Tiered Benefits

[mic_KY_mouses]

Has anyone heard a possible timeline for this to come to light? Is this the same "changes coming at the first of the year" that I read about in another post? My threads are coming unraveled.

 

[Dean]

I hope the tiered benefits are just that: benefits - not restrictions placed on other members.

I can't imagine that they would touch home resort advantage or deem a resale as second-class, so it will be interesting what, if anything will come of this.

I think that any such program will necessitate resale owners going forward to be second class, to me, that's a given if anything happens at all. There may be other restrictions on current members as well.

Has anyone heard a possible timeline for this to come to light? Is this the same "changes coming at the first of the year" that I read about in another post? My threads are coming unraveled.

There have been rumors of the first of the year plus it's close enough that Jim Lewis discussed it at the annual meeting. Here's a Link to a post by Doc on the subject.

Didn't the point reallocation and the check-in plus seven days already give those with more points 'tiered benefits' over those with less........

I'm not sure the plus 7 made much difference but those with more points and those who plan and understand the system better have and will always be able to do better than those who don't.

 

[SamSam]

Just wondering if people are against say Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott, Wyndham, Holiday Inn or pretty much every hotel chain? They have tiered programs and offer special upgrades, discounts to other members. Also almost every airlines and rental car company does the same thing.....so are you anti these companies or any company that has any kind of loyalty program? What about Best Buy where they have certain invite only sales - do you boycott them?

This is what I thought! DH and I are members of several different hotel and airline chains, which reward us for our stays/flights.
I don't see a tier level of DVC as being any...if at all different from those.

The DVC perk I love most right now is the discount of annual passes,but if they came out with some more for tiered levels, I would be happy for those to.

 

[maminnie]

the points re-allocation dealt with reservation patterns and doesn't everyone get the 7-day plus reservation policy. These policies affect everyone the same.

Point reallocation and check-in plus 7 gave those with more points over those with less, significant booking advantages. It forced many to readjust/change vacation patterns or have to buy more points. And yes MANY of those people read their contracts but did not think DVC would make changes that positively benefitted some and negatively effected many others who happen to be the smaller point owners.

So in essence we already have the start of a tiered system at DVC.

 

[Chuck S]

Point reallocation and check-in plus 7 gave those with more points over those with less, significant booking advantages. It forced many to readjust/change vacation patterns or have to buy more points. And yes MANY of those people read their contracts but did not think DVC would make changes that positively benefitted some and negatively effected many others who happen to be the smaller point owners.

So in essence we already have the start of a tiered system at DVC.

I certainly wouldn't call a point reallocation as a benefit to those with more points. And I don't understand why anyone would think a reallocation would not happen, as you say, it is clearly in our contracts AND the 2010 reallocation was not the first one in DVC history. I find with most legal agreements that if a contract says a party CAN do something, at some point, they probably WILL. I wouldn't even be surprised to see the holiday lottery system come back. especially if they keep selling a high number of small contracts. There is a set number of rooms, for an ever growing demand base with the smaller contracts.

 

[maminnie]

I certainly wouldn't call a point reallocation as a benefit to those with more points. And I don't understand why anyone would think a reallocatin would not happen, as you say, it is clearly in our contracts AND the 2010 reallocation was not the first one in DVC history. I find with most legal agreement that if a contract says a party CAN do something, at some point, they probably WILL. I wouldn't even be surprised to see the holiday lottery system come back. especially if they keep seeling a high number of small contracts. There is a set number of rooms, for an ever growing demand base with the smaller contracts.

Point reallocation benefits those who have enough points to cover a week or weeks. Those that bought for Sunday through Thursday stays no longer had enough for their vacations plans and either had to adjust vacations by cutting out days, bank, borrow, or buy more points.

Check-in plus 7 also gave those with more points an edge to WALK AWAY before busy travel weeks or simply secure a whole week before someone else who stays later in the week even gets started.

Both benefits (made way after the fact) to those that own more points.

IMHO, there really is no need for us to spend anymore time debating this as it was beat to death when both these "member enhancements" were made. Those with plenty of points didn't care and many with smaller numbers of points did. Fortunately neither effected me but I know members that it did.

 

[OhioDVC]

Point reallocation benefits those who have enough points to cover a week or weeks. Those that bought for Sunday through Thursday stays no longer had enough for their vacations plans and either had to adjust vacations by cutting out days, bank, borrow, or buy more points.

Check-in plus 7 also gave those with more points an edge to WALK AWAY before busy travel weeks or simply secure a whole week before someone else who stays later in the week even gets started.

Both benefits (made way after the fact) to those that own more points.

IMHO, there really is no need for us to spend anymore time debating this as it was beat to death when both these "member enhancements" were made. Those with plenty of points didn't care and many with smaller numbers of points did. Fortunately neither effected me but I know members that it did.

There is no way the 7-day option or the point re-allocation has anything to do with a enhancement to members with more points.

The re-allocation had to do with how inventory was being used. TOO many people only booked a Sun-Fri stay and higher priced weekend rooms went empty.

The check-in plus 7 treats all members fairly. If you do not have the points for the entire 7 days, you can always walk the reservation. Yes I agree it is a pain. DVC did this to save money. By booking less reservation using more points. Sound business practice to save ALL of us mx fees.

Sound like some people didn't read their contracts and now want to blame someone else

 

[Maistre Gracey]

The check-in plus 7 treats all members fairly.

While I agree the +7 booking rules have very little bias against low point Members, I strongly disagree with you about it treating all Members fair.
That however, has been truly beaten to death.

MG

 

[OhioDVC]

While I agree the +7 booking rules have very little bias against low point Members, I strongly disagree with you about it treating all Members fair.
That however, has been truly beaten to death.

MG

Fair enough!!

 

[RobPickles]

Just because you can afford to buy more points means you get special benefits?

I do not think it is fair to give those that could afford huge amounts of points (aka rich people) more benefits that say someone who has low to medium points.

All DVC members should get the same perks/benefits/discounts as any other member.

 

[Chuck S]

Just because you can afford to buy more points means you get special benefits?

I do not think it is fair to give those that could afford huge amounts of points (aka rich people) more benefits that say someone who has low to medium points.

All DVC members should get the same perks/benefits/discounts as any other member.

If you can afford to fly a lot, you get additional perks/upgrades. If you can afford to travel a lot to other hotel chains, you get perks/upgrades. I don;t have a problem offering additional discounts or perks, as long as the basic system (booking windows & dues) remain the same.

Additional perks could include a larger/better selection of RCI destinations or a lager selection of Buena Vista trading resorts, like Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, or the ability to book the Castle suite at WDW. Surely they'd simply take more points than the average DVC member would be willing/able to use.

I have 345 points, if the benefits are substantial at 350, I may do a 25 pt add on, but nothing more than that. And they'd need to be pretty darned substantial. Otherwise, I'm perfectly happy with what I have, as long as the basic system remains the same.

 

[cseca]

..., or the ability to book the Castle suite at WDW. ...

.....swoooooooooooooon....

oh if only!!!!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I have always thought a tiered discount on APs was appropriate. I never thought a 25 point family of six should get the same AP discount as a two person family with 1500 points.

MG

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you can afford to fly a lot, you get additional perks/upgrades. If you can afford to travel a lot to other hotel chains, you get perks/upgrades. I don;t have a problem offering additional discounts or perks, as long as the basic system (booking windows & dues) remain the same.

Additional perks could include a larger/better selection of RCI destinations or a lager selection of Buena Vista trading resorts, like Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, or the ability to book the Castle suite at WDW. Surely they'd simply take more points than the average DVC member would be willing/able to use.

I have 345 points, if the benefits are substantial at 350, I may do a 25 pt add on, but nothing more than that. And they'd need to be pretty darned substantial. Otherwise, I'm perfectly happy with what I have, as long as the basic system remains the same.

I would hope that it wouldn't be taking away perks, but adding to perks. I really doubt that 350 points is going to be a special threshold though. I'd expect it to be a LOT more than that.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I have always thought a tiered discount on APs was appropriate. I never thought a 25 point family of six should get the same AP discount as a two person family with 1500 points.

MG

I kind of agree with that. Perhaps put a limit on the number or make the discount larger for those with more points. We only have 449 points, so I'm just hoping they don't make 450 the threshold!

 

[Chuck S]

I would hope that it wouldn't be taking away perks, but adding to perks. I really doubt that 350 points is going to be a special threshold though. I'd expect it to be a LOT more than that.

I doubt 350 would be much, if any, threshold, too. I think 500 is more likely for a starting tier. But I do wonder what types of discounts/premiums they'll offer high point owners. I think they'd have to be substantial before anyone actually adds more points just to qualify. I really think any type of program would be used mostly to encourage direct purchase vs. resale.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I have always thought a tiered discount on APs was appropriate. I never thought a 25 point family of six should get the same AP discount as a two person family with 1500 points.

MG

I agree also. Many members are asking for more perks, but the membership is so large now, that any meaningful perk (besides the AP, which we do not use) are too costly to offer to all. So we are stuck with whatever the vendors want to offer, which is small and offpeak perks.

While I dont want to see anything taken away, as long as DVD is managing the resorts, personnel and costs and maintains the POS, I will continue to be a happy DVC owner.

Perks are not guaranteed and I am not married to any of them.

Those that give away unlimited number of freebies, dont stay in business long.

 

[eva]

I just read through this entire thread and found it most interesting. I agree with the philosophy that as long as items are not removed from the membership itself and they only increase benefits for persons with larger numbers of points, then what difference does it make? I have a difficult time understanding people that feel entitled to what others have. There are numerous businesses that reward clients that spend more money. I used to be in sales. And while I gave all my clients great service and gifts, you can bet that I reserved the best gifts for those that made me more money. I don't see a problem in that at all. Don't we live in a capitalist society?

Now, if DVC is trying to increase sales, they are in for a pretty big task. Rewards rarely increase sales. DVC will have to really sweeten the pot to do that. They will need to offer things that are difficult to come by without adding points. Things like unlimited Fastpasses or maybe concierge type services that you can't even pay for. If they could do things like get last minute ADR's, have special events, maybe special room amenities (fluffy towels, great sheets, etc.), or a special lounge, it might be worth it. It just depends on how many points a person will need to move to that level. Now the issue, how does DVC pay for that? I assume that DVD would pick up the cost from marketing and possible increase in sales. It would be considered a sales incentive, like a free cruise.

 

[dizfan]

If you can afford to fly a lot, you get additional perks/upgrades. If you can afford to travel a lot to other hotel chains, you get perks/upgrades. I don;t have a problem offering additional discounts or perks, as long as the basic system (booking windows & dues) remain the same.

Additional perks could include a larger/better selection of RCI destinations or a lager selection of Buena Vista trading resorts, like Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, or the ability to book the Castle suite at WDW. Surely they'd simply take more points than the average DVC member would be willing/able to use.

I have 345 points, if the benefits are substantial at 350, I may do a 25 pt add on, but nothing more than that. And they'd need to be pretty darned substantial. Otherwise, I'm perfectly happy with what I have, as long as the basic system remains the same.

Your suggestions for additional perks are some of the best I have seen suggested because they would not punish others. Not sure if it would be enough, but they do not punish the non-high point owners.

One point though, I would not compare it to frequent flier, hotel chains, etc.
Those are rewards based on an individual repeatedly buying, not for hotel stays or flights that may have been 10 years ago.

Whom is the better DVD/DVC customer?
- Person A buys 1000 points 10 years ago (and none in the last 10 years)
- Person B buys 200 points each of the last three years
Clearly person A has spent more (with inflation), but they haven't helped the DVC division other than the 12.5% portion of dues that goes toward the management fees?
Person B on the other hand has helped the current DVD/DVC management and appears more likely to buy more points in the future.

DVC's referral program more closely fits the typical frequent flier model. Unfortunately, there are many who are excluded from receiving this benefit because of their state or country.

 

[dizfan]

Part of the thinking is that those who own less points actually cost more pp from a management standpoint and that is true.

At first glance this would appear to be true, but wouldn't it depend on many factors?

- Obviously the printed material they send to each member costs less per point for the high point owners.
- However, a member who owns 100 points at 8 resorts may be more expensive than a member who owns 400 points at 1 resort. Computer system maintenance, possibly banking/borrowing more, taxes/dues.
- Additionally, it could be argued that someone who has many short stays (including split stays) results in higher per point fees (reservations, cleaning, etc)

Wouldn't the most costly per point member be the one who damages a room but doesn't report it?