It's complicated, but this is what a UVC membership looks like.
The club is sold by levels with each level offering more benefits. In most cases, each level costs more than the preceding level. If you choose to buy, you'll be signing a contract that memorializes the deal you accept: what benefits you get, how much it costs, how long the term of the contract is, and how it's financed. Most contracts include the same benefits, but in different amounts. The amount of benefits drives the price of the contract. Throughout this post I'll be referring to contract language you'll find in this actual UVC contract.
Benefits
Premier Nights - These are pre-paid vacation nights. For seven premier nights, you get a week's vacation for two people at a 1:1 resort (The 1:1 and 2:1 concept I discuss here). Secrets Aura, Secrets Huatulco, Secrets Vallarta Bay and Breathless Punta Cana are the only adults-only properties that can be booked as 1:1. The number of new members in my FB groups who are surprised to learn that the 1:1 list of adults-only properties is so small makes me think that UVC salespeople are taught not to discuss the 1:1 concept in sales presentations. I found a UVC sales training manual here and noted that there is absolutely no discussion of 1:1 vs 2:1 resorts. It looks like UVC doesn't want their sales people to even approach the topic in a sales meeting. The concept is addressed in contract language, though. You'll find it in the Premier Certificate on page 24 of 44 in the contract linked above.
The list of 2:1 resorts is given in the FAQs on the members' website in the "Reservations" section. The list changes periodically, but the FAQs currently read:
The following resorts are considered ""2 for 1"" when utilizing your Premier Nights or VIP Week Certificate:
All Zoёtry Wellness & Spa Resorts; Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya, Secrets Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort, Secrets Baby Beach Aruba, Secrets Cap Cana Resort & Spa, Secrets Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa, Secrets Mirabel Cancun, Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun, Secrets Moxché Playa del Carmen, Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica, Secrets Playa Esmeralda, Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort, Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort, Secrets St. James Montego Bay, Secrets Tides Punta Cana, Secrets Wild Orchid Montego Bay, Secrets The Vine Cancun, Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana, Secrets Playa Blanca Costa Mujeres, Secrets Tulum Resort & Spa, Secrets Mallorca Villamil Resort & Spa, Secrets Lanzarote Resort & Spa, Secrets Bahia Real Resort & Spa, Secrets Sunny Beach Resort & Spa; Breathless Cabo San Lucas Resort & Spa, Breathless Montego Bay Resort & Spa, Breathless Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa, Breathless Cancun Soul Resort & Spa; Dreams Cap Cana Resort & Spa, Dreams Bahia Mita Surf & Spa Resort, Dreams Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort, Dreams Calvia Resort & Spa, Dreams Lanzarote Resort & Spa
Premier Nights are the most valuable component of a membership. Your contract price reflects how many Premier Nights are included in your contract. You can get lots of them, but you'll pay more for your contract. For those who finance their contract, Premier Nights are released to your UVC account commensurate with the amount of the loan that's paid off. If your contract gives you 14 Premier Nights, and you finance your contract, you won't be able to use all those Premier Nights right away. Your contract will specify how Premier Nights get released for use before the contract is fully paid off. See the second paragraph in the Premier Weeks certificate included in the contract linked above on page 24 of 44.
Therefore, the Premier Nights warranted will be released 1 night each 4 monthly payment(s) made under the Contract and in accordance with the applicable financing plan. All Premier Nights will be released on the date Member satisfies the Total Price
in full.
VIP Weeks - The 1:1 and 2:1 concept applies to VIP Weeks, too. These are what UVC will tell you are "discounted" vacation weeks. When we bought in 2019, a VIP week cost $1,600; that is, a one-week stay for two people at a 1:1 property cost us $1,600 if we booked our reservation with a VIP Week. Hyatt bought ALG in 2021, and since then, the cost of a VIP Week has increased to $1,700 (Apr 2022) then to $1,900 (Oct 2023) and since March 2025, they cost $2,400. That's a 50% increase in the six years since we bought! There is no contractual limit on how frequently or how high UVC can increase the price of a VIP Week. The VIP Weeks you get in your contract can be used at the price stated in your contract, but if you choose to upgrade later, the VIP Weeks in the new contract could cost more.
Currently, you might find a little bit of value in a $2,400 VIP week at a 1:1 resort during the high season (mid-December to mid-April), but at $2,400/week, they're nearly worthless. If I was evaluating an upgrade offer today, I'd assign a $0 value to any $2,400 VIP Weeks included in the offer. At most 1:1 resorts throughout the year, you'll be paying less if you use cash to book a reservation than you will if you use a VIP Week. Some discount!
One other aspect of Premier Nights and VIP Weeks that some members are surprised to learn about is that they do have expiration dates. I've heard the duration is related to related to the level of your membership (i.e. Pearl members' Premier Nights and VIP Weeks expire sooner than Gold members' do), but I don't know that for sure. The expiration date on the Premier Nights in the Silver contract linked above is seven years. You'll see that just above the signature lines in the Premier Certificate on page 24 of 44. The VIP Certificate in that contract, on page 25 of 44 just below the first paragraph, shows the VIP Weeks in that contract expire three years from the date of the date of the contract. As long as you have a reservation booked before the expiration date, you can use them, but you can't change a reservation made with Premier Nights or VIP Weeks after they've expired and get those nights back. You'll just lose them.
Discounts on Future Reservations at AMResorts Properties - This is the centerpiece of the club. It's a benefit that lasts the entire term of your contract. Your salesperson (and your contract) will tell you that you'll get a 25% discount on the cost of future stays, and that if you book today and later find a cheaper rate elsewhere, UVC will give you 25% off the lower price you found. The discount and price matching feature of UVC are both good benefits, but they're not as good as your salesperson will present them. More on that later.
The 25% discount also applies to some purchases made at the resort. Yes, it's all-inclusive, but they'll give you a wine list at almost all restaurants where you can upgrade the wine you have at dinner from the house wine (house wine is included in the all-inclusive price). UVC members get 25% off the price of a higher-end wine. They also get discounted pricing for Bali beds, special dinners on the beach, the spa and some other services. At the gift shop, members get their discount only if the shop is operated by the resort. Many resorts these days are contracting with a third-party vendor to operate their gift shop, and, if that's the case, you won't get any discount in the gift shop.
RCI - This is a separate company owned by Travel + Leisure Co. (which is also the parent company of Club Wyndham, one of the world's largest timeshare operators). A typical UVC contract includes a two-year membership in RCI. After that, you have to pay RCI to continue your membership. Currently, a one-year membership costs $109, but you can buy multi-year memberships that reduce the annual cost (e.g. A 5-year membership currently costs $439, or $87.80/year). RCI is a timeshare exchange program that affords UVC members some pretty cheap vacations at timeshare properties. It's a complicated process that's not very intuitive, and it takes a while to learn, but RCI has been the most valuable part of my membership. The UVC Members Using RCI FB group has been a very helpful learning resource. My wife and I stay at RCI timeshares more than we stay at UVC all-inclusives. More on RCI later.
Amstar Discount - UVC members get a 10-15% discount on Amstar's ground transportation and excursion offerings. These can be booked through UVC's member website or onsite at the resort. Amstar is a Hyatt-owned company. I always check Amstar prices for ground transportation when I'm traveling, but even with their discount, I usually find Amstar more expensive than local operators. I've used them only twice since 2019.
Flyback - This is a relatively new program for UVC. When we bought in 2019, it was not something UVC offered, so it's not part of my contract, and I've never used it. I've learned about it in my FB groups, and it's been included with upgrade offers I've received (You never get rid of the UVC salespeople. Even as a member, you're asked to sit for sales presentations to upgrade to the next club level). Essentially, Flyback reimburses your airfare costs after you travel to a UVC resort. I think you get $500 per person per trip for each boarding pass you provide them after you travel to a UVC resort. You pay something up front, then you have to wait 12 or 18 months before you're eligible to get reimbursement. You buy a fixed number of certificates to use in a year, but if you don't use them in the year they're issued, you lose them. UVC members can use Flyback certificates only for travel to UVC resorts.
Flyback used to be an optional add-on program you could get or decline with your contract or upgrade. Later, it became a throw in that was included in every contract, but you still had to pay their up-front fee to activate it and purchase your certificates. In February 2026, when I last sat for an upgrade meeting at a UVC resort, they didn't include Flyback in the upgrade offer, and it was never mentioned in the meeting. It made me wonder if it's already on its way out.
There's a FB group dedicated to understanding Flyback. Many members in that group express disappointment with the program. Some call it a Ponzi scheme. It does seem to rely on the money of new members buying in to pay the claims of existing members. If that's the reality, it will eventually collapse. The biggest complaints users make currently is that there are a lot of rules you must follow to perfect your claim for reimbursement, and if you don't follow them exactly, your claim gets denied (a behavior that suggests to me financial difficulty at Flyback). Also, it can take a long time to receive reimbursement after submitting all the paperwork. Some users get their reimbursement money in 6 to 8 months, but others wait more than 18 months before receiving their money. I'm not sure why there's such a disparity in user experience.
UExperiences - When we joined in 2019, UVC offered a program similar to UExperiences through arrivia's Lifestyle Collection. Now, UVC works with ONE Network to offer members UExperiences. UExperiences is a different program run by a different company that offers similar travel products as Lifestyle Collection: cruises, hotel stays, car rentals, etc. A typical UVC contract includes a two-year membership, then you have to pay UExperiences to continue it. When I looked at Lifestyle Collection, I never found their car rental or hotel prices very competitive. I could find comparable or better deals from other online vendors. I never used Lifestyle Collection, even in my first two years when the membership was free. From the comments I read in my Facebook groups, UExperiences is very similar.
Both arrivia's Lifestyle Collection and ONE Network's UExperiences have a reputation among members for deceptive and aggressive sales tactics. They both try to present themselves to UVC members as UVC. They're not. They've been known to call new members very soon after they join, before the new member even understands what they bought, and try to get thousands of dollars more out of the member to continue their UExperiences benefit. I get the sense that most members don't use either. More on UExperiences later.
Yacht Certificate - The contract linked above tells you, on page 29 of 44, that UVC has partnered with "various yacht suppliers to extend substantial discounts for our members at many of our resort destinations." Well, there's only one yacht supplier identified on the UVC website. It's Boyaje Yachts. They operate on both coasts of Mexico and in the DR, and the price Boyaje gives UVC members is the same price everyone gets booking directly on Boyaje's website. I've never used them. A couple times I did compare Boyaje's pricing with other local operators for sailing excursions, but I found other highly rated operators offering similar excursions that were cheaper.
Room Upgrades - The contract linked above, on page 16 of 44, tells the member: "As an additional benefit, a free room upgrade to the next level may be requested on arrival at any of the Participating Hotels, subject to availability." Our experience has been that it happens, but it's far from a regular occurrence. The "subject to availability" part denies us a lot. More often than not, we're told at check-in there are no upgrades available. There's no way a member can test the veracity of that statement when checking in. It's an easy out for resorts that simply don't want to comply, and UVC, in my experience, does little to ensure members receive this benefit when a next-level room is available. More on my recent experience with a denied upgrade later.
If, like us, you travel during the "high season" (Defined, in the Second paragraph in Exhibit A on page 12 of 44 in the contract linked above, as the third week of December to the second week of April plus all holidays and festive days) when the resorts are near capacity, there is less chance of an upgrade because the next category of rooms is full with paying customers. Further, if your original reservation is booked in a high-level room category, it's less likely you'll get an upgrade because there are fewer rooms at the resort in the next higher room category. For example, if you book an oceanfront room, the next higher room category might be an oceanfront swimout. A resort might have 120 tropical view suites, 60 ocean view rooms, 30 oceanfront rooms but only 10 oceanfront swimout rooms. So by booking a high room category, you reduce the number of rooms the resort can move you to. Finally, your UVC level establishes the pecking order of who gets an upgraded room first. Impressions members will be given the first opportunity for an available upgraded room. Choices members are on the bottom rung of that ladder.
Members feel special when they arrive and are told they've received a free upgrade, but it's not very common to be upgraded. UVC salespeople get more mileage out of telling members it's a membership benefit than the benefit is worth. We book the room category we'll be happy with, and if we get upgraded, that's great. If we don't, we don't. We've gotten a free upgrade on about a third of our trips.
Levels
It changes periodically (the Emerald level, for example, was just added in 2025), but as of March 2026, this is the hierarchy of levels and the basic benefits received at each level.
I've never found a good explanation in any UVC documentation on the differences in room types, but, in general, the different types relate to size and amenities. Jr Suites are the basic room accommodation and usually run 400-600 sq ft. Premium and preferred suites usually are the same size as Jr. Suites but come with upgraded amenities, which may include a bottle of alcohol and fruit or some other treat upon arrival, an upgraded mini-bar and better quality toiletry products. Imperial suites are bigger than Jr. Suites with a balcony or terrace and may have separate bedroom and living areas. Some resorts call these rooms master, governor or presidential suites. Impression suites are large, 1,500 - 3,000 sq. ft. suites with 1 or 2 bedrooms, a living room and dining room, and a large balcony or terrace. These spaces will have the highest level finishes. The higher level rooms are better located with more expansive views of the water.
The "Preferred Privileges" column in the chart shows the levels (Emerald and up) that can use preferred amenities at a resort even if a less expensive, non-preferred room is booked. Preferred amenities differ from resort to resort. Most resorts have a preferred club where you can get snacks all day long, bars with more expensive alcohol, a pool that's limited to just preferred guests and a restaurant that offers menu service for breakfast and sometimes lunch (non-preferred guests usually have only a buffet for breakfast and lunch). Other preferred amenities can include: more expensive toiletry items, a bottle of sparkling wine in your room upon arrival, free use of the hydrotherapy circuit at the spa, a preferred section of beach and a "butler" (a personal concierge). A preferred room can cost $40 to over $100 more per night than a non-preferred room in the same room category. UVC members with preferred privileges in their contract can book the cheaper non-preferred rooms and still use the resort's preferred amenities.
The "Preferred with PN/VIP" column shows the levels (Gold and up) that can book preferred rooms with Premier Nights and VIP Weeks. Lower-level members get non-preferred rooms when booking with Premier Nights or VIP Weeks. Regardless of membership level, when a reservation is made with Premier Nights or VIP Weeks, you get only an entry level room, typically, something like "Tropical View" that looks out the back of the property rather than toward the ocean. You can always pay at the resort to upgrade to a better room category, but what you get when you book with Premier Nights or VIP Weeks is the entry level (lowest) room category. At Gold and above, Premier Nights and VIP Weeks get a member the lowest-level preferred room. Below Gold, you get the lowest level non-preferred room.
Premier Nights and VIP Weeks can never be used on Holidays or Festive Days. That restriction applies to all members at all membership levels. UVC publishes a calendar on the members' website of exactly which days are blocked out each year for Premier Night and VIP Week use. Recognized holidays are Presidents' Week (mid-February), Thanksgiving Week (late November), Holy Week (March or April), Christmas Week and New Year's Week. Festive days are Easter Weekend (late March through April), Memorial Weekend (late May), Independence Weekend (early July) and Labor Day Weekend (early September).
The Season Restrictions shown in the chart apply when a member is paying for his vacation (in club jargon, using "Unlimited Nights"), not using their Premier Nights or VIP Weeks. What that column is showing is that lower-level members (Pearls and Choices) cannot book rooms with their 25% discount over Holidays and Festive Days.
In addition to observing the Holiday and Festive Day restrictions, an additional restriction applies to the lowest level, Choices, contracts. Choices members can't use their Premier Nights and VIP Weeks at any time during the high season (third week of December through the second week of April).
Season restrictions can be onerous for families, especially if one, or both, parents is a teacher or in another job that limits when they can travel during the year. An additional consideration for families is that few resorts allow more than three people in a room. If you are traveling with a family of four or more, you're probably going to need to book two rooms when you travel through UVC. If you're using Premier Nights or VIP Weeks, you'll need to use double the number of Premier Nights or VIP Weeks to reserve two rooms.
Consider, too, the additional all-inclusive costs that must be paid when traveling with more than two and using Premier Nights or VIP Weeks. Remember that Premier Nights and VIP Weeks accommodate only 2 people in a 1:1 resort. When using Premier Nights and VIP Weeks, every person above the first two will be charged an additional all-inclusive fee at check in. Most resorts, maybe all, have an adults all-inclusive rate and a lower children's rate, but the adults rate gets charged to everyone 13 years old and up. The AI fee can get expensive.
A family of three using Premier Nights will get a room that can accommodate three, but still will be required to pay an additional all-inclusive fee at check-in for the third person. If you have a family of five, you'll need to book two rooms with your Premier Nights plus pay the all-inclusive fee for three additional people at check in.
Make sure you know how these restrictions will affect your personal situation. I've seen a lot of disappointment expressed in my Facebook groups when a family tries to book with Premier Nights for the first time and, only then, realizes how Premier Nights work and how expensive that free vacation really is.
The TPUs column shows the number of Trade Power Units a member gets to use with RCI each time he pays UVC for a deposit. TPUs are a currency RCI uses to make an exchange vacation. At Silver and above, members often can get at least two and sometimes three or four vacations out of a single deposit of TPUs which makes the cost of RCI reservations very reasonable. If you don't use RCI, and many members don't, this column is irrelevant.
I don't think there's a mandatory contract term for each level, but, in general, the lower levels have a shorter contract term, and the upper levels have a longer term. If a shorter or longer term is desired than what's initially offered, just ask for it. Your salesman may be able to give you a term that's better for you, but I doubt the term will affect the price much. In general, a Choices contract will last 5 years, Pearl memberships 10 years, Emerald 20 years, Silver 30 years, Gold through Diamond 40 years, and Impression Memberships 50 years.
Price
That's what everyone wants to know, but the unfortunate answer is, "It depends." There is no set price for a contract at any level, and price will reflect the amount of benefits your contract gives you. A Silver contract with 21 Premier Nights will cost more than the same contract with 14 Premier Nights.
In a lot of sales meetings, the sales rep will show you a cost sheet with shocking prices for the different levels. It'll be on glossy card stock and look official. At best, it's a starting point for negotiations. Typically, your salesperson will tell you that these are the prices for each level, but "if you buy today, I'll knock $10K off the price of that Silver membership," or something like that. Don't feel pressured to "buy today." In many cases, depending on the benefits you get, especially Premier Nights, you can negotiate a price that's about half of what's shown on those sheets for each level. Never take the first offer. Tell them what you think the level is worth. Walk away if you can't get a price with the benefits that make sense for you. If you do walk away, you can continue the conversation later, or even on your next vacation. In many cases, your salesman will try to contact you while you're still at the resort to continue the conversation.
Other Costs
There are few other costs to use the club. There is an annual renewal fee that's discussed in the Seventh paragraph on page 8 of 44 and in the Fifth paragraph on page 14 of 44 in the contract linked above. When I joined in 2019, the annual renewal fee was $150. This year, in 2026, it was $192 which is a small percentage of the price I'll pay for my vacations through UVC and RCI. The renewal fee increases every year, but the annual increase is limited, by contract language, to the CPI plus 3%. The contract language says that UVC will notify me of increases to the annual renewal fee, but I don't think they've ever done that. It goes up, annually, without notice.
The only other fee I regularly encounter is UVC's "transaction fee". It applies to all transactions (e.g. reservations at resorts, TPU deposits, etc.). The fee is waived for the first transaction each year, but, currently, a $25USD fee is added to all other transactions. The transaction fee is discussed in the Fifth paragraph on page 14 of 44 in the contract linked above, but increases haven't worked as the contract describes. When I joined in 2019, the transaction fee was $20. It has increased once since 2019 to its current amount of $25.
Finally
I found a UVC sales training manual document here. It's only a couple years old, so it comes from the Hyatt era. It will give you a basic understanding of how your salesperson will approach a sale. Notably, there's relevant club information that is excluded from the manual (i.e. the 1:1 vs 2:1 concept, how Premier Nights and VIP Weeks work for more than two travelers, an AMResorts brand on a property no longer guarantees that members can book it, etc.), and there's one big lie: the Zoetry Aruba project, mentioned under "Several Major Benefits" on page 4, was abandoned years ago and isn't being built. There's no excuse for a 2024 UVC training manual to be enticing new members with a project that was abandoned around 2018. In general, though, the document will give you some idea of what you're in store for if you decide to sit for a UVC sales presentation. Depending on the knowledge and integrity of your salesperson, you'll hear varying levels of vagueness, half-truths and lies in the sales meeting.
You will have an opportunity to negotiate benefits (e.g. the number of Premier Nights and VIP Weeks) and price. I'm not sure a salesperson could negotiate the terms and conditions, but they can, and do, negotiate price, benefits and term.
If you choose to buy, you will be presented with a contract to sign. The contract I've been referring to in this post is from 2019, so it's a bit dated. It precedes Hyatt's purchase of ALG and management of UVC. I don't know for sure, but I suspect Hyatt has modified contract language since they began managing the club. Despite it all, the linked contract should give a basic idea of the terms and conditions you can expect if you do join.
The contract is extensive and difficult to understand. Make sure that everything that you negotiated for and everything that's important to you about the club is in writing in the contract before you sign. Regardless of what your salesman tells you, if it's not in the written contract that you sign, UVC will not honor it later.
If your salesman won't give you what makes the deal work for you, smile, thank her, walk away and get back to your vacation. Choose to have no regrets about your decision. There are many other all-inclusive brands besides Hyatt's as well as VRBO and AirBnb. With online competition and resort/flight bundles, you can sometimes find deals almost as good as what you'll get as a UVC member, you won't be limited to traveling to just Hyatt Inclusive Collection brands, and you won't have to pay tens of thousands for a UVC contract. Good luck!
