25pt add now with promo?

[Dean]

How could DVC give an advantage to direct purchasers over resale purchasers at their home resorts for bookings? I thought that was something that was written into the deed? I can see maybe a change at non-home resorts, but I think that would create a nightmare for the reservation department, with a lot of angry calls, followed up by a lot of angry guests at resorts.

The POS gives them complete control over the reservation process. As I read it, the only way they could do so would be a VIP system but that could require qualified points to participate. More likely would be wait list priority and the addition of pay to play fees waived for certain VIP situations. Realistically I think we'll see more and more other items that are advertised aggressively that leave out non qualified owners.

 

[MountainMouse]

While I think that drops in resale prices are overall bad for the DVC market as a whole, I do think it would give rise to a whole new class of purchasers. If the prices get low enough it would make sense for people to buy and be happy with whatever they could get. Sure, I pay more to have the 11 month window at BLT, but if there were an option to buy points for $25 each and I'm just taking my chances with availability, I'd add that DVC position to my portfolio as well.

I'd agree and actually I'm doing that to an extent right now and I would guess many others are as well. The majority of my points are at BLT but I'm hoping to pick up an SSR contract (in ROFR now) as supplemental points. I originally intended to add additional BLT but I regularly see my favorite room (1BR Lakeview in the summer) available well inside 7 months so I'm taking the chance that I'll be able to use the SSR points to book BLT. So in effect it's similar, I'm taking a lower price with higher risk of availability issues just not as drastic as the $25 scenario.

 

[Matty B13]

The POS gives them complete control over the reservation process. As I read it, the only way they could do so would be a VIP system but that could require qualified points to participate. More likely would be wait list priority and the addition of pay to play fees waived for certain VIP situations. Realistically I think we'll see more and more other items that are advertised aggressively that leave out non qualified owners.

So a CLUB inside the Club........

 

[Dean]

So a CLUB inside the Club........

The club moniker is all hype. DVC is a timeshare with a developer add on component, nothing more or less.

 

[Matty B13]

The club moniker is all hype. DVC is a timeshare with a developer add on component, nothing more or less.

I know, I know.... just wondering how the sales team will spin it though, maybe they will call it DVC Plus

 

[Dean]

I know, I know.... just wondering how the sales team will spin it though, maybe they will call it DVC Plus

I don't how they will do it. Mostly I'd suspect more of the same as now. Sell the benefits and ignore resale and the restrictions where possible then emphasis the retail benefits otherwise. There are lots of things they can do to sell they are not doing now and most of those can be applied and still not be cheesy.

 

[MountainMouse]

I don't how they will do it. Mostly I'd suspect more of the same as now. Sell the benefits and ignore resale and the restrictions where possible then emphasis the retail benefits otherwise. There are lots of things they can do to sell they are not doing now and most of those can be applied and still not be cheesy.

So I did a little research (not even close to exhaustive) on other timeshare VIP programs and can now appreciate better what additional could be modified within DVC. Many of the VIP benefits were along the lines of what DVC offers to direct (and grandfathered resale) purchasers...discounts, special events and the like. With that stated, I would say DVC is well on it's way to a VIP program already and I would characterize it as a single tier system at this point. It could easily move to a multi tier system in the future. I'm likely just repeating what others have already said but it's probably just now sinking in for me. The "scariest" benefit in my opinion from a resale owners perspective is the reservation priority. I'm not sure how the other systems have this implemented but I would think in DVC's case the worst that they could do at your home resort would be to give existing or new direct purchasers of that resort an advantage. I don't think they could give owners of other resorts an advantage over home resort owners and I'm not sure what the turnover rate is (probably pretty high at the older resorts) but this would seem to mitigate the risk to an extent. Booking at non-home resorts is where it could get interesting, I would think that direct purchasers could book as soon as 1 month after reservations open for owners whereas resale purchasers could fall anywhere behind that.

 

[Dean]

So I did a little research (not even close to exhaustive) on other timeshare VIP programs and can now appreciate better what additional could be modified within DVC. Many of the VIP benefits were along the lines of what DVC offers to direct (and grandfathered resale) purchasers...discounts, special events and the like. With that stated, I would say DVC is well on it's way to a VIP program already and I would characterize it as a single tier system at this point. It could easily move to a multi tier system in the future. I'm likely just repeating what others have already said but it's probably just now sinking in for me. The "scariest" benefit in my opinion from a resale owners perspective is the reservation priority. I'm not sure how the other systems have this implemented but I would think in DVC's case the worst that they could do at your home resort would be to give existing or new direct purchasers of that resort an advantage. I don't think they could give owners of other resorts an advantage over home resort owners and I'm not sure what the turnover rate is (probably pretty high at the older resorts) but this would seem to mitigate the risk to an extent. Booking at non-home resorts is where it could get interesting, I would think that direct purchasers could book as soon as 1 month after reservations open for owners whereas resale purchasers could fall anywhere behind that.

It sounds like you're getting there. Given DVC's setup it's unlikely they could give one group a true reservation priority over another for a primary reservation but what they could do would be to give a wait list priority which would effectively do the same thing. Here's Marriott's list, I think it's the current one. I couldn't find a chart to post for Bluegreen but here's the info link. The biggest risk is in the pay to play area. Honestly I don't think DVC will do a true VIP system nor much pay to play if not forced into it (like valet parking). But I do think we'll see more add ons like the passes and more in your face advertising of those options.

https://www.bluegreenowner.com/dop/premier.html

And here's the chart info though it doesn't project well.

PREMIER BENEFITS CHART*
BENEFIT BRONZE SILVER GOLD PLATINUM

Annual Points Level 15,000-19,999 20,000-34,999 35,000-59,999 60,000+
Direct Exchange for Less $59.00 $49.00 $39.00 $19.00
Expedited Check-in • • • •
Premier Services Toll-Free Number • • • •
Sneak Previews • • • •
Premier Reservations Priority Wait List 1 Month 2 Months 3 Months 4 Months
Villa Upgrades 1 Day Prior
3x Per Year 2 Days Prior
5x Per Year 3 Days Prior
7x Per Year 4 Days Prior
10x Per Year
Presidential Suite Upgrades 4 Days Prior
1x Per Year 7 Days Prior
1x Per Year
Special Recognition • • • •
Reservation Cancellation/
Modification Fees Waived 3 Per Year 5 Per Year 10 Per Year
Bluegreen Rewards for a Qualified Referral Guest 75,000 100,000 125,000 150,000
Friends & Family Bonus Time 1 Additional Villa
1x Per Year 2 Additional Villas
2x Per Year 3 Additional Villas
3x Per Year 4 Additional Villas
4x Per Year
Points Payment of Fees • • •
Extended Stays • •
Exchange Company Upgrades One Per Year Three Per Year
Free Stays in White & Blue Seasons at a
Bluegreen Vacations Resort Per Year One Per Year Three Per Year
Complimentary Traveler Plus Membership •
Discounted Presidential Suite Bonus Time Rates
Discounted Concierge Suite Bonus Time Rates $199-$299/night
$149/night $169-$269/night
$119/night $119-$219/night
$99/night $99-$179/night
$89/night

 

[MountainMouse]

It sounds like you're getting there. Given DVC's setup it's unlikely they could give one group a true reservation priority over another for a primary reservation but what they could do would be to give a wait list priority which would effectively do the same thing. Here's Marriott's list, I think it's the current one. I couldn't find a chart to post for Bluegreen but here's the info link. The biggest risk is in the pay to play area. Honestly I don't think DVC will do a true VIP system nor much pay to play if not forced into it (like valet parking). But I do think we'll see more add ons like the passes and more in your face advertising of those options.

And here's the chart info though it doesn't project well.

Thanks for the information. My take is that they could do the waitlist (effective reservation prioritization) but that you could never get priority over an owner. For example, a direct CCV purchaser would not be able to reserve VGF before a VGF owner, be it resale or not. Is that your opinion as well?

One thing that I believe is complicated on some of the benefits is the waiving of fees that are for services paid by member fees. Housekeeping would be a good example I think. If you were to comp a direct purchaser X amount of free housekeeping visits how would you separate that money from the money paid in maintenance fees by owners?

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the information. My take is that they could do the waitlist (effective reservation prioritization) but that you could never get priority over an owner. For example, a direct CCV purchaser would not be able to reserve VGF before a VGF owner, be it resale or not. Is that your opinion as well?

One thing that I believe is complicated on some of the benefits is the waiving of fees that are for services paid by member fees. Housekeeping would be a good example I think. If you were to comp a direct purchaser X amount of free housekeeping visits how would you separate that money from the money paid in maintenance fees by owners?

I'd amend your statements slightly. I'd agree that a non owner at X resort isn't going to get priority over an owner at that resort during the home resort priority window currently between 7 and 11 months but could be as low as 1 month per the POS. But what could happen would be that qualified owners at a given resort could get ahead of non qualified owners and possibly that at 7 months they could get ahead of all other owners. I'm not predicting it'll happen, I actually doubt it will, but it realistically could.