# Should I accept Diamond Reward Points from a relative?



## singingpunter (Oct 13, 2016)

I was offered about 9000 points from a relative. The maintenance fees on those points will be about $1800 yearly.

I see that many people on this thread are trying to get out of their contract with Diamond Resorts, which is a red flag. So are these points hard to give away?

They don't have a deeded property, just points.

What is involved in taking over their points? Is it a pretty easy process?

Are there people who love their diamond resort points? My family can take last minute trips, and it seems like the 2 night hotel deals would be useful for us. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, -Jason


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## singingpunter (Oct 13, 2016)

*Following up . . .*

Are there people who are really good at stretching their points? Something like:

-a 2500 point last minute getaway.
-3 two-night hotel stays.
-One rented-out week to recoup maintenance fees.

I don't know if something like this is possible, since I've never used the points before. I've done some research, but would appreciate some first hand experience.

Thanks again, -Jason


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## artringwald (Oct 13, 2016)

One question for your relative is whether the $1800/year includes membership in The Club. If they bought from the developer, they should also have Club membership. Membership allows you to book any DRI properties worldwide. It's not transferable for resales, but is when transferred to relatives. If they don't have Club membership, they can only book resorts in their collection, so it's important to know what collection they belong to and what resorts it includes.

We have a deeded week that's in the Club, so we can use points to book at any DRI resorts. We're happy with our ownership, but there are pros and cons.

Pros
1) DRI has some very nice resorts. We go to the Point at Poipu every year, and Kaanapali Beach Club every other year. We've also stayed at Greensprings in Williamsburg, VA and Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort, both of which we enjoyed.
2) Points are convenient to use. You can book any number of days, book up to 13 months in advance, and easily search for availability online.
3) You can cancel with no penalty up to 60 days in advance.
4) You can get discounts for booking less than 60 days in advance.
5) You can save points to the next year or borrow from the next year.

Cons
1) Points are almost impossible to sell, and difficult to give away. DRI does have a buy back program, but you can't count on them taking the points back.
2) The collection and Club management overhead make the fees for points 25-40% higher than fees for an equivalent deeded week.
3) DRI has a long list of resorts, but some are nearly impossible to book with points. The properties that are managed by DRI are easier, the affiliates are more difficult. DRI may own just a small number of units at an affiliate.
4) DRI controls the HOA's at most of their managed properties, and the HOA controls what to pay the management company. If you could control how much to pay yourself, would you be fair? Not many trust DRI.

You'll here many horrible stories about people attending DRI sales presentations, which are also called "owner's updates". Avoid them like the plague, unless you're extremely sales resistant, and don't mind wasting 2-4 hours of your precious vacation.


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## singingpunter (Oct 13, 2016)

Yes, they are members of TheClub. I am happy to know they can transfer their membership to us, if we decide to go that route. Thank you for your help, -Jason


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## Michael1991 (Oct 13, 2016)

The wording in The Club legal documents is "immediate family": "the Club Operating Company ordinarily approves the transfer of Club membership to a Member’s immediate family (such as a spouse, partner, sibling, parent or child)..."


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## winger (Oct 23, 2016)

artringwald said:


> ....
> 3) You can cancel with no penalty up to 60 days in advance.
> ...


It was changed to 90 days a few years ago.

Yet, _another_ change that can be conceived as a negative for owners.


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## tperez (Oct 26, 2016)

*Which Collection?*

I've "purchased" resale points, which means someone paid me to take them from them, and I couldn't be happier.  First thing I'd ask is which collection.  If you look at the FAQ, you'll see there are a number of collections.  If you can get The Club membership transferred, then the collection won't matter as much because you can use the points at any Diamond property.  However, you pay dues for The Club.  But, if the points are in the US collection and you only want to go to property in the US collection, which is a lot of properties, then you may be able to save on your dues by not getting The Club membership transferred.  My resale points are in the US collection and aren't part of The Club.  I also have developer purchased points which are in The Club.

As for last minute deals, yeah they are out there and you can make those points stretch pretty far if you are flexible.  My wife and I are retired so we're at maximum flexibility.  I've spent a few multi-night stays up on the shores of South Lake Tahoe at the Tahoe Beach and Ski Club for 100 points a night to do some fly-fishing in the Sierras.  In fact we're booking a couple of nights for a friend for December who wants to go skiing and we can still find 2 nights for 200 points.  Right now I have a Las Vegas stay for 5 nights at Cancun for just under 200 points a night.  Some deals are easy to find, like Lake Tahoe and Vegas, and some are more difficult.  On a recent road trip, I was able to get a week in Sedona Summit for 2500 followed by a week in Santa Fe for 3500.  So, you can make the 9000 stretch pretty far if you try.

One thing I have found though is that I seem to get better deals with my points in The Club.  There have been times I've searched and found a good deal with my Club points that didn't show up when I switched accounts.  However, other times the deals have shown up on both accounts.

Hope that helps.


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## clifffaith (Oct 26, 2016)

Maybe I missed which Club is involved for the points you are pondering taking over.  Most likely not the European club, but if so be aware that their maintenance fees are going up 13% next year.


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## Michael1991 (Oct 26, 2016)

tperez said:


> One thing I have found though is that I seem to get better deals with my points in The Club.



Right. Club membership does not transfer with resale points. The Collection doesn't matter; same for all them.  Therefore, resale points receive no Club benefits, which include, among other things, discounted reservations.


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## tperez (Oct 26, 2016)

*You can get discounted reservations with resale*



Michael1991 said:


> Right. Club membership does not transfer with resale points. The Collection doesn't matter; same for all them.  Therefore, resale points receive no Club benefits, which include, among other things, discounted reservations.



Actually you can get discounted reservations with resale points.  I've done it a number of times.  Its just that more discounts come up when using points in The Club.


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## Michael1991 (Oct 27, 2016)

tperez said:


> Actually you can get discounted reservations with resale points.  I've done it a number of times.  Its just that more discounts come up when using points in The Club.



hmm, here's another lie to add to the list. In this case, the lie is not coming from the sales staff, but from the customer service staff. 

I'm not sure if this problem is getting worse of late or if providing false information has been going on for a while and I just didn't notice.


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## T-Dot-Traveller (Oct 27, 2016)

*Best explanation of how DRI 's various "Collections" function  - and own per resort*

There is an excellent explanation of DRI " Collections" and what they own in each resort 
and how the " Club " functions .

post# 26 by T_R_Oglodyte / Steve Nelson 
thread -DRI Hawaii  points discussion  : started Aug 20 2015!( by T_R_O ) 

the whole thread discussion is worth reading / especially if you own DRI 

.


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## evelia8 (Oct 28, 2016)

*Diamond Resort International (MGV)*

Do not buy or take this timeshare.  I just surrendered mine back to DRI and it took a long time!  You cannot sell or give these timeshares away and the maintenance fees are going up!  Even if it's free!  I had mine since the late 90's when it was Pacific Monarch Vacations, then Monarch Grand Vacation and now Diamond Resorts Int'l and will be Apollo Mgmt. Corp. or something like that and the maintenance fees will go up!  My loan was paid-off and I had to pay the maintenance fees and $250.00 Transfer Fees to get rid of it after I threatened legal action and reported them to the BBB.  They were good about taking it back at Loss Mitigation but after I paid everything!  I recommend that you don't buy anything from DRI.  You can find better deals online! 





singingpunter said:


> I was offered about 9000 points from a relative. The maintenance fees on those points will be about $1800 yearly.
> 
> I see that many people on this thread are trying to get out of their contract with Diamond Resorts, which is a red flag. So are these points hard to give away?
> 
> ...


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## rojocrandall (Nov 7, 2016)

singingpunter - what did you end up doing? I just recently got out of a Monarch situation with the DRI deed back program like many others, but now I have in-laws with a deeded-week/DRI points/$1400 maint. fees/The Club membership who want to pass this on.


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## R.J.C. (Nov 8, 2016)

singingpunter said:


> Are there people who are really good at stretching their points? Something like:
> 
> -a 2500 point last minute getaway.
> -3 two-night hotel stays.
> ...



Yes, you can look for last minute deals depending on where you want to go. I just booked 10 nights at Powhatan Plantation (Williamsburg) for 1,800 points. The caveat was to make the first day of the stay the last day of the sale and you get the sale price (in points) for the entire stay. If I had booked the trip to start one day later (after the sale time) the same number of nights would have been about 10,000 points.

Now, there is one sticky issue. If you take over 9,000 points from a relative, they will most likely be considered "dirty" points and you will not have access to the Club. You would only be able to use those points for timeshare stays in the Collection they reside in. If you are happy with the resorts in that collection, then it's a good deal as points from the developer (in the US Collection at least) are running $8.52 per point.


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## bradfordHI (Dec 9, 2016)

Yes I do. I'm an owner and really good at it. But what do U own and where? 


singingpunter said:


> *Following up . . .*
> 
> Are there people who are really good at stretching their points? Something like:
> 
> ...


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## bradfordHI (Dec 9, 2016)

Where do u own. It all depends on what it is and how I use it.
"Resell is for "[deleted]" not politically correct, but that's be used since the 80s.

You can keep all the club benefits of your related.
Tell me what it is and I can give you a better piece of advice.
I own 50,000 hawaii Points.



evelia8 said:


> *Diamond Resort International (MGV)*
> 
> Do not buy or take this timeshare.  I just surrendered mine back to DRI and it took a long time!  You cannot sell or give these timeshares away and the maintenance fees are going up!  Even if it's free!  I had mine since the late 90's when it was Pacific Monarch Vacations, then Monarch Grand Vacation and now Diamond Resorts Int'l and will be Apollo Mgmt. Corp. or something like that and the maintenance fees will go up!  My loan was paid-off and I had to pay the maintenance fees and $250.00 Transfer Fees to get rid of it after I threatened legal action and reported them to the BBB.  They were good about taking it back at Loss Mitigation but after I paid everything!  I recommend that you don't buy anything from DRI.  You can find better deals online!


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