# UVC point system



## easyrider (Jan 16, 2010)

Who knows about this point system ? Is it just the RCI point conversion ?

Thanks


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## EJC (Jan 16, 2010)

I went to the owner's ed session at VDPM in Puerto Vallarta during December.  He (Mark) rattled through the history of VDM/VDPM.  Their newest product is Villa Preferred Access, which is a point system.  He mentioned that a 2-bdrm at Flamingos is 2900 points,  1-bdrm Flamingos is 2200 points, and a studio Flamingos is 1200 points.  VDPM in town uses fewer points.  Don't know about a VDPM 2-bdrm, but a 1-bdrm VDPM is 1750 points and a studio VDPM is 950 points.  He put it another way by saying for the points Flamingos costs for a week, you could use the same number of points and stay at VDPM in town for 9 days.  Is this what you are asking about?  I got the impression you would have to pay (I'm guessing big bucks) to upgrade your Gold membership to Preferred Access.  He wouldn't say what the upgrade would cost.  You had to fill out a form and meet with either Mark or Gabriella to get specifics regarding upgrade costs.  I enjoyed the owner's ed session.  One thing I learned was regarding accelerating contracts.  Premiere members can use 3 yrs ahead, Gold and Preferred Access can use 5 yrs ahead.  The catch is you borrow off the front end of your 30-yr contract.  So...if your contract expires in 2026 and in 2011 you accelerate 3 yrs, your contract will still end in 2026.  It's just that in 2011 you'd use up the weeks for 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014--or something to that effect.


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## judy23 (Jan 16, 2010)

We went to the update the other day and the biggest difference between the gold and this new plan is they are offering 2 for 1 Mtce every year. 2 weeks for one mtce fee. But it's certainly not worth $15,000 which is what they wanted. They also gave you one of those programs where you could get 50% discount on hotels but in our experience those offers are never available when you want them. We to enjoyed the update and for doing so they give you their new VIP card which carries 20% discount instead of 10% for gold. That card does come with the new point system,but they are giving that to you for going to the update.


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## ShinjukuBaby (Jan 16, 2010)

$15,000?

How do they even say that with a straight face?  You could get the same thing for a tiny fraction of the price by picking up additional weeks on ebay (it's not like there's a shortage) or by just renting an additional week when you want it.

Don't get me wrong, I have two weeks and I really like using them at VDPM (hotel zone).  It's not a perfect resort, but I think it provides a great value for the money and my family and friends have always have a good time there.  (In fact I really wish I were there right now, instead of freezing my toes off in the cold north!)

It just seems like they're constantly coming up with new "plans" to help you "add value" and "get more" and the kind of money they are talking about is always totally ludicrous.


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## judy23 (Jan 16, 2010)

I did mention ebay to the sales rep and of course they try and tell you stories of how people were taken on ebay and it is not safe. Yes $15,000  is outrageous and you can rent a lot of weeks for that kind of money which we also pointed out.


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## timesharejunkie4 (Jan 17, 2010)

$15,000 - :hysterical:


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## WINSLOW (Jan 17, 2010)

We also took the tour at Cabo Arco in November.  He tried to sell us by showing us the three bedroom with a grill and hot tub on the deck (Very, very nice unit OF) and said if we upgraded to points we could combine a few years of points to get that unit, but after talking further it comes out to 3 years of our already owned 2 bedroom points (3 years of M/F approx $900 x3 $2700) PLUS the upgrade fee of around $15,000 - $17,000 to change our weeks to points to get just 1 week every 3 years in that unit, Crazy.  That $15-$17,000 wasn't getting us a bigger unit - Just changing what we already own to points.  He wouldn't tell us how much until the end of a 1 1/2  hour tour, by then I was so mad that we wasted our time to hear that price I just wanted to get out of there, we were thinking $3000-$5,000.  Maybe it's good for someone that has the regular membership that bought a long time ago, but we just bought a little over a year ago into the gold membership that was touted the "highest membership there is" when we bought. (and yes, from developer pre TUG, unfortunately) Definitely not for us. 

He said all future resorts will be sold as points no more weeks.  Cancun & Loreto already have their set point values for each unit, which is the same as the Arco & Flamingos units and supposedly us week owners can still book there.  But, and I'm just guessing, any newer resorts will probably have higher point requirements so you'll have to keep upgrading to get into the newer better resorts & they can keep asking for money.

Anyway, Arco was great and Palmer updates look great - the pool and the new updated rooms look really nice.  The studios at Palmer will be nicer that the ones at Arco with a new better layout, IMO, atleast the ones he showed us.


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## easyrider (Jan 17, 2010)

We were told today that our membership will not allow us access to the new resorts in cancun, loerto, pv and costa rica unless we upgrade our membership. 

They told us a few years ago that we could not make a reservation at the Villa del Arco but we were able to get 4 weeks there.

So who knows, the VDP sales people think that the US economy has improved to the point of Americans flocking in great numbers to vacation in Mexico.


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## ShinjukuBaby (Jan 18, 2010)

Judy23, I'm glad you told them that you thought it was way too expensive, considering what you can get on ebay, etc.  I'm not surprised that they had a ready answer involving horror stories about ebay purchases.

As far as new resorts being points only, I don't have a problem with that at all.  I think that there are a lot of good things about a points system.  As long as I'm able to use the membership I purchased in the way that I always have, I don't feel as if I can argue.  I don't think I have a right to the new resorts (although if I can some day use them with my current membership, I certainly won't argue.)

If, however, it was a recent purchase and I had been told that I could use (e.g.) Loreto when it was completed, I would be furious if that turned out not to be the case.  I would also be extremely angry if I purchased the "highest" level and a year later was offered a NEW "highest" level for thousands and thousands of dollars.

I have a somewhat related question:  does anybody know if there are still developer weeks being sold at Flamingos?  If there are, I have to imagine that there can't be that many left, no?


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## easyrider (Jan 21, 2010)

Our friends who are with us at Flamingos were pitched a new UVC membership but they were not sure if it was for Flamingos or points.

How many points for a one bed unit. Or two bed unit. Would 500 points get you anything ?

Thanks


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## EJC (Jan 21, 2010)

I listed most of the point values in my Jan. 16th reply.


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## oploreto (Jan 21, 2010)

The way I have heard it is that this new membership allows you to use any of units any year by appling a points value to what you own. They have spent 7 million upgrading Villa Del Palmar Cabo so it is the same as Villa Del Arco Cabo so the valuse are equal, there is an advanced reservation window for VPA members.. You can stay in a studio 10 days if you own a 1 bedroom,or any combination,  they even allow to stay in an ocean front unit for a special ocassion.


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## ShinjukuBaby (Jan 21, 2010)

As I said above, I think a point system makes sense and certainly if one were starting from scratch I think it's the way to go.  Some years you might want a two-bedroom for 5 days, some years a one-bedroom for 7 days and some years a studio for 10 days.  I think that flexibility is great.

My question is what happens under the new system to those of us who purchased "weeks", should we not choose to "upgrade".

My studio weeks at VDPM have enabled me to reserve studio weeks at Flamingos, Cabo (and in theory, Arco).  Under the new system, each studio week at VDPM appears to carry a lower value than a studio week at the other resorts.

So can I still reserve a full studio week at the other resorts?  And if that's the case, I would have fewer possible days at other resorts if my VDPM weeks were converted to points!

I imagine (and hope) it's the case that the point system is being applied in addition to the current system, meaning that nothing changes for those holding weeks and not choosing to "upgrade", and assigning VDPM lower point values only works the other way to give points owners the ability to get more for their points when staying at VDPM.  

I'm not sure whether that's clear or not (it's only somewhat clear to me!) but does anybody know?


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## Kenrabs (Jan 21, 2010)

ShinjukuBaby said:


> As I said above, I think a point system makes sense and certainly if one were starting from scratch I think it's the way to go.  Some years you might want a two-bedroom for 5 days, some years a one-bedroom for 7 days and some years a studio for 10 days.  I think that flexibility is great.
> 
> My question is what happens under the new system to those of us who purchased "weeks", should we not choose to "upgrade".
> 
> ...



I would expect the points and older week systems to be separate. The old contracts should be business as usual. I would even bet that the gold and premiere membership can still trade into the new resorts. They want these members to stay at the new resorts so they can try to sell the upgrade. I don't put to much stalk into what sales reps say at presentations since a lot of them barely know the product they are selling and few know how to really use it.


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## easyrider (Jan 21, 2010)

EJC said:


> I listed most of the point values in my Jan. 16th reply.



Yes, I read your point charting but was watching an ebay 500 point uvc membership. If the ebay is right and you are right as well then 500 points is worthless. The MF is about $745.00.


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## EJC (Jan 23, 2010)

I don't know what else to say.  The point values I quoted are what was told to us at the owner ed session.  Mark drew a diagram on the white board, and I copied it down verbatim.   I have no idea whether or not Mark was talking about a different animal than what the 500-point auction was referring to.  I do know Mark was explaining the new Preferred Access point program when he drew the diagram.  Did the auction mention how much resort time the 500 points was equivalent to?


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## easyrider (Jan 23, 2010)

The auction is still on ebay. People in the pool that went to the update and got as far as a price are saying the same thing as you Mr. EJC, so I thinks your right. The MF listed in the auction is about what a one bed unit MF fee is. Thanks for the point explain.


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## Developer's Representative (Jan 27, 2010)

*Developer's Response*

Dear Members, this message is designed to help clear up certain issues you have raised regarding your membership and to respond to questions about what is currently being offered to our members at the the Villa Group.

First, the newest membership offered within the Villa Group properties is Villa Preferred Access.  The basis for this the newest membership is to provide our members with more flexibility with their memberships and attach a certain point value with respective inventory that enables our members to modify their stays at our collection of resorts.  For instance, with the VPA membership, members are able to use certain point values to stay at larger size units, extending their stays or even spitting up their time throughout the year.  Each piece of inventory is assigned a certain point value and yes it does vary depending on what resort you purchase at.

Second, VPA membership does NOT offer 2 X 1 maintenance fees (2 weeks, 1 MF) as part of the membership, however, at times, UVC does offer certain promotions for varying memberships that are comparable to the 2 X 1 promotion.  These promotions do change and are specific to certain memberships offered within the Villa Group.  We recommend you visit www.myuvc.com to get more information on these ongoing promotions offered by the Universal Vacation Club.

Third, although the Villa Group has shown significant growth patterns in previous years and is looking to expand our growth with the additions of Cancun and Lareto properties, our organization has no plans to build in Costa Rica.  Any further developments will be available to our members as future growth is determined.

Fourth, for any of our members who purchased Premier, Gold, VPA, nothing will change.  What you purchased is what you will get.  If any of our members choose to modify their memberships this can be done at any of our Villa Group destinations.

Finally, as to point value.  We have no such point value listed at 500 points.  We recommend you visit with the resort regarding the true value of inventory and benefits offered through the VPA point system.

I hope this helps any one who views this posting, in particular, those who had questions regarding our newest membership and how this effects long standing members with the Villa Group.  If any issue persist, we encourage you to contact the Developer's Representative directly at 619-683-2338.


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## easyrider (Jan 28, 2010)

Developer's Representative said:


> Dear Members, this message is designed to help clear up certain issues you have raised regarding your membership and to respond to questions about what is currently being offered to our members at the the Villa Group.
> 
> First, the newest membership offered within the Villa Group properties is Villa Preferred Access.  The basis for this the newest membership is to provide our members with more flexibility with their memberships and attach a certain point value with respective inventory that enables our members to modify their stays at our collection of resorts.  For instance, with the VPA membership, members are able to use certain point values to stay at larger size units, extending their stays or even spitting up their time throughout the year.  Each piece of inventory is assigned a certain point value and yes it does vary depending on what resort you purchase at.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the explain. Your sales people, while very nice, did not explain the point system at all. It seems members are culled during the presentaion instead of being qualified off the get go. This was presented as an owner update to show us a point system. It turned out to be way less, a waste of my time, only 40 minutes, but with bad info and no breakfast.

So if you would, please explain how this works.

For example, a gold menber one bedroom with 20 years left on the rtu. A premieur member one bedroom with 10 years rtu left.

Thanks


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## easyrider (Jan 28, 2010)

judy23 said:


> I did mention ebay to the sales rep and of course they try and tell you stories of how people were taken on ebay and it is not safe. Yes $15,000  is outrageous and you can rent a lot of weeks for that kind of money which we also pointed out.



My buddy didnt catch something on the ebay auction and now has a summer week instead of a winter at VDP. It will cost him $375.00 to change to winter every year plus the MF. You need to ask questions and know what your buying.


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## ShinjukuBaby (Feb 7, 2010)

That's unfortunate that your friend missed that he was purchasing a summer week.  Everybody buying on ebay should be clear about what they are purchasing and the risks.

In spite of the salespeople's "warnings" about ebay, however, I would imagine that people purchasing from the developer get something that doesn't match their expectations far more often than those who purchase on ebay.


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## easyrider (Feb 7, 2010)

Upon further investigation, my buddy did in fact buy a winter week and it was the closing company that screwed this up. He was sent a UVC ownership contract that was different from what he bought. Some one at the closing company quit and things got screwed up.


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## KarenLK (Feb 8, 2010)

First, my friend went to a presentation last week and was quoted for a 1 bedroom with a point value of 2200, but they said those numbers were for internal use only.

I have 4 separate contracts at VDM. They are all 1 bedrooms in winter season. I pay 70 dollars to change to a different week.

My impression is that the higher up you go, the higher the maintenance...as in premier and gold memberships. You get more, but you pay for every bit of it. And I imagine if you own 4 weeks you pay for it 4 times. I am referring to things like evacuation insurances.

Also, my contracts are quite inaccurate. My one bedroom contract says large studio. 

I am trying to buy a winter week her e that is a turnback, and one system says it expires in 2002 and the other one says it expires in 2015. So I dont know what to believe.


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