Convert from week to points

[M&JJ Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close M&JJ]

Hi

I have read through several of the threads on this but not sure I understand so I am hoping I can get some clarity around this issue.

I currently own 2 weeks at the suites at Polo Towers and am considering transfering these to The Club. I work with a lady who converted her week to points along with a purchase of some additional points and see the flexability she has to use polo towers as well as other resorts within The Club.

My questions are these...
Would I be able to get summer weeks in Hawaii by participating in The Club?\
What program would I be part of? US Collection, Hawaii Collection as I see the Polo Towers is within each of these.
Is there any benefit to purchasing enough points to get to Silver membership? My units get me 12,000 points each so I would have to purchase another 6,000 points. It looks like I would have to purchase a minimum of 2000 points from the look of the website. What is the cost of points?
What is the most effective way to make a change/purchase like this? Do I contact DRI directly through the website or is there another method?
Any other advice is most welcome?
thanks

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

It's complcated

Hi

I have read through several of the threads on this but not sure I understand so I am hoping I can get some clarity around this issue.

I currently own 2 weeks at the suites at Polo Towers and am considering transfering these to The Club. I work with a lady who converted her week to points along with a purchase of some additional points and see the flexability she has to use polo towers as well as other resorts within The Club.

My questions are these...
Would I be able to get summer weeks in Hawaii by participating in The Club?\
What program would I be part of? US Collection, Hawaii Collection as I see the Polo Towers is within each of these.
Is there any benefit to purchasing enough points to get to Silver membership? My units get me 12,000 points each so I would have to purchase another 6,000 points. It looks like I would have to purchase a minimum of 2000 points from the look of the website. What is the cost of points?
What is the most effective way to make a change/purchase like this? Do I contact DRI directly through the website or is there another method?
Any other advice is most welcome?
thanks

Your questions can be answered but I must say first that you should have a real good idea of how much time you will have to vacation to take advantage of the points you buy. I can share a little with you of what I know.

Yes, you can get summer weeks in Hawaii with the Club. I went to Ka'anapali Beach Club for 8 days this summer in July. It was great and had a great time. I have been to the Point at Poipu in the summer as well. I belong to the US Collection so I do not have the 13 month home collection advantage. I was still able to go to Hawaii. I loved the Point. It is a nice resort. I believe all two bedrooms. I made the reservation 9 months out and it was in 2006 that I went when the economy was fine.

If you have 2 resorts and they are 12,000 points each, that is 24,000 points which puts you at Silver Elite. I know DRI wants you to buy some points to buy into the Club with your units. However, you need to consider a few things. First, the maintenance fees on 24000 points will be about $3200 a year and those fees go up each year. The Silver elite benefits for having that many points will give you a newpaper each morning at a DRI resort, free internet capabilities at DRI resorts, you will get about 3 upgrades for a small fee and discounts on other DRI "benefits". However, these benefits become expensive if you look at the cost you could get by not using points. That is why I suggest that you really consider how much vacation you plan on taking every year. That is the best value for your money and that's by using the timeshare for accommodations.

Also, I would suggest that you buy points resale and then negotiate them into the Club with DRI. You will save a lot of money that way. you may have to pay the Club entrance fee of 3000, but you would still come out ahead. Also, get points from the same collection you have now so that you will pay less fees than you would if you had points in different collections. If you are in the US Collection, I would just stay with that as you will have more resorts as home resorts and you will be able to get to Hawaii but only at 10 months out. If you were to join the Hawaii collection, you would get the 13 month reservation but at a higher cost because Hawaii properties are more expensive.

I own 30,000 points and have used the points in many different ways for accommodations. I like the system, but it is costly. You will have a lot of flexibility. I suggest look at the DRI website and look at the Elite Benefits and see if they are worth it to you. The bottom line with a timeshare is what can YOU do with it for YOUR needs. It is different for everyone.

[M&JJ Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close M&JJ]

Currently my maintenance fees are around $2200. So changing to The Club would increase my maintenance fees to about $3000? Does that include dues or whatever?.

What would be the cost to transfer my current weeks to points with DRI? I have read somewhere that it would be about $3000. Would this be for each contract or both contracts? Will they do this without purchasing additional points?

The recommendation above is to purchase points resale. Would this be in addition to the conversion of my weeks? Would I be better off purchasing rather than converting my current weeks? I dont really want to purchase any more time. I already own 2 weeks at Polo Towers and have 3 other weeks at various other locations.

Thanks for your help. I would like to have the information prior to any discussion with someone from DRI.

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

Currently my maintenance fees are around $2200. So changing to The Club would increase my maintenance fees to about $3000? Does that include dues or whatever?.

What would be the cost to transfer my current weeks to points with DRI? I have read somewhere that it would be about $3000. Would this be for each contract or both contracts? Will they do this without purchasing additional points?

The recommendation above is to purchase points resale. Would this be in addition to the conversion of my weeks? Would I be better off purchasing rather than converting my current weeks? I dont really want to purchase any more time. I already own 2 weeks at Polo Towers and have 3 other weeks at various other locations.

Thanks for your help. I would like to have the information prior to any discussion with someone from DRI.

When DRI gives you a bill for maintenance fees, it includes your Club dues and administrative fees as well as all of the other costs associated with your membership.

Yes, they had a practice of charging about $3000 for you to convert and they wanted you to buy additional points as well. However, please note that everything is negotiable when you talk with them. The price per point with DRI decreases the more you buy, but remember the more points you have the more in maintenance fees you will pay and they go up every year.

The recommendation if you wanted more points was to do so resale because they will be cheaper than buying them from DRI and you would have access to the resorts in that collection. DRI sells points from about $2 to $4 per point which can be expensive. On line on Ebay they can be bought for pennies on the point. Again you should only buy points in the same collection to save on fees. When you have two different collections you would have two separate bills and will play some fees twice. YOu will save money bringing the resale points into the club than buying DRI points. If you don't want more points, just negotiate bring in your 2 units to Polo Towers and see what they are offering, but $3000 used to be the norm.

I will tell you with 24000 points you will be able to get more than two weeks depending on how you wish to use your points. Again I suggest that you review your situation and determine if you really need more points and if the costs will be fine for you.