Diamond Resort Program -- Pros and cons?

[Cathyb]

We sat on a sales presentation in Maui and actually got a little confused while getting the presentation. Would appreciate knowing if there are Tuggers out there that are in the Program and how successful has it been?

1. Were you always able to get what you want by phoning the Diamond reservations?

2. Have you been happy with other Diamond Resorts? Our daughter just got back from one in England and was very disappointed.

3. Do they nickel and dime you; i.e., at Maui you pay for parking.

4. What Diamond programs offer the best value. They were willing to 'buy' our Pono Kai and deduct the value from sale; but it still was almost $30K.

Thank you in advance for any light shedding!

 

[AwayWeGo]

T. H. E. Club Membership Costs Big Bux & Cannot Be Resold.

At least that's my understanding. And because the "points" or "options" or whatever the Diamond timeshare company is calling'm these days can only be used for timeshare exchange reservations within T.H.E. Club by members of T.H.E. Club, then an owner-member doesn't have much he or she can resell if he or she ever wants out. For us (The Chief Of Staff & me), that's a deal killer right there.

By contrast, RCI Points timeshares can be resold (we got ours resale) & as I understand it Wyndham FairShare Plus points also can be bought & sold on the resale market -- some folks even go so far as to say resale Wyndham FairShare Plus points are the best value anywhere around in timeshare ownership.

Diamond Resorts is the successor to SunTerra, by virtue of buying out SunTerra a year or so back. T.H.E. Club is the new name for what formerly was known as Club SunTerra.

By me, Thirty Grand is way too much to pay for anybody's timeshare.

Buy resale.

Save $10,000

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Dollie]

And because the "points" or "options" or whatever the Diamond timeshare company is calling'm these days can only be used for timeshare exchange reservations within T.H.E. Club

You are not confined to just THE Club. The points are also used to trade within II.

 

[Bill4728]

Here is a link to the DRI FAQ thread

Hope that helps

PS the real expert on Diamond is Spence. Spence posts over on www.TS4Ms.com

 

[AwayWeGo]

Membership In T. H. E. Club Includes Membership In I-I -- Right?

You are not confined to just THE Club. The points are also used to trade within II.

The way I heard it -- not necessarily gospel, but not made up out of whole cloth either -- is that membership in I-I is included at no extra cost with membership in T.H.E. Club (formerly Club SunTerra), so that -- yes, indeed -- club options or points or whatever they're calling'm now can be used for I-I exchanges, not just club exchanges.

In fact, according to trusted TUG-BBS sources, I-I memberships through T.H.E. Club get better timeshare exchanges than regular, plain-vanilla, standalone I-I memberships that people pay for out of their own pockets.

Even so, when club membership ends, so does the included I-I membership, leaving the owner-member with nothing that can be resold other than the underlying timeshare deed(s) -- & not even that if the membership was of the "trust" variety rather than the old-fashioned deeded variety.

Other than that, the club -- i.e., T.H.E. Club -- is totally outstanding.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​