputed the charge. My credit card rep checked the number while I was on the phone and got the sex phone hotline too, and they immediately removed the charge from my account. A few weeks later I got a letter in the mail from RCI saying they would cancel our reservations if we did not pay the charges. A lightbulb went on and I realized that the charge I had disputed must have been the fees for the tickets, so I called RCI and reported why I had disputed the charge and paid it. I think they could make it a little more obvious that it is an RCI charge--and I think they had better do something about the phone number that appears on credit card statements!

Eek is right!

I suspect that it was just a typo (still absolutely inexcusable), but I also conjure up this image of some RCI employee cut and pasting the RCI number into some form, having forgot that he most recently was checking out some sites on the internet and had copied down a number.

With regard to the OP's original concern, I suspect that the complaints about availability go back to the days when RCI tried making special arrangements with certain airlines. What was available was probably what the airline had available in their frequent flyer program.

If I understand the new program correctly, it is more akin to the credit cards that just allow you to book at whatever price you can get and then knock a dollar figure off. The later sort of program usually saves you less money, but there are no blackout periods, no need for frequent flyer tickets to be available, etc. At least that is the way that I understand the current program.

theo said:

I thought that RCI points could NOT be rented to someone else.
Am I simply mistaken in this belief?

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RCI recently eliminated the fee for points transfers between members.

So you can give another member your points now.

I don't see any need to get into why you've become so generous....do you.

I've been using my points for airfare for the past several months. I have booked 4 sets of flights for myself and my 3 children. In each case, I selected the flights I wanted through one of the regular airline websites, then called RCI points. In 3 of the 4 cases, I was able to get exactly the flights I wanted at the rate shown on the airline website. In the case of the 4th flight, I was looking to use a $1000 voucher to purchase a seat for one of my kids. I could only use the voucher once, whether it was for a $1000 ticket or a $200 ticket. So, I booked first class tickets to Orlando for next spring break. For some reason, the flight that I wanted was $400/ticket more through RCI than on the airline's website. So, I had to settle for a different flight.

So, I've been a fairly happy camper. My points would go unused without the airline partners program.

I just did this today. The travel involves going from A-B-C-A. RCI seemed to be able to give us a discount (in exchange for points) on the travel from A-B-C. Our last leg (C-A) they mentioned that there were no RCI fares available. For that leg we paid the published price. I was double checking the prices on the internet while talking to RCI. Overall, we saved about 50% on the published price for this kind of flight. This was my first experience with RCI and I am very pleased.

'Nuff said

JMAESD84 said:

RCI recently eliminated the fee for points transfers between members.

So you can give another member your points now.

I don't see any need to get into why you've become so generous....do you.

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Good point; a spontaneous act of kindness need not be justified to RCI.....

It is now August 2010. Rci points cannot now be used for Airfares.
Sod them

delboy5651 said:

It is now August 2010. Rci points cannot now be used for Airfares.
Sod them

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Since when? I thought the upgraded membership allowed you to use up to half of your points for airfare? I was going to upgrade my membership, because we own 200K points per year and were going to use some for airfare.

I used points for airfare on the 17th. I was able to make two reservations online, but then the system prohibited me from making two more. I ended up having to call in and have someone make the reservations. The system would not let me make the reservations for all four of us which was why I was trying two and two. Also, they said they could not override the fee (it is $25 online but higher to call in) even though it was a problem with their system.

rickandcindy23 said:

Since when? I thought the upgraded membership allowed you to use up to half of your points for airfare? I was going to upgrade my membership, because we own 200K points per year and were going to use some for airfare.

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This is the info posted on the RCI website:
"Use up to half of your annual Points allocation (or 40,000 Points — whichever is higher) on RCI Points Partner transactions, which is more than with the standard RCI Points program.

Jennie, I know! I think it's probably not a bad deal, though, so I may just jump in with both feet. I really do dislike RCI and think they are scum, but the extra few bucks to get the airfare might be a good way for me to use my points. If the cost of the airfare turns out to be decent, at least I won't ever lose my points.

When they first announced the new RCI Points program, I was sure this would help only developer-purchased points, but at least that wasn't true.

Can anyone tell me if RCI Points transferred into my account from another member who has points they cannot use due to illness could be used (up to the 40,000 max per year) by me to make airfare reservations. I own 198,000 RCI Points per year and have additional points in my account through some pfd transactions so the 40,000 transferred Points would clearly be far less than 50% of my annual total.

Jennie said:

Can anyone tell me if RCI Points transferred into my account from another member who has points they cannot use due to illness could be used (up to the 40,000 max per year) by me to make airfare reservations. I own 198,000 RCI Points per year and have additional points in my account through some pfd transactions so the 40,000 transferred Points would clearly be far less than 50% of my annual total.

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From what I've learned, you cannot use rented or transferred points for PP.

Anyone else is welcome to correct me if I was misinformed.

Thanks.

RESURRECTING a 2008 Thread

How exactly can I use points and how many can I use for air travel.

For instance, I have 122,000 regular RCI points--plus an additional 48,000 banked points in my account (170,000 in total).

I want to pay for a $320 ticket--EWR to PBI Newark to West Palm Beach in July to go to Marriott's Oceana Palms

How do I do this?I can't find a place to do it online, and I hate dealing with RCI reps on the phone. They're always messing up my account!

I'm RCI Platinum if that makes a difference.

Click on the Save with RCI tab up top.
Once that opens up Click on Points Partners.

If you are platinum it will let you use up to half of your annual allotment. If not you can use 33% which would be around 40,500.

Select Air. Do your search. You will need to add in the passenger info. At the end it will let you add up to the cost of the ticket. You can't pay the Points partner fee with points. Tickets this way are like priceline. Non refundable/non changeable. Even for mechanical difficulties or something that is the fault of the airline, they will not off line you to another airline. Your only option if flight is cancelled would be to book on the next available flight. I don't think you can earn FF miles.

RCI isn't always the cheapest but it is often comparable to what you can find on expedia.