What the???? We have a referral for July 3rd (6 nights). I've read a few of the posts on facebook about the changes for members and Referrals. I hope most of them are rumors (no more top shelf alcohol for Referrals, no more lobster dinner, no more member dinner, or Saturday beach BBQ) yikes!!! What in the world will a referral get you other than a gold band????
The butler benefit and the dinner benefits have been gone for Referrals for some time now. However, as of this week it appears that referrals get gold bracelets that come with very few benefits. Not yet clear exactly what the changes are, but FB posts indicate that premium liquor and access to premier seating are no longer included for referrals. Free Skybar access seems to still be included but no one seems to know that for sure. I haven't heard about availability of the additional menu options in the restaurants. As always, caution is advised about info on Facebook. The most annoying part of all - the complete and total silence of the premier team.
We are at TTR on referral the same week as you. We're worried about rooftop deck access. Perhaps there will be more clarity before we fly out on June 30th.
I am totally bummed about this. My main issue is not being able to hang with our friends at the Premier Bar/Pool areas. We have been waiting 3 years to see them again and booked our referral through them. We leave this Friday. I can understand if the resort decided to change their policy, I just wish they grandfathered people in that were already booked and also made a formal announcement. Either way we're going to have a blast and we're so excited!! It's just a bit of a let down because we could have saved money booking through a 3rd party site. Come on Friday!! Cannot wait!
We received an email from premier couple weeks ago with a link to a survey. The survey was asking about referral benefits.
Let it smooth out for a day or two, and I feel like you won't lose out on the premier bar. That seems really stupid to pull away, but who knows, it is Temptation.
That's my hope. I hope things get fixed before Friday. However, the people that have experienced this all first hand have said they were turned away at the Premier bar and that's how they found out about this all. I am a bit confused by it all. I just hate arriving to my vacation confused on what to expect.
I am with you on all points you made. If you have a moment during your trip, please post to let us know what benefits you were told you have on check-in, and whether you were able to cut any sort of deal for something in exchange for the loss of what was available to Referrals at the time you booked. It would be good to know what the resort can be convinced to do to compensate those of us who booked prior to the policy change.
I can’t say I’m surprised about all the changes to be honest. They want to sell memberships and allowing people to continue to use a Referrals time after time to receive the same benefits as the member who paid to get them waters it down a lot. Little reason for anyone to buy a membership when they can get the benefits for relatively nothing. The real issue here is not that they decided to change their policy but the lack of communication in doing so.
I will absolutely post once we are there. It would probably be easier for me to post on FB. But I will follow up with you all after I check in on Friday.