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Has any one used the new 2008 program? I found the point discount conversion chart from my point catalog insert. What I really want to find out is if they charge inflated ticket price? What is the transaction fee?
Transaction fee is $49. I've never used the Points for airfare. IMHO it is not the best use of the points unless your points are expiring or you are not planning on using them to book a TS.
Prior to calling RCI for airfare, search with travelocity, kayak, etc to get a ball-park price. In any case, if the points are expiring, even $200 off a "slightly" inflated price would be worth it.
I have yet to use my points under the new system. My understanding is that if your flight costs $375.00 you would be charged 30,000 points + $75 + $49or 35,000 points + $25 + $49 or I think 10,000 points = $100 towards your airfare, you pay the difference plus the conversion fee. It all depends on your flight and current costs, their prices I believe are close to what you will find online but always have your on line flight information and pricing handy when speaking with the RCI guide to gauge if its worth it or not. I am not an expert in this new system but this is what I gathered from my initial call to RCI when I considered purchasing a ticket, I opted to wait and hope prices come down this fall.
That's a great question! I assume it would be one transaction for x number of tickets with one total price and therefore one transaction fee. BUT we are talking about RCI here. Best to call them and get all the specifics.
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It depends on how much you are paying for your points, doesn't it. If you are paying over 1 cent per point for maintenance fees each point, you aren't going to be happy with the cost of the airfares through RCI.
So far I've used points for airfare for several transactions. The $49 transaction fee is per TICKET. So, I've found the best use to be for expensive tickets since it burns through the points with less in transaction fees. Before calling RCI points, I research the ticket I want. In 90% of cases, they have charged me the price per ticket that the airline website does. In one of my cases, I wanted a specific first class flight msp-mco. The price that they quoted me was 50% more than the airline price. Other flights the same day were the same as the airline price.
Other than that instance, I have had no problem getting the exact flight I want, usually 4 tickets per flght, at the airline published rate plus the $49 transaction fee. I have quite a few float weeks from Smugglers that I converted to points recently. My original purchase was for the fixed weeks in the package and the floats are pretty much thrown in. The floats in previous years have gone unused, so I'm a pretty happy camper to be able to use the points for the floats for the airfare.
I believe that they have amended the program recently so that if if the ticket you want costs say $425, they will require you to get the biggest discount ($400 or 45000 points), and paying the $25 difference, instead of just getting a $300 discount (using 35000 points) and paying a $125 difference. I guess it's easier for their accounting system.
Today, I used RCI points for a ticket to the Grand Cayman Island. I wanted specific flights in order to join my family on this trip. The American Airlines website quoted a price of $830 for the ticket. RCI said the price that came up for the identical routing was $890. I questioned the difference and was told that this is the rate that AA is giving RCI in order to do the points transaction. I had to use 90000 RCI points which got me $800 off the fare and then pay the $49 transaction fee -- a total cost to me of $139 (plus the 90000 points). It still was worth it for me to do this. Tim
Tim, Thanks a lot for a real life example. Here is my calculation of your points value, (830-139)/90000=.77 cents per point. I think it is a good option to burn points. I did not win the ebay auction yesterday though. I was considering this option for the 08 week if I win. I already have 08 vacations planned and I doubt the trading power would be good if I deposit now. It is a good exercise to go through. It will definitely help my decision next time.
I called RCI last week and was told the $49 transaction fee is per ticket. For expense airfare I guess it could be OK to absorb the $49 into the cost, but I was looking at two tickets with a total cost of around $400 and the extra $98 killed that option for us.
I just read above this had already been answered. Sorry, but at least this is a confirmation of RCI's policy.
I believe that they have amended the program recently so that if if the ticket you want costs say $425, they will require you to get the biggest discount ($400 or 45000 points), and paying the $25 difference, instead of just getting a $300 discount (using 35000 points) and paying a $125 difference. I guess it's easier for their accounting system.
Based on this information, if I only had 25,000 points I would not be able to use them to buy a ticket that costs over $300. This makes it a bit more difficult to use up the points.
Based on this information, if I only had 25,000 points I would not be able to use them to buy a ticket that costs over $300. This makes it a bit more difficult to use up the points.
I called RCI last week and was told the $49 transaction fee is per ticket. For expense airfare I guess it could be OK to absorb the $49 into the cost, but I was looking at two tickets with a total cost of around $400 and the extra $98 killed that option for us.
I just read above this had already been answered. Sorry, but at least this is a confirmation of RCI's policy.
Thanks for the confirmation. For your two tickets, do you have to convert the maximum point value for each ticket or both? For example, if each ticket is $279, can you use 55,000 points for $500 or just 2x 25000 points for 2 x $200?
The $ value per points seems to be higher for larger points conversions.
I just checked RCI's website and found the minimum number of points you can redeem for airfare is 25,000. This will get you $200 off the cost of the fare. So if your airfare was $325, you would redeem your 25k points for $200 off the price leaving you with a cost of $125 plus the $49 transaction fee.
Hope this helps.
I just checked RCI's website and found the minimum number of points you can redeem for airfare is 25,000. This will get you $200 off the cost of the fare. So if your airfare was $325, you would redeem your 25k points for $200 off the price leaving you with a cost of $125 plus the $49 transaction fee.
Hope this helps.
I don't think you can do this anymore. I think RCI recently changed the program to state that you must use enough points to get to the nearest $100 value of your ticket. Thus, in the $325 airfare example, you must use 35000 RCI points for a $300 discount and then pay the difference of $25 plus the $49 transaction fee.
I don't think you can do this anymore. I think RCI recently changed the program to state that you must use enough points to get to the nearest $100 value of your ticket. Thus, in the $325 airfare example, you must use 35000 RCI points for a $300 discount and then pay the difference of $25 plus the $49 transaction fee.
As recently as 4/28/08 I was able to choose a couple of 55,000 RCI Point $500 disounts on tickets that were $624 each, instead of the $600 discount which translate into a slightly lower exchange rate.
55,000 for $500 = 0.9091 cents per point (BEST RATE)
70,000 for $600 = 0.8571 cents per point
Incrementally, I would have received only 0.6667 cents per point for the additional 15,000 points and $100 discount. So for the two tickets that would have been 30,000 additional points for $200.... I'd rather pay the $200, get the best conversion rate and keep the other points.
RCI could really really simplify this process if they would just offer a flat fee per point (say 1 cent per point for discounts) and let you use the exact amount of points to the nearest dollar.
After all they will charge you 2 cents per point if you need to rent points from them.
As recently as 4/28/08 I was able to choose a couple of 55,000 RCI Point $500 disounts on tickets that were $624 each, instead of the $600 discount which translate into a slightly lower exchange rate.
New RCI Policies went into effect in May 2008.
By not allowing the use of a lower point value, just means that more people will be "eating" their points.
Here's the relevant info contained in an Email message I received from RCI:
"RCI Points Partner Program Update: Effective May 6, 2008
Earlier this year, we rolled out a new value structure to the program to provide you with much more flexibility in the number of RCI Points you exchange and fewer limitations in how you choose to exchange them. However, due to various economic factors, including the rising cost of travel services, we regret that it is necessary for us to scale back on some of that added flexibility in order to continue to offer the RCI Points Partner Program. While the program will continue to remain more flexible and simple than it previously was, the following changes will go into effect on May 6th, 2008:
• Discounts levels will be assigned at the level closest to the cost of the item, without going over. (For example, say you want to purchase round-trip airfare from New York City to Aruba, valued at $340 USD. Under the new structure, you would exchange 35,000 RCI Points for $300 USD in savings on the ticket price.)
• In addition, a minimum of 25,000 RCI Points will be required to exchange for RCI Points Partner transactions.
Also, FYI -- you earn miles for the ticket you get from RCI. So, when you do the points transaction for a flight, give RCI your frequent flyer number for that airline and they will put it on the reservation.
Today, I used RCI points for a ticket to the Grand Cayman Island. I wanted specific flights in order to join my family on this trip. The American Airlines website quoted a price of $830 for the ticket. RCI said the price that came up for the identical routing was $890. I questioned the difference and was told that this is the rate that AA is giving RCI in order to do the points transaction. I had to use 90000 RCI points which got me $800 off the fare and then pay the $49 transaction fee -- a total cost to me of $139 (plus the 90000 points). It still was worth it for me to do this. Tim
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If you are paying over 1 cent per point for maintenance fees each point, you aren't going to be happy with the cost of the airfares through RCI.
