VIP/Tiered Rewards to be released soon

[Dean]

As long as they don't take something away from the rest of us to give to people with more points, I don't really care what perks they may give them. I will be livid if they undermine the rest of us with better booking windows or something like that.

Count on it longterm, may or may not be this way from the start. As a minimum they'll likely take away from "resale" owners.

 

[disneynutz]

I bet that the rewards will be: free valet parking, more than 2 wait lists, a longer banking window, no $95 fee, access to the TOTWL when not staying at BLT.

Bill

 

[Sammie]

It is going to be interesting. I did find out the average number of points is 210.

 

[tjkraz]

I bet that the rewards will be: free valet parking, more than 2 wait lists, a longer banking window, no $95 fee, access to the TOTWL when not staying at BLT.

Bill

Those sound like reasonable guesses. Some of the perk surveys DVC has conducted in the last 12-18 months have mentioned things like free refillable mugs, vouchers for popcorn/other snacks, ability to book the castle suite on points, discounts on MYW tickets, immediate FastPasses, free D23 membership and access to unspecified VIP experiences.

Some of those could have just been feelers to gauge response (like MYW discount vs AP discount) but others could well be under consideration for this program.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

So will resale points owned PRIOR To March 20 be counted as Direct points toward the tiered program?

 

[tjkraz]

So will resale points owned PRIOR To March 20 be counted as Direct points toward the tiered program?

That's the $64,000 question. Or one of them, at least.

Purely speculation but I would guess that they will grandfather old resale purchases. If we assume that the participation threshold is around 1000, there can't be many people who purchased that many via resale. And if someone already owns--say--800 resale points, it could be an effective means of convincing them add a few more direct.

DVC would alienate a lot of people if they rule that prior resale buyers are effectively starting at -0-. Not much of a goal to work toward if you already own hundreds of points and some (or none) of them count toward participation in this program.

 

[Dean]

So will resale points owned PRIOR To March 20 be counted as Direct points toward the tiered program?

I think you can assume that resale buyers prior to 21 March will be treated the same as retail. However, they do not have any requirement to do so.

 

[lizanne]

Just curious. If they do set the mark at 1000 points, does anyone have an educated guess as to how many members fall into that category?

The thread on the DIS (DIS members with 1000 or more points) has a count of 74. Another thread has a count of 2321 DVC members active on the DIS. If my math's correct that's roughtly 3.2% own 1000 points or more. Does anyone think that's a representative number.

I'm inclined to think the percentage would be higher but have no idea of what the numbers would be.

 

[Simba's Mom]

The big question is what is their definition of soon.

That's for sure! I'm still waiting for those coffee tables in the studios at BWV that were promised to be "soon" at the annual meeting in 2003. Eight years isn't soon enough?

I mentioned the idea of a tiered DVC system to DH, figuring it would be OK since it's similar to the frequent flier programs he belongs to where the more miles you fly, the higher level of elite status, thus more benefits. Surprisingly, he went on a big tirade about what a terrible idea a tiered DVC program was, everyone should get the same benefits regardless of points, etc., etc. Finally he stopped because I was staring incredulously and he admitted the truth very quietly-"Well, actually, I'm afraid I couldn't afford it-you'd be constantly after me to buy a few more points so we could get the next level of benefits."

 

[disneynutz]

Just curious. If they do set the mark at 1000 points, does anyone have an educated guess as to how many members fall into that category?

The thread on the DIS (DIS members with 1000 or more points) has a count of 74. Another thread has a count of 2321 DVC members active on the DIS. If my math's correct that's roughtly 3.2% own 1000 points or more. Does anyone think that's a representative number.

I'm inclined to think the percentage would be higher but have no idea of what the numbers would be.

Last I read there are only 250,000 memberships, so that means that over 247,000 memberships don't know what we know, and they don't seem to care. That also means that our sample size is so small, we don't know what the true percentage is. Many of the high point ownerships are corporate.

Bill

 

[lizanne]

our sample size is so small, we don't know what the true percentage is. Many of the high point ownerships are corporate.

Bill

That was my thought. Thanks

 

[Carl'n'Ellie'sDad]

I bet that the rewards will be: free valet parking, more than 2 wait lists, a longer banking window, no $95 fee, access to the TOTWL when not staying at BLT.

Bill

The first two would be entertaining, as they were previous perks for the entire membership. I'd be surprised if the $95 fee was waived, as this might adversely affect the bottom lines of other Disney divisions. I definitely could also see reduced or waived closing fees for add-ons for "frequent buyers", once again representing an "extra perk" that once was available to all members. Anyone want to guess how long the AP discount will still run? It'll need to be taken away for a few months, so that the chosen can believe that it's a special benefit just for them.

 

[JimMIA]

I'd be very surprised if DVC did anything that would adversely affect existing owners. They'll offer something to encourage existing owners to buy more points and refer fresh meat to the sales crew.

 

[disneynutz]

The first two would be entertaining, as they were previous perks for the entire membership. I'd be surprised if the $95 fee was waived, as this might adversely affect the bottom lines of other Disney divisions. I definitely could also see reduced or waived closing fees for add-ons for "frequent buyers", once again representing an "extra perk" that once was available to all members. Anyone want to guess how long the AP discount will still run? It'll need to be taken away for a few months, so that the chosen can believe that it's a special benefit just for them.

My thought is that they take perks away, then give them back to the VIPs. That way it doesn't cost them extra.

Bill

 

[Sammie]

My thought is that they take perks away, then give them back to the VIPs. That way it doesn't cost them extra.

Bill

Yep so let's see what will be taken away next. No discount on AP, no free internet or pool hopping.

 

[JimMIA]

Yep so let's see what will be taken away next. No discount on AP, no free internet or pool hopping.

Anyone who makes any decision based on any of those trivial factors deserves whatever they get.

But I'm sure there will be those who buy direct, and pay thousands more, to get a $100 discount on an AP they never would have bought previously!

 

[tjkraz]

Yep so let's see what will be taken away next. No discount on AP, no free internet or pool hopping.

I can understand the cynicism but I doubt even DVC would be that brazen. This all started with a high point owner at the meeting who was asking about extra perks. Even DVC could not spin pool hopping and AP discounts as "VIP perks" when the owners impacted have had those benefits for years.

With few exceptions, "perks" given to all members don't cost DVC/DVD anything. DVC doesn't subsidize the 10% LEGO store discount or the $3-4 off on DisneyQuest tickets. Until 18 months ago, the valet company gave away parking services for free. Those vendors offer the discounts as a means of attracting business.

But with something like this, I suspect DVD will be putting a little money behind it. In a way, it's a back-door sales incentive. They would be encouraging / rewarding direct purchases and giving owners a reason to refer new business their way.

The Sharing the Magic rewards program has been running for as long as I can remember, and that gives most (but not all) owners the potential to earn $2800 per year. Not small potatoes.

My gut tells me there will be some substance to the perks offered; that it won't simply be a collection of things that are easy to give away for free (i.e. extra banking time) and re-hashed old perks. Time will tell.

 

[Dean]

Last I read there are only 250,000 memberships, so that means that over 247,000 memberships don't know what we know, and they don't seem to care. That also means that our sample size is so small, we don't know what the true percentage is. Many of the high point ownerships are corporate.

Bill

At the end of 2009 there were just under 150K memberships (148184 IIRC). The audit info is not available for the 2010 Calendar year for a couple more months.

I'd be very surprised if DVC did anything that would adversely affect existing owners. They'll offer something to encourage existing owners to buy more points and refer fresh meat to the sales crew.

I would think the opposite. My guess is they will take away from current owners who aren't an insider to any tiered options. But only a little here and a little there over time so it doesn't get people's attention too much. I'd expect a combination of a shift from current costs/perks to the new system and added benefits.

The real question is whether it'll be mostly points based vs how much referrals wiil factor in. I would think if it's mostly a number of points division, the break points depend on how many levels. Here are my guesses for the break points vs the number of levels assuming points are the only factor.

1 VIP level - 500
2 -500 & 700-750
3 -500, 750, 1000
4 -400, 600, 800, 1000

 

[Sammie]

1 VIP level - 500
2 -500 & 700-750
3 -500, 750, 1000
4 -400, 600, 800, 1000

So Dean you think the majority of members that have 210 points are going to be left out completely.

Personally I don't think we will see anything to this anytime soon.

 

[Dean]

So Dean you think the majority of members that have 210 points are going to be left out completely.

Personally I don't think we will see anything to this anytime soon.

I'm pretty sure that's what many said about the resale distinction as well. I suspect we'll see something within the next 12-15 months, whether it has enough teeth to get people's attention is another matter.

You go that edit in there while I was typing my response. Yes, I do think those with 210 points will eventually be left out of many of the options, but not all.