We are going on a referral this time and are very excited... What perks should we expect that we wouldn't receive if we went without the referral? July17-24
You get everything that members get. That includes butler service, top shelf booze, expanded menus in the restaurant, a lobster dinner for two, access to the premier deck,bar, beach and lounge, 25% discounts on the spa and gift shop. There is more but those are the main perks.
We liked the room.. Just didn't like the location. SUCH long walks/crawls back from Paty O's... Our room on our referral week wasn't great, but wasn't awful. We don't really care about the room other than location though... We actually like 3rd floor near Paty O's on the sexy pool side.. Close enough to the action, but the 3rd floor cuts down a little on the music noise.
We paid extra for a jacuzzi room... so I'm sure it will be good... third trip for us and we have never had any problems with the room..... sorry you had a bad experience... :icon_frown:
Looks like its reverted back to another new model ... selling World Pass. Seems like year one was traditional time share, years two and three were like pre-paying for nights at Original resorts, year four is World Pass with some free nights, guaranteed rates ... Anyone used the World Pass or the airplane 2 for 1, discounts?
Part Two - how much luck to you premiere members have selling your referral weeks? Another twist this year: really pushing referral weeks as a way to "never have to pay for TTR again" as well as services that will sell them for you. I tried to explain Economics 101 to Dennis, but he was not having it.
FYI, just got back 2 weeks ago, we are Premier members and did the updated info session which was a waste of our precious vaca time among other things (we were VERY UPSET with how we were treated; pm us if you are curious about that)... "Buying" referral weeks is a waste of money...a referral week gives you the perks but it is only 25% of the hotel's rack rate for the room type you choose. If you shop around you can beat that price. If the hotel is having a good promo like 40% off and 4th night free etc you might save a few bucks. So selling them will be hard to anyone who researches prices. The buyer is also not obligated to do the tour / info session...you, the seller, then don't get the $250 credit. The "never have to pay for TTR again" line by selling / giving referral weeks is complete BS in our opinion!!! I am not bashing buying a membership because it does work for some if you utilize other things such as SFX, World Pass, RCI exchange weeks and travel a lot. Note on World Pass: Tried the 15% off airfare offer...it was about a $100 more expensive than booking with the airline directly. Haven't tried it since so you may still get some savings there. A new thing out there is something called Lloyd's Share which is now in the membership (and they will try to charge more for it). Essentially you pay 5.75% of the value of you contract. You can add your expected airfare and your per night costs (y$ X # of nights in your contract). They "guarantee" you will get that money back at the end of your contract. Lloyd's Share is based in Panama...need I say more? If you follow anything on consumer reporting time shares / membership only benefit the sellers...all marketing to make you think you scored a deal. Fact of life. My rather long 2 cents worth.
So I have to jump in here too. As some have mentioned, it depends on your own circumstances. Basically, here is what I say every time I'm asked about buying: make sure you fully understand what you're buying, do the research to determine if it's right for you, and know exactly how much you're willing to pay for a membership. For us, we save $200 - $500 every time we go over numerous trips (taking all expenses into account, i.e. amortizing the initial cost). Sure, I'm admittedly a huge numbers/financial geek, but financially it works for us. Plus, we really enjoy the membership benefits. Having your own waitress at the pool is great. Plus, we got a killer room upgrade at Pearl last year. So long story short, no, you won't get rich with a membership and yes, you can way overpay if you don't understand what you're getting. But that being said, they can make a lot of sense for some people.
