# DIFFERENCEs IN WYNDHAM CLUB AND CLUB WYNDHAM PLUS



## raerose (Apr 3, 2015)

Hi all,

I am doing my research into the different big hotel chain based timeshares to make my first purchase.  I was hoping for clarification on Wyndham.  I am currently looking at HGVC, but Wyndham could be close second as an option.

What is the difference between Wyndham Club, Club Wyndham Plus and the Affliate/Associated Properties? 

Do I have to own points at certain resort that falls under each category to get access to all? Or are there certain resorts that you get access to certain locations only?

I appreciate the help.


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## ronparise (Apr 3, 2015)

raerose said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I am doing my research into the different big hotel chain based timeshares to make my first purchase.  I was hoping for clarification on Wyndham.  I am currently looking at HGVC, but Wyndham could be close second as an option.
> 
> ...



Points are deeded at specific resorts in the Wyndham system except Club Wyndham Access. With Club Wyndham access you have a club membership and the Club holds the deeds.

Where you own makes a difference in the Advanced  Reservation Priority (ARP) window which is 10-13 months ahead of check in,  in that you have ARP only at your home resort (or in the case of CWA; home resorts)   At 10 months points are points and they are all good at all the resorts

If you want reservations for Bike Week in Daytona, or Mardi Gras in New Orleans or other similar high demand reservations, you would be advised to buy at the appropriate resort or CWA. Otherwise any points will do

The other reason to buy at one resort over another is maintenance fees. On a per 1000 point basis mf runs between about $3.50 and $10. You will find its more expensive to buy the cheaper mf resorts.  (CWA is about average)


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## raerose (Apr 4, 2015)

What do you prefer/recommend between CWA or classic deed Wyndham points? Are there signifucant benefits/downfalls to having one over the other? The only resort location we would most likely go to on a consistent basis would be a skiing location.  We like to travel and it appears Wyndham has more locations than HGVC, but I have only dealt with HGVC and Massanutten.  Also, which does Wyndham trade into RCI or II? I appreciate any responses!


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## vacationhopeful (Apr 4, 2015)

Wyndham basicly trades in RCI .. for CWA and CWP.

Shell trades in II (for now).

Worldmark trades in both RCI and II.

I own CWP as I started buying before CWA existed. I also own fixed deeded weeks in the CWP resorts (no program fee and no 13 month or 10 month reservation worries) as some resorts sold units before Wyndham brought the resorts.


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## ronparise (Apr 4, 2015)

raerose said:


> What do you prefer/recommend between CWA or classic deed Wyndham points? Are there signifucant benefits/downfalls to having one over the other? The only resort location we would most likely go to on a consistent basis would be a skiing location.  We like to travel and it appears Wyndham has more locations than HGVC, but I have only dealt with HGVC and Massanutten.  Also, which does Wyndham trade into RCI or II? I appreciate any responses!



My preferences in this order:
1)La Belle Maison, for the ARP, because I make Mardi Gras reservations to rent.
2)CWA for the ARP at La Belle Maison and Avenue Plaza (Mardi Gras)
3)everything else with a mf under $5.50 per 1000 points
4)everything else 

I also own floating weeks at Avenue Plaza  and Worldmark credits 
for access to Avenue Plaza

Which brings me back to the tried and true advice.. Buy what you intend on using. For me thats New Orleans, for you it will be something different (I hope)


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## raerose (Apr 4, 2015)

We prefer floating weeks over fixed....


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## puppymommo (Apr 4, 2015)

raerose said:


> We prefer floating weeks over fixed....



I'm sure you understand that Wyndham points are not the same as floating weeks. For one thing, you can make a reservation for a less than 7 day period. Also depending on the season at that particular resort, the size of unit you need, whether you are staying weekdays or weekends the same number of points may get you anything from less than one week to two weeks or more.


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## raerose (Apr 4, 2015)

I'm actually not familiar with Wyndham...trying to become that as I compare different TSs...what is the difference between weeks and pts


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## puppymommo (Apr 4, 2015)

raerose said:


> I'm actually not familiar with Wyndham...trying to become that as I compare different TSs...what is the difference between weeks and pts



That's a great question. I don't know if I can fully answer it but I'll give it is shot. Hopefully others will chime in.

Traditional timeshares are one week per year (or every other year if you have an EOY contract).  Weeks can either be fixed (same time each year) or floating (you can choose your week, based upon availability of course. Not all owners can use their week at the same time).

Other timeshares are based in points, where owners get a set number of points to use per year and they can be used at any associated resort, for example Wyndham.  The points are spent kind of like cash for stays of one week or less. In Wyndham, different resorts have different point costs and it also depends on when you are traveling and the size of unit you need.  For example, a 3 bedroom holiday week at Bonnet Creek in Orlando is going to cost more points than a Branson (MO) studio in the middle of winter.

Keep asking questions, that is what we are here for.  Good luck!


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## raerose (Apr 5, 2015)

I do understand weeks and points....my question I guess is when you discussed the fact that Wyndham points and floating weeks are not the same.  Fir example, when looking at HGVC you buy  into a season (plaltinum, gold, silver). Is that how CWA points operates or at least similar in nature? Or am I misunderstanding something?


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## feistymama (Apr 5, 2015)

I am also not an expert but have been a Wyndham owner for awhile and will explain it the best I can.

My parents had an old Fairfield timeshare where we had a floating week that could only be used at certain times of the year (I believe their week could be used in "high" demand periods). We had to reserve the entire week, although we could stay the entire time, or not. Once the week was used, it was used and that was it. 

We own 384,000 Wyndham points across three resorts - Pagosa Springs (we just got back from there), Sedona and the Grand Desert in Vegas. The points we have can be used to reserve any available unit at any Wyndham resort in the system, at any time of the year where there is availability. I can reserve a unit for less than a week - 3, 4 or 5 nights (as well as 7 nights). So, here's an example: last year, a friend of mine was getting married in Vegas in September, and I wanted to rent a 3-bedroom unit at Grand Desert so I and some other friends could stay together during the wedding. When I went in to reserve, I had multiple options for check-in days, multiple options for unit sizes (1-bedroom to 4-bedroom), and multiple options for the number of nights I wanted to stay. Each option "costs" a different number of points - larger units cost more points; longer stays cost more points. If you're trying to go to Vegas during big events - the Consumer Electronics Show, or Electric Daisy Carnival - those are "high demand" times and if reservations are available, they cost more points. But you basically can get anything you want, if it's available and you're willing to spend the points it will cost.

I chose what I needed (3-bedroom unit for three nights, checking in on 9/19) and the cost was, let's say, 96,000 points, plus a "reservation credit" and "housekeeping credits" (I can explain more about those if you want me to). Once I hit "confirm this reservation" in the reservation system, the 96,000 points was deducted from my points balance. I never have a fixed number of nights I can stay somewhere in a given year - we have had years where we've blown almost our entire points allotment on two units in Vegas for a four-night multi-family vacation, and years when we've been able to stay more than 15 nights across four different resorts because we took advantage of "point sales" (where units at a given resort are available for fewer points than usual). There's a lot of flexibility; a lot more than I think we would have if we owned fixed or floating weeks.

I really, really like the points system because of the flexibility. When my parents had their floating week, we could trade/exchange but the options were limited. Back then, with Fairfield, some resorts were "worth" more and some were "worth" less, in the system, and as some resorts went downhill (like the home resort my parents bought into), there were fewer and fewer places we could trade to. While I don't love everything about Wyndham, I do have to say that as long as I am on the ball and make reservations early, we can pretty much get into anywhere we want to go, any time we want to be there, in a unit that makes us happy (we don't stay in units smaller than 2 bedrooms; we like our space). I don't regret becoming a Wyndham owner even though some of their recent management moves are concerning to me.

Hope this answers your question; if you have any more questions I can try to help.


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## turbo280 (Apr 12, 2015)

Is it necessary to buy CWA through Wyndham in order to use CWA points???
Or can I just buy CWA points on EBay and use them without a CWA contract sold by Wyndham??             Thanks


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## uscav8r (Apr 12, 2015)

turbo280 said:


> Is it necessary to buy CWA through Wyndham in order to use CWA points???


Absolutely not. 


turbo280 said:


> Or can I just buy CWA points on EBay and use them without a CWA contract sold by Wyndham??             Thanks


Resale CWA is just as good as Wyndham-sold CWA, with the exception of qualifying for VIP status, and resale does not have to pay the Plus Partners fee if you have no developer points.

If you have an existing Wyndham membership (whether in CW-Plus or CW-Access), you can have the resale contract added to that membership. If you don't currently have any Wyndham ownership, you will get a new membership number. Any subsequent purchase can be added to that account.


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## persia (Apr 12, 2015)

In the Wyndham system at 10 months out from a reservation points are points. It's the three months out from there that depend on what/where you own.

Club Wyndham Plus (CWP) is the original system going back to the Fairfield Days. You own at a specific resort, you have a deed. Between 13 and 10 months out you got a jump on other members who don't own at that resort, that's the Advance Reservation Program (ARP). This may or may not be important. Ron wants New Orleans at Mardi Gras, you have to ARP. If you are going at a less popular time, then ARP isn't necessary. If you want Glacier Canyon in the summer, you need to ARP.

Club Wyndham Access (CWA) is a basket of about 70 resorts, you sort of own a part of all of those resorts, you don't get a deed. You get ARP at all 70 resorts. 

The two ARP buckets (CWA and CWP) are separate, if a resort is 30% CWA 30 % of the resort is ARPable by CWA members and 70% to CWP. For all practical purposes, if you are on the phone at 8:00 you will get your ARP, regardless of CWP or CWA. Wyndham also keeps the percentage of CWA membership at a resort a big secret. Another complication is that some resorts also set aside certain rooms for CWA rather than point totals.


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## uscav8r (Apr 12, 2015)

raerose said:


> I do understand weeks and points....my question I guess is when you discussed the fact that Wyndham points and floating weeks are not the same.  Fir example, when looking at HGVC you buy  into a season (plaltinum, gold, silver). Is that how CWA points operates or at least similar in nature? Or am I misunderstanding something?


Not really. There is no class structure within Wyndham points (regardless of CWP or CWA) like HGVC has. HGVC has varying point structures between the seasons (or at least has differing MF rates depending on season) and you are stuck to those seasons/weeks until the open season period.

In Wyndham, points (in general) are good for booking at either the 13 month point or at the 10 month point as persia describes. While HGVC resale prices (and even MF) within a resort vary greatly depending upon the underlying season/type, in Wyndham, all "straight" points within a given resort have the same MF rate (there may be differences if you include converted fixed weeks).

There is no difference in resale purchase price for a set amount of points of a given type. Take, for example, a 308,000 point contract at Bonnet Creek. You just buy a UDI ownership, and it is completely up to you on how you want to use it. You can blow all 308k on a single week in a 3BR in Prime season, or you can break it into a Value 3BR week + a high 1BR week. The only limiting factor is availability at the time you try to book.


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