My Chat Transcript With RCI--Covid policy, Trading Power fees, Deposit Extension fees, How much longer need I stay with RCI?

[Conan]

C. (10:55:10 AM):Hello and thank you for chatting with RCI. My name is [C.] and I'll be your Travel Guide. How can I help you?

Me (10:55:51 AM):I'm ready to deposit my 2021 [name of resort] week 11 but I understand you can give me the full 42 points for it via deposit restore [rather than 38 points currently available].

C. (10:57:48 AM):That is correct. RCI offers Deposit Restore which allows you to receive full Trading Power for a Deposit that is deposited less than 9 Months and more than 14 days from the check in date. The cost for Deposit Restore is $69. Please tell me the unit number you were assigned.

Me (10:58:54 AM):Are my dollar credits with RCI available for that, or maybe it's free for Platinum members? $69 seems excessive to gain 4 TP points

C. (11:00:50 AM):I am sorry, the coupon balance can only be applied to booking vacations. RCI Platinum members can deposit weeks and receive full Trading Power when depositing 6 months to two years in advance. For less than six months, deposit restore can be purchased.

Me (11:02:10 AM):what is my current coupon balance, and what booking date do the coupon balances expire?

C. (11:03:32 AM):The $478 coupon balance on your account have to be used to book vacations by 12/31/20. The travel dates booked can be past that date.

Me (11:06:37 AM):I have further 2021 reservations that I'll be cancelling in December 2020 so those credits are only gong to increase. Can you check and tell me what credits I'll get for them and when the restored TP points from those cancellations will expire. I'll find the vacation reservations for you in a minute.

Me (11:07:04 AM):La Tourbana #3071
Me (11:07:28 AM):Charter Club Naples #0212
Me (11:07:48 AM):Aldea Bonsai #2597
Me (11:08:53 AM):Abbazia Club #6164

C. (11:13:03 AM):If you cancel the vacation to La Toubana, the Trading Power of 12 used would be returned. That Trading Power would expire 7/31/21. For the vacation to Charter Club Naples, Trading Power of 25 expiring 9/30/21. Aldea Bonsai, Trading Power of 20 expiring 7/31/21. Abbazia Club, Trading Power of 27 expiring 9/30/21

C. (11:14:19 AM):The exchange fees paid would be non refundable. You do have the option to purchase Enhanced Trading Power Protection for $129 each. That would provide a $239 coupon for each to use towards booking other vacations by 3/31/21. The travel dates booked could be past that date.

Me (11:16:40 AM):Some of my credits expire 12/31/2020 booking date and others expire 3/31/2021 if I cancel today? Why not 3/31/2021 for all?

C. (11:18:22 AM):The $478 in coupons already on your account expire 12/31/20. That was under the previous corona virus cancellation policy. If you purchase Enhanced Trading Power Protection for the vacations noted above, the coupons would expire 3/31/21.

Me (11:19:10 AM):What's the charge for that, and if I don't pay for it then they'll all be 12/31/20?

C. (11:20:17 AM):You would not get any coupons for vacations cancelled at this point unless you purchase Trading Power Protection...$129 each.
C. (11:20:48 AM):If you cancel without the protection, you would get the Trading Power back, but the exchange fees paid would be non refundable.
C. (11:20:58 AM):The current policy is listed on our website....

Me (11:22:09 AM):Wait, if I pay $129 each do I get $239 cash back for the exchange fees or just more credits that expire 3/31/2021?

C. (11:26:11 AM):Since the vacations were booked before 9/7/20, you get the Trading Power back with or without the Enhanced Trading Power Protection. You would need to call or chat with us to cancel and get the full Trading Power back. If you pay $129 for Enhanced Trading Power Protection for each of the four vacations noted above before cancelling, you would get four $239 coupons to use towards booking other exchanges by 3/31/21.

Me (11:29:06 AM):Obviously I'm not going to pay $239 cash for credits expiring 3/31/2021 additional to the $478 credits (expiring 12/31/2020 you say) that I already have. Nor am I going to pay $69 to get 42 points for [name of resort] when I can get 38 points for free if I deposit them by 12/12/20.

C. (11:32:21 AM):OK. Were there any vacations you want to cancel at this time?

Me (11:33:33 AM):So I'll be phoning in, first week in December, for the 38 point deposit and at the same time I can cancel all the vacations described above. What's the current fee to consolidate and thereby extend deposited points since I'll have to do that by 7/31/2021. Prices for 24 month extensions if they're still being sold

C. (11:33:58 AM):You can combine deposits and get 1 or 2 years from the month the combination takes place as the new travel window. The cost to combine deposits and get 1 year is $154. The cost to combine and get 2 years is $231. You can combine up to 10 deposited weeks in a single combination.
*Platinum members receive a 10% discount on Combine Deposits

Me (11:34:48 AM):When does my platinum membership expire? Also when do my RCI Weeks and RCI Points memberships expire?

C. (11:38:49 AM):Your RCI Points and RCI Platinum memberships expire 10/31/21. The RCI Points membership fees pay for the weeks membership as well for as long as you are an RCI Points member. RCI Platinum on your points account covers RCI Platinum on your weeks account as well.

Me (11:40:54 AM):Can I search and make reservations (within the two year window) for dates later than 10/31/21 if I don't extend my memberships? On the Points side and also the Weeks side?

C. (11:42:50 AM):You can search and book vacations on the weeks account for travel dates up to two years in advance. The system assumes you will be continuing your RCI Points membership. On your points account, you would need to renew to book a vacation that starts past 10/31/21

Me (11:46:53 AM):When you say the system assumes, does that mean I might be denied checkin when the reservation date comes around if I'm not then a member?

C. (11:57:05 AM):As long as you are renewing your RCI Points membership, there will be no issue.

Me (11:57:22 AM):That doesn't answer the question

C. (12:00:24 PM):If you booked a vacation for some point in the future past 10/31/21 on your weeks account and in the meantime cancelled your points account, the issue would need to be addressed. Most likely you would simply need to renew your weeks membership through the dates you confirmed. The vacation would not be automatically cancelled.

Me (12:02:02 PM):FYI by my count I've made 120 RCI exchanges in the past fifteen years. If anybody from RCI wants to offer me any concessions from the rules discussed above they are welcome to email me. Thanks for your help. I think we're done for today.

C. (12:03:25 PM):You're welcome. Thanks for visiting RCI.com.

 

[tschwa2]

I think everything the guide said would be my understanding as well.
The one exception might be the tpu's returned if you don't have trading power. You mentioned to them that you would be cancelling in December but you didn't mention a specific date. Depending on the dates your current exchanges are booked for the tpu's could be lower if it passes one of the predetermined thresholds. My guess is the guide gave you the tpu's that would be returned if you cancelled on that day (when you had your chat).

 

[Conan]

My guess is the guide gave you the tpu's that would be returned if you cancelled on that day (when you had your chat).

The numbers match what I paid in TPUs for each reservation, and the expiration dates I think match the expiration dates of the deposits I used. I typically reserve 18 to 24 months in advance, so it's not surprising the expiration dates of the restored points are in mid-2021.

The four reservations I'm about to cancel restore 84 TP. I already have 102 TP from older deposits/restorations expiring in 2021 so after combining I'll have 186 TP good to 7/2023. Not counting 38 TP from the 2021 week I'm about to deposit and 39 TP from a 2021 week that I previously deposited.

The challenge will be using 263 TP between now and 7/2023, especially since I'm unwilling to commit to flying or long-driving in the coming months.

And I still have a not-cancelled reservation of two weeks in England in September 2021, if we're willing and able to fly JFK to Manchester a mere 10 months from now.

 

[rapmarks]

I have been a member of Rci for thirty years. I wish I had bought a lifetime membership when I enrolled

 

[Synergy]

I was just looking at booking a trip for June, and it suggested the expanded points protection. Unfortunately, we likely wouldn't know by March of we needed to cancel, so I'm not sure we'd get any credit at all if we cancelled in, say, May. We can buy the points protection until right before check-in, so I'm not sure there's any point in buying it now.

I'm sorry you have so many tpu to burn through - we have a few more points than we currently know what to do with, but are comfortable extending our needed. We'll have a blast burning them eventually!

 

[elaine]

I feel your pain-up to my 3rd canx trip! I've got 4 more pending in 2021, so no use for RCI coupons expiring 3/31. I planned to go to Hawaii in fall 2021 on 2 RCI trades. I made 1 RCi exchange, but will just book a hotel for the 2nd week, which can be canx without losing any more exchange fees. In your case, I'd probably chat again and ask for the rep to see if a supervisor can make an exception, given the amount of credits.