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I don't understand what you mean by "give up your week". The way I understood it when I did it, I paid $70K to start ($5K on credit cards and $65K mortage) then I gained either a 2BR for 1 week every year, or a 1BR or studio for 2 weeks. Then I paid $2000 maintenance ( a few years before it rose to $2600) which is $142 ($186) per night per couple assuming 2 cpls stay in the 2BR for a single week, or $142 ($186) per night per couple assuming I am a cpl staying in the 1BR/studio for 2 weeks. Staying in a place as nice as the Westin is what should cost $300 or $400/night so getting it at half that is what the high up front cost of club membership is buying you. I still grant you that paying a large up front fee for a discount from $300/night to $140/night (for 2) may well not be worth $70K and certainly not when the same weeks (1 or 2BRs) are available here on RedWeek for $5K and sometimes lower than $1K. I only wish I knew about RedWeek before I signed my contracts, and I actually bought two but rescinded one of the contracts within the 3 day recsision period. IN any event, I still did not understand what you meant by "give up your week". Did you mean give up your week to get SPG points which you then use to go into various SPG hotels? In that case, you're right! You pay maintenance and depending on the hotel you get 7 nights or 10 or 5 and you're right THAT comes out to what you'd normally pay for a high end room $375/night. So now there is no discount at all and the merit of cashing in weeks for points lays bare the futility of being an SPG member at all in that case. The only consolation is that as a SPG member you get special automatic upgrades (when available) and the staff of the SPG member services helping you book your trips. If that "club membership" with the staff serving you is not worth it then the $70K up front fee is completely unnecessary. In the end, you're right there is no discount at all if you trade your week for points and then use the points in SPG hotels which would charge you the same $400/night as it cost you via your maintenance to get the points in the first place compared to being just a walk in or call in. The up front cost is totally wasted. On the other hand, if you stay at the vacation property and not hotels, then you get a discount on the room rate which for the luxury of the resort would cost double what your maintenance is costing you. So it pay to stay in the resorts and not go to hotels. If you want to stay in the hotels it is better to just pay the walk in/call in rates. [Q=johnb2011] To pay $59500 to buy a week, then give up your week and pay $2600 maint. fee to go stay in a hotel room. Wow dont see the logic in that! For me the $2600 maint fee takes the hotel COMPLETELY out of the equation. Thats $362 a night and I dont get to use my week! How on earth could that make sense?[/Q]