Vip Benifits and Premire Status

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

so can someone clarify if my thought process is correct on this.

Right now i can buy 20000 anual points for about 5000 bucks. Tues it will cost about 27000 bucks. It would seem the main benifit of having 20000 points is your silver status and the Other benifits. Being....

50% More Encore Referral Rewards*
Express Check in

Early Check-in (2 pm)

Special Recognition at Check-in
Displayed at the Check-in area

Preferred Status Reservation Priority
Placed on the wait list one month before the standard
reservation window opens

Fee for Reservation Cancellations Waived
$35 fee will not apply to reservation cancellations for
preferred members( Three uses)

Unit Upgrade Once a year within 3 days of check-in
Only available on stays of 7 or less nights

Points Payment of Maintenance Fees
and Club Dues

Travelers Plus Benifits

Selcet connections for less

Unlimited Bonus time

.... So if i don't really care about all these listed perks I could just buy resale on ebay for example. Get my 20000 points every year for about 0.05 cents a point to start thats only 1000 bucks plus closing. Pay my MF (about 650) every year and vacation.

Like i'm 32 and still have a lot of working years left but 20000 points will let me go on one really nice week somewhere or 2 maybe even 3 or 4 other vacations off season right???? Am i only limited to red seasons? I'm starting to get the feeling as i read on that perhaps all these other perks won't really matter to me till i'm closer to retirement and able to just add three days to a trip on a whim. Or need to use bonus time to pay for a few weekends on some trips cause I'm going on 5 week vacations throughout the year or want to trade to rci to go to europe or australia without haveing to pay a fee......

everyone please give your input cause you guys have the experience... what am i missing that i've overlooked.

Thanx in advance for your time. Chow for now and GL to everyone who is in the mad points rush.

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

Like i'm 32 and still have a lot of working years left but 20000 points will let me go on one really nice week somewhere or 2 maybe even 3 or 4 other vacations off season right???? Am i only limited to red seasons? I'm starting to get the feeling as i read on that perhaps all these other perks won't really matter to me

everyone please give your input cause you guys have the experience... what am i missing that i've overlooked.

It looks like you have investigated the perks and you have found that the perks are not that important to you. Your rational makes sense to me. No matter where you buy your points, you still have access to all of the high red seasons. With the price that non-qualified points are selling right now, I wish I had discovered BG when I was 32 and I could have afforded it (at current prices).

Charles

[marshalldillon Member Find all posts View Profile Close marshalldillon]

I will be honest and I would like feedback from others regarding this...but...I think the cost of gettting to premier status outweighs the perks you get...the only thing I see of any beneft is advanced bookings. THe other things are OK, but not worth the extra money. This is just my opinion. I use the heck out of my points and have never been denied the vaction I want when booking 11 months out. The cancellations for free would be good, but...does the cost outweigh the perk?? Just curious others thoughts. BTW...I have 19,000 annual points 10,000 of which go towards premier.

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

This is a question, not an answer and you may have insight into. At one point when you purchase points not from an authorized reseller they kept your points in different account(s) even in the same trust fund. I ended up paying the base fee twice(x3) plus the cost of $/point. It was cheaper to get it all put together through Boca Bum. Now BG was supposed to do that for me with an upgrade and it never happened. One other thing one has to be careful about is which trust fund your points are in when you purchase them on Ebay or some other non "authorized" reseller. The cheaper price may be eaten up in higher annual maintenance fees. I have tried working with people in the department that deals with maintenance fees. If you can get through to talk to a person, I have been unable to get my problem resolved immediately. A couple years I ended up paying the additional fee so I could use my account and getting it resolved later. BG got to play with my money till the next year because they will not issue a check for credits. This is only an issue if one is changing account around billing time. I guess I learned plan the time of my purchase to one does not have to deal with the Billing department or BG's Title Department(this is another story).

Please know I have a happy BG owner. BG has some systems that could use some work. The use of the club is great and have 2 BG vacations already in the pipeline and looking at Branson for next summer.

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

The only premier benefit that is worth the upgrade, in my opinion is the wait list. I may buy more points in the future, but given the cost differential, and the way I use the club, I doubt I will pay the premium for that.

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

This is great thanks to all of you participating.

I see that a couple of you feel that advanced bookings are an important part of having qualified points. I'm gathering this would be more important for one who wants to get a really good booking to perhaps rent out to pay for MF.

Has anyone else besides marshall had trouble booking time with only 11 months reserve status ?

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

You don't get early check in. That did happen in the past, but now VIP has the same check in time as everyone else.

Special Recognition at Check-in: There is anywhere from a stand at the entrance to the check in desk with the names of the VIP members on it, to a standard piece of paper pinned on the wall and not easily viewed with those names on it. That special recognition is not special.

As far as special treatment, perks, goodies, or extras while being a VIP member vs. a non VIP member-no difference from the resort. You stand in the same line, talk to the same people, get the same materials as everyone else.

The only time I have had problems booking at the 11 month is where the week is booked for a special event where all rooms book. Think of it as trying to find a room for the superbowl at 11 months before the game when all rooms were booked a year before. There are only a few locations where this really happens, otherwise, the 11 month out usually works fine.

So other than the being able to put your name in the reservation hat earlier than the 11 month point, the only other plus is (as mentioned by someone else) being able to cancel a reservation with no charge.

[Ediesbeads Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ediesbeads]

In some ways, this change frees us from worrying about preimer benefits. It's much too expensive, so we aren't going to do it. The benefits I liked were the free weeks, free room upgrades, special phone line, and free cancellations. But now we can concentrate on getting more points as cheaply as possible. We have a charter membership, so we will keep bonus time and travelers plus. Adding extra points when the time is right will be a no brainer. Get them as cheaply as possible!

Edie