I Upgraded to Rent the Runway Unlimited and Here Are My Thoughts
This past summer I wrote about trying Rent the Runway’s monthly membership. I originally signed up for their Update plan which is the basic plan where you can rent 4 items for one month. I enjoyed it so much I decided to take the plunge and upgrade to their premium Unlimited plan. I have been on using the Unlimited membership for about three months now and wanted to give you my thought about it and how it compares to the Upgrade plan.
First off let me start by saying that at $159 (plus tax) Unlimited is nearly double the price of Upgrade. It’s an expensive membership. But what sets it apart from Upgrade and what makes me feel like it’s a better deal is the “unlimited” aspect of the membership itself. With Upgrade you get 4 items total for 30 days at the renewal date of your membership you can send those items back and pick 4 new items. With Unlimited you can swap out as often as you’d like in that 30 day period.
Now, I have put this claim to the test a bit and while yes - in theory you can swap as often as you’d like in the three months I have been on the plan the highest number of swaps I have been about to do is 3. Which isn’t bad but I think it could be better if RTR’s shipping worked a bit more efficiently. What I mean by that is that when I return my items to a UPS drop-off I have to wait 3-4 days for RTR to receive the items before I can select new items and then wait another 3 days to receive those. It would be lovely if RTR had a way of allowing you to select new items once UPS has scanned and shipped your return. We do have an RTR store in my city which I have utilized once and once the items are scanned at the store location you can immediately select new pieces. And that’s great. But most people don’t live in a major city with an RTR store (and I personally can’t utilize the store all that often as it isn’t in a convenient location for me whereas there is a UPS store is down the street from my office).
Additionally, like with Update it can often feel like the pickings are slim. Often times the things that I have Favorited are not available to be rented when I want them. Which is a bummer. Rent the Runway has tons of options so I always find something, but it’s a bit disappointing when you have your heart set on a particular item and it’s not available. And like I stated in my Update review, if you are looking to use Rent the Runway Reserve - which is the service RTR is famous for where you rent an item for a specific date for either 4 days or 7 days you get a 20% discount - but you still have to pay for the rental itself. It would be nice if Unlimited members got one free Reserve rental a month.
Overall, despite a few issues, I have been really enjoying my membership. What I have loved most about it is that it has curbed my desire to shop quite a bit. I get bored easily with clothing and like having nice pieces to wear once or twice and then ship back for something new. And if you really like an item RTR gives a 10-50% off discount on items (depending on the item) you currently have at home. And you don’t have to send back all 4 items at once. If you really like a piece or two and want to wear them a few more times, you simply ship back the other two items and pick two more. This allows for a lot of flexibility in trying new things and keeping your wardrobe fresh and exciting and it’s why I do think it’s worth the $159. For me, I look at what I used to spend on clothing in a month to two month period and it was more than $159. To be able to try 4-12 new items a month is a great deal.
