Recently, I met one of my friends, who is an RCI member. I just joined RCI and so I was asking him lots of questions about timeshare exchange and all that. He brought up a point, which I thought would be useful for RCI newbies like me.
If you reserve your week during the Home Week reservation period and later decide against using it, you can cancel it and deposit it, provided you do it three months out.
I think it's very convenient for members, as it gives you so much flexibility. Since we are supposed to reserve our week very early, a change in plan is most likely to happen later. And if it does happen, it's nice to know that you have another option.
Sam, as you mentioned, this policy can do us no harm. The policy states very clearly that you will lose value on your points ONLY when you cancel your week at under 120 days. Technically speaking, you book your week about 12 months in advance, probably during the Home Week period, for which there is no fee. If you take out the 120 days mentioned in the RCI policy out of the equation, you still have EIGHT MONTHS. Is it not good enough to make your decisions? During this eight month period, you can cancel anytime you want, without losing your points. Now, that should work out well for everyone. Problems occur only when you make eleventh hour cancellations, which are usually made under unavoidable circumstances. But if you do so, you have to be ready to lose value on your points. Under normal circumstances, I don't see this policy creating a problem for anyone. Thanks.
Well; there is an other side for everything. It's good that you guys brought it up. But I still think this RCI policy is fine and should do you no harm, as long as you are cautious about the "timing" of your cancellation.
I understand your points. But could someone explain me why RCI asks its members to book their weeks so well in advance? Is there any specific reason for that or is it just RCI's policy?
Apart from the fact that it's RCI's policy, there is an obvious reason for that. As an exchange company, RCI would love to have lots of timeshares from lots of customers, so that the exchange process becomes easier, thanks to the huge number of weeks available. RCI would be in a much better position to offer lots of timeshares for exchange, if it had all its customers' weeks well in advance.
Let's say for example, you reserve a week well in advance and then after quite some time, you change your mind. Now if you cancel your week at under thirty days, not only have you canceled your week, but you've also made it difficult for RCI to offer that week to some other customer. In other words, you have wasted a week which could have been taken by some other potential customer. RCI does not want this to happen. That is why they have a policy in place wherein you will lose your points for doing so. This reduces the chance of last minute cancellations, which works in favor of RCI.
Bob
Thanks Bob. I appreciate it.
I had my share of experience in this issue. I reserved my week and then decided to cancel it. But I was not aware of the time limit. When I inquired about the cancellation policy, the RCI people informed me that I would suffer a HUGE 50% loss, as it was under two months. I felt really bad. But it was my mistake though. I should have inquired about the cancellation policy well in advance. I didn't, so I paid the price. I lost 50% and then I moved on.
But since we book our week well in advance, about 12 months, a change of plan might occur some time later. In that case, we have to be careful enough to not lose value on points.
RCI do have their own cancellation policy. Your decision to cancel your week could cost you points, if you cancel your week under 120 days. It goes like this.
119-61 days - You lose 25% points
60-30 days - You lose 50% points
29 days or less - You lose 75% points
So, if you decide to cancel well in advance (anything more than 120 days to be precise), then you don't lose any value on your points.
What you said is right, but there is an important thing to be looked out for. RCI people have certain time limit within which you are supposed to cancel your week. If not, if there is a delay, then you will lose points, according to the magnitude of your delay. As far as I know, you could lose up to 75% of your points, if you don't cancel it at the right time.
RCI does allow you to cancel your week and deposit it, but there is a "time limit." While it's good that they allow you to cancel, you have to be aware of how much time you have in your hands to do that.