RCI Deception for Disney Hotel rates??

[DouginSC]

Was looking at some dates at Spring Break 2024 to pay out of pocket for a trip to Disney and thought I'd check the hotels on RCI just to see what's available and get some pricing. Was surprised to actually see the Disney hotels listed but noticed that the supposedly "discounted" pricing is actually more than the rack rate that Disney has on their own website for the same dates. How can RCI get away with this?? Makes me wonder about all the other hotels listed as well.

 

[TheHolleys87]

Wow, I wonder how many RCI members book these without checking directly with Disney (or with the other hotels offered). RCI is making some profit there!

 

[bnoble]

Is it possible these are different views? Disney often has a half-dozen different rates on the same night.

 

[DouginSC]

Is it possible these are different views? Disney often has a half-dozen different rates on the same night.

Not different views. These are the Disney rack rates for the exact same dates at Pop Century. RCI has the "rack" rate at $497.11 then with the supposed "discount" rate of $328.33 for a standard room. Same dates, same hotel.

It's only a $30 difference between RCI and the Disney rate but RCI presents it as some huge discount when it's not any cheaper than booking direct with Disney. It's very misleading..

 

[paxsarah]

RCI Travel is just a barely-discounted travel booking site, like Expedia or others. It’s powered by the same engine as Club Wyndham travel.

I do see a lot of confused people on Facebook who complain about hotels (not only Disney) on RCI costing 4,000 points per night and a bunch of cash. “What’s so great about RCI?” It’s because that’s not RCI’s core business - which is timeshare exchanges (and secondarily, weeklong timeshare cash vacations). They’ve completely missed the exchange search on the website.

So if people book those hotel rates without shopping around, that’s kind of on them.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

bnoble is right about the plethora of rates, which is done purposely to make this kind of thing possible when dealing with multiple distributors.
Question: does either or BOTH use the term "rack" that you use? In marketing, something as simple as using different terms and a minor tweak to some 3rd-level detail is enough to make all of the points of distribution very happy that there is nothing to worry about.
I could write paragraphs listing how many items I see this on when buying on the internet ... and even in costco stores. costco execs constnatly use an "old-school" term to describe this: MERCHANDISING.
I could be wrong. It could be the exact thing presented incorrectly, but I'd bet there is some tiny detail and as some bnoble said, some actual high-priced SKU out there.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

such a detail occurs to me: suppose you call Disney (whatever hotel company) on the phone, what is the price? suppose DIS has a higher price on th ephone (known as the "official price") and then DIS website is considered the "on-line discount". That is common. It is true for All the TS firms, isn't it? everything I've read aout HGVC seems to go that way

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

such a detail occurs to me: suppose you call Disney (whatever hotel company) on the phone, what is the price? suppose DIS has a higher price on th ephone (known as the "official price") and then DIS website is considered the "on-line discount". That is common. It is true for All the TS firms, isn't it? everything I've read aout HGVC seems to go that way

You will get the same rates at a Disney hotel over the phone as you will online.

 

[dioxide45]

Legally, it can't be higher than rack rates. Rack rates are the maximum rate a hotel can charge. I suspect what is meant here is that it is higher than the highest cash rates on Disney's website? Even Disney doesn't charge rack rates most of the time. The standard rate on Disney's website isn't necessarily rack rate. Rack rate is what you see on the back of the door and is only charged in the peak of times and usually for special events.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

right diox. that is why I asked if either website ever used the term "rack". The "standard" rate on Disney's website is almost certainly below the "standard" rate if you call Disney on the phone. I am guessing these "discounts" are off that phone-call rate.
to simplify my guess: There is no "RCI discount". There is an ON-LINE discount and the ON-LINE discount on DIS's site is larger than the one on RCI's site. RCI references this ONLINE discount vs the phone-call rate. Only a guess but that is SOP for many companies.

 

[DouginSC]

right diox. that is why I asked if either website ever used the term "rack". The "standard" rate on Disney's website is almost certainly below the "standard" rate if you call Disney on the phone. I am guessing these "discounts" are off that phone-call rate.
to simplify my guess: There is no "RCI discount". There is an ON-LINE discount and the ON-LINE discount on DIS's site is larger than the one on RCI's site. RCI references this ONLINE discount vs the phone-call rate. Only a guess but that is SOP for many companies.

I've always considered what I see on the Disney website as the "rack room rates" so maybe that lingo is incorrect? Seems like I always hear people refer to Hotel rates before any discounts as the "rack room rates". I think on the Disney site they just call it "standard rates" before any discounts but I always hear the experts refer to the rates before any discounts as the "rack room rates". All I know is whatever they're called RCI has the rates super duper inflated then try to make it look like a big discount even though the discounted price is still higher than the listed price, without any discounts, that Disney has on their site......on a side note,,if you call Disney for rates they will often not price anything with a discount if any are being offered. You often have to ask for them to see if there are any promo's or discount being offered for your dates of interest...

Here's what it looks like when on the Disney website and there is a promo being offered.