# Welk Platinum points revisited



## Soozal (Aug 11, 2010)

Hi All, 
We are are at Welk Resort in Escondido this week and were persuaded to convert our 2 Welk timeshares (1 LWRV and 1 VOG) into points.  We have a week to change our minds, so I'd like to get some opinions on how this has worked for you if you have also converted.  We nearly always use our weeks as exchanges, so the sales pitch was that we would have much easier exchanges with the points.  Have you found this to be true?  Also, because we qualify for the "VIP" status we will always get a room upgrade at the Welk resorts, for you VIP users, has this been the case?  Our salesman said this is guaranteed because they keep a reserve for the VIP requests, but that almost seems like it would be impossible during peak usage times.

I have read the previous thread about this and just wanted to get an update on your opinions.  It cost us nearly $6000 to convert the 2 properties, but our maintenance fees will be somewhat less, so supposedly we'll recoup that in 15 years :/

Thanks!


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## Liz Wolf-Spada (Aug 11, 2010)

I don't know. We spent $10,000 to convert and add 60,000 points and I would have probably rescinded if my dog wasn't dying at the same time. Yes, you do have more flexibility for trading, but not sure that is worth the cost. We have gone to the Cathedral City Desert Oasis and also have used a week there for a rental, which netted us a little over $500. We may do a trip to Cabo. We will probably use a week at Mt. Villas in spring now that we have retired. One thing, if you do this to deposit, you should pay your fees a year early and get a guaranteed July or August week to be deposited for better II trade power. Or book a good week and use RCI or an independent to deposit.
Liz


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## mjm1 (Aug 11, 2010)

We converted to the Platinum Program late last year after passing on it the prior year.  We had one of the original villas, which was a 2br fixed week.  Our kids are now out of the house, so we travel without them for the most part.  While we loved the 2BR unit we had during July, we wanted to have more flexibility.  

One thing that they provided to us is a letter that guarantees that we can reserve our original villa for any year as long as we do so 15-18 months before the check in date.  If you really like your older villa, they would probably do the same for you if you ask.  We don't know if we will use that option much, but wanted to make sure we could get our old unit if we wanted to. As an example, this year we reserved our old unit (for 240,000 points) and rented it.  We rolled the remaining 60,000 points over to next year because we weren't sure we would get down there this year.  However, rolling them over didn't preclude us from using them this year.  My plans have changed, so I just used the 60,000 points to book the smaller side of the Mountain Villa unit for 5 nights (Sunday through Thursday nights) later this month.  I was lucky that they still had one available given the short notice of only a few weeks.  One down side to rolling points over to the next year is that you can only use them for a reservation made within 60 days of your check in date.  However, that probably isn't a problem unless you try to use them for a popular summer or holiday week. 

The price they are charging for your conversion seems reasonable.  How many points are they giving you?  It has to be at least 540,000.

One thing to keep in mind regarding exchanges with II is that Welk uses a bulk banking concept.  So, you don't make a reservation for a week at Escondido and then exchange it with II.  You call reservations and tell them you would like to bank a week, and they will provide you with a week that they bulk deposited earlier.  They say that the trade value is very good because II has had the week for a longer period of time.  However, there may be times they deposit a week from one of their other resorts rather than Escondido.  May not be an issue.  If you aren't comfortable with the exchange process under the Platinum Program, I would suggest you go to the registration desk and ask to speak with someone in Owner Services.  They are very nice to deal with and will be able to explain it to you.

Another potential downside to this program is that you give up your deeded ownership in your current units, and get points in the new program.  We thought about that and were initially concerned, but then decided that it didn't matter much.  We still have ownership in the system and are very organized about making reservations, so we should be able to get the times that we want.

We have always enjoyed our vacations at Welk and highly recommend the resort.  You are obviously pretty happy owners since you own two weeks and have for a while.  Depending on how you plan to use your weeks, this new program could be a benefit for you.  Good luck and please let us know what you decide to do.


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## Liz Wolf-Spada (Aug 13, 2010)

I discovered after them banking a week for me that did not have much trade power in II that you can ask for a summer week to be deposited, but you have to pay your fees and request that specifically about a year in advance.
Liz


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## Soozal (Aug 13, 2010)

Thanks for your thoughts on this matter, they've been helpful.


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