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

While the assessment for points owners is lower than the deeded week owners - averaged across multiple resorts - there is also the risk of any other special assessments for other properties in the collection being assessed to the points owners.

Yes, that risk is always there, but in my nearly 15 years of timesharing I have not experienced any special assessment except one the second year year of ownership.

markg510 wrote:

While the assessment for points owners is lower than the deeded week owners - averaged across multiple resorts - there is also the risk of any other special assessments for other properties in the collection being assessed to the points owners.

thanks Charles and Michael. That was helpful. I am only able to book 10 months in advance with my club membership, although I believe I can book 12 months for my home resorts. I don't usually do that since I am usually traveling to Orlando at times that I get a discount on top of usually being able to upgrade. I haven't had too much trouble booking into the club if I book them far enough in advance, although I could see that being a problem as more points are sold. I go to Kaanapali beach every year, sometimes twice, and haven't had a problem getting in there if I reserve in advance. You can make the points go a long way if you can be flexible when you travel, alot more than before I was in the club.

I did miss traveling with RCI, so I picked up some additional weeks and bank them far in advance to use with RCI. I like their website and its even better now. RCI now has a value system based on the week you deposit and how far in advance you bank it. Not like it used to be where you didn't know the value. Now, you know the value and can use the leftover value to book additioal units. I usually get 2-3 units for each week I bank. My only problem is I have ended up with more RCI time than I can use. Thus my dilemna about whether to convert any of those weeks into points or not. I may give it some consideration, as long as I don't have to convert all my weeks. You might consider picking up another week for RCI when you retire. It gives you more resorts to choose from. However, the downside is you do have an annual fee, exchange fees, and unless you have RCI points, you do have to stay for a week. You can still probably pick up a week for the cost of the maintenance fee for that year and closing costs (about 350, I think). If you do it at a DRI resort, you can always convert it to points at a later time, although I'm not sure of the costs. It might be cheaper to do that than buying more points, but I really have no idea.

I did the math and the maintenance fees are about the same for points and deeded at my resort, although we don't pay a collection fee.

On the topic of owner updates/sales pitches. I never go to them anymore, no matter what they call them because they are just timeshare sales. Its a waste of time and not worth the money to me. It's not just DRI that's aggresssive. Many other places are too. I've had a Marriot sales person actually come to my door once and leave a note because I unplugged my phone so I didn't have to hear the phone ring at all hours of the day and night. Unfortunately, at most places you can't get your parking pass or sometimes even your keys until you've met with the salespeople in the concierge area. It's annoying, but I just keep telling them that I don't want to buy anything and that it wouldn't be fair to the salesperson. If they persist, I usually finally agree to some date and just don't show up. I always refuse to give them my credit card no matter what. You're in the driver's seat. They have no choice, but to acquiesce. If you really want that voucher, then be prepared for at least two hours of torment and plan on being worked over by 3 different people. It's been that way for a long time and I see it hasn't changed. I guess its one of those tactics that work for them. The sales pitches are the one bad thing about timeshares that we unfortunately have to live with. I have just learned to blow them off and not let it bother me.

coryj wrote:

On the topic of owner updates/sales pitches. I never go to them anymore, no matter what they call them because they are just timeshare sales. Its a waste of time and not worth the money to me. It's not just DRI that's aggresssive. Many other places are too. I've had a Marriot sales person actually come to my door once and leave a note because I unplugged my phone so I didn't have to hear the phone ring at all hours of the day and night. Unfortunately, at most places you can't get your parking pass or sometimes even your keys until you've met with the salespeople in the concierge area. It's annoying, but I just keep telling them that I don't want to buy anything and that it wouldn't be fair to the salesperson. If they persist, I usually finally agree to some date and just don't show up. I always refuse to give them my credit card no matter what. You're in the driver's seat. They have no choice, but to acquiesce. If you really want that voucher, then be prepared for at least two hours of torment and plan on being worked over by 3 different people. It's been that way for a long time and I see it hasn't changed. I guess its one of those tactics that work for them. The sales pitches are the one bad thing about timeshares that we unfortunately have to live with. I have just learned to blow them off and not let it bother me.

Coryj, you have a good attitude about the updates/salespitch. You don't have to go so just say no. It's not that big a deal.

I just wanted you to know that with the Club points, you cannot use RCI. DRI uses Interval International (II). You may be able to use your weeks with RCI, but DRI points are only used for exchanges with II.

That is why I obtained some additional weeks. They are not in the club and with my home resort you can participate with Rci. I am not able to use my club points with Rci but can with II as you've stated which I have done in the past.

Coryj, I am the one who brought you in and welcomed you onto the DRI MEMBERS Group on Facebook.

coryj wrote:

That is why I obtained some additional weeks. They are not in the club and with my home resort you can participate with Rci. I am not able to use my club points with Rci but can with II as you've stated which I have done in the past.

We have been told that the more points you own the less your maintenance fees will be per point. For example someone who owns 10,000 points could be paying $2,500 in mf while someone with 20,000 might be paying $4,600 (not $5000). Someone who owns $40,000 might be paying $6,500. Those aren't the real fees but show my point. So maintenance fees do not follow a constant rate. Instead the more points you own the less your per point charge.

Christine

cv53 wrote:

We have been told that the more points you own the less your maintenance fees will be per point. For example someone who owns 10,000 points could be paying $2,500 in mf while someone with 20,000 might be paying $4,600 (not $5000). Someone who owns $40,000 might be paying $6,500. Those aren't the real fees but show my point. So maintenance fees do not follow a constant rate. Instead the more points you own the less your per point charge.

Christine

Who told you that? Let me guess: a timeshare salesperson! They have many reasons why it will be much better if you buy more.

I am not sure where you received this information, but it is incorrect. You do not pay less maintenance fees if you have more points. In fact, everyone in a specific collection pays the same amount per point and then add Club fees and administrative fees to it.

What you may have heard was that the more points you BUY from DRI may decrease. DRI may not charge you $6.00 per point if you buy 20,000 points but may charge you $4.50 per point. However, if you were only going to BUY 10,000 points they may charge you the regular $6.00 per point. Such is NOT the case with maintenance fees.

cv53 wrote:

We have been told that the more points you own the less your maintenance fees will be per point. For example someone who owns 10,000 points could be paying $2,500 in mf while someone with 20,000 might be paying $4,600 (not $5000). Someone who owns $40,000 might be paying $6,500. Those aren't the real fees but show my point. So maintenance fees do not follow a constant rate. Instead the more points you own the less your per point charge.

Christine

Just curious, how much did some of you pay for your Diamond points? We recently added 2500pts. to get us to silver level. We paid $6000, this was in the US Collection. We own 2 deeds from Hawaii that we get 6000 and 8500 pts. per year, we bought them from Sunterra.

We just went for our "owners update" also know as "how many points can we get them to buy this time". We were first presented with a paper listing what they said were the "going prices" They were outrageous. It was $51,000 for 8500 points $102,000 for 17,000 points etc. Yah right who would pay that. They wanted us to sign something to lock those prices in so that we could buy anytime in the next 18 months. That is dumb. Those high prices will go up even higher? Then they came back with some story about our opportunity to buy at cheaper prices because we were previous owners who still have a chance at a lower price. The prices were much lower. For example it was $24, 510 for 9500 points and $60,475 for 29,500 points. I've heard of others paying $26,000 for 10,000 points recently so what you paid sounds about right. They show us the outrageous prices, then they show us the right prices to make us think it is a great deal. They are deceptive. It would be interesting to hear what others pay and if they have seen the option to buy points list that I saw with the high prices.

Maryb, I am sorry to give you this news, but you will not be able to sell your 4000 DRI points for anything close to $15,000. I am a DRI Gold member and love my DRI ownership but am not foolish to think I could sell them for anything close to what I paid for them.

I suggest you look at Redweek's sells area to get an idea what the going rate is for points. You can also look at Timeshare Users Group (tug2.net) and they have a spot that you can look to compare and of course there is E-Bay.

There are also numerous offers to sell on eBay, mostly under $5.00 and getting no bids. There is one offering 15,000 points for $5.00, 2013 fees paid and only a $250 transfer fee! Closes in three hours! No offers.

Where else can you buy a product for $15,000 that you can't sell for a dollar the minute you sign the papers?

I am not selling the DRI membership for less. Selling 'The Club" membership is different than selling points. I am going to see a Real Estate lawyer about it. I think the membership can be sold and not for $5. I wouldn't bid on it either.

Anyway, I cannot sell it from here. I do appreciate the feedback and opinions though. Thanks. :)

maryb1275 wrote:

I am not selling the DRI membership for less. Selling 'The Club" membership is different than selling points. I am going to see a Real Estate lawyer about it. I think the membership can be sold and not for $5. I wouldn't bid on it either.

Anyway, I cannot sell it from here. I do appreciate the feedback and opinions though. Thanks. :)

Maryb, I am not giving you an opinion here, but a fact. You cannot sell Club membership. You can only sell points from the specific collection you bought. I would suggest you read the rules on the Club that DRI provides and it very clearly states that the membership does not transfer.

Sorry if this is not good news for you. A realtor won't be able to help you, I suggest you contact DRI.

I read the posting from "monas23" and I'm not believing it. As a Diamond platinum owner, I talk with many other owners and the treatment we all receive by Diamond personnel all over is just fantastic. Their approach with us has been awesome ... always finding ways to make us happy. (Sometimes it helps to ask if we need something). Well, we "get more flies with honey" as they say...politeness goes a long way in my experience. They aren't perfect, but who is. I stay in touch with my sales guy, he's my consultant) and keep learning new ways to get more bang for my buck...and fun. Re the Mesa and Sunset units, I've stayed in them at Sedona Summit and others....I'd put them up against Four Seasons, Marriott and Westin anytime. Re maintenance fees, I use their programs to offset mine. Didn't want all that hooey to go unanswered without an honest airing of our good experiences.

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????????????????????

jamesa559 wrote:

I read the posting from "monas23" and I'm not believing it. As a Diamond platinum owner, I talk with many other owners and the treatment we all receive by Diamond personnel all over is just fantastic. Their approach with us has been awesome ... always finding ways to make us happy. (Sometimes it helps to ask if we need something). Well, we "get more flies with honey" as they say...politeness goes a long way in my experience. They aren't perfect, but who is. I stay in touch with my sales guy, he's my consultant) and keep learning new ways to get more bang for my buck...and fun. Re the Mesa and Sunset units, I've stayed in them at Sedona Summit and others....I'd put them up against Four Seasons, Marriott and Westin anytime. Re maintenance fees, I use their programs to offset mine. Didn't want all that hooey to go unanswered without an honest airing of our good experiences.

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????????????????????

JamesA, I just want you to know that I enjoy my DRI points too and have noted it several times on this site and others. However, I own with Marriott and even DRI's nicest resorts and I have been to them here in the US including the Summit in Sedona and they are not Marriott quality. What amazes me even more is that the maintenance fees for Marriott resorts is either cheaper or not much more than DRI's. For example, the Marriott Palm Desert properties, Desert Springs I & II and Shadow Ridge have cheaper maintenance fees during prime season than Diamond's Marquis Villas. All three of those Marriott properties are way out of Marquis Villas' league in every way. Anyone who has been to both of these properties would would agree. I say this not to be critical, but as an observation. Remember, I like my DRI membership, but I am very objective about the way t hing are.

Also, we have a facebook page of over 300 Diamond Resorts members. Come join us. We share ways to get the maximum out of our membeship.

We have been owners at Los Abrigatos Sedona since 2001. While not first class property we like location and "upgraded" in 2006 to 2 bedroom for extra $3200 and 2 bedroom instead of annual 1 bedroom got 2 br odd years. Spent 2 weeks there end of April 2013. First visit under diamond. Fees are now $1400 for week instead of $900 and we DID NOT GET a 2 Bdrm. We got a dungeon room with dirty carpets, dark and few windows inspite of the exact 2 Bdrm had 4 years ago vacant for most of 10-day stay.

LESSON Learned: Diamond is a SLUM operator who takes advantage of the largely unregulated timeshare industry and stupid lenders who gladly transfer their foreclosure properties to this marketing machine that then raises fees, does not manage or maintain properties and begins the process of mass marketing cheap vacations to the unaware consumer who signs on to cover any fees they charge without representation or consumer protection. There must be a class action suit SOON. AZ is John McCain country and consumers BEWARE!!!

Send your comments and unite against the sham Diamond machine!

robertb1166 wrote:

We have been owners at Los Abrigatos Sedona since 2001. While not first class property we like location and "upgraded" in 2006 to 2 bedroom for extra $3200 and 2 bedroom instead of annual 1 bedroom got 2 br odd years. Spent 2 weeks there end of April 2013. First visit under diamond. Fees are now $1400 for week instead of $900 and we DID NOT GET a 2 Bdrm. We got a dungeon room with dirty carpets, dark and few windows inspite of the exact 2 Bdrm had 4 years ago vacant for most of 10-day stay.

LESSON Learned: Diamond is a SLUM operator who takes advantage of the largely unregulated timeshare industry and stupid lenders who gladly transfer their foreclosure properties to this marketing machine that then raises fees, does not manage or maintain properties and begins the process of mass marketing cheap vacations to the unaware consumer who signs on to cover any fees they charge without representation or consumer protection. There must be a class action suit SOON. AZ is John McCain country and consumers BEWARE!!!

Send your comments and unite against the sham Diamond machine!

I will admit I did not like the heavy increases in maintenance fees when Diamond Resorts International (DRI) took over our Sunterra propgram who bought our Epic Resorts properties. However, I was very happy when DRI started refurbishing the properties. There were properties that I would not have gone to but did because they were improved. DRI also added more locations for those of us who were in Sunterra. Like your Los Abrigados property many of the Sunterra properties were in great need of repair. In a couple of years things began to be improved at various properties.

I was at Los Abrigados when DRI first took over it a couple of years ago. This is a nice property, but needs work. The two bedroom we had was very large and the bedrooms were spacious. I loved the size of the units. However, the furniture was very dated and the furniture needed to be updated. The place overall needs work. I have always thought that Los Abrigados had potential. I believe eventrually DRI will upgrade the resort. I would only stay there again after it has been renovated and refurbished. It's in a great location in Sedona.

DRI is a legitimate business, but it's a timeshare business. More importantly, it seems to be a successful one that manages your timeshare. There must have been something to it if your old ownership went bankrupt and DRI was able to buy your property. Obviously, your old company was not collecting enough in maintenance fees to keep up Los Abrigados. The place is a mess from what I saw and I was there right after DRI picked them up. You can either enjoy it or sell it. I choose to enjoy. I must tell you that you could have pointed out the devaluations you're talking about BEFORE you signed on the dotted line. DRI more than likely would have grandfathered you in. They have done it with others so that you would not have lost anything.

I would suggest that you give it some more time and you will see some changes. Just my humble opinon.