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2 months of website - summarize your opinion of the New World of Wyndham

Sandy VDH

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The good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good
  • ARP bookings online
  • Points are now blind (you no longer have to book ARP with the 'right' points.)
  • up to 14 day reservations allowed
  • Targeted Search (Dates known) works as expected
The Bad
  • Site is slow
  • Rebook and Cancel is an option if there is inventory available to accomplish it (and this is required because Auto upgrade does not work)
  • VIP ONLY Issue - Upgrade algorithm is flaky (they should just reveal the rules for upgrades, if they know them, perhaps only the developer who coded it does)
  • Access has been problematic
  • Account Data has been problematic (name was wrong, points are still wrong)
  • Can't be in more than 1 booking process at a time. (when you are trying to grab multiple units for a single date this is a problem).
  • Seems like system operates better on my mobile device than my PC, so perhaps it has been optimized for that. But when typing I like my keyboard better.
  • There have been a lot of ghost units, but that has been less the last few weeks. (ONLY actual improvement I have seen).

The Ugly
  • VIP - benefits are decimated
  • VIP - Auto Upgrade, yeah right, NO data to support it is working
  • VIP - Since auto upgrade does not work we also lost upgrade from existing booking option, double whammy
  • Opportunistic Search is NON-existent, the view by 1 room type by 1 resort is not viable
  • Points are still ending up in wrong bucket when reservations using cancelled (and my 45 day old ticket is still outstanding)
  • How can you have a booking system when YOU HAVEN'T LOADED all inventory (or inventory is questionable) This baffles me, Emerald Grand inventory got loaded 6 days ago, yes 6, we have been live for 60).
BOOKING/UPGRADE SUCCESS (1) and FAILURES (4) in First 60 days
  • Failure - my initial Auto upgrade was yanked back, in 45 days not a single upgrade was offered, even though some were online. I am still holding my original reservation with NO upgrade. No opportunity to do instant upgrade online.
  • Success - without VIP I would be screwed because of the number of transactions, because I have rebooked and cancelled a lot of inventory. Why? First to get a unit. Period. Then waiting and checking for upgrades when obviously there are larger and smaller units available to obtain an instant upgrade. Then waiting again and finding a better upgrade. So here is one ultimate reservation, but at many reservation transactions and then cancelling, so having to burn transactions would be a deterrent to this approach (except for VIP with free transactions). Book a 1 BR unit, as that is all that is available for dates. Check later and a 1 and 2 BR are available (but I didn't get an auto upgrade from my 1BR). So I grab and upgrade and cancel original 1BR. So NOW I have a 2 BR. I wait another 2 weeks, and then I find a 2 BR and a 3BR both available at the same time. Rebooked that with upgrade. At the 16 Day mark I was able to grab a 1 BR upgrade to 4 BR Presidential, and throw back my 3 BR. So it took me 4 book and cancel to get this. I had friends two single parents both with their own kids who wanted to travel. They would fit in 2 BR, but 4 BR is much more optimal. So yes I do want the bigger space. However, if I didn't have unlimited transactions that would be an issue. I sure hope that do NOT remove that as a VIP perk for my level.
  • Failure - I have tried to see how Cancellations come back into inventory and there is NO pattern that I can establish. Hours, Days, Never. It has been all of the above. I booked 5 units a one resort and then cancelled them all hoping to get 1. Nothing came back. I checked nearly every 15 mins for an entire evening and overnight, and the next morning. (minus 2 hrs I slept).
  • Failure - I would have booked more but inventory was not available for months spans (yeah like Florida in October is booked solid NOT ever), and my family needed a hard confirmation. Booked an RCI exchange instead.
  • Failure - Club Pass has been down for weeks. I have not tried to call, but I hear long long wait times and no way around it. I booked RCI full week at Worldmark instead of booking just days I needed via Club Pass.
 
Last edited:

cayman01

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Brutal. Although with being a non-VIP we have not lost as much as others I find the website untenable. I find it unusable most days. I cannot book ARP online unless I want only Presidential Reserve. For some reason I cannot book Margaritaville-Pigeon Forge though I did before the changeover. Fortunately we booked everything we wanted before the changeover. I grabbed Mardi Gras when inventory showed up on new system, but I am planning on losing it as I think it was phantom inventory. Booked Clearwater for DW birthday next year. Done NOTHING else. Can't find anything I want. How can Sapphire Valley only have four days available for the next YEAR? Why no Arizona inventory ( been awhile since I checked though)? Just disgusted with it.

I count my lucky stars for not having credit pooled anything as I think this feature has wrecked havoc among owners. Why? I have no idea, but it does seem that those who credit pooled are having the most problems.

The worst thing I've seen so far is the total lack of improvement. It is godawful slow. Locks up constantly . Messes up with regularity and if I see the spinning wheel of death one more time I might scream. Pretty much just going to sit back and wait for them to fix this monstrosity . Tired of banging my head against the wall.
 

chapjim

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The first and probably easiest thing Wyndham could do is get rid of all the big photos. How many times have you wanted to see your list of reservations? You click on My Vacations at the top of the page, then go to click on View, only to have View move down because that huge picture of Emerald Grande has loaded.

Owners go into the website to make reservations, cancel reservations, add names to reservations, etc. We don't need to see Emerald Grande every time, or the girl running up the steps, or the kid with the inflatable donut life preserver.
 

Braindead

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  • Can't be in more than 1 booking process at a time. (when you are trying to grab multiple units for a single date this is a problem).
You pretty much nailed it other than this one issue.
I actually think this is a good idea when trying to keep a level playing field for all owners.
Each owner making 1 reservation at a time.
 

Braindead

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Brutal. Although with being a non-VIP we have not lost as much as others I find the website untenable. I find it unusable most days. I cannot book ARP online unless I want only Presidential Reserve. For some reason I cannot book Margaritaville-Pigeon Forge though I did before the changeover. Fortunately we booked everything we wanted before the changeover. I grabbed Mardi Gras when inventory showed up on new system, but I am planning on losing it as I think it was phantom inventory. Booked Clearwater for DW birthday next year. Done NOTHING else. Can't find anything I want. How can Sapphire Valley only have four days available for the next YEAR? Why no Arizona inventory ( been awhile since I checked though)? Just disgusted with it.

I count my lucky stars for not having credit pooled anything as I think this feature has wrecked havoc among owners. Why? I have no idea, but it does seem that those who credit pooled are having the most problems.

The worst thing I've seen so far is the total lack of improvement. It is godawful slow. Locks up constantly . Messes up with regularity and if I see the spinning wheel of death one more time I might scream. Pretty much just going to sit back and wait for them to fix this monstrosity . Tired of banging my head against the wall.
You nailed it in the other thread. If the extra point issue has been resolved.
Put the current welcome page on the old website so it looks like Voyager.
Call it Ultimate Voyager !!
 

Baby Jane

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You pretty much nailed it other than this one issue.
I actually think this is a good idea when trying to keep a level playing field for all owners.
Each owner making 1 reservation at a time.
We often travel with others but like the privacy of our own room. You can burn through guest reservations fast. Just found out my husband and I can have seperate reservations so I guess that helps some. I hate putting a guest on until the last minute in case we need to change dates room size etc.
 

Braindead

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The Good
  • Points are now blind (you no longer have to book ARP with the 'right' points.)
It doesn't seem like owners realize or understand how big of a benefit this is.
There's no need to make dummy reservations.
ARP reservations doesn't effect the amount of points you can deposit into a future year.
You are technically either making ARP reservations with deposited points or depositing points that had previously been deposited.

I will be surprised if there isn't a drastic improvement to the website by the annual meeting or some sort of announcement of even a new website
 

Braindead

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We often travel with others but like the privacy of our own room. You can burn through guest reservations fast. Just found out my husband and I can have seperate reservations so I guess that helps some. I hate putting a guest on until the last minute in case we need to change dates room size etc.
Making 1 reservation at a time doesn't change the amount of RTs or GCs used
 

bestpal38

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The good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good
  • ARP bookings online
  • Points are now blind (you no longer have to book ARP with the 'right' points.)
  • up to 14 day reservations allowed
  • Targeted Search (Dates known) works as expected
The Bad
  • Site is slow
  • Rebook and Cancel is an option if there is inventory available to accomplish it (and this is required because Auto upgrade does not work)
  • VIP ONLY Issue - Upgrade algorithm is flaky (they should just reveal the rules for upgrades, if they know them, perhaps only the developer who coded it does)
  • Access has been problematic
  • Account Data has been problematic (name was wrong, points are still wrong)
  • Can't be in more than 1 booking process at a time. (when you are trying to grab multiple units for a single date this is a problem).
  • Seems like system operates better on my mobile device than my PC, so perhaps it has been optimized for that. But when typing I like my keyboard better.
  • There have been a lot of ghost units, but that has been less the last few weeks. (ONLY actual improvement I have seen).

The Ugly
  • VIP - benefits are decimated
  • VIP - Auto Upgrade, yeah right, NO data to support it is working
  • VIP - Since auto upgrade does not work we also lost upgrade from existing booking option, double whammy
  • Opportunistic Search is NON-existent, the view by 1 room type by 1 resort is not viable
  • Points are still ending up in wrong bucket when reservations using cancelled (and my 45 day old ticket is still outstanding)
  • How can you have a booking system when YOU HAVEN'T LOADED all inventory (or inventory is questionable) This baffles me, Emerald Grand inventory got loaded 6 days ago, yes 6, we have been live for 60).
BOOKING/UPGRADE SUCCESS (1) and FAILURES (4) in First 60 days
  • Failure - my initial Auto upgrade was yanked back, in 45 days not a single upgrade was offered, even though some were online. I am still holding my original reservation with NO upgrade. No opportunity to do instant upgrade online.
  • Success - without VIP I would be screwed because of the number of transactions, because I have rebooked and cancelled a lot of inventory. Why? First to get a unit. Period. They waiting and checking for upgrades when obviously there are larger and smaller units available to obtain an instant upgrade. Then waiting again and finding a better upgrade. So here is one ultimate reservation number of transactions. Book a 1 BR unit, as that is all that is available for dates. Check later and a 1 and 2 BR (but I didn't get an auto upgrade) are available so I grab and upgrade and cancel original 1BR. So NOW I have a 2 BR. I wait another 2 weeks, and then I find a 2 BR and a 3BR both available at the same time. Rebooked that with upgrade. At the 16 Day mark I was able to grab a 1 BR upgrade to 4 BR Presidential, and throw back my 3 BR. So it took me 4 book and cancel to get this. I had friends two single parents both with their own kids who wanted to travel. They would fit in 2 BR, but 4 BR is much more optimal. So yes I do want the bigger space. However, if I didn't have unlimited transactions that would be an issue. I sure hope that do NOT remove that as a VIP perk for my level.
  • Failure - I have tried to see how Cancellations come back into inventory and there is NO pattern that I can establish. Hours, Days, Never. It has been all of the above. I booked 5 units a one resort and then cancelled them all hoping to get 1. Nothing came back. I checked nearly every 15 mins for an entire evening and overnight, and the next morning. (minus 2 hrs I slept).
  • Failure - I would have booked more but inventory was not available for months spans (yeah like Florida in October is booked solid NOT ever), and my family needed a hard confirmation. Booked an RCI exchange instead.
  • Failure - Club Pass has been down for weeks. I have not tried to call, but I hear long long wait times and no way around it. I booked RCI full week at Worldmark instead of booking just days I needed via Club Pass.
I went to an Owner update yesterday in Las Vegas. The Sales weasel asked my thoughts on my ownership, and I told him the website sucks. He said, "It's going to be great." He said he's an owner, and when they previewed the new website, it was fantastic. He said, He was not sure what happened when it went live, but once the bugs are worked out, it will be great. Yeah, we shall see.
 

chapjim

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It doesn't seem like owners realize or understand how big of a benefit this is.
There's no need to make dummy reservations.
ARP reservations doesn't effect the amount of points you can deposit into a future year.
You are technically either making ARP reservations with deposited points or depositing points that had previously been deposited.

I will be surprised if there isn't a drastic improvement to the website by the annual meeting or some sort of announcement of even a new website

I will be surprised if there IS a drastic improvement. I'll be surprised if there is any noticeable improvement at all by then.

What I think will happen is some of the annoying, irritating aspects of the website will disappear, one at a time over a prolonged period of time. We may not even realize some of them until someone brings it up -- "I haven't seen such and such in a while. Anybody else notice that?"

I don't think Wyndham's IT shop has the capability or capacity to effect drastic changes in the next month. At least there's been no evidence of it.
 

chapjim

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I went to an Owner update yesterday in Las Vegas. The Sales weasel asked my thoughts on my ownership, and I told him the website sucks. He said, "It's going to be great." He said he's an owner, and when they previewed the new website, it was fantastic. He said, He was not sure what happened when it went live, but once the bugs are worked out, it will be great. Yeah, we shall see.

He's not sure what happened!! What happened is what a lot of us thought happened -- IT consulted with sales and we got big photographs instead of functionality. He just confirmed our suspicions.

I'm assuming he previewed the website in his capacity as a sales weasel, not as an owner. Most of us owners who "previewed" it thought it sucked from Day One.
 
Last edited:

Baby Jane

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Making 1 reservation at a time doesn't change the amount of RTs or GCs used
In the old booking system you didn't need guest pass until the 15 day window so I always left our name on it until right about then.. Now if you have 2 rooms they need 2 different names within 48 hours of booking :( So you do need more GP if you change the reservation if something better comes up.
 

Braindead

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In the old booking system you didn't need guest pass until the 15 day window so I always left our name on it until right about then.. Now if you have 2 rooms they need 2 different names within 48 hours of booking :( So you do need more GP if you change the reservation if something better comes up.
We are talking about two different issues.
My comment was on how fast one owner can make multiple reservations. Has nothing to do with RTs and GCs used
Your comments are on RTs and GCs used with the new rules verses the old rules.
 

jumoe

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Don't even get me started with the negatives.
I have found a few positives.
1. You can easily look and see if you used points or rented them, and the total you paid.
2. You can easily change owners without cancelling and rebooking or calling.
3. It tells you when you have hit 10 NUL (Nightly Unit Limit) and won't let you book more.
 

OutSkiing

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VIP Only Issue - The system will still not let you use your allotment of Reciprocal ARP reservations at 11 months, even though the points calculator says you have some remaining.
 

Sandy VDH

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You pretty much nailed it other than this one issue.
I actually think this is a good idea when trying to keep a level playing field for all owners.
Each owner making 1 reservation at a time.

For a big family reunion I needed 2 4 BR presidentials, if I have to finish 1 booking completely, there is a chance I might lose the second one because it takes too long to finish the reservation.

The other annoying thing is that if you accidentally move off of the page of a in-progress reservation WITHOUT cancelling, you have to go get a coffee, take a pee break, smoke or start smoking to wait for the 15 mins until you can even start another search. I wish they had a cancel out of the hold that you stuck in.
 

Braindead

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For a big family reunion I needed 2 4 BR presidentials, if I have to finish 1 booking completely, there is a chance I might lose the second one because it takes too long to finish the reservation.

The other annoying thing is that if you accidentally move off of the page of a in-progress reservation WITHOUT cancelling, you have to go get a coffee, take a pee break, smoke or start smoking to wait for the 15 mins until you can even start another search. I wish they had a cancel out of the hold that you stuck in.
If your really concerned it might take to long to complete the first reservation.
Add a night to the reservation and make the first reservation the night before.
I don't know if two owners can be logged in making reservations at the same time. I know you couldn't do that on the old website.
 

CO skier

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For a big family reunion I needed 2 4 BR presidentials, if I have to finish 1 booking completely, there is a chance I might lose the second one because it takes too long to finish the reservation.
How is this unfair? You get your 4 BR Presidential and another owner gets theirs, or you get both if there is no demand. If these units are in such high demand that you cannot book one and then another, it seems only fair that another owner has an equal chance at the second 4 BR.

If you do not get a second 4 BR, book a 3 BR, or a 3 BR and a 1 BR, or two 2 BR -- it is not like the one-at-a-time (fair for all?, free for all?) reservations kill family reunions.

I agree with Each owner making one reservation at a time is an improvement for the general ownership.
 

ronparise

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How is this unfair? You get your 4 BR Presidential and another owner gets theirs, or you get both if there is no demand. If these units are in such high demand that you cannot book one and then another, it seems only fair that another owner has an equal chance at the second 4 BR.

If you do not get a second 4 BR, book a 3 BR, or a 3 BR and a 1 BR, or two 2 BR -- it is not like the one-at-a-time (fair for all?, free for all?) reservations kill family reunions.

I agree with Each owner making one reservation at a time is an improvement for the general ownership.


That was going to me my comment.. If you cant get the 4 bedroom get two 2's
 

ronparise

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I see the complaints and problems falling into 3 or 4 buckets

1) technical website issues
a. things that just dont work at all, like auto upgrade
b. things that could work better, like the search function

2) rules changes

3) adaptation


The things that just dont work, seem to be getting addressed and are being corrected. For example. when we started this there was no 2017 inventory loaded for National Harbor. Its there now. And we dont hear about "phantom" inventory any more. I have no doubt that the search function will be improved, but I expect that we will have to wait until the broken stuff is fixed (like auto upgrade.)

Regarding rule changes: I think we can complain all day about the new rules, but they arent going to let us get discounts on every reservation any more. And we wont be able to strip points from contracts as some of us did in the past.

and regarding adaptation: I dont like the new TUG website either, but Im getting used to it.
 

Braindead

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How is this unfair? You get your 4 BR Presidential and another owner gets theirs, or you get both if there is no demand. If these units are in such high demand that you cannot book one and then another, it seems only fair that another owner has an equal chance at the second 4 BR.

I agree with Each owner making one reservation at a time is an improvement for the general ownership.
I would even go one step farther.
Another owner is entitled to the other 4 BR if the difference is the amount of time it takes to complete a reservation.
An owner should always have a fair chance before an owner can make a second reservation for a non owner.
Wyndham should always side with the owners using their ownership for personal use.
Simple solution is always add owners to your membership or put a contract in separate member #.
Your not worried about discounts or upgrades if your reserving a 4BR at 13 or 10 months.
 

Sandy VDH

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I really never participated in the cancel rebook usage, but I did like booking 2 units at the same time perhaps once a year. May not be a level playing field, when it did work, I just like having that option. I get why they did change the functionality, it makes complete sense, but it is an annoyance the once a year that I have to do it. I just had to book 2 units, which is why it was on my mind. Ask me again in a few months and I will likely forget about it.
 

northovr

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[

  • ARP bookings online
  • Points are now blind (you no longer have to book ARP with the 'right' points.)
What does points are now blind mean. I have Governor Green points and smoky mountain points I wanted a 4 bedroom Presidental at Gov Green next year I didn't have enough points for the whole week I only had 126000 so only could get 3 days?
The computer wouldn't allow me to use my smoky points.
Thanks
Daniel
 

Baby Jane

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So I cancelled something and it came right back up in the system. Maybe slowly but surely web glitches are being fixed :)
 

ronparise

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Something New?

I searched today for a christmas reservation at Palm Aire. There was nothing for my dates, so I got an opportunity to search for other dates at this location (the calendar search) and an opportunity to search for these dates at other locations

I clicked on the "other locations" button and what cam back was a list of lots of choices for my dates

Is that "other locations" button new?
 
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