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RCI Package Deal

thomas660

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I received a call last night from someone at RCI about a travel package that they are making available to "select" RCI members. The package included a cruise of at least 7 nights and 1 week in an RCI resort. I would be allowed to select from a list of cruises and resorts that would be sent to me in a packet. I would have 18 months to make my selection and 3 years to travel. The total fee is $2500 for 2 people with a deposit of $400 to receive the packet. I would have 10 days to review the packet and, if not satisfied with the selection of cruises and resorts, return it and receive a full refund of my $400.

This sounded too good to be legitament. The guy knew my RCI number and the last for digits of my credit card number. I told him I wanted to verify the offer with RCI, and he gave me a number to call back after verification. I emailed RCI, but haven't received a reply yet.

Has anyone received such an offer or know anything about it?
 

moonstone

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
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The Beach Club at St. Augustine Beach, FL (1 floating week, purchased in 1982)

77,000 RCI points (Sunrise Ridge Resort, TN)
Do a search within these boards for many discussions on this offer. It has gone up quite a bit since we were offered it over a year ago. You will find restrictions on the cruise & timeshare. If you want to do a cruise & timeshare stay then go to vacations to go dot com & buy a cheap cruise then get a last minute or extra vacation week with RCI for the week before or after the cruise and you'll be much farther ahead. Thats what we did and spent less than half of RCI's offer and were very happy with the experince.
~Diane
 

dougp26364

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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Kansas
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Marriott Grand Chateau
Marriott Shadow Ridge
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Marriott Destination Club Points
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Las Vegas Blvd
Grand Colorado on Peak 8
Spinnaker French Quarter Resort Branson
RCI has been making this offer to other members. However, I'd caution you to research the cruises VERY carefully. I suspect you'll find that this is no real bargain. What distresses me is you have to pay a deposit up front just to see the materials and then rely on the refund guarentee.

Anytime I've had to pay up front, I've ended up asking for a refund soon after recieving the materials and discovering I could do better for less. This sort of sales tactic works because most people just buy it and then never look to see what sort of a deal they're really getting (or not getting).

My advice would be to take a pass on this offer. It's not hard to cruise the Caribbean for less than what they're selling this package for and renting a week with the difference probably isn't all that tough either. Especially when port fee's and taxes aren't included in RCI's total price.
 

DianneL

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Funny, I got this same call, offering a one-week cruise plus a one week vacation in an RCI timeshare property. I talked with the sales person at length and heard all about the cruise, if you were flexible you could POSSIBLY get a balcony or suite cabin, etc. And, I heard all about how RCI blocks out units at various RCI timeshare properties for use by people who make this purchase. In the course of our conversation, I questioned him as to why RCI would block out these units, thus having them unavailable for trade. He did not have a specific answer but said he was sure using these units would in no way affect RCI members trying to get trades. Of course, it affects traders. How could it not. RCI has found another way to bring in revenue at the expense of RCI members. There were several red flags. The main one was that you could not go to the website and see what was offered without purchasing and paying your deposit of $395. Cruises are very reasonable right now and may be even more so later, with the state of the economy. And I suspect the units I would see would be the "Last Call" type that can be rented for low $ amounts. Needless to say, I did not purchase.
 

beanb41

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Cruises with timeshare exchanges dont always stack up. Even from down here using ICE cruises it is cheaper to buy a package cruise from a travel agent than to get a cruise using exchange weeks or through an exchange company. There are millions of cruise berths now available around the world and some pretty good deals going without sacrificing timeshare weeks.
 

pcgirl54

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Marriott Barony Beach
RCI cruises in general from when I checked out booking years ago thru RCI/ ICE affliation

you give up your week by depositing it
pay the international exchange fee
you paid MF
you have to pay a steep pp user surcharge-when I checked booking a cruise through RCI it was $600 plus per person plus the above
rates were off rack rates

Far more than booking a cruise on my own


I have been offered $1200 credit thru RCI but I disregarded the offer. I have not been offered the latest one but it still is not attractive price wise.

I would not pay a fee to preview a packet.
 

DianneL

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My deal with for an outright purchase

The deal I was offered was for an outright purchase of the cruise and one week in an RCI timeshare for $2495. It did not involve the trade of a timeshare week for this. Still did not feel it was a good deal when I factored in the price at which you can purchase some cruises these days and also the amount you pay for "Last Call" weeks.
 

gorevs9

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The deal I was offered was for an outright purchase of the cruise and one week in an RCI timeshare for $2495. It did not involve the trade of a timeshare week for this. Still did not feel it was a good deal when I factored in the price at which you can purchase some cruises these days and also the amount you pay for "Last Call" weeks.
You are right, it is not a good deal. I did "buy" the package and searched RCI website to check out the prices. If I purchased the more expensive staterooms (i.e. suites), then I would've seen seen some savings over the other cruise websites. Otherwise it was more expensive or the same price.
(FYI, I rescinded the next day)
 
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