RCI Fees Going Up AGAIN!

[Fredflintstone]

Before you do that, spend some time on VRBO & Airbnb. I was looking at 2 bedroom condos with A/C in Princeville for a week next year. Most were well north of $2700 - and that was on the low end. I saw quite a few that were between $3500 and $4000, and they were just condos - no resort amenities of any kind. I am as annoyed as anyone with the rising prices but it is across the board unfortunately.

We are staying in a Best Western tomorrow night in the small town of Lone Pine, Ca. One night, one room, view of the parking lot, $130. If I pay ~ $200/nt for a 2 bedroom timeshare in Hawaii, I am going to count my lucky stars.

In all fairness, I am not sure exactly what you have looked at but here are some of my rentals recently. None of them had resort fees. One had a 20 a night parking fee which I didn’t need. All rented direct from various sources including Airbnb, VBRO and home away, redweek and private owners.
1. seven nights Hilton Hawaiian Village, Lagoon terrace, partial ocean view, one bedroom. 1000.00 USD all in
2. (Last year, Christmas) HOA KOA Maui. 2 bedroom, ocean view 1100.00 usd all in. 7 nights
3. Coronado Island resort. Ocean View. 2 bedroom. 850.00. 7 nights.
4. Hilton Grand Vacations club on Las Vegas Strip. 2 bedroom. 850.00 all in 7 nights.
Yes, the 7 nights, 3 to 4 k weeks are sure out there. However, shopping around, being flexible with dates and waiting last minute to those desperate for a rental pays off. I have seen where one ad for same week is 4 k a week and just below it same thing is 1100.00. Competition pays.

 

[Fredflintstone]

@Fredflintstone My comments pertained to RCI exchanges. Our mini-systems (HGVC and Vistana mandatory) are still a great value vs. renting because rentals have increased faster than Maint fees. Like any real estate, it's location, location and season. We would not be able to afford these vacations in Hawaii for our family if we didn't have timeshares.

With that said, I agree with you that the industry must manage maintenance fees and ensure value vs. renting or there will be massive exodus.

You are sure correct on Hawaii. It can be extremely expensive. You need to scour. You would be shocked how many opportunities there are at great prices (1k to 1600) a week if you are flexible with times to go. What I am finding just from my experience is people start offering a rental at sky high prices but as the time of the week draws near and they have no bites, the price drops like a rock. Hawaii has less of these opportunities than other places but they are out there.

 

[Fredflintstone]

Getting back on track, IMO, exchange fees from RCI or any other exchange company need not be high. It’s pure greed. How much does it really cost to place a name on a reservation? Its computerized right? In essence, they get these exchanges for free or next to free. You deposit them and already paid the MF. To me, 50.00 profit per transaction max is fair. Let’s not forget they also get membership/premium dues to boot.

 

[moonstone]

How much does it really cost to place a name on a reservation? Its computerized right? In essence, they get these exchanges for free or next to free.

I have been complaining to RCI at every opportunity I get about their crazy fees. When we first joined RCI (1982) it was not uncommon for me to spend 30 minutes or more with the RCI 'catalogue" and an RCI rep on the phone, trying to find somewhere for us to vacation. The rep would say what resorts had availability for our time slot, what page in the book it was on, then I'd have a look at the description, and either book it or ask what else. Now I do all the research online on the RCI website, I deposit our week or choose to exchange, or book a Last Call or Extra Vacation. I look to see what the resort has to offer, dates available and size of units available. I then book it on my own with a credit card, apply for a Guest Certificate if needed, and print out the reservation. It is very very rare that I need to involve (call or online chat) a rep at all, and when I do it is usually because their website is acting up. I think the exchange rates are ridiculous for the amount of work or time involved on RCI's part. I think if they are going to charge those high fees we all need to go back to calling the reps to do all the work for us.
When we first joined RCI it was more like a club for timeshare owners to exchange their week (no points back then) with another member to see what other resorts or other parts of the country were like. Now it is just a huge money grab and profit maker for RCI with no regard for its members. As @rickandcindy23 says, RCI keeps increasing the fees but never make any improvements to their website. The last changes were not good IMHO, I don't like they way it shows availability in the points side by having me input a date - no, just go back to showing me a calendar with all the check-in dates available (even it does come up in Chinese once in a while) and let me choose which date to look at.


~Diane

 

[Fredflintstone]

I have been complaining to RCI at every opportunity I get about their crazy fees. When we first joined RCI (1982) it was not uncommon for me to spend 30 minutes or more with the RCI 'catalogue" and an RCI rep on the phone, trying to find somewhere for us to vacation. The rep would say what resorts had availability for our time slot, what page in the book it was on, then I'd have a look at the description, and either book it or ask what else. Now I do all the research online on the RCI website, I deposit our week or choose to exchange, or book a Last Call or Extra Vacation. I look to see what the resort has to offer, dates available and size of units available. I then book it on my own with a credit card, apply for a Guest Certificate if needed, and print out the reservation. It is very very rare that I need to involve (call or online chat) a rep at all, and when I do it is usually because their website is acting up. I think the exchange rates are ridiculous for the amount of work or time involved on RCI's part. I think if they are going to charge those high fees we all need to go back to calling the reps to do all the work for us.
When we first joined RCI it was more like a club for timeshare owners to exchange their week (no points back then) with another member to see what other resorts or other parts of the country were like. Now it is just a huge money grab and profit maker for RCI with no regard for its members. As @rickandcindy23 says, RCI keeps increasing the fees but never make any improvements to their website. The last changes were not good IMHO, I don't like they way it shows availability in the points side by having me input a date - no, just go back to showing me a calendar with all the check-in dates available (even it does come up in Chinese once in a while) and let me choose which date to look at.


~Diane

Diane. I couldn’t agree with you more. In my opinion, I think this whole timeshare system seems to think that “owners” are over a barrel. Hey, you signed a contract so you pay whatever we tell you to pay. MFs are crazy? Pay! You agreed! Wanna exchange? Sure, it’s going to cost you. RCI has most of the exchange business so you are gonna pay. I’m sure you have seen the long list of fees. If not, they are here:

Points Member Fees U.S.

RCI Help

www.rci.com

Have your points in the system too long..pay! If you want to keep them. Every transaction. pay. I really wonder what their true costs are? The profit margin has to be unbelievable.

In my opinion, people are going to just stop paying Because they had enough. They will want out. It’s very sad as you pointed out rightly the RCI system was for owners and charged/offered fair help. Now is a different story.

Just as a last aside. RCI was the worst one to get rid of. For years, they hammered me with dues requests when I had no timeshares. It was like I was under collections. Boy, am I glad to be free of them. I will just shop around and book a good deal on where I want to go.

Diane, you have a right to rant!

 

[Carolinian]

I am glad that I had many years to enjoy the old RCI before the current owners ruined it. It was great while it lasted, but I don't have any use for what RCI has now become. I am glad to have bailed out when we did.

 

[youppi]

The last changes were not good IMHO, I don't like they way it shows availability in the points side by having me input a date - no, just go back to showing me a calendar with all the check-in dates available (even it does come up in Chinese once in a while) and let me choose which date to look at.


~Diane

May be I don't understand what you are talking about but when you select a resort to see availability, it starts by default to 'Type of Unit' but if you click on 'Date Available', you will get the full listing of check-ins available for that resort. So, no need to enter a date.

The above listing is part of what I got from the following search with all those filters after I clicked on 'Available Unit'

Note: When you click on 'Available Unit', you get this view by default where you need to enter a date but like I said above, just click on 'Date Available' and change the 'Duration' if you want something other than 7 Nights:

 

[escanoe]

This is the way.

But IMHO it is much harder than the old way. Especially on a points account. You used to could see every available check in date without playing a game of battleship with the inventory server.

May be I don't understand what you are talking about but when you select a resort to see availability, it starts by default to 'Type of Unit' but if you click on 'Date Available', you will get the full listing of check-ins available for that resort. So, no need to enter a date.
View attachment 84032

The above listing is part of what I got from the following search with all those filters after I clicked on 'Available Unit'
View attachment 84034

Note: When you click on 'Available Unit', you get this view by default where you need to enter a date but like I said above, just click on 'Date Available' and change the 'Duration' if you want something other than 7 Nights:
View attachment 84036

 

[moonstone]

May be I don't understand what you are talking about but when you select a resort to see availability, it starts by default to 'Type of Unit' but if you click on 'Date Available', you will get the full listing of check-ins available for that resort. So, no need to enter a date.
View attachment 84032

The above listing is part of what I got from the following search with all those filters after I clicked on 'Available Unit'
View attachment 84034

Note: When you click on 'Available Unit', you get this view by default where you need to enter a date but like I said above, just click on 'Date Available' and change the 'Duration' if you want something other than 7 Nights:
View attachment 84036

Yes, as @escanoe said before the latest changes when searching in my points account I could choose a region &/or city, the size of unit I wanted and length of stay (less than 7 nights, 7 nights or +7 nights - I almost always choose +7) then I could click on a month and a little calendar would pop up with all available dates shaded over. It was easy to see if the resort had only weekend check-ins or weekday as well -which often meant that I could book a longer than 7 night stay. I could check off my desired check-in date and then the check-out date. Now I see the duration box, I did not see that when I was last searching right after the new changes took effect. I will use that next time, thanks!

~Diane

 

[Delpi62]

Except for the fact that a lot of people want to go to a lot of different places, but they don't want to own and pay annual MFS at each one of those places and visit all of them each and every year. Hence the existence of exchange companies to begin with.

Are there any exchange companies that are better than RCI or II? I really am frustrated with RCI.

 

[VacationForever]

Are there any exchange companies that are better than RCI or II? I really am frustrated with RCI.

II is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than RCI. I was with RCI from 1997 until 2007. I moved to II starting from 2007 and wondered why the world I had stayed with RCI in the first place as my resort trades in both.

 

[bnoble]

any exchange companies that are better than RCI or II?

It depends on what you mean by better.

There are certainly some that are less expensive. However, they also tend to have less inventory. Different systems treat "like for like" differently, and that can be to your advantage or it might not be depending on what, specifically, you own.

I was pretty happy with GPX back when I owned a GPR-managed resort, but that's not available to folks who don't own such a resort.

 

[rickandcindy23]

II is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than RCI. I was with RCI from 1997 until 2007. I moved to II starting from 2007 and wondered why the world I had stayed with RCI in the first place as my resort trades in both.

Agree wholeheartedly. You said it well.

 

[klpca]

It depends on what you mean by better.

There are certainly some that are less expensive. However, they also tend to have less inventory. Different systems treat "like for like" differently, and that can be to your advantage or it might not be depending on what, specifically, you own.

I was pretty happy with GPX back when I owned a GPR-managed resort, but that's not available to folks who don't own such a resort.

GPX is my current favorite. The resort fees are annoying but at least you get something in return at most resorts (beach equipment, bikes etc). II works well for us too. RCI is sooo expensive and you really have to hunt for a good trade. But some resorts are RCI only (we use it for Tradewinds) so it serves a purpose sometimes.

 

[montygz]

Are there any exchange companies that are better than RCI or II? I really am frustrated with RCI.

RCI and II pretty much blanket the timesharing world and there are lots of great resorts in both.

Certainly, there are differences. RCI has the volume of resorts and I can get more weeks of vacations out of RCI for my maintenance fees.

Interval has more upscale resorts, but I would have to own more timeshares and pay more maintenance fees to get access to more exchange weeks.

Why are you frustrated with RCI?

 

[Sloane S]

I received a flyer insert in my maintenance fee bill with a promo for membership. I'm not sure if it will work for existing members to extend, but discover.rci.com/RCI39 for $39 for a year, valid through 12/31/23.

 

[Terry D]

I received a flyer insert in my maintenance fee bill with a promo code for membership. I'm not sure if it will work for existing members to extend, but discover.rci.com/RCI39 for $39 per year, valid through 12/31/23.

Thanks. I was in my RCI account and went through the steps to purchase a one year renewal, but did not see where to add the promo code. Any ideas where you input the promo code on the RCI website?

 

[Sloane S]

Sorry, no. The link takes you to a signup page. I guess you could try calling.

 

[dioxide45]

Sorry, no. The link takes you to a signup page. I guess you could try calling.

Or try copy and pasting the link into a browser.