TUG members who are also Redweek members

[amanven]

I am hoping to connect with members on this forum who might also be Redweek members and who may have been approached with their rewards program sales pitch. Has anyone here been contacted by them?

 

[slip]

I am a member but have not been contacted by them.

 

[billymach4]

I am hoping to connect with members on this forum who might also be Redweek members and who may have been approached with their rewards program sales pitch. Has anyone here been contacted by them?

I am a RW member. I do believe they contacted me. Shut them down. Never looked back.

 

[The Colorado Kid]

I'm very active on RW but never heard of a rewards program...are you sure it is legit from Redweek? Maybe the program is just for people renting from timeshare owners, not the timeshare owners themselves?

 

[vpplayer]

I am a RW Member and received this “Coming Soon” message from them. No details, only a phone number.

 

[amanven]

They are contacting all Redweek members to see if they will sign up for their new "Rewards" program. It starts off okay but of course when I said I wanted to cut to the chase and find out how much it cost, it began to sound more like a timeshare presentation..."for a one time sign up fee"...it may have it;s merits but despite all the inducements to sign up right at that time I declined and told them I had to think about it. I was just wondering if any members here had received one of those calls yet.

I'm very active on RW but never heard of a rewards program...are you sure it is legit from Redweek? Maybe the program is just for people renting from timeshare owners, not the timeshare owners themselves?

You could be right about that as I used my redweek membership to rent a timeshare for my daughter. They knew about that rental although they didn't seem to care when I told them I also own a timeshare. They may be contacting redweek renters first. I just finished looking through their resort list. Nothing really jumped out at me that I would be interested in for a buy in that would cost close to $3000 CAD so I'm gonna take a hard pass on it when they call me back.

 

[amanven]

I am a RW Member and received this “Coming Soon” message from them. No details, only a phone number.

Yes I saw that message and for the last 3 or 4 days they have been trying to reach me by phone but always called when I was working. They called me at 6:00 EST today when I was home she told me they were 2 hours behind us so they must be based some where out in the mountain time zone. They work till 5:00 out there so the latest a call would come is 7:00pm on the east coast

 

[amanven]

I'm very active on RW but never heard of a rewards program...are you sure it is legit from Redweek? Maybe the program is just for people renting from timeshare owners, not the timeshare owners themselves?

It's legit but like most developer timeshare presentations it comes with a hefty upfront cost. Their big playing card is offering the Vidanta's on Mexico's east and west coast at a "big" discount and a free Vidanta week for signing up but beyond the Vidanta's, I didn't see anything on their resort list to get excited about and their offering of Harbourside at Atlantis was more expensive after the discount than what I could rent a unit on Redweeks own rental postings. "Starting at $6,970" for a sleeps 4 unit and limited avaliability in 2023 ....seriously?

 

[jabberwocky]

I got an email from them, fortunately no calls so far. I don’t get the value proposition here. They should stick to what they are good at. This dilutes their brand and makes me not want to list units with them - they are effectively becoming a competitor.

 

[theo]

The new “pitch” by RedWeek is obviously and directly related to the acquisition of RedWeek by Arrivia, Inc. (a travel company of some sort) on September 1, 2022.
The “new“ RedWeek is a different animal from the “old“ RedWeek, with new ownership, some different priorities and perceptible changes in their business model.

Although a long time and active member of RedWeek, I have not yet been pitched for “Rewards”.
If / when that occurs, it will be a very brief “conversation” of about three seconds.

 

[TheHolleys87]

I’m a member and did receive an email, I think, but I ignored it. If they call from a number that’s not the one I have for them in my contacts list, the call will go to voice mail, and if they don’t leave a message I’ll never know it was them and won’t call back.

I agree that RedWeek is becoming more focused on their own lodging sales and less on TS owners. We have a couple of rental weeks listed with them, and I’m beginning to be sorry we did.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I think its for renters for targeted resorts that they now own or have some partnership with.

 

[jorcus]

I have not been contacted yet but If so I am tempted to email them at fraud@redweek.com. to see what happens. I kind of scanned the discussion boards over there but have not seen a thread about it just yet.

 

[easyrider]

I haven't been notified of any changes at Redweek other than my membership expiration dates.

Bill

 

[amanven]

I haven't been notified of any changes at Redweek other than my membership expiration dates.

Bill

Redweek really hasn't changed.....yet the parts of it that prompt me to renew my membership each year are the same. If that ever changes then it will be time to re-evaluate them. I think Arrivia's acquisition of Redweek as indicated by the previous poster was a way for Arriva to get access to the information of a very large pool of the travelling public and use that information to promote their sales pitch. To their credit, the rep called me back tonight as per a previous discussion we had. I came right to the point and told her that after looking over everything the program had to offer extensively it just wasn't the right fit for our travel needs and that I was not interested in signing up. She was gracious, asked me a couple questions about what I didn't like about it ( I dropped the Harborside price point bomb then) and she did not push the point and didn't rehash what we had already talked about. Our discussion was over in less than 5 minutes, it was polite at all times and neither one of us proceeded to waste the others time.

 

[amanven]

I think its for renters for targeted resorts that they now own or have some partnership with.

I think renters are their first target indeed. It is quite clear they are heavily associated with Vidanta but their other resort offerings appear to be similar to some of the lower level resorts in RCI. In areas with few timeshares (eg Jamaica). They really only have the lower level "boutique" resorts to offer. Popular ones are offered (eg WLM in Cancun) but at a price point that can be beaten easily just by renting.

 

[amanven]

I have not been contacted yet but If so I am tempted to email them at fraud@redweek.com. to see what happens. I kind of scanned the discussion boards over there but have not seen a thread about it just yet.

After listening through the whole schpeel, I don't believe it is fraud but I do believe it is just like buying a timeshare from a developer. You get drawn in with all the "rewards credits" "bonus features or points",free week at a Vidanta and a supposedly heavily discounted upfront buy in fee and then once you have had time to really look at what you have paid to get into, the buyers remorse may set in a bit. The other thing I don't like about the program is you have no guarantee the program won't fold in a few years and if you haven't really put it to extensive use in the early stages then you don't have much to show for your initial buy in fee. Only thing that it doesn't come with is a high yearly maintenance fee. But there is a yearly fee $29US/ year after the first year.

 

[amanven]

The new “pitch” by RedWeek is obviously and directly related to the acquisition of RedWeek by Arrivia, Inc. (a travel company of some sort) on September 1, 2022.
The “new“ RedWeek is now a very different animal from the “old“ RedWeek; new ownership, different priorities and perceptible changes in their business model.

Although active on RedWeek, I have not yet been pitched for “Rewards”.
If / when that occurs, it will be a brief “conversation” of about three seconds.

I assure you it won't be three seconds. If you are not interested be prepared to handle the situation the same way you would handle an "owners update" by countering everything they offer up to get you to have one.

 

[amanven]

I got an email from them, fortunately no calls so far. I don’t get the value proposition here. They should stick to what they are good at. This dilutes their brand and makes me not want to list units with them - they are effectively becoming a competitor.

Redweek will have its' place in the timeshare world as long as they don't go down the rabbit hole of this program. I still see value in Redweek. I do not see it with this rewards program.

 

[theo]

I assure you it won't be three seconds. If you are not interested be prepared to handle the situation the same way you would handle an "owners update" by countering everything they offer up to get you to have one.

It would not take me any longer than 3 seconds to say "Goodbye" and hang up the phone; I would not waste my time listening to a "Rewards" sales pitch.
After my "Goodbye", all that they would hear is the sound of a “click”, promptly followed by a dial tone, all occuring under 3 seconds from start to finish.

As it turns out, this is exactly the same strategy I employ regarding those “owner updates” to which you make reference. I've never attended one (and will never do so).
Wasted time is forever lost and irretrievable.

 

[dioxide45]

It sounds like these "vacation clubs" that simply offer leftover RCI weeks as well as contract through companies that sell travel services at "fake" discounts. You can usually find the same or similar deals all on your own.

 

[Tank]

I was approached , getting an email from Redweek, then a phone call because they said I was a previous renter thru Redweek and wanted to offer up the new program.

I have never “rented” from Redweek, red flag to me on sales pitches. I rent weeks to others on Redweek when I have too.

So I reached out here on Tug to ask the same question so I’m glad to see this discussion. I told them to call back in 6 months once I see experience of others feedback.

 

[Trudyt623]

I list a couple of my weeks for rent on Redweek and was surprised to receive this invitation:


"As part of your RedWeek Travel Rewards membership, you earned a vacation certificate for a 7-night Grand Luxxe stay at Vidanta, which is Mexico's best-kept secret. This stay is so exclusive that it is not available to the general public, so redeem while supplies last.
How your vacation certificate works:

Up to 7-night stays.
Includes up to 2 adults (and up to 2 children).
Upgrade accommodations for a nominal fee.
Certificate covers accommodations; amenities & airfare are additional.
Redeeming your vacation certificate:

Call 833-889-0540 to explore inventory options.
Select your destination & potential add-ons.
Book your vacation and be on your way.

Your certificate has an expiration, so make sure you take advantage of your resort benefit before the offer is no longer available."


Has anyone ever redeemed one of these?

 

[rickandcindy23]

I am definitely not interested. I discarded the email upon its arrival. I still rent on Redweek, but I sure wish they weren't the biggest player in the rental business. I would love to see Koala at the top of the search on Google for rentals. When I do a search for a timeshare calendar, Redweek shows up first. When I search for a resort I own, Redweek shows up on Google at the top. It's a monster company and is killing its competition.

The new company that took over Redweek could hurt other rental sites. Think of My Resort Network, barely talked about anymore. It used to be a major player.

 

[ecassidy6]

I received this same offer from Redweek today. Out of curiosity, I did a search on Redweek for Grand Luxxe Nuevo properties available for rent. Each rental that I opened had this caveat: Due to the exclusivity of this offer, guests can only book one unit per rolling 24 months.
It also had an identical phone number to call for additional information. These are obviously not units posted for rental by actual property owners