Travel Club International (TCI), Advantage Travel, Horizon Travel
Travel Club International - Horizon Travel - Advantage Travel Yeah, not too smart, but ya get what ya get and ya don't throw a fit. Ripoff

After receiving a postcard to come hear the speil, we decided "what the heck" - we had been there, done that before and gotten a couple nights stay at a resort, or $50 gift certificates, so we made an appointment with Horizion Travel in Austin, Texas.

There were several couples there, and after listening to a very smooth presentation, we were separated into groups and our "counselor" Josh Yates gave us the deal. After about an hour, he finally came up with the bottom line of $3,795 dues of $578, for the "Gold" plan, which would include the condo "Hot Weeks" also. We also got a "free" cruise and a condo stay of our choice. Well, the cruise wanted the port charges, which were rather expensive, and were for an inside cabin, so we passed on that. But, the condo was in Galveston, which was great for a long weekend and only wanted taxes paid up front. It only took from February to September for one of our "chosen" dates to be accepted, and wound up being a hotel instead of a condo, but we had a great time. So far, so good.

We then booked a condo in Branson, Missouri, and had no trouble with that reservation. Pretty good accommodations, although somewhat worn.

We had to make a grievance trip to California, and I called TCI and let them handle it for us - of course we knew there would not be any airline discounts, but the convenience was there.

We booked a cruise on Celeberity on our own by using the Celeberity web site, as TCI didn't have a cruise going the dates we wanted. No biggie - we're adults and have traveled a lot, so can make our own accommodations.

The dues came up (although we had been told we didn't have to pay dues unless we were booking a trip), and we decided in March to make the one-time payment of approximately $1,000 to become a "lifetime member" with Horizon Travel. We got a nice letter from Monica Lindeman of Horizon Travel in Arlington, Texas congratulating us on being in the elite group of members chosen to never pay due again! Yeah, not too smart, but "ya get what ya get and ya don't throw a fit."

Then, in December we found a trip to New Zealand with TCI as the go-between for Newmans. We even had two friends from the Seattle area go with us for the same price - so we were pretty happy. The TCI representative was Marina Klein and she really worked hard and was very personable. No complaints about the service, although the hotel in Auckland left a lot to be desired.

In April of we received a letter from TCI Chief Operating Officer, Linda Mayhugh, notifying us of the change to Advantage and changing our membership number. Since that time the "Hot Weeks" have not been updated on the TCI web site. We have sent e-mails to no avail about that situation. We are now both retired and were looking forward to the condo travel, but after finding this complaint site, I am very learly to book with TCI ever again. "Let the Buyer Beware" has cost us about $5,000, and we are pretty sure we could have booked the same accommodations ourselves with a little more searching on the Web.

Company: Travel Club International (TCI), Advantage Travel, Horizon Travel
Country: USA
State: Arizona
City: Tempe
Address: 2227 S 48th St, Suite A
Phone: 8669210111

  <     >