New RCI transaction fees--as of January 4, 2009!

[Jennie]

[Duplicate threads, merged. - DeniseM Moderator]

I just logged onto the RCI Points web site and there is a notice posted prominently on the homepage stating that there are changes in many of the Points and Weeks transaction fees, effective January 4, 2009. Of course I expected this to be another infuriating "enhancement" (translate: rip-off raising of prices) but much to my surprise, a few of the fees have actually been reduced:

POINTS FEES (as of January 4th, 2009)

Standard Transaction Fees / USD CAD


Home Resort Reservation $ 40 ($ 47)

7 Nights or More $ 139 ($ 147)
6 Nights $ 119 ($ 126
5 Night $ 109 ($ 116)
4 Night $ 99 ($ 105)
3 Night $ 79 ($ 83)
2 Night $ 59 ($ 62)
1 Night $ 39 ($ 41)

Points Partner Transaction Fees
(“Points Partner fees are in USD only”)

Air (per ticket) $49

Hotel (per room) $29

Car (per car) $ 49

Entertainment (per ticket/pass) $ 29

Points Partner Cancel Fee Non-Cancellable / Non-Refundable / Non-Transferable
_____________________________________________________


WEEKS Exchange Fees

Call Center Domestic/International $ 189 $ 199

RCI.COM Domestic/International $ 164 $ 173 (booked on-line)

Cruise - Points Exchange $ 69 $ 73



MISC. POINTS Fees / Rental / Guest Cert. (USD /CAD)


Points Saving Fee: $ 26 $ 27

Points Transfer Fee: No Fee

Points for Deposit Fee: $ 26 $ 27

Rental Price Per Point $ 0.0200 $ 0.0211

Points Ext - Less than 14,000 Points $ 39 $ 41

Points Ext—14,000 and above $ 99 $ 104

Points Guest Certs: $ 59 $ 62

Dues / MTA / Directory Fee (USD CAD)

Annual Dues $ 124 $ 131
Subscription Renewal - 2 years $ 229 $ 242
Subscription Renewal - 3 years $ 319.02 $ 337.02
Subscription Renewal - 4 years $ 409 $ 432
Subscription Renewal - 5 years $ 499 $ 527

Membership Transfer Application (MTA) $ 100 $ 106

Duplicate Points Directory (S&H) $ 6.95 $ 7.35

 

[caribbean]

Am I reading this correctly???

Call Center Domestic/International $ 189 $ 199

RCI.COM Domestic/International $ 164 $ 173 (booked on-line)

Does that mean we get a price break for booking online?? $164 vs $189 Domestic and $173 vs $199 International???

Is that new or have I just missed it in the past? Have they finally heard us?

 

[rickandcindy23]

The fee for booking online didn't go up; it has been $164, but they decided to charge a premium for booking with a guide.

 

[JudyS]

...
Annual Dues $ 124 $ 131
Subscription Renewal - 2 years $ 229 $ 242
Subscription Renewal - 3 years $ 319.02 $ 337.02
Subscription Renewal - 4 years $ 409 $ 432
Subscription Renewal - 5 years $ 499 $ 527...

A guide last night said there was a current special on membership renewals, something like $95 year if you purchased 3 years, and that the deal was good until sometime in February.

 

[regatta333]

RCI.COM Domestic/International $ 164 $ 173 (booked on-line)[/COLOR]

Someone mentioned that they enquired about whether the online fees would apply to Wyndham owners with generic weeks who have to call in to book. They were told that the online booking fees would apply, but I have had to pay $199 for my last few international reservations that were booked with generics. Is the $173 online fee for international bookings a reduction, or has this been in place before now?

 

[vacationhopeful]

I put a week on HOLD online last night using a Wyndham Visible ==> fee was $189, not the $164.

Haven't paid for it YET as I thought I would check the TUG boards first.

Think they got a snag on RCI and Wyndham?

UPDATE: I called RCI tonight. The Wyndham/RCI deal is IF you have a visible deposit & call a VC, you get to pay $189 to book the exchange. IF you have an internal (NONVISIBLE) deposit, the VC is the only way you can search and pay for an exchange, hence it only costs the $164.

 

[Laurie]

WEEKS Exchange Fees

Call Center Domestic/International $ 189 $ 199

RCI.COM Domestic/International $ 164 $ 173 (booked on-line)

This is a nice reduction for international weeks reservations made online - which were $199 U.S. until a few days ago, so $35 cheaper now. In the olden days when transactions were done with phone and snail mail, maybe the difference was justified, but in the last 5 years with internet and email, the differential between domestic and international made little sense.

I'm also glad to see them giving some discount to members who don't take up RCI employees' time.

 

[JeffW]

Are the phone vs internet booking rates new? I've probably done most exchanges online, but didn't specifically realize there was an agent surcharge?

Also, do you get the online rate if you do a hold online, but then have to call an agent to complete the transaction?

Jeff

 

[SBK]

Are the phone vs internet booking rates new? I've probably done most exchanges online, but didn't specifically realize there was an agent surcharge?

Also, do you get the online rate if you do a hold online, but then have to call an agent to complete the transaction?

Jeff

I am very interested in the answer to this. If there are multiple units available, I put one on hold, then call for details to pick the exact unit.

 

[Laurie]

Are the phone vs internet booking rates new?

Also, do you get the online rate if you do a hold online, but then have to call an agent to complete the transaction?

Yes, the savings for internet bookings vs phone bookings are new.

I don't know the answer to the second question though.

 

[DeniseM]

Duplicate posts are not allowed on TUG, so I am merging the 2 threads you started on this subject.

 

[mamadot]

I was on II and the Royal websites and this seems to be a trend. $10 less for online bookings.

 

[Laurie]

Am I reading this correctly???

Call Center Domestic/International $ 189 $ 199

RCI.COM Domestic/International $ 164 $ 173 (booked on-line)

Does that mean we get a price break for booking online?? $164 vs $189 Domestic and $173 vs $199 International???

We do get a break for booking online. But here's my interpretation:

Both domestic and international exchanges now are the same cost. The differences are:

Any exchange transacted by phone is $189 US and $199 Canadian
Any exchange transacted online is $164 US and $173 Canadian

 

[caribbean]

Laurie-

"Any exchange transacted by phone is $189 US and $199 Canadian
Any exchange transacted online is $164 US and $173 Canadian"

That was my first impression too, but I don't think so.... the conversion rate is much higher than that. $164 US would be about $195 CAD.

Looks like they have actually dropped the online rate for International!!!!!
Go ahead make my day since most of my bookings are online and in the Caribbean.

 

[Laurie]

Domestic and international x-changes really are the same price now, $164 online - I confirmed one last night. Here's the copy-n-paste blurb from the RCI website:

Book Online for Best Prices

The best prices are now available for RCI® Weeks Subscribing Members when you book on RCI.com*:

* Exchange online and save $25 USD. As an added bonus, we’ve simplified exchange fees. Now, you can book an international exchange for the same rate as a domestic exchange.

* Savings described above reflect the amounts an RCI member will save by transacting online instead of by phone. Online prices already include the discounts indicated above.

 

[Hophop4]

I have Silverleaf weeks deposited in RCI when I checked the exchange fee for a transaction on-line for a non Silverleaf Resort it comes up $164. But if I exchange back into a Silverleaf Resort all of them come up as $189. I spent almost an hour on phone with RCI tech support the other day and they said it was wrong, they are trying to correct it but is still coming up $189. Is this happening to anyone else?

 

[skimble]

1. Sure exchange fees have not changed for on-line exchanges, but we all know that increase is coming. It always follows.
2. For a SERVICE (implying RCI hasn't incurred increased costs this fiscal year to warrant an increase in fees), they shows a lot of confidence in the strength their business model. The fall under the "Want" category in household budgets (not a "Need") In tough economic times, people cut unjustifiable "wants."
The travel sector of the market is already hurting, and projections show it'll get far worse before it gets better. It just doesn't seem wise to put more stress on the consumer at this time. Are they like a tax and spend organization; do they genuinely believe adding a heavier burden will result in higher revenues?
(Personally, I think there's a back-breaking straw somewhere---and I don't know when they'll reach it, where Many people just decide to use their week, sell it or rent it instead of exchanging.)

 

[JeffW]

...The fall under the "Want" category in household budgets (not a "Need")...

I would dispute this point. Timeshares are not regular vacations. Non timeshare owners can decide to save money by not taking a vacation, and their out of pocket cost is nothing.

However using a common definition of "pre-paid vacation", most of our cost is already tied up in the timeshare. If you own a timeshare, would you NOT deposit your in RCI just because of the higher exchange fee? Similarly, if you have a weeked banked with RCI, would you not go on a vacation because the exchange fee went up $25? What's the saying, "Penny wise, pound foolish?"

To a degree, these fees are the perfect ones to increase, because demand is relatively inelastic. I'll give a perfect example. I just had to cancel two FF tickets to Dubai. They were first class seats, costing 120,000 FF miles each. When I called the cancel, the agent told me it would be $100 each tor redeposit the miles into our accounts (which I already knew). I asked, "What's the option if I don't do that?", she said, "you lose the miles." So, no matter how much I might dislike this fee, there's no way I wouldn't pay it.

There are some people that will take the increase in maintenance fees or exchange company fees as justification for getting out of timeshare ownership, but I'd guess most people just "suck it up" and live with it.

Jeff

 

[Laurie]

Regarding the difference between online and call-center exchange fees: haven't they cut phone hours a bit? Previously I think they were open til midnight eastern time, now til 11 pm.

They'll probably wait til lots more exchangers are weaned off the phone and switched to online, while they keep reducing hours and cutting back personnel costs, and *then* raise those online fees!

 

[skimble]

I would dispute this point. Timeshares are not regular vacations. Non timeshare owners can decide to save money by not taking a vacation, and their out of pocket cost is nothing.

However using a common definition of "pre-paid vacation", most of our cost is already tied up in the timeshare. If you own a timeshare, would you NOT deposit your in RCI just because of the higher exchange fee? Similarly, if you have a weeked banked with RCI, would you not go on a vacation because the exchange fee went up $25? What's the saying, "Penny wise, pound foolish?"

To a degree, these fees are the perfect ones to increase, because demand is relatively inelastic. I'll give a perfect example. I just had to cancel two FF tickets to Dubai. They were first class seats, costing 120,000 FF miles each. When I called the cancel, the agent told me it would be $100 each tor redeposit the miles into our accounts (which I already knew). I asked, "What's the option if I don't do that?", she said, "you lose the miles." So, no matter how much I might dislike this fee, there's no way I wouldn't pay it.

There are some people that will take the increase in maintenance fees or exchange company fees as justification for getting out of timeshare ownership, but I'd guess most people just "suck it up" and live with it.

Jeff

Yes, I agree that, as owners we have a vested interest in maintaining the viability of our week. But, we also have the option of utilizing our week. I know some timeshare owners-- people who aren't active Tugger-- who just plan to use their week. I've gotten 2 phone calls in the past week from friend of friends who are choosing to rent their weeks this year as opposed to depositing with RCI.
My father has opted to use all his weeks this year, not exchange. My brother-in-law and aunt have done the same. This decision was made prior to this increase, but the root cause is the fees.
There is a breaking point where people just choose another path with their timeshare week. It's a "Want" not a "Need" when there are alternatives. Renting and Using are distinct alternatives (and in this case, people can sure save a lot of $$.)

 

[JeffW]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think the increases are enough to make me change my entire plans. I own a Westgate unit that I've never stayed at - it was bought resale, and always exchanged. I can't see deciding to go to Orlando in the heat of the summer just because I don't want to pay $25 or so more to exchange it to some other location.

Especially in the economic situation now, there could be more reason to exchange, as maybe people can't afford to travel this year, so instead bank their weeks for future use. An extra $25 or so in the future (higher exchange fee) might be a better deal than havin to spend money this year to travel.

Jeff

 

[skimble]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think the increases are enough to make me change my entire plans. I own a Westgate unit that I've never stayed at - it was bought resale, and always exchanged. I can't see deciding to go to Orlando in the heat of the summer just because I don't want to pay $25 or so more to exchange it to some other location.

Especially in the economic situation now, there could be more reason to exchange, as maybe people can't afford to travel this year, so instead bank their weeks for future use. An extra $25 or so in the future (higher exchange fee) might be a better deal than havin to spend money this year to travel.

Jeff

You are probably right. I just wonder what the straw will be.

It's easy to say, "another $25 is no big deal" just like another 2% in taxes probably won't break us. "It's only 2 cents for every dollar, or " Might it change things for some people?
Another form to fill out at work will only add 10 minutes to your day, and if you're efficient, you can fit it in.
It's the little things that are compounded on a slow basis, imperceptible to those who are immersed in it--- eventually you stand back and you're paying 40% in taxes, working 2 more hours in a day than you did 10 years ago, or paying $300 just to exchange a week.
When it's administered slowly, shock value is lost and things like gas prices increases are just absorbed without complaint or repercussions... until one day they shoot past $4.00/gallon (which turned out the be the turning point-- the thing that changed driving habits.)
There's a breaking point where people change their way. It may be realized subtly, or not at all (if inflation offsets.) Will it be the point at which RCI exchange fees and membership surpass $300? I don't know... I just know people will alter their ways when the cost outweighs the benefit.

 

[JeffW]

You are probably right. I just wonder what the straw will be...

I don't know. Existing timeshare owners already have too much invested in their timeshare ownership and banked weeks to let minor price increases change their plans.
I do think all the exchange fees, plus the annual fee increases (and increases in travel costs) probably pushes some percentage of owners to consider selling their units. If owners are still paying off their timeshares, that's an even bigger loss, as they'll never get back anything close to purchase price. For what some timeshares are selling for now, it's almost better to keep the units, as at least you can get a vacation out of it.

I doubt the exchange fee increases factor into a new purchase at all, because I'm not sure those prices are even mentioned at purchase time.

I'm not saying I'm happy with the increases, just that it's important to realize that there's not a lot one can do about it.

Jeff