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

I've read most of the posts here and I'm still not sure of the benefits and drawbacks of having my points in the Hawaii Trust. At this time I have 11500 deeded points and 8000 in the trust. Diamond has offered to combine our points along with our parents points that are in the trust so we will reach Gold level and save the $ we spend on two club memberships by only having one. Just not sure if I'm missing something and will regret this move if I make it. We have owned since 2005 and have never had a problem booking our home resort of KBC every summer, so other than the ever increasing MF's we are happy owners. Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks

How much is this beneficial change going to cost you?

The " beneficial change" will be the cost of 4000 points ( the lowest amount they claim to be willing to sell ). Around $12 k for the additional points.

larrys387 wrote:

I've read most of the posts here and I'm still not sure of the benefits and drawbacks of having my points in the Hawaii Trust. At this time I have 11500 deeded points and 8000 in the trust. Diamond has offered to combine our points along with our parents points that are in the trust so we will reach Gold level and save the $ we spend on two club memberships by only having one. Just not sure if I'm missing something and will regret this move if I make it. We have owned since 2005 and have never had a problem booking our home resort of KBC every summer, so other than the ever increasing MF's we are happy owners. Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks

There are savings that you would have if you combined your parents' and your points. First, you are both paying a Hawaiian Collection fee and a Club fee. The Club fee was $299 for 2013. You both are also paying a Hawaii Collection fee. which was at least $205 if not more. If you combined the points you would only have to pay for those fees once and not twice for each of you. That's a savings of about $500.

In addition, you will be at the Gold level which allows you some additional benefits like 5 upgrades for $49, extended redemption deadlines for cruises, airlines, etc. and other discounts within the Club. Maybe some of these other benefits may not be useful to you, but the $500 per year or really $250 savings should get your interest.

As long as it is not going to cost you anything to do it, I would take advantage of it. Remember, if you do combine the points, all of the maintenance fees will fall on you when your parents pass. You will have to ask yourself if you can or want to afford the maintenance fees for all 30,000 points. Right now, you will be responsible for just the points you own and if your parents pass you don't have to accept their points. Give this close consideration.

I hope this helps.

12k for 4000 pts is a bit too much. We were offered 2500 pts. for 6k, we accepted it, then cancelled it within the time frame. They called back a few weeks later and reduced the price by $1500. We still declined. Tell them you wont pay more than $2.15 per point. If they wont budge accept, then rescind it and wait for a phone call. We are not in the trust but own 2 deeded weeks at KBC that we get points for each year, we have no problems booking any time we want to go. good Luck

larrys387 wrote:

The " beneficial change" will be the cost of 4000 points ( the lowest amount they claim to be willing to sell ). Around $12 k for the additional points.

Diamond Resorts International has a highly skilled timeshare sales force. I bet they were very effective in convincing you that this made sense. They can sell snow to Eskimos. The price seems very very high to me. I certainly would run away from this.

So here's the question I have, how 'flexible’ is it really?

I own week 27 (2bd/2ba LO) at Mystic Dunes Resort & Golf Club in Orlando a recently, (2011/2012 timeframe), acquired property. I’ve had a couple presentations and a couple nice grabs at what they were offering but this time we seemed to really understand the program and are interested – a lot of this reading is why I’m not a ‘convert’ at this time.

We were offered point value for our week but we had to purchase the bottom line point package (8500 at this time), of course by the end of the time it was more like 4000 is the bottom line… anyway – 8500 points for 50K, something like 6.06 per point (pp), and of course we considered this ridiculous.

Next offer was to bring back in my original equity offer and reduce the PPP so under 3.00 pp and 23K in equity plus 7500 added points… bottom line=20K out of pocket, 20K total points every year and don’t forget the .12 per point for the maintenance, (but there’s a weird catch here as well). Also got another lower offer for 10K net and would end up with 16K points per year but the low level stuff is the same, equity back and additional points.

We would end up having to pay maintenance per point on only the points we were buying, so that the 7500, (or 900.00), but continue to pay annual maintenance for the week that we owned?? This is what I didn’t understand, my current maintenance is over 900 and if I paid their .12 per point on the 12500 they were coverting me to for the week it would be 1,500.00 so it saves me $$ but I guess that’s why I’m skeptical.

Anyway, I’ve been angry over inability to get transfers anywhere of value for the week I have, can’t sell it, (even that would become more difficult as more folks convert), and the frustration has built up that’s why this looked better at face value. I want to investigate anything before I jump in, (like I didn’t do 14 years ago when I first purchased, lol). My main concern is the usage ability and value for point usage.

It sounds like points increase to fast to keep any value for more than a few years and the only way to keep value up is to continue to purchase more points which of course increases maintenance cost that is figured on a per point basis and that cost significantly increases annually as well.

I’m interested in hearing from folks that have converted and have had some time to use the points for a while.

Thanks in advance, great thread for ppl to read.

I have a 2 Bed LO at Mystic Dunes that I inherited and am trying to decide what to do with and am looking for as much info as possible before we make a decision.

The maintenance fees were $980 last year and we have no plans to use our week in the next few years. I had heard about "The Club" as an option to bank time but the last thing I want to do is sink more money into a timeshare I don't see us using. The resale market looks very weak and I hate to just throw away the initial investment that was made when it was bought (around 2000-01).

Just wondering if converting to points is even an option or I should just bank the next few years in Intervals and hope they can get used at some point in the future??

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Jon....if you haven't signed any paperwork and accepted ownership of the timeshare you don't have to take on the obligation of always increasing maintenance fees and assessments. No one can force you to take the inheritence. I gave back two timeshares to my home reorts two years ago because my life has changed and I was longer going to be able to travel as much and didn't want the obligation anymore.

If you read through these forums you will see that many owners just want out of their maintenance fees and some are willing to pay just to have someone else take them over. Vacation clubs are always changing the rules and they always favor the corporations that own them. Getting an exchange for a desireable location is difficult to say the least.

I'm glad to see that you came into the forums for advice. I'm sure others will comment and I hope you use their information wisely making your decissions. I have owned timeshares for over twenty years and have seen the industry change. Unfrotunately the change is not in the best interest of the timeshare owners.

I also belong to the National Timeshare Owners Association. It's an organization that represents timeshare owners interests. Membership also comes with a suscription to Timesharing Today. It's a great newsletter that discusses the pros and cons of ownership. It's a neutral venue for owners to share their experiences.

Again it was refreshing to see someone ask questions before jumping into a lifetime obligation. Good luck.

jonw134 wrote:

I have a 2 Bed LO at Mystic Dunes that I inherited and am trying to decide what to do with and am looking for as much info as possible before we make a decision.

The maintenance fees were $980 last year and we have no plans to use our week in the next few years. I had heard about "The Club" as an option to bank time but the last thing I want to do is sink more money into a timeshare I don't see us using. The resale market looks very weak and I hate to just throw away the initial investment that was made when it was bought (around 2000-01).

Just wondering if converting to points is even an option or I should just bank the next few years in Intervals and hope they can get used at some point in the future??

Any help is greatly appreciated.

If you have already assumed ownership from the inheritance, then it's yours and you have to stop making mistake number one that most unhappy timeshare owners do. You need to start making vacation plans and use it. You can use it, rent it or exchange it to a different place. However, if you are paying maintenance fees every year, yes you are correct, you are wasting money. Use it. Take a trip each year. Mystic Dunes is a decent resort and you can exchange it to another nice resort if you don't want to go to Orlando.

Banking points can be done if you have points, but you can only bank them for a year. However, it's all for naught if you don't go anywhere. It will expire with Interval International if you don't use it before two years as well.

Figure out how you would like to use your timeshare or if you even want it, and then we can better assist you with strategies to best use it.

Diamond Resorts International will not give me the option to deposit my 2013 week with Interval and keep it there two years. These are 2012 points that were banked to 2013. They say I must either make a reservation in my "collection" by December 31, 2013, or make a reservation through their Interval International desk for as late as 2014 by October 31. Or else I lose it, and my jacked up maintenance fee is forfeit. With my other timeshare (also points based) I can get a reservation and deposit that with II and I have two years from the date of the reservation to use it. DRI is much more restrictive and I have fewer options.

I also feel like they have hijacked my II account. I can only deal with their desk for DRI exchanges, and the II staff even gets confused and tells me I have to deal with DRI for my other timeshare.

I was told that my weeks were basically worthless (that I owned from 20 years ago) and that the only way that I was ever going to have more flexibility was to convert to points. I have since contacted a lawyer and he informed me that many of the time shares in florida he can work on getting people out of due to the laws there but, I own in Virginia and they are apparently very protected in that state, He told me that the attorney general in the state of virginia is quite vested in timeshares and so he has no intention of changing their laws that would better protect the consumer. He informed me that the only real hope in that state is once the attorney general changes.

Can we ask what you own and with whom? Is a one or 2 bedroom? What season is it in? Is it a red season? Who told you it was worthless? Do you use it at all?

Remember, you can still occupy your unit, exchange it for a new location each year or rent it.

You must have spoken with a DRI salesman trying to sell you points. Has your old company sold out to DRI? If this is the case you don't have to do anything and continue to use your timeshare as you always have. I am a DRI owner and I know they try to scare people into thinking their timeshare is not worth anything. You are fine. Please share some more information so we can help.

I am currently DRI deeded and with points at Poipu and KBC. We have been pretty happy with DRI properties, maint fees have been increasing and the assessment in poipu not fun. I recently purchased more pts to get to silver level where i have some upgrade options and also converted to USCollection trust. I saw the benefit of us collection as lower per pt maint fees. I can still cancel that but will pay more in maint fees all pts not in US Collection. I dont use the home advantage since converting to pts. Are there any other drawbacks to losing deed and converting to trust? What am i missing? I jope it wont be more difficult to use my hawaii properties once i convert. They say it doesnt matter but i am skeptical.

rlb93311 wrote:

I am currently DRI deeded and with points at Poipu and KBC. We have been pretty happy with DRI properties, maint fees have been increasing and the assessment in poipu not fun. I recently purchased more pts to get to silver level where i have some upgrade options and also converted to USCollection trust. I saw the benefit of us collection as lower per pt maint fees. I can still cancel that but will pay more in maint fees all pts not in US Collection. I dont use the home advantage since converting to pts. Are there any other drawbacks to losing deed and converting to trust? What am i missing? I jope it wont be more difficult to use my hawaii properties once i convert. They say it doesnt matter but i am skeptical.

It depends on what you have and want to do. If you own a 2 bedroom oceanview unit and you have access to it all year around, even during the Christmas and New Year's Holiday with your deed, then if DRI is not giving you 16,000 points, I would say it's not a good deal. 16,000 points would give you access to a two bedroom oceanview during the peak times of year including Thanksgiving and July 4th week. If you already have access to that then in my opinion I would not settle for less than that. Now if you never travel during those times and it's not a big deal to you, then that's different. However, some people have been able to negotiate by keeping their deed as is and joining the Club as well. If you are a Hawaii Collection owner and have now bought US Collection that means you will now pay an extra $200 or so dollars for belonging to two collections. If the home advantage is not an issue for you then I would just keep all the points in Hawaii and save the extra money. Personally, I think if you just want to use the DRI properties, I would buy resale points in the US Collection. Many folks are giving those points away. Of course, know that if you buy resale points you are limited to that collection only and you cannot use them for Interval International. If you really feel you want silver status, you can buy resale for nothing and buy half the points from DRI and just pay a whole lot less. For example, let's say you need 10,000 points to go silver. Buy 5,000 resale points for next to nothing or free. Then you can get DRI to allow you to bring those points into the Club but you would have to pay DRI for 5000 points. You would save half of what you're putting out now. I would rescind the offer now and renenogtiate with them. Just my thoughts. I would suggest you come to our DRi owners website on Facebook and we as owners will assist you to get a much better deal than you're looking at now. Who wants to pay more than necessary.

How much did you pay for your DRI points. On our most recent purchase, we paid $2.51 per point. We are happy with DRI and currently have 32,500 points.

Hello--not sure if you have converted your week to points yet, but try and get DRI down on the price. Our last purchase we got them down to $2.50 per point. I bet you could even get them to go lower than that.

Tell DRI you are willing to pay ONE DOLLAR a point, However you have to be ready to get up and walk away, when they say no, and they will. Just tell them to call you if they change their mind. This worked for me in 2009. What have you got to lose.( Your Hard Earned Money.) Good Luck, By the way my Maintence fee for 15,000 point for 2014 is $2,500.00 up from $2,000.00 USD.

ann1366 wrote:

Hello--not sure if you have converted your week to points yet, but try and get DRI down on the price. Our last purchase we got them down to $2.50 per point. I bet you could even get them to go lower than that.

Hello..thanks for such a great site. After reading all of this, I think I might have just got screwed over by DRI. I think/hope I have a few days to kill the deal, although they never said anything about that.

Ok, here is the deal I made with the devil…I have a 2 bedroom timeshare at Welk Resort in San Diego that they said they would give me $15000 for as a trade in for DRI membership/points. They would pay all closing costs, etc, charge me an additional 17k and give me 4000 points under this confusing to understand "trust" structure. Also, the would “throw in” the obligatory free vaca, a $100 gift Visa, and 3000 bonus points for the first year. Seeing the advantages of the points system, wanting so terribly to get out of my old school 1/50th ownership structure, and being a total idiot, I agreed. So, basically I gave up a timeshare (paid for in full), paid 17k, and got 4000 points. After reading all of this I can see it is a bad deal.

The red flag should have been that when I went to sign docs they said they could only write down $5000 for the trade so that I would not have to pay taxes. It sounded a bit sketchy, but I was brainwashed by their friendliness and charm...ugg.

Also, being frustrated by not being able to book things I wanted through II, I specifically asked the salesperson if she had stats on what % of the time you can actually book the property you want. She said "Everytime, unless it is a major holiday". Now after reading these threads I can see that this is not true.

Can anyone guide me into what I should do? Can I still get out of it? Did I get pummeled?

Thanks so much, Randy 619-884-7827

You have 7 days to cancel and would suggest you do cancel... We walked away after paying 55,000 $$ in cash, I thought about cancelling and called them with my reasons and wanted assurances in several area's, they lied, outright lied about the issues I questioned... Then 18 months later they made public that what I had asked about was true... The water intrusion problem and a charge of 60 Million $$ to the membership... Plus the maintenance fees went from 100 $ per vacation day to over 300 $....