jam

I was an early DC convert who got burned in the Tanner and Haley fiasco. I chose to stay in Ultimate. My only complaint there is availability. I need to use my advanced reservations 1 to 2 years out to get desireable locations and times. There is little available on a short term basis. With the club offering introductory trial packages I doubt that will ever improve. I want additional travel options. I have considered a private residence club to both lock in locations that I most use and to have some equity position. Do the equity clubs make sense. Any advice, anyone?

DC4MS

I renamed this thread title and moved it to the Q&A section and hopefully some other members will give some input.

TarheelTraveler

I've been pleased with the availability for Crescendo, one of the few equity DCs. I've never booked anything more than 9-10 months out, and every trip has been in high season for the destination. Last month, I got my first choice holiday week and made the remaining family travel plans for the year for a total of 5 trips, with no scheduling or availability issues. It seems like the vast majority of members make their plans about 4-7 months out. As you would expect, short term travel (less than 90 days out) is definitely tighter. However, I would think that at least 25% of the properties are typically available for any particular weekend on very short notice (i.e., next weekend), but it's often the less popular ones like Scottsdale, Tahoe or Sun Valley. As noted in a posted email recently, there are some exciting developments coming down the pipeline for Crescendo, making it worthy of a good look.

3DH

As an alternative to the equity clubs, LUSSO does offer a 100% return of the initial fees if/when you ever decide to leave the club. (No equity, but certainly better than the apparent industry standard of 80%!) We have been members just over a year, and have been able to reserve every vacation we have desired, and it seems that members typically book less than 3 months out. (Of course, there are exceptions to this -- ski weeks come to mind -- but the calendar is very wide open outside of 3 months, on average.)

As I tell people who call to inquire about our happiness with LUSSO, every club is not right for everyone... but with enough thought and due diligence, you will find the right fit for your family! Good luck with your search!

__________________
"Boutique" is better! Another extremely satisfied LUSSO member!

smtravelor

As a Private Escapes member, I am concerned to hear about availability at Ultimate in view of the upcoming merger. Is that a general complaint about the club? I am willing to make my holiday plans a year in advance, butmore than that seems ridiculous. Do people think that ER is a better option for availability?

jam

I have had to schedule holidays two years out. I guess I understand that, but I would've hoped that I could've booked a warm weather get away sometime within the winter with only 3 or 4 months notice.

smtravelor

So, if you wanted to book a beach trip for May, would you be able to do that now? Do you think the introductory memberships are causing the problem with availability? Availability has been my only complaint with PE also, and I would be interested to know if others fee the same way.

LTTravel

For ER it is:

Christmas, New Years: 2 years out

President's Week: Mountain- 2 years out, Beach 6-24 months out

Spring Break: 6-24 months depending on the location for the prime weeks.
Some availability 3 months out. Spring break is the last two weeks of March and the first two weeks of April. If you like late spring skiing, there is great availability the first two weeks of April in Mountain destinations, even within a week out. There is also usually some availability in some of the Beach Destinations.

There are occaisonal cancellations and new destinations during the year which increases availablity on a short term basis. There are always some (5-10) destinations available during the holidays even short term.

Other times:

With 40 destinations, there is always some availability, but if you have your heart set on a few of the prime destinations, they are usually not available. But there are always 10-25 destinations available.

TarheelTraveler

I'm really surprised how far in advance some need to book for holidays or other trips. DCs are supposed to make things easy, and you shouldn't have to book any sooner for a DC than what you would otherwise do in my opinion. I can maybe understand booking sooner if you can only travel certain limited weeks (because of school holidays for example) and have only one specific destination in mind. However, if you want to go to somewhere warm in the winter or skiing in the winter, that should be fairly easy to book 3months in advance.

Like smtraveler, I'm curious if you wanted to do a beach trip in May, would that be difficult to book now with UR, PE or ER, for example? In other words, is it pretty open, spotty or no availability for May for all or most beach destinations at this point?

LTTravel

I think ER availability is much better than most appreciate

May

Available:
Turks
Bonita Beach
Ft. Lauderdale
Cayman
Kohala coast
Cabo
Cost Rica
Real del Mar
Miami

Not available

Abaco
Kiawah
Laguna
Little Dix Bay
Maui

Kagehitokiri

ER - searching for 3 day weekend

Bonita Beach 5/1>5/31
Ft Lauderdale 5/25>5/31
Grand Cayman 5/1>5/31
Kohala Coast 5/22>5/31
Los Cabos 5/1>5/31
Miami Beach 5/26>5/31
Peninsula Papagayo 5/1>5/4 5/11>5/31
Real del Mar 5/1>5/31

3DH

LUSSO May beach availability:

La Jolla - both homes, long openings
Miami - both residences, long openings
Hawaii - 5 day and 7 day available
Naples - up to 5 days continuous, both homes
Kiawah - one 3-day opening
Abaco - all 3 homes, long openings
Cabo - one 4-day run open

__________________
"Boutique" is better! Another extremely satisfied LUSSO member!

jam

Without studying the current availability, I think UR is much like what was described for ER. I would hope scheduling for a destination club would be about what it would be if one weren't in a club. I would hope to find a beach availability 6-8 weeks in advance. That would be unrealistic for a holiday week but am I expecting to much from a destination club? Who knows their non holiday schedules months or a year in advance. Are my expectations unreasonable?

smtravelor

I don't think you are unreasonable at all to expect availability to be comparable to what could be booked at a hotel. Joining a DC should enhance our vacation options, not limit them.

LTTravel

There is no way you can expect availability in a DC to equal availability in a hotel. There are many hotels and many hotel destinations and you can usually find a room available somewhere. DC's will never have that type of availability. But if you are comparing a 5 star hotel in a specific location to a DC, there will be times that the hotel will be sold out. If you truly want wherever, whenever, stick with hotels, but you will be paying significantly more for less in a hotel than a DC. That is the tradeoff.

Kagehitokiri

smaller luxury properties DO book up, depending on season etc.

TarheelTraveler

With as much flak as ER gets about availability, that really is not bad at all. It would be interesting to see what Christmas through January looks like. I am, not surprisingly, impressed with the Lusso availability.

It looks like Kiawah is quite popular for both ER and Lusso.