resort credit question....

hey all
can anyone tell me....... on what exactly can the $500 resrot credit be used on.........my fiance and i recently booked our wedding for may 7th 2011 at couples swpet away, and have many guests attending (at least 30) and recieving this credit...but i along with them would like to know ...besides the spa and the gift shop where can this credit be used.....our travel agent was not 100% sure if it could be used on excursions offered through the resort booked at the concierge or tour desk....???....can anyone help us out....we would apppreciate any in-put, or any type of list that can be put together so our guests can make plans on where they can spend the credit and or if they need to bring along extrat money for "other" expences........

thanks...!!

Your booking is for 2011, then you can use it on anything you can charge to your room. You can book private dinners, excursions, spa, anything.

Basically anything that can be charged to your room can be part of your $500. resort credit including outside excursions, giftshop charges, spa charges & private dinners

This of course is different then the $500. credit for bookings for 2010 that qualify for the credit. In 2010 if only can be applied to spa charges and gift shop charges

You can use the credit for anything that can be charged to your room... and anything can be charged to your room. This includes excursions booked through the Tour Desk.

A word of advice for your party... they should still bring some cash for incidentals incurred, such as tips for non-Couples employees (baggage handlers at the airport, transfer driver, etc.) or for what you do off-campus while on excursions.

The spa and the gift shop were the only places we were allowed to use our credit. Use it and get a couples massage at least once! Its totally worth it and one of the greatest things you can do to help relax at the beginning of your stay. We also had one the morning of our wedding.

beacher5778,

The $500 resort credit is limited to the spa and gift shop as it's stated that it can only be used on items that can be charged to the room. That would eliminate excursions since you have to pay for those and they are not able to be charged to the room. Congratulations on the wedding!!!

Bart & Bug

it can be used on anything that can be charged to your room.

We are so excited about the resort credit also! We were planning on using it for a private dinner and night diving as well as the spa. I think you can use it for anything that can be charged to your room.

As Shandi (Andi Conway, Director of Sales and Marketing) put it in the Early Escapes description back at the beginning of February, "if you can charge it to your room, the credit will apply." AS you know, that means spa and gift shop. It would also include the fee for connecting to an off site or long distance call and purchasing pictures from the resort photographer. What it would NOT include is the price for non-included excursions. These are booked through a non-Couples company and would require extra cash or a credit card.

Yes. you can use the credit towards the excursions offered at the Guest Services desk of your resort.

As the original poster has probably noted, there seems to be quite a disparity in the answers given to this point. I could spend quite a bit of time trying to find it, but I did ask the question in another posting, hoping for a definitive answer from either Randymon or Seandimon, which they did provide.

Regarding the $500 room credit incentive for 2011 travel (offer has expired, I believe), one of them (Randy or Sean) responded that this DID include off-site excursions arranged at the resort tour desk. If you arrange it on your own... not so much.

For your own comfort, I'd recommend searching for it here on the MB... its somewhere waaaaaaaaayyyyy down there.

Ok... I looked anyway... and found it... from early February...

"All Couples Resorts are on a cashless system now. That is, you cannot pay as-you-go for anything during your stay. Upon checkout you will be presented with a bill that includes anything you charged to your room. The $500 resort credit may be used to pay off these charges. If you do not purchase $500 worth of goods or services, there is no refund or credit after your departure.

I hope this helps. Bottomline - spend the $500 credit while you are at the property. Spa, gift shop, offsite excursions, telephone bill, Manager's Wine list, PADI certification... You should not have any problem finding ways to spend this credit."
__________________
Randy Russell
Chief Romance Officer and Senior Vice President
Couples Resorts

Just to let you know, I contacted Couples directly just to be sure what can and cannot be chraged to the room, and therefore can be used with the credit.
Yes, the spa and gift shops for sure, but also telephone calls and wine list and private dinners. However, exclusions are NOT chargable to the room and cannot be used.
We will definitely use ours for the spa and for special wines at dinner. I found the house wine to be not great at CSA last time.
Also, I inquired about staying 14 nights (whether at one resort or doing a split), and no, you do not get the $500 credit twice. It's just once per stay, which is ok, as spending a grand at a resort with so much included would have us in the spa all the time! lol

It seems some people are confused between the 20120 $500 credit and the @2011 $500. creit
To be honest I was confused myself until Randymon explained it

2010- SPA and Giftshop credit only

2011- Anything that can be charged to your room including all that is mentioned in the previous posts

To get either $500 credit you had to book your trip before a certain date which for 2010 has already past. I am not sure when it ends for 2011 bookings

You can use it for scuba too. We are PADI certified but want to go farther and get the open water certification. Since that can be charged to the room we are going to do that when we go to CSS in 2011 rather than when we go back to CSA in Oct. It will save us a couple hundred dollars so that's cool.

thank you all for the information .... but i am afraid now with all of the wonderful posts i am a bit more confused, everyone seems to be on a different page ..... how is it possible that randymon says one thing and couples says something completely different in regards to this ... i do have to admit, i really do hope the excursions can be taken care of with the $500 resort credit ... i know that would make my guests very happy as some of them will not use the spa or the wine list thing ... which would mean they have to use all $500 in the gift shop ... maybe i should email couples with the post from randymon and see what they have to say ...
thank you all again ... !!!

Your trip will be in 2011. In 2011 the $500. credit is good for anything charged to your room.

When we booked a split between CSS and CN, we were told we have the $500 credit for both resorts for a total of $1000. I would like to know if that is true.

There does seem to be some confusion and conflicting replies about what the credit can and cannot be spent on, and also whether or not go get the %500 twice for either a split 7/7 stay or 14 nights at one resort.
That's why I emailed the resort about our stay end of 2010/early 2011 (that deal starts Dec.26). I just wanted to know exactly what the scoop was so we didn't have any expectations that wouldn't be met.

This is from Sean Russell regarding what the %500 credit can be used for:

"The $500 dollar credit can be used at the gift shop, the spa, the logo store, to make phone calls…basically anything that is charged back to the room. The not included excursions are not charged to the room, so it can't be used towards that."

This is from Sean Russell regarding getting the %500 credit twice:
"It is one credit per trip, and a split stay counts as one trip."

I'm fine with those replies. Don't take this as complaining. I just think that everyone should be getting the same answers so they aren't let down when they get to the resort with expectations that won't be met.

Randymon, are you reading? If so, can you respond to this for everyone?

I am *so* confused. Could we please get a moderator's clarification?

We booked a split trip and were told the same. When you change resorts it IS a separate booking and as long as it is 7 days minimum, you get the credit for both resorts.
This was also confirmed on the "early escapes" post a while back by people who got the 2010 credit when they booked in 2009.
Also the offer for 2011 has not expired. It is extended to June 30th.

We booked for two weeks. One week at CN, one at CSS. Our reservations show a $500 resort credit at both of the resorts. When you book more than one resort, each resort is considered a separate booking, so yes you do get $500 at each resort as long as each booking is for 7 nights or more at each resort.

The outside excursions booked THROUGH the resort ARE charged to your room. If you arrange for an excursion yourself (ie not through the resort), then you pay directly for that excursion it can NOT be charged to your room.

The resort credit for 2010 was $500 just for the gift shop and spa...only!

The 2011 resort credit is for ANYTHING that is charged to your room. This DOES include excursions booked THROUGH the resort.

Hopefully that makes a little more sense.

Perhaps Randymon or Seandymon can back us up so the confusion can be eliminated.

I think some clarification would be appreciated, although it doesn't really answer the initial question. I think the biggest thing that people are confused about is off-site excursions. I do know that when we received a credit for a booking special on our last trip, it was quite specific in that we got $150 gift shop and $350 spa credit. I do like that it was specific insofar as we knew what we could and could not do, but I very much appreciate what seems like greater flexibility with the new credits (which we will be receiving on our 2011 trip).

I guess my first instinct would be to say don't sweat it. I understand you have guests coming in, and your family (and soon-to-be family) is likely peppering you with questions, just tell them it's a freebie, and you'll sort it out when you get there. I think it's undisputed that you can use the credit for dives, private dinners, phone calls, spa treatments, gift shop purchases, and anything on the actual resort (with the probable exception of on-site craftsmen or vendors). Just ask for some clarification upon check-in, and I'm sure you will have a definitive answer.

Congratulations on your wedding, btw. My husband and I were married at CSS in '07, and though we only had about 10 guests total, we have absolutely no regrets on the destination wedding.

Please see my previous posts that explains that there is a difference from the $500 credit you get with 2010 stay and the $500 credit you get for 2011 stays.

For 2011 stays if you book an offsite excursion thru the tour desk you can use your credit, but not for 2010 stays. 2010 stays the credit is only for SPA treatments and Giftshop charges

Well Rich, I was very clear in my email to Couples that it was for a 2011 booking, yet I was told that the credit could NOT be used for excursions as they cannot be charged to your room. That is what I was told. I was also told that it is one credit per stay, so I don't know why people have been told they will get 2 $500 credits for a split stay. That's not what I was told at all.

Clearly different staff from Couples are telling people different things. I wish they would clarify already!