RCI Cancels our May Confirmation to Austria

[Walt]

Some very good ideas!

It is quite possible that the resort is fully booked this week because 25. May is the start of the festival of daffodils in Grundlsee. Must be very nice with decorated boats etc. A Google search with the words Narzissenfest and Grundlsee will give you more info.
Ferienclub Grundlsee is a relatively large resort to European standards (about 200 units) so there is a good chance that RCI will get a cancelled week.

I would only book a private rental on the very last minute. As already said, May is low season in Austria, so apart from Grundlsee, where there is the festival, you will find lots of rental apartments in Salzburgerland. Even in summerseason you can find available apartments last minute. They are only fully booked during some ski season weeks.
Salzburg has mountains around, but if you go a bit more south you will find higher and more impressive mountains. Try the Dachsteinarea: Radstadt or Schladming, about 80 kms from Salzburg. Also the Pongau area is nice: St. Johann im Pongau would be a good choice. You could also go a bit more west to Tirol: Kitzbuhel and Kirchberg are relatively large towns in that area with probably some more entertainment. Nice mountains and not too far from Salzburg (as well as Innsbruck) too. All these villages wil have plenty of accommodation, just go to the website of the local tourist information and most times you will find all apartments listed. Call or e-mail the tourist information the week before departure and ask which apartments are still available.

Loes.

Hi Loes,

You had some very good ideas. We stayed in Kitzbuhel on our way to Bad Gastein for 1 night. This is a very petty Ski Village. We also enjoyed going to the top of the Grossglockner.

Walt

http://www.grossglockner.com/

I also have pictures of the Grossglockner here.

http://photobucket.com/albums/e83/tennisWalt/

 

[palmowner]

What about II in same situation

Hi All,

I own a timeshare managed via II which I did deposit earlier but yet to make an exchange. Did any of you ever had a similiar, better or worst experience with II while making an exchange??

 

[gmarine]

Hi All,

I own a timeshare managed via II which I did deposit earlier but yet to make an exchange. Did any of you ever had a similiar, better or worst experience with II while making an exchange??

I assume you mean you own a timeshare that uses II as its exchange company. II doesnt have anything to do with management at resorts.

I have been with II for over 11 years with over 40 exchanges. Havent had any cancelled by II.
I know it has happened to some TUG members but I think much less often that to RCI members.

 

[palmowner]

I assume you mean you own a timeshare that uses II as its exchange company. II doesnt have anything to do with management at resorts.

I have been with II for over 11 years with over 40 exchanges. Havent had any cancelled by II.
I know it has happened to some TUG members but I think much less often that to RCI members.

Thants excatly what I meant.. sorry about the lingo as I am newbie to both timesharing as well as this forum..

Thanks.

 

[Elli]

Walt, I enjoyed your pictures. You were lucky you had such clear skies at Grossglockner. What month did you go?

 

[Walt]

September Trip

Walt, I enjoyed your pictures. You were lucky you had such clear skies at Grossglockner. What month did you go?

We were in Austria and Germany in September. We usually have great weather in September on our trips to Europe. It is a nice time of the year in Europe.

Walt

 

[ValHam]

RCI cancelled my week in Cancun two weeks before I was suppose to go - they
cancelled a Christmas and New Years week at the Casa Maya - They didn't call - I noticed it on line - anyway, they said it was because of hurricane damage - anyway, a specialist did find another unit for me - However the stress was too much - I could of ended up in Cancun with no timeshare exchange. It took the specialist around a week - a week of pure stress for me - I had phoned R.C.I. one month before I was confirmed to reconfirm that the Casa Maya was o.k. - America West had cancelled my flight because of the hurricane - I had to buy a very costly last minute seats to Cancun - this was after checking and rechecking with R.C.I. that Casa Maya was o.k. They assured me it was o.k. I hope this does not happen again to me

 

[taffy19]

We were at the Mondi-Holiday Bellevue. While it is nice, I like Grundlsee best. Since the cancellation was at Grundlsee, why not ask RCI to have Mondi-Holiday come up with a replacement Resort. I would not think all of the Mondi-Holiday Resorts are sold out during this time period.

Pictures of Mondi-Holiday Bellevue Resort and things we saw there.

http://photobucket.com/albums/e83/tennisWalt/

We did see Venice on a day trip while at the Bellevue.
Walt

Walt, I love your photos! Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

[Jwerking]

We were at the Mondi-Holiday Bellevue. While it is nice, I like Grundlsee best. Since the cancellation was at Grundlsee, why not ask RCI to have Mondi-Holiday come up with a replacement Resort. I would not think all of the Mondi-Holiday Resorts are sold out during this time period.

Pictures of Mondi-Holiday Bellevue Resort and things we saw there.

http://photobucket.com/albums/e83/tennisWalt/

We did see Venice on a day trip while at the Bellevue.

I also would not think renting would be a problem at this time of the year if you can not get an Exchange. When I looked at the rental rates several years ago the weekly rate was near the cost of the Exchange fee plus the MF of my home Resort. ($650-$700)

Walt

Walt:

Great pictures - I am excited. I did decide to rent the week at Bellevue - it was $600 and the same price as giving up my week plus exchange fee. It is unfortunately about 4 1/2 hrs back to Vienna - where we are flying out of to get to Copenhagen for the rest of our vacation. With hindsight, we should of just stayed in the area and gone to Venice (timeshare exchange or not).

SO you really did a day trip to Venice from the resort? I do understand there are express trains to Venice and Salzburg. Was this one of the pre-arranged trips available thru the hotel? A bus trip or train trip? How long of a day and was it worth it - meaning did you spend enough time in Venice to make it worthwhile?? May be our opportunity - as we always wanted to do Venice.

Also, Bellevue looks nice. Is there a murphy bed in the LR? Good, since one of us will have to sleep there since I now only have 1 unit instead of 2.

If we go to Venice, for sure, we will skip Salzburg, but it looks beautiful also. But after a week in Vienna, I will perhaps have seen enough of historical Austrian historical structures. Just like my recent 3 month work assignment in the UK, all the cathedrals started to look the same.

Joyce

 

[Jwerking]

Joyce,
Did you ever get connected with a Specialist?

Phil

Not really. No specialist from RCI ever called me. (Supposely, 2 emails over the weekend were sent to this Department for them to contact me about my problem.) I called at about lunch time on Monday EST, as suggested by the RCI supervisor I spoke to on the weekend because they work 9-5 and always have MOnday morning staff meetings.

After much persistence speaking to ordinary VCs, I finally got thru to a Supervisor. She would not connect me to a Specialists - generally stated that there was no such Dept, but she could help me. She did find me a 1 br at Schloss Grubhof, that Carolinian mentioned. But I had decided on renting by then, since it did not cost me any more to do so and I was stuck with a 1 br anyway wherever I went. I had some special requests and she granted me some concessions - so I felt like I was compensated. And she readily admits that RCI should have called me immediately to notify me and work with me - which they did not do.

JOyce

 

[BeantownFlyer]

The T&C do obligate RCI to use its best efforts to find you replacement accomodations:

If a Confirmation is received by a Member and is
subsequently not able to be honored for any
reason, including, but not limited to, the
unavailability of an applicable accommodation at
an Affiliated Resort due to, among other reasons
and by way of example and not limitation,
continued or unauthorized use and occupancy
by an occupant or overbooking, RCI will use its
best efforts to locate and provide such Member
an equivalent and alternative accommodation
located within the same geographic vicinity and
RCI shall have no additional liability to the
Member.

Note that while RCI has limited their liability to finding equivalent accomodations, they have not limited it to what is available in their inventory. Since they must use their "best efforts" I read this as including the obligation to go out and pay to rent you the space if it is available on the market. I certainly hope I never face this situation, but I can assure you if I do, it will be RCI's headache, and not mine!

 

[Laurie]

Since they must use their "best efforts" I read this as including the obligation to go out and pay to rent you the space if it is available on the market.

I can tell you they will absolutely not do this. On my first cancellation, there was rental space available and I asked them to just pay for the rental. My "specialist" told me "We don't do that." That one was ultimately resolved by finding another week for same dates at same resort. (My second cancellation still has not been resolved.)

 

[BeantownFlyer]

Get sued a few times and they'll do it - or change their terms and conditions.

 

[Walt]

Day Trip to Venice

Walt:

Great pictures - I am excited. I did decide to rent the week at Bellevue - it was $600 and the same price as giving up my week plus exchange fee. It is unfortunately about 4 1/2 hrs back to Vienna - where we are flying out of to get to Copenhagen for the rest of our vacation. With hindsight, we should of just stayed in the area and gone to Venice (timeshare exchange or not).

SO you really did a day trip to Venice from the resort? I do understand there are express trains to Venice and Salzburg. Was this one of the pre-arranged trips available thru the hotel? A bus trip or train trip? How long of a day and was it worth it - meaning did you spend enough time in Venice to make it worthwhile?? May be our opportunity - as we always wanted to do Venice.

Also, Bellevue looks nice. Is there a murphy bed in the LR? Good, since one of us will have to sleep there since I now only have 1 unit instead of 2.

If we go to Venice, for sure, we will skip Salzburg, but it looks beautiful also. But after a week in Vienna, I will perhaps have seen enough of historical Austrian historical structures. Just like my recent 3 month work assignment in the UK, all the cathedrals started to look the same.

Joyce

Hi Joyce,

Sorry about not getting back to sooner. I missed this post.

You can drive to Salzburg and be back to Bellevue in a day. Don't miss Salzburg.

Yes, we did do a day trip to Venice from the Resort. The bus picked us up in front of the Resort (about 5:00 am)and drove to a train station where everyone got on, including the bus. We then went through the Mountain instead of around. (timesaver) Once through, we got off the train and drove the rest of the way to Venice. We got to Venice about 10:00 am. As I recall, we were able to spend about 5 to 6 hours there. We need to get back to the Train Station on this side of the Mountain to catch the last train for the night. I think we go back just before midnight. It was a long day but I would do it again.

If you have any question email me. I also am working on a report of this trip with links to the things we saw.

We stayed in a 1 bedroom and there was a murphy bed in the LR.

There is a Ski House up from the Resort that is used to have an Alpine Night with Austrian food and entertainment night. I also enjoyed this night.

Walt

 

[Leturno]

RCI recently changed their insurance on cancelations

To update this thread, you may want to look in ASK RCI and in the Exchange forums for the threads on RCI's cancelation policies and the new RCI travel insurance for exchanges. I think it directly effects what has been discussed in this thread.

Scott