# Cheapest way to upgrade to Wyndham VIP



## tslayton (Aug 27, 2008)

I presently own 154,000 points.  Can you please advise me as to the cheapest way to upgrade to VIP status?


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## Jya-Ning (Aug 27, 2008)

Give Wyndham salesman a figure you willing to pay to get a VIP, and they will tell you how to achieve it.  And have it in the contract.

There is no cheap way unless saleman willing to work with you.  And the risk is, they may take it out at a later day.  

There are 2 ways that gives you a better chance they don't take out.
1. have all your point becomes Wyndham given points.  Any resale related stuff should be equity transferred to a new point.
2. PIC week. It still require a retail purchase

There are ways to enjoy TS without become VIP.

And if you really care about a view, buy a fix week.  It guarantees the view with no fight, no chance of not getting it, and all flexibility if you have a very premi week, and low purchase price.

Jya-Ning


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## tslayton (Aug 27, 2008)

I don't trust the salesmen.  I was told when we purchased this and they threw in the bonus points, we would be VIP forever.  I have the purchasers agreement where they checked the VIP status, but, Wyndham says it was only good until the bonus contract expired.  It doesn't say that on the agreement and we were not told that.  I know what the book says, but, at the time, we didn't have a book and I took the salesman at their word.  So, now, I just want to figure out how to get it without more half truths from a salesman.


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## Jya-Ning (Aug 27, 2008)

Unfortunate you have to buy at least one more time to ge to VIP.

That is why I feel all the risk associate with retail purchase compare to any resale purchase.  And sounds like at this moment, your 154k is a retail purchase product.  So you are 146k away.  Most method I know will automatically require you to make a 77k retail purchase to start with.  Even if you want to become gold VIP, that is still not very cost effective.  

You can buy resale point, have them do equity transfer so all the points look like is from retail.  Of course, there are all kinds of rumor it is illegal, and people get strip out of that.  Plus, they sure will ask you a lot of extra money embeded with your purchase.  Originally, you may be able to get from say 100 per 1K instead of paying 200 per 1K their asking price, now you may actually paying 190 per 1K and think you are getting some good deal.

You can also buy a convertable week, several of them (no more than 4), and convert it without buying any more point.  It may or may not count

You can also buy a week or 2 outside of Wyndham but exchange with RCI ad not in any point system, and buy some points from them, and bring these week(s) in.  The problem is, once these week change to point, or if you want get rid of these weeks, you loss the VIP status.

The best way is to learn how to use these points to its max before you decide what is your next action.  Then if you really want to get to VIP, you will know exact what it should cost you, and you can set the price, and ask them to match it.

Jya-Ning


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## lprstn (Aug 27, 2008)

If you are going VIP go to VIP Gold (which is the better bargain over VIP) by....

- Purchase a resale FSP/UDI Wyndam Resort for (350,000 points or close to it).  Make sure you do not purchase a Wyndam Resort that is a Converted Week.  So you purchase it for $2800-3500 at resale prices

- Then go to a presentation and ask how you can roll all of your current deeds into 1 deed for the less amount of points to purchase.

- Then say I only want to purchase 105K points or less as you don't have the funds to purchase more.

I've done this before and they rolled 2 previous deeds that I purchased resale into Bonnet Creek for me giving me VIP, for a small points purchase.

They will take your Resale purchase and roll it into a new deed and the BONUS is that when the did that for me (I had already booked my vacations with my 2007 yr points) they gave me the full amount of the points for 311K starting Jan 2007 even though I had used the points for that year...all under the new deed.


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## tslayton (Aug 27, 2008)

I already own two resale deeds.  One is 189,000 and the other is 182,000.  They told me this summer that I couldn't trade them in because they were resale.


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## bnoble (Aug 27, 2008)

Some sales offices will work with you---I've heard a couple reports of people washing resale via equity trade.  Others will not.  "Not" seems to be more common than "will".  I think it depends on how desperate that particular office is to make quota, and whether or not folks higher up the food chain are paying close attention to the contracts that get written that week, or not.

If the next layer isn't paying close attention, it's in the sales office's interest to at least get you to buy _something._


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## lprstn (Aug 27, 2008)

tslayton said:


> I already own two resale deeds.  One is 189,000 and the other is 182,000.  They told me this summer that I couldn't trade them in because they were resale.



Don't give up, someone will work with you if you play dumb.  My friend just upgraded hers this way also...she just didn't tell them it was resale.  They didn't ask, she didn't tell.  

She also bought where they were trying to get rid of new inventory...somewhere near Myrtle Beach (it wasn't on the beach but she has the APR at Myrtle Beach).

Heck, I just got back from Hawaii and they were offering it up to me again, and with the way the economy is going...you should have no problem.

** Are you sure that they are not converted weeks? Cause if they are than Wyndam will not take them back and roll them up into a new deed for you.


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## Charlie D. (Aug 28, 2008)

Tslayton,

The advice to try to slide a resale into VIP status should be taken with a grain of salt anyway you try it.  From what I have read in the archives, when Wyndham changed the rules on allowing resales to qualify for VIP status a few folks thought they were home free.  Later when Whyndham did some auditing those VIP statuses were taken away.  They may not have caught everyone and may not catch everyone today.  If you were led to believe that the bonus points would give you permanent VIP status you did not read the Bonus Points Agreement that you signed.  I am looking at mine that we signed in August of 2006.  Item 8 of that agreement: “Bonus points may count toward FairShare Plus VIP status during the 24 month use period”.  Item 10: “Owner should not rely upon any representations other than those contained in these terms and conditions and the FairShare Plus program and guidelines.”  Yours may not read the same but I’ll bet it is pretty close.  We had a pretty happy salesman (because we bought) but a pretty frustrated one because I read nearly every word of every one of the 35 pages that were put in front of us.  He kept saying “we covered that just a little while ago”, etc. but I just kept reading.  I do not remember seeing much of anything that was contrary to what had been orally represented.  

I responded to you on another site concerning this matter.  Jya-Ning seemed to have some pretty good advice.  “Some office is willing to work with you and hope higher ups do not catch it” is what got you into this to start with.  You hearing or at least wanting to hear you had permanent VIP status was trumped by the contract itself.  Written agreements will trump oral agreements about 99.9% of the time.  You can look around and maybe get a salesman to “work” with you but you sure as heck better read the contract to make sure.  It appears page 311 of the current FairShare Plus book does not include resale in any way.  It is going to be only a matter of time before the VIP haters on this site are berating you for even asking how to get that status and how stupid you are to even be considering it. – Stand by!!

Charlie D.


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## lprstn (Aug 28, 2008)

I just know that I was able to do it as all of my former resale properties were put COMPLETELY under 1 deed of the new property....


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## bnoble (Aug 28, 2008)

Right.  There is a difference between counting resale and doing an equity exchange with resale points (which washes the status).

The former isn't going to happen.  The latter is pretty rare, and requires both a desperate sales office plus a less-than-careful chain of command.

That said, you still have to ask yourself if it is worth it given the constantly-shifting sands on which VIP rests.


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## lprstn (Aug 28, 2008)

I personally can say it may not be worth it to most people, however some like the extra benefits and think its worth it to them.   Heck I have VIP and love the discounts and upgrades, use them often.  

Of course purchasing resale for cheap and using your points effectively is great in most all situations, however for people that book soley within Wyndam's internally having the VIP benefits may apeal to them.  People take other properties like Starwood and Marriott and pay even more for them resale than purchasing through the developer of Wyndam. but just because it says Marriott/Starwood/Hilton doesn't mean its worth it, as it is still another property trading into another property that someone that owns the latter didn't pay Marriott prices in order to enjoy the Marriott.  Heck DVC is expensive even resale and you have people that didn't pay the high DVC prices able to trade into DVC.  

There is no right or wrong when it comes to what a person feels is the worth of their TS program to them.  Its thier money so they can spend it how they want, even if it doesn't afford the cheapest method.

And ... for the record my friend did do an Equity exchange this summer with Wyndam Santee, rolled 2 resale contracts into a new deed at Santee and purchased 105K points.  So it can be done...and she didn't even have to ask them to do it...the salesperson offered.  Also, this was her 2nd presentation with them this year where she was offered an equity trade (first at Shawnee) and decided to do it with Santee as she got APR in Myrtle Beach where she rents out for Bike week.


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 28, 2008)

Lprstn:  My question was "did your friend "buy" these resales in the past 12-18 months?"  Purchases done years ago, prior to the great August 07 letters which revoked VIP status, started with VIP accounts being audited, but Wyndham will go thru more deeds.  It is more cost effective to use their VIP program to function as a marketing hook - selling to addicted owners full price Wyndham points is much cheaper and easier than to newbies who rescind.

I bet Wyndham even has calculated how many revoked VIPs cough up money to become a VIP again, by buying developer points.  Again, hooks are the "Bonus" points and the "Discovery Packages"  with Wyndham calculating how many of these users brought MORE full price point packages.  That is WHY it is called MARKETING.  IMHO, it rewards Wyndham with DOLLARS by lowing the usage/numbers of VIP and raising the number of people who BUY DEVELOPER POINTS to get VIP.  VIP is a program paid for by the marketing department.  Why do you think Wyndham is developing the "Presidential" status level - a bigger hook?  Or bigger dollar payoff? 

IMO,  *BOTH*.


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## lprstn (Aug 28, 2008)

vacationhopeful said:


> Lprstn:  My question was "did your friend "buy" these resales in the past 12-18 months?"  Purchases done years ago, prior to the great August 07 letters which revoked VIP status, started with VIP accounts being audited, but Wyndham will go thru more deeds.  It is more cost effective to use their VIP program to function as a marketing hook - selling to addicted owners full price Wyndham points is much cheaper and easier than to newbies who rescind.
> 
> I bet Wyndham even has calculated how many revoked VIPs cough up money to become a VIP again, by buying developer points.  Again, hooks are the "Bonus" points and the "Discovery Packages"  with Wyndham calculating how many of these users brought MORE full price point packages.  That is WHY it is called MARKETING.  IMHO, it rewards Wyndham with DOLLARS by lowing the usage/numbers of VIP and raising the number of people who BUY DEVELOPER POINTS to get VIP.  VIP is a program paid for by the marketing department.  Why do you think Wyndham is developing the "Presidential" status level - a bigger hook?  Or bigger dollar payoff?
> 
> IMO,  *BOTH*.



She purchased her resale last year (Nov).  She also did not get any Bonus Points with her upgrade and equity transfer.  She said that she was told that they are no longer giving bonus points for upgrades.

I don't disagree that its a marketing ploy, but before I became a TUGr I purchased it, and I still enjoy having it.  Would I do it again knowing what I know now...Maybe...as I used all the benefits of VIP with no problem as I am a flexible traveler.   I am not disputing that it makes sense not to upgrade to VIP, but many do enjoy the benefits of these programs even though most here know that the cost is unrealistically high to acquire them.

All TS companies have a hook, if they didn't most of us wouldn't have purchased it.  Truthfully I have wasted more than the $19K I spent on this upgrade on worst things, as I am sure others have, unlike the lemon of a car I purchased that died before I could reap more than the 4 years I paid on it, I'd say I never truly regretted my decision to upgrade to VIP, rolling my deeds into Bonnet Creek and getting a PIC contract for my Sheraton one bit.  If they take it away in 3 years...hey at least I would have gotten more enjoyment out of it than I did my lemon car that I paid on for 2 years after it died.


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