Desties

Okay, the changes are in. I am relieved, as I find the changes to be more than acceptable, though I'd love to hear what other PE members (or anyone else, really) think.

In a nutshell:

1. Saturday arrivals will be required only on certain holidays (President's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and the last two weeks of March/first two weeks of April). The two week Christmas-New Year's lotteries have always been on a Saturday basis. Existing ressies will be honored, of course.

2. Reciprocity blackout dates will correspond to the "ten" holiday weeks noted above. I put "ten" in quotes because it is only nine. I imagine they also mean Thanksgiving (which for obvious reasons is NOT a Saturday arrival), but this seems to be similar to the old reciprocity rule with the exception of the rigid four week holiday in late March, early April vs. the actual bookend weeks of Easter as it has been in the past.

3. Tentative reservations will need to be confirmed at the 90-day mark. Until now, tentative holds only had to be confirmed 22 days before the arrival.

4. Cancellation policies. As it pertains to "confirmed" and not "tentative" ressies (that can be axed without penalty), cancellations are free if more than year out, $50 if between 90 days and a year out, and the sum of nightly fees within 90 days. Cancellations within 30 days will result in a flat $1000 fee. For those on a fixed night plan (corporate, extended family), they also lose the nights in cancellations within 90 days. Legacy PE members still get one free cancellation a year.

The rest of the stuff appears minor (i.e. - waitlisted ressies on UR homes, etc.).

Desties

Another club email just arrived, clarifying -- as I expected -- that the tenth holiday week in the reciprocity blackout period is Thanksgiving.

I have always avoided passing on the information in the club communiques, and even now I am only providing a rough overview. The reason I'm doing it now is because I know some of you are still on the fence here, and these are the details that you have been waiting for in deciding whether to make the leap or not before the June 6 deadline.

Even today, on a sleepy weekend, there are five people listed as viewing this UE thread (with most of them as unregistered forum guests) at this very moment.

So don't be afraid to ask questions or raise concerns.

And if any PE/UR/UE exec feels that I'm peeling back the curtain too much, just send me a private message through the forum, as I'm just trying to pass on information required to make an educated decision.

Kagehitokiri

thanks for the updates Desties.

id hope this sort of usage/reservation information would be not be covered under a strict NDA... IIRC from previous threads, NDAs are mainly mentioned during financial discussions.

Desties

You may very well be right. That is why I have had to tiptoe when questions about asset test ratios and membership growth come up. As a member, I know the answers, but find myself checking to make sure that they have been conveyed publicly first.

Sandman

Thanks for the info Desties. I am getting closer to the join side of the fence...

Do you think the tentative confirmation at 90 days is a big deal? What percent of the time do you give up your hold when challenged? How often do you win when you challenge? If a property is available next month, can I make a tentative rez?

Can you still book single day reservations?

Is there still a lottery for Christmas/New Year's?

How far out can non-legacy members hold dates?

Sandman

Desties

Answering the last question, first, yes. Tentative reservations are confirmed within 90 days of your stay BUT you can still make a tentative reservation for a stay within 90 days as long as you confirm it -- or release it -- within 7 days. So if you join this month, see a choice opening in Abaco for July, you can hold it for a week so you can square it away with your spouse/family/golfing buddies, etc.

As for the tentative challenges, I would say that they stick more often than not. Keep in mind that members aren't going all scattershot with placeholders. A tentative day counts the same as a confirmed day as it pertains to the 28 nights that you can have in future reservations at anytime. Challenging a popular holiday or a trip coming up soon is probably less likely to succeed than a non-peak tentative hold further out.

I'll admit to being a softie. I have never issued a challenge, though I'm sure I will down the line. And 3 of the 4 times that I have had a tentative reservations challenged, I have switched it over to confirmed.

As for your other questions

Can you still book single day reservations?

Surprisingly, yes. At least if it is going from one night to two nights (as it is with UR) it has yet to be communicated.

Is there still a lottery for Christmas/New Year's?

It does seem that way. It appears that the holiday lottery will be one of the things where UE/UR will adopt PE's methodology for allocating the two holiday weeks that way.

How far out can non-legacy members hold dates?

Good question. We have not been told that we have a two-year window like UR members. You will find very few reservations that go out that far anyway, just because it eats into the # of days you have available. As I had noted earlier in another thread, I have one reservation all the way out to November of 2010, but it's a unique situation/property.

The new reservation system with ALL of the properties kicks in tomorrow, so I'll have a little more clarity then. There are also a few more emails that Rich and Ed Powers will be sending out, though most of what's left appears to be small issues or improvements (eligibility for UR's member features, etc.).

Desties

One thing that I can't emphasize enough, if you haven't done it yet, is to set up a time with the membership director handling your potential appliaction to enter the online reservation system together. It will give you a good indication of availability.

At this point, for instance, a summer hotbed like Outer Banks is spoken for through the summer, though you will find that next summer has a ton of availability.

As for the Christmas/NYE week lotteries, keep in mind that a good chunk of that goes unclaimed. People list their preferences, and some don't participate to build up their chances for the following year. The Platinum/Signature unclaimed dates were released two weeks ago and there was A LOT of availability, even in a holiday-friendly place like NYC (for a 4-day block) or sunny escapes like Miami and San Diego (the entire Christmas week was left unclaimed in both of those properties). So those dates became first come-first served as regular stays.

LTTravel

Is this a listed destination?

Desties

LT, it's the longstanding property in La Costa in Carlsbad. Technically it's about 20-30 minutes north of San Diego, but I figured I'd just call is San Diego for sunshine's sake.

Sandman

Desties --

For UR folks with limited days (say 28), can they book their days for this year and next presently? If so, can they have more than 28 days on the calendar?

I did go online with a rep who was very helpful and they gave me a test id to check around on my own. Availability was pretty good (much better IMHO than a competitor which helped narrow my focus) but there were a lot of tentatively booked dates. The 7 day window is a bit narrow for me as I am a major procrastinator but I should be able to deal!

Does the Saturday arrival for 'holiday weeks' go away at the 90 day period? If I wanted to stay a few days in Naples in April and they were available in Feb., could I do a Thursday-Sat?

Thanks again! Good Luck booking the new props today!

Sand

Desties

Sandman, I don't know much about the old UR/new UE system, but this is how I interpret it (and invite any UE/UR to correct me).

They are allowed between 1 and 4 advance reservations, and those are between 2 and 7 days. The narrower Space Available window opens up within 90-180 days. So even the highest club member could never have more than 28 days on the book between 180 days to a year, with the balance made up in short-term ressies or new ones as the old ones are consumed. UE members, especially at the higher levels, pay plenty in deposits and annual fees, so they deserve the days.

Yes, a lot of people keep the tentative dates until they are challenged or hit the 22 day mark. If you see a lot of yellow on the calendar, you can take that as a good sign (in that availability is so good, that the dates aren't beint contested), but you should never assume that you can have them.

As for the Saturday arrivals during holiday weeks, I believe that once you get into the Space Available windows (as you suggest with your April trip booked in February) and the Saturdays no longer apply. The last email even spells out Memorial Day and Labor Day as holiday weeks that are typically booked on short notice and won't typically have the Saturday restriction if it's unbooked until the space available window opens.

Logic would also dictate that if someone booked the last week in March from Saturday to Wednesday, that the club wouldn't turn down someone asking to come in that Wednesday and take off on Saturday.

And I can't be the only one who forsees a problem with the whole "last two weeks in March, two first weeks in April" wide canvas. Easter in 2011 falls during the FOURTH week of April.

willmyclubmakeit

As a UR/UE member I have never had a problem with booking long weekends or having more than 28 days on the books (and have more than that on the books at present). However, there had been a limit on the number of space available reservations, outstanding for each member but I am not sure the specifics or enforcement of this policy. UR/UE has been quite generous to work with members to ensure they have great experiences as my family has had in the past year (and has many more planned). I am sure you will enjoy if you take the plunge.

Sandman

Thanks guys!

So - willmy... are you confident now that your name will be answered in the affirmative?!

willmyclubmakeit

I upgraded my membership so I guess I am more optistimic and think that the experience is worth whatever risk that remains (and we all know that this industry is new enough that there is risk), but if you consider the value and quality of family experiences available, it passes my risk reward quotient.

Also it appears that Desties is correct and the PE style bookings will be used by UE although I have not seen how they will balance the unlimited vs. limited number of day members. I suspect over the long haul, members will be incented to migrate to a common platform/plan structure but as long as availability remains as good as it has been, UE has flexibility to meet multiple members requirements and promises.

Kagehitokiri

anyone besides Sandman trying to decide by the 6th?

3 days left!

get your questions in here or via PM to current members.

current members - any other thoughts to share?

thanks again Desties, for the detailed posts with prospective members in mind.