Shane Mitchell, a reporter for Travel and Leisure Magazine, mystery shopped three destination clubs earlier this year, and reported her findings in the March issue of the magazine.

She reports on her life as an under-cover prospect for Quintess, Solstice and Exclusive Resorts. In the end, she concludes that she is not the target prospect – but while posing as one, gets an aggressive offer from the sales rep for Exclusive Resorts.

According to Mitchell, she was offered a $15,000 discount voucher and then an additional $17,000 and a million American Express miles, if she used his Amex card to join. We checked with Exclusive Resorts to see if that deal was still on the table.

According to Michael Beindorff, COO of Exclusive Resorts, the $15,000 was a one-time incentive that was offered late last year and is no longer available. But the American Express promotion is still available – a Centurion cardholder can receive a $17,000 discount off the refundable membership fee (the 80% that is refundable; there is no discount on the 20 % which is the transfer fee) if they purchase an Elite membership. This discount drops for an Executive member and further for an Affiliate member.

So what about discounts and promotional offers? We think it pays to ask any club what is their current membership promotion, if they have one. You should get the same deal as anyone else that has joined the club in the last 90 days. You should also ask, if you are serious, to stay in one of their homes if availability allows it. Some clubs will let you do this; others, like Exclusive Resorts, will not.

But remember, in our opinion, the most important factor is not seeing the size of the flat panel TV in one of the homes. It’s understanding issues like seasonal home availability and the financial stability of the club. And the club’s growth prospects. In that respect, Exclusive Resorts’ estimated $1 billion real estate portfolio leads the industry.

CORRECTION: It was brought to our attention that we mistakenly assumed Shane Mitchell was male. We have fixed the error and apologize to Ms. Mitchell. -Jamie Cheng, Co-founder (male)