Think I should clarify a bit on my statement that "it is working for us" It doesn't work right out of the box to get a good deal...you need to spend money to save money on the RCI / SFX side of the house to make it worthwhile. As Steve said it isn't for everyone. For us it was somewhat of a rash purchase. Are we making the best of it? Not completely yet but we have gotten some return on our investment and over the long term we should do ok. Would I do it again? Probably not and I am NOT saying it is a bad deal. All depends on how you use it and we do like some of the perks along with the rates we are getting for our stays. IMHO
I read back through twice but still missed the post where Tim was bashing something, but now I'm thinking about joining just to get the $52 airfare rate!
hav n fun just checked travelocity, would cost 2684.00 for my stay, but with premier paying 1487 Mike
Does that include what you've already paid up front broken down into days? Trips are always usually MUCH higher the closer you get to the trip date. We went for 7 days last Sept. for $1450 out of DFW. I just booked GOV for 4 days for $500 a person for the end of the month. As a general rule, the harder somebody tries to sell you something, the worse the deal is. And I have trouble thinking of anything that the seller works harder to move than timeshares. Life insurance salesmen are comparatively low key. Even car dealers, who are selling items at a similar price level, do not go to such great lengths to get you to buy. They will let you drive the car for a few minutes. You might get a free cup of coffee. And maybe balloons for the kids, if there is a special event going on.
Whether a Premier membership is worth the cost depends on a variety of variables, as any purchase would. What does the membership include...and what is the perceived value of each perk and advantage the membership gives the buyer? It's like asking two people whether a full sized four wheel drive pickup is a good purchase. I live in Wisconsin, own a bunch of river bottom land with a muddy road leading to it...pull a boat, a camper and an ATV trailer...love to landscape and garden. My pickup is indespensible to me. A friend who lives in an apartment and has no interest in outdoor sports and only uses a vehicle to commute to work or the store would see a pickup as a useless waste of gas. Getting back to the question or a Premier membership - we drink beer and like Dos Equis, so the premium booze has little value...I can't imagine needing or wanting a butler...we like to book a cruise rather than an AI some years, so we value the flexibility of choosing our vacation destination year to year, rather than investing our vacation budget up front. We have no Desire to have access to a seperate deck or roped off area in Paty'Os...and our room is just a place to sleep and shower - we spend as little time there as possible. We booked 12 days this May for $1393 each - including airfare from Minneapolis. To purchase airfare seperately, we'd pay a premium. Add to all this the hard sell we'd have to sit through while we're supposed to be partying is just all the more reason to conclude a Premier membership is all wrong for us. It may fit the needs of others perfectly though.
It works from Canada. Packages from Alberta suck most of the time and seem more expensive than from the east and so if you fly on points or wait for a great flight with our room rate guaranteed and use your referral weeks it does work and pay for itself . and Donald the difference between 5000 dollars and 25000 dollars is the number of nights in your contract..like 150 nights to 500 nights...
Actually, some of the sales girls are pretty hot. If they would throw in one of those per trip, I think we would seriously consider it.
It has been great for us so far. Yes, I figured out the math Donald with the up front cost vs booking through a travel site etc... We bought 175 nights. Will it work long term, time will tell. If my Excel spreadsheet holds true, next 2 years and our savings will kick in. Plus we love the Yacht
