Restrictions in RCI Points Instant Exchange

Madge, this happened to me last year and it has happened again just yesterday. I asked you about it last year and your reply was that there should be no restrictions within 45 days for RCI pts instant exchange into a weeks resort.

Yesterday, I was unable to do an instant exchange for a Weeks resort starting on the 6th or 13th of April, that was visible in my weeks account search. I was told that Instant Exchanges were only for low demand weeks and that because the 6th & 13th were school holiday weeks, they were not available. This is not what I was told when I joined RCI Points. I was specifically told that anything in the weeks inventory was available for RCI pts instant exchanges within 45 days.

This is an issue for me now as I have just over 9000pts that will expire in July and I can not use it for these weeks which means they are likely to expire. I believe this is not only a case of RCI changing the rules without informing members but without even admitting that such a change has occurred. As far as the supervisor I spoke to was concerned, she thinks there has always been a restriction on RCI Points Instant Exchanges.

This is a matter of urgency for me as the weeks will probably be gone by the time you get around to answering my question.

Can you confirm that there has indeed been a change in the Instant Exchange rules, esp. with regards to RCI Points Asia Pacific?

Thank you.

45 Day Restrictions

I have noticed this in the past 6 months or so. If you do a search in the Caribbean - using weeks for whats available over the next two months you will see quite a few will not exchange for the 8000/9000 points within 45 days. An rci agent says not all resorts qualify. I guess if they feel they can rent it for the full points they want to do this. SOmetimes more than half of the resorts returned in 45 days will be their full points for exchange. Its also because there is alot less inventory available to RCI members and the possibility of NON RCI members and "RCI partners" competing for the same inventory. This coupled with the lack of Last Call inventory is tempting me to close my RCI membership and try to join II.

45 day instant exchange

I noticed the same thing this morning, many of the resorts which show up in the 45 day search (specifically April 5th - 8th) do not have their point values reduced when you "confirm" the reservation as they did in the past. I called RCI and was told that since the first week of April was a high-demand week that the point values would not be reduced right now. That is the first I have experienced this and is not what I understood when I purchased my RCI points. I'm not certain this particular agent really knew what was going on because she was not aware that you could reserve Instant Exchanges online!

What is really going on?

Wow, this could be a very big problem. I just went to the presentation at one of the resorts at which I own, and they said nothing of this stipulation to those of us willing to pay the $2500 point conversion cost.

As a HOA board member, I would like answers so that I can include information in our newsletter. Thanks.

Jana

Apparently many Tuggers have questions about the Instant Exchange process

Tonight I was unable to book a Hawaii week for 9,000 points. It was sitting there in weeks, with a check-in date less than two weeks out, but I would have to pay 80,000 points to get it. What happened to that benefit? No warning, nothing! I didn't really want the week, but unless their system is totally messed up, it looks like those low points vacations the salespeople are always talking about are going, going, gone!
__________________
The foregoing is a quote from rickandcindy23 posted on another thread.

Madge, do you have an explanation for this?

Was the Hawaii week also a points resort. If it was, you need to pay the full point value.

Dottie, I am the one that had the problem late last night and it was a weeks resort. I was trying to book Bay Club, Cliff's Club, Alii Kai, Kahana Falls and all were showing full points amounts, even when I selected and moved forward as if I was going to book it.

My thread about this in the points section that I started when it happened. Very upsetting, RCI's changing the rules in the middle of the game and not telling us about it. I am sick of RCI and their shenanigans.

I sent an email to RCI and don't expect to hear anything for a few days. Last time I sent an email about a transaction I tried to make, I never got a reply. This time at least I received an acknowledgment of my email and a promise of an answer within a few days.

wrong board posted

Lets let Madge reply. When there are new posts, the thread keeps getting bumped, and a longer delay until we get this sorted out, (hopefully with good news!)

Sydney,

The rules have not changed. However, as I mentioned to Pit here, we have been having issues with the web search for Weeks resorts in the Instant Exchange window. This is a technical issue, not a policy issue.

If you can see a week using your Weeks account, but it is not available using your Points account, there may be a downward VEP issue. Please send an e-mail to feedback@rci.com with TUG in the subject line so that the Communications Team can check and tell you for sure.

I was using my points account and searched weeks and saw the weeks right there, but the point values were very high and were not less when I clicked on the week to reserve. I tried every resort and could not get any for 9,000 points.

Cindy,

This is one of the web issues we've been experiencing related to the Weeks searches. Points values are not appearing correctly on the website for Instant Exchanges. However, the discounted point values are still available if you contact a Points Guide.

Calling a Guide

I tried this a few weeks ago when the time was less than 45 days, the guide said that the two resorts i was inquiring about did not qualify for instant exchange.

I also had the VG tell me my resort did not qualify for 9000 pts. It was Carlsbad Inn with 2 weeks notice. I am sad I gave up my week, but will try again. Would you suggest we ask to talk to the supervisor when we get the runaraound?

Wilmark and travelhound,

Definitely either ask for a supervisor or send an e-mail to feedback@rci.com with TUG in the subject line so that we can see what's really happening.

Madge said:

Wilmark and travelhound,

Definitely either ask for a supervisor or send an e-mail to feedback@rci.com with TUG in the subject line so that we can see what's really happening.

Click to expand...

I sent an email on the same day that I posted this message. I also spoke to a supervisor to no avail. The supervisor informed me that school holiday wks did not qualify or high demand wks did not qualify. She even went so far as to explain that the reason RCI has that restriction is to allow others to use the week first before it's available on instant exchange. I feel like telling them to read TUG's Ask RCI forum.

Since I'm in Australia, I need to rely on the guides and supervisors over the phone.

The week on the 6th is gone but as of yesterday the one on the 13th is still there. I'm resigned to missing this opportunity and hope to use the points for a weekend before July now.

Thanks Madge.

Sydney,

I checked with the Communications Team and we've determined that there is a VEP issue. The Moorings (1174) does not match the minimum VEP level for Points member requests. VEP for Points members is set at a mid-range.

If you have been to this resort before or are otherwise very confident about the vacation experience it provides, let the Communications Team know that. We may be able to make the exception for you.

Thank you very much for checking Madge.

At the time, the AU guides did tell me that I could have the 20th at The Moorings though just not the 7th that I wanted. Then they also said that the 13th wasn't available because that was NSW school holidays. So the AU guides do not seem to indicate that the VEP was the issue as they did say I could have the resort just not during school holidays.

Coincidentally, when I checked vacation escapes after speaking with them, the 20th was available on bonus wk but not the 6th & 13th at the time. This was when both the 6th and 13th were still visible in my weeks account with a spacebank search. This did make me wonder if they were checking vacation escapes to determine whether I could have the week or not, as they said they checked a different system for instant exchange. If the communications team checks vacation escapes, they will see what I mean.

We are leaving in a few hrs though for our trip and won't have internet access for a week at least. Also, the week of the 6th is gone which is what we wanted. We originally wanted the 6th to tag onto this week we are taking today.

While this has not been resolved, I still do appreciate your efforts. It's good to know that at least someone at RCI cares to do something about this issue.

I will email feedback at RCI again next time I encounter this and hopefully, can get the next instant exchange for a weekend stay since we do not have anymore time off until September.

I will also refer the AU RCI guides to this thread if that is ok with you? Or should I tell them to contact RCI U.S.?!

Thanks Madge!

Sydney said:

I will also refer the AU RCI guides to this thread if that is ok with you? Or should I tell them to contact RCI U.S.?!

Click to expand...

Sydney,

If you have trouble in the future, please e-mail feedback@rci.com and provide the Communications Team with the name of the Guide you were working with in Australia. That will help us to clarify our policies and hopefully keep information more consistent.

It's a VEP issue?

You can pay 80,000 points for a regular points exchange but not 9,000 because the VEP is too low to qualify for a last minute exchange?

Stan

Stan,

Downward VEP is always active. Regardless of how last-minute the vacation may be, overall our members still expect a certain level of minimum quality. This has been proven to us by our members over and over through the years. I've spoken with many of them myself.