# Worldmark Fees?



## Hanburger (Aug 22, 2010)

Hi everyone, 

(I messed up the title of the thread. Sorry. I cannot seem to edit it)

I have been reading TUG pretty religiously for the past 2-3 months and preparing myself for finally making the first TS purchase. I have a family of four, but we often invite extended family members in our vacations.

I like both Worldmark and Marriott. Since WM has a lot of resorts in the west, (I am in California) and offers a lot of flexibility in its point system, I am leaning toward WM... at least for the time being. I will probably study for a few more months before pulling the trigger later this year.

Having said that, I am interested in hearing from current WM owners:

1. With the point system, I understand I don't have to join an exchange company. I plan to initially go to WM resorts exclusively until I want to venture out to other companys' resorts... Do a lot of WM owners belong in an exchange company? If so, which one (RCI vs. II) and why? 
2. Several WM resorts in California seems to have the entire calendar year as red week. Examples are San Diego, Monterey, & Oceanside. Does that means those resorts are highly occupied throughout the year and my chance of booking a bonus week there is pretty slim?
3. Saving current year's unused credits for future: Does WM charge a fee for this?
4. I'd appreciate if you share anything else you feel I should know 

Thank you all!


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## Skinnygrl (Aug 22, 2010)

Just curious, what is the difference between Worldmark and Wyndham Vacations?  Can both be converted to RCI?  Thanks for any clarification!


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## Icc5 (Aug 22, 2010)

*Bonus Time*

We belong to RCI but already had them for some of our other timeshares.
We have used bonus time in San Diego twice in the past.  We also used it at Dolphins Cove near Disney before.  The rest of the bonus time we have used was in Nor. Cal. where we live.
We tend to use our time every year but if I remember correctly you have two years to book your points and three years to use it.  
We belong to several differrent systems so hard to remember which for which.
Bart


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## cotraveller (Aug 22, 2010)

Hanburger said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> 1. With the point system, I understand I don't have to join an exchange company. I plan to initially go to WM resorts exclusively until I want to venture out to other companys' resorts... Do a lot of WM owners belong in an exchange company? If so, which one (RCI vs. II) and why?
> 2. Several WM resorts in California seems to have the entire calendar year as red week. Examples are San Diego, Monterey, & Oceanside. Does that means those resorts are highly occupied throughout the year and my chance of booking a bonus week there is pretty slim?
> ...



1. There is no requirement for a WorldMark owner to join an exchange company.  You can book any WorldMark resort directly, no exchange is required.  That said, we belong to both RCI and II.  We use the Extra Vacations (RCI) and Getaways (II) more than doing exchanges.  The exchange company Instant Exchange/Flexchange feature gives you the possibility of booking a week for 4,000 credits, a significant reduction from the normal requirement.  You can only book 45/60 days in advance to use that feature which means you may or may not find anything for exchange.

2.  We seldom go to California so I won't comment on the specific resorts you mentioned, but in general the popularity of the resort is not necessarily related to the season definitions.  For example, Las Vegas is red season year round but it is not uncommon to be able to book Bonus Time there.

3. There is no fee for carrying credits forward.  WorldMark credits have a two year life for booking and carry over automatically.

4.  In terms of fees, WorldMark has few fees other than the annual maintenance fees.  There are housekeeping fees if you go over your annual allotment which is based on your account size.  There is also a fee for in room internet access unless have TravelShare.  There might be a few others that I can't think of off the top of my head. There is a TOT (tax) at some resorts but that is set by the local governments, not WorldMark.

You can download the Owner Education handbook from the WorldMark web site.  It explains many of the booking rules and restrictions.  They have had a message that the booklet is being updated for some time now, but the older version is still available there.  https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/education/


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## Rent_Share (Aug 22, 2010)

Hanburger said:


> Hi
> 
> 1. With the point system, I understand I don't have to join an exchange company. I plan to initially go to WM resorts exclusively until I want to venture out to other companys' resorts... Do a lot of WM owners belong in an exchange company? If so, which one (RCI vs. II) and why?
> 
> ...


 

My responses


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## sue1947 (Aug 22, 2010)

Your best source of unbiased information on worldmark ownership is at www.wmowners.com.   Check it out and you will find most of your questions answered along with quite a few you didn't think about....

Sue


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## LLW (Aug 23, 2010)

Skinnygrl said:


> Just curious, what is the difference between Worldmark and Wyndham Vacations?  Can both be converted to RCI?  Thanks for any clarification!


They are 2 completely separate systems. Worldmark was sold formerly by Trendwest, now known as Wyndham. Wyn VR was formerly Fairfield. Some major differences are:
1. WM resorts are mainly in the West, and WVR in the East and Midwest.
2. WM does not have home resorts, WVR does.
3. WM owners own WM the Club. Wyn is just the developer and manager. 
4. WVR has a lot more fees and restrictions than WM.
5. Generally, WM costs more to buy and less ongoing maintenance fees.

On their promotional literature, WM and WVR share a lot of common resorts. But inventory of those is usually limited to 2 units, for hundreds of thousands of owners. If you want access to WM resorts, buy WM, and vice versa.


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## LLW (Aug 23, 2010)

Hanburger said:


> 2. Several WM resorts in California seems to have the entire calendar year as red week. Examples are San Diego, Monterey, & Oceanside. Does that means those resorts are highly occupied throughout the year and my chance of booking a bonus week there is pretty slim?



San Diego has 3 WM resorts, with different credit requirements. The lower-credit resorts tend to be more booked up than the higher ones. Credits required for each resort may be found here:
https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/resorts/

WM has a very liberal cancellation policy, therefore cancellations are very common, and last-minute bookings quite possible if you get on the (good) waitlist system, or are very diligent in searching for bonus time. BT is limited to 4 nights, as previously mentioned, but if you have 2 accounts, you may have up to 8 nights - you would pay about $140 more, annually, in account charge.


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## cotraveller (Aug 23, 2010)

For clarification, the wait list can not be used for Bonus Time.  At 14 days or less before check in there is no wait list.  Bonus Time can be booked a maximum of 14 days before check in, hence no Bonus TIme wait list.

Other opportunities for cash reservatons exist.  

Inventory Specials are available at selected resorts which are announced online and in the Destinations Magazine.  Inventory Specials are typically at resorts and time periods that are not expected to have heavy booking.  In the summer you will find very few if any Inventory Specials.  Off season there will be multiple resorts available.  Inventory Specials can be booked for any duration and can be booked up to 60 days in advance of check in.  They are booked at the same rate as Bonus TIme. 

The Vacation Stimulus Plan allows booking any resort for cash at 8 cents per credit.  Reservations can be made up to 13 months before check in.  The Vacation Stimulus plan is currently scheduled to end on November 30.  

There is also the Monday Madness program which allows booking of select resorts at 6 cents per credit.  The resorts offered change every Monday and are announced on the WorldMark web site.  Typically there are 2 or 3 resorts available for Monday Madness booking. Those reservations can be booked up to 11 months in advance.

Both the Vacation Stimulus Plan and Monday Madness are developer programs and may end at any time.  There is no guarantee of how long they will exist.


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