# RCI fees increasing 11/1



## tschwa2 (Oct 16, 2020)

Exchange fee increasing from $239 to $249 for weeks exchanges
https://www.rci.com/post-wow-en_US/help/forms-and-fees/membership-fees-us.page#weeksusfees

There is something listed for online self enrollment fees for 1-5 years that is separate from membership subscription fees.  I wonder what that is.


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## PamMo (Oct 16, 2020)

I get it that the travel industry is having a hard time right now, but I don't think members are rolling in dough either. Yeah, it's only $10 more, but people are going to start rethinking the value of memberships. They have budgets, too.


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## gnipgnop (Oct 16, 2020)

Bad timing RCI!!!   Many people are struggling right now.   Couldn't you at least wait till we get over this pandemic?


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## Firepath (Oct 16, 2020)

Did’t they just raise fees a couple of years ago?


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## moonstone (Oct 16, 2020)

gnipgnop said:


> Bad timing RCI!!!   Many people are struggling right now.   Couldn't you at least wait till we get over this pandemic?



Exactly!   As well they are going to cash in on all the vacations people have had to reschedule from this year. We have a credit for our exchange fees until Dec.31st so if people don't get their exchanges done by Nov.1st, I'm pretty sure RCI will want the difference in price.  Definitely not great timing! 

~Diane


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## dougp26364 (Oct 18, 2020)

If only my income increased as fast as RCI and II fees

We dropped our personal RCI account several years ago. We only had one week associated with RCI and we have never exchanged, nor do we ever intend to exchange that resort, so it was a very easy decision. We still have a corporate account through our HGVC ownership. We only made one exchange thru RCI. Because it was expensive and because it’s difficult for us to get like for like quality in our opinion (for places we would travel not covered by HGVC), we’ve never completed, or intend to ever complete, another exchange thru them.

It’s become the same story with II. We’re down to one resort in our personal II account, and once again it’s difficult to get a fare like for like exchange based on quality and MF expense in our opinion. Rising fees and increasing difficulty to get anything we want will chase us away from keeping the personal II account. My intention is to not renew our II account when it comes due next year. I had intended to non-renew this year, but a job change and the need to deposit/exchange one week required we stay one more year. The fees II charges for membership plus the exchange fees plus my MF’s make it a poor value to us. Once again we still own weeks with a corporate account, so we won’t be complete shed of either exchange company, but we don’t have plans to use either at the moment outside of internal weeks exchanges between MVC and SVN, at least until Marriott fully integrates Starwood into their internal points reservations program, if that ever happens (I’m not holding my breath). 

I suppose if we had multiple weeks outside internal exchange programs we’d still be interested in either RCI or II. However, this last decade has shown how resorts have merged, combined and developed internal trade systems designed to attract new members and lock out exchanges into the systems, making it more difficult to buy cheap and exchange into more expensive resorts, thus encouraging people to buy into the resort systems that fit their budgets and travel needs. A smart business model IMHO as it keeps the money with the managing company and encourages additional sales of those who have already bought into that system.


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## escanoe (Oct 20, 2020)

This is my 3rd year of timesharing, and the first time experiencing RCI exchange fee increases. Like everyone else, I don’t like increases. That said, I am glad they aren’t going up for non-weeks exchanges using points.

I am a little surprised RCI doesn’t increase points and weeks exchange fees at about the same percentage at the same time.

One question off the beaten path. Will this increase have any impact on the $159 RCI weeks internal exchange rate for Vacation Village properties?


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## tschwa2 (Oct 21, 2020)

escanoe said:


> This is my 3rd year of timesharing, and the first time experiencing RCI exchange fee increases. Like everyone else, I don’t like increases. That said, I am glad they aren’t going up for non-weeks exchanges using points.
> 
> I am a little surprised RCI doesn’t increase points and weeks exchange fees at about the same percentage at the same time.
> 
> One question off the beaten path. Will this increase have any impact on the $159 RCI weeks internal exchange rate for Vacation Village properties?


It will probably go up to $169.  2 out of the 3 times I've seen weeks exchange increases the VV affiliates went up the same amount as the increase.


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## tschwa2 (Nov 1, 2020)

Weird thing is I am looking at a June 2021 exchange today and it is still showing the exchange fee as $239 (no increase) but a VV affiliate exchange has gone up ($10) to $169.


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## T-Dot-Traveller (Nov 2, 2020)

escanoe said:


> This is ......
> 
> 
> tschwa2 said:
> ...



Just a thought -
As a week RCI member I currently see promo exchange rate pricing for
1) Las Vegas - $179 / book by Nov.30 - travel by March 28 2021
2) Weston & Orlando VV properties - $ 199 / travel by March 28 2021

I am wondering if the increase is actually designed to allow more promos - especially right now when there is lots of unit capacity.

- and if / when usage returns to pre Covid levels - then RCI’s yield will gradually rise towards the new rate.


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## escanoe (Nov 2, 2020)

I was looking at some exchanges on Sunday, and it was giving me a $249 exchange fee. The VV internal exchanges went up by $10 as well.


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## silentg (Nov 4, 2020)

Pretty bad to raise fees during Covid. I put my exchanges in before price increase.


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## Fredflintstone (Nov 4, 2020)

PamMo said:


> I get it that the travel industry is having a hard time right now, but I don't think members are rolling in dough either. Yeah, it's only $10 more, but people are going to start rethinking the value of memberships. They have budgets, too.



You are right. Bad timing. The problem here I see is RCI has you kind of over a barrel. If you have points/weeks saved, you either pay whatever they want to charge or stop placing your weeks in RCI. For some properties this is very hard because you are a Points based Contract. They might be thinking they WERE showing kindness by ONLY popping up the fees 10 bux. They could have popped it up 50 or more.

You know, I haven’t owned any timeshares since 2017 and these guys still email me for exchanges, fees, and changes to benefits. I just got another one 2 weeks ago. I’m sorry, I’m just not a fan of theirs. 

Sigh, rent 1 — own 0 on this one.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## garyk01 (Nov 7, 2020)

tschwa2 said:


> Exchange fee increasing from $239 to $249 for weeks exchanges
> https://www.rci.com/post-wow-en_US/help/forms-and-fees/membership-fees-us.page#weeksusfees
> 
> There is something listed for online self enrollment fees for 1-5 years that is separate from membership subscription fees.  I wonder what that is.


Being in a digital world, travel down and working from home , the owners are getting greedy. That is why i used other exchange companies like SFX and RTX, superior rates and resorts although less choice.


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## rickandcindy23 (Nov 7, 2020)

RTX?  I think you have to own a resort in that system, right?  

SFX has been a bad fit for me.  I am going to lose deposits, and it's entirely their fault.  I put in requests and never hear from anyone, and when I call, they say my weeks are not high season.  Baloney.  I don't even travel during prime season very often.  We are retired.


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## pammex (Nov 7, 2020)

They just keep raising prices yet offer less and less for options in my opinion. Pretty poor timing with the need for many folks to exchange by Dec 31, those vacays they cancelled due to Covid.


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## A.Win (Nov 8, 2020)

It appears that they have postponed the $10 increase. I just made a reservation and did not see an increase.


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## tschwa2 (Nov 8, 2020)

A.Win said:


> It appears that they have postponed the $10 increase. I just made a reservation and did not see an increase.


I thought the same thing but I then realized that if you had an ongoing search with the points you use it charged the old fee, even if you confirmed something different but other deposits/points are charged the new fee.  At least that is the way it looked in my account.


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## bogey21 (Nov 8, 2020)

Firepath said:


> Did’t they just raise fees a couple of years ago?


I don't remember specifically but when I joined RCI in the late 80s I think the exchange fee was something like $49 or $59.  I may be off some with this but it was clearly a lot less than $249...

George


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## carl2591 (Nov 8, 2020)

I saw that as well and did some looking,, not much to find that was not low grade it seems.. I think that promotion  stopped the first of nov not the end cause when i was looking at some vegas stuff the other day i was shown the 239 or so exchange fee. 

now it seem the vegas selection is better. 




T-Dot-Traveller said:


> Just a thought -
> As a week RCI member I currently see promo exchange rate pricing for
> 1) Las Vegas - $179 / book by Nov.30 - travel by March 28 2021
> 2) Weston & Orlando VV properties - $ 199 / travel by March 28 2021
> ...


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## escanoe (Nov 8, 2020)

The 47 ongoing searches I have on my points account may save me some money then?



tschwa2 said:


> I thought the same thing but I then realized that if you had an ongoing search with the points you use it charged the old fee, even if you confirmed something different but other deposits/points are charged the new fee.  At least that is the way it looked in my account.


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## Alec Tarberry (Nov 8, 2020)

Not a fan of how high the RCI fees are, but it's worth noting that this increase works out to a 4.2% increase -- and is the first increase since 2016. If you factor for inflation, technically the fee has decreased since 2016 (but should still be lower!)


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## tschwa2 (Nov 8, 2020)

escanoe said:


> The 47 ongoing searches I have on my points account may save me some money then?


maybe.   Points searches aren't specifically tied to a specific deposit the way it is with a weeks account.  What I am seeing in my weeks account is the deposits that had searches connected to them still show $239 and the deposits with no ongoing searches show $249 when confirming.  I can't tell what will happen on the points side if ongoing searches match.


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## escanoe (Nov 8, 2020)

Since I currently have a match on hold with my RCI Points account, I just checked. It is going to charge me $249 to confirm. 



tschwa2 said:


> maybe.   Points searches aren't specifically tied to a specific deposit the way it is with a weeks account.  What I am seeing in my weeks account is the deposits that had searches connected to them still show $239 and the deposits with no ongoing searches show $249 when confirming.  I can't tell what will happen on the points side if ongoing searches match.


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## Coach Boon (Nov 10, 2020)

RCI fees are a consideration. In Canada our registration fee for 1 year is good - $126.00 CAD. Keep in mind we don't have much in the way of timeshares in Canada to use. So travel, and it can be a quite far, both a time and cost consideration. Add in $365 for exchange fee and we're just under $500. Add in your maintenance fees, USD @ 1.30 exchange and your now in the $1400 CAD sphere. For me, that's a lower end all-inclusive with airfare thrown in. No commitments to maintenance fees etc... I can also take that money and use it for exchanges on Redweek etc...

We've deposited 2 years so we have to continue to pay the fee. However, we sent our unit back to the resort to rent out for us as a test and in that year we may just not pay the RCI fee. And then we'll look at not having a timeshare. There are just so many options available today.


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## Pair-A-Dice (Nov 10, 2020)

I have never used RCI or II.  Can someone tell me why they would pay $239 to exchange their timeshare when they can do it for FREE right here on TUG.  Is it the selection? If all the Tuggers used Tug to exchange then we would have a wider selection.  I'm all about Free.


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## Synergy (Nov 11, 2020)

Pair-A-Dice said:


> I have never used RCI or II.  Can someone tell me why they would pay $239 to exchange their timeshare when they can do it for FREE right here on TUG.  Is it the selection? If all the Tuggers used Tug to exchange then we would have a wider selection.  I'm all about Free.



Well, with each of my weeks, I can book multiple weeks using the exchanges.  Most of my weeks are points, so I'm tied to RCI for exchange, but I'd be a member of exchanges regardless.  If I wanted something truly special, I'd make the attempt here - but I'd also be using an old ongoing search to make the attempt on the exchange.


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## dgalati (Nov 11, 2020)

garyk01 said:


> Being in a digital world, travel down and working from home , the owners are getting greedy. That is why i used other exchange companies like SFX and RTX, superior rates and resorts although less choice.


These fee increases are why renting is a better deal then owning. Why own when you can rent for less from a VIP? Without the burden of paying maintenance fees.


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## Happytravels (Nov 12, 2020)

dgalati said:


> These fee increases are why renting is a better deal then owning. Why own when you can rent for less from a VIP? Without the burden of paying maintenance fees.


You are correct.  We have recently deeded back two of our timeshares.  We are now down to three.  Two are fixed weeks at the beach and the other is floating with free internal exchanges to 12 different resorts.  Our RCI membership is paid until 2023, not sure if we will continue.  When we first started in late 90's exchange fees were $99.00 and so were last calls.  Times have changed and so has the industry.  On another note our beach week resort has been renting out units instead if selling.


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## PamMo (May 4, 2021)

Ugh! I'm revisiting this now. I have a bunch of Covid banked HGVC points and was thinking about exchanging in RCI. That $249 exchange fee is just salt in the wound.


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## tschwa2 (May 4, 2021)

PamMo said:


> Ugh! I'm revisiting this now. I have a bunch of Covid banked HGVC points and was thinking about exchanging in RCI. That $249 exchange fee is just salt in the wound.


rci points inventory went up last month too.  I think a week in points inventory is now $219


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## montygz (May 4, 2021)

dgalati said:


> These fee increases are why renting is a better deal then owning. Why own when you can rent for less from a VIP? Without the burden of paying maintenance fees.


Sometimes that's true, but remember that while fees can go up a few percent, that rental you got a bargain on last year could jump up substantially more if lots of people want to travel.


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## moonstone (May 4, 2021)

PamMo said:


> Ugh! I'm revisiting this now. I have a bunch of Covid banked HGVC points and was thinking about exchanging in RCI. That $249 exchange fee is just salt in the wound.



Not as bad as us Canadians are charged.  A Points exchange fee for a 7-13 night stay is $321, for a week it's $365.  At today's exchange rates a $249 US exchange should be $306 Cndn.

I still think that for those of us who do all our own searching and booking online, not involving an RCI councilor at all, should get a big break on the fees. 


~Diane


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## escanoe (May 6, 2021)

moonstone said:


> I still think that for those of us who do all our own searching and booking online, not involving an RCI councilor at all, should get a big break on the fees.



Could not agree more! I can't speak for II (haven't used it yet), but RCI is like a legacy company made to work on the phone that has limped along and not truly faced competition from a digital innovator. I COMPLETELY manage my OGSs online, yet they call me at least once a day every day that I have an OGS matching. I can opt out of them calling me altogether, but haven't. I am sure they have had tremendous overhead costs dealing with things on the phone during COVID that they were systemically incapable of managing electronically.

I am not anti-RCI. They give me value or I would not use them. I just wish they faced a little more competition and were forced to be more sensitive to pricing. I would really like to see the merged HGVC-DRI launch an exchange for the modern era OR see a new entrant ... something like SFX deciding they were going to digitize and scale up.


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