RCI rate increases Dec 4, 2016

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

So, $1000 a week for vacation accommodations is a good deal nowadays?

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

Actually$1000 probably is a good deal. I am paying $550 plus for 3 nights in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with kitchen and living room extended stay hotel for a long weekend in December to be near my family where there is no timeshare.

Joy

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Actually$1000 probably is a good deal.

Yeah, I was serious. I'm thinking the average exchanger is paying that. $150/day, m/l.

[mpumilia Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mpumilia]

Actually, the higher maintenance fees and exchange fees go, the less it makes sense to own. I recently booked a week at a Hilton Homewood suite for $1200 with daily breakfast and happy hour with food included. Washer dryers in building. Pool and hot tub. Kitchenette in unit- a one bedroom with a king bed. Free wi-fi; No deposit required. Can cancel for free up until the day before.

[mav Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Actually, the higher maintenance fees and exchange fees go, the less it makes sense to own. I recently booked a week at a Hilton Homewood suite for $1200 with daily breakfast and happy hour with food included. Washer dryers in building. Pool and hot tub. Kitchenette in unit- a one bedroom with a king bed. Free wi-fi; No deposit required. Can cancel for free up until the day before.

I know what you mean. I never thought hotels would be better then my timeshares, but the last 4-5 years I have been giving the hotels tons of business. Got rid of half of our timeshares, and let family use the others. Almost all of our travels are out of the USA, and the breakfasts and lounge access in foreign countries is jaw dropping. We r hotel addicted anymore. daily maid service, free internet, great food, wandering foreign countries, street foods in many places to try, tons of points for free stays. Yes, I could live full time in hotels. Definitely hotel addicted. We are constantly upgraded , even in hotels where we have no status. I am amazed myself many times at our good fortune.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

I know what you mean. I never thought hotels would be better then my timeshares, but the last 4-5 years I have been giving the hotels tons of business. Got rid of half of our timeshares, and let family use the others. Almost all of our travels are out of the USA, and the breakfasts and lounge access in foreign countries is jaw dropping. We r hotel addicted anymore. daily maid service, free internet, great food, wandering foreign countries, street foods in many places to try, tons of points for free stays. Yes, I could live full time in hotels. Definitely hotel addicted. We are constantly upgraded , even in hotels where we have no status. I am amazed myself many times at our good fortune.

I think as we age our travel needs changed. I no longer need the two bedroom sleep 8 units to accommodate family and friends. And like mav, I am more interested in cities then remote resorts with onsite amenities.

Stuff changes.

[mpumilia Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mpumilia]

Don't get me wrong. I still love having a nice condo to spread out in and the resort atmosphere. But again- you can rent a timeshare from someone else. You can also use Home Away, etc. I have never paid more than $1200 for an 8 day rental- sometimes a lot less- like $800 or so.

[mav Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

I think as we age our travel needs changed. I no longer need the two bedroom sleep 8 units to accommodate family and friends. And like mav, I am more interested in cities then remote resorts with onsite amenities.

Stuff changes.

I agree 100%. We rarely if ever use "on site" amenities. Only about 3 weeks of our travel in a year involves travels with family, and that is Thanksgiving, New Year's and Easter, so I book 2 to 3 units. We do go to Newport, R.I. for 2 weeks the end of August every year and stay in a timeshare, and maybe do 1 or 2 weeks a year in the U.S.. Other then that, we r in other places of the world and use hotels. I have to admit, however, that we have gone to New Orleans on 3 different occasions over the last 2 years and have stayed in a hotel RATHER then 1 of the many available timeshares. LOVE the hotel experiences
Over the years I have stayed in probably most of the timeshares in England and really enjoyed them and would not change those experiences. I still own my 3 weeks in England and have no intention of getting rid of them yet and use them for my exchanges. One of the units is SO lovely I would love to have a permanent home in if only to leave my "things".

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Wow!

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Almost on cue, as if someone's watching . . .




All available RCI vacations
Search Options
Extra Vacations Only
My Offers
Select Extra VacationsSM getaways just $199USD/$276CAD per week!
(11002 available units)
- - - - - -
Some decent stuff, like Big Cedar Wilderness Club through May 19. (and 11001 more)

So, anyway, this is the stuff I've been getting.

YMMV

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

There's also 11265 of these:

Extra Vacations Only
My Offers
$269 Vacations in Vegas, Dominican Republic, Florida and More!

Only when you open it, there aren't any in Florida.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

(525 available units) Orlando Resorts for $199.

Summer Bay Orlando by Exploria Resorts (#3175)
2 Bedrooms 8 (6) Full Sun 21-May-2017 Sun 28-May-2017 USD 199.00 Sale

[susieq Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close susieq]

Almost on cue, as if someone's watching . . .

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

" So I did some digging and discovered that in 1974 when RCI first started their exchange system the fee was a whopping $7.00 for an entire week!"

http://www.insidethegate.com/2014/12...sively-greedy/

Interesting article, with an interesting take on what an exchange fee really is . . . a reservation fee. I had never thought of that, but . . .

You can go to a jillion places and make reservations for lodging, and none of those places charge a fee for making the reservation. You can even go to a bunch of places and get exactly the same timeshare resort accommodations you get from RCI (or II or whichever exchange company), and not have to pay a fee to make the reservation. You can even get the same accommodations for less, and not have to pay for a reservation.

But, because it is a timeshare, and you are a timeshare owner, and for no other reason, when you book the same reservation with an exchange company, you pay an exchange fee, which is nothing more than a reservation fee.

Not only that, but you pay a membership (subscription) fee in order to have the privilege of giving them a fee to book your reservations.

Not only that, but you give them their inventory, free to them, so they charge you to make reservations for you.

I love this concept!!!

[mpumilia Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mpumilia]

Interesting article, with an interesting take on what an exchange fee really is . . . a reservation fee. I had never thought of that, but . . .

You can go to a jillion places and make reservations for lodging, and none of those places charge a fee for making the reservation. You can even go to a bunch of places and get exactly the same timeshare resort accommodations you get from RCI (or II or whichever exchange company), and not have to pay a fee to make the reservation. You can even get the same accommodations for less, and not have to pay for a reservation.

But, because it is a timeshare, and you are a timeshare owner, and for no other reason, when you book the same reservation with an exchange company, you pay an exchange fee, which is nothing more than a reservation fee.

Not only that, but you pay a membership (subscription) fee in order to have the privilege of giving them a fee to book your reservations.

Not only that, but you give them their inventory, free to them, so they charge you to make reservations for you.

I love this concept!!!

Which is why, though we have had some great exchanges over the years, we have chosen not to play and pay the exchange game anymore, except in rare circumstances, and even then- only with the free memberships with the small independent exchange companies.