# Wyndham OR WorldMark OR both?



## Holiztic (Mar 31, 2011)

Hello all,

I am a super newbie to both TUG BBS and timesharing in general.  A few weeks ago I was researching renting a unit at Bonnet Creek and that led to looking at timeshares (resales on ebay and elsewhere) and that led to TUG.  I am in very early planning phase, something I LOVE to do.  We likely won't move on anything for 6-12 months (if at all), which I understand is the recommended protocol around here.

I have learned SO much in my research so far, I've actually been researching about 5 hours a day (I can get obsessive!) here, on several WorldMark sites, and just anything I turn up.

So this is what we want out of timesharing, at least for the first 10 years or so:

Several options that we can drive to for long weekends (3-4 nights). We live in Maryland, so that is where Wyndham comes into play.  I especially love the thought of 2 long weekends per year at Old Town Alexandria. We are in a suburb but really love city life in little bits here and there.  I used to work in Old Town and loved it there! We could also drive to Williamsburg (where we went to college), the Poconos, and Atlantic City. I foresee us choosing one of those per year for 4 nights, high season (not prime) weekday, likely.

BUT what we really want is a nice week-long (airplane ride) somewhat-luxury (4 star) vacation each year.  We'd change it up every year, but if we found somewhere we loved might go back every 2-3 years. Interest right now is Orlando (Bonnet Creek esp--but that could change as we tire of Disney, so I don't see it as a reason to go all Wyndham) HI, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, NM, Mexico--All Inclusive?, Canada, and NYC which we would drive to).  We'd also consider saving up a year and renting credits for an bigger international trip (exotic or European). Actually, if money were no issue we'd travel to Europe and South/Central America extensively, as it is I see this kind of trip every 4-5 years at best.

We are NOT tied to the school schedule and my husband's job is pretty flexible as to short notice and flexible seasons (but he can't take more than 2 weeks or so off total in the year, so we don't need lots of points) Weather is our main concern with blue/quiet season--and we don't like feeling alone at a resort, we'd mostly travel white/high/value---rarely prime/red or blue/quiet.

This is where WorldMark comes in, we want highest trading power for lowest M/F cost. I understand WM is second to none there. But we'd likely only use WM resorts every third year at best, trading way more than 50% of the time.

So I was thinking about a small package of WM credits for trading, using every avenue for deals in stretching those credits as we can find--say 7,000 credits.

Then adding on 154k in Wyndham points for our local stays (within Wyndham). The biggest concern I have in this area is that we'd want the 13 month advantage at Old Town (I think), but OT points are too expensive (I am even speaking of resale).  Will these likely come down in the coming 12-18 months?  If we choose a different home resort, how hard will it be to get white season long weekends at OT in the 10 month window? Also, regardless of the 3 month difference, being local and using it for long weekends, we might just want to do last minute stays, is this a reasonable expectation at OT in the high but not prime season (late spring and early fall)?

What if we were to do all WM, how would that work for trading into mid-Atlantic Wyndham in the high but not prime season?  And what timeframe do I get, say, using WM points through RCI and booking at Old Town? Does my last minute (say 7-14 days out) chance of booking change at OT whether I am using Wyndham points or using WM credits through RCI?

I don't want to go all Wyndham because we want that trading power for once yearly 4 star stays in a variety of places (again, willing to try all the tricks to get this on 7,000 or so points.)

So.... Which will work better for us: Small package of each OR all WM and trade into Wyndham a few times a year for short trips? Or something else I haven't thought of?

Thanks for anyone that got through all of that, I so appreciate having such a great resource as you all!


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## mstoyanov (Apr 1, 2011)

I will say both. I am also on the East Coast and own both - Wyndham for the internal resorts and WorldMark as a trader. The only way to recommend only one is if you have very limited vacation time and can not get a week long vacation. Also since you are not really set on a specific place/resort trading should work easy for you - there are so many nice places that I traded into with WorldMark.  Add to that ability to rent unlimited amount of credits from others for approximately the cost of MFs makes even a small WorldMark account great ownership. 



Holiztic said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I am a super newbie to both TUG BBS and timesharing in general.  A few weeks ago I was researching renting a unit at Bonnet Creek and that led to looking at timeshares (resales on ebay and elsewhere) and that led to TUG.  I am in very early planning phase, something I LOVE to do.  We likely won't move on anything for 6-12 months (if at all), which I understand is the recommended protocol around here.
> 
> ...


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## kaio (Apr 6, 2011)

Not alot of extra advise to give you except this... When it comes time to wanting to get rid of these timeshares.. Wyndham might possibly be a hassle to find a buyer; however, Worldmark has a very large market for buyers, and they usually pay in the thousands + any fees associated with the transfer in the resale market.

edit: +1 on Worldmark having cheap MFs... Wyndham MFs i think the home resort has some relevance along with # of points, but a good wyndham Mf is the ratio of total MF per usage over per thousand points of contract that is in between 5-7 (example 77000 points for $500. annual.. would be 500/77 = 6.49 ... not to say thats great, but just an example...etc)... as I think Wyndham charges $8 per thousand points if you were to buy points to make a reservation if I am not mistaken...


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