# Rci August Restaurant.com



## gnipgnop (Aug 1, 2012)

I received my notice this morning that the August certificate is now available.  When I sign in to RCI I can not fine "MY CERTS" anywhere on my menu bar.  I got them last month with no problem at all this month I'm lost.  What am I doing wrong???


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## bellesgirl (Aug 1, 2012)

You have to go to RCI travel to find the My Certs menu item.  You get there by going to Car,Cruise Air and More.  Wouldn't that be the most logical place to find your Platinum restaurant rewards?


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## SOS8260456 (Aug 1, 2012)

I signed into RCI and then clicked on the link in the email and it took me right to where I needed to be.  So you don't feel alone, I finally went yesterday to redeem the July certificates and for the life of me I couldn't find the link.  Today when I rec'd the email I was a pro.


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## gnipgnop (Aug 1, 2012)

Thanks Lisa from PA ~ I am from Western PA.  I appreciated your help.


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## b2bailey (Aug 5, 2012)

*Restaurant.com certificates*

I jointed RCI Platinum nearly a year ago and have never heard of this before. How did I miss out?


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## randkb (Aug 5, 2012)

b2bailey said:


> I jointed RCI Platinum nearly a year ago and have never heard of this before. How did I miss out?



We received an email in July and we had to respond to the e-mail and register for the certificates.   It was around July 15th; perhaps it is in your spam mail.


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## Ron98GT (Aug 5, 2012)

b2bailey said:


> I jointed RCI Platinum nearly a year ago and have never heard of this before. How did I miss out?



Check your JUNK and SPAM accounts, if your using MS Outlook.


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## JudyS (Aug 7, 2012)

I had trouble finding the link, too. I eventually found it, and requested my Restaurant.com GC about 24 hours ago, but I haven't received it yet. How long do the emails usually take to arrive? (And it's not in my spam folder; I checked.)


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## MichaelColey (Aug 7, 2012)

Mine took about a day.

Make sure you request your certificate each month, because they can only be requested during the month. If you don't request it by the end of the month, I think you lose it.

Once you have the certificate number, I think you can use it anytime.


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## Ron98GT (Aug 7, 2012)

Sunday, we used one of our July $25 certificates.  It requires a $35 minimum purchase, it can not be applied toward the purchase of alcohol, and there is an automatic 18% tip added (be careful not to double tip).  

I saw some restaurants offering certificates less than $25.  Apparently the $25 can be split across more than one restaurant certificate.

I also saw some Cert's for more than $25 ($100).  Would like to know if multiple $25 months (the $25 is good for 13 months) can be combined for a larger Cert. for fine dinning (maybe).  I know you can't use more than one cert, but we may be able to print out a larger cert than $25.


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## Timeshare Von (Aug 7, 2012)

Is this benefit only available to RCI Platinum members, as I don't recall seeing anything either (but I'm not Platinum).


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## MichaelColey (Aug 9, 2012)

It's a new benefit of Platinum membership.


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## Ron98GT (Aug 9, 2012)

JudyS said:


> I had trouble finding the link, too. I eventually found it, and requested my Restaurant.com GC about 24 hours ago, but I haven't received it yet. How long do the emails usually take to arrive? (And it's not in my spam folder; I checked.)



My first/July ones took about 4 days.  I haven't tried the August one yet, maybe this weekend.


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## gnipgnop (Aug 9, 2012)

My August one took about 3 days.   When we used the first one in July we did tip in addition to the already 18% gratuity on the check.     Next time we will double check.  That was the first time using a restaurant.com certificate for us.  They are well worth it.


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## JudyS (Aug 10, 2012)

Thanks for the information on how long certificates take to show up via email. My certificate showed up after 2 days.

It does seem that you have to request within the month or lose the certificate. My account showed that both my July and August certificates were available, an I requested both, but only the August one showed up in my email. It seems to me that RCI wants Platinum members to log in at least once a month and that is why you can only request each certificate during a single month. (Of course, lots of folks here probably log in to RCI several times a day!)

Often Restaurant.com puts these same certificates on sale for $2. Once or twice a year, they have a one-day sale where the price drops to $1. So, I would value these certificates at $2 each, at most.


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## Timeshare Von (Aug 10, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> It's a new benefit of Platinum membership.



Thanks for the info.  Seems like a gimmick to me then.


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## Ron98GT (Aug 10, 2012)

Timeshare Von said:


> Thanks for the info.  Seems like a gimmick to me then.



Maybe.  And it may not be worth signing up for Plat to get it, or keeping Plat if you have it.  But, if you are already a Plat member, it's just an added benefit.   Couple dollars saved here and there add up.

I can't see buying the restaurant coupons by themselves, even for a dollar or two, when they are only good for $25 and I'm forced to pay a 18% tip.  Just my opinion.


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## Timeshare Von (Aug 10, 2012)

Ron98GT said:


> Maybe.  And it may not be worth signing up for Plat to get it, or keeping Plat if you have it.  But, if you are already a Plat member, it's just an added benefit.   Couple dollars saved here and there add up.
> 
> I can't see buying the restaurant coupons by themselves, even for a dollar or two, when they are only good for $25 and I'm forced to pay a 25% tip.  Just my opinion.



A 25% tip?  You're kidding right?  All of their certificates I've seen/received have stated 18% but to be honest many of the restaurants I've used them at have not pre-charged the tip.


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## rapmarks (Aug 10, 2012)

I have not noticed any great deals for Restaurant.com certificates lately.  In fact, today the ad was $2 for a ten dollar certificate.   someone mentioned the gift certificates are only good for 13 months.   i have had many longer than that; I hope that is not a new rule. I am glad they have added $15 certificates, most requiring an expenditure of only $25.   We got some $25 requiring $50 and the restaurants were inexpensive and for two people, too hard to read $50.


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## Timeshare Von (Aug 10, 2012)

rapmarks said:


> I have not noticed any great deals for Restaurant.com certificates lately.  In fact, today the ad was $2 for a ten dollar certificate.   someone mentioned the gift certificates are only good for 13 months.   i have had many longer than that; I hope that is not a new rule. I am glad they have added $15 certificates, most requiring an expenditure of only $25.   We got some $25 requiring $50 and the restaurants were inexpensive and for two people, too hard to read $50.



Yep - there are hardly the deal they used to be, that's for sure.  I think they have really lost sight of what got them going in the first place. 

In addition to the higher costs/minimum purchase values, they have also blocked a number of restaurants from being eligible in their "promo codes".

I recently received an email message from them that they are seeking to hire sales reps to market their program to restaurants to join their program as well as to other businesses to reward customers, employees, etc. with g/c's.


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## bellesgirl (Aug 10, 2012)

Ron98GT said:


> Sunday, we used one of our July $25 certificates.  It requires a $35 minimum purchase, it can not be applied toward the purchase of alcohol, and there is an automatic 18% tip added (be careful not to double tip).
> 
> I saw some restaurants offering certificates less than $25.  Apparently the $25 can be split across more than one restaurant certificate.
> 
> I also saw some Cert's for more than $25 ($100).  Would like to know if multiple $25 months (the $25 is good for 13 months) can be combined for a larger Cert. for fine dinning (maybe).  I know you can't use more than one cert, but we may be able to print out a larger cert than $25.


I called restaurant.com support and they combined my certificates.


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## MichaelColey (Aug 10, 2012)

Lots of different things discussed, so I'm going to hop around to several different topics...

It's been a while since I've seen a 90% off, 80% off or even a 70% off coupon (making $25 certificates $1, $2 or $3).  Perhaps we've all grown to expect them and their sales have dropped during times when they don't have them?

Part of the value in the RCI certificates is that we can use them at the beginning of the month when certificates are restocked.  Some of the more popular restaurants sell out quickly, and are never still available when the best coupons are out.

As far as I know, once you get a certificate, it no longer has an expiration date.  I'm not sure if there's some sort of exception for these freebies, but I would be surprised.  They went with no expiration after the gift certificate laws changed.

It's good to know that you can combine certificates through customer service -- I have a bunch of $10 ones and I generally prefer $25 ones.

I've never seen one with a 25% tip required.  Most are 18% (which I think is ridiculous at the restaurants that don't even offer table service!) and I've seen a few that are 20% (and a few that are 15%).  I've had a few servers not put the tip on automatically, but most places I've been put it on.  (I generally tip better when they don't.  I seldom add more if they add it automatically.)

I generally look at what my total bill will be -- looking at the menu for entree prices, minimum order amount, the mandatory tip, tax, etc.  For a $25 certificate with a $35 minimum, it generally works out that you can get out the door for around $20 if you keep your pre-discount bill just over $35.  That's a good deal to me.  But with a $40 or $50 minimum (or higher if the entree prices are high), the value fades very quickly.


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## Ron98GT (Aug 10, 2012)

MichaelColey said:


> Lots of different things discussed, so I'm going to hop around to several different topics...
> 
> It's been a while since I've seen a 90% off, 80% off or even a 70% off coupon (making $25 certificates $1, $2 or $3).  Perhaps we've all grown to expect them and their sales have dropped during times when they don't have them?
> 
> ...



1.  I'm also an II Gold member and there are a lot of 20% off anytime restaurant discounts thru Entertainment.  It includes one of the pizza shops I like to go to, along with most of the restaurants at the JW Marriott in Las Vegas that's near our house.

2.  From what I've read, the coupon/certificate is only good for 13 months.

3.  I corrected my tip typo, the automatic tip that's added to your bill is 18%.  I know that one from experience after using one of July coupons last Sunday.  It's printed right on the restaurant coupon.  >>> Make Sure Not To Double Tip <<<


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## rapmarks (Aug 11, 2012)

Ron, all my restaurnat.com certificates say This restaurant Gift Certificate does not expire.    Just this weeks, i called and traded in thre certificates which i bought in 2010 for new egift certificates.


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## Ron98GT (Aug 11, 2012)

rapmarks said:


> Ron, all my restaurnat.com certificates say This restaurant Gift Certificate does not expire.    Just this weeks, i called and traded in thre certificates which i bought in 2010 for new egift certificates.


The eventual Restaurant,com certificate that you print out from Restaurant.com does not expire, but what we are discussing is the monthly email from RCI that contains that-months RCI activation code and RCI authorization code that must be used that month (use it or lose it) to obtain a certificate # that is used to obtain/purchase a Restauarnt.com certificate.

After that months codes are entered into "My Certs" in RCI, that months certificate will be activated and will include an RCI? cerificate # (and expiration date) that will be used to purchase a Restaurant.com certificate (which does not expire).  

The RCI? certificate # does have an expiration date, it's on the same line as the cerificate #, as listed in/under "My Certs" in RCI.


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## rapmarks (Aug 11, 2012)

okay, so if i buy a gift certificate it won't expire unless i buy it through RCI Platinum


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## MichaelColey (Aug 11, 2012)

The RCI Platinum certificates are a two step process.

The first step is to take the monthly codes that you get and enter them in the right place to get a generic Restaurant.com certificate.  These codes expire at the end of each month, so you *must* take this step each month or you lose that month's certificate.

The second step is to redeem the Restaurant.com certificate for an actual restaurant certificate.

I'm fairly sure that the generic Restaurant.com certificate and the resulting restaurant certificates don't expire.  It's just the initial codes that RCI sends out that expire.


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## Ron98GT (Aug 12, 2012)

rapmarks said:


> okay, so if i buy a gift certificate it won't expire unless i buy it through RCI Platinum



NO, NO, NO ..... That's NOT WHAT I SAID!



Hopefully, Michael explained better?

 

But, if you don't have RCI Platinum and don't plan on getting RCI Platinum, it's all irrelevant anyway.


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