# Club Access Points



## claire_ont (Mar 3, 2013)

I am relatively new to the boards.  I joined after I bought a 308K discovery package at a sales presentation.  I know.... However, I got off reasonably cheaply and am looking forward to the vacations I have planned with those points.

I have been tracking points on ebay, and wondering about Club Access points.  I would like to be able to stay at a number of different resorts - though winter trips are always south to get away from the snow.  The concept of having ARP at multiple resorts appeals to me, especially BC as we do Disney a lot.   We currently own DVC points but i am looking for a cheaper way of extending our stays in Florida instead of buying more DVC.  Even at resale prices DVC is expensive.

What are the disadvantages to Club Access?  Are the number of rooms available limited at each resort for club access members?  Are they difficult to get at 13 months?  We would mostly be looking at 1 bdrms.

Also how bad is the sales pressure for each trip to BC?  Am I going to hate going there because I dread having to sit through a sales pitch?  Can I just say no and get it over with?  Is there sales pressure at all Wyndham resorts?

Thanks for any info in advance 

Claire


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## Rent_Share (Mar 3, 2013)

All Wyndham brands send you to a resort host to pick up you phony parking pass so they can try to CONvince you to attend a sales presentation, while pretending to be a concierge service. You are not obligated to attend so just say no. 

I will defer to the WVO folks to answer most of your questions, I have researched the CWA program so I am somewhat familiar with one of the deceptions.

Although there is a list of many resorts that the 13 month ARP is supposed to extend to, there has to be CWA inventory to book, In other Words a CWA Points membership only gives your ARP to CWA inventory only, not WVO inventory until the 10 month mark.


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## ronparise (Mar 3, 2013)

Last question first...and if you bought a Discovery package, you already know the answer....the Wyndham sales operation is the highest of high pressure...and they will promise to be your best friend and lie to your face to get you to sign on the dotted line..You have to learn to say no to the sales presentation in the first place. or if you go you have to say no to the salesman and mean it

In spite of the sales force Wyndham is a great system (at least I think so), lots of nice properties in lots of locations and some where other systems have little or no presence, (Washington DC, New Orleans, NE ski resorts for example)  Its cheap to buy in and the maintenance fees (if you buy right) are reasonable

Regarding Club Wyndham Access  (CWA):

Understand that the Wyndham system has a history It started out as Fairfield a collection of fixed week resorts that Cendant and now Wyndham added to.  What you see today has been cobbled together over time with new construction (ex. Bonnet Creek and National Harbor), buy outs of other systems (ex Pahio and Equivest) and new innovations (Points and now CWA)

Most Wyndham points are symbolic of a deeded ownership. You will have a deed that details exactly what you own. and its real property and  just like any house or condo your deed is recorded at the local courthouse, Folks that own weeks that have been converted to points, and folks that own UDI deeds, are awarded points symbolic of their ownership. Wyndham calls this group of owners "Club Wyndham Select"

 CWA is different. CWA is a club and the club owns the property. You are a member with certain use rights to the property the club owns.  each member is awarded points symbolic of their membership level.  For lack of a better word, you "own" points 

In either case Club Wyndham Select or Club Wyndham Access points  are the currency you use to make reservations.....in the time period 13 months  to 10 months ahead of check in  you will have Advanced Reservation Priority and the rules are different depending on your ownership. CWA owners have advanced reservation priority at all the resorts that  the club owns. But (and this is a big but) availability is limited  to the amount of inventory actually owned by the club. Using Bonnet Creek as our example, no one will say just how many of the 1500 units at Bonnet Creek are owned by CWA.

So its possible that a deeded owner at Bonnet Creek may see availability in the ARP window. At the same time  it is possible that a CWA owner wont

At the 10 month mark however, points are points, and any points from whatever resort or club work the same. All of us have equal access to all the available inventory

Bonnet Creek is so big, and there are so many other timeshares in Orlando that there is almost no problem getting reservations here. The exceptions are the large (3 and 4 bedroom) units at Christmas and Easter. You probably dont need ARP for 1 and 2 bedroom units at 10 months...so any points will do for you.

I like the CWA product for several reasons. 

1) At $5.45/1000 points the maintenance fees are about average,
2) Maintenance fee increases and Special assessments are kept under control somewhat because the fees you pay are the weighted average of everything the club owns. One resort may have a big increase or SA, but the impact is spread over the entire inventory and ownership
3)  I use the CWA ARP for a specific week and resort, and it worked...I got what I wanted, so at least for my needs there is enough of the resort Im interested in CWA to handle my needs.
4) Looking at the dark side, if I was to default on my maintenance fees. It looks like there is a shorter timeline and a more simple process from default to foreclosure. And Im guessing a lesser impact on my credit and my life...Bottom line here is;  I see an exit strategy with CWA that I dont see with deeded timeshares
5) Talking about exit strategy I see a better resale market for CWA than many of the deeded ownerships...People seem to want this stuff. They dont pay much, but there is a market
8) Rumor has it that Wyndham is planning to buy CWA back when an owner wants out
9) I think CWA is the direction Wyndham is taking with their timeshare business. Foreclosures, and deedbacks and even the new resorts that are coming into the system are landing in CWA. CWA ARP is only going to get better and better....That isnt to say that the deeded timeshares will go away. Ill never sell my Mardi Gras Event weeks at Avenue Plaza, they are deeded and guaranteed for Mardi Gras every year. Lots of us have our favorite fixed weeks that will never get dumped into the CWA pool

Anyhow thats one guys thinking on CWA...I know you only asked the time and I told you how to build a clock, so Im sorry for the rambling, I hope you find your answers buried in here somewhere


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## claire_ont (Mar 3, 2013)

Thank-you both for the replies.  That gave me great answers!  

I went to the first sales pitch because I was actually looking at picking up a second timeshare outside of DVC.  When I saw the prices I thought maybe I should do some more research,  and only got the discovery package.  Phew!  Managed to avoid that, but only by good luck. If the price had been lower, or the pressure to buy would have been lower, we would have bought right away.  I get suspicious when someone does not want to give me time to think.

We were impressed by the HUGE limo they sent to pick us up, and the tour of BC was great.  I hate to admit it, but as I have been planning our two trips using our discovery points, I have had hours of enjoyment.  Almost worth the price alone. (Love planning my DVC as well).

I had been leaning towards BC points, but I think for my purposes, from your description, I would be equally well served by CWA points.  I am still going to wait and learn a bit as I have two upcoming vacations (Jan and May 2014 - yet to be booked as I only have a 10 month window), and I need to figure out how many points I want/need.  I am aiming for two weeks in Florida late Jan/Early Feb as a start.

One other question - if a week costs say 150K points this year in prime, will the same week cost the same number of points 10 years from now, or may it cost more?  If more - I may have to add bonus points to what I buy.

Claire


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## ronparise (Mar 3, 2013)

claire_ont said:


> Thank-you both for the replies.  That gave me great answers!
> 
> I went to the first sales pitch because I was actually looking at picking up a second timeshare outside of DVC.  When I saw the prices I thought maybe I should do some more research,  and only got the discovery package.  Phew!  Managed to avoid that, but only by good luck. If the price had been lower, or the pressure to buy would have been lower, we would have bought right away.  I get suspicious when someone does not want to give me time to think.
> 
> ...



Almost certainly the points required will be the same...having said that it is possible  for the points requirement for a week or weeks to go up...If that happened the points requirements for other weeks would have to come down...There are only so many points allocated to a resort and this is a fixed number

If you dont have it here is a link to the Wyndham directory with all the points charts (Bonnet Creek is on page 72 and 73)

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/memberdirectory11-12/

And if you havent already noticed week days are cheaper than weekends, Other than Prime Season, you can do a 5 night Sun to Fri stay pretty cheap...I do this most years in the first 2 weeks of Dec (Value Season) when 5 nights in a one bedroom is just 45000 points


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## gwparchewsky (Mar 3, 2013)

We have several ts.Had we known of the resale market our approach would have been different.We bought discovery points in Williamsburg and then used the purchase as part of the payment for our second ts . Watch out for this  sales pitch. We have had multiple bookings and the online bookings and searches have really opened up travel options. Learn the system read the threads learn to book ,upgrade , and save points through various techniques .As someone said just say no.


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## NJ_Vacationer (Mar 3, 2013)

*Wyndham Access Points Inquiry*

I've been following the TUG boards intermittently and definitely found the info on resales useful.  What I'm curious about now is the transferability of the Access points.  I went to an update today at National Harbor and they mentioned that unlike the regular points, the "trust" points can allow for non-family members to have names added to the trust.  Does that mean that resolve Wyndham Accesss points could be resold and go towards VIP level upgrades?


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## Ron2 (Mar 4, 2013)

NJ_Vacationer said:


> I've been following the TUG boards intermittently and definitely found the info on resales useful.  What I'm curious about now is the transferability of the Access points.  I went to an update today at National Harbor and they mentioned that unlike the regular points, the "trust" points can allow for non-family members to have names added to the trust.  Does that mean that resolve Wyndham Accesss points could be resold and go towards VIP level upgrades?



Be very careful, this sounds like another gimick to get you to buy Club Access. I have not heard that you can add non-family members to your account but its possible if it helps Wyndham keep paying members in the system. However, I'd want to see it in writing. Adding someone to your account and reselling are two totally different issues. I doubt very much that if you were to sell your Club Access that it would count towards VIP status.


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## markb53 (Mar 4, 2013)

NJ_Vacationer said:


> I've been following the TUG boards intermittently and definitely found the info on resales useful.  What I'm curious about now is the transferability of the Access points.  I went to an update today at National Harbor and they mentioned that unlike the regular points, the "trust" points can allow for non-family members to have names added to the trust.  Does that mean that resolve Wyndham Accesss points could be resold and go towards VIP level upgrades?



Yes I believe you can have non family names added to your Access account. That has nothing to do with VIP. If you were to, at some point, remove your name from the account, the account would loose it's VIP status. The only notable exception might be if you put the other person in your will as inheriting the timeshare and then you died. The Directory is a little unclear on that point. Maybe someone who has direct experience with willing or inheriting a Wyndham timeshare can chime in.


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