How do I get modrewrite to ENTIRELY ignore the /vip/ directory so that all requests pass directly to the folder?
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^vip/.$ - [PT]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
See also How do I ignore a directory in mod_rewrite? -- reposting because I wasn't sufficiently clear about the problem first time around.