vineyarder

Washington, DC; June 29 (UPI) -- A new report released today by the Pew Center on Global Climate Control has strongly implicated a surprising new culprit as a major cause of global warming; HCC Companion members. “We knew they were evil and nasty, and have long suspected that these devil-worshiping scum were the cause of global warming, but now we have the proof”, gloated an exuberant Al Gore. “It is very important that the public realize that the report in no way implicates Affiliate, Associate or Private members of HCC” explained Mr. Gore. He went to state that “In fact, one of the main reasons that I invented the internet was so that the Affiliate, Associate and Private members of HCC could quickly communicate with each other when faced with threats as evil as Companion Members”. When asked why this particular subset of traveler was solely responsible for global warming, Mr. Gore answered by mooning the audience, then explaining that “they’re nasty and evil, and that’s what nasty evil people do – cause global warming and ruin it for the rest of us!” Companion members contacted by UPI expressed concern that Al Gore still blames Companion members for his loss in Florida in 2000. HCC management was contacted, but failed to immediately respond to reporters on Sunday morning.

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LTTravel

I see you running with scissors in your hand. You must be responsible for those chads.

Kagehitokiri

brilliant as always.

Steamboat Bill

I also agree.

I am not that much of a HCC Companion hater....we are after all brothers in the same club.

I am, however, a tiny bit jealous that the Companion members have an imbalance of long term reservation vs the higher memberships.

That said, if I could trade in my single Affiliate membership for 3x Companion memberships, I would seriously consider it. That way, I would have all long term reservations.

Kagehitokiri

you, your wife, and one of your kids.

Tedpilot

Ah, you know what, I am starting to drink the koolaid on this idea. I'm beginning to think, for non-selfish reasons, that Companions could be throttled back somewhat in their reservation window. Of all of the proposals I have seen thus far different resevation windows makes the most sense. I wonder if HCC would trade-in my group/corporate membership for six Companions? Maybe if they wrote off the debt in the process they would float me some holidays in there too? But alias, I think the real solution is not to "punish" Companions. Here's an idea morphed from what I've read on the topic thus far:

Reservation window:

Private/Coporate: 2x 13mo, 2x 12mo (1 can be a holiday), 2 x120 days, balance under 90 days
Affiliate: 1x 12mo, 1x 6mo (holiday), 1x 120 days, balance under 90 days
Associate: 1x 12mo, 1x 120 days, rest under 90 days
Companion: 1x 12mo

Now, nobody is being overtly penalized from their original contract and many members are actually getting better performance than contracted for. The incentive is now to get a better position in the reservation system vs, plainly buying more days. The caveat is that HCC could sell, at a set price, the right to reserve at a longer interval.

Steamboat Bill

IMHO - There is NO compelling reason to join at the Associate or Affiliate plans as compared to doubling or tripling up on the Companion memberships. Who needs 120 day and 90 day reservations when you can book them all at 12 months.

LTTravel

Bill,
you don't like my 12 month/6 month alternating idea? Or some variation of that. Once they get a taste of being able to book 12 months in advance they may want to do it every year and upgrade. And save the earth from global warming.

Kagehitokiri

together with LOL sunz, victory shall be ours!

http://ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles....87279412587175

Attached Images

lolglobalcooling.jpg (53.4 KB, 1 views)

Tedpilot

OK, what about re-wickering it like this?

Private/Coporate: 2x 13mo, 2x 12mo (1 can be a holiday), 2 x120 days, balance under 90 days
Affiliate: 1x 13mo, 1x 9mo (holiday), 1x 6mo, balance under 120 days
Associate: 1x 12mo, 1x 6mo (holiday), rest under 90 days
Companion: 1x 12mo OR 1x 6mo (holiday)

vineyarder

Seriously (for a change), why not eliminate 'categories' and make the whole thing 'a la carte'?

A 12 month advance reservation week costs $XXXX in deposit and $XXXX in annual dues, a 12 month advance holiday reservation costs $XXXX in deposit and $XXXX in annual dues, a 6 month advance reservation week costs $XXXX in deposit and $XXXX in annual dues, a 6 month advance holiday reservation week costs $XXXX in deposit and $XXXX in annual dues, 120 day reservations days cost $YYY in deposit and $YYYY in annual dues, etc.

Then each member just chooses exactly what they want, rather than having to decide which arbitrary category fits them best? Since HCC already allows 'custom' packages, they already have prices that they can put on each category, and upgrading would be very simple, as you don't have to change categories, you just add on an extra week here or a few extra 120 day reservations there. You could also drop a week from your plan along the way, but then if you wanted it back later, you'd simply have to pay the then-current rate. This would eliminate the divisiveness we are seeing here over which membership category is over- or under-paying or having an unfair advantage, as all members (who join at a similar time) are paying the same amount for a 12 month advance reservation, a 120 day reservation, etc.

Personally, since my HCC membership is a 'companion' to my unlimited UE membership, my summer home, and hundreds of thousands of *wood points, a Private membership would be overkill, even though it is still a great deal, and in looking over our vacation patterns, etc., what would be perfect for us is one 12 month advance reservation and 1 holiday reservation, so that is what HCC customized for us; a 14 night plan at a higher deposit and higher annual dues than the old prices for the 15 night associate plan (assuming that I convert after my 'trial year').

Expanding this flexibility such that each member designed their own ideal plan would be an industry first, and could really pull in new members that are drawn to the concept of not being button-holed into a pre-set plan.

Thoughts?

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Steamboat Bill

That actually is an awesome idea....get rid of membership categories all together and simply buy what you want.....brilliant!

caribbeansun

As you said - they already do that provided you buy in for a minimum of a Companion membership.

I personally think that allowing this kind of customization at an entry level is a mistake and could easily result in availability challenges down the road. You will have even more people to compete with for prime locations.

LTTravel

If they do allow customization, they must have some limits on sales of certain benefits. When ER added the holiday premiums, they made sure that only a certain amount would be sold so that there would be availability for the holidays. They adjusted the pricing to limit demand. They make sure that there is a certain percentage of holiday reservations, a certain percentage of advanced reservation and a certain percentage of space available reservations. If 90% of the weeks sold are long term reservations or 50% are holiday reservations, they become diluted and lose their value. I don't know if HCC has a formula but it is very necessary if they do decide to customize frequently.

Kagehitokiri

like ER...

vineyarder

Yes, they would certainly need to maintain appropriate ratios, either by limits or pricing...

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pwrshift

I kinda like Al Gore -- at least he didn't take a swipe at your Associate members too.