Need help from the experts... what's the catch?

[HockeyMomNH]

A few weeks ago I was at our local minor league ballpark. I entered a drawing at the park, because the sign said I could win a trip for 4 to Disney.

So, today I got a phone call from a woman stating that I had been chosen to receive a prize that includes 4 free round-trip airline tickets.

She says that she works for a local resort, (it is RCI). My husband and I will need to go there for a 90 minute presentation. We have the option of spending one or two nights at this local resort for a $50 deposit that they will refund in full if we go during the week, instead of on the weekend.

For doing the presentation, we will be given vouchers for 4 round trip tickets to anywhere in the world, (or at least anywhere that they have RCI, I presume). She told me that there is a minimum requirement of days for the trip and that we have to choose a resort on their list, and that the rates are deeply discounted for the promotion. She said it was 4 nights minimum if we stay in the states, and longer if we go out of the U.S. We have two years to use the vouchers, and we would need to do it though their travel agent.

My husband was not home when I got the call, so the woman is going to call back on Friday to see if we want to schedule.

So, what to you think? Is it a total scam? I know several people that own RCI, so I know that the company is legit, at least. What other questions would you ask when she calls back? Has anyone else done a promotion like this before?

I guess that I should also add that we are fairly new DVC owners, and have no interest in buying RCI.

 

[daisyduck123]

A few weeks ago I was at our local minor league ballpark. I entered a drawing at the park, because the sign said I could win a trip for 4 to Disney.

So, today I got a phone call from a woman stating that I had been chosen to receive a prize that includes 4 free round-trip airline tickets.

She says that she works for a local resort, (it is RCI). My husband and I will need to go there for a 90 minute presentation. We have the option of spending one or two nights at this local resort for a $50 deposit that they will refund in full if we go during the week, instead of on the weekend.

For doing the presentation, we will be given vouchers for 4 round trip tickets to anywhere in the world, (or at least anywhere that they have RCI, I presume). She told me that there is a minimum requirement of days for the trip and that we have to choose a resort on their list, and that the rates are deeply discounted for the promotion. She said it was 4 nights minimum if we stay in the states, and longer if we go out of the U.S. We have two years to use the vouchers, and we would need to do it though their travel agent.

My husband was not home when I got the call, so the woman is going to call back on Friday to see if we want to schedule.

So, what to you think? Is it a total scam? I know several people that own RCI, so I know that the company is legit, at least. What other questions would you ask when she calls back? Has anyone else done a promotion like this before?

I guess that I should also add that we are fairly new DVC owners, and have no interest in buying RCI.

I know I would not bother....too many stipulations to deal with. Definitely not worth it to me. I'll like to do my own planning & go WHEN I want to, HOW LONG, & stay WHERE I want to.

I, too, am a DVC member, btw.

 

[tosha27]

Idk if this a scam, but my InLaws did one of those RCI promos and got a few days free at a resort and a gift card to some place.
Unfortunately, they let the promo guy talk them into buying RCI. This was about 4 years ago and they heavily regret it. I know you said you weren't going to buy, but the promo people are very, very, VERY VERRRRRYYYYY pushy. It could be an uncomfortable situation, but it may be worth it to deal with that if the plane tickets are legit.

Now some things I would ask would be exactly when you could use those tickets (black out dates?) and with which airlines. And I would have a hard time believing the "deeply discounted rates" that she told you about. I would want to know the exact costs of the resorts in the area I was planning to go.
My ILs have had a heck of a time with RCI, having to book a year or 2 in advance just to get anything halfway decent. Though RCI is a legitimate company, I still think they are scammers in certain ways, so be very careful. While they don't tell lies per se, they stretch the truth.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

I know I would not bother....too many stipulations to deal with. Definitely not worth it to me. I'll like to do my own planning & go WHEN I want to, HOW LONG, & stay WHERE I want to.

I, too, am a DVC member, btw.

I agree with you there, but being DVC we are good at planning trips way in advance. It would be worth it, for example, if we could use the flights to get to Orlando, spend 4 nights at the RCI and do Seaworld and Universal, and then move to our DVC for additional nights.

Idk if this a scam, but my InLaws did one of those RCI promos and got a few days free at a resort and a gift card to some place.
Unfortunately, they let the promo guy talk them into buying RCI. This was about 4 years ago and they heavily regret it. I know you said you weren't going to buy, but the promo people are very, very, VERY VERRRRRYYYYY pushy. It could be an uncomfortable situation, but it may be worth it to deal with that if the plane tickets are legit.

Now some things I would ask would be exactly when you could use those tickets (black out dates?) and with which airlines. And I would have a hard time believing the "deeply discounted rates" that she told you about. I would want to know the exact costs of the resorts in the area I was planning to go.
My ILs have had a heck of a time with RCI, having to book a year or 2 in advance just to get anything halfway decent. Though RCI is a legitimate company, I still think they are scammers in certain ways, so be very careful. While they don't tell lies per se, they stretch the truth.

I'm not at all worried that we would be talked into buying. We have zero interest in RCI, and with a kid in college it's not in the budget either. Plus, we do 99% of our vacationing at Disney, and we already own DVC.

As for the blackout dates, she did say that there were two weeks at Christmas and Easter that were blackout.

I am also wondering about the rates. That is really the big unknown here. How much is this "free" trip going to cost.

I am definitely a skeptic about things like this. I know that nothing is really "free". I'm just wondering how big the catch might be?

 

[bpesch]

The catch is that you have to book travel through a specific company and suddenly there will be lots and lots of restrictions, non-refundable deposits and other hoops to jump through. Those types of promotions are a dime a dozen because that's pretty much what they are worth.

 

[scrapquitler]

A few weeks ago I was at our local minor league ballpark. I entered a drawing at the park, because the sign said I could win a trip for 4 to Disney.

So, today I got a phone call from a woman stating that I had been chosen to receive a prize that includes 4 free round-trip airline tickets.

She says that she works for a local resort, (it is RCI). My husband and I will need to go there for a 90 minute presentation. We have the option of spending one or two nights at this local resort for a $50 deposit that they will refund in full if we go during the week, instead of on the weekend.

For doing the presentation, we will be given vouchers for 4 round trip tickets to anywhere in the world, (or at least anywhere that they have RCI, I presume). She told me that there is a minimum requirement of days for the trip and that we have to choose a resort on their list, and that the rates are deeply discounted for the promotion. She said it was 4 nights minimum if we stay in the states, and longer if we go out of the U.S. We have two years to use the vouchers, and we would need to do it though their travel agent.

My husband was not home when I got the call, so the woman is going to call back on Friday to see if we want to schedule.

So, what to you think? Is it a total scam? I know several people that own RCI, so I know that the company is legit, at least. What other questions would you ask when she calls back? Has anyone else done a promotion like this before?

I guess that I should also add that we are fairly new DVC owners, and have no interest in buying RCI.

I have read about these in the past. I presume you will find that there are a lot of blackout dates for when you can travel with these vouchers. Since you have to do with through their travel agent, you will be limited to what airlines they deal with and how many seats are available on any given flight, what hotel you can stay at, what rental car you can rent and the prices for those things will probably be higher than what you could otherwise get. There might also be some sorts of fees that you'll have to pay which you might not hear about until you closely examine the fine print.

 

[mjkacmom]

You do realize that every single entry is a winner, right? Not only that, but if/when you say no thank you, they will keep calling for a while! I've told my kids to PLEASE not fill them out!

 

[pixiewings71]

We own with RCI, it's not a scam and we like the resort we purchased at, we haven't had it long so we have only used it once. I will say that the airline tickets you get will have restrictions and rules that you must follow and it will likely be very hard to use them, we've never been able to use free flights that we have been given from doing these types of promos. We were at our RCI property in April, they wanted us to do an update and they would give us free show tickets, well one of the shows we could see was Terry Fator, my Mom and Step-Dad (who were with us) are huge fans so we asked for those tickets, we went to the update where we (and they) were subjected to major pressure to buy (was NOT like that when we originally purchased 2 years ago), we were told it would be 90 minutes, we were there for 4 hours......we could not get them to give us our paperwork so we could leave, and we really wanted those tickets. Well we finally convinced them we weren't buying and they took us down to get our tickets but first we had to talk to ANOTHER person about why we were saying no, she tried again to get us to buy but no, we were not doing it. Finally she takes us into a room where others were waiting for their "prize packages" and we got called back to another room, where the lady told us......"sorry, no Terry Fator tickets today, our tickets are only good on Monday and Tuesday nights"......we were leaving Sunday. So we wasted 4 hours for tickets we didn't get.....NOT happy. Instead we got tickets to "Vegas! The Show" which was great but not what we had asked for so we were annoyed to say the least.
We also own with Shell and it's the same story......it always takes more than the 90 minutes they say it will take. lol

And yes, they do call everyone who fills out an entry form but we've said no before and not had multiple return calls. This was before we owned.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

The catch is that you have to book travel through a specific company and suddenly there will be lots and lots of restrictions, non-refundable deposits and other hoops to jump through. Those types of promotions are a dime a dozen because that's pretty much what they are worth.

That's what I am afraid of.

I have read about these in the past. I presume you will find that there are a lot of blackout dates for when you can travel with these vouchers. Since you have to do with through their travel agent, you will be limited to what airlines they deal with and how many seats are available on any given flight, what hotel you can stay at, what rental car you can rent and the prices for those things will probably be higher than what you could otherwise get. There might also be some sorts of fees that you'll have to pay which you might not hear about until you closely examine the fine print.

I won't really know any of the details until we go do the tour. I am not interested in doing a trip that is going to cost me more, just because the tickets are "free".

You do realize that every single entry is a winner, right? Not only that, but if/when you say no thank you, they will keep calling for a while! I've told my kids to PLEASE not fill them out!

Ugg, I did not know that. The sign said that the grand prize was a trip for 4 to Disney. That is why I signed up in the first place. I'm not too worried about calls, we never answer our home phone anyway. It was just a fluke that I answered today. It was an in-state number.

We own with RCI, it's not a scam and we like the resort we purchased at, we haven't had it long so we have only used it once. I will say that the airline tickets you get will have restrictions and rules that you must follow and it will likely be very hard to use them, we've never been able to use free flights that we have been given from doing these types of promos. We were at our RCI property in April, they wanted us to do an update and they would give us free show tickets, well one of the shows we could see was Terry Fator, my Mom and Step-Dad (who were with us) are huge fans so we asked for those tickets, we went to the update where we (and they) were subjected to major pressure to buy (was NOT like that when we originally purchased 2 years ago), we were told it would be 90 minutes, we were there for 4 hours......we could not get them to give us our paperwork so we could leave, and we really wanted those tickets. Well we finally convinced them we weren't buying and they took us down to get our tickets but first we had to talk to ANOTHER person about why we were saying no, she tried again to get us to buy but no, we were not doing it. Finally she takes us into a room where others were waiting for their "prize packages" and we got called back to another room, where the lady told us......"sorry, no Terry Fator tickets today, our tickets are only good on Monday and Tuesday nights"......we were leaving Sunday. So we wasted 4 hours for tickets we didn't get.....NOT happy. Instead we got tickets to "Vegas! The Show" which was great but not what we had asked for so we were annoyed to say the least.
We also own with Shell and it's the same story......it always takes more than the 90 minutes they say it will take. lol

And yes, they do call everyone who fills out an entry form but we've said no before and not had multiple return calls. This was before we owned.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am thinking more and more that this is not worth the time.

 

[bearloch]

The RCI company I kow of is a Camp ground!! its Resor Camps International they have cabins and park models there but they fil up VERY FAST expecial during vacation times!! I would check to see if its the samecompany ! you could askwhen they call to mai you all the information!!!

ps If u go to sales pitch they dont allow kids in them!

 

[ScottOKW2K]

A few weeks ago I was at our local minor league ballpark. I entered a drawing at the park, because the sign said I could win a trip for 4 to Disney.

Just wanted to let you know that you did NOT win a trip to Disney !

So, today I got a phone call from a woman stating that I had been chosen to receive a prize that includes 4 free round-trip airline tickets.

So, what to you think? Is it a total scam?

Not total, but mostly

I know several people that own RCI, so I know that the company is legit, at least. What other questions would you ask when she calls back? Has anyone else done a promotion like this before?

I've done two timeshare promotions. Fortunately both were relatively low key and we received what we were promised. One was during a stay at the Cypress Palms resort, and the other was a Marriott promotion. Got two Discovery Cove dolphin swim tickets for that one - I wish they would do it again ! As far as RCI I have no knowledge, but I am sure they will want you to buy one of their resorts at a retail price. In this economy - Why ?

I guess that I should also add that we are fairly new DVC owners, and have no interest in buying RCI.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

The RCI company I kow of is a Camp ground!! its Resor Camps International they have cabins and park models there but they fil up VERY FAST expecial during vacation times!! I would check to see if its the samecompany ! you could askwhen they call to mai you all the information!!!

ps If u go to sales pitch they dont allow kids in them!

RCI does have a lot of campgrounds, so I'm sure it's the same. She did say that we could bring the kids and use their complementary babysitting service. My kids are older though.

Just wanted to let you know that you did NOT win a trip to Disney !

I figured that out a few minutes in to the phone call. I think that the excitement of the idea that I did win made me stay on the phone and hear her out much longer than I normally would have.

 

[nunzia]

RCI does have a lot of campgrounds, so I'm sure it's the same. She did say that we could bring the kids and use their complementary babysitting service. My kids are older though.



I figured that out a few minutes in to the phone call. I think that the excitement of the idea that I did win made me stay on the phone and hear her out much longer than I normally would have.

See..they already fast talked you into listening to them more than you wanted to...this sounds like a mess waiting to happen and I'd hang up on the gal after telling her not to call again. Very decpetive how they get your info and that should be the first red flag.

 

[brymolmom]

If you would like to take advantage of the RCI accomodations for cheap/free rate - then go for it. But I would NOT do it for the 'free' airfare.

As others have mentioned, while I wouldn't call it a scam necessarily, it is something that VERY FEW people will actually end up benefitting from (which is why 'everyone' can be offered it).

I did something similar but it was a local presentation on a travel club - you got 'free' tickets for attending. I went to see what it was all about. It was a pretty hard sell for the travel club - but I did say no and it was fine. The free tickets worked like this:
- You have to send in about $50 to get the voucher to submit for the travel time.
- After you receive your voucher, you have to put in primary and secondary preferences for travel dates.
- If you submit the voucher, again with a fee associated with it (I think), you will be notified of what travel times you are given VERY CLOSE to your time of travel. The times/dates will be, by far, the most undesireable.
- For my offer, you had to pay upfront for the flights. Then afterward, you had to submit for reimbursement - including many specific forms and receipts (original boarding passes, etc.).

My understanding from reading other travel sites on this topic is that it is very difficult to get reimbursement and that some of the companies keep changing names/numbers so that you can't even get to them to submit everything or ask a question if you're refused at first.

One person on a travel site I read DID get reimbursed and everything went without a hitch. However, when she included all her fees, etc. I think she ended up MAYBE saving 25 - 50% on the flights and plus there was all that time involved. So not horrible, but not worth it for that kind of savings for me.


When I get calls like that I always say 'Let me talk to my husband about this. I'll give you a call back.' and then if they say something along the lines of - this is a 'one time' offer only while we're on the phone then I know it's a 'scam'. If I really won something I would be able to call them back later. They try to get you to commit on that call because of the emotion you have at that moment AND so that you can't take a breath and think about it and realize it's likely too good to be true.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

See..they already fast talked you into listening to them more than you wanted to...this sounds like a mess waiting to happen and I'd hang up on the gal after telling her not to call again. Very decpetive how they get your info and that should be the first red flag.

Well, that's true! I didn't agree to anything on the call though. She did pique my interest with her spiel.

If you would like to take advantage of the RCI accomodations for cheap/free rate - then go for it. But I would NOT do it for the 'free' airfare.

As others have mentioned, while I wouldn't call it a scam necessarily, it is something that VERY FEW people will actually end up benefitting from (which is why 'everyone' can be offered it).

I did something similar but it was a local presentation on a travel club - you got 'free' tickets for attending. I went to see what it was all about. It was a pretty hard sell for the travel club - but I did say no and it was fine. The free tickets worked like this:
- You have to send in about $50 to get the voucher to submit for the travel time.
- After you receive your voucher, you have to put in primary and secondary preferences for travel dates.
- If you submit the voucher, again with a fee associated with it (I think), you will be notified of what travel times you are given VERY CLOSE to your time of travel. The times/dates will be, by far, the most undesireable.
- For my offer, you had to pay upfront for the flights. Then afterward, you had to submit for reimbursement - including many specific forms and receipts (original boarding passes, etc.).

My understanding from reading other travel sites on this topic is that it is very difficult to get reimbursement and that some of the companies keep changing names/numbers so that you can't even get to them to submit everything or ask a question if you're refused at first.

One person on a travel site I read DID get reimbursed and everything went without a hitch. However, when she included all her fees, etc. I think she ended up MAYBE saving 25 - 50% on the flights and plus there was all that time involved. So not horrible, but not worth it for that kind of savings for me.


When I get calls like that I always say 'Let me talk to my husband about this. I'll give you a call back.' and then if they say something along the lines of - this is a 'one time' offer only while we're on the phone then I know it's a 'scam'. If I really won something I would be able to call them back later. They try to get you to commit on that call because of the emotion you have at that moment AND so that you can't take a breath and think about it and realize it's likely too good to be true.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I was feeling the same way about taking advantage of the free RCI nights, but I'm not sure that it's worth it to listen to the hard sell. We are actually going on vacation starting this weekend, so it's not like I am in need of a getaway.

I'm really glad that I posted here. It's nice to have people to bounce ideas off of, and talk some sense into me!

 

[hsmamato2]

I've used/dealt with RCI for a years now...and if you know how to 'play the game' you should do it! I wouldn't buy ANYTHING ( there are plenty of used listings online in various places....)but RCI has access to all kinds of great resorts in great places! Including Orlando......I'd love it if I got this phone call...b/c I know what I won't buy, but I do know the value of the 'gifts' they're offering me to listen for 90 minutes.....I like the RCI network,personally.

 

[erincon23]

First, RCI itself doesn't own any resorts. It's a booking service -- resorts sign up with RCI so people who own at those resorts can stay at other resorts. Mentioning that it's RCI-affiliated just makes them sound more legitimate. You might find that the presentation you go to is very nice and respectful of your time, or you might find that you're a virtual prisoner, being yelled at for not wanting to spend thousands of dollars.

Second, we bought a timeshare (anyone want it?) when we went for a presentation that offered what you're mentioning. You couldn't use all four airline tickets together, had to use them 2 and 2. The prices for the resort stays were actually really high -- since they don't generally go for a per-night cost, since people who stay there already own the timeshare -- they can set whatever rates they want, and even discounted, the nightly costs were very high.

I'd skip it. We never ended up using the airline tickets, since at the time our kids were small and we weren't going to leave them with anyone and go by ourselves.

 

[evcollins]

It's a 90-minute presentation for four round-trip airline tickets...do it!

We are going to DW in a couple weeks due to a promotion, different company, though. We are so excited! Our trip that was originally going to cost our family of five around $5k and it's now $250 with tax for 3 days/4 nights. We couldn't pass that up! Now, granted, our original plan was to stay on-property and include the DDP, but we couldn't build up enough courage to finally book it with a price tag like that!! I never thought about off-site...

This is our first trip with the kiddos so we thought what a great advantage to get our feet wet and see how much they like it. For the future, we'll know and can plan a longer stay.

We do have a 90-minute presentation, but no big deal. We are not buying anything and my husband is pretty firm. We'll enjoy looking at the resort, the kids will be jumping on the beds rotfl2:), so hopefully they'll move it along. Hey, they said the kids are welcome to join in because DH and I both have to be there.

All in all, it was a win-win situation for us. We added extra days before the "promo" trip and on the tailend to stay longer. Included with the special promo rate, we'll get a $200 voucher for another visit to the hotel and more reward points! Love me some reward points. Our presentation is at 7:45 am the day after we arrive and then we'll hit Animal Kingdom because it won't be such an issue at that park not arriving at RD.

Make the decision that's right for you and your family. You'll know with the right questions if it's worth it or not. My husband was sitting next to me when I got the call and was relaying the info back to him!

ec

 

[pixiewings71]

The RCI company I kow of is a Camp ground!! its Resor Camps International they have cabins and park models there but they fil up VERY FAST expecial during vacation times!! I would check to see if its the samecompany ! you could askwhen they call to mai you all the information!!!

ps If u go to sales pitch they dont allow kids in them!

RCI trades into literally thousands of properties all over the world. They have a huge list of places you can stay, from private huts on the beach to WDW and now you can trade into the VGC! I've been watching for that one to pop up for me but so far no luck. lol I can actually stay at my Shell properties using RCI (but then I would have to pay exchange fees so why would I do that? LOL) You can also use your RCI points towards airline flights, regular hotels, rental cars, excursions......RCI points have become very flexible recently.
The point about kids is true, but most places will have a "kids club" where your kids can go and play and watch movies while you're doing your meeting. So they can go but they can't be with you. That's to minimize distractions, at least that's what they told us.

 

[duffy]

Just remember, timeshares in Orlando are almost literally a dime a dozen. Don't pay thousands of dollars, people are willing to give them away.

We bought our timeshares-NOT in Orlando!!-for $1 each. I mention that to give you an idea of how cheap they are, and why you should not buy from the developer.