Travel Clubs

[dioxide45]

I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole researching a future video about travel clubs and if they are a viable replacement for timeshare ownership. I see several questions on the forum about buying a small RCI points deed or even a triennial deeded timeshare to get access to RCI Last Call and Extra Vacations. While this is an option, it does require one to take on the commitment of ownership. I've found several options for Travel Clubs that seem to mostly have RCI inventory and are all run by companies affiliated with Panorama Travel Solutions, LLC who appears to be part of Travel & Leisure.

It seems that Panorama Travel Solutions, LLC also offers business to business (B2B) solutions that allow corporations to create their own travel clubs for either members of an organization, employees of a company or some other affiliation. I've noticed that you can sometimes sign up if you belong to certain credit unions, brokerage firms or other membership programs.

Here is what I've found so far. These all seem to link to the same Terms & Conditions, so they are all related through Panorama Travel Solutions, LLC. The main issue I have is reading the Terms & Conditions, they are nearly 30,000 words. That's almost half of the average novel.

• Armed Forces Vacation Club - Free membership for all current, veterans, and retired members of the United States military; including Gold Star families and Civilian employees of the DoD and the immediate families of all the above.
• Heroes Vacation Club - Available to current and former medical professionals, police officers, firefighters, teachers, government employees, and their spouses.
• Tripbeat - Found this as available to members of Georgia Farm Bureau. There may be other membership programs that offer this as a benefit.
• All Resort Store - Found this through AARP. Looks to be available for free to sign up as an AARP member. I might test this one out.

Are there any other programs out there that you may know of? What about programs that offer Interval International inventory vs RCI that all the above seem to offer?

 

[claraj]

I wonder if my sister in law qualifies for Heroes Vacation Club because she's a physical therapist at a special needs school.

 

[dioxide45]

I wonder if my sister in law qualifies for Heroes Vacation Club because she's a physical therapist at a special needs school.

I don't see why not. Someone we know is a guidance counselor and gets a teachers discount with a certain cruise line. I believe these travel clubs mostly go off of the honor/karma system. The terms and conditions indicate that they can ask for proof that you qualify but when I signed up for All Resort Store, I just had to pick AARP from the drop down.

 

[dioxide45]

It looks like members of the following affiliations can sign up for All Resort Store. Some of these may be based on employment.

• AARP
• Abenity
• Allied Business Network
• AMAC
• American Federation of Govt. Employees
• American Federation of Teachers
• American Seniors Association
• AT&T
• Best Benefits club
• The Employee Network Employees
• Entertainment Subscribers
• Hotels Etc.
• Lifecare
• LifeWorks US Inc.
• New York State United Teachers
• NYC Department of Edu. Employees
• Passport Unlimited
• PerkPlans Members
• Perks Card
• Savify
• Smart Business Savings
• Sparkfly
• United Federation of Teachers
• Venngo Members
• You Decide

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Is that “Heroes Vacation Club” worth it? Website looks pretty bare, but I would qualify so you’ve piqued my curiosity. I guess I’ll wait for the video!

 

[dioxide45]

Is that “Heroes Vacation Club” worth it? Website looks pretty bare, but I would qualify so you’ve piqued my curiosity. I guess I’ll wait for the video!

If there is no cost, I don't think it hurts to just sign up. I joined All Resort Store and my quick cursory check seems to indicate that the inventory and prices for the one resort I checked matches RCI Extra Vacations. Though I don't see the Last Call rates for dates that are available as Last Call.

 

[claraj]

@dioxide45 My sister in law confirmed that you don't need proof to sign up for Heroes Vacation Club. I took a look and they seem to have more options than All Resorts but I didn't see anything I would consider aside from Wyndham properties in Pompano Beach. However, I've seen so many stories about Wyndham overbooking and canceling reservations that I hesitate to book anything there.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

If there is no cost, I don't think it hurts to just sign up. I joined All Resort Store and my quick cursory check seems to indicate that the inventory and prices for the one resort I checked matches RCI Extra Vacations. Though I don't see the Last Call rates for dates that are available as Last Call.

Kind of eliminates one of the selling points for buying a timeshare to “get access to RCI,” doesn’t it?

 

[dioxide45]

Kind of eliminates one of the selling points for buying a timeshare to “get access to RCI,” doesn’t it?

If all you're looking for is Extra Vacations access, then one of these clubs is probably a good idea.

 

[TUGBrian]

dont actually need to keep the timeshare ownership to retain access to RCI and last calls etc. obviously you dont have anything to deposit anymore, but you wouldnt have that either with a vacation club!

if there is no cost to some of these vacation clubs....why do they exist? or how do they remain operational?

 

[dioxide45]

dont actually need to keep the timeshare ownership to retain access to RCI and last calls etc. obviously you dont have anything to deposit anymore, but you wouldnt have that either with a vacation club!

if there is no cost to some of these vacation clubs....why do they exist? or how do they remain operational?

I don't know if the operators of the travel club earn a commission from RCI or perhaps they pay RCI a fee to maintain the club for use by their members. They exist mainly so RCI has additional outlets to rent excess inventory.

 

[DancingWaters]

Which cruise line gives teachers discount? I’m ready to book another cruise

 

[dioxide45]

Which cruise line gives teachers discount? I’m ready to book another cruise

Norwegian. I recall them getting a small discount and $50 OBC. It may vary depending on the cruise and capacity. You need to contact them and submit information so it can be verified and tied to your Latitudes number.

 

[boyblue]

Norwegian. I recall them getting a small discount and $50 OBC. It may vary depending on the cruise and capacity. You need to contact them and submit information so it can be verified and tied to your Latitudes number.

I feel the critical calculation here is how does the cost of owning plus trade fee, compare to Last Call and the vacation clubs. The amount of the savings (if there are any) would be all the value left in TS in terms of flexibility. Other than that, it just the owning vs renting at a specific resort.