Adding to Diamond Resorts - Hawaii Collection points

[Chris Holme]

Hello,

My wife and I are currently Silver Loyalty members of Diamond Resorts, we own 15,000 points in the Hawaii Collection and are THE Club members. Overall we are happy with Diamond and their system. We would like to upgrade to Gold membership. We purchased out original timeshare before it was Diamond on the secondary market, then bought a small amount of points retail to bring us to our current level. I think we are into it for about $15,000 total. Their sales pitch is that to upgrade to Gold we need to buy an additional 15,000 points for about $54,000.00... which isn't going to happen. I have seen Hawaii Collection points on the resale market for A LOT less.

My questions is, if we buy an additional 15,000 point (enough to get us to Gold) will Diamond actually let us do that? We are already THE Club members, how will secondary market points interact with our existing points?

 

[nuwermj]

Resale points do not qualify for loyalty benefits. But...

You could acquire 10,000 resale points and then at some future date purchase 5,000 retail points and at that time have the 10,000 qualify for loyalty levels. (Diamond's sale rule is that you must purchase 50% of what you want to qualify for Club benefits.) Such a strategy would reduce you cost to $18,000.

 

[Eileen A.]

Just attended an owner update in Sedona last week and was told that they no longer allow
you to bring in a resale by buying 50% of the points. Only company purchased points will
count toward loyalty status. So double check before you buy thinking you can bring the points
into Club. Was told this was a change Apollo made when they purchased Diamond.

I'm already platinum and they offered to convert our Kaanapali
Beach Club deed into US collection if we purchased an additional 8,500 points for $74,000!!!
Of course when we said no they found a loophole to lower the price - we cut them off and
said we were not interested so never heard their final offer.

According to the saleswomen they will not sell less than 8,500 and the price is something like
$8.60 per point.

I can't believe anyone would pay these crazy prices.

 

[artringwald]

What specific gold level features sound attractive to you? You might want to ask here if any gold members have been able to take advantage of the features that interest you. Keep in mind, none of the gold level features are guaranteed in writing. If you just want more points, buy them on the resale market.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

There is a week in Maui for sale. How does that work? Is it easy to get being a floating week or do point owners have priority?

 

[winger]

Good point about loyalty benefits always subject to change, and I would guess the changes more likely than not would devalue the membership.

What specific gold level features sound attractive to you? You might want to ask here if any gold members have been able to take advantage of the features that interest you. Keep in mind, none of the gold level features are guaranteed in writing. If you just want more points, buy them on the resale market.[/QUOTE

 

[csalter2]

Hello,

My wife and I are currently Silver Loyalty members of Diamond Resorts, we own 15,000 points in the Hawaii Collection and are THE Club members. Overall we are happy with Diamond and their system. We would like to upgrade to Gold membership. We purchased out original timeshare before it was Diamond on the secondary market, then bought a small amount of points retail to bring us to our current level. I think we are into it for about $15,000 total. Their sales pitch is that to upgrade to Gold we need to buy an additional 15,000 points for about $54,000.00... which isn't going to happen. I have seen Hawaii Collection points on the resale market for A LOT less.

My questions is, if we buy an additional 15,000 point (enough to get us to Gold) will Diamond actually let us do that? We are already THE Club members, how will secondary market points interact with our existing points?

I would suggest that you think seriously about moving to Gold. First, only go to gold if you need the points to vacation. If you need the points for vacation then fine, buy them. However, you can get them resale for much cheaper. Remember, your maintenances will be higher every year and PERMANENTLY. Also, look at the differences in the benefits between Silver and Gold. Is there that much of a difference for you to pay all that extra money. Will you lose all of the benefits or some of them and are those benefits worth the extra money in maintenance fees.

More often than not, it's not worth it.

 

[Rich1946]

I just attended update in Branson Mo and the sales consultant was saying that DRI would convert my unused point to cash each year and I would receive a check. He quoted $.27 cents per point. That would be enough to pay my annual fees and still use a week at most US resorts. This sounds too good to be true.

 

[Talya]

I own a Sampler with 20,000 points. Can I sell those points? If so, how does that work?

 

[RLS50]

I just attended update in Branson Mo and the sales consultant was saying that DRI would convert my unused point to cash each year and I would receive a check. He quoted $.27 cents per point. That would be enough to pay my annual fees and still use a week at most US resorts. This sounds too good to be true.

I believe you were told a lie. In fact this might be the #1 lie told to people. The idea that they can cash in unused points for cash up to .30cents per point. It just isn't true.

If what this guy told you was true is should be in writing. If it isn't in writing ask the agent why he is deviating from the printed material. Something Diamond agreed not to do as part of their Clarity program.

 

[pierrepierre]

We are platinum with Diamond and you are correct...GET IT IN WRITING. After purchasing last small amt. of pts., got home and what was told to us, we could not find on the web site, that was October 2017. I have learned this lesson more than once...

 

[pedro47]

I just attended update in Branson Mo and the sales consultant was saying that DRI would convert my unused point to cash each year and I would receive a check. He quoted $.27 cents per point. That would be enough to pay my annual fees and still use a week at most US resorts. This sounds too good to be true.

That salesperson lips were moving. Hopefully, in future sales at the final sale interviewer all that the salesperson stated in their sales pitch will now be recorded by Sales Mgr & buyer.

 

[geist1223]

Resell Points will not count for loyalty levels.

 

[DRIless]

What specific gold level features sound attractive to you? You might want to ask here if any gold members have been able to take advantage of the features that interest you. Keep in mind, none of the gold level features are guaranteed in writing. If you just want more points, buy them on the resale market.

Aren't they all guaranteed in writing, but all subject to change by DRI as are all the rules of THE Club?

 

[DRIless]

I believe you were told a lie. In fact this might be the #1 lie told to people. The idea that they can cash in unused points for cash up to .30cents per point. It just isn't true.
If what this guy told you was true is should be in writing. If it isn't in writing ask the agent why he is deviating from the printed material. Something Diamond agreed not to do as part of their Clarity program.

The only way I know that they give you back .30/pt is when, as a Diamond Loyalty member you spend the .30/point on overpriced vacation Packages/tours for which only a small portion can account for the total purchase price. As in go get the package elsewhere and save lots of money. (Almost) All cash-ins of points are losing propositions for the owner, the best use of points is for their original purpose, condo stays.

 

[DRIless]

I own a Sampler with 20,000 points. Can I sell those points? If so, how does that work?

I'm sure they cannot be sold outright. You could certainly make reservations for your friends on TUG or elsewhere if they allow you a guest certificate on the reservation. Read the rules.

 

[DRIless]

Everything is negotiable to a point, I don't believe they won't bring a unit into THE Club if you buy the right number of points.

That salesperson lips were moving. Hopefully, in future sales at the final sale interviewer all that the salesperson stated in their sales pitch will now be recorded by Sales Mgr & buyer.

Resell Points will not count for loyalty levels.

 

[nuwermj]

Aren't they all guaranteed in writing, but all subject to change by DRI as are all the rules of THE Club?

No. The contract is between the member and the Member Association. The only guarantee in that contract is access to accommodations held in the Association's trust fund. Then the Association contracts with The Club to provide benefits to Association members. It's just like contracting with a third party for reservation services. This is why (and how) Club membership does not transfer with the resale of the points.

 

[JohnPaul]

OK. I give up. What is THE Club?

 

[artringwald]

OK. I give up. What is THE Club?

Diamond had 4 types of ownerships. 1) The most basic one is ownership of a deeded week at a specific resort without membership in the Club. 2) The Club is like an exchange program within Diamond resorts. If you join the Club and add your deeded week to the Club, Diamond give you points for that week and you can use the points to book at any resort that is also in the Club. 3) You can buy points from Diamond. The point are part of a trust or collection of a limited number of resorts. The trust owns the deeded weeks at those resorts, and you can use your points to book any resort in the collection. When you buy points from Diamond, it includes membership in the Club, so you can also use the points to book Diamond resorts outside the collection. 4) If you sell your points, the Club membership is not transferable. The buyer will only be able to use the points to book resorts within the trust's collection. Resale points are also called dirty points because you can't use them outside the collection. You can negotiate with Diamond to put the points into the Club so you can use them anywhere, but that usually requires buying more points from Diamond at their highly inflated prices. Owner's of points find them difficult to sell because the Club membership is not transferable, and because the overhead of managing the trust's collection makes the maintenance fees unusually high.

The more points you have in the Club (not counting dirty points), the higher the tier level, silver, gold, platinum, etc. There are more perks as the tier levels get higher, but Diamond can change the level thresholds and number of perks whenever they want. Confused? They want you to be confused. It's easier to talk you into buying more points. They don't sell deeded weeks anymore, but you can buy them on the resale market. If you find a Diamond property you like and you plan to go there every year, deeded weeks are the best way to go. You can also exchange deeded weeks through RCI or Interval International and deeded weeks are easier to sell. Points do have the advantage of flexibility. It's easy to book any number of days, sometimes on short notice, and there's a large variety of resorts.

 

[geist1223]

I believe Diamond also now has an internal exchange program for people that own Deeded Weeks. I don`t know the particulars because we do not own a Deeded Week.

 

[Almond123]

Yes, they now have a program called Diamond Xchange and it seems to be becoming popular for weeks owners like myself. I used it this year and it worked pretty well and so far I don't see any issues with it.

Of course I won't go to the new destination till next year so time will tell. YMMV.

 

[DRIless]

Is there any verbiage in your exchange agreement that requires you to do a tour/sales presentation as a condition of use of Diamond Xchange?

Yes, they now have a program called Diamond Xchange and it seems to be becoming popular for weeks owners like myself. I used it this year and it worked pretty well and so far I don't see any issues with it.

Of course I won't go to the new destination till next year so time will tell. YMMV.

The program seems like being in THE Club w/o being in THE Club, as it is for owners of deeded DRI weeks only, not like Club Select where you can bank/PIC a generic timeshare week as a member. I'd think they would require you to do an update as a way to convince you to convert?

 

[Almond123]

There was nothing in writing that said any presentation was required and there is nothing in the rules about it either. You can view the rules on the exchange website.

As far as I know there is no requirement for a presentation.

 

[artringwald]

The program seems like being in THE Club w/o being in THE Club, as it is for owners of deeded DRI weeks only, not like Club Select where you can bank/PIC a generic timeshare week as a member. I'd think they would require you to do an update as a way to convince you to convert?

Diamond Xchange program isn't as flexible as THE Club. You trade one week for another week at different resort with a unit in the same tier. You can pay more to get a unit in a higher tier. THE Club lets you stay any number of days at any resort and any view category.