# Wyndham TravelUp - a new benefit being touted at sales update meetings...



## HitchHiker71

While attending an update at TOTG last week - Wyndham touted a brand new program just announced on May 20, 2021, called Wyndham TravelUp.  The sales center had a poster board with the logo (link to the logo provided below via the patent trademark application).

Not much info to share at the sales meeting since it was brand new - other than a purchase was required to gain access (which I doubt is actually the case).  This new program was touted as Wyndham's answer to the long asked for program to allow for owners to have broader access to travel deals at discounted prices through ownership using either points or direct payment.  I was able to see the website via an iPad that the sales person had on him - the URL was masked - but we have located the URL login since here:






						Club Wyndham Members
					

Online reservations at the guaranteed lowest rates!



					www.vacationclubbenefits.com
				




Wyndham applied for a trademark patent here:









						TRAVELUP - Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc. Trademark Registration
					

Trademark registration for Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc.. The mark consists of the stylized wording




					uspto.report
				




Here's the sales collateral that we have located to date:





We also have a thread going on our FB group here:









						Supportive Wyndham Timeshare Users | Facebook
					

Bring us your confused, your noob, and undoubtedly bring us your happy owners! This isn’t the place to re-hash negative stories or bring others down. Negativity has no place here and will be...




					www.facebook.com
				




Please add relevent info to this thread so we can all learn more about this emerging new benefit for Wyndham owners.

From what we have been able to gather - this will be subscription service of some kind available for anywhere from $129-200/year after a retail purchase - but details are very fuzzy right now.  Here's some info from the T&Cs:





If anyone attends updates - please press for details and share them when you can so we can nail down what exactly TravelUp really offers and what the options are to gain access and if it's worth consideration.


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## Eric B

The Terms and Conditions includes identifying World Travel Holdings, Inc., as the cruise service provider.

ADDITIONAL CRUISE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

24.1.Cruise services are provided by a third party provider, World Travel Holdings, Inc., under contract with Club Wyndham. All terms and conditions of World Travel Holdings, Inc. related to the booking of any cruise product shall apply to You. Club Wyndham may change third party providers at any time, in its sole discretion and without notice to you. In addition to these terms and conditions, You must also comply with all applicable cruise line and hotel/resort terms and conditions and policies and procedures. Please contact Club Wyndham for additional information.

They are also the cruise service provider for RCI per their website.  I wonder how many other service providers are also providers for RCI - it would make some sense.  I question the value of paying $129 for a service I already have access to through RCI.


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## Ty1on

My gut tells me that Silver and below will find better prices in OTA then the discounts shown in the charts, and Platinum and above will find it a good deal.
Just my gut from looking at other Wyndham "discounts"


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## jules54

If there is not money in it for Wyndham they wouldn’t be doing it.


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## CO skier

Looks like an upgraded version of the subscription based Vacation Sidekick.

Soon we will be receiving the same kind of letters as Vacation Sidekick; e.g., "Your subscription to TravelUp is about to expire" if you do not PonyUp $129.


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## Ty1on

CO skier said:


> Looks like an upgraded version of the subscription based Vacation Sidekick.
> 
> Soon we will be receiving the same kind of letters as Vacation Sidekick; e.g., "Your subscription to TravelUp is about to expire" if you do not PonyUp $129.



As long as it isn't, "Per the automatic renewal clause in your subscription contract, your credit card has been charged the current renewal rate of $249."


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## HitchHiker71

CO skier said:


> Looks like an upgraded version of the subscription based Vacation Sidekick.
> 
> Soon we will be receiving the same kind of letters as Vacation Sidekick; e.g., "Your subscription to TravelUp is about to expire" if you do not PonyUp $129.



If we are to believe the collateral found to date - the discounted rates for VIPs are exclusively available only with a qualified purchase. I take that to mean a developer purchase is required to lock in the discounts advertised. Only time will tell as we learn more. 


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## 55plus

Sales always come up with a new and improved bottle of snake oil you can’t live without.


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## dgalati

55plus said:


> Sales always come up with a new and improved bottle of snake oil you can’t live without.


Just another product to help them daze and confuse. I'm sure some Wyndham math will  be used to seal the deal.


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## bryjake

“Save up to” xx amount with xx vip status
I wonder how many discounts are actually close to the high end xx discount

I suspect discounts would more like 5 to 10%

Save 10% or save $5 off a $100 package coupons do not make me feel that special


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## emstrips

So I went to an update in Nashville this week and they talked about these “great” new programs TravelUp and Sidekicks.  When I asked the rep about the programs she explained them as another way to book travel outside the system using points or cash with deep discounts.  I was immediately skeptical and asked questions and got little information.  I did ask if this had an annual fee and she said no that it was automatically part of my membership (Access - Gold Plus).  I told them I never saw it on the web site and she started typing away on her tablet to show me something.  She showed me a Club Wyndham page with TravelUP prominently displayed in the upper left of the menu.  When I asked more, she left to go get my gift.   She came back with a manager who started into a sales pitch about splitting my membership across Access and Selcect which made no sense to me other than to get more money from me.  At this point my wife got fed up and we left.  I did find this website vacationclubbenefits.com which looks suspiciously like third party marketing using Wyndham branding.  My Wyndham login didn’t work there either (no surprise).  I plan to dig deeper to figure this out.


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## HitchHiker71

We have confirmation from our Wyndham contacts that a developer purchase will be required for TravelUp. I’m not yet sure if this requirement is for the entirety of the TravelUp program or a subset thereof - I’ve asked for additional detail. 


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## Eric B

HitchHiker71 said:


> We have confirmation from our Wyndham contacts that a developer purchase will be required for TravelUp. I’m not yet sure if this requirement is for the entirety of the TravelUp program or a subset thereof - I’ve asked for additional detail.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



You mean a new developer purchase is needed to qualify or would an existing one do?


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## HitchHiker71

Eric B said:


> You mean a new developer purchase is needed to qualify or would an existing one do?



AFAIK it’s a net new developer purchase, but don’t quote me until I get confirmation either way. I’ve already expressed my concern about the net new developer purchase requirement/approach. I’ve also recommended the subscription based option as well. Creating passive revenue streams is where it’s at in the business world these days. I’m a bit surprised Wyndham isn’t at least market testing a subscription approach with this in mind. 


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## bloom58

My wife and I attended an owner update in Nashville on Monday June 7th and as an existing owner we had to buy 64k points to have access to Travel Up. The potential savings seemed inflated and were said to be discounts from full retail so the actual savings vs what you could likely get on the open market would of course be less than what they are advertising.  We were also told we had this one time chance to get Travel Up and the program will close in Sep of this year.  Meaning we will never get another chance to get it.  Especially after Sept.  Of course we didn’t believe that either.  We were told we could cruise at 75% off.  If we would have had more time we would like to have had them look up the price of equivalent cabins for two cruises we already have booked just for comparison.  But we were ready to leave.


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## CO skier

HitchHiker71 said:


> If we are to believe the collateral found to date - the discounted rates for VIPs are exclusively available only with a qualified purchase.


The information you posted lists a 20% discount for "Standard" owners (no mention of developer purchase to qualify as a "Standard" owner and "Standard" owners clearly do not have any VIP status).  Do you think Wyndham is going to pass up the chance for $129 of revenue from any resale account by limiting the discounts to "developer" purchases.  I do not think so, but we will see.


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## dgalati

CO skier said:


> The information you posted lists a 20% discount for "Standard" owners (no mention of developer purchase to qualify as a "Standard" owner and "Standard" owners clearly do not have any VIP status).  Do you think Wyndham is going to pass up the chance for $129 of revenue from any resale account by limiting the discounts to "developer" purchases.  I do not think so, but we will see.


 $229 more then likely .


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## 55plus

Read the fine print. This is like RCI Last Call, etc., inventory. Meaning it’s not top shelf lodging. It’s inventory most don’t want. In other words, it’s a new and improved bottle of snake oil.

“Destinations and travel times are subject to availability. Additional travel costs, mandatory all-inclusive fees, taxes, and other expenses are not included. Additional terms and conditions apply and will be provided at time of booking.

Travel services may be provided by a third party under contract with Resort Rental, LLC/RCI, LLC. The terms and conditions of Club Wyndham and any applicable third party providers will apply to your booking. RCI, LLC and Resort Rental, LLC, disclaim all responsibility in connection with any third-party services.

Hawaii TAT Broker ID #TA-023-193-6000-01 Resort Rental, LLC, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32821 ©2020 Resort Rental, LLC. All Rights Reserved.”​


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## paxsarah

CO skier said:


> Do you think Wyndham is going to pass up the chance for $129 of revenue from any resale account by limiting the discounts to "developer" purchases.


As a resale owner, completely plausible. They already forego my $59 for Vacation Sidekick and my $99 for Club Pass exchanges. They won’t take my $99 conversion fee to Wyndham Rewards points. I have no doubt they’d close me out of paying $129 for this new program, and I’m fine with that.


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## HitchHiker71

CO skier said:


> The information you posted lists a 20% discount for "Standard" owners (no mention of developer purchase to qualify as a "Standard" owner and "Standard" owners clearly do not have any VIP status).  Do you think Wyndham is going to pass up the chance for $129 of revenue from any resale account by limiting the discounts to "developer" purchases.  I do not think so, but we will see.



True, it's not just for VIP owners - but the discounts, IMHO, for the "standard" owners are likely to be no better than anything found on other travel sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak ,etc.  

As someone else already said, there are other benefits not available to resale owners already - so I'm going to say that Wyndham is being open from the outset that this program will only be available via a developer purchase, meaning it will be closed to resale only owners.  To me, it's becoming more likely that Wyndham is starting to suck up resale contracts via third parties and via ROFR exercises to start minimizing third party resale.  My assertion is that they are taking more steps to discourage resale contract ownerships and/or obtaining additional inventory for other strategic purposes related to the acquisition of T&L that has yet to be announced.


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## bryjake

* Speculation: No supporting evidence, just perception of the trends 

I do foresee CW seeking to further distinguish resale from developer.  What leaves a bad taste is "new developer" purchase.  Continue to treat developer like the hamster on a spinning wheel (- 50 respect points), whereas they should be honoring developer points with more value added features.  

Data is data, they should be able to distinguish resale contract points from developer contract points.  This could also potentially alter how VIP supplement discount power with resale contracts (Yet another arrow in the quiver I believe would be in the works as well)


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## Eric B

bryjake said:


> This could also potentially alter how VIP supplement discount power with resale contracts (Yet another arrow in the quiver I believe would be in the works as well)



... if that's something they really care about.  Several folks here have discussed with CW VPs at the annual meetings over the years and they do not perceive it truly as being an issue, although there is a frequent poster on TUG that has been on that soap box for a while.  My personal view on the matter is that this issue is just a tempest in a teapot for which the juice they could get out of squeezing it isn't worth the effort.

It might have made a difference in former iterations of their reservation system where people could book a desirable week at a desirable resort, then cancel and rebook the week in the discount/upgrade windows and recoup the points they had spent on the original booking at a low risk of losing the reservation, then turn around and rent it out.  That isn't the case anymore and any benefits available at the discount/upgrade windows for VIP owners are somewhat limited as to what resorts and units are available for short term bookings - there's usually plenty to be had for a VIP that is interested in doing so in lower demand periods for smaller units, but the prime cheap bookings in the higher seasons aren't really there.

The result of all this is that the discounts and upgrades that VIPs get for whatever points they use serve their purpose of acting as incentives to travel (or gift/rent travel) more in the lower demand times when there is excess capacity in Club Wyndham.  As you can see by looking at the deals for discounted points available to non-VIPs, there is still excess capacity in Club Wyndham that they want folks to use in the lower demand times.  Often, those discounts will overlap, which is fine.  It does seem like a win-win for Wyndham and the VIPs and other owners to have these incentives in place.

On the other hand, Wyndham did sell a lot of points to VIP owners under a program that granted them the additional privileges for use in booking and staying in the resorts on a personal basis rather than as a characteristic of or addendum to particular deeds/contracts that would vanish on resale.  They do have the right to modify the terms of the program and have done so on several occasions, but never to the extent of breaking the tie between the VIP status and the owners to establish a limitation like you are suggesting.  It would no doubt give them a fair degree of customer relations issues with the relatively few VIP owners of resale points - IMHO another effect could be raising the need for Wyndham to offer additional discount windows for the general owner population in order to incentivize booking the low demand capacity they are already incentivizing VIP resale point owners to use, which might be nice for non-VIP owners, but wouldn't be noticed by the majority and they would have upset a certain group of owners to no net gain for Wyndham.

It does remain possible that they could do what you (and he who will remain nameless) believe is something they should do in order to avoid having VIPs take advantage of low cost resale points.  I just don't see the upside for them doing that, myself, and do believe that they would likely grandfather existing VIP owners with resale points if they were to make such a change.  There could also be unintended consequences from doing something like that - currently Wyndham gets an extra 2 cents per 1,000 points for resale points in an account with developer points in it for participation in Plus Partners.  This is because those resale points are made eligible for Plus Partners based on being in those accounts - I've never used any of the benefits of that program nor have I heard of anyone doing so, but do chip in my 2 cents even on my resale points.  If they were to forbid me from using my resale points with VIP booking benefits, they would likely have to do the same for the Plus Partners benefits and that would cost them the skim for the unused benefits.


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## bryjake

Another trend supporting change in resale focus is ROFR.  CW has started to pick up more and more on the market, resale, contracts.  They saw a need to collect those "resale" contracts to recirculate into their inventory.  The purpose?  Who really knows.  It would certainly allow for more developer inventory to keep the income meters flowing by reselling at developer pricing.  If they are seeking more "resale" type contracts, distinguishing between developer from resale would be a mode to get more

"As is"... VIP pays MF and other fees on their resale (Good thing to keep the MF incoming streaming:  While collecting additional 0.02 per 1,000 pts)
Distinguish developer from resale... Collect the MF and other fees while getting developer pricing (Even more $$$ rolling in to CW).  That is if they can flip the collected inventory into purchased developer pricing 

Either way the main thing is "Is balancing enough MF + fees incoming to sustain and grow"


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## dgalati

Eric B said:


> ... if that's something they really care about.  Several folks here have discussed with CW VPs at the annual meetings over the years and they do not perceive it truly as being an issue, although there is a frequent poster on TUG that has been on that soap box for a while.  My personal view on the matter is that this issue is just a tempest in a teapot for which the juice they could get out of squeezing it isn't worth the effort.
> 
> It might have made a difference in former iterations of their reservation system where people could book a desirable week at a desirable resort, then cancel and rebook the week in the discount/upgrade windows and recoup the points they had spent on the original booking at a low risk of losing the reservation, then turn around and rent it out.  That isn't the case anymore and any benefits available at the discount/upgrade windows for VIP owners are somewhat limited as to what resorts and units are available for short term bookings - there's usually plenty to be had for a VIP that is interested in doing so in lower demand periods for smaller units, but the prime cheap bookings in the higher seasons aren't really there.
> 
> The result of all this is that the discounts and upgrades that VIPs get for whatever points they use serve their purpose of acting as incentives to travel (or gift/rent travel) more in the lower demand times when there is excess capacity in Club Wyndham.  As you can see by looking at the deals for discounted points available to non-VIPs, there is still excess capacity in Club Wyndham that they want folks to use in the lower demand times.  Often, those discounts will overlap, which is fine.  It does seem like a win-win for Wyndham and the VIPs and other owners to have these incentives in place.
> 
> On the other hand, Wyndham did sell a lot of points to VIP owners under a program that granted them the additional privileges for use in booking and staying in the resorts on a personal basis rather than as a characteristic of or addendum to particular deeds/contracts that would vanish on resale.  They do have the right to modify the terms of the program and have done so on several occasions, but never to the extent of breaking the tie between the VIP status and the owners to establish a limitation like you are suggesting.  It would no doubt give them a fair degree of customer relations issues with the relatively few VIP owners of resale points - IMHO another effect could be raising the need for Wyndham to offer additional discount windows for the general owner population in order to incentivize booking the low demand capacity they are already incentivizing VIP resale point owners to use, which might be nice for non-VIP owners, but wouldn't be noticed by the majority and they would have upset a certain group of owners to no net gain for Wyndham.
> 
> It does remain possible that they could do what you (and he who will remain nameless) believe is something they should do in order to avoid having VIPs take advantage of low cost resale points.  I just don't see the upside for them doing that, myself, and do believe that they would likely grandfather existing VIP owners with resale points if they were to make such a change.  There could also be unintended consequences from doing something like that - currently Wyndham gets an extra 2 cents per 1,000 points for resale points in an account with developer points in it for participation in Plus Partners.  This is because those resale points are made eligible for Plus Partners based on being in those accounts - I've never used any of the benefits of that program nor have I heard of anyone doing so, but do chip in my 2 cents even on my resale points.  If they were to forbid me from using my resale points with VIP booking benefits, they would likely have to do the same for the Plus Partners benefits and that would cost them the skim for the unused benefits.


Cancel and rebook was also once thought of as a VIP benefit that was untouchable.  JMTCW


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## dgalati

bryjake said:


> * Speculation: No supporting evidence, just perception of the trends
> 
> I do foresee CW seeking to further distinguish resale from developer.  What leaves a bad taste is "new developer" purchase.  Continue to treat developer like the hamster on a spinning wheel (- 50 respect points), whereas they should be honoring developer points with more value added features.
> 
> Data is data, they should be able to distinguish resale contract points from developer contract points.  This could also potentially alter how VIP supplement discount power with resale contracts (Yet another arrow in the quiver I believe would be in the works as well)


This is a novel ideal. Elimination of this would free up much needed inventory for owners to book for personal use. Who would of guessed the elimination of GC's on busy holidays? Cancel and rebook  was also considered and sold as a benefit and VIP owners believed it was untouchable also.


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## raygo123

55plus said:


> Read the fine print. This is like RCI Last Call, etc., inventory. Meaning it’s not top shelf lodging. It’s inventory most don’t want. In other words, it’s a new and improved bottle of snake oil.
> 
> “Destinations and travel times are subject to availability. Additional travel costs, mandatory all-inclusive fees, taxes, and other expenses are not included. Additional terms and conditions apply and will be provided at time of booking.
> 
> Travel services may be provided by a third party under contract with Resort Rental, LLC/RCI, LLC. The terms and conditions of Club Wyndham and any applicable third party providers will apply to your booking. RCI, LLC and Resort Rental, LLC, disclaim all responsibility in connection with any third-party services.
> 
> Hawaii TAT Broker ID #TA-023-193-6000-01 Resort Rental, LLC, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32821 2020 Resort Rental, LLC. All Rights Reserved.”​


If you read our contract Wyndham can take leftover units and do as they wish. This is another outlet.

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## dgalati

raygo123 said:


> If you read our contract Wyndham can take leftover units and do as they wish. This is another outlet.
> 
> Sent from my Lenovo TB-X103F using Tapatalk


Not a outlet, I would call it another revenue stream for the house.


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## raygo123

dgalati said:


> Not a outlet, I would call it another revenue stream for the house.


Profit center.

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## Breezy52

Eric B said:


> The Terms and Conditions includes identifying World Travel Holdings, Inc., as the cruise service provider.
> 
> ADDITIONAL CRUISE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
> 
> 24.1.Cruise services are provided by a third party provider, World Travel Holdings, Inc., under contract with Club Wyndham. All terms and conditions of World Travel Holdings, Inc. related to the booking of any cruise product shall apply to You. Club Wyndham may change third party providers at any time, in its sole discretion and without notice to you. In addition to these terms and conditions, You must also comply with all applicable cruise line and hotel/resort terms and conditions and policies and procedures. Please contact Club Wyndham for additional information.
> 
> They are also the cruise service provider for RCI per their website.  I wonder how many other service providers are also providers for RCI - it would make some sense.  I question the value of paying $129 for a service I already have access to through RCI.



I got a sales call yesterday.  One of the things she said was private yachts could be rented on RCI by searching Tradewinds under Cruises. Of course that doesn't seem to exist when searching. Sailing the San Juans (Washington) is a dream of mine so I was of course disappointed, silly me.


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## Eric B

Breezy52 said:


> One of the things she said was private yachts could be rented on RCI by searching Tradewinds under Cruises.



There is a certain amount of truth to that, but you aren't really renting a private yacht when you exchange in RCI for a Tradewinds cruise.  Instead, what you are getting is a single cabin on a scheduled week of cruising on one of their yachts going out of a specific harbor.  There's a good thread on how Tradewinds works here:









						TradeWinds Cruise Club/TradeWinds Experience
					

Good afternoon TUGgers,  I know we have some Tradewinds Club Members here (@Sandy VDH , @klpca , @SciTchr , @RNCollins , to name a few) and I was hoping the information below could be clarified/corrected.   I am not actively looking for more timeshares, but I love boats and I am interested in...




					tugbbs.com
				




Sales had been pushing Festiva as a catamaran cruise thing through RCI before.  The flyer for that at least disclosed there were only 14 locations they sail out of and didn't give the impression they would take the boats anywhere.


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## Eric B

They've added the flyers for TravelUp to the sales hub.



			https://www.wyndhaminteractivesaleshub.com/club-wyndham/Overview_%20and_Savings.pdf
		




			https://www.wyndhaminteractivesaleshub.com/club-wyndham/CW_TravelUP_VIP_Tier_Benefit.pdf
		


The second one includes the need for a "qualified purchase" to unlock the savings.


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## dgalati

Eric B said:


> They've added the flyers for TravelUp to the sales hub.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.wyndhaminteractivesaleshub.com/club-wyndham/Overview_%20and_Savings.pdf
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.wyndhaminteractivesaleshub.com/club-wyndham/CW_TravelUP_VIP_Tier_Benefit.pdf
> 
> 
> 
> The second one includes the need for a "qualified purchase" to unlock the savings.


I wonder how much savings can be unlocked if the sunk cost of a "qualified purchase" is factored in?


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## paxsarah

dgalati said:


> I wonder how much savings can be unlocked if the sunk cost of a "qualified purchase" is factored in?


It seems ridiculous to me (as an avowed non-VIP) that they don't throw this into an existing Founders-level (including PR) ownership without an additional purchase. Even the other levels, I mean, you can pretty much be sure retail owners have spent at least $10k with Wyndham already, which seems fair to get "up to" a modest percentage off some travel. But if I were a Founder or PR owner and they suggested I needed to make a new purchase to get this program, I'd laugh in their face.


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## raygo123

The hit "PERKS" 
TERRIFIED YOU 


NOW IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE

SON OF PERKS!"

"TRAVEL UP!"

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## CO skier

Eric B said:


> The second one includes the need for a "qualified purchase" to unlock the savings.


The second link shows up to 20% discount for a "Standard" tier ownership.  What does this mean?  Does "Standard" mean every owner who is not some level of VIP, or something else?

I recently received yet another invitation for Sidekick (at least they dropped the ruse about my Sidekick membership "is about to expire.") It used to be $59/year; no idea what it costs now. As an example of the Sidekick "savings" Papa Murphy's offers $4 savings per Family size pizza. I recently received a mailer for $4 off a Family Size Pizza (promo code C3084, if you want savings anybody can get).

Maybe I am offered "20% off" Travel Up as a resale owner, or not.  Does not matter to me because I am sure the same 20% (or more) discount could be found elsewhere at no additional cost and I would ignore the Travel Up offer just like I ignore the Sidekick offers.

If current VIPs are not automatically enrolled, or at least offered the opportunity to Travel Up for only $129 (or whatever) and no additional developer purchase, then that is just plain stupid on Wyndham's part.


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## Eric B

CO skier said:


> The second link shows up to 20% discount for a "Standard" tier ownership. What does this mean? Does "Standard" mean every owner who is not some level of VIP, or something else?



I would read "Standard" as being an owner that doesn't qualify for the VIP tiers or hasn't purchased subsequent to the TravelUp introduction to get it.  That flyer is specifically about hotel discounts and Wyndham owners already get up to 20% off participating Wyndham Hotels.

Get 20% off the Best Available Rate

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is a hotel industry giant with approximately 8,000 hotels and in over 80 countries. Whether you’re looking for an upscale hotel, an all-inclusive resort or something more cost-effective, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has the right property for you.
As a Club Wyndham owner, you’ll receive up to 20% off the Best Available Rate* at approximately 8,000 participating hotels worldwide.
To take advantage of this valuable discount, go to wyndhamhotels.com/clubwyn, or call 800-364-6176 and mention that you’re a Club Wyndham owner. Save up to 20% no matter which way you decide to book your vacation.





Terms and Conditions:
*Advanced reservations are required. Offer is subject to availability at participating hotels. Blackout dates and certain restrictions may apply. Stay must be booked as indicated above and proof of membership must be presented upon check-in. Offer cannot be combined with any other discounts, offers, group rates, or special promotions. Savings are discounted from property’s Best Available Rate excluding taxes, resorts/service fees, incidentals, gratuities, or additional per room, per night charges that may be imposed. Best Available Rate means best, non-qualified, unrestricted, publicly available rate on the internet for the hotel with equivalent terms, date and accommodations requested. Offer is subject to cancellation or change at any time and void where prohibited by law. ©2018 Wyndham Hotel Group, LLC. All rights reserved.



CO skier said:


> Maybe I am offered "20% off" Travel Up as a resale owner, or not. Does not matter to me because I am sure the same 20% (or more) discount could be found elsewhere at no additional cost



You are even without TravelUp, though that's limited to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts; whether you could get it elsewhere and how much the discount would be is the question.  For example, the terms and conditions make the discount based on publicly available rates, which would exclude rates you could get through a travel club you paid elsewhere for or something otherwise membership-based (e.g., Costco Travel).  The "up to" part is also a bit troublesome because a 1% discount would fit into "up to 20% off" (as well as it would fit into "up to 50% off").  The hotel discount part of it seems like you'd be getting a sieve full of water based on the terms and conditions for the existing one.



CO skier said:


> As an example of the Sidekick "savings" Papa Murphy's offers $4 savings per Family size pizza. I recently received a mailer for $4 off a Family Size Pizza (promo code C3084, if you want savings anybody can get).



That pretty much matches my experience with Sidekick.  I have a continuing membership as VIPG, but haven't ever actually used any of the savings I could get through it as I get enough mailers, etc., with the same deals.

Overall, I don't get the impression that TravelUp benefits match the value of the unlimited housekeeping folks used to get with VIP status.  I hope they aren't spending too much on it as I'd rather get things with real value out of spending any time at all in a sales presentation (i.e., the Wyndham Rewards or $200 debit cards) and there are limits to the sales budgets.


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## raygo123

Eric B said:


> I would read "Standard" as being an owner that doesn't qualify for the VIP tiers or hasn't purchased subsequent to the TravelUp introduction to get it. That flyer is specifically about hotel discounts and Wyndham owners already get up to 20% off participating Wyndham Hotels.
> 
> Get 20% off the Best Available Rate
> 
> Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is a hotel industry giant with approximately 8,000 hotels and in over 80 countries. Whether you’re looking for an upscale hotel, an all-inclusive resort or something more cost-effective, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has the right property for you.
> As a Club Wyndham owner, you’ll receive up to 20% off the Best Available Rate* at approximately 8,000 participating hotels worldwide.
> To take advantage of this valuable discount, go to wyn:20PercentoffBar:WVOOWNERBENEFIT:2018%7CProviderPage:NA:EN-US" target="_blank" class="link link--external" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">wyndhamhotels.com/clubwyn, or call 800-364-6176 and mention that you’re a Club Wyndham owner. Save up to 20% no matter which way you decide to book your vacation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Terms and Conditions:
> *Advanced reservations are required. Offer is subject to availability at participating hotels. Blackout dates and certain restrictions may apply. Stay must be booked as indicated above and proof of membership must be presented upon check-in. Offer cannot be combined with any other discounts, offers, group rates, or special promotions. Savings are discounted from property’s Best Available Rate excluding taxes, resorts/service fees, incidentals, gratuities, or additional per room, per night charges that may be imposed. Best Available Rate means best, non-qualified, unrestricted, publicly available rate on the internet for the hotel with equivalent terms, date and accommodations requested. Offer is subject to cancellation or change at any time and void where prohibited by law. 2018 Wyndham Hotel Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
> 
> 
> 
> You are even without TravelUp, though that's limited to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts; whether you could get it elsewhere and how much the discount would be is the question. For example, the terms and conditions make the discount based on publicly available rates, which would exclude rates you could get through a travel club you paid elsewhere for or something otherwise membership-based (e.g., Costco Travel). The "up to" part is also a bit troublesome because a 1% discount would fit into "up to 20% off" (as well as it would fit into "up to 50% off"). The hotel discount part of it seems like you'd be getting a sieve full of water based on the terms and conditions for the existing one.
> 
> 
> 
> That pretty much matches my experience with Sidekick. I have a continuing membership as VIPG, but haven't ever actually used any of the savings I could get through it as I get enough mailers, etc., with the same deals.
> 
> Overall, I don't get the impression that TravelUp benefits match the value of the unlimited housekeeping folks used to get with VIP status. I hope they aren't spending too much on it as I'd rather get things with real value out of spending any time at all in a sales presentation (i.e., the Wyndham Rewards or $200 debit cards) and there are limits to the sales budgets.


All they did was duplicate 7accross for owners. And 7accross is no more than trying to make DAE WORK. Which is a giant failure. And what a stupid name. Who associates 7accross with a glorified travel agency and timeshare exchange company.


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## raygo123

No one has ever said anything about this!.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	







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## raygo123

It's 7 accross.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




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## raygo123

It's the old "DAE"

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## Breezy52

Eric B said:


> There is a certain amount of truth to that, but you aren't really renting a private yacht when you exchange in RCI for a Tradewinds cruise.  Instead, what you are getting is a single cabin on a scheduled week of cruising on one of their yachts going out of a specific harbor.  There's a good thread on how Tradewinds works here:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TradeWinds Cruise Club/TradeWinds Experience
> 
> 
> Good afternoon TUGgers,  I know we have some Tradewinds Club Members here (@Sandy VDH , @klpca , @SciTchr , @RNCollins , to name a few) and I was hoping the information below could be clarified/corrected.   I am not actively looking for more timeshares, but I love boats and I am interested in...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> tugbbs.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sales had been pushing Festiva as a catamaran cruise thing through RCI before.  The flyer for that at least disclosed there were only 14 locations they sail out of and didn't give the impression they would take the boats anywhere.


Thank you ~ I’ll check out this link, very helpful ~ I love the phrase “certain amount of truth”


----------



## keno999

We just went to an update at TOTG in North Myrtle Beach today under the guise of getting signed up to something (made it sound like TravelUp) for nothing but would cost $ after 1 August.  The guy giving the "update" started going into really basic stuff like saying things like if you had CWS you could never book into CWA inventory since they changed it last November during the system update.  I told him I didn't think that was true and he got a little snotty.  He said he didn't know what the guy that signed us up for the update was talking about.  He also asked about when we book reservations and said we shouldn't worry about trying to book anything very far in advance because there was plenty of availability at any time.  I chudkled over that one and said that definitely wasn't true.  So, he said we were free to go.  They gave us a couple of RCI bonus weeks and a $100 tango card.


----------



## dgalati

bryjake said:


> * Speculation: No supporting evidence, just perception of the trends
> 
> I do foresee CW seeking to further distinguish resale from developer.  What leaves a bad taste is "new developer" purchase.  Continue to treat developer like the hamster on a spinning wheel (- 50 respect points), whereas they should be honoring developer points with more value added features.
> 
> Data is data, they should be able to distinguish resale contract points from developer contract points.  This could also potentially alter how VIP supplement discount power with resale contracts (Yet another arrow in the quiver I believe would be in the works as well)





dgalati said:


> This is a novel ideal. Elimination of this would free up much needed inventory for owners to book for personal use. Who would of guessed the elimination of GC's on busy holidays? Cancel and rebook  was also considered and sold as a benefit and VIP owners believed it was untouchable also.


You were spot on with this assumption! Now that Wyndham has eliminated resale points with VIP benefits how do you think this distinguishes a VIP package from resale.


----------



## dgalati

Eric B said:


> ... if that's something they really care about.  Several folks here have discussed with CW VPs at the annual meetings over the years and they do not perceive it truly as being an issue, although there is a frequent poster on TUG that has been on that soap box for a while.  My personal view on the matter is that this issue is just a tempest in a teapot for which the juice they could get out of squeezing it isn't worth the effort.
> 
> It might have made a difference in former iterations of their reservation system where people could book a desirable week at a desirable resort, then cancel and rebook the week in the discount/upgrade windows and recoup the points they had spent on the original booking at a low risk of losing the reservation, then turn around and rent it out.  That isn't the case anymore and any benefits available at the discount/upgrade windows for VIP owners are somewhat limited as to what resorts and units are available for short term bookings - there's usually plenty to be had for a VIP that is interested in doing so in lower demand periods for smaller units, but the prime cheap bookings in the higher seasons aren't really there.
> 
> The result of all this is that the discounts and upgrades that VIPs get for whatever points they use serve their purpose of acting as incentives to travel (or gift/rent travel) more in the lower demand times when there is excess capacity in Club Wyndham.  As you can see by looking at the deals for discounted points available to non-VIPs, there is still excess capacity in Club Wyndham that they want folks to use in the lower demand times.  Often, those discounts will overlap, which is fine.  It does seem like a win-win for Wyndham and the VIPs and other owners to have these incentives in place.
> 
> On the other hand, Wyndham did sell a lot of points to VIP owners under a program that granted them the additional privileges for use in booking and staying in the resorts on a personal basis rather than as a characteristic of or addendum to particular deeds/contracts that would vanish on resale.  They do have the right to modify the terms of the program and have done so on several occasions, but never to the extent of breaking the tie between the VIP status and the owners to establish a limitation like you are suggesting.  It would no doubt give them a fair degree of customer relations issues with the relatively few VIP owners of resale points - IMHO another effect could be raising the need for Wyndham to offer additional discount windows for the general owner population in order to incentivize booking the low demand capacity they are already incentivizing VIP resale point owners to use, which might be nice for non-VIP owners, but wouldn't be noticed by the majority and they would have upset a certain group of owners to no net gain for Wyndham.
> 
> It does remain possible that they could do what you (and he who will remain nameless) believe is something they should do in order to avoid having VIPs take advantage of low cost resale points.  I just don't see the upside for them doing that, myself, and do believe that they would likely grandfather existing VIP owners with resale points if they were to make such a change.  There could also be unintended consequences from doing something like that - currently Wyndham gets an extra 2 cents per 1,000 points for resale points in an account with developer points in it for participation in Plus Partners.  This is because those resale points are made eligible for Plus Partners based on being in those accounts - I've never used any of the benefits of that program nor have I heard of anyone doing so, but do chip in my 2 cents even on my resale points.  If they were to forbid me from using my resale points with VIP booking benefits, they would likely have to do the same for the Plus Partners benefits and that would cost them the skim for the unused benefits.


You were so off on your assumptions on what Wyndham felt the upside would be for eliminating the "LOOPHOLE"..


----------



## Ty1on

dgalati said:


> You were so off on your assumptions on what Wyndham felt the upside would be for eliminating the "LOOPHOLE"..



You lasted a half day without trolling.  Please don't get this and the other thread closed again.


----------



## dgalati

Ty1on said:


> You lasted a half day without trolling.  Please don't get this and the other thread closed again.


Stay on topic Richard.


----------



## Eric B

dgalati said:


> You were so off on your assumptions on what Wyndham felt the upside would be for eliminating the "LOOPHOLE"..



Bless your heart, Dominic.


----------



## kanerf

As a long term traveler I have top tier status in Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt and IHG.  I have lifetime top tier status in Hilton and Marriott.  I also have millions of hotel points to use and can get much better deals than this CW program on my own.  I have CW Gold, but will not be joining.


----------



## dgalati

Eric B said:


> Bless your heart, Dominic.


May the force be with you also Eric!


----------



## Mr. Phil

IT IS A BOOKING PLATFORM OUTSIDE OF THE SYSTEM.






						Club Wyndham Members
					

Online reservations at the guaranteed lowest rates!



					www.vacationclubbenefits.com
				





You can obtain more information from this website, the website of the platform:   https://www.resortrentals.com/


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## bnoble

"offers on hotels, cars, cruises and experiences."

There are lots of programs that do this. Most of them are worse than worthless, and it sounds a lot like most of Plus Partners.


----------



## chapjim

paxsarah said:


> It seems ridiculous to me (as an avowed non-VIP) that they don't throw this into an existing Founders-level (including PR) ownership without an additional purchase. Even the other levels, I mean, you can pretty much be sure retail owners have spent at least $10k with Wyndham already, which seems fair to get "up to" a modest percentage off some travel. But if I were a Founder or PR owner and they suggested I needed to make a new purchase to get this program, I'd laugh in their face.



Especially when I'm in the process of selling off about 2.75 million points.  Fortunately, we never are asked to attend an update or whatever they call it.


----------



## John_and_Val

Does anyone actually have access to the website for this (Travel Up)? Only way to find out if this thing has any true benefits is to find someone who has purchased points recently, and recieved the login information.


----------



## jerrybev

bloom58 said:


> My wife and I attended an owner update in Nashville on Monday June 7th and as an existing owner we had to buy 64k points to have access to Travel Up. The potential savings seemed inflated and were said to be discounts from full retail so the actual savings vs what you could likely get on the open market would of course be less than what they are advertising.  We were also told we had this one time chance to get Travel Up and the program will close in Sep of this year.  Meaning we will never get another chance to get it.  Especially after Sept.  Of course we didn’t believe that either.  We were told we could cruise at 75% off.  If we would have had more time we would like to have had them look up the price of equivalent cabins for two cruises we already have booked just for comparison.  But we were ready to leave.


hi
one can go to www.vacationstogo.com and book cruises 75-80% below  cruise companies listed prices.
jerry


----------



## Vegasgirl

John_and_Val said:


> Does anyone actually have access to the website for this (Travel Up)? Only way to find out if this thing has any true benefits is to find someone who has purchased points recently, and recieved the login information.


I have access at the silver level. Cruises and rental cars have the biggest discount and definitely bigger than online through Expedia etc. I booked a hotel in New York City cheaper than by brother could through his Hilton employee benefits. I think it’s worth it if you’re spending a lot of money outside of Wyndham. Like everything, it’s not saving if you weren’t going to spend it anyway.


----------



## chapjim

Breezy52 said:


> Thank you ~ I’ll check out this link, very helpful ~ I love the phrase “certain amount of truth”



“Certain amount of truth” is the norm for Wyndham's "updates"-- 5% truth, 95% embellishment/nonsense/untruth.


----------



## HitchHiker71

Vegasgirl said:


> I have access at the silver level. Cruises and rental cars have the biggest discount and definitely bigger than online through Expedia etc. I booked a hotel in New York City cheaper than by brother could through his Hilton employee benefits. I think it’s worth it if you’re spending a lot of money outside of Wyndham. Like everything, it’s not saving if you weren’t going to spend it anyway.



Thanks for this positive feedback @Vegasgirl.  This is the type of feedback that we haven't really been able to get here on TUG.  If it's not too much to ask - would it be possible to post a couple of screenshots/examples where you can show the Expedia (Etc.) pricing vs the TravelUp pricing for the same cruise/rental cars/flight pricing?  We are simply trying to get a better sense of the discounts people are seeing at different levels.  So for example, you are VIPS, hopefully over time we get a few VIPG/VIPP/VIPFs who make a retail purchase and get TravelUp at that point and can then share their pricing examples for comparison sake.


----------



## Vegasgirl

HitchHiker71 said:


> Thanks for this positive feedback @Vegasgirl.  This is the type of feedback that we haven't really been able to get here on TUG.  If it's not too much to ask - would it be possible to post of couple of screenshots/examples where you can show the Expedia (Etc.) pricing vs the TravelUp pricing for the same cruise/rental cars/flight pricing?  We are simply trying to get a better sense of the discounts people are seeing at different levels.  So for example, you are VIPS, hopefully over time we get a few VIPG/VIPP/VIPFs who make a retail purchase and get TravelUp at that point and can then share their pricing examples for comparison sake.





HitchHiker71 said:


> Thanks for this positive feedback @Vegasgirl.  This is the type of feedback that we haven't really been able to get here on TUG.  If it's not too much to ask - would it be possible to post of couple of screenshots/examples where you can show the Expedia (Etc.) pricing vs the TravelUp pricing for the same cruise/rental cars/flight pricing?  We are simply trying to get a better sense of the discounts people are seeing at different levels.  So for example, you are VIPS, hopefully over time we get a few VIPG/VIPP/VIPFs who make a retail purchase and get TravelUp at that point and can then share their pricing examples for comparison sake.


I tried to upload pic but it’s saying the file size is too large. I’m not tech savvy enough.
 For an example I picked a hotel in nyc and on a random Sunday. A hotel that was $795 on priceline was $548 on travel up (31% savings) I saw some people comment that it’s like last call. It’s not. They have Disney and high end hotels. The higher end the hotel or cruise. The bigger the savings seems to be. The activities savings is not much and they told me that airfare was discounted. But I have yet to see any.


----------



## Mr. Phil

Vegasgirl said:


> I have access at the silver level. Cruises and rental cars have the biggest discount and definitely bigger than online through Expedia etc. I booked a hotel in New York City cheaper than by brother could through his Hilton employee benefits. I think it’s worth it if you’re spending a lot of money outside of Wyndham. Like everything, it’s not saving if you weren’t going to spend it anyway.


This is ONLY available for new owners or new purchases.


----------



## Jan M.

You can pay to join Travel Up on your own, no need to make a developer purchase.

On Priceline I've used coupon codes from Retail Me Not that got me more off the Express Deals. I also got a really good deal for a several night stay using their pricebreaker option. They also have VIP deals too. Hotels.com, Hotwire or any of the other sites I checked could do better than the prices I got on Priceline.


----------



## HitchHiker71

Jan M. said:


> You can pay to join Travel Up on your own, no need to make a developer purchase.
> 
> On Priceline I've used coupon codes from Retail Me Not that got me more off the Express Deals. I also got a really good deal for a several night stay using their pricebreaker option. They also have VIP deals too. Hotels.com, Hotwire or any of the other sites I checked could do better than the prices I got on Priceline.



How do you join TravelUp on your own without making a developer purchase?  Here's the two links that I'm aware of for the Wyndham TravelUp timeshare owner benefit:






						Club Wyndham Members
					

Online reservations at the guaranteed lowest rates!



					vacationclubbenefits.com
				






			https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/deals-and-offers/owner-exclusives/club-wyndham-travel/travel-up
		


The first link requires a separate login that I have not been able to obtain yet.  The second link clearly indicates that a "qualifying purchase" is required (screenshot below for reference).  What is meant by a qualifying purchase specifically?  My general understanding is that a developer purchase is required - but I'd love to be wrong here if there's a simpler annual subscription cost for example, for existing owners...


----------



## Jan M.

HitchHiker71 said:


> How do you join TravelUp on your own without making a developer purchase?  Here's the two links that I'm aware of for the Wyndham TravelUp timeshare owner benefit:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Club Wyndham Members
> 
> 
> Online reservations at the guaranteed lowest rates!
> 
> 
> 
> vacationclubbenefits.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/deals-and-offers/owner-exclusives/club-wyndham-travel/travel-up
> 
> 
> 
> The first link requires a separate login that I have not been able to obtain yet.  The second link clearly indicates that a "qualifying purchase" is required (screenshot below for reference).  What is meant by a qualifying purchase specifically?  My general understanding is that a developer purchase is required - but I'd love to be wrong here if there's a simpler annual subscription cost for example, for existing owners...
> 
> View attachment 49365


 
From what other people posted you can join Travel Up directly. I got the impression that it wasn't through Wyndham. I think they said there was a six months trial membership offered and then you paid monthly.


----------



## Jan M.

I just Googled Travel Up and went through the all but the final steps of booking a flight. It never told me I had to be a member. However the price of the flight was what I'd seen in looking at the airlines websites. Do you get a better price if you're a member?


----------



## HitchHiker71

Jan M. said:


> I just Googled Travel Up and went through the all but the final steps of booking a flight. It never told me I had to be a member. However the price of the flight was what I'd seen in looking at the airlines websites. Do you get a better price if you're a member?



That's exactly the question we cannot seem to get an answer to LOL.  We need documented side by side comparisons of the public site vs the Wyndham ownership benefit.  Haven't been able to generate these side by side comparisons yet unfortunately.


----------



## paxsarah

Jan M. said:


> I just Googled Travel Up and went through the all but the final steps of booking a flight. It never told me I had to be a member. However the price of the flight was what I'd seen in looking at the airlines websites. Do you get a better price if you're a member?


If you went here (https://www.travelup.com/en-us) I’m pretty sure that’s completely unrelated.


----------



## Jan M.

paxsarah said:


> If you went here (https://www.travelup.com/en-us) I’m pretty sure that’s completely unrelated.



How likely is it that there would be more than one with the same name? Known businesses are usually protective of their name.

I did notice there's a log in. That's why I thought there could be different pricings. Member and non-member.


----------



## Jan M.

Jan M. said:


> From what other people posted you can join Travel Up directly. I got the impression that it wasn't through Wyndham. I think they said there was a six months trial membership offered and then you paid monthly.



I wonder if the trial membership I saw OP talking about was to Travel and Leisure. If that was the case I can see how people would get confused.


----------



## CO skier

HitchHiker71 said:


> How do you join TravelUp on your own without making a developer purchase?


While not called "TravelUp" the "Travel and Leisure Club" (and I am guessing Wyndham now owns as part of its purchase of Travel + Leisure) sounds a lot like the TravelUp program.

Free 30 day trial, $14.95/month after that, cancel anytime.






						Travel + Leisure GO
					

Online reservations at the guaranteed lowest rates!



					www.clubtravelandleisure.com
				




And what a weird coincidence.  The link description "Online reservations at the guaranteed lowest rates!" in TUG post #61 above is exactly the same



HitchHiker71 said:


> Club Wyndham Members
> 
> 
> Online reservations at the guaranteed lowest rates!
> 
> 
> 
> vacationclubbenefits.com


----------



## paxsarah

Jan M. said:


> How likely is it that there would be more than one with the same name? Known businesses are usually protective of their name.
> 
> I did notice there's a log in. That's why I thought there could be different pricings. Member and non-member.


Well, its domain was first registered in 2003, its Twitter was created in 2011, and it’s based in the UK, so I’m still guessing unrelated.


----------



## magmue

@HitchHiker71, re: "_Existing owners can make a qualifying purchase to enroll and new owners get automatic TravelUP enrollment._" on the webpage screenshot you posted above, DH and I converted our Kauai Beach Villas unit to Wyndham when we were there in January, and had to make a smallish developer purchase as part of the contract. Our first "use year" starts 4/1/22, so I think we qualify as new owners. 

I just filled out their form , so that a "representative will contact you to discuss enrollment". I'll be interested to hear what they have to say.


----------



## magmue

Well, I know a little more, but not much. Somehow I got routed to Worldmark who also offers Travel Up - not a surprise I guess. We have owned WM for several years, and the Wyndham is recent enough that we don't have points in our use-year bucket yet. The nice WM lady called me back promptly because the message she was given was that I wanted to inquire about upgrades. Ummm, No. She advised me to call the main Wyndham # (800-251-8736) to find out about Travel Up.

After about 30" on hold (your approximate wait time is... 7 minutes x 4), I got to speak to a live person at Club Wyndham. After another 15" on hold while she looked for an answer, she came back to say confidently yes we were eligible, having purchased since June 2021, and that "_it might take up to 45 business days from purchase to activate_". But 45 business days = 7 weeks, and we signed the contract on January 4, which is more than 10 weeks ago. Long pause. "_Well, expect a Welcome email by next week, with your user name and information on how to access_". And if the email doesn't come? I have to call back, to 888-318-8280, which is the help # on Club Wyndham's Travel Up sign-in page.


----------



## vlannin

In February, I was persuaded to buy more points with Wyndham so I could join TravelUp and I would always be paying less, usually much less. Since then I have tried to use the website many times and NEVER found a better deal. Not only did a simple Google search find better prices at the same hotel, but there were more options for room-types and refundable bookings on other sites. Even for Wyndham hotels - today on Expedia I could get king sized or one bedroom suites at a Wingate, and only queen sized regular rooms were available on TravelUp. Additionally, most rooms on TravelUp are non-refundable, you need to dig deep and look at the fine print to find fully refundable rooms, if you can find them at all. The same holds true for airline searches. Less options pop up on TravelUp than on other sites. I keep comparing to find a better deal and it has yet to happen. The one hotel reservation I did book on TravelUp was overbooked when I arrived. They made me go to a different location of one of their hotels. It was 15 miles further away, and I needed to pay for my own Uber to get there. Lastly, the website is much more difficult to use to search near landmarks and preferred amenities as compared to other travel websites. FYI-I am a Founders member. While it was not an expectation of mine to have that be helpful, it's obvious that it truly didn't matter.


----------



## Mr. Phil

vlannin said:


> In February, I was persuaded to buy more points with Wyndham so I could join TravelUp and I would always be paying less, usually much less. Since then I have tried to use the website many times and NEVER found a better deal. Not only did a simple Google search find better prices at the same hotel, but there were more options for room-types and refundable bookings on other sites. Even for Wyndham hotels - today on Expedia I could get king sized or one bedroom suites at a Wingate, and only queen sized regular rooms were available on TravelUp. Additionally, most rooms on TravelUp are non-refundable, you need to dig deep and look at the fine print to find fully refundable rooms, if you can find them at all. The same holds true for airline searches. Less options pop up on TravelUp than on other sites. I keep comparing to find a better deal and it has yet to happen. The one hotel reservation I did book on TravelUp was overbooked when I arrived. They made me go to a different location of one of their hotels. It was 15 miles further away, and I needed to pay for my own Uber to get there. Lastly, the website is much more difficult to use to search near landmarks and preferred amenities as compared to other travel websites. FYI-I am a Founders member. While it was not an expectation of mine to have that be helpful, it's obvious that it truly didn't matter.



I looked into this program several times. Never found it to be a good option, especially with requiring to buy more "points". I have found using my college alumni association benefits website, gave me the best discounts, other than airfare. I believe TravelUp threads should die on the vine.


----------



## HitchHiker71

vlannin said:


> In February, I was persuaded to buy more points with Wyndham so I could join TravelUp and I would always be paying less, usually much less. Since then I have tried to use the website many times and NEVER found a better deal. Not only did a simple Google search find better prices at the same hotel, but there were more options for room-types and refundable bookings on other sites. Even for Wyndham hotels - today on Expedia I could get king sized or one bedroom suites at a Wingate, and only queen sized regular rooms were available on TravelUp. Additionally, most rooms on TravelUp are non-refundable, you need to dig deep and look at the fine print to find fully refundable rooms, if you can find them at all. The same holds true for airline searches. Less options pop up on TravelUp than on other sites. I keep comparing to find a better deal and it has yet to happen. The one hotel reservation I did book on TravelUp was overbooked when I arrived. They made me go to a different location of one of their hotels. It was 15 miles further away, and I needed to pay for my own Uber to get there. Lastly, the website is much more difficult to use to search near landmarks and preferred amenities as compared to other travel websites. FYI-I am a Founders member. While it was not an expectation of mine to have that be helpful, it's obvious that it truly didn't matter.



Thanks for sharing this information.  As a VIPF level member - according to Wyndham - you should be receiving the maximum savings benefit when using TravelUp.  The fact that you aren't receiving additional discounts compared to other public travel websites - is not encouraging based upon the claims.  Wyndham needs to do better.


----------



## Eric B

To me, the TravelUp benefit seems on a par with Vacation Sidekick - essentially just providing your contact information to other vendors to try to sell travel or other items for prices they offer to the public through various other means.  I don't get the impression that Wyndham has any further involvement in either and doesn't contribute anything to the costs of purchases through those third party vendors, so I have a great deal of difficulty seeing what would motivate them (the third party vendors) to provide discounts of "up to 60%" off of the costs for airline tickets, etc.  Wyndham might be able to get a third party vendor to do that initially by paying a membership cost or some other surrogate that has the effect of covering the discounts, but on an ongoing basis it doesn't make much sense.  Bottom line for me is that if I can't understand what's in it for the vendor, it is quite unlikely to work out on an ongoing basis.


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## The Canadian

I just went to a presentation on Travelup, and it was sold as a way to potentially double my points. Also, Wyndham representative said I could get deep discounts on my bookings up to 10 months out. Did anyone ever hear of this? With my current ownership, I can get discounted bookings within 2 months, but availability is very very limited. Is there a Wyndham ownership that get discounts up to 10 months before? Or is it just another sales scam?


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## bnoble

The Canadian said:


> Is there a Wyndham ownership that get discounts up to 10 months before?


My general take on any "aspirational discounts"--until an owner actually tells me they exist, I don't believe anything the sales agent says.

But, suppose there is. Would it be worth spending additional tens of thousands of dollars for points you may not even need? How many discounts would you need to justify it?


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## The Canadian

bnoble said:


> My general take on any "aspirational discounts"--until an owner actually tells me they exist, I don't believe anything the sales agent says.
> 
> But, suppose there is. Would it be worth spending additional tens of thousands of dollars for points you may not even need? How many discounts would you need to justify it?


Good point, didn’t believe him, then he moved on trying to save me money by taking some of my points back in a massive refinance deal. He could save me $hundreds/month, but failed to mention that my term will extend to an additional 10 years! At that point I walked out.


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## HitchHiker71

The Canadian said:


> I just went to a presentation on Travelup, and it was sold as a way to potentially double my points. Also, Wyndham representative said I could get deep discounts on my bookings up to 10 months out. Did anyone ever hear of this? With my current ownership, I can get discounted bookings within 2 months, but availability is very very limited. Is there a Wyndham ownership that get discounts up to 10 months before? Or is it just another sales scam?



I've heard a similar sales tactic when I attended an update at OTA last year.  I pushed them to explain how this was possible (knowing full well it isn't possible).  Bottom line this is one of those half-truths whereby what they're referring to is using TravelUp to book into Wyndham timeshare resorts "at a discount" similar to your discount window points discounts.  The false premise is that you can use timeshare points when using TravelUp - which is not true.  They are saying you'd receive the same discount level off MSRP for the rooms as you would using your points - but based upon what we've seen from anecdotal posts - any/all discounts through TravelUp aren't measuring up to the hype.


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## WManning

vlannin said:


> In February, I was persuaded to buy more points with Wyndham so I could join TravelUp and I would always be paying less, usually much less. Since then I have tried to use the website many times and NEVER found a better deal. Not only did a simple Google search find better prices at the same hotel, but there were more options for room-types and refundable bookings on other sites. Even for Wyndham hotels - today on Expedia I could get king sized or one bedroom suites at a Wingate, and only queen sized regular rooms were available on TravelUp.





HitchHiker71 said:


> I've heard a similar sales tactic when I attended an update at OTA last year.  I pushed them to explain how this was possible (knowing full well it isn't possible).  Bottom line this is one of those half-truths whereby what they're referring to is using TravelUp to book into Wyndham timeshare resorts "at a discount" similar to your discount window points discounts.  The false premise is that you can use timeshare points when using TravelUp - which is not true.  They are saying you'd receive the same discount level off MSRP for the rooms as you would using your points - but based upon what we've seen from anecdotal posts - any/all discounts through TravelUp aren't measuring up to the hype.


Travelup sounds like another tool sales can use to fool. Like most of the sales presentations its up to buyer not be fooled into believing the numbers will lower any costs!


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## jphilcici

I am a Founders / Presidential owner.  What is my cost to join Travel Up?


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## Eric B

jphilcici said:


> I am a Founders / Presidential owner.  What is my cost to join Travel Up?



My understanding is that it would require a purchase of additional points.  Based on the experiences posted above, the return on investment time frame for that cost based on the value received through TravelUp is from here to eternity.


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## T-Dot-Traveller

Eric B said:


> ..........."from here to eternity.


The movie seems to have a better cast & value than the Wyndham Travel Up program ......

The Movie - From Here to Eternity  (1953) 
Frank Sinatra - Ernest Borgnine - Donna Reed - Deborah Kerr
 Burt Lancaster -Montgomery Clift -Jack Warden -James Jones


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## where3

Let me share my horrible experiences on Travel Up program.
I paid additional  64000 points/yearly to purchase this Travel UP program, because the sale told me that Travel UP program  can get 75% - 80% off on cruise and the hotel booking 60%-70% off, air flight and car rent get at least 30% -40% off, I paid huge money, but they don't allow me access after 45 days late. After I finally login the website after 45 days late, I searched hotel and try booking cruise and air ticket etc, they are no discount like Wyndham sales promised , . The price came out more expensive than the regular free traveling agent website, such as “Hotwire.com” “Travelocity “or Expedia etc. I can’t believe the facts , and also tried to book the different cities, country and other travel location, all came the same result, not much discount at the first place.. some of them are more expensive than regulars booking website. 

The cancelation date listed in the new contract only 5 days and the product we purchased TravelUp didn't allow us access after 45 days late, which was passed the 40 days cancelation in my contract. Why ? If we had access to TracelUP after we signed the contract 2-3 days and found out  this cheating  program, we had the chance to cancel this contract within their required date..

I opened the dispute case with Wyndham, they refuse to resolve the issue, I opened complaint to BBB , they still refuse to resolve my complain, the link as below you can get the detail info 
https://orlando.app.bbb.org/complaint/view/90313905/c/y6v27c. .


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## where3

I just want share my horrible experiences to the public and have more people know how Wyndham used their high-pressure sales tactics to have people trapped you in to buy their useless product. Such as Travel UP program and how they purposed to delay you access Travel UP program until you missed your contract cancelation date
The worst thing is the product they offered is the nothing, I provided all the detail comparison proofs with other free booking website in US, they are no different, some of booking more expensive , after I purchased it, I never use this Travel UP program, because all booking from this website expensive than regular free website . I don't understand why Wyndham can still run the business. I got the lessons this time, so I shared my lesson to everyone, please leave away from this Program. no worthy to pay your  money to buy this no make sense program. !!!


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## where3

Below is their presentation  how much discount you can get, I also provide an example of search result for hotel, they are the similar price with other free booking website, some of  results are worst  whenever where you are going , what time you are booking.


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## jjking42

Went to update at grand desert today. They are trying to sell access to “travel up” claiming that it would reduce my annual MF fee and give me 64k points that would book a lot more weeks than my current points because of discounted points needed to book the same week. 

When I asked for copies of points charts showing the new lower point requirements I was told they don’t use printed paper anymore and it’s all on the website. I told them that my experience is the best use of Wyndham points is booking Wyndham resorts and I was a happy owner not needing any more points. When he found out I also owned Hyatt and vistana he briefly mentioned pic . 

They would have been much better off using their old way of trying to sell me more points to get vip status than promoting the travel up as the reason to buy. 

We were out in 56 minutes and got a 100.00 Amex card 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Eric B

Hyatt and Vistana both have point systems and are predominantly not in RCI, so wouldn’t be good PIC candidates.

They tried a similar approach on a sales pitch to us earlier this year based on using Wyndham Rewards points to book Club Wyndham resorts. Gave me a laugh because they typically aren’t available through that booking method or cost much more overall then just booking directly.


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