DRI Points

[camilleobrien Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close camilleobrien]

Hello I am new to this form and am thankful for any help. I own 4 weeks at the Carriage House in Las Vegas and Diamond has purchased 30% of it's ownership. I would like to become a Diamond Club member, I was told that to be a FULL Diamond Club member I could but it would require me buying 2500 points for $8100.00 + $209.00 base fee,+ $299.00 club fee + $306.75 (.1227 fee per point)

I was also given the option to become a Club Select member but was informed that it has lots of restrictions when booking.

Can anyone please give me some advice?

Thank you,
Camille in Seattle

[dcwojo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dcwojo]

$8100 plus fees is pricey. How many points would you be given for the weeks at the carriage house?

[camilleobrien Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close camilleobrien]

Helpunderstanding - Diamond Points cost for Club Membership Thanks

Thank you for your reply. I just can not see the value there for the cost. I do really like the "known quantity" and level of accommodations that Diamond offers is one that I can count on being a quality I will accept. It seems some times when I trade with II, it has become more like a "crap shoot" and you never know what you will get and when you get some of these accommodations the pictures purport a whole different story than what is really there and then once you are "there" you are stuck pretty much with undesirable accommodation.
Here is what is offered.

First Option – You would purchase points and become a full Diamond Club Member. You would be required to purchase the minimum number of points, 2,500, which would cost approximately $8,150. You would be given 12,000-19,000 points (depending on seasonality) for your two 1-bds, and your two 2-bds Carriage House weeks, resulting in 14,500-21,500 points. You would retain the deeds to the weeks. We would have a sales person contact you that would already know you are being offered the lowest price available, no high pressure sales pitch. Your annual cost thereafter would be the cost of your CH maintenance fees (paid to CH) + $209 base fee + 299 Club Fee + $306.75 (.1227 fee per point) for 2,500 points. There are no exchange fees. The Club membership includes an I.I. membership. If you book outside the Diamond Club to I.I., exchange fees would apply. This is the option I would recommend (I promise, I don’t get a commission), simply because you would be a full Club Member and have access to everything that the Club has to offer. I think that from an annual cost perspective, it would be fairly equal. Additionally, if you plan your vacations in advance, (and you seem like a planner) you have the opportunity to travel for more than four weeks, plus have the flexibility of shorter stays.

Second Option – We could offer you a Club Select Membership, but this is not a full Club Membership. It does not include many of the benefits of the Club, including an I.I. membership therefore, you would need to retain your current I.I. membership if you book outside of the Diamond Club. You would be given 12,000-19,000 points for your Carriage House weeks. Carriage House does not have an affiliation agreement with Diamond therefore this offer is unique. My concern when program exceptions are made is that you could experience challenges, which can translate to potential booking problems in the future. While I love the idea of you becoming a Diamond Club Member, there is a potential that you would become frustrated when trying to book, leaving a bad impression of Diamond.

Thanks you again,
Camille

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

Camille, I am a DRI member. There are many things to consider. The II issue you have with the crapshoot will be the same with any exchange system even with DRI. I would suggest that you come to our DRI owners site on Facebook. We can provide you with the type of information you need to make a more informed decision. We are all DRI owners and will provide you with some talking points with the salesman. Don't worry about being in a hurry, because whatever deal they are trying to give you today will be there tomorrow. Don't feel any pressure to do anything quickly. Come to Facebook and look up the group Diamond Resorts Members. I will accept you and ask away. We will all chime in. We have about 450 DRI members from accross the world. We'll chime in and give you some of our experience and strategies if you wish to go into DRI.

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

The price for that few points is to high. I do not thinks that you could trade back into your resort with that small number of points for a full week even in low season.

Can you ask the sale person how many points you would need to trade back into your resort of ask a DRI member to give you an eample how many points you need for a low period week and a peak demand week.

[dcwojo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dcwojo]

If possible have some one show you a points value chart for the weeks you own to verify the info from the DRI salespeople. I have had my share of issues with DRI salespeople. Some have very little knowledge of what they are selling. Others are extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
DRI maintenance fees were a shock when they took over for sunterra, but the improvements in service and the resorts was more than worth it to me. My situation make the club membership fantastic. I am able to maximize my points by booking last minute deals at reduced points. The club select is also a valuable tool for me. Last night I went on to see what inventory was new and was able to book a 1 bedroom in Key west for January 2014. If you convert play with the system and learn to use it.

[camilleobrien Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close camilleobrien]

Thank you for the offer of Facebook but I have chosen to not be on facebook and there for can not access it unless you can tell me how to with out signing up.

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

To the OP have you try to access Diamond web site. I think you can pull up The Club points information.
Here is what I found for a studio. There are only two season at the resort High & Peak Season.
Studio max/private occupany 2/2 there is no low or mid season only high season 3,500 points per week: weeks 1-12,15-26,26-47 59-51
Peak season 4,000 points... the weeks are 13-14, 27, 48 & 52

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

Thank you for the offer of Facebook but I have chosen to not be on facebook and there for can not access it unless you can tell me how to with out signing up.

Camilleobrien, I am sorry for getting back to you so late. I want to let you know that from what you have written above, this seems to be a bad deal with option one. First, I don't know what season you own with your deeded weeks. However, as mentioned earlier, DRI has only two seasons high and peak. Peak season is like New Years, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and July 4th weeks. Those are prime dates. High season is all other weeks in Las Vegas for this resort. If you own weeks that allow you those peak seasons or for that matter even for the high season, you will be getting less than what you have now. You have 2 one bedrooms and 2 two bedrooms. For the high season a one bedroom is 5,000 points so for two one bedrooms that is 10,000 points. For a two bedroom during high season DRI requires 8,000 points. So you will need 16,000 points to stay in your 2 two bedroom units. If you now have access to peak season weeks, then DRI requires more points. You would need 6,000 for a one bedroom for a week and since you have 2 one bedrooms you would need 12,000 points. For the two bedroom you would need 9,000 points, so for 2 two bedrooms you would need to have 18,000 points for a week during peak time. Thus, if you already have access to peak season with your deed and can stay at Carriage House from week 1 through week 52 then you would need DRI to make sure you get at least 30,000 points because you would have lost value. If you dn't have access to peak season but you do have access to all of the high season weeks, then you would need a minimum of 26,000 points. Anything less than these numbers is giving you less than you have. Why should you pay over $8000 to get less than what you already own. The first option in my book is not an option. Pay your own II membership and you will save money and your maintenance fees will not be as high. Yes, you will pay an exchange fee but even with DRI you may not be able to exchange into one of their resorts when you desire because some of them are affiliates and have to give access to their owners first.

The second option with Club Select is not good, because again they are offering you less points than already own. I hope this helps you to understand. They should understand too. They won't tell you that but that's the reality. Keep your money until they can give you an equivalent deal.

Again, I am a happy DRI owner, but not an ignorant one.

[camilleobrien Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close camilleobrien]

Thank you for your input. I am not a Las Vegas holiday person and what I am trying to achieve is 4-6 months at the Ka'anapili Beach Club in Maui. I know if I book 60 days or less the point cost per week goes down to almost half. I have to opportunity to purchase on the resale market 30K points for $3,000.00 plus $200.00 close costs. Is there anywhere where I can get points for less? It seems like the maintenance fee is .1227 per point so 30K in points costs $3,681.00 plus Base fee of $209.00 & Club fee of $299.00. I would like to just take over someones points and pay the close cost and maintenance fee. Is this at all possible. Has anyone heard of this type of pricing?
Thanks for all you help,
Camille in Seattle

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

Thank you for your input. I am not a Las Vegas holiday person and what I am trying to achieve is 4-6 months at the Ka'anapili Beach Club in Maui. I know if I book 60 days or less the point cost per week goes down to almost half. I have to opportunity to purchase on the resale market 30K points for $3,000.00 plus $200.00 close costs. Is there anywhere where I can get points for less? It seems like the maintenance fee is .1227 per point so 30K in points costs $3,681.00 plus Base fee of $209.00 & Club fee of $299.00. I would like to just take over someones points and pay the close cost and maintenance fee. Is this at all possible. Has anyone heard of this type of pricing?
Thanks for all you help,
Camille in Seattle

Camille, yes those deals are out there. However, you must make sure that you get points that are in DRI's Hawaii Collection. There are only four DRI resorts in that collection. They are The Point at Poipu, Ka'anapali Beach Club, The Sedonna Summit and Polo Towers. If you buy resale understand that you can only use these four resorts in the collection. You cannot use Interval International. When you buy resale points you will not be in the Club unless you buy half of the number of points you buy resale from DRI direct. So if you wanted to bring 30,000 points into the Club to have full access, DRI would require you to buy 15,000 points from them. Finally, you will not have to be the Club fee since you won't be in the Club with a resale. You will not be able to get any of the "perks" of the Club like redeeming points for airlines fees, cruises, tours, etc. So you will save the $299.00.

The cheapest way buy resale is to go to Redweek, ebay, or Timeshare Users Group and look for resale owners with points in the Hawaii group. Some people are just trying to give them away and you would pay nothing. Just understand the restrictions I gave you above. The other piece that you need to know is that yes, if you wait until 59 days out you can get units for half the points. Understand that there is no guarantee there will be availability at that time especially during peak times during summer or during whale season at the beginning of the year from January until April. I am not saying it's never available because there are times I do see it, but it's not a given and you're talking 4-6 months which is a lot of time. I go to Hawaii quite a bit and to ensure my reservation, I book at 10 months out which is the earliest I can because I belong to the US Collection. So as long as you understand the limitations of resale points and reservations for 60 days out you should be fine. Also, the least amount of points for a room at KBC is 6500 pointd for a 1 bedroom scenic view. So if you were to get it at half points you would need more than 30,000 points for 4-6 months. At half points you would use 3250 points for the one bedroom scenic view. That would give you about 9 weeks/2 months and about 10 days. Also, note that KBC does not have full kitchens in those units. I am not sure if you have been there before or not.

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

When you buy resale points you will not be in the Club unless you buy half of the number of points you buy resale from DRI direct. So if you wanted to bring 30,000 points into the Club to have full access, DRI would require you to buy 15,000 points from them.

This may be your experience or what you were last told. This has not been my experience. I was once told by the COO of DRI that the advertised $2995 THE Club entry fee was always available. That's the amount that they quote and 'waive' when you buy retail. It may take awhile, but supposedly you can get that answer.

[Spence Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Spence]

At half points you would use 3250 points for the one bedroom scenic view. That would give you about 9 weeks/2 months and about 10 days. Also, note that KBC does not have full kitchens in those units. I am not sure if you have been there before or not.

Getting KBC for half points at under 60 days oot is not something you can expect to get and certainly not for multiple weeks.

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

Getting KBC for half points at under 60 days oot is not something you can expect to get and certainly not for multiple weeks.

I made this clear in in my post. There are no guarantees.

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

This may be your experience or what you were last told. This has not been my experience. I was once told by the COO of DRI that the advertised $2995 THE Club entry fee was always available. That's the amount that they quote and 'waive' when you buy retail. It may take awhile, but supposedly you can get that answer.

What I posted is the new reality. Half the points of what you want to bring in the Club must be bought. This is the new reality.