My husband and I attended a presentation at the Florida Beach Destinations office on April 4. We were presented with detailed slides showing different rates hotels charge at different times of the year. Then showing us the wholesale price of the room, then the price after our "club rewards" were applied. We would be buying wholesale because they are one of six wholesale companies in the world that purchase hotels at a 40% savings from the hotels themselves every October. We were presented with examples such as why would you stay at a hotel 6 for $69 a night when you can stay at a Ritz Carlton for $69? You would be able to do this because you are buying wholesale and then the "club rewards" would discount the stay further. Same for savings for cruises. We would be getting better prices than travel agents and internet companies.
Since we enjoy traveling we thought this would be great. We paid $4995 for a membership and in October will have to pay $149 annual membership. We were told that we could cancel the contract within 3 days. The problem was we could not access the website for 14 days to check out the great deals.
After we had the opportunity to check the prices for hotels we were totaly shocked.in no case did we find any wholesale prices. We compared Florida Beach Destination prices hotel for hotel, same time of the year, with the hotel website and found that in several cases FBD was more expensive. The only time we found a better price was when the "club rewards" were applied. This is not what we were buying. We were buying wholesale and then the "club rewards" would further reduce our stay. Why would anyone pay $4995 for a couple of dollars in "club rewards"?
I have checked out other "deals" with Florida Beach Destinations. I am renting a car in Ft Lauderdale for July 1 thru July 5th. The cheapest price on FBD website was $193.92. I booked with the car rental agency for $159.43.
They also send out their "Hot Escapes" every week. I printed the last one. There was a Mediterranean cruise with Oceania for $4,218. Per person. Guess what? I checked the Oceania website and it is the same price. Where is the wholesale price with that?
I have spoken and emailed my concerns to Flordia Beach Destinations on several occasions. On May 11 I sent a registered letter demanding a refund. I then called my credit card company and the charge is currently in dispute. This is another thing we bought the package from Florida Beach Destinations, but the charge on our credit card states Florida Sport and Recreation.
I have a thick file where I have compared apple to apple, so to speak with the hotels and cruises I compared. If you would like to see any of these I will be glad to email them to you.
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