I big thanks to Nick and Renee for doing all the research as I know it takes a lot of time. I have looked at both and I could save at least 200.00 and more to book on some websites. It's a shame they raised the AI fee so high. :evil: Don
Bear with me-I'm very new to this timeshare gig (scam?), but are you telling me that if I purchase a week for let's say $5000, I still have to pay this $80-118 fee per PERSON per NIGHT staying there?
Yes, if you buy a membership you are buying rights to a room, you're not paying for the right to eat and drink there.
I think you're right Bev but only partially. As someone else mentioned before if the hotel was full of existing members every day there'd be no one left to sell new memberships to. They would also not be able to provide all the premier perks (for example there's only a finite number of OV rooms, only a finite number of places on the yacht etc). So implementing changes to make it less attractive for members to return has to happen in one or more ways. The obvious way is to increase AI prices, we all know that the cost of food and alcohol doesn't increase 25-30% in a year so it has to be for some other reason. Other changes such as greater encouragement (flexibility?) of using points elsewhere and even scrapping our own premiernights contract are all part of the same philosophy I feel. As market forces always dictate there will come a point where the extra cost puts off sufficient people such that the balance of members /non members present at any one time is reduced to the number they feel is right according to their business model. That's why you dont see regular vacation deal prices rising as steeply. IMHO I dont think that balance has been reached yet, so I would not be surprised if things got worse (for the members) before they got better. Where I think you're wrong is that I dont believe it is their problem, they're still happily selling memberships every day and filling their hotel, it's you guys that are paying more for the same.
I think your on to something Steve. Its what I've kind have been thinking these last few days. Something besides just cost of products/service is pushing the rate higher. Which to me is BAD BUSINESS practices. The oil industry comes to mind. Do you know or have a ballpark figure of how many Premier Members there are???? Say if there is 1500 Premier Members and they paid an avg. cost of $4000 for there membership. That is $6,000,000 us members have giving to the BBG upfront not counting all the money we throw into the hotel with A.I. fees everytime we go, spa services, tours, etc. when we stay. What do we get in return for buying into the BBG??????? Jacked up the A.I. fee to the point of making the membership benefits almost worthless. I'm just waiting for the day that some of the perks disappear. I can see the guarnteed O.V. room being gone soon if what you said above is true. Yet the avg. vacationer price hasn't gone up much at all over 7 years. That is what really kind of gets me mad. Many of us members forked out thousands in advanced because we love going to the BBG (there is reason they have the highest or second highest repeat rate in Mexico) yet with there latest fee hikes its like they are telling us to go somewhere else. To me its just another slap in the face of the repeat guest in a long line of other changes that have occured over the years. I know you have personally felt the wrath ($$ lost) of that much worse then us vacationers with them pulling your Premier Nights program and kind of putting an end to your booze cruises that seem to be just growing and growing. Though I see them back now so hopefully it stays. Nick and Renee
It is a good deal really if BBG did not raise the AI fee to members so high. Members who bought into the program had it good in the past. BBG business model have changed; BBG is selling more timeshares, and not so much in giving excellent services to members any more. As someone says, they are trying to drive members away once they got their membership money, so there will be more vacancy to pull new suckers in with low discount and promotion so BBG can sell more timeshares. BBG should be thinking about future business, words will get out about how BBG treat their members, like increase 25-30% on member AI fee which means members pay more than non-members who reserve the rooms through discount Websites and book directly. BBG are forgetting that the general public are better informed these days; this is an information age. Words will get out on the Internet if they have not already. And BBG never know who is listening to members talk about how they are being screwed around the SEXY pool area. I doubt BBG will sell many timeshares when words get out. Soonn
But my question is. IF they want me to go somewhere else, why are they charging me to convert my nights to points?? I have to convert to go somewhere else!! It does not make any sense. And the fee is just a breach of contract. I still have NOT received a satisfactory answer from the premier club. They responded with an e-mail to check certain articles of my contract, but NONE of those articles (or any other) mention the right for the premier club to charge for the nights to points conversion.
I do remember, just like it happened yesterday. Those were the good old days. But I just can't see ever going back to BBG. I can see potential for a class action type of lawsuit tho. I've never had a problem dealing with the RCI folks, ever! They actually stepped in to tell BBG that they were attempting to do something they couldn't do. Saved me some duckies. All of my issues are with BBG the the changes that they claim aren't "changes" and how they make up new shit as they go & seem to be prostituting themselves as scam artisits right now. I don't know of a single timeshare messege board that has anything positive posted about the resort and what it does to it's members. Do I care? NOPE......I still got money to go wherever I wanna go. Went to the Omni in November and fell in love with the Jacuzzi Bar. I think most BBG'ers would as well......it was a REAL Jacuzzi, with hot water and cold drinks, excellent service. Much better than the hole in the pool at BBG that just pumps up cold bubbles as if that's suppose to be thereputic of some sort. :roll: I could go on for months, but I won't. Michelle
I doubt you'll ever get a straight answer. I'm sure they run under the presumption that your in the U.S. and there in Mexico. We got your money already so good luck trying to get it back. Its bad business 101. To be honest with you I think what some these jacked up fees and new fees being added are do too a couple of things. These are just spectulations but what Steve said above and I think the BBG has realized by not doing a yearly maintance fee that they really lost out on alot of guarnteed money. When I tell any timeshare owner that my home resort (BBG) has no maintance fee they are usually shocked. Most resorts I believe charge between about $200 and $400 plus a year. That is alot of money the BBG is missing out on when you figure how many members. None of it makes any sense on any level. Just look at the facts. As a non member you've been able to visit the BBG for about the same price every year for about the last 5 to 7 years. Not to mention during that time your departure tax and misc. fees have doubled from about $50 to $60 a person to I believe about $102 now a person. Also fuel has been at all time high in the last few years. Which has had an effect on airfare. So you add maybe $25 more a person for added airline costs and you got about $75 increase on just those two items over the years. Plus I'm sure you have your standard economic increase through the years. Yet your total vacaion cost haven't seen much change over the years. So how does that stay relatively the same??? Yet as a Premier Member are costs go up every year. I would have no problem with the added costs to us Premier Members if it was justifyable, but I dont' see it. Nick and Renee
My wife and I have went the past 4 years and always booked through Funjet or Apple. Last year we booked through Steve. It was awesome. I thank him for that. But,every other year we booked we paid around 1900-2000 dollars for 7 nights,air and transfers. I would love to book with Steve again but that is not an option. It isn"t worth me paying 5 or 6 hundred dollars a year for basically upgraded liquor and a different menu. The upgraded booze isn't that great and the menu difference is nothing. We go to BBG for the fun and people we meet. I will be coming back again and again but I am not going to give my money to a BBG timeshare that doesn't save me money or give me anything other than a cheap booze upgrade. Don't get me wrong,I love BBG and will continue to come,I will just book my trips through a travel agent. I looked at the timeshares and decided to save my money. Be there in April. Ready to party!!!
