RCI Guest Cert charges also went up!

djyamyam · Sep 13, 2006

We know the RCI exchange fees went up on Sept 10. What I didn't see posted anywhere was that guest cert fees also increased!!

They went up to $59 from $49. See here http://www.rci.com/CDA/Common/Documents/points_fees.pdf

This just sucks :annoyed:

Walt · Sep 14, 2006

Why is a Guest Certificate Fee Necessary?

djyamyam said:
We know the RCI exchange fees went up on Sept 10. What I didn't see posted anywhere was that guest cert fees also increased!!

They went up to $59 from $49. See here http://www.rci.com/CDA/Common/Documents/points_fees.pdf

This just sucks :annoyed:

Why is a Guest Certificate for Family Members necessary? For more Profit or to cover Expenses? Since my weeks are deeded weeks, I consider my family as being owner's of my timeshare weeks as much as I am. Why should they pay to use their Timeshare Week?

Is it to cover expenses? $59 to cover expenses on top of the Exchange Fee? Does RCI really expect us to believe that?

Walt

rod · Sep 14, 2006

Here is a partial history for the annual membership fees, the domestic exchange fees, and the gift certificate fees for the past few years along with the consumer price index for the year. These are the actual amounts, not guesses, and are the values for RCI Weeks.

Code:

        ANNUAL    DOMESTIC      GUEST       AVG
YEAR     FEES     EXCHANGE   CERTIFICATE    CPI

1990    $59.00    $ 79.00         -?-      130.7
1991    $59.00    $ 86.00      $ 35.00     136.2
1992    $59.00    $ 89.00      $ 35.00     140.3
1993    $65.00    $ 89.00      $ 35.00     144.5
1994    $65.00    $ 90.00         -?-      148.2

1995    $65.00    $ 93.00         -?-      152.4
1996    $74.00    $ 96.00         -?-      156.9
1997    $74.00    $103.00      $ 40.00     160.5
1998    $79.00    $110.00      $ 40.00     163.0
1999    $79.00    $118.00      $ 40.00     166.6

2000    $79.00    $124.00      $ 49.00     172.2
2001    $84.00    $124.00      $ 49.00     177.1
2002    $84.00    $129.00      $ 49.00     179.9
2003    $89.00    $139.00      $ 49.00     184.0
2004    $89.00    $139.00      $ 49.00     188.9

2005    $89.00    $149.00      $ 49.00     195.3
2006    $89.00*   $164.00      $ 59.00      N/A

                   * as far as I know this has not changed yet

edited to improve table formatting - rod

"Roger" · Sep 14, 2006

Interesting chart, Ron. If I hit the right buttons on my calculator (that is a big "if"), what the chart shows is

1. the cost of membership has gone up at a pace slightly slower than inflation (as measured by the consumer price index)

2. the cost of a guest certificate has gone up slightly faster than the pace of inflation

and ...

3. the cost of an exchange has gone up considerably faster than inflation.

Details:

The rise in the csi from Jan. 1990 to June of this year (not shown in Ron's chart) has been 59%.

That compares with

a 51% rise in the cost of membership
a 68% rise in the cost of a guest certificate
a 108% rise in the cost of an exchange

beejaybee · Sep 14, 2006

My plan

is to add my daughter to my RCI account in lieu of my spouse since I am the travel coordinator for our family and our daughter & family are those who we "give" exchanges to most often.

However, I am having difficulty obtaining the correct RCI form to make this change. I have been offered a form thru a savvy tugger and even RCI feedback but am not sure that is the correct one as it appears to involve transferring membership and all I want to do is change out a name.

Could someone please advise?

Thanks,
Barb

rickandcindy23 · Sep 14, 2006

With RCI points, I was able to add all of our children to the account. Our weeks account still sits there with only the two of us. They need to change that.

I have not used Guest Certificates much, though I have purchased a few. Now that the kids are older adults and travel more on their own, I will only grab them points exchanges. They are on all of our deeds. That was supposedly one of the criteria for adding names to our account.

If your daughter has to be on the deed, you can quit claim her name onto your week(s) for about $6.00. It is well worth it.

Carolinian · Sep 15, 2006

DAE's guest certificates have NOT gone up - they are still FREE!

That is also true of a number of other independent exchange companies.

Sydney · Sep 15, 2006

We already pay for an exchange fee as well as a yearly membership fee for the privilege of depositing. What difference is it to RCI if an exchange is made in someone else's name. How would that cost them more and thus require another $59 charge on top of the membership fee and exchange fee?

This week I sent in my form to discontinue our 3yr contract with RCI pts at the end of July 2007 and cited the ever increasing costs of RCI compared to the other exchange companies we use. Hopefully, if enough people do that, they'll revise the unnecessary fees. If they don't, well, it won't be our loss.

Dave M · Sep 15, 2006

Barb -

No form is necessary. See this Ask RCI thread for how to make the change.

Walt · Sep 15, 2006

Are Guest Certificates for Family Members Really Necessary?

I think it is flat out wrong to have Family Members have to get a Guest Certificate for using one of your exchanges.

If you, as a parent, allow your kids over 21 to use an exchange with or without being there, "Why should they have to have a Guest Certificate?"

I own 8 timeshare weeks. I have 4 kids that are married. Most of the time I will use all my timeshare weeks. However, my kids have used some of the weeks. The Guest Certificate requirement only gives me another reason NOT to buy anymore timeshare weeks.

When they stay at one of my home resort (not an exchange) I only need to write a letter that states I am allowing them to use my week. I assume this would be true at all Resorts.

I also believe that RCI gets all of the money and the Resorts get Nothing. So the Resorts have no reason to want a Guest Certificate. They only want to know that the people they gave the key to have the right to use the unit.

If you agree that Family Members should not need a Guest Certificate at a cost of $59, please let RCI know by posting on this Thread.

Walt

Carol C · Sep 15, 2006

What about guest certificate fees at AFVC? Has it gone up from zero to anything? :annoyed:

beejaybee · Sep 15, 2006

Thanks,

I appreciate the link about how to remove hubbies name from membership and add daughters, Dave. Will get this taken care of this weekend and hopefully the change will come through in time for my daughter's upcoming trip which is 2 months from now!
Barb

Harmina · Sep 15, 2006

RE: Increases for GC

djyamyam, I purchased a guest certificate for my sister last week, just before the rates went up. It cost $58. ( I thought I had paid $55. for the previous one.) The guide said no, it has been $58. for quite awhile.
Now the cost is $59. It has only gone up $1. I also live in Canada - the rate I am quoting is in CND.$$

djyamyam · Sep 16, 2006

Harmina said:
djyamyam, I purchased a guest certificate for my sister last week, just before the rates went up. It cost $58. ( I thought I had paid $55. for the previous one.) The guide said no, it has been $58. for quite awhile.
Now the cost is $59. It has only gone up $1. I also live in Canada - the rate I am quoting is in CND.$$

$58 was the CDN rate for the gift cert ($49 USD). With the new fee structure, we are charged $65 CDN ($59 USD). So we're paying $7 more. The reason for the variation on the increase is because RCI updated their exchange rate from US to CDN. Before Canadians were really getting screwed over the on the currency conversion. I had requested to be charged the US exchange and GC fees (which they wouldn't) because my credit card would have charged me less than RCI's currency conversion. For now, the currency conversion rate is reasonable.

Harmina · Sep 16, 2006

my apologies

djyamyam, Sorry, I thought the counsellor was quoting me in CND funds.
I received the RCI Endless Vacation magazine, it shows the new rates as $164for domestic, $199. for International, and $59. for the GC.
Those are the US rates. When she told me the GC was going from $58. to $59I thought she was quoting the CND rates as the old rates for the GC was $58
There are so many guides( counsellors) whatever you want to call them out there and nobody seems to know what they are doing. I have been on the phone for over 3 hours today trying to get my account straightened out.
I am not getting anywhere except getting the run around!

djyamyam · Sep 16, 2006

Harmina said:
it shows the new rates as $164for domestic, $199. for International, and $59. for the GC.
Those are the US rates. When she told me the GC was going from $58. to $59I thought she was quoting the CND rates as the old rates for the GC was $58

The thing to note if you are talking with the guide is to make sure they are charging you the proper amount! The new domestic exchange rate in CDN dollars is $181 CDN but when I recently did an exchange, the guide tried to charge me $189! I was also doing a PFD which is $26 USD or $$30 CDN and she tried to charge me $37 CDN :annoyed: . Bad enough that prices have gone up but to compound that when they try to rob you directly to your face that crosses the line!!

That is a real example of RCI taking advantage of the the typical TS owner who didn't know any better!

Harmina · Sep 16, 2006

I do write the rates down as they change. The EV magazine had quoted them in US $$. The guide I spoke to mentioned that the grid should have been revised for the Canadian members.
International $219 ( down by $5.) Domestic $181 ( up by $4.) GC $65 ( up by $7.)

DianeV · Sep 16, 2006

Oh I definitely agree..there is no reason that someone in your own family should have to pay to use your week..it sounds like a money maker thing to me :annoyed:

Harmina · Sep 16, 2006

Now you can buy an unlimited guest certificate ( only one guest name on the certificate) for $179 good for 5 years or 10 years for $279. These are the CND rates. I was informed by RCI today. I told them how ridiculous it is to now have to pay $65. to have someone elses name typed on a piece of paper.

sumauri · Sep 18, 2006

RCI has outpriced us in every way. When we first became a member (2000) the fee for exchanging was $119 for a domestic exchange, now it's $164. With exchange rates rising, membership rates rising along with rising maintenance fees timesharing is not the value it once was. It looks to me like timesharing rising rates are far and above normal inflation rates. Bottom line, we prefer to rent now without the hassle of owning. There are countless rental sites (both personal and commercial) on the internet alone. It wasn't like that a few years ago.

We were fortunate to be into timesharing when the costs weren't prohibitive like they are now.

I found Rod's chart above very interesting.

RCI Guest Cert charges also went up!

djyamyam

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