Wyndham 101

I have just acquired my first Wyndham unit. Here is what I think I understand from my reading:
1. If I want to use my home resort -- I have a home resort priority.
2. If I want to reserve something else, I can use parts and pieces of the total to book other destinations. (Not a lot of points, a total of 126,000).
3. I may deposit into a credit pool for future use but I must do that prior to the start of the use period.
4. Something about RCI.

My questions:
In regard to using the points to book another Wyndham destination. If I use 100,000 points for that reservation -- how do I use the odd number of points leftover? I can't imagine that I have to search for a location where I can match the exact number of points or a I lose the rest?

I think that is where I have heard something about depositing to RCI -- that is the fuzziest piece of the puzzle for me.

Thanks in advance.

b2bailey said:

I have just acquired my first Wyndham unit. Here is what I think I understand from my reading:
1. If I want to use my home resort -- I have a home resort priority.
2. If I want to reserve something else, I can use parts and pieces of the total to book other destinations. (Not a lot of points, a total of 126,000).
3. I may deposit into a credit pool for future use but I must do that prior to the start of the use period.
4. Something about RCI.

My questions:
In regard to using the points to book another Wyndham destination. If I use 100,000 points for that reservation -- how do I use the odd number of points leftover? I can't imagine that I have to search for a location where I can match the exact number of points or a I lose the rest?

I think that is where I have heard something about depositing to RCI -- that is the fuzziest piece of the puzzle for me.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

The best way to avoid bits and pieces of leftover points is to credit pool if you expect to have some leftovers in a future year. So maybe you take one vacation this year, but two next year.

Credit pooling can extend the life of points (extend 2016 points out to 2018), and it can be used to bring points forward (i.e., make 2017 points available to you now).

You can also deposit leftovers into RCI prior to the end of the year in which the points are good, but it sounds like you will usually have maybe 20k to deposit, which will not get you very much. In fact, if you are strictly a resale owner, you are limited to weekly exchanges, which can cost well over 100k points to begin with.

Chris -- thank you. The new info you gave me above is that I can bring points forward into the credit pool. I was not aware of that. (But now that I know -- it's helpful to understand those Wyndham contracts that were being sold as 'stripped' of points.)

Am I correct in thinking owners may lose points each year without careful advance planning?

b2bailey said:

I have just acquired my first Wyndham unit. Here is what I think I understand from my reading:
1. If I want to use my home resort -- I have a home resort priority.
2. If I want to reserve something else, I can use parts and pieces of the total to book other destinations. (Not a lot of points, a total of 126,000).
3. I may deposit into a credit pool for future use but I must do that prior to the start of the use period.
4. Something about RCI.

My questions:
In regard to using the points to book another Wyndham destination. If I use 100,000 points for that reservation -- how do I use the odd number of points leftover? I can't imagine that I have to search for a location where I can match the exact number of points or a I lose the rest?

I think that is where I have heard something about depositing to RCI -- that is the fuzziest piece of the puzzle for me.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Trying to learn to use Wyndham and RCI at the same time could easily overwhelm a new owner. You may want to focus just on Wyndham for the first year or two, at least.

You can pull points forward one year and save the $39 Credit Pooling charge by making a reservation within the 90 day express reservation window. Then cancel that reservation. Those points are then in your current Use Year to combine with the points that remained from your Use Year. A phone reservation may be the best idea to try this the first time; the reservation agent can set it up for you. You really need the Credit Pool only if you know you want to push points up to 3 years into the future.

With 126,000 points, you will get only 1 Reservation Transaction per calendar year. Use it wisely by planning all your vacations and making the reservations all on the same day, if at all possible. After you use your only Reservation Transaction, addition RTs are $30 for online reservations and $59 for phone reservations. Multiple reservations will also quickly burn through your Housekeeping credits.

Have you read the 10 part Wyndham stickie? Some of the rules have changed since the articles were written, but most of the information is still relevant. This part explains Borrowing Points and Reservation Transactions.

http://www.tug2.net/timeshare_advice/maximize_wyndham_points.html

There is another article on Credit Pooling. There is also the online Wyndham directory for all the latest rules.

Advance planning is key to the most efficient and least costly use of points.

The credit pool is your friend.

I make my ARP reservations and then credit pool everything else. So I never have those odd points left over at the end of the year

credit pool

In my points charts right now I can see 2016 and 2017 points. If I elect to credit pool will both years automatically be extended or do I have to pay for each year to extend the points? Thanks

jmurp62 said:

In my points charts right now I can see 2016 and 2017 points. If I elect to credit pool will both years automatically be extended or do I have to pay for each year to extend the points? Thanks

Click to expand...

$39/year

do it all tomorrow and you wiil see all those points with an expiration date of April 22 2018

but you dont have to do it all at once, If extending the live of your points you should wait until Late Dec 2015 to do the 2016 points and late Dec 2016 to do the 2017 points. That will extend the live of your points the longest.

But thats not my goal. I have credit pooled my 2017 points and they are pretty much already in reservations. I use the credit pool so I can use future points today, not to push todays points into the future.

b2bailey said:

I think that is where I have heard something about depositing to RCI -- that is the fuzziest piece of the puzzle for me.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

You can transfer your Wyndham points into RCI and the inventory in the RCI portal is denominated in Wyndham points (as mentioned above, it's only the weeks inventory for resale owners).

IMHO - it's a really bad use of Wyndham points to transfer them to RCI. I find the cost in Wyndham points for RCI Weeks are often 2X or 3X my costs using TPUs. But, I've used the Wyndham points for DVC, because of the fixed grid I think that high TPU reservations might be better using Wyndham Points (or perhaps at a less terrible exchange rate). Plus, using Wyndham Points in RCI isn't subject to the DVC regional block that my TPUs suffer.

Joe33426 said:

You can transfer your Wyndham points into RCI and the inventory in the RCI portal is denominated in Wyndham points (as mentioned above, it's only the weeks inventory for resale owners).

IMHO - it's a really bad use of Wyndham points to transfer them to RCI. I find the cost in Wyndham points for RCI Weeks are often 2X or 3X my costs using TPUs. But, I've used the Wyndham points for DVC, because of the fixed grid I think that high TPU reservations might be better using Wyndham Points (or perhaps at a less terrible exchange rate). Plus, using Wyndham Points in RCI isn't subject to the DVC regional block that my TPUs suffer.

Click to expand...

Agreed that the best use of Wyndham points is direct Wyndham reservations. Credit pooling gives you flexibility over the longest period of time. One point - you'll want to make sure regular use and cancelled points are used first before your credit pooled points - to keep the flexibility (longer life) of the credit pooled points. if you get to a point where you have to cancel a reservation, you'll want to make sure your next reservation is made with the cancelled points FIRST before any other points, because cancelled points don't have the same flexibility. The online system uses cancelled points LAST, so you'll have to call to make this happen.

Also, as a resale owner, you have to credit pool your points BEFORE the use year begins. So you can't credit pool your 2015 points. You can credit pool 2016 and 2017 - basically as soon as they are visible in your account.

If you can't use the points for Wyndham reservations and the points can't be credit pooled, depositing to RCI is the next best option. But if it's only a small number of leftover points, you are unlikely to be able to do much with it.

ronparise said:

But thats not my goal. I have credit pooled my 2017 points and they are pretty much already in reservations. I use the credit pool so I can use future points today, not to push todays points into the future.

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I do not think most owners, including the OP, plan to run a rental business on margin in this way.

If an owner regularly has to reach two years into the future for the points they need, they do not own enough points and should consider buying more resale points.

CO skier said:

I do not think most owners, including the OP, plan to run a rental business on margin in this way.

If an owner regularly has to reach two years into the future for the points they need, they do not own enough points and should consider buying more resale points.

Click to expand...

Im not suggesting that the op use the credit pool the way I do, but credit pooling everything can help avoid the issue of leftover points at the end of the year.

You do have to avoid going crazy like me, or you will find yourself with no points and still paying maintenance fees. (thats when I buy another contract)