Lifestyle Collection and UExperiences

Only a couple months after joining UVC, I got a call from a woman who wanted me to buy more travel products. She told me I could get cruises, hotels, rental cars and other travel products through her and that my UVC membership wouldn't be complete without it.  She told me she would be my personal concierge to make sure I was getting all the services I needed. She wanted, if I remember right, a couple thousand dollars for me to get my "full benefits." I had just plunked down way more than that for my UVC contract and was still trying to learn how to get the most out of that. I was only interested in my all-inclusive UVC resorts and didn't think I even had time to add the cruises, car rentals and hotel stays she was peddling. I told her "no" and hung up.

Soon after, I noticed people in my FB groups describing receiving similar pitches over the phone. I learned that this was the modus operandi of Lifestyle Collection. They strike within a month or two of a new member joining and present themselves as UVC even though they are a separate company selling a separate membership. Before you understand what you have with UVC, they're trying to get you to spend thousands more for their products. The woman who called me never mentioned Lifestyle Collection. She did mention UVC and wanted me to believe that what she was selling was a necessary part of a complete UVC membership.

Look at the Lifestyle Collection Enrollment Application on page 3 of 44 included in the 2019 UVC contract found here: 

This is the Lifestyle Collection agreement in the contract, but it's hard to recognize it as that. You quickly notice the big UVC logo and name in the upper left of the document. Under that logo, you'll see, in much smaller letters, "Lifestyle Collection." This is Lifestyle Collection's approach to sales. They scream "UVC" in their sales materials and phone calls to get new members to think they are UVC and then whisper "Lifestyle Collection," probably to retain plausible deniability to later accusations that they misrepresented themselves.

Lifestyle Collection is one of those "additional benefits" that comes free for two years with a UVC membership. Paragraph 13 on page 4 of 44 in the contract linked above explains the benefit:

 13. UVC Lifestyle Collection Membership - Member will receive free of charge an affiliation covering the first two years with UVC  Lifestyle Collection, which provides exclusive benefits and services that can be consulted at  www.unlimitedvacationclub.com/members/partners. Member(s) are eligible to take advantage of promotional offers to extend their UVCLC  membership benefits for an annual or multi-year billing plan at substantial savings off the then current annual extension price, which are separate from the UVC Renewal Fee. 

 A one-time Activation Bonus of Saving Credits will be credited to the member's UVCLC account upon enrollment,  also receive an Anniversary Credit of Saving Credits that will be credited to the members UVCLC online account on the anniversary date of their initial enrollment into the UVCLC Program. Savings Credits that can be used as a partial payment, dollar-for-dollar, to buy down the total purchase price of qualified travel and lifestyle transactions, including cruises, non-AM resorts and hotels, tours, vacation packages, wine and merchandise (depending on member residence). 

If for any reason member chooses not to extend the UVCLC membership member will forfeit all access to the UVCLC membership benefits, the UVCLC website, any available Saving Credits in their UVCLC account or the ability to earn any future Saving Credits.

I never used Lifestyle Collection in the two years I had it free. I did look at their pricing for hotels and car rentals and found I could get similar or better pricing through conventional online travel websites (e.g. Expedia, hotels.com, Costco, etc). I saw little value in Lifestyle Collection -- certainly not enough to warrant a $2,000 membership fee. 

Their calls and other attempts to get me to buy have been relentless over the years. That last part in the language quoted above about forfeiting all access to the Lifestyle Collection benefit if you choose not to purchase a Lifestyle Collection membership I wish was true, but it isn't. I still get calls and junk mail from Lifestyle Collection, more than seven years later, presenting themselves as UVC and inviting me to buy a Lifestyle Collection membership.

In addition to their deceptive and aggressive sales tactics, a common complaint of members who have tried Lifestyle Collection is that the value of the cruise credit they give you isn't what it's presented to be. Apparently, Lifestyle Collection doesn't provide reduced cruise pricing. They provide credits to be applied to the total cost of of a cruise. Their package might include, for example, a $1,500 credit. On its face, someone might think, "If it costs $2,000 to buy in, I'll make my money back on just a couple cruises." 

You won't.

What they don't tell you is that you can use only a small portion of that $1,500 credit on each cruise. You might be able to reduce the total cost of a $5,000 cruise to $4,700, for example, using only a portion of the total credit they give you. You have to take many cruises, spending many thousands of dollars, to use the full credit. Many members who have priced cruises through Lifestyle Collection claim they get similar or better pricing dealing directly with the cruise lines.

There are a few members in my Facebook groups who have found some value in Lifestyle Collection, but a large percentage of members, including me, will have nothing to do with them. 

Around June 2025, members started reporting that new UVC contracts were including a membership in an outfit called "UExperiences" rather than the Lifestyle Collection membership that had been in older contracts for years. UExperiences seemed to be offering similar products to Lifestyle Collection. I did some investigation into who UExperiences is and if the two companies are related.

They are two different companies, but there is a common link between them.  Lifestyle Collection was started by the husband and wife team of John and Marcia Rowley. That's the same couple that currently owns and manages the UExperiences brand.

The Rowleys' first venture in the travel industry was a company called International Cruise & Excursions (ICE) which they founded around 1997.  ICE initially provided only cruise vacations but slowly expanded to other travel services, including travel clubs. The heart of ICE's travel club operation was the online user interface and database of resort vacations they developed. By partnering with various resorts, vacation clubs and timeshare operators, ICE sold an inventory of vacation products to the members of the vacation clubs of many well-known resort brands: Marriott, Bluegreen, Hilton, Westgate, UVC and others. UVC was one of ICE's earliest vacation club partners. 

If you look in the first paragraph under Member Acknowledgement of the Lifestyle Collection Membership Application in the photo and link above, you'll see that Lifestyle Collection is a d.b.a of ICE.

International Cruise & Excursion Gallery, Inc. (“ICE”), d.b.a. Our Vacation Center (“OVC”) and d.b.a. Lifestyle Collection (“LC”), a Delaware, United States Company, located at 7720 N Dobson Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85256, is the administrator and redemption  fulfiller of the Unlimited Vacation Club (“UVC”) with LC  Program under contract with UVC. 

In 2018, the Rowleys sold a majority interest in ICE to a UK investment firm which changed the company name to arrivia. Arrivia continues to operate today selling travel services to many different travel clubs, including UVC members under the Lifestyle Collection brand. The Rowleys remained with arrivia for a short time after selling, but around 2020, they left to form a new company, Open Network Exchange (ONE).

ONE is the company behind the UExperiences brand. The ONE logo can be found beneath the UExperiences logo at the top of the UExperiences website and Open Network Exchange's name is at the bottom of the same website.  ONE seems very much like arrivia in appearance, products and business model. In fact, they seem to be a direct competitor of arrivia's.

You can see the current UExperiences by ONE brochure here. It's colorful, glitzy and full of photos of vacation-loving people loving their vacations. It shows all the products and services a UExperiences membership brings. The consensus of the UVC members in my Facebook groups who have tried UExperiences is that, just like Lifestyle Collection, it's short on value. The savings you get with each purchase through UExperiences are small relative to the price you pay to join. It will take many years to recover your initial purchase price.

Members in my Facebook groups report there's not much difference in prices, value or experience between Lifestyle Collection and UExperiences. They both use the same aggressive and deceptive sales tactics and sell similar products and services at similar prices.  Savings in both programs comes largely through the "credits" you're given as a member, which aren't as good as their salespeople present them because they're regulated in how they can be applied to each purchase.

UExperiences has begun selling memberships to older UVC members whose contract includes Lifestyle Collection, including me. UVC has taken an active role in UExperiences' marketing by sending out email blasts to all members announcing UExperiences products, offers and membership opportunities. Unfortunately, some members have reported getting competing phone calls from both Lifestyle Collection and UExperiences each claiming to be UVC's "real" partner.

A business organization that resorts to the deceptive sales tactics used by Lifestyle Collection and UExperiences conveys to me that they don't believe in their own product. I won't enter into a business relationship with an organization that doesn't believe in what they're selling. I don't care what the product is.

RCI

A secondary benefit of a UVC membership is a two-year membership in RCI. The benefit is described in paragraph 3 on page 16 of 44 of this 2019 UVC contract:

3. Exchange System.
Resort Condominiums International (RCI) 

Member will be affiliated to Resort Condominiums International, LLC ("RCI"). Said affiliation will come into effect within sixty (60) business days following the Activation Date. Mediator will cover the cost of the first two annual affiliations so that Member can have access to the RCI exchange system and deposit lodging intervals. All deposit or exchange and annual renewal fees will  be paid by Member.

Starting on the third year, the annual affiliation fee will be paid by Member directly to RCI.

The full terms and conditions on the RCI program are found on pages 30-44 of the 2019 contract linked above.

When we joined in 2019, I had never heard of RCI. I did some initial investigation and learned it was a timeshare exchange company. I wasn't sure what that was, but I had a low opinion of timeshares, in general, so I ignored it.

The first two years of my UVC membership were spent trying to learn UVC. Between that learning, work and family responsibilities, I didn't have time for anything else. I didn't use RCI at all during my free, two-year membership. In a UVC upgrade meeting at Secrets Papagayo in 2021, the UVC rep I met with encouraged me to start using RCI. When we got home, I did some deeper investigation. 

RCI has a language of its own, and the exchange process they use is complicated and not very intuitive, but I persisted in my learning. I found the FB group UVC Members Using RCI. It was, and remains, a big help to me in learning the ins and outs of using RCI as a UVC member.

As a timeshare exchange company, RCI doesn't own timeshare properties (Full disclosure: RCI is owned by a parent company called Travel + Leisure Co. That parent company also owns Club Wyndham which is one of the world's largest timeshare companies. Club Wyndham owns many timeshare properties.). RCI's role is to facilitate the transaction between timeshare owners who want to trade vacation weeks with each other. Timeshare owners who tire of vacationing at the same property every year use a timeshare exchange company to trade their timeshare week with an owner of a week at a different timeshare property. Most RCI customers are timeshare owners.

There is no timeshare ownership involved in a UVC membership, so UVC members don't have to pay for a timeshare purchase contract or for annual timeshare maintenance fees, but they also don't have a timeshare week to exchange with RCI.  UVC and RCI have worked out a process through which members get a timeshare benefit without having to purchase a timeshare contract and pay annual maintenance fees.

The process UVC has developed with RCI works like this:

1. Members purchase from UVC, Trade Power Units (TPUs), which is the "currency" RCI uses to book RCI timeshares. Currently, a TPU purchase costs $325USD. The number of TPUs deposited into a member's RCI account with each $325 payment varies with their UVC membership level as shown in this table:

 

Depending on the size of the unit as well as the resort's location, amenities and a few other variables, the average RCI timeshare probably costs around 12-28 TPUs for a one-week stay. Some will cost more and others will cost less.

2. Members search the RCI inventory of properties at rci.com to find an available property in a location they want. As a timeshare exchange company, RCI's inventory includes only those timeshare weeks that an owner has deposited with RCI so the owner can vacation at a different property. That's why availability can be an issue for RCI users. Weeks at ski resorts have less availability during the winter months because owners of those weeks use them themselves rather than exchange them through RCI. Similarly, weeks at beach resorts have less availability in warm months. 

You never know when an owner will deposit the week you want. Just because the week you want isn't in the RCI inventory when you looked today doesn't mean an owner won't deposit it with RCI tomorrow. Successful RCI users are diligent about searching the RCI inventory for availability. 

3. Once a member has paid for a TPU deposit, the TPUs have been added to his RCI account, and an acceptable unit is found, the reservation process can be completed online or through the call center.  An exchange reservation will reduce the TPUs in the member's RCI account and require a $299USD payment to RCI. Many resorts these days charge additional fees for amenities, parking, etc. RCI has gotten better about making its users aware of those additional charges, but if you're going to use RCI, you should be aware that most transactions, today, will include an additional resort fee.

There are caveats that can cause the final price to be higher or lower, but the basic RCI reservation currently costs a UVC member $624USD ($325 to UVC to purchase TPUs and $299 to RCI to reserve) for a one-week stay at an RCI timeshare. The most I've ever paid for an RCI vacation was for a week on Eagle Beach in Aruba. That week cost about $750. The least I've ever paid was for a week in the mountains of North Carolina which was about $325. Both were two bedroom units with living room, dining room, and a full kitchen.

The RCI website is quirky, unreliable and frustrating to use. RCI used to have a phone app, but it had so many problems, they gave up on it and removed it from the Apple store and Google Play. Despite these shortcomings, the prices on RCI make it a valuable addition to my UVC membership.

Many members get frustrated with the complexity of the exchange process and don't take the time to learn it. Some expect RCI will work like hotels and offer room availability in any location and on any dates they want to travel.  Still others think they're not on vacation if they're not being waited on. If you see yourself in one of those groups, you won't be an RCI fan. 

It's not for everyone, but if you're willing to travel without the frills of an all-inclusive experience, have the time and patience to understand the exchange process and have flexibility in your travel schedule, you'll probably find RCI valuable.

We took our first RCI vacation to Nashville in September of 2021 more than two years after joining UVC. To date, we've spent a total of 34 weeks in RCI timeshares in 4-1/2 years. That averages to about 8 weeks per year that we've traveled through RCI. It's been the most useful part of our membership.

Price Matches and Roll Backs

The Unlimited Vacation Club was founded by ALG in 2010. Under ALG's ownership, it was a loyalty program for AMResorts brands of all-inclusive resorts. Hyatt purchased ALG in November 2021, so there were about 11 years where ALG managed UVC and, as of this writing in March 2026, about 4-1/2 years that Hyatt has been managing UVC. Throughout this blog, I've been referring to a UVC contract found here. That contract was written in 2019 prior to Hyatt's purchase of ALG. Given the lengths of time that ALG and Hyatt have each managed UVC, I suspect the 2019 language (or something close to it) is in many more UVC contracts than any new language Hyatt's UVC uses today.

The 2019 contract uses two different terms, "Price Match" and "Roll Back", to describe what is essentially the same thing -- a benefit that allows members to claim resort pricing offered online less a 25% discount. A "Price Match" is defined in the contract as being made at the time of the original reservation. If a member finds an approved third-party site offering a price that, when discounted by 25%, is less than the price quoted on the members' website, the member can provide appropriate information to UVC and the original reservation will be made at the lower price.

A "Roll Back" is similar except it's used after the original reservation is made. So, when a member, who already has a paid reservation, finds a lower price for the same room category on the members' website or a price on an approved, third-party site that, when discounted by 25%, is lower than the price of the room he has booked, the member can submit appropriate documentation to UVC to reduce the price of his existing reservation to the lower, third-party price less 25%. 

The distinction the contract makes between the two terms is only the timing of when the lower price is found. If the original reservation is booked at the lower price, it's a Price Match. If the lower price is found after the original reservation is made, it's a Roll Back. 

The conventional thinking among the experienced members of my FB groups is that there's no reason for a UVC member to delay booking a reservation in case prices go down. If a member is sure of where and when they want to travel, they should book immediately and then be diligent about checking the members' website and approved, third-party sites up to 48 hours before their arrival to get roll back pricing. What most members get is a roll back, as that term is defined in the contract, but whether the lower price is found before or after the original reservation is made, most call it a price match. 

Let's start with contract language from the 2019 contract that defines the club's Price Match and Roll Back processes:

From the "Acknowledgement of Benefits" on page 4:

4. Discounts at Participating Hotels - Member will be entitled to a 25% (twenty-five percent) discount on the lowest rate published by the Participating Hotel or Authorized Tour Operators listed in Exhibit B. The amounts paid towards the Total Price and/or fees may not be used to prepay any rate or price related to services provided by the Participating Hotels. Payment of the Total Price guarantees only the possibility of using the Membership rights. 

From Exhibit B on pp. 15 and 16:

a. Acceptable Rate: 
Guests will have a 25% (twenty-five percent) discount on all available Participating Hotel rates ("Acceptable Rate"). Said rates can be viewed at www.unlimitedvacationclub.com as well as on the webpages of all Tour Operators listed in this section ("Authorized Tour Operators"). It is understood that the rates published at www.unlimitedvacationclub.com already include the 25% (twenty-five percent) discount and the "All-Inclusive" rate, however they do not include flights or ground transfers. Minimum stay duration at Participating Hotels is two (2) nights.

At time of signature, this is the list of Authorized Tour Operators, this list may be modified without prior notice:  

AMResorts Hotels websites, Apple Vacations, Travel Impressions / Alaska Vacations, American Airline Vacations, Booking.com, Bookit.com, Cheap Caribbean.com, Classic Vacations, Delta Vacations, Expedia.com, GOGO Worldwide Vacations, Hotels.com, Jetblue Getaway Vacations, Mexico Unlimited, Orbitz.com, Pleasant Holidays, Priceline.com, Spirit Airline Vacations, Travelocity.com, US Airway Vacations, Vacation Express, / Bestday.com (México), Booking.com (México), Hoteles.com (México), Pricetravel.com (México) / Sunwing Vacations (Canada), Signature Vacations (Canada), Holiday House  (Canada),  Air Canada Vacations (Canada), Sunquest (Canada), Vacance Air Transat (Canada), West Jet Vacations (Canada), RedTag.ca (Canada), Expedia.ca (Canada), Booking.ca (Canada) / First Choice Holidays (UK), Virgin Holidays LTD (UK), British Airways Holidays (UK), Expedia.com (Europe) / Pricetravel.com (South America), Despegar.com (South America), Expedia.com (South America), Funjet Vacations.

The 25% (twenty five percent) discount is granted for an unlimited number of guest nights at the Participating Hotels with respect  to the Acceptable Rate. Member may reserve a maximum of  20 rooms, in addition to their own, during the same period and in the  same Hotel on condition that the reservations are made in Member's name. Any reservation requesting a greater number of rooms  must be made directly with the Participating Hotel and will be subject to that property's terms and conditions.

b. Price Match: 
In order to use this benefit, Member must inform to the Members Services and Reservations Center of the Acceptable Rate when making the reservation. Mediator is obligated to honor the 25% (twenty-five percent) discount on the Acceptable Rate. Members must provide a printed copy of the electronic confirmation of the Acceptable Rate for validation by Mediator. This benefit will be applicable on condition that the Acceptable Rate is in effect on the precise date on which Member wishes to make payment for the lodging services; and only if it is for the same room type and category, same Hotel, same dates and same number of children and adults; including taxes and extra charges.

c. Roll Back:
If Member finds a lower Acceptable Rate after the reservation is fully paid, Member should notify the Members Services and Reservations Center in writing (same room type and category, same Hotel, same dates and same number of children and adults; including taxes and extra charges), at least 48 hours before check in date, so that Mediator can apply the 25% (twenty-five percent) Discount in the new Acceptable Rate and refund the difference between the amount paid by Member and the Acceptable Rate less the 25% (twenty-five percent) discount. 

It's important to understand who the Mediator is and isn't. That knowledge will help establish the  relationships among the various other players in the "Unlimited Vacation Club." The common definition of "mediator" is not what the contract term "Mediator" means. The "Mediator" is the party with which members execute their UVC contract.  "Mediator" is defined in the first paragraph on page 7 of 44 of the contract to be two Panamanian corporate entities and an individual representing those corporations: 

UVC GLOBAL PANAMA, S. de R.L. AND UVC SALES PANAMA, S. DE R.L., REPRESENTED  BY ERICK GILDARDO JIMENEZ ORTIZ (HEREINAFTER REFERRED COLLECTIVELY TO AS "MEDIATOR")

Significantly, neither the "Unlimited Vacation Club," as that term is defined in the contract, nor Hyatt, nor Hyatt's UVC predecessor, ALG, is a contracting party.  As defined in the Antecedents on page 7 of 44 of the contract, what members know as the "Unlimited Vacation Club" is not even a corporate entity; it's an indistinct term for a "network" of the Mediator's suppliers.

Mediator has organized a network of service Suppliers named "Unlimited Vacation Club" to ensure that its members receive the Discounts by means of a membership number given to them when they sign the Contract.

The Mediator is the entity with which members have executed their contract. The Unlimited Vacation Club is a network of suppliers assembled by the Mediator. Those suppliers have agreed to provide UVC members with the discounts and benefits described in the contract.

The Mediator's Panamanian corporate entities were part of Hyatt's purchase of ALG in 2021, and at one time, Hyatt owned them. In February 2024, Hyatt sold an 80% stake in those corporate entities to an unnamed buyer but retained control of the network of suppliers through a long-term management agreement. Currently, Hyatt is the manager of the Mediator's network of suppliers with a 20% ownership interest in the Mediator's corporate entities. As is common in the shadowy world of vacation clubs and timeshares, you have to dig deep at UVC to figure out who you're dealing with and what role they play.

The processes described in the contract language above is what the Mediator and members have agreed to use to obtain the club's price matching benefit. Unfortunately for members, the actual process enforced at UVC is more restrictive, and less valuable, than what the Mediator and members have agreed to.

This is the price matching process explained in the FAQs on the Members' website under the "Reservations" dropdown.

HOW DO I PRICE MATCH TO OBTAIN THE BEST AVAILABLE RATE?

Send a screenshot or attachment of where you obtained the lower rate to memberservices@unlimitedvacationclub.com. Be sure to include the website, hotel, travel dates, number of guests (please specify adults and children), room type, total price (including taxes). Please make sure to include the time and date in your screen shot. After the email is sent, please give us a call.

Sample of a price matching screen shot.

Terms & Conditions

The rate must be a public rate and therefore you cannot be logged on as a member of the travel website. No transfers or flights may be included in the total price. No additional bonus or discount may be applied.

Please make sure to include the date/time on your screen shot (menu task bar) at the bottom right hand corner of your print screen as price matches are only authorized 24-48 hours after the print screen is taken. Must send print screen at least 48 hours prior to your travel date, otherwise, they will not be accepted. Once you have submitted your price match, you will receive a confirmation email that your price match has been applied prior to your travel date.

The website where you obtain your price match must be from the same country where you reside. Price Match Guarantee does not apply to Government and Military rates, AARP rates, AAA rates, and Promotional codes.

Price matches are not accepted for mobile offers or from tablets.

Applicable price matching websites for all members: Hyattinclusivecollection.com, Travel Impressions / Alaska Vacations, American Airline Vacations, Booking.com, Bookit.com, Cheap Caribbean.com, Classic Vacations, Delta Vacations, Expedia.com, GOGO Worldwide Vacations, Hotels.com, Jetblue Getaway Vacations, Mexico Unlimited, Orbitz.com, Pleasant Holidays, Priceline.com, Spirit Airline Vacations, Travelocity.com, US Airway Vacations, Vacation Express, Funjet Vacations

This process is the best you can hope for from UVC when you call for a price match. Members in my Facebook groups regularly complain that the person who answers the phone at the call center adds even more restrictions to what's needed and what's acceptable for approval of a price match.

The day-to-day operation of UVC is run by an outfit called GBS International (GBS). Their name appears in the 2019 contract linked above on page 20 of 44.

I acknowledge that UVC Global Panama, S. de R.L. and UVC Sales Panama, S. de R.L., has appointed GBS International, domiciled at 9450 Sunset Drive Miami, Florida 33173, USA, to handle collection of the Total Price indicated on the Contract Cover Page and/or amount owed under the Promissory Note. 

GBS is a supplier in the Mediator's network of suppliers. GBS handles the functions that require direct contact with members, among them: monthly billing for contract payments, payment of renewal fees, resort reservations, TPU deposits to member RCI accounts, and price match confirmations. GBS provides similar services for other vacation clubs and several timeshare resorts.  When a UVC member dials the call center, they talk to a GBS employee. As of this writing, in March 2026, GBS is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has a BBB Rating of "F".

There are some important differences between the price matching process described in the FAQs and what the 2019 contract linked above shows the Mediator and members have agreed to:

1.  The FAQs state that the rate submitted "must be a public rate and therefore you cannot be logged on as a member of the travel website" (emphasis added), but there's no mention of that restriction in the contract. The contract says simply, "Guests will have a 25% (twenty-five percent) discount on all available Participating Hotel rates ("Acceptable Rate")" (emphasis added). 

If a website is on the list of Authorized Tour Operators, members should be allowed to price match all available rates offered on that website.  That's what the contract tells us, but that's not what GBS enforces. GBS won't let members price match to their WoH account or any other membership that sells travel (e.g. Costco). The words of the contract tell us that members can price match to all available rates on an authorized third-party site. Limiting price matches to "public rates" is not what members and the Mediator have agreed to. It is what GBS enforces on behalf of the Mediator.

2. The FAQs state that "price matches are authorized only 24-48 hours after the print screen is taken". There is no language in the contract that authorizes UVC to limit price match approvals to 24-48 hours after the screenshot is taken. The Roll Back language in the contract (quoted above) does prevent price match requests from being submitted less than 48 hours before the start of a reservation, but that's not the restriction the FAQs are putting on the process. The FAQs are saying even if you're six months in advance of your reservation, and you find a price on Monday that is less than your current reservation price with the 25% discount applied and take an otherwise acceptable screenshot of the price, but you wait until Thursday to submit it, GBS won't approve it. Nothing in the contract allows that. The practice enforced by GBS is more restrictive than the process described in the contract.

3. The second- and third-to-last paragraphs in the FAQs place further restrictions on price matches beyond what the contract stipulates:

• The website where you obtain your price match must be from the same country where you reside.
• Price Match Guarantee does not apply to Government and Military rates, AARP rates, AAA rates, and Promotional codes.
• Price matches are not accepted for mobile offers or from tablets.

None of these restrictions are included in the language members have agreed to with the Mediator to be the price matching process. All of them are more limiting than what the contract requires for an acceptable price match. Despite all of that, these are the rules that GBS enforces for UVC on behalf of the Mediator.

The contract language quoted above tells us the purpose of the Mediator's Unlimited Vacation Club is to ensure "that its members receive the(ir) Discounts".  I'm not sure how the Mediator is complying with this when it demands members work with a GBS that adds its own rules to the price matching process that make the process more difficult and less valuable. More and more in Hyatt's UVC, it seems like UVC is doing the opposite of what they're supposed to do. UVC is denying members the discounts they're entitled to.

The contract, not the FAQs, is what members and the Mediator have agreed to. The FAQs process has been foisted on members by Hyatt's UVC, irrespective of contract language, and it's reduced the value of the price matching benefit. The club would be more valuable to members if the contract language was enforced without the supplemental restrictions added to the process by the FAQs in Hyatt's UVC.

Membership Suspended!

We interrupt this blog for a special message from the Unlimited Vacation Club:
Apparently, suspending accounts is one thing Hyatt's UVC does well. Immediately after receiving this email, I tried to log in to the members' website and got this message:

I wish Hyatt could run the rest of the club as efficiently! 

I looked, and I looked, and I looked but I couldn't find any language in my contract that allows UVC to suspend my membership. They can terminate it in the event of a breach, but that isn't what Fabiola said happened. She said my membership has been suspended, not terminated.  If that's the case, by what authority is UVC denying me access to my account?

In the 2019 contract you'll find here, the words "suspend", "suspended", "suspending" and "suspension" appear 14 times but only in the RCI terms and conditions from pages 31 to 41. In drafting my UVC contract, UVC has given itself no contractual right to suspend a membership. They can terminate a contract for a number of reasons, but they've given themselves no contractual authority to suspend a membership. They do it anyway. The review of my case by UVC's arbitration department, alleged to be ongoing in Fabiola's email, can proceed without a suspension of my account access. That's what the contract seems to anticipate in cases like mine. Hyatt's UVC doesn't care.

In the 2019 contract linked above, you'll read in the Seventh paragraph of Exhibit A (pg 14 of 44): 

Discounts and Suppliers will be available to Member as of the Contract Activation Date and continue as long as: i) Supplier affiliation continues to exist; and ii) Member is current on the payment of all fees and charges.

Contractually, only two things need to happen for me to use my club benefits: 1) the resort must remain affiliated with UVC (that is, it continues to operate with an AMResorts brand); and, 2) my annual renewal fee must be paid. My renewal fee was timely paid in February. That renewal payment is supposed to give me a year's access to my membership. Hyatt's UVC is now denying me that access without any contractual authority to do so.

In Hyatt's UVC it doesn't matter what the contract says. They're going to do what they're going to do irrespective of their agreement with members. Hyatt's UVC has usurped yet another right for itself, the right to suspend a membership, that the contract doesn't allow them.

The email from Fabiola cites the Thirteenth paragraph of the contract which does prohibit me from sharing Confidential Information from my contract (which I don't do) and gives UVC the right to terminate for breach if I do. The Thirteenth paragraph in the 2019 contract linked above (pg 9 of 44) reads:

THIRTEENTH. CONFIDENTIALITY AND PERSONAL INFORMATION.
Member will not disclose the "Confidential Information" (as this term is defined further on herein) to anyone else. This provision will remain in force until after the termination of this Contract. This Contract and its Exhibits will be considered as Confidential Information, as well as any other material which Member obtains or receives from the Mediator in relation to: (1) rates, benefits, discounts and promotions from Suppliers or Mediator; (2) sales, marketing and business methods, list of Member requirements and any other information related to Suppliers or Mediator. Any breach of this condition will result in immediate termination of this Contract. (emphasis added)

I don't quote from my contract in this blog. I've only quoted from the 2019 Tate contract. I don't know how UVC can consider the Tate contract to be Confidential Information when it's available online to anyone with an internet connection and a  browser.

I objected to my suspension the same day Fabiola advised me of it:

So let's recap. 

I began this blog after Hyatt's UVC started denying me access to some AMResorts branded properties despite contract language that tells me I can use club benefits at all AMResorts brands. My contract is written similarly to the 2019 contract linked above:

 

Currently, there are eight resorts operating with AMResorts brands that Hyatt's UVC refuses to allow me to book with club benefits:

1. Secrets La Romana Resort & Spa
2. Dreams La Romana Resort & Spa
3. Dreams Rose Hall
4. Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen
5. Sunscape Cancun
6. AluaSoul Sunny Beach
7. Alua Calas de Mallorca Resort
8. AluaSoul Costa Adeje

Note: Normally, I'd verify that all eight of these properties are still being denied to UVC members by checking the UVC inventory on the members' website prior to posting, but because of my suspension, I no longer have access to the members' website. The last time I checked, probably a couple months ago, all eight of these properties were being denied members.

Hyatt's UVC has refused all my inquiries about why they were violating my contract and what their long-term vision is for the club. I've been met with contempt in the Official UVC Facebook group. I've met bumbling in the forms of Rosie and Luis in the UVC QA department (Remember Luis? I haven't heard from him since August 2025. I wonder how he's doing.), and I've encountered stone walls in the forms of Javier and Rodrigo in Hyatt's executive offices. Through it all, I'm no smarter about why Hyatt's UVC is behaving the way it is, when they'll stop violating my contract, and what their plans are for the future of the club. Remember, this is a club I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on. When it denies me benefits I'm entitled to under my contract, I feel entitled to some answers. 

Without any other effective options for demanding contract compliance or getting the conversation on the future of UVC I want, I started this blog to alert unsuspecting, prospective new club members of what they're in store for when they sign a contract to join Hyatt's UVC.

Now, as a result of the blog, UVC has suspended my account without any contractual authority to do so, they've denied me access to the members' website in violation of the Seventh paragraph of Exhibit A, and they've accused me of releasing Confidential Information from a UVC contract that's not mine and is already available to anyone with an internet connection and a web browser. 

“When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!”

                                                             — Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , Lewis Carroll

We'll see where this goes, but if you couldn't tell already, I was feeling pretty done with Hyatt and UVC by the time I started this blog.

We'll return to our normal blog programming next week.

Is That 25% Discount on Inclusive Collection Resorts Real?

There are a number of other benefits to UVC, but the main benefit is what UVC tells us is a 25% discount on Inclusive Collection resorts. UVC members pay a lot of money to get that discount. However, Hyatt's other loyalty program, World of Hyatt (WoH), gives its members a 6% (+/-) discount on all Hyatt properties, including, as far as I can tell, every resort in the UVC inventory. WoH is free to join. Just visit hyatt.com, provide your email address, and you'll become a WoH member. Giving "free" 6% discounts to anyone with an email address effectively reduces UVC members' discount from 25% to 19%. The first 6% of my UVC discount I get anyway because I'm a WoH member. 

ALG didn't have a second loyalty program that offered partial discounts to a different loyalty group. When ALG told its UVC members they got a 25% discount, they actually got 25% off the price ALG charged everyone else. Because of the free partial discounts Hyatt gives its WoH members, the 25% discount that Hyatt claims UVC members get is now just a mirage. It's really more like a 19% discount. 

I did a price comparison of various room categories in a random selection of thirteen UVC resorts on December 10, 2025. The prices I got were for 2 adults and 0 children traveling March 1-8, 2026. 

The first two columns show the resort and room category I was pricing. The third column shows the full price (undiscounted) for the room on hyatt.com. The fourth column shows the WoH members' rate (with WoH discount). The fifth column shows the UVC rate obtained from the UVC members' website.

Column six shows the discount WoH members get for joining World of Hyatt. The average discount at these thirteen properties was 6.7%; that is, if you book the room as a World of Hyatt member, the price you pay averages 6.7% less than the full rate charged to non-members.  Remember, joining World of Hyatt is free. You only need to provide Hyatt an email address, and probably agree to receive their marketing emails, to get the reduced WoH rate. There may be a reason why someone wouldn't join World of Hyatt when faced with that incentive, but I'll bet the vast majority of travelers do provide their email address and join World of Hyatt to get the hundreds of dollars of savings on their reservation World of Hyatt offers.  Almost everyone booking through hyatt.com is booking at the World of Hyatt members' price. UVC, however, doesn't allow its members to apply their 25% discount to the World of Hyatt members' price. UVC's "25%  discount" applies only to the full, non-members', rate.

The last column shows the discount UVC members receive off the WoH price. That's the "extra" discount UVC members get by buying into UVC. In this thirteen-resort sample, the extra discount averages 19.9% off the price anyone with an email address can get.  WoH members pay nothing to get their 6.7% discount; UVC members pay thousands to get that additional 19.9% discount.  In my view,19.9% is still a significant discount, but it's not the 25% discount your UVC salesman will tell you UVC members get. Until UVC members can price match to the rates offered in their own WoH account, they'll never have a 25% discount like they did in ALG's UVC.

You'll probably hear from your salesperson that the 25% discount applies to any price you find even after you book a reservation. That's false on both counts. It isn't a 25% discount (as shown above), and you won't be allowed to apply the discount to any price you find online. 

In this UVC contract, the language on the 25% discount benefit is found on page 15: 

a. Acceptable Rate: 
Guests will have a 25% (twenty-five percent) discount on all available Participating Hotel rates ("Acceptable Rate"). Said rates can be viewed at  www.unlimitedvacationclub.com as well as on the webpages of all Tour Operators listed in this section ("Authorized Tour Operators"). It is understood that the rates published at www.unlimitedvacationclub.com already include the 25% (twenty-five percent) discount and the "All-Inclusive" rate, however they do not include flights or ground transfers.  Minimum stay duration at Participating Hotels is two (2) nights.

At time of signature, this is the list of Authorized Tour Operators, this list may be modified without prior notice: (emphasis added)

AMResorts Hotels websites, Apple Vacations, Travel Impressions / Alaska Vacations, American Airline Vacations, Booking.com, Bookit.com, Cheap Caribbean.com, Classic Vacations, Delta Vacations, Expedia.com, GOGO Worldwide Vacations, Hotels.com, Jetblue Getaway Vacations, Mexico Unlimited, Orbitz.com, Pleasant Holidays, Priceline.com, Spirit Airline Vacations, Travelocity.com,  US Airway Vacations, Vacation Express, / Bestday.com (México), Booking.com (México), Hoteles.com (México), Pricetravel.com (México) / Sunwing Vacations (Canada), Signature Vacations (Canada), Holiday House (Canada),  Air Canada Vacations (Canada), Sunquest (Canada), Vacance Air Transat (Canada), West Jet Vacations (Canada), RedTag.ca (Canada), Expedia.ca (Canada), Booking.ca (Canada) / First Choice Holidays (UK), Virgin Holidays LTD (UK), British Airways Holidays (UK), Expedia.com (Europe) / Pricetravel.com (South America), Despegar.com (South America), Expedia.com (South America), Funjet Vacations.

Members get a discount on only UVC's approved websites. As highlighted above, UVC holds complete dominion over the list of approved websites. Even before Hyatt purchased ALG, the list of "Authorized Tour Operators" (a defined term in the contract meaning those websites where members can apply their 25% discount) changed regularly. If an approved website starts offering pricing that UVC doesn't want to compete with, that website is simply removed from the list of "Authorized Tour Operators." Once that happens, members can't use that site to apply their 25% discount. Since we joined UVC in 2019, the 25% discount, such as it is, hasn't ever been allowed to be applied to any price you find online.

The contract linked above is from 2019. The current list of "Authorized Tour Operators," is maintained on the UVC members' website in the Reservations section:

Applicable price matching websites for all members: 

Hyattinclusivecollection.com, Travel Impressions / Alaska Vacations, American Airline Vacations, Booking.com, Bookit.com, Cheap Caribbean.com, Classic Vacations, Delta Vacations, Expedia.com, GOGO Worldwide Vacations, Hotels.com, Jetblue Getaway Vacations, Mexico Unlimited, Orbitz.com, Pleasant Holidays, Priceline.com, Spirit Airline Vacations, Travelocity.com, US Airway Vacations, Vacation Express, Funjet Vacations

Additional price matching websites available to members residing in specified location:

• Members residing in Mexico: Bestday.com, Booking.com, Hoteles.com, Pricetravel.com
• Members residing in Canada: Sunwing Vacations, Signature Vacations, Holiday House, Air Canada Vacations, Sunquest, Vacance Air Transat, West Jet Vacations, RedTag.ca, Expedia.ca, Booking.ca
• Members residing in the UK: First Choice Holidays, Virgin Holidays LTD, British Airways Holidays, Tui.co.uk
• Members residing in the EU: Expedia.com
• Members residing in the South America: Pricetravel.com, Despegar.com, Expedia.com

Note that three of the currently authorized websites, hyattinclusivecollection.com,  CheapCaribbean.com, and Funjet Vacations, are Hyatt companies. Those sites don't offer prices for Inclusive Collection reservations that are competitive with UVC's prices.  It's probably a mistake if a member finds pricing on one of those three authorized websites that, with the 25% discount applied, is better than what's offered on the UVC members' website. Hyatt directly controls the pricing on all those websites.

Additionally, over the years, UVC has developed a list of other price matching rules they demand members comply with before they'll approve a price match. Most of those rules are more restrictive than the language in our contracts. I'll post more on price matching next week.

Like so many other things you'll hear from your UVC salesperson when being pitched to join the club, the actual price matching benefit you get as a UVC member is not as good as it's presented.