points for airfare

We own through RCI and recently switched over to the points system. We used to own a week in Vegas and now have 122,000 points. I'm wondering how the airfare thing works. For example, I was under the impression that if we wanted 2 airline tickets we could apply some points to one ticket and some points to the other and then pay the difference. When I called yesterday, the guy (who was kind of rude) said we only had enough to cover one whole ticket (which I knew) and that we couldn't use the remainder of our points toward the 2nd ticket. That didn't seem right to me. Anyone have any experience with this?

amandaa39 wrote:

We own through RCI and recently switched over to the points system. We used to own a week in Vegas and now have 122,000 points. I'm wondering how the airfare thing works. For example, I was under the impression that if we wanted 2 airline tickets we could apply some points to one ticket and some points to the other and then pay the difference. When I called yesterday, the guy (who was kind of rude) said we only had enough to cover one whole ticket (which I knew) and that we couldn't use the remainder of our points toward the 2nd ticket. That didn't seem right to me. Anyone have any experience with this?

====================== While I've not actually used the program, I had similar questions. Rather than being able to select which tier to use for points value discounts, the program now is limited to the closest tier below the transaction value.

For example, if one ticket is $625, you HAVE to use 70,000 points to exchange for $600 and pay the balance of $25 (PLUS $49 transaction fee). Your point balance would be 52,000 points and you CANNOT use a portion of those points for a partial discount on the second ticket (i.e 40,000 pts for $400 discount)

If you could buy two tickets valued at under $600 each, then you could apply 55,000 pts toward each ticket.

RCI touts this as an improvement over the old program, but it actually limits the amount of points one can use for airfare, hotels, etc. If you only had 25,000 pts you can only use them towards airfare that costs LESS than $300. If the airfare was $310, you're out of luck. You cannot apply the 25,000 pts for a $200 discount. In this scenario the CLOSEST tier is $300 and you would NEED 35,000 pts.

mike1536 wrote:

amandaa39 wrote:

We own through RCI and recently switched over to the points system. We used to own a week in Vegas and now have 122,000 points. I'm wondering how the airfare thing works. For example, I was under the impression that if we wanted 2 airline tickets we could apply some points to one ticket and some points to the other and then pay the difference. When I called yesterday, the guy (who was kind of rude) said we only had enough to cover one whole ticket (which I knew) and that we couldn't use the remainder of our points toward the 2nd ticket. That didn't seem right to me. Anyone have any experience with this?

====================== While I've not actually used the program, I had similar questions. Rather than being able to select which tier to use for points value discounts, the program now is limited to the closest tier below the transaction value.

For example, if one ticket is $625, you HAVE to use 70,000 points to exchange for $600 and pay the balance of $25 (PLUS $49 transaction fee). Your point balance would be 52,000 points and you CANNOT use a portion of those points for a partial discount on the second ticket (i.e 40,000 pts for $400 discount)

If you could buy two tickets valued at under $600 each, then you could apply 55,000 pts toward each ticket.

RCI touts this as an improvement over the old program, but it actually limits the amount of points one can use for airfare, hotels, etc. If you only had 25,000 pts you can only use them towards airfare that costs LESS than $300. If the airfare was $310, you're out of luck. You cannot apply the 25,000 pts for a $200 discount. In this scenario the CLOSEST tier is $300 and you would NEED 35,000 pts.

Of course they don't go into that great of detail when we switched over to points. Part of the reason we did it was to help cover some airfare. The example they give in the book is kind of misleading too..."You can choose to exchange 12,500 points for $100 discount off the ticket price, 70,000 points for a $600 discount off the ticket price, or any value in-between. How you exchange your points and what you do with them is up to you!" I guess it's not really, huh?

amandaa39 wrote:

The example they give in the book is kind of misleading too..."You can choose to exchange 12,500 points for $100 discount off the ticket price, 70,000 points for a $600 discount off the ticket price, or any value in-between. How you exchange your points and what you do with them is up to you!" I guess it's not really, huh?

============== That flexibility existed in the OLD RCI system where you exchanged points for a dollar amount to be applied to a purchase. When RCI went to their "New and Improved (?)" system, they eliminated the 12,500 level and institued the "closest tier" policy.

You can access the new Points Partners guide with the new tier levels on the RCI website.

mike1536 wrote:

amandaa39 wrote:

The example they give in the book is kind of misleading too..."You can choose to exchange 12,500 points for $100 discount off the ticket price, 70,000 points for a $600 discount off the ticket price, or any value in-between. How you exchange your points and what you do with them is up to you!" I guess it's not really, huh?

============== That flexibility existed in the OLD RCI system where you exchanged points for a dollar amount to be applied to a purchase. When RCI went to their "New and Improved (?)" system, they eliminated the 12,500 level and institued the "closest tier" policy.

You can access the new Points Partners guide with the new tier levels on the RCI website.

I just called and booked our flight. This person was much more helpful in explaining things than the person I talked to yesterday. I kept thinking about the transaction as the 2 tickets combined instead of treating each one separate. All he did was open up our points for next year and we used 18,000 of those toward the 2nd ticket (we had needed 140.000 total for the tickets) and paid the difference. Between the difference of the tickets and the transaction fee we only ended up paying $314. Not bad for a flight to Mexico! :)

amandaa39 wrote:

I just called and booked our flight. This person was much more helpful in explaining things than the person I talked to yesterday. I kept thinking about the transaction as the 2 tickets combined instead of treating each one separate. All he did was open up our points for next year and we used 18,000 of those toward the 2nd ticket (we had needed 140.000 total for the tickets) and paid the difference. Between the difference of the tickets and the transaction fee we only ended up paying $314. Not bad for a flight to Mexico! :)

================ Glad it worked out for you. Many times I've called back to talk to a different rep and got different results (I've found this to be true with customer service reps of various companies, not just RCI). Last year I wanted to re-book a points reservation into a larger unit (same resort same week). The first rep told me it would cost a fee and I would have to forfeit some points to do this. I had no problem with it since I knew the rules. Later when I called back, the second rep waived the fees and did not penalize me with any points forfeiture. She just "charged" me the additional points for the larger unit.

While I'm not the "know it all" expert on points, if you have any other RCI Points questions feel free to ask and I'll try my best to answer them.

You must trust what the rep says at the time since there are constant changes with the points partners/air/prices,etc. Ask for a manager if you want a second opinion. RCI is well trained....from time to time there is someone new but ask the questions and ask for managers....take the names of people you speak with. All companies want to grow and learn.Most owners never read the material they have in their possession which tells them answers. each day you can educate yourself with what you have if you read it. Certain things change....so call the RCI 800 number. In dealing with individual companies...call the person who did all your legal paperwork that you took home with you. They are in most cases a notary and know the material. the reps and managers have a set prsentation and may have never read the material.