# How much do you pay for your vacations on average



## talkamotta (Jan 25, 2019)

I have been posting quite a bit on this thread lately.  I'm very interested in the Wyndam system.  I am curious what your average cost of your daily vacations are.  I am in weeks and own 8 weeks.  Not all my weeks are great value but some are very good value when trading to other resorts.  If I add up all my mfs and include trading fees i pay about $130 per day.  I bought my resorts in ebay back in the 90s i figure they have been depreciated out. Or I could put $300 into the mix.  I would buy wyndham off ebay. I usually stay in 2 bedrooms gold crown but not always. Never studios.


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## hjsweet2002 (Jan 25, 2019)

We figure it costs anywhere between $85-$125 per night for our resort stays based upon when and where we go.  All of our Wyndham Timeshares were bought resale starting in 2011.  We have about 850000 points every year and spent between 6000 to 7000 for them.  We have more than recuperated our purchase price.


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## Railman83 (Jan 25, 2019)

talkamotta said:


> I have been posting quite a bit on this thread lately.  I'm very interested in the Wyndam system.  I am curious what your average cost of your daily vacations are.  I am in weeks and own 8 weeks.  Not all my weeks are great value but some are very good value when trading to other resorts.  If I add up all my mfs and include trading fees i pay about $130 per day.  I bought my resorts in ebay back in the 90s i figure they have been depreciated out. Or I could put $300 into the mix.  I would buy wyndham off ebay.



For the purpose of this example I am calculating a nightly rate based on weeklong stays in a one bedroom with point cost of 126,000 per week.


If I do nothing it costs me $95 a night in a one bedroom, if I rent 10% of points out it drops to $83, 20% it drops to $68, if I also rent out memy 240 dvc points it drops to $44 per night.   

If I use DVC and rent out around 40-60% of points for reasonably available event weeks I break even and cost is free....but I have low mf contracts.

Theoretical because I am booked somewhere every month thru Jan 2020 and tend to use rather than


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## cbyrne1174 (Jan 25, 2019)

I'm also trying to make my stays theoretically free. I bought all my points on Ebay this past year and have a strategy to make $1000 profit on half of my points using my 2 annual guest certificates, then using the $1000 profit to pay the MF on my remaining 210,000 points that I didn't rent out to go on free vacations.

I just made $500 off my first rental within 2 weeks of posting; so far so good =D


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## Joe33426 (Jan 26, 2019)

The average over 5 years is $120 per night.  We generally stay in 2-bedroom units at nice resorts, but occasionally 1-bedroom units, no studios.   The calculation doesn't include purchase cost amortization or annual membership fees for II and RCI points, but does include the exchange fee on exchanges.  

We're so happy with the level of accommodations we've had for this $120 per night, we've stayed comfortably at some pretty amazing places so far and looking forward to our future travels.


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## 55plus (Jan 26, 2019)

During the winter months in Florida we average about $50 per night in points in the Wyndham Vacation Resort system. It's even less expensive in Myrtle Beach. All of our stays are on either the ocean or the gulf. We book all reservations within 60 days of check-in. And there are always room upgrades available. It's the most least expensive way to be a snowbird.


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## Crafty71 (Jan 27, 2019)

I consider myself extremely fortunate...my parents transferred their two (2) timeshare weeks that they purchased over thirty (30+) years ago at a resort we like and have used often. My wife and I already owned a week at same resort. We bought 105K CWA points direct and converted everything to points and became Platinum VIP. It took me a while to get a handle on the Wyndham "system", but I think I understand it pretty good now...

After becoming Platinum, I have since added several resale contracts for nearly $0 (+ transfer fee) and we now have about 2.5M points. We use about 500K points annually and rent out the rest through a broker which essentially makes our vacations free...which my frugal self likes a lot...! 

Cheers!


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## bbodb1 (Jan 27, 2019)

talkamotta said:


> I have been posting quite a bit on this thread lately.  I'm very interested in the Wyndam system.  I am curious what your average cost of your daily vacations are.  I am in weeks and own 8 weeks.  Not all my weeks are great value but some are very good value when trading to other resorts.  If I add up all my mfs and include trading fees i pay about $130 per day.  I bought my resorts in ebay back in the 90s i figure they have been depreciated out. Or I could put $300 into the mix.  I would buy wyndham off ebay. I usually stay in 2 bedrooms gold crown but not always. Never studios.



When I first gave this thread a read, I took a different meaning from what I think your intention was.  It got me to thinking about how much per day we actually spend to go on a vacation - not including the cost of the timeshare itself.  I was thinking more about why our vacations in recent years have stopped being the 1 week variety and move closer to 2 weeks - the fixed costs of traveling to / from a destination being somewhat the same regardless of whether the stay is 7, 10, 12 or 14 days why not stay as long as possible to drive down the per day costs....

I guess I have sort of written off yearly maintenance fees as a fixed cost we are going to bear anyway so I've never included those in calculating vacation costs. 

Intersting post.


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## Railman83 (Jan 27, 2019)

Well few would dispute that, all other costs aside, vacationing with a kitchen is cheaper than without.

Also, I think the drivability options of timeshares probably saves money; not all the time, but you ask “do I really need to fly to some marquee destination like Vegas when I can drive a couple of hours to X”?    

Similarly, “do I need another day in Dollywood or can I use the watermark at Great Smokies for my family for free?”

Though I can’t quantify, the higher livability of a timeshare likely leads to more family game nights or in my case drinking with friends in a 3 bedroom and going to play pool.  I’m not sure the costly alternatives, like going to a bar our out to some amusement venue are more enjoyable than hanging at the resort.   If I was in a cramped hotel room with 4 people, these expenses would seem more appealing.

I think the total savings aren’t easy to capture, including the quality of the experience.   

This is a long way of saying that given the same amount of money in totality, you get more fir each incremental dollar in timeshare.


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## kaljor (Jan 29, 2019)

It's a great question.  I think I look at it a little differently.  I think of my Wyndham costs as lodging only.  My MF's this year are $2100.  I will stay 30 nights at least, which means my lodging cost is $70 per night or less.  Some Motel 6 locations charge that much.

Whatever I spend at the supermarket is mostly the same as when I buy at home.  So my vacation costs are the attractions or tourist things I do, the souvenir junk I buy, my transportation costs, and the extra nights eating out that I wouldn't do at home.  I'll have those same costs whether I stay at a Wyndham resort or a hotel or an AirBNB. 

At the Wyndham "Owner Updates" this is one of the main ways they try to mislead you.  They conflate total vacation costs to the Wyndham timeshare costs.  Not a fair comparison.  What we pay for Wyndham, the initial buy in and the ongoing maintenance fees, are only for lodging.  Nothing else. 

I'm thrilled with my annual MF's when divided by how many nights I stay for that price. And my contracts do not have the lowest maintenance fees by any means.  With the program fee, they are over $6 per thousand which is considered a bit high.


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## hjsweet2002 (Jan 29, 2019)

I also divide my maintenance fee by how many nights I stay.  If we bring friends or family and stay at a 2 bedroom unit I count that as two stays as I would have to pay for two hotel rooms.


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## jays (Jan 29, 2019)

How many points are needed on average for a full week stay in high season and in low season?


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## 55plus (Jan 29, 2019)

jays said:


> How many points are needed on average for a full week stay in high season and in low season?


That's hard to answer. The older resorts cost less in points. As newer resorts open the number of points it takes for a reservation increases. Basically, your points go further at the older resorts. The Wyndham Resorts that were once Fairfield are your best resorts as for stretching your points.


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## Bernie8245 (Jan 29, 2019)

We're currently staying at Marriott Grande Ocean on Hilton Head Island, SC. This is our fourth week here after staying one week at Marriott SurfWatch.  I exchanged in using a 3 bedroom penthouse unit at Grand Crowne in Branson, Mo. unit worth 400,000 Interval points. Five weeks cost us 375000 points and 5 exchange fees through Interval International. Our yearly maintenance fees for 400,000 points are approximately $1100 so the total costs including Interval exchange fees of $199 per week are roughly $400 per week. We love it here and have made a lot of friends here.


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## traveller1 (Feb 2, 2019)

Crafty71 said:


> I consider myself extremely fortunate...my parents transferred their two (2) timeshare weeks that they purchased over thirty (30+) years ago at a resort we like and have used often. My wife and I already owned a week at same resort. We bought 105K CWA points direct and converted everything to points and became Platinum VIP. It took me a while to get a handle on the Wyndham "system", but I think I understand it pretty good now...
> 
> After becoming Platinum, I have since added several resale contracts for nearly $0 (+ transfer fee) and we now have about 2.5M points. We use about 500K points annually and rent out the rest through a broker which essentially makes our vacations free...which my frugal self likes a lot...!
> 
> Cheers!


Just curious...  how did you find a broker if I might ask!!  I'm interested in doing that and haven't known where to look.


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## ecwinch (Feb 2, 2019)

As a Platinum VIP my target is to average $60 a night. The end of cancel/rebook makes that a lot harder, forcing us to avoid weekend stays most of the time. But we also have found that mid-week availability is pretty decent at the last minute most of the time. Just requires a lot more time checking availability.


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## kaljor (Feb 3, 2019)

I'm not a VIP but I've found that making 6 night bookings, eliminating a Friday or Saturday night can extend the value of one's points significantly. To me, a 6 night stay is the same as a one week stay and by not using points for one of the two weekend nights, I can often get an additional week or an additional 4 or 5 nights stay in a studio or 1 bedroom suite in another resort during their off season.  Echoing the above poster, there is often a fair amount of availability at the last minute if you are willing to book a stay of less than a full week.  Weekend nights are often gone, while weeknights are still open.


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## buckor (Feb 3, 2019)

We just got home today from a stay in Panama City Beach. Very nice 2 bedroom unit (the master has a bay window over looking the gulf)(and, this is our favorite unit to get when we stay here). With our MFs we averaged $70/night (though, due to a glitch, we will actually only pay $35/night because they are refunding us half our points).

For us this is a steal. Our daughters are able to bring friends with them and we have tons of space to spread out. Eating in allows us to do more things instead of worrying about paying for eating out. We've come to enjoy our trips and look forward to "our" home away from home.

Next up: Bonnet Creek again in 2 weeks! 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J727AZ using Tapatalk


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## kaljor (Feb 3, 2019)

The half price for points isn't actually a glitch.  Wyndham has a current offer of up to 45% off at this resort until the end of February, but it actually seems to be 50%.  I was there for two weeks in January and got those two weeks for the price of one.  Made me feel like a VIP! 

That gulf view, which I think every unit has, is hard to beat, especially if you're in an upper level unit.


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## buckor (Feb 4, 2019)

kaljor said:


> The half price for points isn't actually a glitch.  Wyndham has a current offer of up to 45% off at this resort until the end of February, but it actually seems to be 50%.  I was there for two weeks in January and got those two weeks for the price of one.  Made me feel like a VIP!
> 
> That gulf view, which I think every unit has, is hard to beat, especially if you're in an upper level unit.


Correct. We got the half-price unit, but we also got back another 50% because of a problem/glitch at check-in, meaning we only paid 25%, net, when it's all said and done.

We truly enjoy this resort and, yes, the views from an upper room are spectacular! We were on the 16th floor this trip. It was also warm enough to leave the balcony door open to the MBR and listen to the ocean all night....it was a dream!

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