RCI Upgrades do they work?

[silentg]

Hi
I have an exchange for A Place At The Beach in Myrtle Beach in March. I have requested another resort if available. I put 5 other resorts in for the same time and same size unit.
RCI says they will charge $49 Dollars if they find an exchange within 14 days before we are scheduled to go. Have any of you been successful in getting a better exchange? I read some bad reviews of Place At The Beach and also found out they had a fire last May caused by a guest smoking. This was not the first time.
They have a no smoking policy now. The units I would be going to were not affected, but I still felt uneasy. I’m hoping one of the 5 resorts will have the same accommodations available.
Let me know if you have had good or bad results with this?
Silentg

 

[Panina]

Hi
I have an exchange for A Place At The Beach in Myrtle Beach in March. I have requested another resort if available. I put 5 other resorts in for the same time and same size unit.
RCI says they will charge $49 Dollars if they find an exchange within 14 days before we are scheduled to go. Have any of you been successful in getting a better exchange? I read some bad reviews of Place At The Beach and also found out they had a fire last May caused by a guest smoking. This was not the first time.
They have a no smoking policy now. The units I would be going to were not affected, but I still felt uneasy. I’m hoping one of the 5 resorts will have the same accommodations available.
Let me know if you have had good or bad results with this?
Silentg

I had success once out of the two times I tried. My trade was for Fort Lauderdale and I got Sanibel.

I would put your 5 requests in for the timeshares that have many rooms, the high rise buildings, this way you will have better odds.

 

[silentg]

I had success once out of the two times I tried. My trade was for Fort Lauderdale and I got Sanibel.

I would put your 5 requests in for the timeshares that have many rooms, the high rise buildings, this way you will have better odds.

That worked for you, Sanibel is nice. I did put places with multiple floors.

 

[Free2Roam]

It didn't work for me the one time I was really hoping it would. I saw an eligible unit available within the time frame for complimentary (platinum) upgrades. I placed the unit on hold and called RCI to see about getting the upgrade. No go. The rep said it was automatic and she couldn't force it. She couldn't tell me when or how often the upgrade process runs. It never happened.

 

[moonstone]

We have 2 weeks booked in a "A" side 1 bedroom at Mizner in Fort Lauderdale and I put an upgrade request in for the first week. I only want a 2 bedroom at the same resort so I am limiting our chances. We want to stay in the same unit for the whole 2 weeks and just get a "B" side while our DD is with us. She said she'll be fine on the couch but an upgrade would be nice. It's too bad the request is only for 14 to 3(?) days before check-in, that makes booking airfares or inviting family or friends challenging at the last minute.

I'll let you know if it comes through.


~Diane

 

[moonstone]

Well it doesn't look good for getting an upgrade from RCI for our stay at Mizner beginning on Saturday. I called Mizner this morning to make sure we were in the same unit for both weeks (we are) and to request a south or west facing unit for a sunny balcony. I mentioned to the woman that I had requested an upgrade with RCI and she said but you already have an "A" side unit. I explained that the upgrade was for a 2 bedroom & that we'd really like the matching "B" side to our unit for the first week. She said oh we are really full of "A"unit guests, but we usually have quite a few "B" units sitting empty because everybody wants an "A". I was advised to ask about getting a "B" unit at check-in.
So there's hope yet!


~Diane

 

[silentg]

Hope you get it. Mizner is in Weston not Fort Lauderdale.

 

[moonstone]

Silentg, yes I realize Mizner Place is in Weston, but I refer to the area as Fort Lauderdale because all our friends & family don't know where Weston, Florida is.
We did get the upgrade!! I asked about the possibility of getting the "B" side to our unit at check-in & the woman said we deserved it after driving all the way from Canada! (No charge) DD is so happy that she has her own space & TV.

The internet here is being "upgraded" so no password is needed this (& possibly next) week, and no 2 device limit, but they still wanted the $25/wk (resort) fee for it (& the activities we probably wont attend). The internet signal is very strong in our unit (4th fl facing the pool).

Now if the rain would just stop, we could start enjoying our vacation!


~Diane

 

[jlwquilter]

It didn't work for me the one time I was really hoping it would. I saw an eligible unit available within the time frame for complimentary (platinum) upgrades. I placed the unit on hold and called RCI to see about getting the upgrade. No go. The rep said it was automatic and she couldn't force it. She couldn't tell me when or how often the upgrade process runs. It never happened.

I'm not questioning what you did and sometimes the hassle isn't worth it - but...

There was a unit that qualified! You saw it. You were able to put in on hold. I would have been quite upset if I paid for Plat and then didn't get the benefit. How could they not have given you the unit?? Did you ask to speak to a supervisor?

I am now just getting back into exchanging after 2 rather quiet years (daughter in high school, a lot of work travel) and have to start getting back on top of my exchange game. I am super rusty and a lot has changed. I really miss the old RCI insurance option and it seems to me with Upgrade benefit may be a week version of that? So I am very interested in learning more about how and if it works.

 

[tschwa2]

I don't know this for sure, but have a feeling the upgrade runs a search for upgrades in batches maybe once or twice a day. If something becomes available between the times the auto upgrade looks for units too bad unless it remains available until the auto search does its thing. If you grab the upgrade with another unit I don't think RCI has any chance of being able to release it from your other deposit and grab it for the upgrade. If it happens to be in open availability and you call maybe someone could do it? It seems like it is really meant to take excess inventory so not only does it have to be available 14 days or less, it has to be available during the time the auto upgrade searches for upgrades which is likely hours after it became available.

 

[jlwquilter]

Yes that makes sense as to how it works. Ongoing searches work like that too. People in the past have reported seeing online matches to ongoing searches. You have to be lucky in at least two ways to actually get the upgrade! The unit has to come available and then stay available until the batch is run.

So... you can put in up to 5 requests for an 'upgrade'? And these upgrades can really be just other trades you'd prefer instead? As in they don't have to be the same resort or timeframe as the original exchange? How I used the insurance in the past is to take a resort that was acceptable to me (so I could plan, buy airfare, etc.) and then have ongoing searches for better resorts/bigger units. That way if it hit I got better but if it didn't I was still ok with my original exchange. Is this how you guys are using it?

Even if so, the ongoing search route was better since it wasn't limited to only 14 days out... although the times it did work for me was rather close in to use date.

 

[tschwa2]

They have to be the same week although they can be other check in dates. They have to be in the same general area. For example even though Ocean City may be closer to Virginia Beach than Myrtle Beach, Ocean city wouldn't work because it is in Mid atlantic vs South East.

At another resort the unit has to be the same size or larger as the original request. At the same resort the upgrade has to be into a larger unit.

I did use it last year when I booked an acceptable Orlando resort but really preferred a different one. I was already within the 14 day window, but I saw a lot of movement for that week in availability. The day after I finally booked a larger unit at a resort I preferred showed up but since I was within the 24 hr window I could cancel and rebook so I didn't have to wait and rely on the upgrade.

 

[jlwquilter]

Thank you very much for explaining how it works to me! Very helpful indeed! What I have done in the past with insurance is within the parameters you are describing. But leaving it to so close - 14 days - and then hoping for a batch run to catch it - I don't know. Seems the probability is very low.

 

[tschwa2]

I agree the probability is quite low unless you are looking at places and times with a lot of availability. Since the difference in tpu's for these types of places are only 2-4 different, might as well book the larger unit at the resort you want in the first place.

I recently booked a 2 bedroom at Woodstone in Massanutten- for last week. There would be a 5 of us total. I would have preferred Regal Vistas but Woodstone was acceptable. I did request an upgrade to a 4 br at Woodstone or a 2 br at Regal Vista. It didn't come through but I felt like it had a 20% chance of upgrading. I wouldn't book anything that wasn't acceptable because in general the chances are low.

 

[jlwquilter]

I would happily just book what I wanted in the first place but often it's not available at the time. Often I'm hoping someone who was trying to rent it out couldn't and then deposits the unit close in. So I book what I can live with and hope for the best. It's really only the really close time in for ugrades (vs. longer view possibility with ongoing searches) that gives me hesitation. After all, if someone deposits the holy grail I'm looking for a month out, I won't get it with the upgrade where I could have with the ongoing search.