Asked this in the Chatter forum, but probably will get an answer here quicker. (mods, feel free to delete or remove one of the posts). My wife and I are planning on coming for about a week in July. I have some friends that actually are repeaters and are "members"? She (the friend) told me that if we come under their membership (they can get 4 "guests" a year? or something like that) the savings would be worth it and I'd get a different wrist band that comes with perks. Can any of you explain what exactly this is about and if the savings are really worth it? We just got our quote from TTR - with airfare included and were both shocked at how affordable it was.
Check pretty well everywhere before you go. Some online travel sites have great deals. If you go as there guests, I think you have to sit through the timeshare pitch. I have talked to a lot of people over the last year and some are happy with the Premier thing and for some it isn't worth it. I just paid $2100 flights included direct from Montreal for 2 people. I haven't seen many members get a deal much better than that and I don't have to sit through a timeshare pitch.
We just signed up for premier status last week. Basically you get the hotel for about 50% off of the lowest rate you can find. You also get to trade in your weeks for RCI if you wanted to go somewhere else besides their resorts. You get perks such as internet, top shelf drinks, seating areas, dinner reservations, yacht club... We joined because it made sense for us. We plan on going back to one of their clubs at least two weeks per year and the membership pays for itself after 8 weeks or 56 days. We would still have another 119 days of discounted travel and that will allow us to be ahead not incuding any of the perks. You can give away two weeks per year to other people and they get your status but they can only use it once. It is to introduce other people to the resort and program. Hope that helps.
You defintely want to use their status as it will make it a much more enjoyable time and it is a lot cheaper. Not to mention, you get 25% off of most of the services and stores. You will have to sit with the premier people for an hour but they do not sell it hard, if it doesn't work for you, they tell you have a good day and you are on your way.
We are members, but we can go cheaper if we book on-Line and not use our membership. Ours was a good deal when we first bought because we could use the points for Airfare. They put a stop to that 2 years after we bought. I guess it was too good of a deal. We as members still pay the all-Inclusive fee even though the "weeks" are included. The all-Inclusive has more than doubled which is rediculous. I received the quote for this year and just about fell out of my chair. We have talked to friends about going with us, but when you get to figuring it up it is cheaper to just book through a travel agency on line. We have written it off as a very bad investment. The one thing I tell anyone that will listen is "do not buy". It may sound good at first, but something will change and you will be kicking yourself later.
The best advice I can give you after reading the above post is everyone travels differently. We use miles so we do not book airfare through a travel agency and that makes a big difference. We also go to another resort and get 25% off that resort which you do not book though a travel agency. Everyone has a little different value associated to different options, just figure it out to see if it works for you. Either way, you are sure to have a great time.
I would recommend going as your friends "guest". Yes, you will have to listen to a 1-2 hour sales pitch about joining, but just let them know your not interested. I just did a quick search and if we would bring a guest it would save ~$500 off a 7 night stay. I think for our membership we just signed up for a guest would have to pay ~ $90 per night (this includes room and all-inclusive fee). Whether you should sign up for a membership is a completely different story and you will get a different response from everyone here.
I'll say it again .....EVERY MEMBERSHIP IS DIFFERENT!! it all depends what you bought & how you negotiated your contract. Our trip in Oct cost us $98 ($49 for me $49 for my wife). Our upcoming Feb trip the price has risen to $104 ($52 for me $52 for my wife).Ours is working out well. I know ours is set up differently by talking to other members. As Labrador says, some people are happy, some are not. My advise is go & listen to the salespitch & draw your own conclusion. You will get some kind of gift for your time.
We just became members and have not used are membership yet how much extra does it cost to upgrade rooms ??
