Diamond Resorts International (DRI) "THE CLUB" Points Program & Converting your Week to Points

jeff1632 wrote:

I just returned from our home resort(Kaanapali Beach Club), we are deeded owners and members of The Club. We still have our deeded weeks, but we get points every year. We were pressured at a presentation to join the Hawaii Collection and put one our deed in the trust( we have an every year and a every other year). We signed to just buy 2500 pts for $7000, and not put a week in the trust. we just recsinded the offer. I hope we made the correct decision. I am leary of the "membership". Any comments? Thank you.

Hi Jeff,

I would say that a lot depends on what you were expecting to do with those 2500 points so I would not say that it was a good or bad decision. It's just what you were expecting to do with the points.

However, here is another approach that you could consider. If it's Hawaii that you want each year and to add to your time there already then consider this alternative. You can buy many more points on redeweek, TUG, or ebay for next to nothing. That's right sometimes you can find people who will give away thousands of points for free because they can no longer handle the maintenance fees. Thus, if you want to increase you Hawaii time, buy the points you desire resale from the Hawaii Collection. The only catch is that you can ONLY use the points in DRI's Hawaii Collection which I believe includes DRI's Hawaii resorts and I believe San Luis Bay Inn and/or Lake Tahoe Resort. This could be a great deal because I bet you could get somewhere around 10,000 points if you wanted for way less than the $7000 you were going to pay for the 2500 points you were going to sign for before you rescinded. So if you want more Hawaii only, this would be the way to go. Of course you have to understand that your maintenance fees will increase with the additional points.

We went into an "update" at Los Abrigados, Premiere Vacation Collection, very unhappy about the steep increases in our maintenance fees since DRI took over. The sales people are so good at what they do. Although I swore I would never buy another timeshare they had me convinced that it made sense to pay them more money. Luckily, since there was no cooling off period, we regained sanity and walked away at the signing. So it only cost us several hours of our life. They hone their sales skills day in and day out. It is hard to resist. Then when you are exhausted they turn you over to a new person to sign all the reams of papers that are legal and binding, and just a little different from what they told you. I'm glad I walked away.

robertr558 wrote:

We went into an "update" at Los Abrigados, Premiere Vacation Collection, very unhappy about the steep increases in our maintenance fees since DRI took over. The sales people are so good at what they do. Although I swore I would never buy another timeshare they had me convinced that it made sense to pay them more money. Luckily, since there was no cooling off period, we regained sanity and walked away at the signing. So it only cost us several hours of our life. They hone their sales skills day in and day out. It is hard to resist. Then when you are exhausted they turn you over to a new person to sign all the reams of papers that are legal and binding, and just a little different from what they told you. I'm glad I walked away.

I was at Los Abrigados for the first time last summer with my dad last year. It was a really nice resort and the units were very big. However, the the units need refurbishing, because it was quite dated. None of us like maintenance fees, but we all like nice clean fully equipped upgraded units. The maintenance fees went up significantly when DRI first took over for about 3 years and then leveled off. I have 30,000 points and so I don't like seeing those fee huge rate hikes either.

What do you mean leveled off,it's been over 16% each year. Last year they reopened a resort in Phoenix that had been closed for 4 yrs and a golf resort at that. It's scary to think what will happen next. Los Abrigados has been a premiere property all along now it feels like a children's summer camp and we are the children. All of the benefits have been taken away and the employee attitudes are harsh and cold.Who would want to be there?

patriciam655 wrote:

What do you mean leveled off,it's been over 16% each year. Last year they reopened a resort in Phoenix that had been closed for 4 yrs and a golf resort at that. It's scary to think what will happen next. Los Abrigados has been a premiere property all along now it feels like a children's summer camp and we are the children. All of the benefits have been taken away and the employee attitudes are harsh and cold.Who would want to be there?

Our maintenance fees did not go up by 16 per cent this year or last.

As someone who is not new to the timeshare game (at one time owning 12 timeshares), I had 3 rules. NEVER buy from a developer, NEVER buy from a developer and NEVER buy from a developer. When DRI was building Tower III (the villas) at Polo Towers, I looked across the strip from my Jockey Club unit longingly wishing I could afford to buy into that resort. With the current downturn in the economy, I was able to buy a deeded week (suites) for a couple hundred bucks plus closing and "resort transfer fees" of $250.00. Admittedly the $1000 + annual MF's were a bit steep. For me, the flexibility of breaking up my week into 3 and 4 day stays and using it as a 2BR, 1BR or studio unit (lockout) made the cost acceptable. I recently let a friend use a 1BR unit as a guest for 3 days and I went the following week using the studiio for 3 days. I now have 4 days left as a 2BR with which I have the same flexiblility. I was obviously not an "original owner" as I bought my unit on Ebay (everyone thinking about timeshare NEEDS to look here), however I was invited to an "owner's meeting" during my stay. The concierge told me I needed to make a $20 refundable deposit to guarantee my presence at the meeting which I did. I was also promised a $100 VISA gift card for attending. Now, admittedly, I was expecting some sort of "pitch", but also expected some semblance of an owner's meeting as well. Instead I got a one-on-one with a salesman who proceeded to offer me the DRI points system while telling me that basically my week was now worthless. This while I was actually getting decent flexibility from my current "week ownership". After repeatedly saying NO to the salesman, who had walked me from the "owner's area" up to what used to be the rooftop lounge, I stood up and asked where I get my $20 deposit as I was ready to resume my vacation. He told me that the mgr would have to approve that and he left returning with a "manager" who then started high-pressuring me on the sale. I stuck to my very firm NO was then escorted back to the owner's area where a third representative offered me a "last chance" to get in to DRI. At this point I was admittedly getting a bit pissed off and said NO for the last time. This gentleman then walked me to the other side of the building to what used to be the lobby for Tower I. Here a very pleasant young woman refunded my $20 deposit and gave me my $100 gift card. Biggest points of this story are that DRI uses EXTREMELY aggressive sales techniques beating you up by 3 different sales people AND they definitely offer the "conversion" to DRI points through The Club. Everyone has to make their own decision, but for me, I am quite happy with my week at Polo Towers. I should also mention that the suites units in Towers I & II were remodeled a few years ago and are almost as nice as the villas units complete with granite countertops in the kitchens/kitchenettes. The other thing I have to say is that other than the "sales pitch" and the conversion of the lounge to a sales center (impressive venue as it has an awesome view to the west with the new City Center, etc.), that my stay was wonderful. The staff were all very helpful, the resort was very well maintained and the rooftop pool beautiful. I hope that my experience will be helpful to timeshare newbies as well as weeks owners. Buyer Beware and compare - do your due diligence and do NOT be pressured into anything until you are 100 percent sure of what you want and all the associated costs. One more quick note - if you like Las Vegas and are interested in timeshare there, do NOT buy at Jockey Club - what used to be a decent resort is now a sad little building that the Cosmopolitan has completely built around on 3 sides giving window views on only the north side rendering half of the units worthless in my opinion. Happy Vacationing, folks!

Bailguy,

I am 100% with you on the sales agressiveness. They put you through the motions to get you to buy points or even more points. I already had 30,000 and they kept pushing me to go to 50,000. They try to sell you the different levels of silver, gold and elite. The only reason to go to those levels is if you are going to CONNTINUALLY go on more vacations each year.

I love Polo Towers and was there twice last year including New Year's Eve. It is in a great location and it was one of those times I was so happy that I had a DRI property. My family and I had a great time.

My maintenance fees have gone up every year since DRI took over and are now over 40% higher. I don't see any leveling off, Charless345 and they can just keep on raising them and raising them. They won't take it back and if you stop paying they will start adding on large penalties and ruin your credit. You can't sell it because a timeshare is the only thing I know of that you can pay many thousands of dollars for and it is not worth $1 on the resale market after you sign the papers. They want more money, more money, that's why the sales force is so aggressive. I can get a getaway in Sedona through Interval International any time for much less than my maintenance fee. DRI's fees are double my other non-DRI timeshare.

I hope I see more improvements at Los Abrigados. I think it is OK now, but I want to see my exhorbitant fees spent on the property and not on a new private jet for the Undercover Boss. Our room had a new mattress but the headboard was from the '70's. They do have a plan and they are investing in updating the property, but it is going to take years. I think it will be done when they hang the giant portrait of Steve Cloobeck in the lobby.

robertr558 wrote:

We went into an "update" at Los Abrigados, Premiere Vacation Collection, very unhappy about the steep increases in our maintenance fees since DRI took over. The sales people are so good at what they do. Although I swore I would never buy another timeshare they had me convinced that it made sense to pay them more money. Luckily, since there was no cooling off period, we regained sanity and walked away at the signing. So it only cost us several hours of our life. They hone their sales skills day in and day out. It is hard to resist. Then when you are exhausted they turn you over to a new person to sign all the reams of papers that are legal and binding, and just a little different from what they told you. I'm glad I walked away.

I want to add that some weeks layer I received an email asking me if I would like to complete a survey about my sales presentation. I am always eager to give DRI feedback. But the survey started with profiling questions like did I own my home, annual income, etc! Of course when you click on an email link you can be identified. I abandoned the survey. I also know that they keep a file on owners. This information surely informs their sales presentations.

robertr558 wrote:

My maintenance fees have gone up every year since DRI took over and are now over 40% higher. I don't see any leveling off, Charless345 and they can just keep on raising them and raising them. They won't take it back and if you stop paying they will start adding on large penalties and ruin your credit. You can't sell it because a timeshare is the only thing I know of that you can pay many thousands of dollars for and it is not worth $1 on the resale market after you sign the papers. They want more money, more money, that's why the sales force is so aggressive. I can get a getaway in Sedona through Interval International any time for much less than my maintenance fee. DRI's fees are double my other non-DRI timeshare.

I hope I see more improvements at Los Abrigados. I think it is OK now, but I want to see my exhorbitant fees spent on the property and not on a new private jet for the Undercover Boss. Our room had a new mattress but the headboard was from the '70's. They do have a plan and they are investing in updating the property, but it is going to take years. I think it will be done when they hang the giant portrait of Steve Cloobeck in the lobby.

Robert, I understand. I guess I just expect the increases. My Marriott timeshare goes up every year as well so maybe I am used to it. The number of weeks that I can get for my points is quite good even with the maintenance fees. I am still able to get good value. I plan on taking full advantage of these weeks when I retire and have even more flexibility.

I was pitched 2500 points for $10,950 and $750 maintenance. Use any resort in THE CLUB. I have a Starwood Timeshare from Westin Lagunamar Cancun that was in lieu of money someone owed me. Gee, I'm stuck with his mess. Anyway, DRI offered me 6500 points per year if I deposit my week with them. The 6500 points can only be used in DRI resorts or Interval, the 2500 can be used for anything. Hotels,Resort Stays,Spa,Golf (so they tell me). I doubt 2500pts is going to get me anything. We typically take lots of short stays 2-4 days, and 1 or 2: 1 week stays in resorts.

What am I missing in this offer?

craigf89 wrote:

I was pitched 2500 points for $10,950 and $750 maintenance. Use any resort in THE CLUB. I have a Starwood Timeshare from Westin Lagunamar Cancun that was in lieu of money someone owed me. Gee, I'm stuck with his mess. Anyway, DRI offered me 6500 points per year if I deposit my week with them. The 6500 points can only be used in DRI resorts or Interval, the 2500 can be used for anything. Hotels,Resort Stays,Spa,Golf (so they tell me). I doubt 2500pts is going to get me anything. We typically take lots of short stays 2-4 days, and 1 or 2: 1 week stays in resorts.

What am I missing in this offer?

Well, you don't have to trade your Westin Lagunamar Cancun and stay there or trade in the Westin Family.

You must have a one bedroom if you are only getting a total of 6500 points or you don't have a 2 bedroom lockoff which you could get two set of points for the one unit.

2500 points alone in the DRI is not enough to do much with by itself in a year. You would only be able to do mostly studios and not much more unless you were to travel in low seasons. However, if you deposit your Westin property into DRI, you would then have 9000 points in a year and you will have more flexibility. You will have more options to travel and get one or two bedroom units. You also have the option of saving your 2500 DRI points from one year to the next, so you could have 5000 DRI points plus your deposit of 6500 points would now give you 11,5000 points in a year. You could get reservations for a really big trip live Europe. Depending on how you use your points, you could have accommodations for four weeks or more. It's all in how you utilize your points. The points can only be saved for one year. The points from deposit have to be used within a year and cannot be saved to the next year.

Also, please note that the deposit of your Westin week is into a system of DRI's called Club Select. Club Select is DRI's internal exchange system for DRI members who have timeshares in other timeshare systems (this is you since you have a Starwood property). Please note that it will cost you about $120 to deposit your Starwood. Other DRI owners will now have acess to use their points or cash to stay at your Starvood property for whenever you made the reservation for. In return you get those 6500 points. You could also use your 6500 points to snag a reservation in Club Select too. Unlike Interval International you can get accommodations for a week in locations all over the world for no exchange fee. They have basically sold you on using DRI resorts through your Starwood property and having you bundle it with 2500 DRI points.

Even worse! My upgrade purchase was the worst decision I ever made.

monas23 wrote:

You shouldn't have done it! I erased my first reply. It was from the heart, not the mind, and not pretty! I used to own with Sunterra, before Diamond Resorts International got their hands on it. My maintenance fees were under $2000.00. Now they are over $7500.00 and getting worse all the time!!!!!!!!!! The resorts I used to stay at with Sunterra were clean and very nice. The points were never supposed to increase. So guess what? They added different rooms!!!!!! The MESA ROOMS!!!!!!! The SUNSET SUITES!!!!!!!!!!!! Now previous point values don't apply!!!!!!!!! I traded a 2 bedroom lockout week, red week always, in Sedona, AZ, for points. Now, my week in points, is barely worth more than a studio! With Diamond, they are in upgrade status, and the ones available have mold in the bathroom, dirty walls, nasty carpets, etc!!!!!! They raise the fees all the time, but don't help you with anything else!!!!!!!! Sunterra sold out to them, so I'm stuck, but you don't have to be!!!!!!!! If you value your time and money, say NO to Diamond Resorts International!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a Platinum Elite Member by the way, I foolishly own over 64,000 points. I wish I could go back to my 1 week lockout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would be far more happier and richer!!!!!!!!!!! Also, you can only book a resort with Diamond Resorts, or club select. You are forced to pay for IIGold, even if you don't use it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if you want to use something from RCI, YOU WILL PAY AN EXCHANGE FEE!!!! DON'T BE FOOLED!!!!!!!!!! And yes, they treat Platinum Elite members like $!@#!. I wonder what they treat members with lesser values like????????????????????

Hi Janet,

What did you upgrade? Did you buy more points to upgrade to silver or gold in DRI?

I read that post from monas23 and she/he was obviously very upset. If my maintenance fees went from $2500 to $7500 very quickly, it would be upsetting. When DRI took over they did hit us with some stiff increases in maintenance fees. I was with Sunterra too before DRI took over. Sunterra let the resorts go down the tubes. I was literally embarrassed when I took some friends with me to Lake Havasu and The London Bridge Resort was literally a mess and disaster. I had a similar experience when I saw run down rooms in Palm Springs. I had previously been to both resorts and had good experiences. When I went back and saw that the maintenance of the properties was not happened and I got very upset. I was upset with those darn maintenance fee increases. However, I feel a lot better about going to the resorts. I have 30,000 points which gives a lot of flexibility in the Club. I am not sure what I would do with over 64,000 points, because it is quite expensive and hard to use up that many for me as I still work. The key is using your timeshare and trying to get the maximum out of those points. There are a lot of owners who do just that. Yes, we don't like everything that DRI does and we moan about stuff too. However, there are some good aspects about DRI too. There is a Diamond Resorts Facebook page and I would invite you to join. It's free. It's DRI owners and we share ideas, tips, and input to one another to get the maximum from our membership. Come and request to become a member. We speak real, but from facts. It's not a bunch of ranting and raving from people who are plain old miserable, but concerned owners who are looking to take the time to find out the real scoop.

My biggest concern with the points based system owned in a regional collection- is how do you know the actual number of owners in that collection. With a deed - I knew they could not sell more than 51 owners per unit. Does the deed go into the trust and they are still restricted based on weeks - or could they sell to 100 owners per unit. I also find it difficult to understand that a points owners gets 13 months advanced booking vs 12 months for a deeded owner at the property. I can currently deposit my deeded week into the Club in exchange for points. This seems the best of both worlds. And while I am frustrated by the significant repair assessment this year, I was told points owners in the collection received a 50% assessment. The downside is they could get equivalent assessments for every other property in the collection. Diamond blocks deeded resale purchases into the Club unless you purchase another new purchase from them. You need to trade through Interval... Always an option with a deeded week. I have heard they are trying to impose even greater restrictions on resale points. All in all... Does not seem like this is in the best interest of the owners.

jamesm1372 wrote:

You couldn't pay me enough to get involved in another timeshare membership. Isn't this company being sued right now by the owners in Poipu? I read a post about a class action lawsuit that was filed last month. I personally think you did the right thing....Buyer beware!

YES, there is a class action lawsuit in progress, it was filed in US Federal Court Honolulu in late March or early April... I believe that all of these "points systems" are basically corrupt, it that there is no limit to the number of "Points Members" that they can sell to or obligate the facility to...

michaeld414 wrote:

jamesm1372 wrote:

You couldn't pay me enough to get involved in another timeshare membership. Isn't this company being sued right now by the owners in Poipu? I read a post about a class action lawsuit that was filed last month. I personally think you did the right thing....Buyer beware!

YES, there is a class action lawsuit in progress, it was filed in US Federal Court Honolulu in late March or early April... I believe that all of these "points systems" are basically corrupt, it that there is no limit to the number of "Points Members" that they can sell to or obligate the facility to...

Have there been any other developments in the class action lawsuit? I am anxiously waiting to hear the outcome.

Sounds like you are another DRI Representative, it is common for you folks to come onto these sites to promote how good they are... They are mostly a rip off folks, once you buy into their scheme you are indebted for ever..

Thats what I was thinking when he said the mfs haven't gone up the 16% mine have each year. Maybe only deeded owners get that kind of hike, theres really no way of knowing.

No, I am not a salesman but folks on this board who don't like when people don't agree with their negative attitudes toward DRI think that those who may seem satisfied must be a salesman.

I am a points owner. I don't know what deeded owners pay. I own all of my points in the US Collection. My maintenance fees have not gone up 16% per year. In fact, let me give you the facts. Here are the maintenance fees paid per point for owners is the US Collection:

2010 MF/PT .1102 2011 MF/PT .1149 2012 MF/PT .1209 2013 MF/PT .1227

So from 2010 to 2013 our fees will have gone up a TOTAL per point of 11.3%. Now the true value of that time may be a little closer to 15% because the management fees for the Club have increased as well. My main point is that PER YEAR I have not had a 16% increase in my maintenance fees.

It's okay to be upset about things, but be upset about factual things. If you're a DRI member, I would invite you to our DRI Facebook site. We have many owners and some former owners too. They are DRI members from the US and Europe. We both have similar concerns about our memberships with DRI from both sides of the Atlantic. However, we try to help one another with ACCURATE information.

I cannot wait until this lawsuit is out in the open and we can all separate fact from fiction.