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RCI's relationship with Cendant (travel agency?)

Carolyn

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I had some RCI Points to use so booked airfare thru the RCI Points Partners Program. When I was talking to the agent I asked who they were and was told "Cendant". I needed a specific Delta flight due to the other one booked was thru my Delta FF miles. I was actually charged about $120 MORE for the ticket than if I had bought online DIRECTLY from Delta (not including the $49 "transaction fee"). All the agent could say was this is the price he was showing. This just doesn't seem right...any ideas??
 

Tia

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Seems that I have read before it's more expensive to use your points for air. You added another middleman when you went the route you did is my thought.




I had some RCI Points to use so booked airfare thru the RCI Points Partners Program. When I was talking to the agent I asked who they were and was told "Cendant". I needed a specific Delta flight due to the other one booked was thru my Delta FF miles. I was actually charged about $120 MORE for the ticket than if I had bought online DIRECTLY from Delta (not including the $49 "transaction fee"). All the agent could say was this is the price he was showing. This just doesn't seem right...any ideas??
 

Carolyn

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I thought they were both part of the same parent company.
 

Tia

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What I meant before was the ticket directly from Delta would have been less but by going through RCI , the middleman, it cost more. Or maybe all the less expensive seats were gone by the time RCI booked your second ticket?

Cendant was/is? the parent company of RCI, but Cendant broke up into several parts awhile back. I'm not sure anymore which parts went where.
 

"Roger"

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Cendent was broken up into four parts. "Group RCI" is now part of Wyndham Worldwide. The travel services were put into one of the other four parts. (That part might still be named Cendent.) That does not mean, however, that "Group RCI" could not use one of these travel services for making its bookings. I presume from the OP's original message that this is what they are doing.

As far as costs, the current arrangement is that you use points to get cash discounts from whatever airfare you choose. I have not tried using this through RCI, but presume that this is the same as using the accumulated points from my credit card. I call the credit card agency that arranges airfares, tell them what I want to book, and they give me a cash discount that my points allow me to take.

There should be no reason for the ticket to cost more than what you could arrange yourself. What you should do is pick out the flight that you want before calling RCI. Tell them what flight numbers you want and what price you see. If they say that they cannot get that price, tell them no thanks. (It is not impossible that they cannot. The way airfares bounce around these days, the price might have changed before you call. Also, they might have chosen a different flight from the one that you are looking at. That is why it is important to have chosen the exact flight before calling.)

Good luck.
 

Carolyn

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There should be no reason for the ticket to cost more than what you could arrange yourself. What you should do is pick out the flight that you want before calling RCI. Tell them what flight numbers you want and what price you see. If they say that they cannot get that price, tell them no thanks. (It is not impossible that they cannot. The way airfares bounce around these days, the price might have changed before you call. Also, they might have chosen a different flight from the one that you are looking at. That is why it is important to have chosen the exact flight before calling.)

Good luck.


I did have the exact flight and knew the exact amount Delta was charging for it on their website. It is my understanding that many travel agencies actually get reduced prices on air fare IN ADDITION to making a commission when booking it IN ADDITION TO MY $49 "TRANSACTION FEE. Just doesn't seem right to me. :(
 

jbcoug

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Everyone is assuming that RCI is trying to make reservations as cheaply as possible. That's not necessarily the case. What they see as a huge favor to you is not getting you a great deal on travel, it is giving you something for your points. What they give you doesn't have to be true value, or even fair value. I mean what would be in it for them, after all. They just say if you have points you don't know what to do with, we will give you something to make you feel better and it will make money for them. Don't think for a minute that this "service" is there for only your benefit.

John
 
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