RCI Platinum, The Good, Bad & Ugly Any thoughts?

[webgriffins]

Looking for info on the RCI Platinum membership, Perks and Disadvantages? Also how does the pay back feature work with booking hotels with the RCI Savings Dollars, ($1 deposited into account for every $1 spent on RCI)? Thank You

 

[missyrcrews]

Platinum

We generally book several extra vacations a year. I like getting 10% off those. I like the one day advance notice of sales as well...I've often nabbed something on that day that wasn't there when the sale opened up to everyone else. I've not investigated the savings dollars...that's not really why I signed up, so didn't bother looking into them.

 

[tschwa2]

In general there looks like a max you can spend on a hotel depending on price. For example I have over $400 in savings dollars. I looked at a local hotel and even though I could use a rate that would be just under $100 booking direct with the hotel as a rewards member of that chain, even if I use the same rate code on RCI and starwood.com and using the max $31 savings dollars I would be saving about $8 over the direct booked rate. My guess is I would lose ability to earn points over that $8 for the stay.

I wouldn't expect to save more than $0-$50 per night using the saving dollars and the higher end only when staying at select high end hotels that probably have other ways to get equal savings.

 

[webgriffins]

Thank you for the info, as I guessed the real details from users is a bit different than RCI's take on the deal. I was told you could use the Savings Dollars to pay for the entire hotel room with only a $20 -$25 booking fee, even when I asked if there was a limit on how much Saving $$ can be applied I was told no you can pay for the whole thing...... %10 off extra vaca stays is good if you do many...Again Thank you, it is good to ask the real users for the real deal....

 

[BennyBoy00]

The price probably depends on the hotel, the area, and the demand. My experience the couple times I looked was that the RCI price was nearly the same as the expedia price. Then I could use a set amount of savings dollars to reduce the price anywhere from 10-30% below the expedia price. The exact number of dollars that could be used and percentage savings varied by hotel.

 

[skimble]

I have had RCI Platinum since it started, and my Dad has platinum too.
I loved the Restaurant.com deals. Those are gone.
I loved the Hyatt and other exchange opportunities into hotels. This is gone.
Other than that, I have benefited from a few return $ on guest certificates, but not enough to make up the fee for Platinum.
I don't rent through RCI, and I have seen no unit upgrades... and I've seen little evidence to make me believe this is worthwhile.
I'm holding out now to see if there are any positive changes coming down the pike, otherwise I'm out.

 

[tschwa2]

I thought restaurant.com was gone too or at least I had to use saving dollars to purchase them. They still seem to be available one in my weeks account and one in my points account available each month.

January --- Expired
February --- Expired
March --- Claim

 

[Miss Marty]

RCI Platinum


Platinum_Membership_Rules.pdf

https://img2.wynimg.com/static/docs/wow/en_US/Platinum_Membership_Rules.pdf

 

[LynnW]

I thought restaurant.com was gone too or at least I had to use saving dollars to purchase them. They still seem to be available one in my weeks account and one in my points account available each month.

January --- Expired
February --- Expired
March --- Claim

I just checked my account and it says the same thing. Strange since we were told it was discontinued

Lynn

 

[Steve NH]

Do the "Savings Dollars" apply to "products, services.. " that have real value, Things you would most likely spend money on and would see a real savings by using the "Savings Dollars" ?

Also the 10% Discount for rentals - is that an actual discount taken off at time of payment, or is that a 10% credit to your account.?

 

[tschwa2]

Again only a fairly small percentage of the cost can be used.

Here are a few examples again I have over $400 in saving dollars to spend.

Shark Rocket DeluxePro Upright
Market Price Savings Using Your Price
$199.00 $26.00 $173.00

Samsung 55" 4K UHDTV
$897.00 $97.00 $800.00

Apple iPad Mini 2 32GB WiFi with Retina Display
$349.00 $29.00 $320.00

Citizen Watch Silhouette Crystal Watch
$243.00 $70.00 $173.00

Fitbit One Wireless Sleep and Activity Tracker
$95.00 $32.00 $63.00

Other than some watches, jewelry and pocketbooks very few offerings.

 

[missyrcrews]

Do the "Savings Dollars" apply to "products, services.. " that have real value, Things you would most likely spend money on and would see a real savings by using the "Savings Dollars" ?

Also the 10% Discount for rentals - is that an actual discount taken off at time of payment, or is that a 10% credit to your account.?

It's a 10% discount at time of purchase. We usually do two or three extra vacations a year, so that adds up.

 

[MuranoJo]

I primarily joined for rebates of guest cert. and combine fees...unfortunately, those were taken away shortly after I'd paid for a 3-year membership.

Somewhere upstream I read of Hyatts/hotels no longer being available in Special Inventory and that was news to me.