Can Canadians pay RCI fees in USD?

[bizaro86]

RCI pads their already ample fees by charging an indecent spread on the currency exchange from USD to CAD. I keep a US dollar credit card for paying my various MF bills and travel charges, the vast majority of which are in USD.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get them to charge me fees in USD? I'd be willing to switch my account settings/address to a US relative, although my USD credit card has a billing address in Canada, even though it is from a US domiciled bank...

Thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

 

[DeniseM]

I doubt if RCI has any control over that - it would be determined by their credit card processor.

 

[tschwa2]

It's not the exchange rate problem it is they charge you that price in Canadian dollars if you have a Canadian address. If you used your Canadian based account and paid with a US CC, they would probably charge you to exchange back into Canadian dollars and still charge the same fee. You would need to have a new account set up using a US address in order to pay in USD and get the US membership and exchange fees.

 

[bizaro86]

It's not the exchange rate problem it is they charge you that price in Canadian dollars if you have a Canadian address. If you used your Canadian based account and paid with a US CC, they would probably charge you to exchange back into Canadian dollars and still charge the same fee. You would need to have a new account set up using a US address in order to pay in USD and get the US membership and exchange fees.

Sorry, yes they charge in CAD, but the CAD prices are more than the equivalent prices in USD.

I know it isn't their credit card processor, because it would be easier for any US based company to just take USD payments and let the customers worry about the exchange.

Has anyone ever switched their RCI account to a US address?

 

[happymum]

Yes, I recently helped a friend switch her account to a US address for just this reason. Unfortunately she hasn't had any charges since the conversion, but if it is successful, I will likely change my account to her US address also.

 

[youppi]

I understand you. RCI charged me 336 CAD yesterday (247 USD if I use the current exchange rate of 1.36 CAD = 1 USD) for the exchange fee where for US members is 230 USD (313 CAD at current exchange rate).
So, RCI charged me 7% more because I'm Canadian.
A part of my family are Americans and live in USA. May be I should use the address of one of them.

 

[bizaro86]

Yes, I recently helped a friend switch her account to a US address for just this reason. Unfortunately she hasn't had any charges since the conversion, but if it is successful, I will likely change my account to her US address also.

If you remember, would you mind updating the thread to see if it works for the next charge to be in USD? I could switch it, but it would be a bother for a distant relative, so I don't want to unless its actually going to work...

 

[youppi]

June 3, the exchange fee will change. Guess what, the Canadian fee will pass from 336 CAD to 359 CAD an increase of 6.8% where the US fee will pass from 230 USD to 239 USD an increase of 3.9%.
9 USD is 12 CAD at current exchange rate but RCI increase the Canadian fee by 23 CAD.

 

[youppi]

Yes, I recently helped a friend switch her account to a US address for just this reason. Unfortunately she hasn't had any charges since the conversion, but if it is successful, I will likely change my account to her US address also.

Just ask him/her to check the cost of any Extra Vacation and/or Last Call resort to see if the cost showed is in USD or CAD.

 

[moonstone]

I have tried many times in the past to pay RCI fees from our Bank of America Account with no luck even after speaking to a "supervisor". We own property (a condo rented out full time) in the USA but I was told I had to use my principal address for RCI records.

Canadians are getting royally ripped off by RCI with the price differences and their calculations of our dollar exchange rates. When the rates change it takes RCI a long time to adjust what they charge.

Many years ago when the Canadian dollar was at $1.07 (above the US $) I was speaking to an RCI rep who wanted to charge me the transaction cost at par. I told her our dollar was worth more than the US dollar so I should be paying less. She told me it wasn't possible that the Canadian dollar was worth more than the US dollar!! I told her to check any news source and asked to speak to her supervisor. I was told that no supervisor could alter the exchange rate so I had to pay what was set at that time. A few days later I booked another week and got a different/better rate. I guess somebody in head office looked up the rates!

~Diane

 

[happymum]

Just ask him/her to check the cost of any Extra Vacation and/or Last Call resort to see if the cost showed is in USD or CAD.

Good suggestion. Unfortunately, still showing in Canadian.

 

[youppi]

Good suggestion. Unfortunately, still showing in Canadian.

I'm not surprise. They make more money by charging in CAD that they will not change an account to US quickly (if they change it).

 

[youppi]

I have tried many times in the past to pay RCI fees from our Bank of America Account with no luck even after speaking to a "supervisor". We own property (a condo rented out full time) in the USA but I was told I had to use my principal address for RCI records.

Canadians are getting royally ripped off by RCI with the price differences and their calculations of our dollar exchange rates. When the rates change it takes RCI a long time to adjust what they charge.

Many years ago when the Canadian dollar was at $1.07 (above the US $) I was speaking to an RCI rep who wanted to charge me the transaction cost at par. I told her our dollar was worth more than the US dollar so I should be paying less. She told me it wasn't possible that the Canadian dollar was worth more than the US dollar!! I told her to check any news source and asked to speak to her supervisor. I was told that no supervisor could alter the exchange rate so I had to pay what was set at that time. A few days later I booked another week and got a different/better rate. I guess somebody in head office looked up the rates!

~Diane

You were lucky to get it at par. Me, they charged me more when I did an exchange during that period. They are quick to change the CAD fee when the CAD drop but when the CAD go up against USD, they don't hurry to change the CAD fee.

 

[kherbold]

I just change my address online to my Hawaii Condo... and I had no problems after that...
and gave my Bank of America card number

 

[moonstone]

I just change my address online to my Hawaii Condo... and I had no problems after that...
and gave my Bank of America card number

So does RCI mail all their correspondence to you to your Hawaii Condo?

We were told numerous times by various levels of 'management' at RCI that our address needs to be changed in the ownership paperwork of our deeds. I don't recall needing to put our home (Canadian) address on any paperwork when we purchased, but I will admit the latest purchase was quite a few years ago.

Maybe I'll start up the fight again!


~Diane

 

[matbec]

Has RCI always charged Canadian members in CAD or was this a recent (eg: in the last 10 years) thing that came about when they opened offices in Canada (not that those exist anymore)? What does RCI do for members located elsewhere, like Europe and Asia? Do they charge their fees in the local currency?

 

[Cyberc]

I have two Rci accounts, one for points and one for weeks. Due to me having booked a 1:4 resort on both accounts I haven't combined the accounts yet but I will later this year after I've checked in.

On my weeks account I have a US address you can get one online for free, I changed my address after I bought my ts. The original address was my address her in Europe.

On my points account I still have my European address.

On my weeks account I pay the 239$ exchange fee and on my European points account I pay an equivalent fee of 161$ for both weeks and points exchanges. So really no reason to stick with the US account any longer. I got the us account years ago because of the cheaper exchange fee.

Down side is that I can only renew my membership 1 year at a time at an equivalent fee of 154$, but since that's a one time fee yearly I'm okay with that.

A platinum membership is 63$ yearly

If my fees are an error by RCI I don't know but I'm not to complain

Since the RCI fees are constantly going up, I would move my address around to get the lowest fees.

Also the address on my exchanges will be in whatever country I have decided to use. I have yet to experience any resort asking for ID which includes my address. As long as my name is the same on my ID and exchanges I've been fine.

I would definitely recommend using an address in another country - except for the yearly member fee I haven't found any down side to having my address in Europe vs the US.

 

[moonstone]

We purchased a week & therefore got an RCI Weeks account in the early '80's. Then quite a few years ago (5-10?) we purchased some RCI points (resale of course) and RCI combined our Points account with our weeks account so we only pay 1 fee. High as it is (in Cndn $s), it is still far cheaper than paying for 2 different accounts. I have 2 different log ins for RCI so I can search with just my week or just my points.


~Diane

 

[matbec]

Interesting ... so if I'm understanding this correctly, for everyone else but those in Canada - regardless of where in the world they are - RCI charges fees in USD. Did I get that right?
If this is true, then the overhead involved in managing 2 different sets of fees is likely contributing to the inflated CAD fees. I'm going to email RCI and suggest to them that for efficiencies, they should be looking at consolidating the fees into one set and using USD as their base currency, similar to how II does it ... not that I have any expectations that they would listen to me

 

[Luckytimer]

RCI is driving me absolutely NUTS. I agree, us Canadians are getting ripped off. I'd like to know how they justify charging us more for everything, as if the exchange rate isn't bad enough for us. They are skimming off the top by charging us more for same services regardless of exchange rate.

 

[boomboomman]

RCI pads their already ample fees by charging an indecent spread on the currency exchange from USD to CAD. I keep a US dollar credit card for paying my various MF bills and travel charges, the vast majority of which are in USD.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get them to charge me fees in USD? I'd be willing to switch my account settings/address to a US relative, although my USD credit card has a billing address in Canada, even though it is from a US domiciled bank...

Thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

Was on the phone with RCI to book 2 weeks and they wanted to charge me $365CND per week. I told them I wanted to pay with my US credit card in US currency. I was told i could not. i explained that $249USD with a 1.25 exchange rate still leaves $53 of overcharge. their supervisor indicated that it is Canadian taxes. but they had no tax number to supply me; therefore, you cannot charge tax. that still left $13CND unaccounted for. imagine the 10s of thousands of Canadians trading and paying those extra fees. they are making more money off of Canadians than they are with the US accounts. I am now attempting to find a US address to use.

 

[moonstone]

they are making more money off of Canadians than they are with the US accounts.

Yes, they are, and have been for ages. I have been arguing with them (see above posts) for years and get nowhere. We have an American address (our condo in FL), a US bank account (Bank of America) and yet they still want to charge us in Canadian dollars which are never at current exchange rates. I was told years ago a US address must be our primary/full time address in order for RCI to register it on our account.

We did get a notice from RCI that effective July 1st the rates for Canadians will be adjusted to better reflect the exchange rate of our dollar. Our annual Points membership will go from $157. Cndn down to $149.Cndn . Every little bit helps!


~Diane

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

RCI pads their already ample fees by charging an indecent spread on the currency exchange from USD to CAD. I keep a US dollar credit card for paying my various MF bills and travel charges, the vast majority of which are in USD.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get them to charge me fees in USD?

I'd be willing to switch my account settings/address to a US relative, although my USD credit card has a billing address in Canada, even though it is from a US domiciled bank...

Thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

The answer to your initial question is no.
Part of the spread between US and Cdn. fees that RCI charges in Canada is the incorporation of GST / HST into the fees.
If you read the fine print you can find this information.

I have no idea if changing your billing address would allow a change

 

[boomboomman]

The answer to your initial question is no.
Part of the spread between US and Cdn. fees that RCI charges in Canada is the incorporation of GST / HST into the fees.
If you read the fine print you can find this information.

I have no idea if changing your billing address would allow a change

responding to a few comments.
as a business owner you must register your company with revenue Canada and must collect taxes on their behalf. you MUST have an assigned tax number to do so and must be visible on all invoices or at the very least be supplied on demand. this pertains to all Canadian companies. in 2016 wyndham started collecting HST from all Canadian purchasers and memberships. the simple fact is that any contract or purchase outside Canada are not binding to Canadian laws. therefore all monies collected as tax is not going to the Canadian government. revenue Canada does not receive any of that money. So, the extra $53 cnd is pure profit for them. to one person its not much but multiply by even 5000(conservative) transactions for a total of 250,000 cnd free.
You may be right about the address change, but it's time to out play those companies exploiting our Canadian market. any ideas?? IMAGINE if all Canadians stopped trading with RCI for 1 month, the impact would be devastating to them. Remember what they did to 2 Canadian boys that created a company in the mid 90"s that revolutionized the timeshare market. The court battles and endless defamation, only to apply all those strategies themselves- II and RCI. This last part was a little rant. RCI AND II have taken a great concept and destroyed it.

 

[travel maniac]

Yes, they are, and have been for ages. I have been arguing with them (see above posts) for years and get nowhere. We have an American address (our condo in FL), a US bank account (Bank of America) and yet they still want to charge us in Canadian dollars which are never at current exchange rates. I was told years ago a US address must be our primary/full time address in order for RCI to register it on our account.

We did get a notice from RCI that effective July 1st the rates for Canadians will be adjusted to better reflect the exchange rate of our dollar. Our annual Points membership will go from $157. Cndn down to $149.Cndn . Every little bit helps!


~Diane

You may want to try again (especially if it's been a few years) to see if they'll change your address to the US address. Then you'll pay in US$. If an agent doesn't agree, maybe talk with a supervisor.