# What can you get at 14.5k point in diamond?



## riperoo (Oct 15, 2010)

So, I posted earlier about possibly getting rid of my fixed week at Greeensprings and opting into the club, was messing around on Diamond site last night and see that you can now buy points on line. The quick offer was to value my fixed week at 13k points, buy into the club with a minimum purchase of 1500 points, for a total of about $5k. That would give me 14.5k points. Just wondering what the trading power was, I couldn't see that as I am not a club member, anyone have any visibility of that? what does a prime 2 bedroom go for in the North American system? 

Couple of more questions for anyone already in the system, if i go to 15k points I become a silver member, any real value in that? 

As always any and all information is greatly apprciated.


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## csalter2 (Oct 16, 2010)

*You can pull everything*



riperoo said:


> So, I posted earlier about possibly getting rid of my fixed week at Greeensprings and opting into the club, was messing around on Diamond site last night and see that you can now buy points on line. The quick offer was to value my fixed week at 13k points, buy into the club with a minimum purchase of 1500 points, for a total of about $5k. That would give me 14.5k points. Just wondering what the trading power was, I couldn't see that as I am not a club member, anyone have any visibility of that? what does a prime 2 bedroom go for in the North American system?
> 
> Couple of more questions for anyone already in the system, if i go to 15k points I become a silver member, any real value in that?
> 
> As always any and all information is greatly apprciated.



I have stayed at Marriott Newport Coast  2 bdrm for about 8500 points. With 1400 points you can get 2 weeks or more depending on the size of the unit and the time of season you are traveling.  I have pulled Marriotts, Westins and Hiltons up during prime seasons too.


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## riperoo (Oct 16, 2010)

Thanks Carlito, I assume that is trading in the II system?


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## dougp26364 (Oct 16, 2010)

Internal exchanges in THE Club are what they are. That is, whatever the point values for certain weeks and unit sizes. 

For trade through I.I., it's strictly size/season/quality related based on the Trade Demand Index. For the sake of the arguement, almost all resorts are rated premium quality. Even the non-rated resorts with I.I. seem to require the premium quality point totals when I search online. I don't believe I've ever seen the point totals through I.I. for moderate or economy graded resorts. IMHO, I.I. takes advantage of DRI in this manner. Resorts that are less than the Golden Laurel designation should require less than premium points to reserve but, that doesn't appear to be the case. 

Peek Season (TDI 140-150) 
Studio 5,000 points
1 bedroom 6,500 points
2 bedroom 9,000 points
3 bedroom 10,000 points 
4 bedroom 12,000 points 

High Season (TDI 115-135)
Studio 4,000 points
1 bedroom 5,500 points 
2 bedroom 7,500 points
3 bedroom 8,750 points
4 bedroom 10,000 points 

Mid Season (TDI 90-110)
Studio 3,250 points
1 bedroom 4,500 points 
2 bedroom 6,000 points 
3 bedroom 7,250 points 
4. bedroom 8,000 points 

Low Season (TDI 50-85) 
Studio 2,500 points 
1 bedroom 3,500 points 
2 bedroom 4,000 points 
3 bedroom 5,000 points 
4 bedroom 6,000 points

You may notice that it takes fewer points to make an external exchange into a DRI resort than it does to make the same exchange internally. Keep in mind that, if you make the exchange through I.I., you are subject to I.I.'s exchange fee. 

Also, keep in mind that these are the point requirements for exchange through I.I. for 2010. They are subject to change based on I.I.'s determination of the value of the weeks DRI gives them. If DRI only gives I.I. low value weeks, the value of the points for exchanges with I.I. goes down. If DRI gives high value weeks then the value of DRI points goes up. I'm pretty certain there is a contract in place that states DRI will give I.I. a certain number and quality of weeks and that these point values won't change very much of very often.


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## riperoo (Oct 16, 2010)

Great information Doug, sorry for the newbie questions, but I am assuming that this works similar to my wyn points? Would I have the option of trading in the diamond system, as well as II? Do i have to deposit points into II to use them? Or can I trade in both diamond an II seamlessly? And if I do do the II i assume that there is a fee to use that? With Wyndham i have to deposit a week (based on a points value for a certain level, i.e, a studion in white season is 28K.) Then I have to pay the $194 fee at RCI. Is that similar to how the club works?


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## riperoo (Oct 16, 2010)

Scratch my fee question, I see it answered in your post.


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## dougp26364 (Oct 16, 2010)

riperoo said:


> Great information Doug, sorry for the newbie questions, but I am assuming that this works similar to my wyn points? Would I have the option of trading in the diamond system, as well as II? Do i have to deposit points into II to use them? Or can I trade in both diamond an II seamlessly? And if I do do the II i assume that there is a fee to use that? With Wyndham i have to deposit a week (based on a points value for a certain level, i.e, a studion in white season is 28K.) Then I have to pay the $194 fee at RCI. Is that similar to how the club works?



You can exchange points both with I.I. and through DRI's internal system without having to deposit points first. DRI has a yearly membership fee that includes Interval Gold membership. There are no fee's for internal exchanges but, if you exchange through I.I. the standard Interval exchange fee (currently $139 for online domestic exchanges) applies. I think Interval has a $149 domestic exchange fee if you call them and utilize a vacation advisor for your arrangements. I do everything online myself and rarely call Interval for any of my needs. 

DRI has a corporate account with I.I. You'll use that corporate account to exchange points through Interval. You can search online using this account without the need to have anything deposited. If you find what you want, you make the exchange and points are deducted from your account. Interval will verify with DRI that you've paid your MF's and that those points are eligable for exchange. 

DRI has an excellent online reservation system for owners. All you have to do is search for what you want and confirm the reservation once you make your decision. You can save points from the current year to the next year or, you can borrow points from the next year to use this year. DRI does require that the lions share (I belive 75%) of the MF's be paid from any year in which you want to borrow points. In this way, you can essentially use three years worth of points in one year (save from the previous year, the current year and borrow from the next year) for one large blowout vacation if you want (family reunions come to mind if you're so inclined). 

We joined THE Club a couple of years ago and have never regretted the decision. Points are considerably easier to use, we save money by making internal exchanges and points have a fixed value when exchanging through Interval International eliminating the guesswork in what I can/can't get for my exchange.


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## dougp26364 (Oct 16, 2010)

FWIW, If I was going to make the jump, I'd go for the extra 500 points and silver elite membership. There are some benefits like free WiFi in resorts that have WiFi (I believe their working on getting WiFi in all resorts), free USA Today, discounts on upgrades and discounts on services that require extra fee's (exchange for cruise, points for rental cars et....). Elite members also have their own check in area and, I believe reveive preference as to unit location.


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## riperoo (Oct 16, 2010)

Doug, agreed, it appears to be worth the few extra bucks to go to the elite level, once again, great information and thanks alot!!!!


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## pedro47 (Oct 16, 2010)

How much are The Club dues for 2011?


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## csalter2 (Oct 16, 2010)

*Elite is ok but...*

I am gold Elite with over 30,000 points and yes it's nice to get free wi-fi and a USA Today, but it is important that if you buy extra points it's not for that but because you want the additional time. 

You will have to pay maintenance fees on those points. So buy points that yo believe you will use and not for any other reason.


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## dougp26364 (Oct 16, 2010)

pedro47 said:


> How much are The Club dues for 2011?



I haven't seen THE Club dues for 2011 yet. Last year they were $235. If the OP is buying trust based points there will also be a trust management fee. Since I do not own any trust based points, I'm not certain about the trust management fee.


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## dougp26364 (Oct 16, 2010)

csalter2 said:


> I am gold Elite with over 30,000 points and yes it's nice to get free wi-fi and a USA Today, but it is important that if you buy extra points it's not for that but because you want the additional time.
> 
> You will have to pay maintenance fees on those points. So buy points that yo believe you will use and not for any other reason.




If the OP converts, he's looking at buying an additional point package of 1,500 points to get his existing week into THE Club. If that minimum package is only 500 points short of being silver elite it seems that it would be a worthwhile addition while he's at the table now rather than later.


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## pedro47 (Oct 17, 2010)

dougp26364 said:


> I haven't seen THE Club dues for 2011 yet. Last year they were $235. If the OP is buying trust based points there will also be a trust management fee. Since I do not own any trust based points, I'm not certain about the trust management fee.



Thanks for the information.


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## pgnewarkboy (Oct 17, 2010)

riperoo said:


> Thanks Carlito, I assume that is trading in the II system?



  As a DRI Club member you can get non-DRI resorts like Marriott using the DRI system without an exchange fee. Some timeshare owners like the flexibility of DRI points and combine them with Marriott or other systems.  They are allowed to deposit their Marriiott or other week and get DRI points.  These resorts are available to DRI Club members.  I think it is called Club Select. What is available is hit or miss and could have several Mariotts or no Marriotts at any given time.  There is usually, IMO, interesting options and whatever is listed is not a DRI property.   No additional fees or dues to access and get these resorts.  Unfortunately, they are not listed on the regular DRI website but I think there is a link to a different page.  I just bookmarked that page.


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## pedro47 (Oct 17, 2010)

Under Club Select you do not pay an excahnge fee or dues?  Wow!!  Do you uses your Diamond Club Points to make an exchange?


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## csalter2 (Oct 18, 2010)

*Club Select*



pedro47 said:


> Under Club Select you do not pay an excahnge fee or dues?  Wow!!  Do you uses your Diamond Club Points to make an exchange?



The Club Select program with DRI works like this.You can use your points or cash to reserve a timeshare weeks that have been deposited into the DRI that Club members own from other timeshare systems. To deposit these timeshares the DRI system, you must have paid the maintenance fees for that timeshare and you must also pay a fee of around $130 to deposit the timeshare.  For that deposit, DRI will give you a certain amount of points. You can deposit a 2 bedroom or you can separate a lock off into a studio and a 1 bedroom. I can get 5500 points for a studio and 6500 for a  one bedroom for my Marriott Ko Olina 2 bedroom lockoff. That is 12,000 points that I can add to my 30,000 for 42000 points for a year. This would be good if you're having lots of family coming to a specific location or you will be traveling for a lengthy stay. Whatever the points can be used for you will have them at your disposal just like regular points. I have never exchanged my Marriott property into Club Select, but I have that option.

You can also just use your points to reserve any of the timeshare properties that are available. I have stayed at Marriotts in the Club Select system. There is no exchange fee.  Also, if you book the reservation after 59 days you will get the accommodations for half the number of points. I also must add that you as a Club member can also get Club Select accommodations with using points. You can also just pay cash. It is like having an AC from Interval International because the rates are pretty cheap.

One final thing, all Club Select accommodations are for one week only. You cannot add additional days on to the stay.

Also, there are no dues.


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## pedro47 (Oct 18, 2010)

csalter2 said:


> The Club Select program with DRI works like this.You can use your points or cash to reserve a timeshare weeks that have been deposited into the DRI that Club members own from other timeshare systems. To deposit these timeshares the DRI system, you must have paid the maintenance fees for that timeshare and you must also pay a fee of around $130 to deposit the timeshare.  For that deposit, DRI will give you a certain amount of points. You can deposit a 2 bedroom or you can separate a lock off into a studio and a 1 bedroom. I can get 5500 points for a studio and 6500 for a  one bedroom for my Marriott Ko Olina 2 bedroom lockoff. That is 12,000 points that I can add to my 30,000 for 42000 points for a year. This would be good if you're having lots of family coming to a specific location or you will be traveling for a lengthy stay. Whatever the points can be used for you will have them at your disposal just like regular points. I have never exchanged my Marriott property into Club Select, but I have that option.
> 
> You can also just use your points to reserve any of the timeshare properties that are available. I have stayed at Marriotts in the Club Select system. There is no exchange fee.  Also, if you book the reservation after 59 days you will get the accommodations for half the number of points. I also must add that you as a Club member can also get Club Select accommodations with using points. You can also just pay cash. It is like having an AC from Interval International because the rates are pretty cheap.
> 
> ...



Thanks for this detail information about Club Select.  This was some very helpful piece of information.


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## riperoo (Oct 18, 2010)

Great information all!! One more question, any idea on what the MF's would be on a 15k contract?


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## dougp26364 (Oct 18, 2010)

riperoo said:


> Great information all!! One more question, any idea on what the MF's would be on a 15k contract?



I think, but am not certain, the trust points MF's are close to 11 cents per point. That would make the MF close to $1,650 plus trust management fee's plus THE Club management fee's.


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## riperoo (Oct 19, 2010)

dougp26364 said:


> I think, but am not certain, the trust points MF's are close to 11 cents per point. That would make the MF close to $1,650 plus trust management fee's plus THE Club management fee's.



Wow, that seems a little steep, for what DRI is valuing at 13k points, I am only pay a TOTAL of $1250 for my fixed week, if I do convert and buy a couple of thousand points, It sounds like I would be a little north of $2000. That is a big stretch, do you know what the current trust managment and Club managment fees are? Ball park?


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## dougp26364 (Oct 19, 2010)

riperoo said:


> Wow, that seems a little steep, for what DRI is valuing at 13k points, I am only pay a TOTAL of $1250 for my fixed week, if I do convert and buy a couple of thousand points, It sounds like I would be a little north of $2000. That is a big stretch, do you know what the current trust managment and Club managment fees are? Ball park?



I don't know about the trust management fee's since we don't belong to one of the DRI trusts. THE Club management fee was $235 last year.


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