RCI just announced extension of COVID cancellation policy to Sept 6

[tschwa2]

Travel/Cancel Information
RCI is committed to providing you flexibility at this uncertain time. You may cancel Points and Weeks reservations for travel through August 16, 2020 and receive 100% of your Points or Trading Power back for a future reservation. A significant amount of resorts in North America plan to be in operation by August 16, 2020 and they look forward to welcoming you back on vacation. Cancellation flexibility may be available in the future for dates beyond August 16, 2020 specific to individual properties that remain closed.

• When cancelling a reservation for travel through August 16, 2020 no exchange fee will be required if you rebook your cancelled vacation by December 31, 2020 for future travel. Please contact a Vacation Guide via Phone or Chat to process your request.
• If you have Trading Power or Points expiring and prefer more time to plan or travel, speak to one of our Vacation Guides for additional options.

If you would like to cancel and rebook call 1-800-338-7777 (RCI Weeks), 1-877-968-7476 (RCI Points)- Monday-Friday 8AM-8PM and Saturday 8AM-5PM, chat with us on RCI.com or complete the cancellation form

 

[moonstone]

I am wondering what RCI will do if the resort we booked is fully open but we, as Canadians, are not allowed to cross the border to get to the resort. Hopefully the same cancellation policy will apply.

~Diane

 

[tschwa2]

I am wondering what RCI will do if the resort we booked is fully open but we, as Canadians, are not allowed to cross the border to get to the resort. Hopefully the same cancellation policy will apply.

~Diane

If it is within those dates they will cancel even if the resort is up and running. If it falls after those dates you need to see if they extend the policy or will make an exception.

 

[jbiza]

Good information to know .

Particularly with the ongoing changes of Covid19 hotspot States that require quarantine when coming from certain other States,
&, the airlines reduced schedules to various locations.

 

[buzglyd]

Interesting that Interval hasn't updated its policy since May.

 

[DannyTS]

I am wondering what RCI will do if the resort we booked is fully open but we, as Canadians, are not allowed to cross the border to get to the resort. Hopefully the same cancellation policy will apply.

~Diane

Probably we will have to wait for an extension of this policy to cancel anything beyond August 16th. I have a short stay mid-September that I will have to cancel since, even if the border opens, there will likely still be a 14 day quarantine upon return, not worth it for us for 3 days in VT.

 

[Cyberc]

If it is within those dates they will cancel even if the resort is up and running. If it falls after those dates you need to see if they extend the policy or will make an exception.

are you sure about that?

I mean if the resort is open there is no point in auto canceling the reservation. If the resort is closed then it makes perfectly sense.

 

[Linda74]

I also have several hundred dollars paid in fees for a Puerto Vallarta exchange. Those fees were not refunded. What happens to that money?

 

[Cyberc]

I also have several hundred dollars paid in fees for a Puerto Vallarta exchange. Those fees were not refunded. What happens to that money?

You have until 12.31.2020 to book a new exchange. The new exchange can be for any time before or after 12.31.2020

 

[tschwa2]

are you sure about that?

I mean if the resort is open there is no point in auto canceling the reservation. If the resort is closed then it makes perfectly sense.

They will allow you to cancel (sorry not that they will automatically cancel without your direction) even if the resort is open and operating if it is within those dates.

 

[magjrl]

I am wondering what RCI will do if the resort we booked is fully open but we, as Canadians, are not allowed to cross the border to get to the resort. Hopefully the same cancellation policy will apply.

~Diane

Hi. We are Canadians too in Calgary. RCI has been wonderful to us. We booked Fairmont in BC a week ago then decided we didn’t want to stay there so bought the points protection then cancelled , all this in a week. Just on a whim I called Platinum, they gave us a voucher for the booking fee and reimbursed my credit card for the points protection. Usually you have to buy the points protection within 24 hours of booking, now you can buy it up to the day of check in. But you are asking about your USA resort. It happened to us last March. We had to cancel and they gave us a credit on file for our booking fees and for the cost of the points protection. It’s really worth it to join Platinum if you haven’t already. They answer the phones immediately and you get better service in all ways. They really go out of their way to help you even in normal times.

 

[magjrl]

after our March cancel they said June 30. I called mid June , said borders still closed, they said no problem, we’ll advance it to Sept 30, of course we aren’t travelling anywhere in Canada in the cold, so we booked Fairmont. Discovered they are gouging with added fees, Cancelled, Platinum advanced it to Dec 30. Actually the agent told us our credit vouchers will never disappear, they will stay on file forever until we use them. We have now booked Lethbridge for August. The credit vouchers were piling up, we figured to use some up this summer. Lethbridge isn’t a favourite place of ours but we are so limited in Western Canada. At the best of times there’s nothing available ever in the summer, now with the pandemic, all the few resorts we have in the first place are really scarce. Fairmont and Lethbridge had some availability mainly because these two resorts have outrageous fees but what can we do. They have us over a barrel. We are watching every day. There are several resorts in Whistler, good luck there, we did find a week two summers ago but tough now. The Okanagan / Shuswap has two or 3 places, I’ve never seen anything available there in the last 8 summers. Sometimes we will see something in Quebec, we certainly not driving across Canada. And you guys in Ontario, have you in your life ever seen something available in the Collingwood area, I don’t think so. Anyways not to worry about RCI, they are bending over backwards to help us.

 

[magjrl]

I also have several hundred dollars paid in fees for a Puerto Vallarta exchange. Those fees were not refunded. What happens to that money?

RCI gives you a credit voucher on your file. Check with them. I hope you belong to Platinum. Everything has been wonderful with Platinum, really glad we paid the extra to join.

 

[silentg]

I agree,

 

[Cyberc]

after our March cancel they said June 30. I called mid June , said borders still closed, they said no problem, we’ll advance it to Sept 30, of course we aren’t travelling anywhere in Canada in the cold, so we booked Fairmont. Discovered they are gouging with added fees, Cancelled, Platinum advanced it to Dec 30. Actually the agent told us our credit vouchers will never disappear, they will stay on file forever until we use them. We have now booked Lethbridge for August. The credit vouchers were piling up, we figured to use some up this summer. Lethbridge isn’t a favourite place of ours but we are so limited in Western Canada. At the best of times there’s nothing available ever in the summer, now with the pandemic, all the few resorts we have in the first place are really scarce. Fairmont and Lethbridge had some availability mainly because these two resorts have outrageous fees but what can we do. They have us over a barrel. We are watching every day. There are several resorts in Whistler, good luck there, we did find a week two summers ago but tough now. The Okanagan / Shuswap has two or 3 places, I’ve never seen anything available there in the last 8 summers. Sometimes we will see something in Quebec, we certainly not driving across Canada. And you guys in Ontario, have you in your life ever seen something available in the Collingwood area, I don’t think so. Anyways not to worry about RCI, they are bending over backwards to help us.

The credit voucher RCI have given you is only good until 12.31.2020 which means you need to book something before that date but the vacation can be for anytime also after 12.31.2020.

platinum members are not getting any special breaks This is for all members.

 

[nerodog]

I am wondering what RCI will do if the resort we booked is fully open but we, as Canadians, are not allowed to cross the border to get to the resort. Hopefully the same cancellation policy will apply.

~Diane

I would hope some type of waiver system will be put in place depending on your homebase and ability to travel.

 

[Cyberc]

I would hope some type of waiver system will be put in place depending on your homebase and ability to travel.

This is actually a good idea. So for Europeans which can go to the US they will get points back and also the other way around. But US citizens which can travel to US locations don’t need to be reimbursed as they can travel unless they are impacted by the 14 Days quarantine After or before travel.

 

[moonstone]

And you guys in Ontario, have you in your life ever seen something available in the Collingwood area, I don’t think so.

Yes, I have seen Collingwood many times, on Last Calls, Extra Vacations and on Exchanges but since we live 45 mins away we aren't interested in staying there. If you are relying on seeing something on the RCI website then you probably wont find much if anything. If your travel dates are far enough out you should start an ongoing search as their computers match those requests before the units get put onto the website for you to see.

~Diane

 

[moonstone]

I would hope some type of waiver system will be put in place depending on your homebase and ability to travel.

Yes, I hope so too. Our home (weeks) resort is in St Augustine FL and last year we booked our 2020 week for the beginning of November but I doubt we will be going. I have also used our RCI Points to book a week ahead of that stay, as well as a shorter (closer to home) trip at the end of Sept which I doubt we will be taking as well. Our home resort week can be space banked but banking close to the check-in date wont give us as much TPUs as if we had banked it when we booked it a year ago. Our Points expire next May 31st and if we go ahead with our usual winter in Belize we wont have much time to use the points before they expire. I know that is not RCI's fault but it would be nice if they granted an extension, even 6 months, to use up the remaining points.

~Diane

 

[Luanne]

I also have several hundred dollars paid in fees for a Puerto Vallarta exchange. Those fees were not refunded. What happens to that money?

I assume these are exchange fees? Did you use the special link RCI has for COVID cancellations? Or call to cancel? Or did you just cancel online the way you would regularly? I learned the hard way when I cancelled an exchange that I needed to call, or use the special link. I cancelled online and there was no credit showing on my account (they aren't giving a refund). I was able to get it corrected by calling and talking to someone.

 

[TheHolleys87]

I assume these are exchange fees? Did you use the special link RCI has for COVID cancellations? Or call to cancel? Or did you just cancel online the way you would regularly? I learned the hard way when I cancelled an exchange that I needed to call, or use the special link. I cancelled online and there was no credit showing on my account (they aren't giving a refund). I was able to get it corrected by calling and talking to someone.

I have recently used the online Chat feature to cancel a reservation in Hawaii and several weeks later to book something near home with the exchange fee credit. I’ve also used it for other transactions, and I love being able to save or print a copy of the entire Chat for my records.

 

[Luanne]

I have recently used the online Chat feature to cancel a reservation in Hawaii and several weeks later to book something near home with the exchange fee credit. I’ve also used it for other transactions, and I love being able to save or print a copy of the entire Chat for my records.

I like Chat functions as well. But in my case I called, got right in, and had my problem taken care of.

 

[Cyberc]

Wondering if RCI will extend the temporarily cancellation policy to include dates in September too?

 

[pharmacistking]

Wondering if RCI will extend the temporarily cancellation policy to include dates in September too?

If the border between Canada and the US remains closed I believe they will.

 

[DannyTS]

Because nothing changed for the better since they last announced the extension to August 16th, I do not see why they would not do it again.