how many rentals are RCI exchanges?

[TravelTime]

If you are very curious, just call and ask how they get their inventory. They should be able to answer. Their website looks legitimate. It looks like they are trying to have a legitimate business. They even put photos of their children online. Maybe this is all a scam but it looks legit.

 

[TravelTime]

They are offering the 2 BR Aulani units Standard view will above the MF cost. MF cost for the March unit on the website is $3300 and they were asking $4500. I have to assume they are not using RCI inventory and they are helping owners rent unused points.

 

[TravelTime]

This is their strategy:
We're Vacation Strategy and we manage unused vacation ownership points. Every year we have un-rented points left over that expire. We'd rather give them away in hopes that you'll come back and book with us in the future!

I am confused as to what the purpose of this thread is?

 

[TravelTime]

https://www.vacationstrategy.com/pages/faq
according to this page:

"When will the resort have my name? Will I have a confirmation number?
Your villa will be pulled from Wyndham, Marriott or any of our other vendors immediately upon deposit. The name on the reservation will be in the name of the owner at the time of booking. Your name will be assigned to the unit at about 15 days before check in. This is structured in a way so that we may offer a cancellation policy that works for our owners as well as our clients. There is no need for a confirmation number, the resort only requires a photo ID to check in."

Of course, if you are an owner and book for a guest, the resort will have the names right away. I think only Interval and RCI wait until 2 weeks before the check in to send the names to the resort. Maybe someone can confirm, I am not sure about this

They are not owners. Their website clearly says they are renting out unused points.

 

[DannyTS]

This is their strategy:
We're Vacation Strategy and we manage unused vacation ownership points. Every year we have un-rented points left over that expire. We'd rather give them away in hopes that you'll come back and book with us in the future!

IMO what they state and the reality, 2 parallel tracks that will never meet

 

[TravelTime]

IMO what they state and the reality, 2 parallel tracks that will never meet

Their website looks legit. Their strategy looks legit. It sounds like they are helping owners with unused points to rent their TSs.

 

[louisianab]

Those devils have 2 bedrooms Aulani with the $190 fee. Well, at least we know that Aulani is being deposited in RCI. This LLC must have some well-aged OGSs.

Welk RCI exchanges maybe?

 

[rickandcindy23]

Welk RCI exchanges maybe?

I would guess so. I feel a little annoyed right now. I would love to get Aulani through exchange, especially a 2 bedroom for us and our kids and grandkids. I have had an ongoing search for months and months now.

I loved staying there the one night I paid 50 points for ($350 total cost for me to stay on our points in a 1 bedroom).

 

[TravelTime]

Here is the email I got when I requested a week. It sounds legit. I suspect the $199 resort fee is their fee, not an RCI fee. Not sure why people thought this was an RCI fee. It is not even the same amount at the RCI fee. Note that $1599 is a couple hundred dollars higher than the MF so they are not renting below MFs. This was for a reservation in June.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to quote your upcoming vacation. At this time we show availability at Disney's Saratoga Springs and are happy to offer you a total price of $1,599 which includes all taxes. This is a savings of 30% to 50% from Wyndham's Extra Holidays, Orbitz, Expedia or Travelocity prices, however if you should find a better advertised offer from any major travel site we will match it with our best price guarantee.

Vacation Strategy LLC, agrees to hold this reservation for XXXX upon payment of the initial deposit of . For your convenience we accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover. The final balance of $1,599.00 will be due on 5/8/2019.
Inventory is limited and constantly changing so availability and pricing are not guaranteed until your deposit has been received.

Click Here To Make Your Deposit

Resort Fee:
The resort will charge a non-refundable $199 resort fee upon check-in.

All Disney World resorts charge for overnight parking, the fee is $25 a night.

Cancellation Policy:

THIS RESERVATION CANNOT BE CANCELLED, REFUNDED OR MODIFIED IN ANY WAY.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions, concerns or comments. We are here to serve you!

Sincerely,

Vaca
tion Strategy, LLC

Local Phone: 407-745-1909
Toll Free Phone: 888-832-4223

 

[DannyTS]

Here is the email I got when I requested a week. It sounds legit. I suspect the $199 resort fee is their fee, not an RCI fee. Not sure why people thought this was an RCI fee. It is not even the same amount at the RCI fee.

As stated before, DVC charges the $199 fee but only to RCI bookings.

It is crystal clear to me that most if not all of their listings are RCI exchanges. But since you already sent them an email, why don't you ask them directly if the week you inquired about is an RCI exchange? Also ask them what happens to the reservation if RCI restricts their account.

 

[louisianab]

This is also curious to me because I've been researching renting DVC points from some of the big points rental sites and parking is free when you rent from an owner via those sites and they also have no additional fee at check-in

 

[JohnB3]

DVC owners easily get $14 a point using a third party point rental service so it would be odd to see DVC owners renting these reservations @ $6 or $7 a point on a regular basis I agree you might see it but to be savvy enough to list on redweek but not savvy enough to find David or the like feels wrong. I talked to one of the rental folks I sometimes work with when I have excess points about renting an RCI reservation (before I knew it was against the rules) and he would not touch the reservation.

 

[chalee94]

Here is the email I got when I requested a week. It sounds legit.

When renting a points based reservation, the price is typically listed as a price per point. This one is not.

"Resort Fee: The resort will charge a non-refundable $199 resort fee upon check-in."

When renting a points based reservation, there are no resort fees from a Disney resort. (Aulani has small tax amounts charged by the state of Hawaii but that's not due at check-in.)

Not sure how this is even a question.

 

[paxsarah]

When renting a points based reservation, the price is typically listed as a price per point. This one is not.

"Resort Fee: The resort will charge a non-refundable $199 resort fee upon check-in."

When renting a points based reservation, there are no resort fees from a Disney resort. (Aulani has small tax amounts charged by the state of Hawaii but that's not due at check-in.)

Not sure how this is even a question.

Exactly. Anyone renting out Orlando DVC weeks with the resort fee upon check-in (although it's $190, so I don't know why it's off a bit), that's 100% an RCI exchange. There is no other fee that corresponds.

 

[famy27]

If you are very curious, just call and ask how they get their inventory. They should be able to answer. Their website looks legitimate. It looks like they are trying to have a legitimate business. They even put photos of their children online. Maybe this is all a scam but it looks legit.

It depends on what you mean by legit. I think they do have inventory and will rent it, so it’s not a scam where they steal your money. However, it’s pretty clear that many of their reservations are RCI exchanges, which is forbidden by RCI. Now whether RCI enforces its rules is a different question, but this does violate the rules and potentially leaves the renter open to having their reservation cancelled

 

[TravelTime]

As stated before, DVC charges the $199 fee but only to RCI bookings.

It is crystal clear to me that most if not all of their listings are RCI exchanges. But since you already sent them an email, why don't you ask them directly if the week you inquired about is an RCI exchange? Also ask them what happens to the reservation if RCI restricts their account.

You said the DVC fee was $190. They are charging $199. So this might be a rental fee, not an RCI fee. I did not start the speculation so I think whoever started it should investigate the facts to make sure they are spreading accurate information.

 

[TravelTime]

You are all assuming that it is easy to rent out Saratoga points at the last minute and that all DVC owners are equally motivated to get the max. If they want the max, they would need to be renting their points at 11 months out. From what I can see, this company has last minute reservations.

The DVC point rental companies usually advertise highly discounted inventory as a weekly rate, not a per point rate. David's and DVC Rentals both say they have distressed inventory and will rent it below the market rate esp if 60 days out. Click down to see their distressed availability and how it is advertised. https://dvcrentalstore.com/discounted-points-confirmed-reservations/

It would be nice if people would inquire with the company before speculating on TUG. TUG could be ruining this company's reputation without the facts. I know I could be wrong but I have not seen any facts exchanged about this company, only speculation.

 

[TravelTime]

FYI - the trend these days if using a travel advisor is to charge an upfront fee. Travel advisors make little money on bookings.

 

[paxsarah]

You said the DVC fee was $190. They are charging $199. So this might be a rental fee, not an RCI fee.

Resort Fee:
The resort will charge a non-refundable $199 resort fee upon check-in.

It's not a rental fee, and it's not an RCI fee. It's a Disney fee, and the only fee that comes anywhere close to what's being advertised is the fee Disney charges for incoming DVC RCI exchanges. Maybe they list it as $199 to make it slightly less blatant, because who's going to complain when they expect to pay a $199 fee and Disney only charges them $190? Disney's fees are well-documented, and this is the only one that fits. I really don't quite understand why you're trying to come up with any other explanation for these listings. When a renter discloses that Disney will be charging a resort fee (anywhere in the neighborhood of $190), the only -- only! -- explanation is that it's an RCI exchange.

 

[frank808]

When renting a points based reservation, the price is typically listed as a price per point. This one is not.

"Resort Fee: The resort will charge a non-refundable $199 resort fee upon check-in."

When renting a points based reservation, there are no resort fees from a Disney resort. (Aulani has small tax amounts charged by the state of Hawaii but that's not due at check-in.)

Not sure how this is even a question.

If anyone does not know, RCI reservations at Aulani will also pay the $190 fee at check in.

Transient Accommodations Tax is charged on all timeshare stays in Hawaii and collected by the front desk upon checkin. It usually shows up as tax per day.

Saw this companies ad and the disclaimer about front desk collecting $199 at check in, makes it more of an RCI exchange.

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[frank808]

FYI - the trend these days if using a travel advisor is to charge an upfront fee. Travel advisors make little money on bookings.

That is fine and is collected by the travel agent directly from the customer. This company is having DVC collect their $199 travel advisor fee?

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[famy27]

Other tipoffs:

Other than Aulani, their Disney rentals are all one-week rentals, all are SSR, and all are one bedrooms. Those are the hallmarks of RCI exchanges. DVC owners will often have four-night/long weekend rentals and normally in studios, since those are the most popular. I would imagine that very few owners would book 7-night SSR stays on speculation. Most people rent points or hard-to-get reservations during popular times. But even David's says most renters want to be able to pick their view and unit sizes. They don't want to be stuck with what someone else has booked.

It's crystal clear to me that these are RCI exchanges.

 

[TravelTime]

If there is clear evidence that this is RCI inventory, then they should be reported to RCI. It is not fair to everyone else when some people break the rules.

 

[Pathways]

You said the DVC fee was $190. They are charging $199. So this might be a rental fee, not an RCI fee. I did not start the speculation

I respectfully disagree. From the posts I am reading, the speculation is yours. Everyone else agrees these are RCI reservations.

The DVC point rental companies usually advertise highly discounted inventory as a weekly rate, not a per point rate. David's and DVC Rentals both say they have distressed inventory and will rent it below the market rate esp if 60 days out. Click down to see their distressed availability and how it is advertised. https://dvcrentalstore.com/discounted-points-confirmed-reservations/

For kicks I checked out your link. I could not find even one offering that was a full week like the RCI weeks this company is advertising.

TUG could be ruining this company's reputation without the facts.

I don't believe anyone is 'ruining' their reputation. We are if fact giving them more advertising/publicity. (I had never heard of them). Unless and until RCI decides to start cancelling reservations, ( and don't hold your breath on that) their business will be fine.

 

[rickandcindy23]

RCI won't do a thing, and as RCI exchanges, as this is obvious to ME, this company or individual is making a fortune on exchange rentals.

But go ahead and be naive and believe this is legitimate, but it IS NOT legitimate. I don't have to pay for parking or pay fees, when I use my own points. When I take exchanges, I do have to pay the fee of $190. It used to be $95.

I don't know how these people get by with this blatant rental of exchanges, but it's clearly what is going on. II was so good and keeping these exchanges from rental forums. RCI gets their money, so what do they care. I am so annoyed, I cannot even believe this. And the Aulani rentals are especially awful.