# RCI Points for airfare & hotels



## Karen G (Feb 7, 2010)

Has anyone used RCI Points to purchase airfare or hotel rooms? Was it worth it?


----------



## AwayWeGo (Feb 7, 2010)

*Not A Good Deal But Better Than Letting Stale Points Expire.*

We used RCI Points to buy some dumb Disney tickets 1 time when the points otherwise would have expired. 

We try to do a better job of points management now so that we don't get caught again with stale points. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


----------



## mtgolfer (Feb 8, 2010)

Just used 25,000 points toward a 3 night hotel stay last week.  Saved about $235 for the 3-night stay.  It cost a $25 fee and all but about $40 of the stay was paid for with the points.  Total out of pocket was $65 for the 3 nights and the room was about $100 a night with taxes at a Hampton.   

I was fine with all of it as my maintenance fees for 63,000 is $512.  

Bob


----------



## JMAESD84 (Feb 8, 2010)

I've done several flights via RCI points partners and it has worked well for me.  The redemption rate (discount) I get is slightly better than my per point costs, so it is a decent alternative use of points.

I have 3 nights at a Hilton hotel in London for the end of summer also done with points.

You get better value out of points when used for regular timeshare reservations but partner deals can be a decent compliment for that usage.


----------



## Karen G (Feb 8, 2010)

mtgolfer said:


> Just used 25,000 points toward a 3 night hotel stay last week.  Saved about $235 for the 3-night stay.  It cost a $25 fee and all but about $40 of the stay was paid for with the points.  Total out of pocket was $65 for the 3 nights and the room was about $100 a night with taxes at a Hampton.
> 
> I was fine with all of it as my maintenance fees for 63,000 is $512.
> 
> Bob


Am I figuring this out correctly? $512 divided by 63,000 = .0081269 per point X 25,000 pts. = 203.17 + $25 fee + $40 = $268.  Is that the actual cost of the three nights?  If the rooms go for $300 for 3 nights, then you saved $32.


----------



## Karen G (Feb 8, 2010)

JMAESD84 said:


> I've done several flights via RCI points partners and it has worked well for me.


 For the airfare, do you just call the RCI Pts. line and the guide takes care of getting the ticket?


----------



## JMAESD84 (Feb 9, 2010)

Karen G said:


> For the airfare, do you just call the RCI Pts. line and the guide takes care of getting the ticket?



If you call RCI Points you'll get transferred to the a points partner agent who will complete the booking.  You can also do the transaction on line by following the link provided after logging into your points account.


----------



## glenn1000 (Feb 10, 2010)

You are now only allowed to use a limited amount of points in the RCI Partners program so the current benefit seems very limited. We used to use expiring points for airline tickets that, even if not a great deal, were better than not using the points. Now we end up having to use most points only for vacation exchanges. We'll probably drop our points membership when our 3 year contract is up because this benefit has been so greatly reduced.


----------



## KTaylor (Feb 14, 2010)

*Points for Airfare*

A few years ago we used 140,000 pts for 2 Airfares from Vegas to St. Thomas and back.  Tickets would have been $1,600.  That was the old system.

I am getting ready to book Airfare to Kauai using points partners.  The new system has a limitation of 33% of your total yearly points so I will be using 70,000 pts.  35,000 at a time for a $340 discount off each ticket.

I guess it all depends on what your cost is per point and if you have better uses for your points. It seems to work out fine for us.

KT


----------

