Royal Holiday Club

[derb]

Seems to me I have heard some good things about this club. I have 11 timeshares and need one more(And thats it). RHC seems to add a lot of flexibility. What are the owners thoughts and how many points should I look to buy.

 

[Hoc]

Depending on what you are trying to do, you should not consider getting fewer than 25,000 annual points. That will get you into many of their top resorts every other year. You can also buy smaller interests and combine up to 3 of them into one membership.

BUT regardless of what you might have heard, RHC is not for everyone. The resorts are great, but they are probably the most administratively screwed up organization I have ever encountered. You will occasionally have to pay your annual fees twice, regardless of what documentation you might have. When you talk to their counselors on the phone, even if you get one who speaks English well, they often will say whatever they need to in order to get you off the phone as quickly as possible. And you can never rely on what they tell you, because the next rep will tell you something exactly opposite.

That said, I have used RHC to book directly -- or trade into -- many great places. This summer, I am using my membership to go to the Hotel Napoleon, just steps from the Arc de Triomphe. Last year, I used to to go to Madrid over spring break. The year before I went to New York City in May, and the year before that, I went both to New York in Autumn and Madrid in spring. One year, I traded it via RCI for Amsterdam.

So, expect headaches and if you are the type of person whose blood pressure goes up when faced with lies and incompetence from your timeshare organization, you need to pass on RHC. But if you are fairly laid back, willing to take the administrative difficulties in stride, then RHC will get you to some amazing places.

 

[eal]

Let me put in a plug for a points-based Canadian company Geoholiday. There is an ebay auction for 15,000 points right now that would get you into almost all of the same resorts as Royal carries in their portfolio EOY. They have about 65 resorts with lots in Europe. And they are a very well-managed company.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260217922521&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

 

[Hoc]

There is an ebay auction for 15,000 points right now that would get you into almost all of the same resorts as Royal carries in their portfolio EOY.

Sounds interesting, but their site does not say what size unit you could get where for 15,000 points. Also, I notice that they only have 1 resort in New York, one in Paris, none in Rome, none in Vail, none in Morocco, or some of the other places you can go with RHC. But, assuming that you are interested in going with them for London, Paris, Madrid or New York, how many annual points are generally needed for those resorts?

 

[eal]

30,000 points would get you almost anywhere with Geoholiday

 

[mav]

Everything HOC said is dead on! RCI and II are fabulous to work with after RHC.

 

[Blondie]

Definitely shoot for one points memberhip on RHC, likely 25,000 - 30,000 should do it. To combine several smaller contracts costs around $500 from what their reps are telling me these days. Bummer. But, I love the program and the resorts they offer. They are NOT good with record keeping and will often tell you that you owe them $. Keep your receipts and have a good closing co. do the closing or be prepared for major headaches.

 

[Hoc]

They are NOT good with record keeping and will often tell you that you owe them $. Keep your receipts and have a good closing co. do the closing or be prepared for major headaches.

And just to re-iterate, even if you have kept your receipts that is no guarantee that you will not have to pay them twice. I had a situation where I sent them my receipts for two years, and then they just changed their story to say that the year before those two had not been paid, and that was the one I had to pay before I could use my interest.

 

[Hoc]

30,000 points would get you almost anywhere with Geoholiday

So, if 30,000 points will get you into a 2-br unit in New York, Paris, London or Madrid in late spring, then a 15,000-point package is in effect an every-other-year membership. What is the annual cost for a 15,000-point package? How difficult is it to book into those units on an annual basis?

 

[eal]

The ebay auction lists the mf's for 15K Geo points as $506

 

[DG001]

Did you get your money back?

Hi Hoc - just a follow up question - did you eventually get back your "double payment", or is it still with RHC?

I can be laid back about paying twice knowing it will be "sorted out", but if they keep it, then I would have a problem with that!

 

[nazclk]

RHC

Front page news in Timesharing Today

 

[Blondie]

Hoc- Im guessing the 15,000 points is in the $440 range. I have 50,000 and the maint fee is aorund $940 so the more points you have the cheaper the maint fee is. The cost is listed in the stickies on the points board. The article to which naz refers has to do with questionable practices regarding folks who turn over their interest in a timeshare to a "seller" who then lets them use that equity to buy an RHC points package. The timeshare they turn in to complete the buy apparently does not ever get sold or something. This is certainly a company that sells by saying anything- much like most other timeshare sales people. If you want it, buy it resale and it will be worth a few headaches. You can book 3, 4, 7 days stays and we go to NYC often so it works for me. However, you cannot select the days, etc. as they are packaged with specific check in days. They have certain check in days for the 3 day stay, certain ones for the 4day stays, etc.

 

[Hoc]

Hi Hoc - just a follow up question - did you eventually get back your "double payment", or is it still with RHC?

No, they got two payments. Never got sorted out. I just factor it into the cost of owning this timeshare, and I figure that it still comes out pretty good in the value department.

 

[mamiecarter]

Dae Can Get Royal Holiday Resorts On Request

dial an Exchange can get RHC resorts on request. Can they get you the NYC and Europe high demand weeks? Probably not but worth asking. DAE is limited but very nice to work with.