Government Employee Giveaways

KathyJ,

Pricing for Armed Forces Vacation Club and Government Employees is determined in conjunction with the Department of Defense and set at a level that permits more military and government families to enjoy annual family vacations, regardless of their grade/pay levels. The Space-A price for AFVClub.com and getravelop.com is contractual, so it cannot be changed between contract periods. However, it is reviewed annually for adjustments.

The joint objective of the program is to provide a product that is a true benefit to these families. However, not a single unit/week is held in reserve or designated only for the military or government to use. RCI members continue to have access to the inventory for exchanges and Extra Vacations up to the time it is confirmed. RCI also frequently offers its members promotional pricing discounts of 25-35% off Extra Vacations. AFVC and Getravelop members are not eligible for these promotions.

We are proud of what this program has meant for many military families. Still, our members come first, and we make every effort to protect the value of your subscription dollars.

jfrisk said:

I don't know if they are offered globaly but they are available to Canadian gov't employees - current or retired.

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jfrisk,

RCI is indeed very interested in providing vacations to government employees outside of the U.S. After Canada, we are looking into programs for the UK, Mexico, and perhaps others. I will get an update for you.

Edited to delete post that did not conform to BBS posting rules. Dave M, BBS Administrator

I work for the Federal Government. I had forgotten about that site, I was on Tug reading as I was just about to book a room for my parents for $329 on RCI. When I read this post I looked at the same resort, room, time was $264.

I figured I'll have to make the reservation in my name, but then I realized it's not just federal. My father is a part time Police officer, so I was able to make the reservation in his name.

They didn't ask for any numbers and the don't seem to ask for any other info. This was all they asked "Which agency do you work for." I said "Police" she said "What State?" I said "NH".

That was it, they didn't ask for a pay stub, badge, work ID, or anything!

I do legitimatly qualify, but I personally wouldn't fault anyone who doesn't for faking it.

Jay G,

The AFVClub and Getravelop Guides are very good at spotting inconsistencies, suspicious responses and suspicious activity on accounts. When they detect something that doesn’t look like it is 100% valid, they let management know and management checks it out.

jfrisk,

I thought I would provide some more specifics about our offerings to government employees outside of the U.S. thus far.

For British military and government employees, the program is called "My Gov Holiday." The web site is www.mygovholiday.com. The pricing is posted in local currency, but there is no online booking capability. The reservation phone number rings to RCI in the UK.

The eligibility for Government Employee Travel Opportunities (www.GETravelOp.com) was expanded to cover both U.S. and Canadian government agencies. Canadian government employees follow the same procedures as U.S. employees, but can pay in Canadian dollars (the rate is posted on the web site). The telephone number is the same for both groups.

AKE said:

Don't know about the states but in Canada if it wasn't for the govt workers then planes would not be able to land or take off, hospitals wouldn't be staffed (due to nationalized medical care), kids would not be able to go to school (as there would not be teachers), pensioners would not receive their pension cheques and neither would the sick and needy be provided social assistance (for shelter as well as food), etc etc. I would be very careful when bashing govt workers because chances are that you WILL need them one day (if you already haven't utilized any of the services offered).

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Without shop workers and farmers you wouldn't be able to buy food; without lorry drivers nothing would get moved; without bank employees you couldn't get at your money...

I have no objection to any particular being targetted for marketing purposes, but please spare my bleeding heart!

Madge said:

jfrisk,

I thought I would provide some more specifics about our offerings to government employees outside of the U.S. thus far.

For British military and government employees, the program is called "My Gov Holiday." The web site is www.mygovholiday.com. The pricing is posted in local currency, but there is no online booking capability. The reservation phone number rings to RCI in the UK.

The eligibility for Government Employee Travel Opportunities (www.GETravelOp.com) was expanded to cover both U.S. and Canadian government agencies. Canadian government employees follow the same procedures as U.S. employees, but can pay in Canadian dollars (the rate is posted on the web site). The telephone number is the same for both groups.

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Madge,

I have no objection to any particular marketing ploy to maximise the usage of timeshare resorts as that can potentially be beneficial to all owners at the resort. The question is though - is the accommodation in these databases available to fully paid up members of RCI at the same price? If not can somebody please explain the justification for treating non members better than members?
I would appreciate if everybody - including moderators -could leave the reply to Madge please.

Keith,

I responded to this question at the top of page two in this thread. We try to keep pricing for AFVC and Getravelop similar to or higher than Extra Vacations or Last Call; however, because the contracts are fixed until updated, there may be instances where the pricing is lower for a while.

Madge said:

Keith,

I responded to this question at the top of page two in this thread. We try to keep pricing for AFVC and Getravelop similar to or higher than Extra Vacations or Last Call; however, because the contracts are fixed until updated, there may be instances where the pricing is lower for a while.

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Madge...

How do you define "lower for a while"? I have compared and contrasted RCI's Extra Vacations and Last Call (which is a pale imitation of how good it was at its launch). The fixed, cheap rate given to government workers and military personnel is always there and doesn't take alot of looking and weeding through links to find bargains. It's just a fixed cheap rate that can be counted on by those military and government workers. So what about the RCI dues-paying members who must pay $84+ annual dues just to be in RCI? Hard to navigate, time-consuming searches (often in vain) of Extra Vacations program, just to hopefully find a needle in the haystack bargain.

When will RCI ever realize that its core dues-paying membership should be first in line for standardized, rock- bottom pricing on extra inventory? Maybe timesharers on websites like TUG should organize a boycott of deposits of their weeks with RCI, until RCI gives their core membership the respect and membership perks they are due!

Carol C,

AFVClub and Getravelop are programs that RCI is proud to provide inventory for, and we endeavor to keep pricing fair.

If you have a couple of examples of resorts and dates you see on either site that are widely different from Extra Vacations, please let me know and I'll check into them. Please don't copy/paste search results; I will just need the resorts, dates, and prices.

For the record, the Armed Forces Vacation Club has gone from $234 to $249 to $264, and is now $299. As part of a military family (retired) as well as a timeshare owner, I am dismayed that both AFVC and RCI's Last Call/Extra Vacations are getting more and more costly. I just learned from the Exchanging section of TUG that Last Calls are going to be much more expensive as of March, and that RCI is now going to tax them on top of the increase.

Madge, what is going on with RCI? Last Calls have been reduced to negligible inventories, Extra Vacation prices have skyrocketed, we now pay more to book through a VC than we do to book on-line (even though VC's call my home ENDLESSLY, so they're certainly not short of time and manpower), Guest Certificates are no longer free for Last Calls and Extra Vacations, RCI's AFVC pricing just had its biggest increase ever, and Last Calls are about to increase dramatically and be taxed to boot. It's just too much! What's behind this sudden and seemingly endless quest for additional revenue? I feel like RCI members are being squeezed beyond what's reasonable or acceptable.

Cindy

Cindy,

RCI has always paid all applicable state and local taxes behind-the-scenes for Extra Vacations, Last Call, and other RCI surplus programs. However, until recently, our system didn't have the ability to collect varying amounts by locality. The reason pricing can be different (higher or lower) for Extra Vacations with Guides right now is that our website is still in the process of being updated with the new functionality. Once that is completed, the pricing will be the same on the website as it is with Guides.

Adjustments to Extra Vacations pricing will be made from time to time. This is sometimes in response to resorts' concerns about their own sales and rental efforts, and sometimes represents our efforts to keep our business strong and profitable.

Last Call availability depends on the inventory we have in great surplus, and that will vary according to the time of year and which region is being featured. Sometimes a new program like Last Call will take off like gangbusters, and we'll need to pull the reins back a bit while we evaluate the impact. Last Call has been wildly popular and will very likely continue. However, in order to keep it around, we need to make sure it's a sound program for the long term.