Hello, we have a "limited" premier membership that we bought 2 years ago - it provided member pricing for 3 years and up to a certain number of nights (I think 30? Don't remember). We went to a sales presentation this trip about upgrading to a full membership package that includes the 40% credit, fly-back program, and a buy-back program. I've read information on this and other sites about the credit and airline ticket refunds, but have not found anything about the buy-back program. I am wondering 1) is it legit, and 2) has anyone used it? As explained to us, if you buy a membership package of like 500 nights, and after ten years, you have at least half of those nights remaining, Temptation will buy back your membership at the original price to resell it to others. So let's pretend I pay $20,000 for the 500-night package and only use (or sell to others) 200 nights... in 2034, Temptation will pay me $20,000 to buy back the membership. It's facilitated through an insurance program (I think similar to the flight refund). The program costs a percentage of the membership package... I think maybe 9%? I don't remember how much. Has anyone else bought this? Read the fine print of the contract? Is the program old enough to have been used by anyone on this forum? Your thoughts are welcome and appreciated!
I bought the program but I'm still 3 or 4 years from by 10 years of ownership. This 10 year program was pretty new when I bought it, so I don't think think anyone has yet to reach the buyback period. To be honest, at the time I figured that there was no way to know if I would ever get my money. But if I do, it feel it will have been a very good investment. I call it my "Las Vegas Contract". Time will tell.
Thanks for your response. I guessed that the buy-back program might be new. It was explained as a type of insurance, as I recall. If you happen to have easy access to your agreement, I would love to be able to read it. I might be able to contact someone at Temptation to get a copy as well (which would be their current rendition), but I'm not sure how to find someone.
Just keep in mind that they will buy back your 250 nights at the cost of what you paid today. This does not account for inflation and other time related factors. So in 10 years that 20k you paid is probably around $26,300 if we account for increase of 3% every year. So they will not pay that to you. It is just the 20k. So you are losing out a little bit. Premier needs to make money. They will take that extra 6.3k and probably reinvest it somewhere.
First, the policy is not from premier - it is from an outside insurance company - so premier has no money to invest. I assume they made some sort of commission when I bought the policy as well as the profit from my original purchase and two subsequent upgrades the last of which was done when I bought the policy. Second - while you are correct that what I get back is only what I paid, I will have had ten years to use benefits that are saving me money (which I am sure are worth more than the 6.3k in "lost interest"). I have used free night, paid greatly reduced rates by being a member, received credit from Referrals and more. More than a fair deal assuming they make good on the buyback.
The rules for buy-back is that you have to have at least half of your nights remaining unused... meaning if you bought 500 nights, you can use 250 of them and still get the full buyback amount (ie 20k). We have it, we have not yet qualified for "redeeming" it. Also, if you upgrade your contract (which we have 4 times over the past 16 years), it "resets" the 10 year time horizon. I also looked at it as a relatively cheap way to gamble some money... that said, I am so close to making my money back on flyback, but my trip last year is still not reimbursed after 10.5 months and counting. @RockAustin - I wouldn't necessarily buy the contract for either flyback or buyback, neither of which are technically through Premier. If you expect to use the regular nights and/or exchange through RCI or SFX, then great. The other additions are just "extras". If you don't want to fork over that amount for a full contract, you can get all the Premier benefits (40% rewards, black bracelet with all the owner perks) by being a beneficiary. I've sold a ton of beneficiary nights, as have many many others. I'm still expecting to qualify for my buyback in another 6 years.
