# Is this the right proper forum to Discuss WorldMark?



## bbodb1 (Jul 18, 2017)

After a recent stay at WorldMark St. George (which included a sales presentation) one aspect of the WorldMark system that would help our future vacation needs is the WorldMark availability of resorts in the U.S. West.  

The initial sales offer was around $3.49 per point for 5K in points in the WorldMark system.  After we said no the initial offer, the 'best' offer of $2.69 per point was produced.  Again, we said no.

Something we do want to consider going forward is keeping an eye out for WorldMark offers on the resale market.  The thing is, I haven't seen many offers (even here on TUG) for the resale of WorldMark.  Are resale of WorldMark not as common?

Also, I was told I could do a lot in the WorldMark system with as little as 5K points because I could leverage my Wyndham points here too.  Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on WorldMark.


----------



## TUGBrian (Jul 18, 2017)

moved to the WM forum fory you!

you can find a number of worldmark resales in th emarketplace...but they are listed under "points"!


----------



## VacationForever (Jul 18, 2017)

If you only want to stay for 3 to 4 days, then 5K is enough.  I do believe the "best" number of points for a newbie is 10K.  The going rate for resale is 30 cents to 40 cents per point, the higher price for a fully loaded contract.  With a Worldmark account, there are lots off non points booking that you can do, under FAX time, Monday Madness etc.

You should get educated on wmowners.com.  You will find lots of resale listed there by owners too.


----------



## bbodb1 (Jul 18, 2017)

TUGBrian said:


> moved to the WM forum fory you!
> 
> you can find a number of worldmark resales in th emarketplace...but they are listed under "points"!



Thank you, Brian.  I could not see this forum as I am writing this on a portable device (not my usual posting method).


----------



## bbodb1 (Jul 18, 2017)

VacationForever said:


> If you only want to stay for 3 to 4 days, then 5K is enough.  I do believe the "best" number of points for a newbie is 10K.  The going rate for resale is 30 cents to 40 cents per point, the higher price for a fully loaded contract.  With a Worldmark account, there are lots off non points booking that you can do, under FAX time, Monday Madness etc.
> 
> You should get educated on wmowners.com.  You will find lots of resale listed there by owners too.



Thank you VacationForever - I will check that resource out!


----------



## alwysonvac (Jul 18, 2017)

VacationForever said:


> You should get educated on wmowners.com.  You will find lots of resale listed there by owners too.



From wmowners.com
WM Resale Brokers - https://wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=45426
"Membership for Sale" forum -  https://wmowners.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=71


----------



## sue1947 (Jul 18, 2017)

bbodb1 said:


> Also, I was told I could do a lot in the WorldMark system with as little as 5K points because I could leverage my Wyndham points here too.  Is this correct?
> 
> Thanks in advance for any thoughts on WorldMark.



It's best to assume most of what the sales people tell you is a lie.  Leveraging your Wyndham points within a WM account isn't happening.  The only connection is via using Club Pass and that is costly both in credits and money. If you already own Wyndham and can book in that system, then you don't need to book Wyndham via WM.  If you have developer points in Wyndham and can book via Club Pass then adding the additional MF for WM may not be worth it.  

For information on WM, the best source is wmowners.com/forum

Sue


----------



## VacationForever (Jul 18, 2017)

The issue is that Club Pass can only book WM at 10 months out.  The high demand WM locations (and seasons) get booked at 13 months out.  If you want to book WM, then buying a small number like 10K should get you access to WM locations at 13 months.  10K gets 1 week in a 2BR at most WM locations in the red season.  MF is a little under $800 per year.


----------



## bbodb1 (Jul 18, 2017)

sue1947 said:


> It's best to assume most of what the sales people tell you is a lie.  Leveraging your Wyndham points within a WM account isn't happening.  The only connection is via using Club Pass and that is costly both in credits and money. If you already own Wyndham and can book in that system, then you don't need to book Wyndham via WM.  If you have developer points in Wyndham and can book via Club Pass then adding the additional MF for WM may not be worth it.
> 
> For information on WM, the best source is wmowners.com/forum
> 
> Sue



Thank you, Sue and I should have provided some additional background with my initial post - allow me to do that now.

We own RCI points and weeks along with Wyndham.  We have 700K points in Wyndham (after PIC and with our La Belle Maison points).  Most of our travel has been to the Eastern US with an occasional foray west.  Three years ago we made our first trip to Colorado and immediately set our sights on more trips west.  Among the many changes in Wyndham lately, we have noticed far less availability of western destinations we want to target within Wyndham.  At the same time, Wyndham has pushed Club Pass as a means to access these destinations but we have been frustrated with our ability to research options available at Worldmark without having to call Wyndham (and wait......) only to have to be transferred to Worldmark (and wait some more).  It's a very inefficient system.

Our goal here would be to gain access to WorldMark IF a good resale deal could be found.  I am just starting this consideration so I'm very early into this.

VacationForever's point above nicely summarizes our experience to date.


----------



## dori47 (Jul 19, 2017)

We have 6000 points and that is plenty, but booking with WorldMark is very difficult. Have only ever been able to book 3 times out of about 10 reservations straight out. Usually end up on wait list or going some place else. We did get two, one week reservations in Kauai though at the same time. We do lots of short trips, close to home, but have also booked many times paying cash instead of points, for good deals. We did get the points resale


----------



## VacationForever (Jul 19, 2017)

dori47 said:


> We have 6000 points and that is plenty, but booking with WorldMark is very difficult. Have only ever been able to book 3 times out of about 10 reservations straight out. Usually end up on wait list or going some place else. We did get two, one week reservations in Kauai though at the same time. We do lots of short trips, close to home, but have also booked many times paying cash instead of points, for good deals. We did get the points resale



We have been successful with booking every reservation that we wanted at 13th month and in red season and we have owned our points for about 5 years.  We have gone to Depoe Bay, Victoria, Vancouver, Marina Dunes, Pismo Beach, all in Summer, just to name a few in the more desirable locations.


----------



## rhonda (Jul 19, 2017)

bbodb1:  The difficulty of the 5k account is that it is too small to book a full week in high/red season.  Thus, all reservations on credits will be limited to the 10-month reservation window rather than the 13-month for red season stays except for "only space available" left-over inventory.  This could lead to moments of frustration?

However, if you've already determined that this purchase is simply to "get your toe in the WM waters," then be encouraged that it is still an effective tool for:

Booking at the earliest window (13-mos) for short stays in mid/white or low/blue seasons.
Booking using cash rate programs including: Inventory Specials, Monday Madness, Bonus Time, Exotic Bonus Time and FAX
Qualifying for an individual RCI membership opening doors to their Getaway/Rental pool.  (Yep, you already have access through your Wyndham holdings.  But if you were not in that position, buying the 5k WM account might have been an instrumental step for gaining an RCI account.)
Booking, on credits, short stays at the 10-month window at any location, any season.  (Be prepared that inventory availability may be an issue ... use the waitlist!)
Renting credits from others to build "on demand" quantities, when needed.


----------



## geist1223 (Jul 19, 2017)

Appears that others have already answered most of your questions. I am commenting simply to support a couple things others have commented about. You should look at a minimum of 10K Worldmark Points. This will get you a week in a 2 bedroom in many Worldmark Resorts. Also in Worldmark the more Points you own the less per Point you pay in Maintenance Fees. Maintenance Fees are adjusted in 2,500 Point increments. So for example (not exact without looking at the MF Chart) a person that owns 7,501 Points will pay the same total MF as the person that owns 10,000 Points. Learn how to use the Wait List it is a very important tool. I have been able to get many Reservations by using the Wait List to include a 3 bedroom in Kihei Maui with only about 8 weeks notice.


----------



## rhonda (Jul 19, 2017)

Link to table of WM Annual Dues: https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/education/pdfs/WorldMark_Dues_Schedule.pdf


----------



## clifffaith (Jul 19, 2017)

Spend some time on the Worldmark Facebook board to get a feel for the system. There is also a separate buy, sell, rent board there. We love our Worldmark!


----------



## sue1947 (Jul 19, 2017)

bbodb1 said:


> Our goal here would be to gain access to WorldMark IF a good resale deal could be found.  I am just starting this consideration so I'm very early into this.



The next question you need to determine is how many nights/where/when you want to book which will determine how many credits to buy.   If you want to vacation during school holidays, then you will want enough to book a week.  The booking rules are that you can book starting at 13 months out but it needs to be at least 7 days in some combination.  In school holidays, those weeks go within minutes at some places.   On the other hand, if you can travel off season and midweek, then you can book less than a week.  The booking rules are that red season stays can book less than a week starting at 10 months, but blue or white off season nights can book starting at 13 months.  Look at the calendars and credit requirements in the resort section at worldmarktheclub.com to see how many credits you might use in a year.  In addition, there are lots of renters out there using WM as a business and you will find it very difficult to get a family size unit at some locations; ex; the 3 BR units at Yellowstone in summer.  That also means that you might be able to rent what you want without owning.  

Credits are good for 2 years so if you only plan to head west every other year or so, you will need fewer credits.  In addition, you can rent credits (i.e. transfer credits from another owner's account) if you need more.  Recent limitations have been put in place limiting this to twice the size of your account so with a 5000 credit account, you could transfer in 10000 credits per year.  We can no longer transfer housekeeping tokens.  

The smallest account size is 5000, but the more likely size available for purchase is 6000.  Maintenance fees are more efficient at multiples of 5000.  

Sue


----------



## VacationForever (Jul 19, 2017)

sue1947 said:


> The smallest account size is 5000, but the more likely size available for purchase is 6000.  Maintenance fees are more efficient at multiples of 5000.
> 
> Sue



You meant 2500 increments?  See the annual dues posted by Rhonda above (post #14).


----------



## bizaro86 (Jul 19, 2017)

VacationForever said:


> You meant 2500 increments?  See the annual dues posted by Rhonda above (post #14).



They only come in 1000 point increments, so while 7500 would be an efficient amount, the best you can do before bumping up to the next mf tier is 7000.


----------



## sue1947 (Jul 19, 2017)

VacationForever said:


> You meant 2500 increments?  See the annual dues posted by Rhonda above (post #14).



No, I meant 5000 for the reason bizarro mentioned.  
Sue


----------



## VacationForever (Jul 19, 2017)

sue1947 said:


> No, I meant 5000 for the reason bizarro mentioned.
> Sue



Got it.  I was not aware that the points were sold only in 1000s.  

10K points is really a sweet spot for someone wanting to own a small amount of WM and yet be able to book a full week each year at 13 months out for red season.


----------



## Icc5 (Jul 22, 2017)

bbodb1 said:


> After a recent stay at WorldMark St. George (which included a sales presentation) one aspect of the WorldMark system that would help our future vacation needs is the WorldMark availability of resorts in the U.S. West.
> 
> The initial sales offer was around $3.49 per point for 5K in points in the WorldMark system.  After we said no the initial offer, the 'best' offer of $2.69 per point was produced.  Again, we said no.
> 
> ...


We have owned in Worldmark for 25+ years at 10,000 points we bought through Redweek at what we felt was a good price.  10,000 has worked out good over the years as we book 2 bedrooms when the kids came or when they got older we booked one bedroom and some short vacations.  The main reason we have it is our other timeshares are weeks so we use a few days of Worldmark lots of times when traveling in between.  We also have used bonus time many times,inventory specials, and used fax time for a wedding which we booked about 20 units at Winsor.  We are now retired and travel mainly in the off season which again gets us that much more.


----------

