# [2008] Raintree Vacation CLub



## Carlsbadguy (Feb 27, 2008)

I went to a Raintree Presentation today and was offered 45,000 points EOY for $12,900 with a $775 maintaince fee and pay $105 in off years for club dues.  Was wondering what current prices are.  Also how easy is it to schedule your weeks or days at different resorts.  What do you get buying form developer versus resale.


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## Bill4728 (Feb 27, 2008)

I didn't think that Raintree did points.  I thought they had something called "gem" levels. But that the gem levels worked alot like points.


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## dbc (Mar 28, 2008)

I got almost the exact same deal about 3 years ago and then I found TUG and I know that I paid too much, but have decided to make the most of it and get as much out of my ownership as I can.  So far I have not done an exchange outside of the Raintree system.  They have some nice resorts and as long as you stay in the Raintree system you don't have to pay the RCI exchange fee.  Most of their resorts should have good trading power, but I would like to see some others respond who have some experience with this,

AND Yes, Raintree does have points - they are RCI points.

One thing that you need to know though is that they have a very strange relationship with RCI.  It is not all bad as you don't have to pay the RCI membership fee unless you do an RCI exchange, but you also DO NOT have access to RCI website - a major bummer for me.  You always have to call and talk with someone at RCI.  This is better now that all US calls go to Indianapolis instead of Mexico City.

If you haven't signed up yet I would pass on this deal - spend some time on TUG and check out what the resort you are interested in is going for on EBAY.  In fact if you want to see your salesman do a backflip go to EBAY and see if you can find a recent listing, print it off and show it to him.  Chances are you will find one for $1000 to $2000 and he will drop you like a hot rock.

I hope others chime in here as I am in danger of telling you more than I know as I am pretty new to TS, but much smarter after I found TUG.


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## DonnaD (Apr 1, 2008)

*RAINTREE does have points*

Raintree has points and the gem levels represent the number of points per level. Gold is a prime time 1 bedroom week or 45,000 points. Silver is a studio prime time or 24,000 points. I believe platinum is a 2 bedroom prime time or 64,000 points. Sapphire is 2 bedroom holiday, 2 wks 1 bedroom + 1 studio for prime time and 104,000 points, I believe.

It is a very good system if you study it. We can go to any of our resorts and can make reservations a year in advance if we pay the maint.fees. The earlier you make your reservation, the lower your confirmation number and that gives you a better location of the unit you reserve...ocean front...

We just got a newsletter that states that we have new destinations available in Orlando, Las Vegas and Maui.  I have been pleased with the sapphire membership. I can take that prime time studio and use it as a 1 bedroom in select season...May and  September.

We haven't done much trading. I just rent extra vacations through RCI which is the best deal because you don't pay an exchange fee, just a low rental rate and then I still use my home resorts. We have lots that we haven't visited yet in the USA because we love the Mexico destinations for the winter months when we can get away.

You can do much better on purchasing from secondary market. I combined my ebay and timeshare wholesaler purchases into a sapphire membership and combined it with my other sapphire membership. I now have the rights to 5 weeks in a 1 bedroom unit and since we are "distinguished members" over 55 yrs. old, we can double our use by paying an extra m.f. and reserve our weeks a year in advance. That gives us 10 weeks in Mexico when we retire in a few years.....Also, by having a double membership of one gem level, we save $100/yr. on the m.f.

I like the flexibility of the system. You just have to learn it and plan ahead to use it to your best advantage. I go to the member updates with a list of questions. They have to call the boss over to answer many of them. 

After paying developer prices to start my memberwship, and then finding TUG, I decided that I had to make the most of my investment and learn to get the most from my money. I am happy, happy with my membership.

If you have other questions, I will gladly answer them.
DonnaD


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## nyparadigm (Apr 1, 2008)

Howard,
I second everything stated above by the other Tuggers.  I am pretty sure that I have seen the exact membership level you describe show up (several times, I think) on eBay with a "Buy it now" price of $2,995.  I am sure that you can do better than even that price with a little patience.

The 45K points indicates a Gold level membership. I agree with many Raintree Tuggers who have indicated that they would not buy less than a Platinum membership, which equates to 72K RCI points.  But that depends on what you want to use the membership for.  I would carefully review the Raintree usage charts to make sure that you are not boxing yourself out of some key times that you want to use the unit.  For example, if you are a family of 4 you would not be able to go the Mexican beach resorts for week 52, etc - but a couple could go for that same week.

I bought my Platinum membership on eBay and am really very happy with the purchase.  

One last comment - if buying on eBay do your due diligence - the sellers often do not know exactly what they are selling.  And, if you have questions, well...you know that you can always ask here!

Good luck.

Chris


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## nyparadigm (Apr 2, 2008)

*Gold Level Raintree on eBay now*

For those interested...

A Gold Level (45,000 pt) Raintree annual RTU thru 2047 membership just listed on eBay.  

The current bid is $1.25!

Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260226268303&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123


Hope this helps.

Chris


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## quiltergal (Apr 5, 2008)

I've owned a Raintree Platinum membership since 2003 and while I know I paid too much I'm very happy with the purchase.  We have yet to exchange it as there are just so many options within the club.  I was very excited to see the new resorts that have been added in particular Ka'anapali Beach Resort.  Maui is such a tough exchange, so I'm delighted I'll just be able to call up a year in advance and reserve it instead of biting my nails and hoping for the best with RCI.  We just got back from Cancun a couple of weeks ago.  Club Regina Cancun is the oldest of the resorts but still very nice.  They are in the process of redoing all the units.  I think it will be very nice when they are finished.


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## rsonc (Apr 5, 2008)

Hi

I have 2 memberships but I have not received anything that talks about the new resorts... does anyone have a copy that they can email or fax me? 

Do you know if we can book these resorts now and how many points they are? 

TIA
Susan


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## rsonc (Apr 5, 2008)

DonnaD said:


> I combined my ebay and timeshare wholesaler purchases into a sapphire membership and combined it with my other sapphire membership. :



How did you do this? I have a gold and a sapphire week and wanted them combined but they told me they were not able to do that... did you have to purchase a unit from them or pay a high fee to combine them into one membership? 

Did this lower your m/f each year or do you still pay for each of the contracts? 

Does anyone else have problems printing their confirmations online? 

TIA
Susan


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## quiltergal (Apr 6, 2008)

Susan, go to the Raintree website and log in to the members only area.  If you haven't registered you'll need to do that first.  Then click on the link that says publications.  It's in the March 2008 newsletter.

http://www.raintreevacationclub.com/GetWebSplashScreen.event


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## nyparadigm (Apr 6, 2008)

Susan,

I'm not sure how I got setup, but I now get a members' update e-mail pretty much every month from Raintree.  I would call members' services to see if you can get on the distribution list.  If you pm me your e-mail address, I will forward their latest update to you.

Also, I have yet to successfully print out a confirmation - that part of their system seems to still be a mess to me!

Chris


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## rsonc (Apr 6, 2008)

Thanks, 

I found it online and I was able to sign up for the newsletters so I should get them now... thanks for the help. 

Hopefully they will fix the website it would be nice to print them out. 

TIA
Susan


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## kingfg (Jul 27, 2009)

*raintree vacation club*

I am considering booking my first raintree vacation as an owner. I have visited the los cabos resort only. Compared to club regina at los cabos, can anyone provide information regarding the quality of their other resorts?

Thanks kindly


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## DeniseM (Jul 27, 2009)

Don't forget to check the TUG Reviews!

*MEXICO REVIEWS*


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