ACCOR'S Premier Vacation Club

[ABCDiamond]

I notice that Accor points have a life of 24 months, so you cannot accummulate more than 2 years worth.

I am wondering how this compares with other options.

 

[Simon Purser]

With both Accor and Trendwest you can carry-over points from the previous year and borrow points from next year, ie in year 2 you can use points not used in year 1, your current points awarded in year 2 and next year's points from year 3. 24 months after being awarded points expire if unused, but with Trendwest you can roll over "about to expire" points for a further 2 years with the RCI exchange program, and I think you can do that with Accor points and Interval International but don't quote me on that.

 

[craftnfun]

I have read with interest the thoughts on Accor and others. My husband & I went to a presentation this past weekend and have signed, but I am now thinking this was a bad move. I was looking at it along the lines of "compulsory saving" for a holiday - you know how it is - you put money away but it always ends up getting used for something else. I don't seem to be able to find many Accor packages for sale and am not sure about the Trendwest - how it compares etc. I must admit I was a bit nervous about it right from the start but now I am really just wanting to send off the void slip!

 

[Simon Purser]

Terry Bradford on his redseason.com.au website posts a comprehensive review of Accor versus Trendwest resorts. The secondary market has discounted Trendwest points more than Accor (been around longer?) so you get more for your money with Trendwest as long as you buy the membership second hand. See my 2 posts above for details.

 

[Simon Purser]

My family and I have just come back from our first Trendwest holiday: a fabulous week at the Denarau Island resort in Fiji. We went to an "owner's update" presentation which was basically a marketing exercise to get us to buy more points (at $1.89 a point, instead of the "retail" price of $2.18 a point). They seemed unaware that we had bought our membership second-hand through Redseason for $1.00 a point. We received a $95 cruise voucher for attending. There were many guests there on promotional holidays who were herded, in couples, for their "sign-up speil". I really felt that they were like lambs being led to the slaughter. I spoke to those I could, but I guess if no-one buys new memberships there will never be more new resorts.
My wife's only queries as we walked back into our home last night were "where can we go next?" and "how many more points should we buy?". When our kids leave home, we're looking forward to treating less fortunate relatives and friends with a holiday "on points" (without the insult of throwing money at them)
If you consider timeshare as a "life-style" investment, a second-hand Trendwest one is hard to beat. Just the accomodation we had in Fiji would have cost $4500, but cost us nothing but our airfares (Redseason is still paying our maintainence levy until 1/07). There has been a lot of talk in this thread about "due diligence" and net tangible asset value, all of which makes sense for standard investment decisions, and shouldn't be totally ignored here either. One the other hand, are you really going to work out the NTA on that special restaurant outing you might have planned for your wedding anniversary? If you do, you'll probably never eat out again. Sure there is also an "opportunity cost" (what we could have earned with the $10,000 if we'd invested elsewhere) but if I can go by the look in my wife's eyes as we sat sipping wine in the pool-side restaurant, while our kids laughed and played with their new-found friends, I reckon "due diligence" be damned!

 

[Keeli]

We have just been to one of the Accors pvc *meetings* in south oz and luckily had done a little background before we turned up. This site and your posts helped. I asked a few questions, which was not what they were expecting, and after the very hard pushy sales garb, i was strong enough to say i wanted time to look it over. Upon this i was pushed and greeted by the manager who tried a little harder. My wife was feeling uneasy at having people leaning over us and pushing. We decided it was not time to sign and we were handballed to the next room where we met with a lady trying to sell us a *once of offer* of a cheap holiday. This was as long as we did attend another *meeting*. When we asked for time to study this , we were not too politely told thanks for coming , enjoy our day and all the best. A fantastic way to end the day....... We then left with the knowledge of we are thankful of sites like this... Thankyou. I would ask any prospective buyers to have a second thought and do their homework. For any more info on our day, we can be contacted through here. Thankyou for your time.

 

[ABCDiamond]

I'm off to a Trendwest promotion tomorrow. It will be interesting to compare it to the Accor one we did some time back.

 

[Keeli]

Please let me know if it was any better than the accor one we went too last weekend. Thankyou and all the best )

 

[ABCDiamond]

Trendwest (or Wyndham Resorts as they are now called) was very similar to ACCOR.

The differences that I noticed may be down to individual consultants, but we preferred the Trendwest presentation. I am still however trying to relax from the hard sell approach, which changed from soft sell to hard sell when we initially said no.

I think we are now ready to talk to Redseason.com.au though

 

[AmandaL1]

I have read with interest the thoughts on Accor and others. My husband & I went to a presentation this past weekend and have signed, but I am now thinking this was a bad move. I was looking at it along the lines of "compulsory saving" for a holiday - you know how it is - you put money away but it always ends up getting used for something else. I don't seem to be able to find many Accor packages for sale and am not sure about the Trendwest - how it compares etc. I must admit I was a bit nervous about it right from the start but now I am really just wanting to send off the void slip!

I was given the hard sell and it was dark by the time I got out. They gave me vouchers for cruises and told me it would only cost $400 per person to go on the cruises to cover food and drinks, however every cruise costs an additional $3000. I was also told that they would buy it back if I changed my mind after the cooling off period. This is also not true - you have to find the buyer yourself.
For International bookings it is very difficult to arrange a reservation on-line as they are always unavailable even if you put the dates way in advance. You can register your interest but this costs you an additional $184 for every one you request. This is in fine print on your agreement but they didnt indicate anything in the sales pitch. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND - STAY AWAY FROM ACCOR VACATION CLUB - THEY DO NOT DISCLOSE ALL THE INFORMATION, READ THE FINE PRINT - READ THE FINE PRINT!

 

[Jetskibrad]

I went to a high pressure sales session and signed up with Accor. It was the worst thing I have done in my life. I can't get the holidays I wanted, and It really only suits pensioners or people who are able to plan holidays one year in advance. The fees are killing me. My last two years of fees (without paying off the damn membership) is AUD$2,800!!!! The payments are $700 per month. So my last two years have cost me $19,600 and I am not able to book what I want.

There are a lot of good travel packages out there, and my last trip to China, which I found it better to pay cash for (due to the lack of availability in Shanghai and Beijing) cost me just over $3,000. So if I was able to use Accor I would have used all the points up and saved myself $200 not taking into consideration the capital outlay.

When we signed up it cost us AUD$43,000. (I joined in 2004, paid $4,300 deposit borrowed $38,700, totalling a cost with interest of AUD$62,800, and been paying off the membership since.

So let's look at this over 80 years... it's AUD$537 per year. At this point we are behind in just paying cash to the sum of AUD$337 per year. Then we have banked our points with international because we haven't been able to use them, costing $2,600 over the years.

Just beware also during the hard sell, they tell you you can sell the membership at anytime. Well I tried to get out of it and found that the person who sells it to you by my recolection gets around AUD$7,000 commission which you are just throwing away into the bin. Those hard sell guys must make some money!

If anyone reading this still wants to sign up, good luck to you. Even when it gets paid off, I still consider it useless and a liability. I should have stayed with Accor Advantage Plus, which I actually got to use, enjoy and was value for money.

Cheers
Brad

 

[K Smith]

My neighbour has one of these accor memberships, she loves it... this year she is not using it and has rented it to someone... i will find out how she did it , if anyone is interested....

 

[Rick93]

I have had a Wyndham ( TrendWest ) Membership for a few years now ( actually, it's in my wife's name ), and we have contacted REDSEASON - the secondary market re - seller of these Memberships, in order to get a quote on resale.

We were quoted $3,500. for what cost us over $13,000. direct from Wyndham, during their sales method.

If you have either a Wyndham or a APVC ( ACCOR ) Membership, and you want to get rid of it, talk to these people. You won't get anywhere near your money back..... but you will get rid of it !!

We are strongly considering SWAPPING our Wyndham Membership for a APVC Membership of similar value. REDEASON will do this, should they have one in stock.

GORDO

 

[yak]

We have been with Accor for 3 years at the bronze level (3000 points per year). Currently have 6,000 to use. If you are the type of person/couple/family that says "OK, I want 7 nights somewhere, give me a date/place" this may well work for you for the rest of your life.

Unforunately for us, we find a date amongst our busy life that we can escape for a couple of nights & don't like to travel too far from home (several hours drive is OK), but then we get "Sorry, nothing available". We have tried several options & keep getting the same answers. I went along to the seminars to see what I was doing wrong as when it was sold to us the spiel was 'you can holiday anywhere, anytime you like'... NOT SO! We have been disappointed several times & cannot get out of our contract or finance. We were even given a 'free holiday' at Coffs & they even double booked us there... imagine our surprise after a 9 hr drive to be told "I'm sorry, there is no reservation in your name, you have been double booked." Novatel managed to sort it out & was able to place us through the Interval International rooms to help us out, but it is like Accor just keep rubbing salt into our wounds. This type of holidaying obviously does not suit 'our lifestyle', & yes, we have met people that it does, but they (Accor Sales) don't prep you for that... they just go for the sale.

Then they talk of 'gifting' or 'selling/renting' your time out to recoup unused time, but I am not booking a week somewhere, to then try & sell/advertise it for nix, as with our luck we'll have paid for a week somewhere that won't be used anyway.

The hubby even joined Adv Plus thinking we might be able to get something out of that... same thing, we can't even book our free night accom for when 'WE' want to take it.

So although we are disgruntled customers, it does work for those chosen frequent flyers who are happy to take what is given.... so if you are interested I can sell my membership to you at a 'well below cost' price... WE JUST WANT OUT, so we can get on with our way of living & holidaying.

The above comments are appreciated... however.... they really don't seem to be appropriate to the ACCOR offer.

Do you guys know the offer I was referring to?

Briefly, each Member gets an allocation of 'points' per calender year (for the next 80 years - pretty much the rest of your life - but the scheme can be passed on to a nominated relative, should you die before the 80 years is up).

The number of points depends on 'status'. status is purchased on entry to the scheme, or can be 'upgraded' at an additional cost in later years.

Example: 'Platinum' level = 5,000 points per year.

Points usage is extremely variable.... from about 4,000 points for a week at the Disneyland Resort during school holidays to about 100 points per night at the Mercure Broadbeach (general example)

A directory comes with the 'package', detailing properties around the world, and in Australia.

Members can use their points sll at once, in blocks, or save points for up to three years, to use all together.... there are a variety of combinations to use. You chose how YOU will get BEST VALUE.

The scheme is not only for hotel accomodation... but cruise liners as well!

There is an online 'last minute' vacancy list, where Members will get heavily discounted 'offers'. At the 'presentation' I recently attended, the cruise offer example was a two week cruise in the Mediteranean (spelling?) for 1,700 points per person. How much is this worth?

Of course, there is a 'whole' prospectus of the details....

Entry price for the Platinum level was about $23,000. (Usual payment type finance plans available, ie., 10% deposit etc.

It really seemed very good... if you had the funds at the time....

You needed a min. 10% credit card deposit on the day. The sales 'pitch' was... if you don't take the offer on the day of presentation... then you are charged an additional $3,000. or you can't 'buy in' for another 12 months! (why I don't really know - just to make you sign there and then!)

So, now what do you think? Is this what you thought it was???

regards,

 

[Rick93]

hi yak,

Gee, I hope you guys didn't go and buy an APVC Membership on account of what I quoted some time ago.

I've heard many storys about the " I can't book what I want ..." Yes, many people can't seem to get what they want.

However, you have to look at it from a 'supply and demand' point of view. If there's only five rooms left, the next five bookings will get them, and if you are number six, then that's it.... booked out !!

My wife swapped our Wyndham Membership for an APVC one.

We tried booking at Novotel Lake Crakenback for July School Holidays..... guess what? All booked out. Of course !! We left it too late. It's a very popular location in school holidays.... as is almost every venue. So, you need to know when school holidays are on for a start. Unfortunately, the system requires you to be somewhat
' flexible '.

I would disagreed with people who say, they can't book there Advantage Plus free night when they want it.

There is much greater room allocation and availability with AP.

Very rarely have I not been able to get what I was looking for in Australia. Some people complain, they couldn't that certain room in Bali, or Vietnam etc. Apparently, the AP booking system overseas is a bit different to OZ.

Try looking up REDSEASON, and ask for a quote to sell for cash. See what they offer.

regards,

 

[yak]

Thanks for your response Gordon, the first time I have seen your thread was when I replied in April, so no - your comments did not sway us!

The supply & demand problem is just that! More demand (signing up of customers) than what they supply in rooms.

With our silver membership we have a 10 month booking window. On a few occasions I have rung on opening of our 10 mth window (right when their office opens or accepts calls) to the reply of: "I'm sorry there are no rooms available in that resort, would you like to stay somewhere else?"(offer often in another state). If I wanted to stay in another state wouldn't I have asked??
Also when I went along to one of their 'workshops' to see what I might have been doing wrong, I happened to sit next to a guy who had a 'gold' m'ship & was having exactly the same problems that we were (but his was a 12 mth window) & also an elderly couple who had 'platinum' with same result.
The thing that makes us soooo cranky with this all, is that the 'good salesperson' told us we could stay anywhere at anytime, with no hassles & this is definately not the case.

Obviously, in hindsight.. with our lifestyle, young kids, both working full time we can't be very flexible, we usually find a date that suits & then there is no accom to match. Funny that they didn't explain this to us when they wanted our money.

We tried to use our 'free' night from APlus on the goldcoast & there were only certain allocated hotels avail which were well away from where we needed/wanted to be, plus we had to book 2/3 nights min in most places. We only wanted an overnight stay.

Redseason offered $4250 back in March 2008, we only joined in Dec 2006... so you do the math. That kind of tells me what it's really worth & how much we got ripped off.

So if you're interested in buying my points/membership I am more than happy to sell!!!

Cheers

 

[Rick93]

I'm sorry to admit... I WAS WRONG.

I've made plenty of mistakes in the past. One of them being, to buy a Trendwest Membership. After realising the error, we thought there may be a better deal over at APVC.

Much the same. Both schemes have charged VERY hefty commissions that will NEVER be regained through Club usage.

However, should you have bought through REDSEASON, I think there is some value there.

Even Ebay.... I've seen some Plat. Memberships with a full two years of points go for 20% of retail cost ( with full commissions loaded ). People obviously want out. They know they've lost thousands. Still, it's a bit like the share market... you only really lose if you sell ( or something like that ).

Occasionally, you will get a bargin though.

I've just booked a single night ( because that's all that was left available ) at the Mercure Pinnacle Valley Resort ( Mt. Buller VIC ) for the first week of July.

600 points for a two bedroom chalet, that retails from $600. ( I say this, because I tried to book a second night through a broker, who wanted $1220. for two nights ).

Short stay, but then it's the one night or nothing during school holidays ( we'll spend a day driving there and back !! )

Good luck yak !!

GORDO

 

[ksthommo]

Purchased a silver membership off Ebay a few months, reckon I got a good deal.
Haven't used the membership to date, only checked a few dates on the reservation
webpage.

As mentioned looks like you have to get in early to have a good chance of booking your
preference(s).

Will look at linking to Interval International in the future for more options (overseas bookings besides by Bali & NZ).