Renting a week from someone who has RCI

[magicjasb]

I answered an ad on a local classified section for renting a 2 bedroom villa at the Wilderness Lodge for a week in August. The price was only $1299 for the week. They own a timeshare and had traded the week in RCI for the Wilderness Lodge. The person sent me a confirmation from RCI stating the reservation was in place in my name. I need to now pay the total through Paypal, but am hesitant as I don't want to be scammed. Has anyone done this before? Can anyone offer advice as to how to proceed to know it is not a scam? I don't want to arrive at Disney and not have a room.

[dlpmikki]

That sounds more complicated than renting from a DVC member. However some of the advice given in DVC Mikes post on what to look for when renting points is likely to still be relevant. I suggest you have a read of that to start with.

[magicjasb]

Thank you. That was helpful. I decided that great price wasn't worth the risk.

[LynneM]

It's my understanding that it's against RCI's rules for someone to re-rent their reservation, and that the reservation is subject to cancellation if RCI finds out about it.

[mgmnut]

As an RCI member you book vacations for anyone as long as you pay the transfer fee. The seller would have booked the trip using the buyers contact info and paid a small fee to do so. Should be totally legit, I book trips for my sister using my RCI membership all the time and she is not an RCI member. All on the up and up.

I would be reluctant to do it for, or purchase it from, a total stranger though. I could see how that can easily feel fishy or like you could get scammed.

The seller most likely has points that will expire that they can not use, so they are selling them off rather than lose them.