DAE will now charge a Membership fee

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

Just saw on the DAE website they are now going to offer 2 levels of membership. A free and a paid.

I am not sure we are going to have a choice but to pay the fee they way they set it up.

bummer

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Just saw on the DAE website they are now going to offer 2 levels of membership. A free and a paid.

I am not sure we are going to have a choice but to pay the fee they way they set it up.

bummer

This will annoy me no end if I can't get something to use out of them...and now I have to pay a fee for a deposit made 8 months ago?

I'll go wander over in a bit to check this out further....and you may want to ask Fermin about this on the "Ask DAE" forum here.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Gold Advantage 1 Yr Membership $39.00 UPGRADE

Timeshares & Time Share Exchange Service-DAELive.com

For over 12 years Dial An Exchange has been in the business of conducting simple, no hassle exchange services for vacation owners. Over that time we have enjoyed strong growth throughout the globe adding value to the vacation ownership proposition worldwide.

Over the years we have learned a great deal from our members. We are constantly making adjustments, creating new products and offers and have now developed a premium membership option that adds more to your overall vacation ownership value than ever before.

At DAE we believe Vacation Ownership is a lifestyle. A lifestyle filled with travel, recreation and family fun. So when we decided to offer a premium membership package, we knew it had to be easy to use, online friendly, and full of meaningful benefits with significant value. What we came up with is a robust collection of benefits from a variety of partners to compliment your lifestyle most!

Introducing the new Dial An Exchange Gold Advantage program. This premium membership product is designed around the needs and desires of our member base. In building the Gold Advantage product we have created a truly comprehensive set of exchange and vacation lifestyle benefits that compliment the timeshare owner’s way of life. As a Gold Advantage member, you will enjoy benefits such as:

Priority Requests – We take your requests all day long, every day. We match these requests with incoming vacation weeks in the order these requests are received. Now, as a Gold Advantage member you go to the top of the list… the front of the line! So when deposited vacation weeks match your request you will be informed first.

Pricing Advantages - We know that overall cost savings are important to our members and we have also included a pricing advantage for Gold Advantage members:

10% off of every exchange - Get the same great service you are accustomed to as a free member of Dial An Exchange and get a discount on all of your exchange transactions!
10% off of any bonus week purchase – We offer bonus weeks at extremely discounted prices. These are last minute vacation stays (within 60 days of check in) that we make available to Dial An Exchange Members only. Now, Gold Advantage members can take 10% off of any bonus week price as it is listed online at Timeshares & Time Share Exchange Service-DAELive.com!
Advance Notice of Inventory Availability - Gold Advantage Members will have the ability to book new inventory postings for 14 days before it is posted to the general member base. Advance Notice ensures Gold Advantage members get an opportunity to book the newest inventory before it is released to general availability!

Great Lifestyle Benefits – We know you do more than just exchange. You LIVE! You travel on business, for fun, for a week or just a weekend getaway. You go out and have fun for a night or just a day with the family. Because we would like to offer more to our members, we have established partnerships that have enabled us to offer these exciting lifestyle benefits to our Gold Advantage members:

Discounted Cruise Product
DAE has partnered with a travel company that now offers DAE Gold Advantage Members the ability to buy discounted cruises on cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Holland American Cruise Lines and more. DAE will offer a specific listing of cruise itineraries at discounted prices that have been negotiated specifically for Gold Advantage members only.

Escorted Tour Product
The same travel partnership also enables DAE to offer Gold Advantage Members the ability to purchase escorted tour products by companies like Globus, Trafalgar and Cosmos. Escorted tours can save you up to 40% off the price of travelling the same itinerary on your own because tour operators negotiate low group rates on everything from hotels to sightseeing, and pass the savings on. Because tour operators include so much in one price, it's easy to budget for these tours products. And escorted tours include the services of a tour director with years of experience to help you discover more sights than you might ever find on your own.

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A members-only savings of up to 50% off at fun centers, museums, theme parks, major league sporting events and more. Add an entertaining experience to one of your exchange vacations or use the benefit at home for days or nights “out with the family”! This benefit is delivered with a directory of hundreds of participating providers nationwide.

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From clothing and electronics to books and bedding, members can save up to 50% on the things they buy every day at thousands of participating brands – both in-store and online. Best of all? There’s no limit to how much you can save.

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Members enjoy up to 50% off at thousands of dining locations nationwide. From pizza and burgers to the finest in French cuisine, this benefit offers an incredible range of tasty savings for everyone.

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[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

FWIW it looks like we can still be members for free without paying an annual membership but I have asked the question of DAE.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Priority Requests – We take your requests all day long, every day. We match these requests with incoming vacation weeks in the order these requests are received. Now, as a Gold Advantage member you go to the top of the list… the front of the line! So when deposited vacation weeks match your request you will be informed first.

This is the feature that makes the Gold program mandatory. Basically, in DAE, they have an anything gets anything model. We all know that this results in dog deposits and pouncing on anything good.

To date, many who have had success with DAE have used it for ongoing searches. In other words, when someone deposits something, it gets taken by someone making a request. Now, with the Gold service, those owners to go the front of the line.

This seems to be a slam on anyone who has made a previous deposit and still have an exchange credit. Holding them hostage for a $39 fee or lose their place in line.

My expectation is that once enough people get into Gold and it exhausts DAE's ability to service them, they will introduct a Platinum level probably at $79 per year.

Too bad.

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

$89 is the Gold price so Platinum will have to be more. $39 is only introductory. Maybe this is why someone cut the catalytic converter off my truck last night, to get the platinum out of it for DAE.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

$89 is the Gold price so Platinum will have to be more. $39 is only introductory. Maybe this is why someone cut the catalytic converter off my truck last night, to get the platinum out of it for DAE.

Wow, I wonder what Carolinian thinks about this program. He should slam it. This is basically severely penalizing anyone who previously deposited, accidentally, something really good. Now, they must pay a lot more just for the privilege of getting what they already had or go to the end of the line. Way to treat your customers.

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

Wow, I wonder what Carolinian thinks about this program. He should slam it. This is basically severely penalizing anyone who previously deposited, accidentally, something really good. Now, they must pay a lot more just for the privilege of getting what they already had or go to the end of the line. Way to treat your customers.

Certainly they've thought about this and are "grandfathering" old deposits into Gold... right, DAE?

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

This is the feature that makes the Gold program mandatory. Basically, in DAE, they have an anything gets anything model. We all know that this results in dog deposits and pouncing on anything good.

To date, many who have had success with DAE have used it for ongoing searches. In other words, when someone deposits something, it gets taken by someone making a request. Now, with the Gold service, those owners to go the front of the line.

This seems to be a slam on anyone who has made a previous deposit and still have an exchange credit. Holding them hostage for a $39 fee or lose their place in line.

My expectation is that once enough people get into Gold and it exhausts DAE's ability to service them, they will introduct a Platinum level probably at $79 per year.

Too bad.

Let's not skip over this little tidbit:

Advance Notice of Inventory Availability - Gold Advantage Members will have the ability to book new inventory postings for 14 days before it is posted to the general member base. Advance Notice ensures Gold Advantage members get an opportunity to book the newest inventory before it is released to general availability!


Honestly with the weakness of DAE USA I don't see this being particularly successful. Especially if they are going to cut the line on people with current deposits and requests.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

$89 is the Gold price so Platinum will have to be more. $39 is only introductory. Maybe this is why someone cut the catalytic converter off my truck last night, to get the platinum out of it for DAE.

sorry about the converter though.

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

sorry about the converter though.

Thieves Leave Cars, but Take Catalytic Converters

Seems to be a common occurrence, sad thing is, in my case, the catalytic converter new costs only $101 (not the ~$1K on some new SUVs) but now I have to replace all the pipes they cut, also.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I think DAE just killed its USA business. This is one of the all time dumbest moves ever. It's a bad economy and now they want to add a new membership fee when they already don't have good inventory?

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

OK then...

I go into the DAE on-line search database probably about twice a week.

Today I log in and there are tons of resorts crossed off with a big red SOLD next to them. Some of the Gold Advantage things in the US are pretty odd to me. WM Galena studio in March anyone?

But here is the kicker. I'll use Caribbean All of 2009 as an example, because it is small and because I definately look there to exchange my CAPE COD SUMMER 2008 week I gave them back in March of 2008.... few nice things there that haven't been there with SOLD next to them....I am only grateful nothing was for my dates and location.

Resort Name Size Check In Nights
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club Hacienda Tropical
Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic, HR / 2 14 Feb 2009 7 BOOK NOW
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club Hacienda Tropical
Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic, HR / 2 28 Feb 2009 7 BOOK NOW HOLD NOW
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club Hacienda Tropical
Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic, HR / 2 28 Mar 2009 7 BOOK NOW HOLD NOW
Renaissance Aruba Beach Resort & Casino
Aruba, Aruba, 1b / 4 17 Apr 2009 7 SOLD
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club Hacienda Tropical
Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic, HR / 2 18 Apr 2009 7 BOOK NOW HOLD NOW
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club Hacienda Tropical
Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic, HR / 2 25 Apr 2009 7 BOOK NOW HOLD NOW
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club Hacienda Tropical
Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic, HR / 2 02 May 2009 7 BOOK NOW HOLD NOW
Royal Palm Beach Resort
Netherlands Antilles, St Maarten (Dutch), 2b / 6 03 May 2009 7 SOLD
Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club Hacienda Tropical
Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic, HR / 2 09 May 2009 7 BOOK NOW HOLD NOW
Royal Palm Beach Resort
Netherlands Antilles, St Maarten (Dutch), 2b / 6 18 Oct 2009 7 SOLD
Royal Palm Beach Resort
Netherlands Antilles, St Maarten (Dutch), 2b / 6 30 Oct 2009 7 SOLD
Royal Palm Beach Resort
Netherlands Antilles, St Maarten (Dutch), 2b / 6 07 Nov 2009 7 SOLD

Leaving just that DR AI resort which is always there.


We'll see if they ever get another of my weeks.

Someone wake up Carolinian I want to hear his view on this...

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

I think DAE just killed its USA business. This is one of the all time dumbest moves ever. It's a bad economy and now they want to add a new membership fee when they already don't have good inventory?

I agree.

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

I'm aware that the US and European operations are run as seperate entities, but there seem to be differences between the operating models too. I have just made my first exchange through DAE and did use the Gold Membership which has been part of the European system for a long time I believe. I didn't have to deposit first in order to search, I simply put in the request and was e-mailed and phoned when a match was found. I then had 24 hours to bank my week in order to complete the transaction.