I would totally, completely agree with that. Stacia & I decided to get our membership during trip no. 9, for example. I could have probably done the tour better than the people they had doing that at the time, at least mine would have been more entertaining and full of naughty little tidbits. There are tons of tips and tricks you can use, once you've got a membership, that let you get more bang for your buck, but really isn't for everybody. It IS however, great for some people. Sam, I am curious about how much you pay, all-in, using whatever means you use to book vs. what I pay on my membership. The last time I checked, checking what was quoted/paid on someone's Expedia reservation vs. my fees for a reservation (which included the pro-rata breakdown on membership itself + AI daily fee), I was still coming out around $40/night ahead vs a big sale. That's not too bad, imo. And then, toss in that when Stacia wants to go get naked at Orient Beach, on St. Martin, I can get a 1-bedroom, fully-furnished apartment at The Atrium (it's still standing, even after the hurricane), for $350 for the week... it's a no-brainer. BUT... if people really aren't interested in traveling to Other locations o do things (and so as to take advantage of the trading weeks things like RCI or SFX) I can very easily see how it's not worth it.
Horrible idea. Not bad for the person who just got a band but the resort uses those band numbers to sell bottles of wine, spa treatments etc. instead of getting $50 you could lose a few hundred easily.
Don’t par take in any of those so... Like I said just an idea. Def frowned upon but I know it’s been done. No one is a saint that’s for sure
The thing is that they give you so much info and throw so many numbers at you and then want you to make a decision right then and there. Last time I wasn’t prepared for all that into so when I told them I would have to think about it, they gave me attitude. I got irritated that I even told them to keep the coupons they were going to give us.
For us it is simple. Done the presentation 5 times including at TTR and Desire. Each time I take the buy in cost and what my cost would be for each night based on the ongoing AI fee. I include any free nights in the calc. I then reach my per night cost over the length of the deal. I then compare that per night cost to what I got via the third party discount site. My nightly cost 4 out of 5 times was significantly less and 1 time slightly less (I spent 3.5 hours negotiating to see how good I could get and was seriously considering). But end result was it would always cost me more to be a member than not. So not a good investment for me. This is not taking into account time value of money on one side of the equation or the value of the perks of being a member (most of which don’t matter much to me but may to others) on the other side of the equation. Also I would never be able to add much from Referrals as I just don’t have time to deal so another part of the equation that doesn’t apply for us. It really comes down to simple math and how you value the perks. For us never been worth it and definitely is not a good investment. Doesn’t mean we don’t love TTR or get why for others it may make more sense. I do wonder if those that promote it as a good investment are not looking in the right places for comparison purposes. And the line that they will no longer be offering those discount prices was used in 2010 when we first visited, a couple years before the renovations, the months before the renovations, right after the renovations and this week. Yet some how those discount rates still exist
Who knows what might happen in 6 months or a year.....bit of a gamble effectively pre buying into a discount scheme you might not be able to use. We were going to go to TTR again in October after our May trip....unforeseen tax bill screwed that up :-(
Mine paid for itself in little over a year. Had a Penthouse in Feb, a Master Suite last week, and later this week we have a Master Suite again. Didn't pay a penny, and collecting more free Master Suite nights faster than we can use them. And we go a lot. PH and MS come with 5 bottles of top shelf alcohol which we rarely finish, so we bring it home. Probably worth $30 per bottle I doubt we'll ever have to pay for a room again.
Steve, you are in a much better position than the average tourist to find Referrals, no travel expenses, etc... I surmise that the number of Referrals that you receive are more than the average $10K contract.
