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

dianas232-We'sold'our deeds back to DRI because of the water intrusion assessment on the deeds and also points in the Hawaiian Collection.Of course,we spent much more money to buy into the US Collection,as well as 5 hrs of vacation time .We have more points than we can use. The biggest problem is getting to go where we want to-except in low,low season-even when we ask a year in advance! We have checked with the resorts and find that they do have openings for the dates we want. We have even tried a year in advance. Still, the number of points mount up. Any solutions to this problem???

If you are a satisfied points owner why are you here....? Why are you making statements that are promoting more points to be sold... Do you know how many members there are in any given collection, I will bet it is way beyond the number of units times the number of weeks in the year... Selling air is about the same deal.... You are selling just like those at any resort presentation "High Pressure" and when a serious question is asked, shuffle that person off to a more powerful sales person... Let all potential vacation buyer's beware, they will sell as many as they can, my past experience with DRI was the fee's the first year 2008 - 2009 went up 50%, second year 2009 - 2010 went up 25% and then a special assessment was levied that was equal to over 200% of the annual fee... The Deeded Owners got hit with double that amount, because they wanted to pressure them to surrender their Deeds in favor of points, as you have far less power in the points system... Why do you think there is a Federal Class Lawsuit filed with the US District Court in Honolulu...

Well said Michael. As a result of the laws suite{I'm assuming} we got our first notification to submit a resume if we wanted to run a board position . That has never happened in the past, as a matter of fact I can't recall that happening during ILX presence. I would like to know if there are any PVC deeded owners out there to see what you make of this.

michaeld414 wrote:

If you are a satisfied points owner why are you here....? Why are you making statements that are promoting more points to be sold... Do you know how many members there are in any given collection, I will bet it is way beyond the number of units times the number of weeks in the year... Selling air is about the same deal.... You are selling just like those at any resort presentation "High Pressure" and when a serious question is asked, shuffle that person off to a more powerful sales person... Let all potential vacation buyer's beware, they will sell as many as they can, my past experience with DRI was the fee's the first year 2008 - 2009 went up 50%, second year 2009 - 2010 went up 25% and then a special assessment was levied that was equal to over 200% of the annual fee... The Deeded Owners got hit with double that amount, because they wanted to pressure them to surrender their Deeds in favor of points, as you have far less power in the points system... Why do you think there is a Federal Class Lawsuit filed with the US District Court in Honolulu...

Michaeld, I did not see where this was a complaints only board or forum. These forums are also to provide a resource for people as well. If I don't think the way you do, I should not be on the board. I know that you know that makes no sense.

I am a DRI owner like you, but in a different faction of the system. You have a deed and I have points. It was stated that DRI's maintenance fees have gone up 16% EACH YEAR. I provided data that that was not the case for everyone in the DRI system.

I have stated this before and I will one more time. If DRI is in fact doing illegal activity and following unlawful practices, then throw the book at them and come down hard on them. However, if it is found that they in fact are within their rights to do what they are doing then let's move on and enjoy our vacations. You seem to be judge, jury and executioner without due process or allowing the system to weigh the evidence. Anyone can sue, but you have to prove it. Let's see what the courts say first. Then we can call them criminals. Remember, if you are a US citizen, one is innocent until proven guilty.

dianas232 wrote:

dianas232-We'sold'our deeds back to DRI because of the water intrusion assessment on the deeds and also points in the Hawaiian Collection.Of course,we spent much more money to buy into the US Collection,as well as 5 hrs of vacation time .We have more points than we can use. The biggest problem is getting to go where we want to-except in low,low season-even when we ask a year in advance! We have checked with the resorts and find that they do have openings for the dates we want. We have even tried a year in advance. Still, the number of points mount up. Any solutions to this problem???

I am sorry, but your post is not clear. I am getting that you had deeds and points in the Hawaii Collection. But you bought additional points in the US Collection and you're having a hard time making reservations where you want to go. You state that they have openings on the dates you want. Why aren't you able to book the dates you want? What do you mean the points mount up?

charless345 wrote:

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.

I have read the Federal Lawsuit, and it is a serious indictment of the violations of the very contract that DRI has made with all of its members... Violations of process, of the fair governance of the rights of its members, and outright violations of the laws of Hawaii... You present the lawsuit as a cockroach that will scurry in the light of day, that it has no merit...

If you were an honest member only interested in the honest management of these properties and members rights according to the by laws that they invested large sums of money in, and continue to do so, at a fee of $ 300 a day in annual cost... You too would appreciate what this action will do to clean up a corrupt business model that the "Points System" is...

charless345 wrote:

michaeld414 wrote:

If you are a satisfied points owner why are you here....? Why are you making statements that are promoting more points to be sold... Do you know how many members there are in any given collection, I will bet it is way beyond the number of units times the number of weeks in the year... Selling air is about the same deal.... You are selling just like those at any resort presentation "High Pressure" and when a serious question is asked, shuffle that person off to a more powerful sales person... Let all potential vacation buyer's beware, they will sell as many as they can, my past experience with DRI was the fee's the first year 2008 - 2009 went up 50%, second year 2009 - 2010 went up 25% and then a special assessment was levied that was equal to over 200% of the annual fee... The Deeded Owners got hit with double that amount, because they wanted to pressure them to surrender their Deeds in favor of points, as you have far less power in the points system... Why do you think there is a Federal Class Lawsuit filed with the US District Court in Honolulu...

Michaeld, I did not see where this was a complaints only board or forum. These forums are also to provide a resource for people as well. If I don't think the way you do, I should not be on the board. I know that you know that makes no sense.

I am a DRI owner like you, but in a different faction of the system. You have a deed and I have points. It was stated that DRI's maintenance fees have gone up 16% EACH YEAR. I provided data that that was not the case for everyone in the DRI system.

I have stated this before and I will one more time. If DRI is in fact doing illegal activity and following unlawful practices, then throw the book at them and come down hard on them. However, if it is found that they in fact are within their rights to do what they are doing then let's move on and enjoy our vacations. You seem to be judge, jury and executioner without due process or allowing the system to weigh the evidence. Anyone can sue, but you have to prove it. Let's see what the courts say first. Then we can call them criminals. Remember, if you are a US citizen, one is innocent until proven guilty.

You start these forums to promote the DRI and other "Points Systems" and try to dismiss those who have negative personal experiences... You only want to promote this corrupt business model, its a huge cash cow for the developers and promoters, and a huge Bully Staff that sells them... Buyer beware, these are nightmares in the making for anyone who spends their money, its like buying air... You are a shill for the industry

charless345 wrote:

michaeld414 wrote:

If you are a satisfied points owner why are you here....? Why are you making statements that are promoting more points to be sold... Do you know how many members there are in any given collection, I will bet it is way beyond the number of units times the number of weeks in the year... Selling air is about the same deal.... You are selling just like those at any resort presentation "High Pressure" and when a serious question is asked, shuffle that person off to a more powerful sales person... Let all potential vacation buyer's beware, they will sell as many as they can, my past experience with DRI was the fee's the first year 2008 - 2009 went up 50%, second year 2009 - 2010 went up 25% and then a special assessment was levied that was equal to over 200% of the annual fee... The Deeded Owners got hit with double that amount, because they wanted to pressure them to surrender their Deeds in favor of points, as you have far less power in the points system... Why do you think there is a Federal Class Lawsuit filed with the US District Court in Honolulu...

Michaeld, I did not see where this was a complaints only board or forum. These forums are also to provide a resource for people as well. If I don't think the way you do, I should not be on the board. I know that you know that makes no sense.

I am a DRI owner like you, but in a different faction of the system. You have a deed and I have points. It was stated that DRI's maintenance fees have gone up 16% EACH YEAR. I provided data that that was not the case for everyone in the DRI system.

I have stated this before and I will one more time. If DRI is in fact doing illegal activity and following unlawful practices, then throw the book at them and come down hard on them. However, if it is found that they in fact are within their rights to do what they are doing then let's move on and enjoy our vacations. You seem to be judge, jury and executioner without due process or allowing the system to weigh the evidence. Anyone can sue, but you have to prove it. Let's see what the courts say first. Then we can call them criminals. Remember, if you are a US citizen, one is innocent until proven guilty.

The "Resource" as you describe this forum, should be the organization in which you bought your membership... But the reality is that when there is no vacancy for the paid members, its because they make special offerings to those they want to sell new memberships to... For my $ 300 a day in annual maintenance (14 days X $ 300 = $ 4200) and actually is was a bit more than that, they offer right now a 3 or 5 day package for $399 & $499 with a $125 gift certificate reducing the cost to $274 & 374, while the existing paid members (which we paid $ 55,000 cash) find it difficult at best to get a reservation when they would be able to use them, usually in the very low season... Its all about the money for the operators of these organizations...

Michaeld,

I just don't share your opinion. I have been able to go to Hawaii whenever I want. I have stayed at The Point and the Ka'anapali Beach Club during high demand season during spring breaks and summer. We will have to agree to disagree on this one. But we''ll see what the lawsuit brings.

By the way, I did not start this forum or this thread.

michaeld414 wrote:

charless345 wrote:

michaeld414 wrote:

If you are a satisfied points owner why are you here....? Why are you making statements that are promoting more points to be sold... Do you know how many members there are in any given collection, I will bet it is way beyond the number of units times the number of weeks in the year... Selling air is about the same deal.... You are selling just like those at any resort presentation "High Pressure" and when a serious question is asked, shuffle that person off to a more powerful sales person... Let all potential vacation buyer's beware, they will sell as many as they can, my past experience with DRI was the fee's the first year 2008 - 2009 went up 50%, second year 2009 - 2010 went up 25% and then a special assessment was levied that was equal to over 200% of the annual fee... The Deeded Owners got hit with double that amount, because they wanted to pressure them to surrender their Deeds in favor of points, as you have far less power in the points system... Why do you think there is a Federal Class Lawsuit filed with the US District Court in Honolulu...

Michaeld, I did not see where this was a complaints only board or forum. These forums are also to provide a resource for people as well. If I don't think the way you do, I should not be on the board. I know that you know that makes no sense.

I am a DRI owner like you, but in a different faction of the system. You have a deed and I have points. It was stated that DRI's maintenance fees have gone up 16% EACH YEAR. I provided data that that was not the case for everyone in the DRI system.

I have stated this before and I will one more time. If DRI is in fact doing illegal activity and following unlawful practices, then throw the book at them and come down hard on them. However, if it is found that they in fact are within their rights to do what they are doing then let's move on and enjoy our vacations. You seem to be judge, jury and executioner without due process or allowing the system to weigh the evidence. Anyone can sue, but you have to prove it. Let's see what the courts say first. Then we can call them criminals. Remember, if you are a US citizen, one is innocent until proven guilty.

The "Resource" as you describe this forum, should be the organization in which you bought your membership... But the reality is that when there is no vacancy for the paid members, its because they make special offerings to those they want to sell new memberships to... For my $ 300 a day in annual maintenance (14 days X $ 300 = $ 4200) and actually is was a bit more than that, they offer right now a 3 or 5 day package for $399 & $499 with a $125 gift certificate reducing the cost to $274 & 374, while the existing paid members (which we paid $ 55,000 cash) find it difficult at best to get a reservation when they would be able to use them, usually in the very low season... Its all about the money for the operators of these organizations...

dianas232 The person who replied to my message about the difficulty in using points-I simply stated that I have a great no. of points to use,but every time I find a resort listed in the II catalog, it is not available for the dates or even the season I want.The no.of points lose value until they are outdated.Don't worry, though, they will soon be replaced by more unusable points! If you want to go to the tropics in summer or the Arctic Circle in Dec. ,You might have success. What is confusing is how did we get into this mess in the first place. Someone wrote correctly ''points are like fresh air"- but not free! When we call the resorts DIRECTLY-they say that they have openings when we want them ,but II says they don't.

I'm a bit challenged by Facebook but do want to follow the DRI members on Facebook. Can you tell me how to find the page? Thanks so much.

https://www.facebook.com/pointatpoipu?ref=ts&fref=ts

stephanier248 wrote:

I'm a bit challenged by Facebook but do want to follow the DRI members on Facebook. Can you tell me how to find the page? Thanks so much.

Stephanie,

This is the site on Facebook that I was referring to for others to visit.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/6178828475/

I found this message board while looking for point conversion to pay for fees. Last time I checked, it didn't seem like a worthwhile use of the points. I read one fairly recent post that seemed to reconfirm that impression. Any other thoughts about that or other ways to use the points? I'm a platinum member and have more points than I can use at least until I retire. I live in Houston, so usually fly united (wish it was still continental), so american doesn't work for me since there's no hub there. Any other good uses anybody know of?

I did read all the other posts, so I'll comment on some of those. First of all, I am very sorry for the owners at Poipu Point. I just returned from there and they had at least one builiding completely closed that they were redoing. My friend who used to work there said that it was the largest special assessment in history. He said that the deeded owners got bigger assessments than points owners which doesn't seem fair. I enjoyed my visit, but it did seem that morale was pretty low there. Anyway, good luck with you lawsuit.

My home resort is cypress pointe and overall I've been happy with the timeshare experience and with the club. When I first bought there were only a handful of resorts in the original family which I believe was named Argosy, then there was sunterrra and then diamond resorts. I converted my deeded weeks into points to use when it was still sunterra and I still own my deeded weeks which I think is different than this trust thing. A couple of years ago I was looking to pick up some additional weeks and came into contact with an owners representative at my home resort. I was able through her help to pick up some additional weeks by paying the maintenance fee for that year and a transfer fee. Some resorts will put you into contact with owners who want to sell. Anyway, since I don't attend these sales pitches, I don't really know what they're pushing these days, but she told me she had owners coming to her in tears because they converted their weeks into points. They got more points, but now have much higher maintenance fees. I'm not sure how much higher theirs are than mine, though. I guess it's based on the points you have rather than what the costs are at your home resort. Anybody know how that's figured?

I own at two sister resorts. Cypress Pointe and Grand Villas (formerly phase II or cp grand villas). The former is in control of the homeowners and is managed by VRI and the latter the developer still has some control and is managed by DRI. Both places have had their maintenance fees increase over the years, but each resort is well maintained and managed, although I will say tha GV has a little edge right now. Surprisingly the maintenance fees are slightly higher at CP (around 910 vs 840 for 3BR), but GV has a higher club point value (9000 I think). The maintenance fees and taxes stayed about the same from previous year, although the reserve amount went up. Does anyone know how this compares to the points maintenance fees or other club resorts? Another difference is I get free internet and free newspaper at GV that I don't get at CP which is a perk of it being managed by DRI.

I also was looking on this message board to see if I wanted to convert weeks into points, but since I'm sure it would probably mean converting points into the trust, I am no longer interested, so I appreciate everyones comments. For those that have deeded weeks converted into points, but still own a deeded week, do you know what it would take to take them back out of the club?

Again, sorry to hear about all the problems with the trust and point thing. I guess just try and enjoy it and get the most out of it what you have . Book as soon as you can for high demand and take advantage of resorts in low demand which are discounted. If you want more weeks, I suggest you contact a resort and pick up a week from an owner or ebay or wherever at a resort you like or one that you can bank into RCI and get the most point value from. Stick with deeded ones that you can control and leave to your heirs or sell. Good luck and keep posting about the lawsuit. I am interested in seeing what happens.

I think that is a load, not knowing the US collection, but having experience with the Hawaii Collection where in our first year our fee's went from 2800$ to 3600$ and in the next year they went to 4300$...

michaeld414 wrote:

I think that is a load, not knowing the US collection, but having experience with the Hawaii Collection where in our first year our fee's went from 2800$ to 3600$ and in the next year they went to 4300$...

How many weeks did you own. Did you own points if so how many? Does this include only maintenance fees or are special assessments included?

We need some context for your points? Do you own weeks or points?

I converted 6 weeks into the sunterra club in 2000 for 51000 points. I pay maintenance fees for each deeded week I own which includes maintenance taxes and reserve fees. At the time I did this one did not sell your deeded weeks so I still own them. I can use my points at all of the resorts in dri. I am pretty satisfied especially since I get the benefits of being a platinum member. Now you can upgrade at time of booking which is nice. You used to have to call. I am not familiar with this trust thing or us or Hawaii collection but it sounds like things may be different now if you convert or buy points. Over the 20 years I've had two special assessments but they were relatively minor compared to what occurred at poipu.

Are your maintenance fees in the point system based on your home resort maintenance fees or are they averaged out over all the resorts in the respective collection? What about the poipu special assessment? How was that apportioned? Which resorts are in the Hawaii collection? Is it just Poipu and K beach or are any of the others included? Does it include some from the US too? This deed grab by DRI is concerning since it gives them more control over the condo associations. I'm assuming that is why they manage some resorts and not others. Although I will say that so far they've done a pretty good job with Grand villas. It actually appears to be managed better than VRI does at CP. That's just my observation. I stay at both yearly. Others, perhaps with more insight, might disagree.

coryj wrote:

Are your maintenance fees in the point system based on your home resort maintenance fees or are they averaged out over all the resorts in the respective collection? What about the poipu special assessment? How was that apportioned? Which resorts are in the Hawaii collection? Is it just Poipu and K beach or are any of the others included? Does it include some from the US too? This deed grab by DRI is concerning since it gives them more control over the condo associations. I'm assuming that is why they manage some resorts and not others. Although I will say that so far they've done a pretty good job with Grand villas. It actually appears to be managed better than VRI does at CP. That's just my observation. I stay at both yearly. Others, perhaps with more insight, might disagree.

Coryj, you are fortunate to have bought into the Club when you did because you cannot do so in the same manner today. If you have all of your points based upon your deeds then you would pay based upon your deeds. The Hawaii Collection includes The Point at Poipu, Ka'anapali Beach Club, Polo Towers and Sedona Summit. Folks who own this collection get to make reservations there 13 months in advance. You probably can make reservations there at 10 months out. If you are in the US Collection part of the Club and are not deeded you pay Club dues, a collection fee and for 2013 Club members paid .1227 per point. So if you were to add about $450 to $6257.70 you get about $6700 in total Club maintenance fees for points for the year.

I am a Gold level member with DRI's points program. I have stayed at Cypress Pointe and Grande Villas. It is a very nice resort. I like flexibility which is why I like the points system. I would not want to go to Orlando every year. I can really make my points stretch into months which one can do if they use points but not with weeks. For example, did you get the DRI email with the 50% and 75% points discounts they are offering? I like that. I look forward to retirement so I can take full advantage of those discounts. Only those at silver, gold and platinum receive free internet and newspapers at specific DRI resorts.

The lawsuit was resolved and the owners are still paying the nearly $6000 maintenance fees. Those who owned points paid less than those with deeded weeks. This is because the assessment is spread amongst all of the points owners. Remember unlike weeks owners, points owners do not own at that specific resort but participate at several resorts. Weeks owner own exclusively at one resort and thus the price difference.