Membership Contracts And Changes

Just got back from TTR and sat with the Premier people to discuss contract changes while I was there. What they're putting on the table is, I think, significant and it will make some people happy; others perhaps not so much... I choose the new deal.

I can only speak to my contract, others may have different deals, but here are what I think the important points are in my case:

• My contract was less than 18 months old so they rolled 100% of my equity over, I don't know what would happen with older contracts.
• They will no longer pay for Referrals and no 25% discount, too much abuse of that program. If you do refer someone they'll get a gold bracelet for their stay (no butler, no lobster dinner) other member benefits seem to be a grey area right now. If they buy in you get free nights based on what level they purchase at.
• Loyalty rewards, when you book through the hotel, 40% of your all inclusive fees will be credited for use at the hotel during that stay(no rollover)
• 30% rate guarantee still exists but if you choose that then no loyalty rewards for that stay.
  
• Flat rate room upgrades, in my case the AI fee for any room up to Lush and $400/night for master suite(not so great), $500/night for penthouse(awesome!)

A lot of the other member benefits remain the same so I haven't included them but I am willing to answer questions to the best of my ability. I'm a bit of a contract Nazi so I've got quite a few addendum's that may be seen as unnecessary; I haven't referenced any of those above.

Right now I'm happy with the value proposition the contract seems to provide, as always the proof is in the execution and I won't be able to speak to that until after our next visit.

 

Full disclosure, I actually approached Premier about making changes to my contract. I don't know if that made any difference in what they put on the table. I went in wanting some specific things and was expecting there would be an upgrade cost (there was but not as much as I was expecting).

I bought my original membership in February of 2019, this was our first post contract visit. After presenting me the new contract structure they offered to apply 100% of what I had paid in February against the cost of what was presented, they said they were only able to do that because I had signed in the last 18 months. They described it as an equity rollover but that implies I actually have title to something which I don't, in reality they just took what I had already paid and applied it against the cost of the new contract. It was really a win/win, I wanted better rooms (i.e. penthouse) and really wasn't thrilled with the idea of dealing with Referrals; the loyalty rewards were a bonus.

I know a lot of people do Referrals to help cover the cost of their contracts but I 100% agree with what Steve said about the abuse of the referral program. If Premier isn't able to get their fair share of the pie the program isn't sustainable.

 

I had a misunderstanding about how the referral system worked, back when Stacia & I got our original contract. I interpreted something one of the Premier people said to be that I could "refer" someone, and they could benefit from that referral, one time...and that would be the end of their being able to go on referral.

If they did that, which would be easy to track since you have to show your Passport when you check in, it'd stomp on the referral abuse. One aspect of it, anyway.

I'm curious about how the 40%... kick-back, for lack of a better term, is going to work for you down the road. What would you need that money for? You're already Premier, so what would you be "spending" that on?

 

Spa. But honestly it blows my mind that people who buy are okay with prepaying the hotel night, then paying an 'all-inclusive fee' that is regularly the same price or higher than rates widely available to everyone. Everytime this comes up people say you have to know how to 'work your contract' which is selling Referrals. So I don't know how anyone can be upset by that system. It was the incentive premier built and advertised.

It sounds like that system is gone but they don't want to adjust the all-inclusive fee. So they are going to offer to move 40% of the dollars to services the hotel offers (presumably these are low cost to them). So really now all a 10-20k contract ends up being is prepaid spa days.

 

I always think about it like airplane tickets. First class gets you to the same destination as coach. If you have the money for the first class perks, then good for you.

 

Here's the list of things the 40% kick-back can be used for:

SPA
Food and drinks
Room upgrades (redeemed at check in)
Airport transportation
Tours
Beauty parlour
Yacht​

 

Hi @Cindy&Dave,

Would you happen to have that options list for using that 40% on one of your addendum pages? Asking as we’ve heard conflicting info in Yacht use and tours/excursions.

Wondering if they are adding it now as addendum language or not so they can keep it variable.

 

The options for the 40% listed above was included in an addendum. The yacht was also a separate addendum and I had to decide how I would pay for it in the future, in my case $600 in resort credit as opposed to $400 cash.

 

Are prices higher than normal for the other services when using the resort credit (similar to yacht)?