Upgrading Membership in Diamond Resorts

[yankeetraveler2]

I am considering upgrading my silver membership with Diamond Resorts to a gold membership. Are the "added benefits" really worth it?

 

[artringwald]

You'd be likely to get more answers if you posted this in the Diamond Resorts forum:

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?forums/diamond-resorts-international-embarc-resorts.59/

How many points would you have to buy to get to Gold? You would have to buy them directly from DRI, and that's not going to be cheap. Resale points are "dirty" points and don't count toward membership levels.

 

[geist1223]

Do you own any other timeshares? It takes fewer DRI Points if you can do Club Select/Club Combination. We own only 18,500 DRI Points but because of the Club Select/Club Combination with Worldmark we are Platinum at 50,500. We do not have to actually use the Club Select/Club Combination. I believe the different Loyalty Levels are set out on the DRI Web Site. We upgraded for the added Points not because of Loyalty Level Benefits.

 

[goaliedave]

no not worth it

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[yankeetraveler2]

You'd be likely to get more answers if you posted this in the Diamond Resorts forum:

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?forums/diamond-resorts-international-embarc-resorts.59/

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?forums/diamond-resorts-international-embarc-resorts.59/
Thank you for the heads-up about the Diamond Resorts forum. I currently have 20000 points and would be purchasing 4,500 points for $12,700. I would be getting $2,000 credit from a sampler package which I included in the price above. They would me 8500 points if I give them my Sheraton vistana two bedroom reservation. But I have the choice of giving it to them or not but they would still give me gold status plus the added benefits.
How many points would you have to buy to get to Gold? You would have to buy them directly from DRI, and that's not going to be cheap. Resale points are "dirty" points and don't count toward membership levels.

 

[yankeetraveler2]

Do you own any other timeshares? It takes fewer DRI Points if you can do Club Select/Club Combination. We own only 18,500 DRI Points but because of the Club Select/Club Combination with Worldmark we are Platinum at 50,500. We do not have to actually use the Club Select/Club Combination. I believe the different Loyalty Levels are set out on the DRI Web Site. We upgraded for the added Points not because of Loyalty Level Benefits.

I would be doing the same. I currently have 20000 points and they would want me to purchase 4500 points and give me 8500 points for my Sheraton vistana two-bedroom. I'm just wondering if the supposed unlocking of added benefits would justify the purchase.

 

[chemteach]

Thank you for the heads-up about the Diamond Resorts forum. I currently have 20000 points and would be purchasing 4,500 points for $12,700. I would be getting $2,000 credit from a sampler package which I included in the price above. They would me 8500 points if I give them my Sheraton vistana two bedroom reservation. But I have the choice of giving it to them or not but they would still give me gold status plus the added benefits.
How many points would you have to buy to get to Gold? You would have to buy them directly from DRI, and that's not going to be cheap. Resale points are "dirty" points and don't count toward membership levels.

I wouldn’t do it, but my needs are likely different from yours. I’m platinum, and I really don’t get any special benefits compared to gold/silver other than getting to upgrade a couple more weeks each year IF the next room level up is available. They have changed the rules on that benefit. Used to be a room size upgrade. Now it’s a higher point cost upgrade. Depending on the resort, it’s not very useful. But if you have gotten value out of the upgrades with your silver membership, then maybe it will be good for you. Everyone is different. I was able to upgrade cheaply by bringing in two resale polo towers weeks with a purchase. But now I have too many points to use every year. I wish diamond had the Marriott or Worldmark system where you can “rent” your points to other members who need them. (The Marriott DC and Worldmark programs allow points transfers between accounts.).

If you will use all the extra points, perhaps it’s worth it...

 

[yankeetraveler2]

I wouldn’t do it, but my needs are likely different from yours. I’m platinum, and I really don’t get any special benefits compared to gold/silver other than getting to upgrade a couple more weeks each year IF the next room level up is available. They have changed the rules on that benefit. Used to be a room size upgrade. Now it’s a higher point cost upgrade. Depending on the resort, it’s not very useful. But if you have gotten value out of the upgrades with your silver membership, then maybe it will be good for you. Everyone is different. I was able to upgrade cheaply by bringing in two resale polo towers weeks with a purchase. But now I have too many points to use every year. I wish diamond had the Marriott or Worldmark system where you can “rent” your points to other members who need them. (The Marriott DC and Worldmark programs allow points transfers between accounts.).

If you will use all the extra points, perhaps it’s worth it...

They talked about some special arrangement they have with interval international that allows people to see unfiltered reservations at cheaper point rates. Being able to upgrade your room size reservation for more days. I don't know if I believe the part about getting your pending requests sooner. I believe you can get $0.30 per point on 30% of your points to use toward outside reservations. Has anyone use the luxury benefit to access rooms and houses?

 

[artringwald]

I would be doing the same. I currently have 20000 points and they would want me to purchase 4500 points and give me 8500 points for my Sheraton vistana two-bedroom. I'm just wondering if the supposed unlocking of added benefits would justify the purchase.

Everyone has different needs, but if it was me, I'd use the 20,000 points and the silver membership to make bookings that could take advantage of the silver perks. If I wanted more points, I'd buy resale from the collection that I was most likely to use.

You can see the benefits of each membership level in section 17 of the membership guide: https://cmsprod.diamondresorts.com/sites/default/files/us-member-benefits-book-combined_14.pdf