# WorldMark Question?



## RIMike (Feb 17, 2010)

I would like to hear from WM owners how they feel about this system? I have been reading comments from different systems and have decided agains RCI points. I own DRI points and would not recommend them to anyone.  I also own an independent TS in Canada, which is fine, one in St Martin which is fine and two Royals in Cancun.

While I trade well, I am partial to wilderness areas of the country, which are often difficult trades to be accomplished.


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## rhonda (Feb 17, 2010)

We've owned Worldmark for 10 years, use it _mostly_ for staying at Worldmark resorts, and am extremely happy.  Features I particularly enjoy:
WM's website for online reservations and account management.   The site makes it easy to view resort availability (specific resort, dates, unit size/type), book/cancel reservations, check dues/account status, etc.
I like the resorts ... some for their location, some for their theming, and some for on-property activities/amenities.
I love the flexible program.  Sometimes we book smaller units, other times larger units ... and almost always for short stays (2-4 nights).
Reasonable Cancellation policy.  Full refund of credits and fees if you meet the cancellation window.
Solid phone support.  While I do most of my transactions through the WM website, I've been very pleased with the service I've received by phone working with Vacation Planning (reservations), Customer Service, Accounting, and other departments. 
Has met my trade/exchange needs through both RCI and II.  I've traded Worldmark into Disney Vacation Club many times (5+ through II, once through II), Four Season Aviara (Carlsbad, CA), and Kruger Park Lodge (South Africa).
Uses only 4000 WM credits for "last minute" exchanges through both RCI (at 45-days) and II (at 59-days). 
Uses either "Request First" or "Deposit First" through both RCI/II.  Your choice!
One possible downside, if you intend to use WM as an RCI trader: WM's "Search First" works only by phoning RCI and is not available when searching RCI's inventory online.  When trading WM through RCI, one faces a trade-off decision:
"Search First" is generally assumed to hold higher trade power than searching against a "Deposit First" week but does not, at this writing, work through RCI's website.
"Deposit First" may provide a weaker trade option -- but supports online searching in RCI and may snag a great exchange on fewer credits.
I suggest reading through the WM Owner's Education Handbook for more info.  Link: http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/education/


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## Judy (Feb 18, 2010)

RIMike said:


> I am partial to wilderness areas of the country, which are often difficult trades to be accomplished.


Not sure what you mean by "wilderness areas".  If you haven't already done so, go to www.worldmarktheclub.com and search through Worldmark's "Resort Gallery".  You don't need to login or be an owner to do that.  What I like best about Worldmark is that you don't have to exchange within their system.  You just book what you want.  The only catch is that you have to beat other owners into the highly demanded resorts/seasons.

I am a happy Worldmark owner, but I do wish that before I bought, someone had told me the negatives.  If you want to read the negatives, go to www.wmowners.com  There you'll find a community of Worldmark owners, mostly happy, who are trying to help each other work the system and sometimes complaining about or trying to fix the negatives.


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## Cathyb (Feb 18, 2010)

I'm another happy Worldmark owner (and we also own Marriott and Westin). We just this summer stayed at five WM sites: Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Depoe Bay and one other I cannot remember its name.  The former posters hit it right on with its benefits. You need to learn the system to make it work however; i.e., how to link t/s sites for better scheduling, etc.


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## LLW (Feb 18, 2010)

RIMike said:


> I would like to hear from WM owners how they feel about this system? I have been reading comments from different systems and have decided agains RCI points. I own DRI points and would not recommend them to anyone.  I also own an independent TS in Canada, which is fine, one in St Martin which is fine and two Royals in Cancun.
> 
> While I trade well, I am partial to wilderness areas of the country, which are often difficult trades to be accomplished.




I am another happy WM owner. I believe most WM owners who know how to use the system would recommend it. But how you buy (not just Developer vs resale) and use it would have a lot of impact on how happy you would be with it. Study it before you buy to see how it would fit.

There are many WMs near national parks and other wilderness areas, if that's what you meant by "wilderness areas." Last September we had a 18-night road trip to Banff, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and the Columbia River Gorge. Those kinds of trips are very easily doable within the WM system, if you know how.


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## yumdrey (Feb 18, 2010)

I am a happy WM owner too!
I own other systems - Hilton, Starwood (Westin & Sheraton), Marriott and Four Seasons, but WM is the "best buy" to me so far. It doesn't mean that I bought my WM ownership cheap, it means WM saved a lot of $$ for me. When you do exchange, WM is very useful thanks to its low MF. When I exchange my 10,000 WM (red season, 2BR) credits into Westin, Marriott or Hyatt, all the cost I spend is $500 (MF for 10,000 credit) + exchange fee. It is much less than Westin, Hyatt & Marriott's MF. If you exchange during flexchange, it is much much bigger saving ($200 + exchange fee).
However, do not reply on WM credits just for exchange, because exchange rules are keep changing and it is a kind of game. If you can use WM resorts, it would be a better reason to buy.
To maximize your credit, always plan 13 months ahead.


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## robertr55 (Feb 18, 2010)

I'd agree with all of the posts so far...we've only had 1 year to compare WM to RCI points, but WM wins that comparison hands down! We've already taken 7 mini-trips using the WM system, all in OR/CA because we can fairly easily drive to the locations and therefore book last-minute availability. We also love the "wait-list" feature of making a request and getting notified when availability pops up.

WM doesn't have the fanciest places (compared to our DRI, HGVC and Hyatt), but they're certainly the best value. Our next TS purchase will be to augment our WM points. However - I'd try to make sure their locations are (at least to some degree) where you might want to go...we haven't tried trading WM through RCI as we've been happy with the WM places "as is".


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## RIMike (Feb 18, 2010)

LLW said:


> There are many WMs near national parks and other wilderness areas, if that's what you meant by "wilderness areas." Last September we had a 18-night road trip to Banff, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and the Columbia River Gorge. Those kinds of trips are very easily doable within the WM system, if you know how.



LLW you hit it right on the head for what I meant about wilderness areas. I enjoy wildlife and national parks and it seems that WM has the most in those kinds of areas.  I already have great traders in my Royals, a Caribbean location with OBBR and Banff is covered with Banff Gate Mountain Resort...but getting near Olympic National Park has been nearly impossible, as is Yellowstone, or Yosemite.  But before I buy another points system I want to hear from owners first and not buy on impluse like I did with DRI for which I regret.


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## sue1947 (Feb 18, 2010)

I am also a WM owner and do most of my travel in conjunction with hiking or other outdoor activities.  Worldmark will work well for you.  There are a lot of resorts either close or within a reasonable day's drive from a lot of National Parks.  In addition, I've discovered other places I wouldn't have known without investigating what was near a WM resort.  The resort near Klamath Falls, OR is a perfect example.  I had been to K Falls many years before and I thought I knew everything (back when I was young .....) and wrote it off as someplace I didn't want to go.  Then somebody recommended it to me and it's now one of my favorites.  An hour drive from Crater Lake, very close to Lava Beds National Monument with it's cinder cones and ice caves and in the middle of some of the best birding in the country.  
I like the flexibility of Worldmark, but as with any timeshare, you have to learn the ropes and learn how to maximize your use.  By renting lots of credits from other owners without paying the additional maintenance fees, I've been able to get my per night cost down to $30-40.   I learned most of my strategies at www.wmowners.com and would advise you to read extensively there before making a resale purchase.   I purchased my first account from a colleague at work who still thinks WM is a big scam and ripoff.  But he was limited to school holidays and didn't want to plan a year in advance.  As a result, he could never get any of the coastal resorts he wanted in the summer.  I travel mostly midweek and off season and have been able to get more than my money's worth.  So it really depends on your situation.  

Sue


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## LBTRS (Feb 18, 2010)

Another happy WorldMark owner. I've not had my ownership as long as others, however, we are very happy so far.


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## LLW (Feb 19, 2010)

RIMike said:


> LLW you hit it right on the head for what I meant about wilderness areas. I enjoy wildlife and national parks and it seems that WM has the most in those kinds of areas.  I already have great traders in my Royals, a Caribbean location with OBBR and Banff is covered with Banff Gate Mountain Resort...but *getting near Olympic National Park has been nearly impossible, as is Yellowstone, or Yosemite.  *But before I buy another points system I want to hear from owners first and not buy on impluse like I did with DRI for which I regret.



See the Resort Gallery on www.worldmarktheclub.com for
Olympic National Park - WM Discovery Bay
Yellowstone - WM W. Yellowstone (4 minutes from the West Entrance including the traffic lights  )
Yosemite - WM Bass Lake and WM Angels Camp

All you ever want to know about WM ownership - forum on www.wmowners.com


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## Icc5 (Feb 19, 2010)

*Happy*

We too are happy with what we have.
Bought in order:
Donatello in San Francisco
Orange Lake in Florida
Lawrence Welk in Escondido
Worldmark in a lot of places.
Do what you have done, ask questions, read the forums, use it or it is not worth anything.
We trade the Donatello always, almost always trade Orange Lake, love staying at Welk, over and over again.
Use Worldmark in many ways.  We have stayed in about 15 different areas, used bonus time many times for going to the snow, used fax time for aprox. 15 units and a wedding.  
We really try taking advantage of all Worldmark has to offer.
Bart


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## rhonda (Feb 19, 2010)

RIMike said:


> I enjoy wildlife and national parks and it seems that WM has the most in those kinds of areas.


Our Summer 2008 Roadtrip hit several Worldmark resorts and just one hotel:

*WM St George*, UT; 2 nights.  Spent a very full day at *Zion NP* walking many of the established trails.  Took the park shuttle to the end of its loop and worked our way slowly back to the visitor's center.
*WM Bear Lake*, UT; 1 night.  Simply a stop-over while heading north to West Yellowstone.
*WM West Yellowstone*, MT; 4 nights.  Spent 3 full days exploring *Yellowstone NP* and a half day in *Grand Teton NP*.
Presidents View Inn (hotel), Keystone, SD; 2 nights.  Spent 3/4 day at *Mt Rushmore* ... returned to the hotel for a brief nap ... then back to the monument for the evening lighting ceremony.
*WM Estes Park*, CO; 2 nights.  Explored trails in the *Rocky Mountain NP*.  The Rialta didn't give a moments hesitation crossing through the park at elevations over 12,000 ft.  
*WM Midway*, UT; 2 nights.  Slowed down for a relaxing day hanging out in Midway and soaking in the *Homestead Crater*.  
*WM Las Vegas Blvd*, NV; 1 night.  Wrapping up the trip with *Cirque du Soleil* performance "O" at Bellagio.
Our Spring 2002 roadtrip strung 12 WM reservations at 11 different properties from San Diego to Vancouver and back.  Highlights included the Calaveras County Fair ("Frog Jump") near WM Angels Camp; Crater Lake from WM Running Y and Hearst Castle from WM Marina Dunes.

Seriously looking forward to a WM loop through AZ and NM locations.


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## cotraveller (Feb 19, 2010)

rhonda said:


> Our Our Spring 2002 roadtrip strung 12 WM reservations at 11 different properties from San Diego to Vancouver and back.  Highlights included the Calaveras County Fair ("Frog Jump") near WM Angels Camp; Crater Lake from WM Running Y and Hearst Castle from WM Marina Dunes.
> 
> Seriously looking forward to a WM loop through AZ and NM locations.



I thought we had done some good road trips, you guys are making us look like wimps.  Even though we've been to over 20 different Worldmark resorts, the most stays we have strung together in one trip is 5.  Starting in Denver we've done:

Wolf Creek -> Depoe Bay with an overnight in a motel on the way there -> Running Y -> Lake Tahoe (Southshore) -> Las Vegas

Another 5 resort trip was:
St George -> Las Vegas -> Tucson -> Pinetop -> Taos

Repeating what has arleady been said - WorldMark is a very flexible system once you learn all the ins and outs of using your ownership.  Most of the owners I have had contact with are very happy with the system.


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## Cathyb (Feb 19, 2010)

robertr55:  Regarding the use of RCI using WM credits:  We were surprised (shocked) that when we used our WM credits to get Las Vegas 2 BR that we had to pay the full cost of Housekeeping -- it was like $65 or close to that.  I tried to 'talk' my way out of it, but couldn't - lol.


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## Judy (Feb 19, 2010)

RIMike said:


> LLW you hit it right on the head for what I meant about wilderness areas. I enjoy wildlife and national parks and it seems that WM has the most in those kinds of areas.......... .but getting near Olympic National Park has been nearly impossible, as is Yellowstone, or Yosemite.


We originally bought Worldmark for its resorts in ski areas.  Now that we have a townhome in Steamboat Springs, we don't need Worldmark for skiing anymore, so we're using our credits for National Park visits.  So far we stayed at Worldmark Estes Park to visit Rocky Mountain National Park; Worldmark St. George to visit Bryce, Zion, and the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and Worldmark West Yellowstone to visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton.  This summer we'll stay at Worldmark Bass Lake to visit Yosemite.  We've always gone at the height of the tourist season and never had any trouble getting into the Worldmark resorts we wanted - of course, we booked as soon as the 13 month advance booking window opened.


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