Unannounced, HGV restores Club Combination eligibility for many resorts

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Prior to the HGVC takeover, Diamond operated a Club Combination program, where members who were part of the Club Combination program could deposit a non-Diamond week into the Club Combination program to receive additional Diamond points. After enrolling a non-Diamond week in the Club Combination program, the Club Combination points were included in the Diamond members ownership total, enabling the members to reach higher membership levels. For example, we used the 6500 points assigned to our Winners Circle to become Gold members in the Club.

After HGVC took over Diamond, HGVC announced that many of the resorts that Diamond had accepted for Club Combination deposits would not be accepted by HGVC. HGVC prepared a table of resorts that had been involved in the Club Combination program, identifying the ones that HGVC would continue to accept and the ones that were no longer accepted. HGVC did not reduce owner qualification for membership levels - we still remained Gold members even though HGVC now only recognized us with 23,500 point.

About a month I looked at the current listing of resorts that were accepted in the Club Combinations program, and to my surprise Winners Circle was now listed as acceptable. Since I was trying to find some place to park our 2024 usage for Winners Circle, I completed the paperwork for a Club Combinations deposit. This week I received notice that everything was in order, and that the deposit would be completed as soon as I paid the Club Combinations deposit fee.

I paid the fee online yesterday, and today I noted that the 6500 added points were included with our 2024 points total.

So, Hurray for once again being able to use Club Combination. But Boo to HGVC for making the change but not notifying affected owners.

If you are one of the Club Combinations participants with a disallowed resort, I suggest you check the list to see if your resort might now be allowed.

 

[escanoe]

Where do these non-Diamond weeks that are deposited go? Do they place (deposit) them into DeX (by swapping them out for Diamond weeks that would otherwise be going in)?

Part of me wonders if this change is related to the recent interest we have seen from them to bolster DeX. Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but an HGV owner can hope.

@T_R_Oglodyte, can you share a list of the properties that are currently eligible to be deposited using this program?

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Where do these non-Diamond weeks that are deposited go? Do they place (deposit) them into DeX (by swapping them out for Diamond weeks that would otherwise be going in)?

Part of me wonders if this change is related to the recent interest we have seen from them to bolster DeX. Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but an HGV owner can hope.

@T_R_Oglodyte, can you share a list of the properties that are currently eligible to be deposited using this program?

I believe they go into DEX. Prior to DEX, they were a separate inventory of units that Club members could search for reservations.

The list of current resorts is at this link -

https://cmsprod.diamondresorts.com/sites/default/files/dex_select_resort_index_may_23_2024.pdf

You may need to be enrolled in Club Combinations to access it. To reach it, you log in on the Club (former Diamond) portion of the site, then on the Dashboad click on the link for "Deposit Club Select", shown below. Note that Club Select (nee Club Combinations) was only available for members who had Club Select included in their membership. So if you are at your Dashboard and you don't see the Deposit Club Select option, then you probably are not eligible.

 

[geist1223]

Since we joined DRI we had Club Select Club Combination. We used it a lot our first couple years in DRI when we did not own a lot of DRI Points. We also Booked Vacations through the System. It used to be a separate Listing that was very easy to use. Our other timeshare is Worldmark and it is still on the approved list.

 

[GT75]

@T_R_Oglodyte, I assume that you mean HGV and not HGVC. Since this looks like HVC/DRI updates, I moved the post to that forum.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

@T_R_Oglodyte, I assume that you mean HGV and not HGVC. Since this looks like HVC/DRI updates, I moved the post to that forum.

Correct. The terminology still doesn't flow naturally for me.

 

[oceanblue2]

We own at Eagle's Nest on Marco Beach, Fl. We used to be able to deposit into Club Select and get 8500 points per week. Hilton stopped our ability to deposit when they acquired Diamond.

On the current list of resorts Eagle's Nest is shown as a HGVC resort. It is only managed by Hilton not owned. Many of the owners did not elect to become involved with Hilton when they took over management of the resort years ago. I do hope that Hilton will at some point allow those of us that are not Hilton owners at Eagle's Nest and other affiliates to once again benefit from Club Select. It was a great benefit that they took away and the removal didn't endear us to Hilton.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

On the current list of resorts Eagle's Nest is shown as a HGVC resort.

I see that Eagle's Nest still shows as a "will not accept". All I can say is:

1. periodically check to see if status changes.
2. if you attend any "owner updates" be sure to squawk about it and let them know that the takeaway of benefits is a key reason why you are not interested in increasing ownership.
3. If you any points generated by joining Club Select were used to get to either silver or gold membership level, you should still retain that membership even though your current points level is below the qualifying threshold.

 

[oceanblue2]

I see that Eagle's Nest still shows as a "will not accept". All I can say is:

1. periodically check to see if status changes.
2. if you attend any "owner updates" be sure to squawk about it and let them know that the takeaway of benefits is a key reason why you are not interested in increasing ownership.
3. If you any points generated by joining Club Select were used to get to either silver or gold membership level, you should still retain that membership even though your current points level is below the qualifying threshold.

We deposited our weeks into Club Select rather than Club Select Combinations. Unfortunately any points that we received for the weeks that we deposited didn't count towards membership levels. I believe that Club Select Combinations was created after we purchased our points.

So far our comments about losing this benefit have fallen on deaf ears!

 

[escanoe]

If someone was interested today in coming in, joining HVC (Diamond), and being able to make “club combination” deposits — what would be needed?

It takes being a member of “the club” I assume.

Could you get there with a resale purchase or would you have to make a developer purchase?

I notice the file name/path you provided to the list of resorts that could be deposited included “dex_select_resort_index_may_23_2024.”

To my wishful thinking, that makes it appear cooking something up with DEX.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Dredging into the memory banks - when we first dealt with Club Select or whatever it was called at the time, we owned Winners Circle, Raintree Vacation Club platinum, and a deeded week at Bali Hai on Kauai. The Winners Circle and the Bali Hai were designated as suitable for us to deposit, but Diamond wouldn't take the Raintree. I vaguely remember that the Bali Hai was worth about 6500 points, and the Winners Circle was good for 5000 points.

A couple of years later, we were doing an "update", where the sales person was pitching us on upgrading from Silver to Gold. There was no way that we were going to buy 10k points to make that happen, so the salesperson said that maybe they could work something out with Club Combinations. At that point we had sold the Bali Hai week, so the only week on the table was Winners Circle. When the sales person came back, the offer was for us to buy 3500 points, and they would add 6500 points for bringing our Winners Circle week. I still didn't want to do it, but DW wanted to do it, and she told me that had just completed doing an optional summer school program, and she had earned enough money to pay for the 3500 points herself. I had the wisdom to shut up and say OK.

End result is that we have a contract that specifically says that as a result of bringing the Winners Circle in the Club Select/Combinations, we have gold status in the Club, for as long as we own the Winners Circle week. By the way, there is no obligation to ever deposit the Winners Circle week into Club Combinations, nor is there a limit on the number of times we can deposit.

We had a salesperson one time tell us that that offer was limited to five years, so if we wanted to remain gold status we needed to buy 6500 more points from Diamond. I told him I didn't think that was true, but he said if I read the details of the contract I would find that. When we got home I reviewed the contract there was no such language in our agreement. In fact, as I read it, Diamond would be in breach of contract if they ever tried to downgrade our gold status by not recognizing the 6500 points associated with our Winners Circle. So, when HGV initially disallowed deposits from Winners Circle, the email we received stated clearly that that decision would not affect our Gold membership.

In the end, DWs decision to buy the 3500 points has worked out OK for us. We have received significant value from having our points in the Club - it has facilitated making reservations for family events. And having the option to deposit the Winners Circle week when we want more points has worked well for us.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

If someone was interested today in coming in, joining HVC (Diamond), and being able to make “club combination” deposits — what would be needed?

It takes being a member of “the club” I assume. Yes. The Club combination deposits go into Club inventory.

Could you get there with a resale purchase or would you have to make a developer purchase? Can't say for sure, but I would be surprised if they made this an option without having a developer purchase.

…

 

[escanoe]

End result is that we have a contract that specifically says that as a result of bringing the Winners Circle in the Club Select/Combinations, we have gold status in the Club, for as long as we own the Winners Circle week.

To adapt one of my favorite sayings from Mark Twain the difference between a sales weasel promising you this verbally and your actually having it in the contract “is really a large matter … ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

I love it when TUGers negotiate a good deal and have the smarts for it to be enforceable.

 

[dandjane1]

One fact that hasn't been mentioned is that a small MF for those deposited or POSSIBLY to be deposited points is , or at least under DRI, is (was) charged. In the past, when I reserved 200K Wyndham developer or resale points into DRI's Combo plan, the charge amounted to around $100 a year as I recall. Anyhow, I dropped out of the DRI Combo, as I use most of my Wyndham points anyhow, and never deposited any with DRI. Still had to pay as long as I COULD deposit. Sales weasels never mention this small charge.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

One fact that hasn't been mentioned is that a small MF for those deposited or POSSIBLY to be deposited points is , or at least under DRI, is (was) charged. In the past, when I reserved 200K Wyndham developer or resale points into DRI's Combo plan, the charge amounted to around $100 a year as I recall. Anyhow, I dropped out of the DRI Combo, as I use most of my Wyndham points anyhow, and never deposited any with DRI. Still had to pay as long as I COULD deposit. Sales weasels never mention this small charge.

We don't have any such fee. The only fee we pay with Club Combo is a deposit fee (currently $109) when we do put a week into Club Combo. In years when we don't deposit a week, we pay no fee.

 

[youppi]

We don't have any such fee. The only fee we pay with Club Combo is a deposit fee (currently $109) when we do put a week into Club Combo. In years when we don't deposit a week, we pay no fee.

Look at your MF.
You should pay the collection base fee + the collection per pts fee on the HVC pts your own.
You should pay the club base fee + the club per pts fee on the HVC pts you own and also on the pts you get with the club combination even if you don't deposit them from what people told me.
The Club per pts fee is around $0.006 per pts and thus you should pay around $40 for the 6,500 pts of the Club Combination.
It's the price to pay annually to get a higher loyalty level than you should have if only HGV points you own were counted.

 

[cindyc]

I lost the ability to deposit my HGVC Boulevard and Kohala Suites when HGVC purchased DRI. Our contract was written to allow a deposit up to 20,000 pts through Club Combination/Club Select. I declared 1 BR HGVC Boulevard , 1 BR SDO, 1 BR Kohala, each at 6,500 pts for a total of 19,500 pts. And, we elected to affiliate 2 of our Sedona Summot 2 BR LO weeks for 10K points each. That left us 500 pts short of making it to Platinum with DRI. The salesperson "fudged" it and write in an extra 500 RCI points into the contract.

When the HGVC properties were removed from the deposit list, I inquired and was told that I could deposit up to 20K points in any combination from the properties I declared which were still allowable. Since I actually own a 2 BR LO with SDO I can still get extra points when I need them by depositing both sides of the SDO.

For a whole there I had found a sweet spot by depositing a cheap silver season Flamingo studio and receiving 5,500 DRI points. That went away when they removed HGVC from the deposit list. And would have gone away as a benefit once they instituted the point equivalency to enable HGVCMax to work.

I have flirted with getting an EOY 2 BR LO at SDO if I need more points but for now my I feel like I am in my sweet spot for time share use and ownership.

Fun Fact: I am currently on one of the Member Events run by Big Journey. We are on the Austria trip and staying at Alpine Club in Schladming.

 

[dazzlingheart]

I believe they go into DEX. Prior to DEX, they were a separate inventory of units that Club members could search for reservations.

The list of current resorts is at this link -

https://cmsprod.diamondresorts.com/sites/default/files/dex_select_resort_index_may_23_2024.pdf

You may need to be enrolled in Club Combinations to access it. To reach it, you log in on the Club (former Diamond) portion of the site, then on the Dashboad click on the link for "Deposit Club Select", shown below. Note that Club Select (nee Club Combinations) was only available for members who had Club Select included in their membership. So if you are at your Dashboard and you don't see the Deposit Club Select option, then you probably are not eligible.

View attachment 94953

Oh, I don't have the Deposit Club Select button.