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What to buy???

Worldmark AND Riverpointe Napa EOY

Travelgame said:
Also, I'm intrigued by SmithOp's idea of buying to gain access into the various trading systems and the bonus weeks, etc. Their anecdote about GPX is a great example of what I *thought* might be possible.

Do all of the systems offer bonus weeks or something similar? The end game for us is to have something in the "back pocket" that lures us on vacation when other pressures call us in other directions AND to have a way to keep helping extended family/friends travel.

Being based in northern California (Marin County), I too recommend Worldmark for their destination variety, booking flexibility, ease of renting credits, as well as their weekly cash rental "bonus" programs on featured resorts. For MF efficiency I'd suggest owning either 10k (the equivalent of an annual 2br) or 5k, the minimum program requirement. I own the latter and find it more than adequate because I deal more with their cash bonuses.

I would also suggest looking into owning 18,000 points at Riverpointe Napa (aka California Vacation Club. 18k would get you a 2br unit EOY, or can be split into one 1br or 1 studio annually, or 3 studios used within any 2-year period. While many luxury-minded TS folks wouldn't consider staying in one of these fancy trailer units, there are many benefits to owning one:

  • Membership in GPX - As the only Bay Area GP resort, an owner gets to partake in GPX benefits, such as:
    - lower rate exchanges into other GP and Diamond resorts with whom GP has some inventory arrangement
    - similar inventory between exchange and getaway programs, meaning you can rent for cash instead of offering up your home unit for exchange AND
    - their getaway fee is similar to the annual MF, meaning no need to own more than the bare minimum
    - their rental program - GPX can rent out your week for a reasonable fee, and the wine country tourist season is a long one.
    - great promos: in addition to what SmithOp described, my favorite is the free size exchange upgrade, where my studio traded into a 3br Diamond unit (Royal Regency) in a Paris suburb.

  • Membership in Interval - Riverpointe is the only GP resort that belongs to II, which allows one access into their many membership benefits

  • Membership in California Vacation Club - CVC is a micro system Riverpointe belongs to with 3 other resorts (one in the Palm Springs area, one in Tahoe, one in downtown San Diego) which offers an owner to swap into these locations sans exchange fees.
  • Free Day Use at home resort - the use of the BBQs and pool is great for families, and I've found it serves as a good way station after a wine country tour.
  • Low-cost Bonus Time rates - for the occasional weekend respite
Two years ago I overhauled my TS portfolio and my new purchases included 5,000 Worldmark credits and 18,000 EOY Riverpointe points, both gotten from ebay and are equivalent to one annual 2-bedroom unit in alternate systems. My annual MF is: ~ $450 + $490 or < $1,000 for a plethora of variety and bonus options. Without resorting to the hit-or-miss drama of exchanging. And I am able to fly more often and rent more getaways with the money saved from not-exchanging.
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Gaozhen said:
So I'm a total newbie and don't even have our first purchase fully transferred to us yet (bought this week :banana:), but here's how we went about it just in case it helps:

  • We love the Caribbean, so originally thought of buying there, and that's how we found TUG, doing a search for the resort we considered after a recommendation to check it out on TUG by MIL.
  • Once on TUG, the "buy within drivable distance in case you can no longer travel" advice resonated, so we started looking locally.
  • Plus, we like to go all over so figured the best option would be a good trader that was still nice enough to visit ourselves if needed.
  • We researched the Caribbean resorts we like, and found out they mostly trade with RCI.
  • So, we went to the RCI website and looked at those resorts to see how many points a week at each resort would possibly run. Note: you can search resorts without being a member, but not all of them have a point value listed.
  • To get a better estimate, we checked out this PDF of weeks to points, and another PDF listing general points by region and award level at least for weeks resorts (e.g. gold crown).
  • From that, we knew we needed at least 75,500 RCI points to book the units we wanted in the seasons we wanted.
  • I also read various TUG threads like this, and this, and others, to see what suggestions were made, and then did TUG searches for each potential resort to get more info.
  • And, watched the bargain basement for good RCI points or weeks options to come up, then did Tripadvisor and TUG research on those resorts. We almost ended up in Hilton Head as a result (some nice places there), but again, not drivable so that idea was scratched.
  • Then I searched recent sales on eBay for the various resort finalists, and compared points to MF and sales prices.
  • I also did TUG searches for each eBay seller to make sure we only went with reputable sellers.
  • Ended up deciding on a 2br Grandview unit in Las Vegas. Nice hotel with good reviews, drivable, in a city we like to visit, with a good MF and little history of trouble, with enough points for our travel needs.
Anyway, I'm not saying go with Grandview, just wanted to share how we chose our resort. It took a couple months, but well worth the time!

FWIW from a newb. :p Good luck!
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you might be a noob :p, but that's a great post!
 
Thanks Here There + more questions.

Thanks Here There - Your arrangement after portfolio overhaul seems close to what I was leaning towards after reading through all the advice here. Putting all of our TS funds into Worldmark isn't *that* enticing given the overall ratings, locations, and amenities (and my noobness), but the 5-6K options available here and on eBay seem like good starting points to get to know the system and allow us to expand our portfolio over time and still get what we want/need out of the purchase - we can always buy more points later, it's getting rid of them that seems like the harder part. Adding TS weeks/points to gain access into other trading systems that have amenities in locations we prefer once we have a better handle on all of this is a nice option.

Does anyone else have experience trading in this manner: portfolio consisting of ~5k Worldmark points EY + points/week at another resort/system EOY? Are there other recommendations for the west coast outside of GPX affiliated resorts or is this the preferred system to look at?

Until next time! :wave:
 
Travelgame said:
Does anyone else have experience trading in this manner: portfolio consisting of ~5k Worldmark points EY + points/week at another resort/system EOY? Are there other recommendations for the west coast outside of GPX affiliated resorts or is this the preferred system to look at?
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I have a small WM contract, 7,000 points, as well as HGVC and Shell. My HGVC is also GPX, so dual benefits. The small contract with WM works because they offer so many cash specials. However, if I planned on exchange often, I'd need to increase my WM points.

Shell also has discounted cash stays if you can book a couple weeks out. If you never need to play the exchange game, buying small contracts in a few systems will give you a lot of options.

If you always want to stay a full week, GPR is a really good choice.
 
Travelgame said:
Does anyone else have experience trading in this manner: portfolio consisting of ~5k Worldmark points EY + points/week at another resort/system EOY? Are there other recommendations for the west coast outside of GPX affiliated resorts or is this the preferred system to look at?

Until next time! :wave:
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We live in SoCal and travel ~60 nights/year. We enjoy mostly 'drive to' destinations along the Pacific Coast and Western States but also plan at least 2 trips/year 'away.'

Here is what we have and why:
  • Worldmark: This is our timeshare 'main squeeze.' We've owned for 15+ years and truly enjoy the locations, flexibility, etc. We use our points to book large family gatherings (multiple units; holiday periods) and then take advantage of WM's cash programs (bonus time, inventory specials, Monday Madness, etc) to book weekend getaways throughout the year. We've also been successful trading WM through RCI Weeks and II.
  • Grand Pacific Palisades, Carlsbad, CA: -- fixed summer week, odd-years only. This is our trader (RCI Weeks, GPX, SFX and DAE(?)). Owning the every-other-year unit gets around Grand Pacific Resorts' inbound trade restrictions; provides both GPX and ResorTime; provides day use at the property; etc. >>> If you intend to trade into SoCal locations often, you likely need to own something from the Grand Pacific Resort umbrella to defeat the inbound trade restrictions. For us, the 'every other year' GPP meets that need.
  • Disney Vacation Club: Initially purchased for an annual work conference held at WDW.
  • WinPoint VIP: Gives us access to all the Wyndham Vacation Ownership properties without the obligation of ownership. Is a "pay as you go" system - and it works for us. Yes, it has an entry fee -- but carries no required dues/maint fee or exit worries. (Just walk away if you wish.) Yes, I'd recommend that you click the link and review the single page program description. This works 'as promised' for us!
Note that 6k WM is an awkward size due to the fee structure, falling at the bottom of a tier. Keep looking for 5k ... or plan to buy at the top of any given tier: 7k, 10k, 12k, 15k, etc.?
 
">>> If you intend to trade into SoCal locations often, you likely need to own something from the Grand Pacific Resort umbrella to defeat the inbound trade restrictions. For us, the 'every other year' GPP meets that need. "

What are inbound trade restrictions?
 
Travelgame said:
">>> If you intend to trade into SoCal locations often, you likely need to own something from the Grand Pacific Resort umbrella to defeat the inbound trade restrictions. For us, the 'every other year' GPP meets that need. "



What are inbound trade restrictions?
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GPR puts a restriction on how many times you can trade in unless you are an owner, aka the 1 in 3 or 4 year rules.


Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk
 
Travelgame said:
">>> If you intend to trade into SoCal locations often, you likely need to own something from the Grand Pacific Resort umbrella to defeat the inbound trade restrictions. For us, the 'every other year' GPP meets that need. "

What are inbound trade restrictions?
Click to expand...

SmithOp said:
GPR puts a restriction on how many times you can trade in unless you are an owner, aka the 1 in 3 or 4 year rules.


Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk
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Agreeing with SmithOp's post and adding the exact wording posted on the RCI exchange confirmation page:
RCI exchange info for GPR said:
1 in 4 rule in affect for any of the following combination of resorts; 1285, 1379, 2885, 3007, 3987, A474 and 5362. Only 1 confirmation allowed per account in 4 years.

Exceptions include GPR owners, consecutive weeks and multiple confirmations with the same start date. Violations to the group rule will be cancelled. No exceptions will be granted.
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Grand Pacific Resorts either owns or manages many (most?) of the timeshare properties in Southern California. They restrict inbound exchanges from RCI to only "once every four years" for any/all Grand Pacific Resort locations. (If you exchange into any *1* SoCal GRP location you cannot exchange into any of other SoCal GPR location until four years have passed.) Owning a GPR property should exempt you from this rule.
 
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