Life expectancy of dirty points

[mrsmr2]

Hi

We are currently at Sahara Sunset and the company are trying to get us to buy enough points to get to gold.

We are currently at 70p per point which is the lowest I think they are going.

Obviously we have the option of dirty points but the rep is telling us that these points will be less and less usable over time.

Now, I don't normally believe much that reps say but considering the company has done this once, is it possible they might restrict them further?

I'm not even sure if that would be legal.

We are getting the usual spiel about gold is where it's at as those members get priority for room allocation and will get lots of extra benfits (as yet unannounced) in the future.

So,

1) could they make dirty points even dirtier?
2) anyone thinks it's worth investing to get to gold at 70p per point?

Thanks

[daviddwells]

Secondhand points will always be able to be used for European Collection resorts. They can't change that. What they can do is introduce more affiliated resorts and "benefits", which the points can't be used for.

If the majority of your points are full points, I can't see that having a few so called "dirty" points will make much difference. We have nearly 50% "dirty" points and it's not an issue. We don't intend using them for any of the so called "benefits" and if we need more full points than we have for a booking, we'll just bring some forward and use "dirty" points the next year.

You can always buy some "dirty" points to take you up very close to Gold level and then buy a small amount of points from DRI to make the Gold level, asking them to convert your "dirty" points to eull points at the same time.

Unless the number of points you need for Gold level is small, why pay 70p per point when there are lots of people on Tony's pay site offering them for free. 10 to join that site if your not a member is a small price to pay for free points.

Regards
David

Regards

[chris34]

Why is everyone calling them dirty points as that is definately what Diamond DONT call them.

David are you a Diamond points member?

[daviddwells]

What do they call them then? I bet they aren't honest and call them restricted points! I use the term "dirty" as it's quicker than secondhand or restricted, and as an indication that they can't be used for everything in the DRI portfolio.

Yes, I am a DRI points member.

Regards
David

[Cogland]

Hi David
I managed to get 7000 points in exchange  for 2 fixed weeks purchased at the auction  3 years ago for 350.These are not restricted but if I wanted more points I would go for secondhand or "dirty" points because as you say they cover all the original Euro resorts.

[daviddwells]

The points I purchased from another member before Sept 2008 are treated as full points. It's only since they introduced the extended member "benefits" that points transferred from another member have been treated as second class points.

Whether or not to go for a higher membership tier is very much down to how you use your points and assessing if the benefits are worth it. If you don't use any or many of the extended benefits, then the only down side of transferred points is that you can't use the for the US collections. If you use a lot of the benefits, then maybe it would be cost effective to spend a couple of thousand pounds getting points from DRI to get the next tier level. Personally, I don't.

Regards
David

[mrsmr2]

Thanks for the advice.  Personally, I'm not bothered about the other benefits as they don't seem particularly good value anyway.

If they don't further restrict secondhand points then I'm fairly happy buying them.

Gold tier is a plus but it doesn't really get a lot more benefits than Silver (unless the rep was telling the truth and there really will be lots of additional benefits for them in the future).

For the person who wondered what DRI call them: I think they called them 'black listed' or 'grey' points initially.  Once I mentioned 'dirty' they used that term themselves during the conversation.

The main reason I'm not interested in buying points direct is because they don't have a buy back-scheme.  If they did, existing points would have a value, members would be happy as they can actually sell them (even if they only get 20-30% of purchase price), dri would be happy as they could resell them, and people like me would spend money as we would have some trust in dri (and know that we don't have to die to get out of paying management fees).

[Mavo]

quote:Originally posted by mrsmr2

Hi

We are currently at Sahara Sunset and the company are trying to get us to buy enough points to get to gold.

We are currently at 70p per point which is the lowest I think they are going.

Obviously we have the option of dirty points but the rep is telling us that these points will be less and less usable over time.

Now, I don't normally believe much that reps say but considering the company has done this once, is it possible they might restrict them further?

I'm not even sure if that would be legal.

We are getting the usual spiel about gold is where it's at as those members get priority for room allocation and will get lots of extra benfits (as yet unannounced) in the future.

So,

1) could they make dirty points even dirtier?
2) anyone thinks it's worth investing to get to gold at 70p per point?

Thanks

Sorry that nobody has replied to your post.
The reason is probably that nobody has the answers you seek.
 I suppose that in theory the company could make it more difficult to use points bought from other members but how could they do so? You can only spend these points in the sector they are in and they cannot count towards any elite status. What other restrictions could they put on them?
 
 In answer to your second question.
I do think that the purchase of further points from the company depends on how many clean points you currently own and if these are sufficient to allow you to book outside your sector then you would not need further clean points.
What this simply means is you would need clean points to book.  Californian, Florida and Hawaiian holidays with the club.

[Mavo]

Strange that the response posts only showed up for me when I posted my reply.
 I think they cover things well so sorry for going over the pertinent points once more.

[mrsmr2]

Thanks.

We didn't take the offer in the end and will likely go for second hand points - probably need another 4,500 to get us three peak weeks in most places.

I also tried to work out what the impact of Standard v Silver v Gold means when it came to booking, and also if reps could rearrange rooms for their 'customers' (the rep we spoke to said he would place special requests for his 'customers' to ensure they got the room requested).  

When we joined the former company, we were told that the earlier we book and place a request, the more likely we were to get our request.  Therefore, if we request a room (or type of room) a year in advance we should have a better chance of getting it than someone booking a week before.  However, I discussed this with the receptionists (at Sahara Sunset) and they said this is not the case.  Someone booking a week before has the same chance as us booking a year in advance.  The receptionist mentioned that we were was "premier" so should be ok when it came to requests.  

So, it sounds like the tiers will have an effect on priority.  They also confirmed that reps do sometimes place special requests for rooms.

Can't say I like the idea of reps being able to influence the rooms we get.

[Mavo]

Reps influencing room allocation! Bull****
 Request apartment not more than 2 weeks before arrival (best is about 10 days or less).
 We make our request over the phone and have never been dissapointed. You will not always get the exact request but will be allocated something with a similar aspect if apartment is already being occupied.
 It has to be remembered that some members take two or more weeks and so the apartment you request may well be occupied by someone in their second or third weeks stay so it is impossible to grant your wish without moving them to another apartment, which would not be really fair on them.
 Poolside or nearest pool on ground level are the most in demand so they  are the most sought after and the reception cannot please everybody if demand for such outstrips availability.  

[mrsmr2]

Well, I saw firsthand that reps had no influence a few years ago at Santa Barbara.

However, this rep mentioned 'special requests' and the receptionist later confirmed they get 'special requests' from reps so I can see it happening.  Whether it is widespread or not remains to be seen.

[Mavo]

quote:Originally posted by mrsmr2

Well, I saw firsthand that reps had no influence a few years ago at Santa Barbara.

However, this rep mentioned 'special requests' and the receptionist later confirmed they get 'special requests' from reps so I can see it happening.  Whether it is widespread or not remains to be seen.

 
 The general rule of thumb is.
If and when the reps sell you further points you then become of no further use to them. So where is their gain in making special requests?
 For sales people there has to be a gain or they are not motivated.

[mrsmr2]

I agree with your view usually but this rep did seem different from all the others I'd met.  He had his own business he'd set up in Tenerife, printed stationery, customised letters for his 'customers', and won rep of the year last year (or something like that).

Agree on the motivation point but he genuinely did seem to be trying to differentiate himself from the others.

[Patrick_dri]

Mavo.....

If I can be of any help to you, or the members of this forum. Please don't hesitate.

Best,
Patrick Duffy
Chief Experience Officer
Diamond Resorts International

patrick.duffy@diamondresorts.com [nofollow]

[Mavo]

quote:Originally posted by p71259

Mavo.....

If I can be of any help to you, or the members of this forum. Please don't hesitate.

Best,
Patrick Duffy
Chief Experience Officer
Diamond Resorts International

patrick.duffy@diamondresorts.com

 Hi Patrick.
 Nice to see you surface on timesharetalk.

  We could do with some information posting on here on the seminars you have been arranging for the coming months.
  ie. What is their purpose and how do members from on here get an invite?
 
 

[Cogland]

Patrick
Could you comment on why there is so little half point availability this autumn in the European resorts compared with previous years.
Thanks
Chris

[daviddwells]

quote:Originally posted by mrsmr2

............
We are currently at 70p per point which is the lowest I think they are going.
...............
1) could they make dirty points even dirtier?
2) anyone thinks it's worth investing to get to gold at 70p per point?

Thanks

You should be able to get a lot better than that. How many points do you need, and how soon do you want them? If it's more than a couple of thousand, and you don't want to use them urgently, I would get enough secondhand points to put you around 28,000 and then buy the rest from Diamond and get them to make the secondhand points full points.

Secondhand points are always going to be available for use in the European Collection and Interval International, so there is plenty of scope for holidays. Where they won't be able to be used is with the US collections and affliates, so unless you want to use those, there is no problem. Even if you do want to use the US Collection and affliates, the rest of your points can be used for these and you can always borrow from the next year to top them up if required.

As to whether or not it is worth it, only you can determine that. Work out what you are likely to use in Gold that you don't currently use in Silver and how much it would cost you if you did the same without going to Gold. Would you use the extras, such as travel bookings, pending reservations, etc? If not, then it won't be worth it, otherwise do the maths. I expect that the end result will be that the expense of buying the extra points from Diamond will be more that what it would cost you to get the benefits elsewhere unless you only need very few points to reach Gold level.

Regards
David

[Mavo]

quote:Originally posted by Mavo

quote:Originally posted by p71259

Mavo.....

If I can be of any help to you, or the members of this forum. Please don't hesitate.

Best,
Patrick Duffy
Chief Experience Officer
Diamond Resorts International

patrick.duffy@diamondresorts.com

 Hi Patrick.
 Nice to see you surface on timesharetalk.

  We could do with some information posting on here on the seminars you have been arranging for the coming months.
  ie. What is their purpose and how do members from on here get an invite?
 
 

 Further to the above question I have been able to assertain that the seminars are an extension and refining of the 3 events held around the country last year where DRI showed members about how best to make use of the various systems so that we members can get better value from the products.
 The current seminars (two only this year) are by invite through geographical catchment areas. They are/were fully subscribed and assessments will be made in the near future as to their effective usefulness.

One example pointed out to me was that many members were wishing to know about the manufacturers of the new comfortable mattresses and pillows. My info is that the manufacturers names etc can be given to members and that DRI have negotiated favourable discounts for members wishing to lavish that same level of luxury and comfort into their own homes.