Excited new owner - but...

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

I was really excited about my new purchase with DRI. 7500 points per year (non-expiring), 15,000 bonus points (must use within a year), another 7500 bonus points (two years to use it). My partner and I thought the point system would be a flexible way to get a room/villa/apartment at one of DRI owned or affiliated resorts.

I have to say that reading many of the threads is taking away a lot of the excitement.

I am trying to read between the lines and figure out - 1. are the complaints due to a person's inability to use the DRI system, 2. Is DRI and Mr. Steve under cover boss really a schister?, 3. other?

Are there any happy DRI members out there?

What are your "secrets" to this happiness?

If I don't need DRI to find a lovely place in Hawaii, am I okay? (seems like most of the complaints are because Hawaii is always booked, or the TS owners there got swindled into going into the point system and not getting enough points to stay a week at their home resort.)

I am concerned about people's inability to cancel their membership once they go ill or are too old to travel. Especially since we were considering the cash out within 30 days option. I have about 30-40 years of travel in me... as long as I keep healthy. But sh*t happens... So I hope to get my $$ worth from these guys...

Has anyone been successful with getting a place within 59 days and getting the 50% discount?

Help me feel excited again...

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

Hi and welcome to the forum.

First off let me ask you, are you still within your right to rescind this purchase?
If so you may want to start there.
Buying straight from a developer is usually not the best use of your money.
Timeshares can be bought on the secondary market for much cheaper without losing many perks.

I don't own Diamond so can't really help you get excited again, just wanted to make sure you knew you could rescind if you haven't passed the contract date.

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

Buying DRI resale requires some research. The resale points are restricted to whatever collection they are in. To get them into the club usually involves a purchase from the developer or a large fee to get into the club.
As for DRI my wife and I are pleased with them. The variety of resorts is very good. Some resorts are harder to get into than others. Hawaii is not difficult to get if you are not picky about the resort you want.

[JustLooking4TheBeach Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JustLooking4TheBeach]

I love Diamond. I book most of my time less then 59 days in order to stretch my points. The resorts are nice and points provide me with the flexibility I was missing when I used to own just a deeded week. After you learn the system you may want to acquire some resale points in order to reach Silver.

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

I'm happy with DRI too. We've been (Sunterra) owners since 2003 I think. We're a standard member, not elite silver, gold or platinum. However, when we purchased we made sure that they would take our other timeshare into Club Select. Every year we have the option of depositing our other timeshare into DRI for more points or SFX or DAE, depending on where we want to travel. The gold membership with II is also a bonus that gives even more choices if you want something out of DRI.

We don't usually make reservations within 59 days but we have looked online and found something we liked so we took advantage of the 50%. For us, the 50% discount only works for resorts that are within driving distance. I usually have our vacations all lined up 6-12 months ahead. I like the variety of resorts within DRI but we also use the other exchange companies. We are not picky about the luxury of the resorts. I think you have to learn how to work the timeshare world into your needs and wants. We've been timeshare owners since 1992 but we were frustrated owners at first. We did not go out of our way to learn the system during the first 10 years. Now we are happy timeshare owners....and yes, having DRI in our portfolio is one of the reasons for that.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

We are reasonably happy Diamond owners, but I concur with the others to rescind if you are still within your rescission window. That is so that you can take more time and assess your options.

If you research and decide this is what you want, you can still pick up the deal from DRI. IOW, if you rescind you can always get back to where you are now (or perhaps negotiate an even better deal). But if you don't rescind you are stuck with what you have.

[silly_stitcher Member Find all posts View Profile Close silly_stitcher]

We bought in 2008 from the developer. I did some research while touring the Diamond property using my Blackberry. Our primary reason for buying: Europe access without having to trade. Since then, we've been to Royal Regency annually, Riverpointe @ Napa, and Villas de Santa Fe. No problems getting what we want, we get to go where we want, and we can trade into II and SFX. We're happy.

I did think about resale, but I wanted easy-ish access to Royal Regency and I wouldn't have gotten that with US Collection-resale.

We're in our 30's, just the two of us, no kids (and don't want any), and the ability to regularly book an apartment on the Metro line in Paris (within walking distance of farmer's markets and patisseries, 2 grocery stores, and I don't know how many wine shops), and to cook in France... I would never, never rather stay in a hotel room in Paris. The best part of going is getting to shop and cook those amazing ingredients!

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

We are Silver members of Diamond and have no trouble using all of our points. If I had it to do over, I would probably not buy from the developer, but resale. That said, the benefits of having bought from Sunterra now Diamond are pretty good. We have used our points to go to Hawaii regularly and places like Williamsburg, Lake Tahoe, St Maarten, San Luis Bay inn. We now plan our vacations in advance instead of just staying around home. Expensive? Yes, but outstanding resorts and great locations make it worth it.
Tom

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

I too am a very happy DRI owner. I am a gold member and enjoy my membership. I have used DRI to stay in Hawaii, Florida, California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. My next trip will include the European resorts. I love the flexibility. I also use my membership to book with DRI Select and find that to be a good deal since there are no exchange fees. However, I also use my points in Interval International to do exchanges into really nice resorts such as the Marriotts and Westins. DRI has some really nice properties and and ones with huge units. Many of them are in really great locations.

7500 points are okay, but you may wish to get at least 10,000 to give you time in high demand areas at high demand times. You can of course save points into the next year if you desire. the biggest drawback you may read about on these boards are the high maintenance fees. In reality, DRI's maintenance fees are no more expensive and in most situations lower than the other big timeshare companies.

My advice is to try to plan your vacations early for those locations that are high demand and you desire to go during peak season. I have traveled during non peak times and saved a lot of points and have traveled at 59 days and taken advantage of the discounts as well. In addition, DRI has special from time to time in which they allow owners to book resorts at 50% ot 75% points discounts.

I suggest you join Timeshare Users Group (tug2.net) as there are many other DRI owners there with a wealth of information as well as come to Diamond Resorts Members on Facebook. These are happy members that help each other to make the most out of their memberships.

In other words know that you are not alone in being happy with DRI.