# Welk.



## Shankilicious

So I hope this gets stickied as it it darn near all the information there is on Welk Resorts.
*Desrciption *from the Welk website: 
"Whether you prefer relaxing with a glass of wine on your villa’s private patio or a round of afternoon golf, Welk Resorts offers something for every kind of traveler. Between world-class amenities and top-notch service, our team fine-tunes the vacation details to help you create unforgettable family memories. Pack your swimsuit and hit the beach in Cabo or bring your snowshoes along to trek through Tahoe. The Welk Experience awaits. "

*Weeks or Points: *Welk is almost entirely a points based system. They stopped selling set weeks nearly 10 years ago and have been buying set weeks from owners to convert them to points.
All Welk ownes have a 15 month full week booking window and a 9 month short stay/split week booking window. As tiered benefits go up, so does the booking window but less than 10% of owners are at a tiered level which starts at 420k points. San Diego and Branson two bedroom units are 240k points/week for a two bedroom and Breckenridge (newest resort) is 630k during prime season. Units range from studio to five bedroom in size. (five bedroom is Northstar only). As of 2020 maintenance fees on 240k annual points is $1500. Only Tahoe and Breckenridge have noteworthy seasons. 

*Number of Resorts: *Welk has its name on 7 resorts in 7 locations and has just purchased an 8th. San Diego, Palm Springs CA, Lake Tahoe (North), Cabo San Lucas, Branson MO, Breckenridge CO, and Santa Fe (new acquisition of El Corazon de Santa Fe). Welk technically has two resorts in One Village Place on Lake Tahoe: One Village Place and Northstar Lodge. The main resort in San Diego has three sections: Lawrence Welk Resort Villas (original resort with only 2 bedroom units), Villas on the Greens with studio to 2 bedroom lockoff units and Mountain Villas which has studio to 3 bedroom units.
All Welk resort units contain at least a limited kitchen with apartment size fridge, two burner cooktop, dishwasher, and microwave as well as a private balcony/patio. 1BR units and bigger all have a full kitchen and average over 750sqft. All Branson and Cabo units face the same direction so there is no concern of owning a certain view. No Welk unit balcony faces only a parking lot. 

*Affiliated Resorts:  *Welk has 15 affiliated resorts that can be traded into for no fee. Affiliated resorts include: _Arroyo Roble Resort_ in Sedona, _The Cliffs at Princeville_ on Kuaai, _Disney's Boardwalk Villas_, _Disney Saratoga Springs_, _Disney Aulani_, _Eagle Crest Resort_ in Redmond Oregon,_ Falcon Point_ in Avon CO, _Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara_ in San Diego, _Four Seasons Residence Club Troon North_ in Scottsdale, _Pono Kai Resort_ on Kapa'a, _Poste Montane Lodge_ in Beaver Creek, _Red Wolf Lodge Lakeside_ at Lake Tahoe,_ Red Wolf Lodge at Squaw Valley_, _Stoneridge Resort_ in Blanchard Idaho, and _Villas of Cave Creek_ near Phoenix. Ski area resorts have point variances per season but the rest do not. Disney, and hawaii resorts have no off season, nor do the Southwest region resorts.

*Home resort: *There truly is no home resort with Welk. You just buy points with a deeded interest. So if you buy 240k annual points in Branson, you can book at any Welk resort without limitation except what your points can get. As the resorts get newer, the points to book increase. 120k will get a large one bedroom in Branson, San Diego, and Palm Springs, but will only get you a studio in Cabo or Tahoe and only a studio in off-season in Breckenridge.

*Exchange: *Welk is dual affiliated with RCI and II but all owners, including resale owners get a Platinum RCI membership included in their maintenance/vacation ownership fees. Welk owners have to pay for II membership themselves but can still trade with II. Welk resorts trades better than almost any resort, evidenced by their priority access to Disney which all Welk Owners receive. (I've personally seen numerous two bedroom units at SSR and OKW, as well as units at Boulder Ridge and Animal Kingdom on RCI). When exchanging with RCI or II, owners receive a "bonus week" for exchanging. An accommodation certificate with II and a bonus week with RCI that has to be called in to claim/check availability of.

*Price:* Retail points start at $13k for 90K EEY points. 240k annual points go for around $50k. Resale Welk goes for around a penny a point plus transaction fees around $300.

*Retail vs Resale: *The only perk that retail owners have over resale owners is being able to book directly into the associated Disney resorts plus some very minor tiered benefits that start at 420k points. Benefits include discounts on golf, 18 month extended booking window vs 15 month which expands by one month per higher level, up to 35% points discount for bookings made inside 60 days, extended split week reservations by a month per level. There are 5 priority/tiered levels starting at 420k.

*Tiered Ownership: *Again, less than 10% of owners are at tier 5 and above. Tier 5 is 420K annual points, tier 4 is 720k annual points, tier 3 is 1,020,000 annual points, tier 4 is 1.5M annual points and tier 5 is 2M annual points.

*Points accrual/rollover: * This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!

*Extra costs: *There are next to no extra costs with Welk aside from your MF/VOA. There are no parking fees, no short stay fees, not transfer fees to affiliated resorts, no housekeeping fees, no limit to how many times you can stay in a year except what your points allow. There is a $50 fee for a guest certificate if you let a friend stay under your name. Welk also has a rental program with a 75% success rate that will historically covers MF/VOA fees and then some.

*Social Media: *There is a "Welk Platinum Owners Group" Facebook page for any owners reading this who would like to share thoughts etc. If your'e not an owner, don't ask to join as I'm a moderator and there are screening questions. If you want to know more, just message me on here or find me on Facebook.

*Links: * The link below for tiered benefits is from the system that Welk stopped using in 2018. But the benefits are the same per level until you get to tier 1 at 2M points. Those benefits I don't know and definitely aren't worth it.


----------



## JoshF

Shankilicious said:


> So I hope this gets stickied as it it darn near all the information there is on Welk Resorts.
> *Desrciption *from the Welk website:
> "Whether you prefer relaxing with a glass of wine on your villa’s private patio or a round of afternoon golf, Welk Resorts offers something for every kind of traveler. Between world-class amenities and top-notch service, our team fine-tunes the vacation details to help you create unforgettable family memories. Pack your swimsuit and hit the beach in Cabo or bring your snowshoes along to trek through Tahoe. The Welk Experience awaits. "
> 
> *Weeks or Points: *Welk is almost entirely a points based system. They stopped selling set weeks nearly 10 years ago and have been buying set weeks from owners to convert them to points.
> All Welk ownes have a 15 month full week booking window and a 9 month short stay/split week booking window. As tiered benefits go up, so does the booking window but less than 10% of owners are at a tiered level which starts at 420k points. San Diego and Branson two bedroom units are 240k points/week for a two bedroom and Breckenridge (newest resort) is 630k during prime season. Units range from studio to five bedroom in size. (five bedroom is Northstar only). As of 2020 maintenance fees on 240k annual points is $1500. Only Tahoe and Breckenridge have noteworthy seasons.
> 
> *Number of Resorts: *Welk has its name on 7 resorts in 7 locations and has just purchased an 8th. San Diego, Palm Springs CA, Lake Tahoe (North), Cabo San Lucas, Branson MO, Breckenridge CO, and Santa Fe (new acquisition of El Corazon de Santa Fe). Welk technically has two resorts in One Village Place on Lake Tahoe: One Village Place and Northstar Lodge. The main resort in San Diego has three sections: Lawrence Welk Resort Villas (original resort with only 2 bedroom units), Villas on the Greens with studio to 2 bedroom lockoff units and Mountain Villas which has studio to 3 bedroom units.
> All Welk resort units contain at least a limited kitchen with apartment size fridge, two burner cooktop, dishwasher, and microwave as well as a private balcony/patio. 1BR units and bigger all have a full kitchen and average over 750sqft. All Branson and Cabo units face the same direction so there is no concern of owning a certain view. No Welk unit balcony faces only a parking lot.
> 
> *Affiliated Resorts:  *Welk has 15 affiliated resorts that can be traded into for no fee. Affiliated resorts include: _Arroyo Roble Resort_ in Sedona, _The Cliffs at Princeville_ on Kuaai, _Disney's Boardwalk Villas_, _Disney Saratoga Springs_, _Disney Aulani_, _Eagle Crest Resort_ in Redmond Oregon,_ Falcon Point_ in Avon CO, _Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara_ in San Diego, _Four Seasons Residence Club Troon North_ in Scottsdale, _Pono Kai Resort_ on Kapa'a, _Poste Montane Lodge_ in Beaver Creek, _Red Wolf Lodge Lakeside_ at Lake Tahoe,_ Red Wolf Lodge at Squaw Valley_, _Stoneridge Resort_ in Blanchard Idaho, and _Villas of Cave Creek_ near Phoenix. Ski area resorts have point variances per season but the rest do not. Disney, and hawaii resorts have no off season, nor do the Southwest region resorts.
> 
> *Home resort: *There truly is no home resort with Welk. You just buy points with a deeded interest. So if you buy 240k annual points in Branson, you can book at any Welk resort without limitation except what your points can get. As the resorts get newer, the points to book increase. 120k will get a large one bedroom in Branson, San Diego, and Palm Springs, but will only get you a studio in Cabo or Tahoe and only a studio in off-season in Breckenridge.
> 
> *Exchange: *Welk is dual affiliated with RCI and II but all owners, including resale owners get a Platinum RCI membership included in their maintenance/vacation ownership fees. Welk owners have to pay for II membership themselves but can still trade with II. Welk resorts trades better than almost any resort, evidenced by their priority access to Disney which all Welk Owners receive. (I've personally seen numerous two bedroom units at SSR and OKW, as well as units at Boulder Ridge and Animal Kingdom on RCI). When exchanging with RCI or II, owners receive a "bonus week" for exchanging. An accommodation certificate with II and a bonus week with RCI that has to be called in to claim/check availability of.
> 
> *Price:* Retail points start at $13k for 90K EEY points. 240k annual points go for around $50k. Resale Welk goes for around a penny a point plus transaction fees around $300.
> 
> *Retail vs Resale: *The only perk that retail owners have over resale owners is being able to book directly into the associated Disney resorts plus some very minor tiered benefits that start at 420k points. Benefits include discounts on golf, 18 month extended booking window vs 15 month which expands by one month per higher level, up to 35% points discount for bookings made inside 60 days, extended split week reservations by a month per level. There are 5 priority/tiered levels starting at 420k.
> 
> *Tiered Ownership: *Again, less than 10% of owners are at tier 5 and above. Tier 5 is 420K annual points, tier 4 is 720k annual points, tier 3 is 1,020,000 annual points, tier 4 is 1.5M annual points and tier 5 is 2M annual points.
> 
> *Points accrual/rollover: * This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!
> 
> *Extra costs: *There are next to no extra costs with Welk aside from your MF/VOA. There are no parking fees, no short stay fees, not transfer fees to affiliated resorts, no housekeeping fees, no limit to how many times you can stay in a year except what your points allow. There is a $50 fee for a guest certificate if you let a friend stay under your name. Welk also has a rental program with a 75% success rate that will historically covers MF/VOA fees and then some.
> 
> *Social Media: *There is a "Welk Platinum Owners Group" Facebook page for any owners reading this who would like to share thoughts etc. If your'e not an owner, don't ask to join as I'm a moderator and there are screening questions. If you want to know more, just message me on here or find me on Facebook.
> 
> *Links: * The link below for tiered benefits is from the system that Welk stopped using in 2018. But the benefits are the same per level until you get to tier 1 at 2M points. Those benefits I don't know and definitely aren't worth it.


Thanks for posting.  I am a Platinum points owner and love their properties.  I've been to Northstar and Cabo already.


----------



## JohnPaul

Good info.   Just saw the new Welk Resort “in” Breckenridge.   The resort looks quite nice (just saw the exterior) but the location is very poor.   It is outside of town.  Neighbors include a construction yard. Not a lot of stuff around.  Really nothing without driving.


----------



## travelhacker

I don't own Welk, but have been a little curious. Thanks for posting this.

If a prime week at Breckenridge is 630,000 points and it is $1500 per 240000, is my math correct that it would be around $4000 in maintenance fees for a week in prime season in Breckenridge?

I've spent a ton of time in Breckenridge and while the units look cool, the location is not good, and I don't see how it will ever sell out.


----------



## Shankilicious

travelhacker said:


> I don't own Welk, but have been a little curious. Thanks for posting this.
> 
> If a prime week at Breckenridge is 630,000 points and it is $1500 per 240000, is my math correct that it would be around $4000 in maintenance fees for a week in prime season in Breckenridge?
> 
> I've spent a ton of time in Breckenridge and while the units look cool, the location is not good, and I don't see how it will ever sell out.


I've not been to Breck yet but I've heard the location isn't good. However they provide shuttle service to one of the area lifts I'm pretty certain. But here is the 19 MF chart.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## bbodb1

It is always a positive to have access to good information - thanks @Shankilicious!
We have seen the Welk Resort in Branson although we have never stayed there.  I do recall we watched a show at the theater there.....

And with that, something to brighten the day:


----------



## RunCat

JohnPaul said:


> Good info.   Just saw the new Welk Resort “in” Breckenridge.   The resort looks quite nice (just saw the exterior) but the location is very poor.   It is outside of town.  Neighbors include a construction yard. Not a lot of stuff around.  Really nothing without driving.


Few of the resorts in Breckenridge are useable without shuttle. Stayed at Grand Timber and shuttled everywhere. Stayed at Welk - Breckenridge twice so far. And will likely go up once or twice more this year. Resort is nice but small.  As you described, not much around. It Is inside the city limits though. Conveniently adjacent to the river for fishing and the bike path the goes between Frisco/Breckenridge.  The COVID shutdown really had an effect on the operations; everything is still in flux.  But my daughter was there a few weeks ago and said the place was packed.


----------



## benpope12

*"Points accrual/rollover: *This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!" 

I'm looking at buying resale points to use at Northstar during the winter season. If I understand what you wrote above....I can only book using accrual/rollover points 60 days or sooner of wanting to travel? 

Is it tough to reserve Northstar during the winter using resale points and having the shorter booking windows (not being tiered)?


----------



## Shankilicious

benpope12 said:


> *"Points accrual/rollover: *This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!"
> 
> I'm looking at buying resale points to use at Northstar during the winter season. If I understand what you wrote above....I can only book using accrual/rollover points 60 days or sooner of wanting to travel?
> 
> Is it tough to reserve Northstar during the winter using resale points and having the shorter booking windows (not being tiered)?


Resale points don't have the 60 limitation during their use year. Resale points have a 15 month booking window. If you're buying resale with the hope of staying in Tahoe, I would get a 420-540k point package, annually. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## ski_sierra

benpope12 said:


> *"Points accrual/rollover: *This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!"
> 
> I'm looking at buying resale points to use at Northstar during the winter season. If I understand what you wrote above....I can only book using accrual/rollover points 60 days or sooner of wanting to travel?
> 
> Is it tough to reserve Northstar during the winter using resale points and having the shorter booking windows (not being tiered)?



BTW, I looked into purchasing Welk for Northstar but found it pretty risky for resale buyers as developer purchasers can book before you. I think Northstar is the most desirable/premium resort in Welk inventory so it may be difficult to score good weeks there if you don't have developer elite status. If you are very flexible and can use the non-peak weeks, then it might be possible but the way Welk program it set up, it will be very competitive to book prime weeks.


----------



## Shankilicious

ski_sierra said:


> BTW, I looked into purchasing Welk for Northstar but found it pretty risky for resale buyers as developer purchasers can book before you. I think Northstar is the most desirable/premium resort in Welk inventory so it may be difficult to score good weeks there if you don't have developer elite status. If you are very flexible and can use the non-peak weeks, then it might be possible but the way Welk program it set up, it will be very competitive to book prime weeks.


Only *10% *of Owners have a larger booking window than resale owners. I know '21 is not the best year to judge off of, but I can book a two bedroom at Northstar every week from Jan 9th through the end of April except Valentine's week. And this is late to be looking into that normally. But, in years past when I've looked, as long as I'm booking at least 9 months in advance, I find the same availability. There are A LOT of every other year owners, and they can only book during their use year, so Jan-March typically has good availability because off year owners, can't book into the next year until November at the earliest, and a lot of owners don't pay their MF right at the beginning of the year due to Christmas expenses or whatever. 
We have 500 owners in the Facebook group now and only 5 own a million plus points. And those owners only get a 21 month window. I'll give you that Valentines weekend is very tough to get as I'm sure several of the Million+ club know it's high demand and book just to rent out.


----------



## tugcccsp

I bought resale Welk Escondido, fixed summer week and fixed unit.  It shows up in my account 18 months prior to use.  I am grateful I don’t have the hassles of a floating week.


----------



## Shankilicious

tugcccsp said:


> I bought resale Welk Escondido, fixed summer week and fixed unit.  It shows up in my account 18 months prior to use.  I am grateful I don’t have the hassles of a floating week.


How long ago was that? And I'm glad it works for you. I personally love the flexibility. I have had 000 hassle in booking what I want, including most trades with my points.


----------



## tugcccsp

Shankilicious said:


> How long ago was that? And I'm glad it works for you. I personally love the flexibility. I have had 000 hassle in booking what I want, including most trades with my points.


It was about four years ago.  $3000.  The week usually includes the 4th of July.  I go every other year.  I enjoy going to the beach, San Diego Zoo, Sand Diego Zoo Safari Park, the ferry and cycling on Coronado Island, visiting family, relaxing, and other activities. The years I don't go I give it to a friend or a family member.  Yes, it doesn't have the flexibility of a floating week.  It is a no hassle, no worry week.


----------



## Shankilicious

tugcccsp said:


> It was about four years ago.  $3000.  The week usually includes the 4th of July.  I go every other year.  I enjoy going to the beach, San Diego Zoo, Sand Diego Zoo Safari Park, the ferry and cycling on Coronado Island, visiting family, relaxing, and other activities. The years I don't go I give it to a friend or a family member.  Yes, it doesn't have the flexibility of a floating week.  It is a no hassle, no worry week.


I'm glad that works for you. I used to laugh and HATE the idea of a timeshare. Owning a fixed week at the same resort/location and same unit. The idea of buying a vacation home was twice as appalling as I would have to pay the taxes and maintenance and repairs. I wish I had bought resale but I'm steadily gaining ground on my retail purchase and can't imagine vacationing any other way.


----------



## Icc5

tugcccsp said:


> I bought resale Welk Escondido, fixed summer week and fixed unit.  It shows up in my account 18 months prior to use.  I am grateful I don’t have the hassles of a floating week.


I too own a fixed week.  Our week is in May and is a Villa unit.  We bought it about 30 years ago on the resale market after staying in it and falling in love with it.  We also own in 3 other systems which 2 of them are weeks and the points with Worldmark.  Of the close to 200 weeks we have spent timesharing my favorite and friends and relatives favorite is stil Welk in Escondido.  Something about the Villas get me in a calm and relaxing state of mind.  It always happens and if I knew what it was I'd change my 4 bedroom house in Cupertino,California to match it.
Bart


----------



## Guitarmom

Shankilicious, you have done a fantastic job describing the Welk system. I have one very minor option to add. The San Diego Resort comprises the Mountain Villas (strictly points from Day One), the Lawrence Welk Resort Villas (originally sold as fixed unit/fixed week, now also available on points), and the Villas on the Green (were originally sold as floating weeks, now also available on points). Some VOG floating week units are still available on the resale; currently I see five units listed on CalResorts.com.

For many years, we owned a two bedroom lockoff VOG/ floating week. Because we only used the San Diego resort, this was perfect for us. We used the lockoffs separately, so we got two weeks each year in San Diego. We felt it was the sweet spot of San Diego ownership.

Since this is a sticky post, I'll re-tell our full story. After owning our VOG for many years, we bought 240,000 PlatinumPoints from an aunt & uncle. Then we noticed a fixed week LWRV for Thanksgiving week and bought it resale. Before a year was up, Welk offered to switch us to all Platinum Points during one of our "owner updates" (i.e. Captive Audience Sales Pitch) for $7,000. That was too good to pass up, especially since it lowered our MF and we will recoup our $7K in about 7 years. So we are now Platinum Priority IV members, and we fully enjoy the perks we get at this level of membership.

While you cannot get Priority perks directly from the resale market, Welk is desperate to buy back those fixed-week deeds. Its a frugal way to work yourself up to Priority status.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

@Guitarmom thank you. And you are correct. There have been multiple stories of Fixed/floating week resale owners being able to switch to retail points with Welk buying their fixed week memberships. We checked the numbers at one point from the public disclosure and Welk was above 90% Platinum Points owners only. 
I tried to keep it as factual as possible and not give anyone false hope of being able to combine accounts or switch from fixed to points with perks etc as it's not guaranteed.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Guitarmom

Shankilicious said:


> I tried to keep it as factual as possible and not give anyone false hope of being able to combine accounts or switch from fixed to points with perks etc as it's not guaranteed.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk



Excellent point. 

Given the attitude of the next Welk rep at our next Owner's Update (she literally sneered as she said, "You've only directly paid Welk $7,000?"), the deal we got may be gone.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


----------



## fleecer

Shank, a Welk "tiered" owner here with 420K points: Per the FAQs, ALL platinum owners have a 60d booking window with accrued points. So there is no break there for tiered owners, unless I'm missing something.


----------



## Shankilicious

fleecer said:


> Shank, a Welk "tiered" owner here with 420K points: Per the FAQs, ALL platinum owners have a 60d booking window with accrued points. So there is no break there for tiered owners, unless I'm missing something.


See my attached PDF labeled tiered benefits. Starting at 420k its 90 days instead of 60 and it goes up from there. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## superchunks

Shankilicious said:


> See my attached PDF labeled tiered benefits. Starting at 420k its 90 days instead of 60 and it goes up from there.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk



Shank, Is Christmas or New Years 2021-2022 available at the moment in a 2 or 3 be at North Star?  Trying to get an idea Of availability when you are resale


----------



## Shankilicious

superchunks said:


> Shank, Is Christmas or New Years 2021-2022 available at the moment in a 2 or 3 be at North Star? Trying to get an idea Of availability when you are resale


Availability doesn't differ for resale owners vs retail. And I can't see weeks that far out yet. I won't be able to see Christmas of 21 until end of September.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## river2020

I bought points with Welk last year. I am very happy with them, my Salesperson Jerome was great to work with. A nice perk was they use Go Properties Inc to help you get out of other timeshares you may own. Had a great experience with both Welk and Go Properties.


----------



## travelhacker

river2020 said:


> I bought points with Welk last year. I am very happy with them, my Salesperson Jerome was great to work with. A nice perk was they use Go Properties Inc to help you get out of other timeshares you may own. Had a great experience with both Welk and Go Properties.


Great info, I'm really glad you created an account to post about your experience.


----------



## superchunks

@shankalicious.  Can you explain in laymens terms why an every other year contract sucks?  If I want to book January 2022 and I have an even year contract...can’t I book 15 months before that?  You mentioned that they wouldn’t be able to book until November 2021 but that seems crazy to me.


----------



## Shankilicious

That would be with borrowed points. 
In your scenario, if you own even year points and you want to book January '22 you could book 15 months before that but you'd have to pay all your maintenance fees before that. 
But if I owned odd year points and wanted to book January of '22, I would have to wait until November of '21. 
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Guitarmom

I've been told by Owners Services (though I haven't tried it) that you can book ahead even if you haven't paid your MFs. You just have to pay them before your stay. I couldn't believe my ears, so I kept asking questions to verify, and the rep stuck to her story.

In this case, superchunks could book in October or November of 2020, pay the MFs in December of 2021, and stay in January of 2022.

It's worth calling Owners Services to see if you get the same advice.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


----------



## Guitarmom

fleecer said:


> Shank, a Welk "tiered" owner here with 420K points: Per the FAQs, ALL platinum owners have a 60d booking window with accrued points. So there is no break there for tiered owners, unless I'm missing something.


We have 780k points, and we get a four month window to book any accrued/rollover points. My paperwork says that an owner with 420k points gets a three month window.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


----------



## fleecer

When Welk used Interval as its primary exchange co, I used to just deposit 120K points (from my floating 420K) into II, i.e., without a particular resort or week -- and my II exchange power was whatever it was. Now if I want to exchange through II, II it asks for a specific resort and week. Do I now have to first reserve the resort and week at Welk, then deposit with Interval? And if so, I assume that weeks at the better resorts with higher demand will give me maximum trading power at Interval?


----------



## Shankilicious

Guitarmom said:


> We have 780k points, and we get a four month window to book any accrued/rollover points. My paperwork says that an owner with 420k points gets a three month window.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


Yes, that is accurate for annual owners at those tiered levels. Thanks for clarifying. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

Guitarmom said:


> I've been told by Owners Services (though I haven't tried it) that you can book ahead even if you haven't paid your MFs. You just have to pay them before your stay. I couldn't believe my ears, so I kept asking questions to verify, and the rep stuck to her story.
> 
> In this case, superchunks could book in October or November of 2020, pay the MFs in December of 2021, and stay in January of 2022.
> 
> It's worth calling Owners Services to see if you get the same advice.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


To my knowledge that only works for annual owners. I have done it for February stays before. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

fleecer said:


> When Welk used Interval as its primary exchange co, I used to just deposit 120K points (from my floating 420K) into II, i.e., without a particular resort or week -- and my II exchange power was whatever it was. Now if I want to exchange through II, II it asks for a specific resort and week. Do I now have to first reserve the resort and week at Welk, then deposit with Interval? And if so, I assume that weeks at the better resorts with higher demand will give me maximum trading power at Interval?


You can do that, it has to be a full week and yes, the higher demand weeks should get you the best trading power. 
You can also just call owner services and tell them you want to deposit xxx,xxx points into interval and they'll do it for you. That's what we did to get Hilton Head during spring break a couple years ago

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## fleecer

Shank, do you know how many Welk Platinum owners exist? Also curious to know how many rooms Sirena del Mar (Cabo) has right now. I know it added another building or two a few years back.


----------



## paxlin

Currently I see listings on tug that shows different MF for different locations, even though points are equal.
So does that mean one cannot combine points from different resale into one account to lower the maintenance fee?


----------



## Shankilicious

fleecer said:


> Shank, do you know how many Welk Platinum owners exist? Also curious to know how many rooms Sirena del Mar (Cabo) has right now. I know it added another building or two a few years back.


I'm not sure about how many total owners. I can look it up but it will take some time. 

Cabo has 98 units with three buildings.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

paxlin said:


> Currently I see listings on tug that shows different MF for different locations, even though points are equal.
> So does that mean one cannot combine points from different resale into one account to lower the maintenance fee?


Different MF for the same amount of points is either a typo or one listing is for annual points while the other is for EOY points. Small variations may be due to how old an account is. My annual points bought in 2015 have a slightly lower MF than someone who bought the same amount in 2020. 
Historically we have not been able to combine resale accounts into one. However, in 2019 and 2020, resale owners have been given the opportunity to combine and get the tiered benefits if they buy retail points at an owner update. The amount and cost being quoted to these owners varies quite a bit based on how many points/what tier they'd be getting 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

fleecer said:


> Shank, do you know how many Welk Platinum owners exist? Also curious to know how many rooms Sirena del Mar (Cabo) has right now. I know it added another building or two a few years back.


This is not how many owners there are, but how many points and units at each resort the Welk Owners Association has. 
At minimum one must buy 90k EOY.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## NOLA47

Thanks so much for very detailed introduction to WELK Resorts.


----------



## jarnson

I'm in Breckenridge quite often.  the Welk Resorts location is about a 5-10 minute drive to the gondola (depending on traffic, could be more) north of town on US 9.
All parking is pay, so if they have a shuttle, it is more effective to take that


----------



## jarnson

RunCat said:


> Few of the resorts in Breckenridge are useable without shuttle. Stayed at Grand Timber and shuttled everywhere. Stayed at Welk - Breckenridge twice so far. And will likely go up once or twice more this year. Resort is nice but small.  As you described, not much around. It Is inside the city limits though. Conveniently adjacent to the river for fishing and the bike path the goes between Frisco/Breckenridge.  The COVID shutdown really had an effect on the operations; everything is still in flux.  But my daughter was there a few weeks ago and said the place was packed.



It depends on what you refer to as "shuttle"  there is no parking on the mountain itself.  there is one large parking lot in town that is pay (last I heard it was $15/day)  that is at the base of the gondola.  If no car, but staying in town (or Frisco) there is a loop bus that goes around to all the base areas.


----------



## liongate88

Shankilicious said:


> So I hope this gets stickied as it it darn near all the information there is on Welk Resorts.
> *Desrciption *from the Welk website:
> "Whether you prefer relaxing with a glass of wine on your villa’s private patio or a round of afternoon golf, Welk Resorts offers something for every kind of traveler. Between world-class amenities and top-notch service, our team fine-tunes the vacation details to help you create unforgettable family memories. Pack your swimsuit and hit the beach in Cabo or bring your snowshoes along to trek through Tahoe. The Welk Experience awaits. "
> 
> *Weeks or Points: *Welk is almost entirely a points based system. They stopped selling set weeks nearly 10 years ago and have been buying set weeks from owners to convert them to points.
> All Welk ownes have a 15 month full week booking window and a 9 month short stay/split week booking window. As tiered benefits go up, so does the booking window but less than 10% of owners are at a tiered level which starts at 420k points. San Diego and Branson two bedroom units are 240k points/week for a two bedroom and Breckenridge (newest resort) is 630k during prime season. Units range from studio to five bedroom in size. (five bedroom is Northstar only). As of 2020 maintenance fees on 240k annual points is $1500. Only Tahoe and Breckenridge have noteworthy seasons.
> 
> *Number of Resorts: *Welk has its name on 7 resorts in 7 locations and has just purchased an 8th. San Diego, Palm Springs CA, Lake Tahoe (North), Cabo San Lucas, Branson MO, Breckenridge CO, and Santa Fe (new acquisition of El Corazon de Santa Fe). Welk technically has two resorts in One Village Place on Lake Tahoe: One Village Place and Northstar Lodge. The main resort in San Diego has three sections: Lawrence Welk Resort Villas (original resort with only 2 bedroom units), Villas on the Greens with studio to 2 bedroom lockoff units and Mountain Villas which has studio to 3 bedroom units.
> All Welk resort units contain at least a limited kitchen with apartment size fridge, two burner cooktop, dishwasher, and microwave as well as a private balcony/patio. 1BR units and bigger all have a full kitchen and average over 750sqft. All Branson and Cabo units face the same direction so there is no concern of owning a certain view. No Welk unit balcony faces only a parking lot.
> 
> *Affiliated Resorts:  *Welk has 15 affiliated resorts that can be traded into for no fee. Affiliated resorts include: _Arroyo Roble Resort_ in Sedona, _The Cliffs at Princeville_ on Kuaai, _Disney's Boardwalk Villas_, _Disney Saratoga Springs_, _Disney Aulani_, _Eagle Crest Resort_ in Redmond Oregon,_ Falcon Point_ in Avon CO, _Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara_ in San Diego, _Four Seasons Residence Club Troon North_ in Scottsdale, _Pono Kai Resort_ on Kapa'a, _Poste Montane Lodge_ in Beaver Creek, _Red Wolf Lodge Lakeside_ at Lake Tahoe,_ Red Wolf Lodge at Squaw Valley_, _Stoneridge Resort_ in Blanchard Idaho, and _Villas of Cave Creek_ near Phoenix. Ski area resorts have point variances per season but the rest do not. Disney, and hawaii resorts have no off season, nor do the Southwest region resorts.
> 
> *Home resort: *There truly is no home resort with Welk. You just buy points with a deeded interest. So if you buy 240k annual points in Branson, you can book at any Welk resort without limitation except what your points can get. As the resorts get newer, the points to book increase. 120k will get a large one bedroom in Branson, San Diego, and Palm Springs, but will only get you a studio in Cabo or Tahoe and only a studio in off-season in Breckenridge.
> 
> *Exchange: *Welk is dual affiliated with RCI and II but all owners, including resale owners get a Platinum RCI membership included in their maintenance/vacation ownership fees. Welk owners have to pay for II membership themselves but can still trade with II. Welk resorts trades better than almost any resort, evidenced by their priority access to Disney which all Welk Owners receive. (I've personally seen numerous two bedroom units at SSR and OKW, as well as units at Boulder Ridge and Animal Kingdom on RCI). When exchanging with RCI or II, owners receive a "bonus week" for exchanging. An accommodation certificate with II and a bonus week with RCI that has to be called in to claim/check availability of.
> 
> *Price:* Retail points start at $13k for 90K EEY points. 240k annual points go for around $50k. Resale Welk goes for around a penny a point plus transaction fees around $300.
> 
> *Retail vs Resale: *The only perk that retail owners have over resale owners is being able to book directly into the associated Disney resorts plus some very minor tiered benefits that start at 420k points. Benefits include discounts on golf, 18 month extended booking window vs 15 month which expands by one month per higher level, up to 35% points discount for bookings made inside 60 days, extended split week reservations by a month per level. There are 5 priority/tiered levels starting at 420k.
> 
> *Tiered Ownership: *Again, less than 10% of owners are at tier 5 and above. Tier 5 is 420K annual points, tier 4 is 720k annual points, tier 3 is 1,020,000 annual points, tier 4 is 1.5M annual points and tier 5 is 2M annual points.
> 
> *Points accrual/rollover: * This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!
> 
> *Extra costs: *There are next to no extra costs with Welk aside from your MF/VOA. There are no parking fees, no short stay fees, not transfer fees to affiliated resorts, no housekeeping fees, no limit to how many times you can stay in a year except what your points allow. There is a $50 fee for a guest certificate if you let a friend stay under your name. Welk also has a rental program with a 75% success rate that will historically covers MF/VOA fees and then some.
> 
> *Social Media: *There is a "Welk Platinum Owners Group" Facebook page for any owners reading this who would like to share thoughts etc. If your'e not an owner, don't ask to join as I'm a moderator and there are screening questions. If you want to know more, just message me on here or find me on Facebook.
> 
> *Links: * The link below for tiered benefits is from the system that Welk stopped using in 2018. But the benefits are the same per level until you get to tier 1 at 2M points. Those benefits I don't know and definitely aren't worth it.


Interested in Welk platinum points (resale of course). You mentioned biggest downfall is banking  points with limited 60 day booking, What about borrowed points? Say I have 150K and needed more points can you bank and borrow ? Is there restrictions as well for borrowing? How easy it is to book with affiliated resorts like four seasons with Welk exchange? And you also mentioned about unable to book Disney direct, would this mean you have to use RCI for Disney? Thanks!


----------



## Shankilicious

liongate88 said:


> Interested in Welk platinum points (resale of course). You mentioned biggest downfall is banking points with limited 60 day booking, What about borrowed points? Say I have 150K and needed more points can you bank and borrow ? Is there restrictions as well for borrowing? How easy it is to book with affiliated resorts like four seasons with Welk exchange? And you also mentioned about unable to book Disney direct, would this mean you have to use RCI for Disney? Thanks!


Yeah, banking/borrowed/accrued points all have the 60 day restriction.
The affiliated resorts are easy to book with good availability, noting of course that the further out you try to book, the better your odds of getting the week you want. 
Lastly, yes. You have to book through RCI for Disney but on Monday I glanced at Orlando and there were 40 check in days for SSR and 16 for old key west between January and mid April so welk sees more Disney inventory than anyone else.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## liongate88

Shankilicious said:


> That would be with borrowed points.
> In your scenario, if you own even year points and you want to book January '22 you could book 15 months before that but you'd have to pay all your maintenance fees before that.
> But if I owned odd year points and wanted to book January of '22, I would have to wait until November of '21.
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Shankilicious,   If I own EOY points like , example odd years 2021 can you bank half of the points and book for 2020 with 60 days  booking window? Or if you own EOY 2021 you can only bank and book on odd years 2021 / 2023.  Thanks


----------



## Shankilicious

You can roll your odd year points into an even year but they will have the limited 60 day window.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

liongate88 said:


> Shankilicious, If I own EOY points like , example odd years 2021 can you bank half of the points and book for 2020 with 60 days booking window? Or if you own EOY 2021 you can only bank and book on odd years 2021 / 2023. Thanks


Just to be clear, you can bank all your points if you want. There's no limit to how many points you can bank/borrow. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## liongate88

Shankilicious said:


> Just to be clear, you can bank all your points if you want. There's no limit to how many points you can bank/borrow.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Thanks, would EOY contract bank for 1 year or two years? No fee?


----------



## Shankilicious

One year with Welk. No fee

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## jedimasterjem

I read this thread and I wanted to know how resale would work if I want to get into Welk Northstar Lake Tahoe. How many points should I look into if I want either a summer week or a week in Dec or Jan. 

Sent from my SM-T867U using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

jedimasterjem said:


> I read this thread and I wanted to know how resale would work if I want to get into Welk Northstar Lake Tahoe. How many points should I look into if I want either a summer week or a week in Dec or Jan.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T867U using Tapatalk


Look at my original post, the pdf labeled point valuation chart will show you how many points each unit size costs in each season.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## jedimasterjem

Shankilicious said:


> Look at my original post, the pdf labeled point valuation chart will show you how many points each unit size costs in each season.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Ok, another question is welk maintenance fees higher than other ts? 

Sent from my SM-T867U using Tapatalk


----------



## jedimasterjem

And does it matter where I get the points as long as they are welk points?

Sent from my SM-T867U using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

jedimasterjem said:


> And does it matter where I get the points as long as they are welk points?
> 
> Sent from my SM-T867U using Tapatalk


Nope. As long as they're Welk Platinum Points. I recommend www.calresorts.com for some great priced Welk points. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

jedimasterjem said:


> Ok, another question is welk maintenance fees higher than other ts?
> 
> Sent from my SM-T867U using Tapatalk


There is a MF comparison around TUG somewhere. And the Welk 2019 fees are in this thread on post #5.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## jarnson

jedimasterjem said:


> Ok, another question is welk maintenance fees higher than other ts?
> 
> Sent from my SM-T867U using Tapatalk



My fees for 2021 were $1600.
[other specific info removed as advertising is not allowed in discussion forums. Ads may be placed in the TUG Marketplace.]


----------



## usernameme

A question for everyone! If I were to add to my points thru acquiring thru a website such as Calresorts. Would Welk add them to my existing points or would they consider them on a different account? Has anyone done this?
Thanks


----------



## Shankilicious

usernameme said:


> A question for everyone! If I were to add to my points thru acquiring thru a website such as Calresorts. Would Welk add them to my existing points or would they consider them on a different account? Has anyone done this?
> Thanks


It would be a different account. You might be able to combine the two at an owner update by buying at least 90k points from Welk at developer prices. But there's no guarantee they'll do this.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Guitarmom

Completely agree with Shankalicious. So your MF would be very high because you'd have two "base rates" to pay. If you want to think outside the box on this, you *could* sell the points you have through calresorts, then buy a bigger package from same.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


----------



## Guitarmom

One more thought. If you're a Priority member, you'd lose those benefits in the transaction I described. But if you own under 500,000 (rough estimate), you wouldn't lose anny benefits.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

Guitarmom said:


> One more thought. If you're a Priority member, you'd lose those benefits in the transaction I described. But if you own under 500,000 (rough estimate), you wouldn't lose anny benefits.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


They lowered the first tier of benefits to 420k annual. But they're nothing to jump around about.....

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## liongate88

Does Welk point have fixed maintenance fee for specific points? Like 240k points MF is always 1600 no matter which resort it is deeded? I can see different MF in the resale market. Just wondering if this is something to do with property tax for the location.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

liongate88 said:


> Does Welk point have fixed maintenance fee for specific points? Like 240k points MF is always 1600 no matter which resort it is deeded? I can see different MF in the resale market. Just wondering if this is something to do with property tax for the location.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


See the chart in one of my first posts. It's per point. If it's being advertised as a week at San Diego or palm springs, it may be a fixed/floating week. 
But for points, no. It is fixed with a $700 base fee and $0.0033 per point. So 240k points is around $1600 this year. 
Points aren't assigned a specifc location. I bought in Branson but my title says San Diego

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## liongate88

Need help with this.. I really wanted to get Welk only for the Four Seasons resort in San Diego and Scottsdale in the Welk collection. Would the inventory for both in STUDIO be decent to able to book? The 1 bedroom requires a lot of points. MF wise, the studio is the most reasonable cost. Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

I looked at both and don't see any studios for the next 12 months. Lots of one bedrooms at San Diego and lots of 2BR at Troon

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Guitarmom

@liongate88: You asked "Need help with this.. I really wanted to get Welk only for the Four Seasons resort in San Diego and Scottsdale in the Welk collection. Would the inventory for both in STUDIO be decent to able to book? The 1 bedroom requires a lot of points. MF wise, the studio is the most reasonable cost. Thanks "

The Four Seasons in both San Diego and Scottsdale are part of the Welk Experiences Collection. It takes 120,000 points for a Studio at either location, all the way up to 450,000 points for a two-bedroom lock-off.

Having said that, I have this vague memory that you have to own a certain minimum number of Welk points to be allowed to book in the Welk Experiences Collection. I may be wrong! Does anyone else know about this?


----------



## Shankilicious

Guitarmom said:


> @liongate88: You asked "Need help with this.. I really wanted to get Welk only for the Four Seasons resort in San Diego and Scottsdale in the Welk collection. Would the inventory for both in STUDIO be decent to able to book? The 1 bedroom requires a lot of points. MF wise, the studio is the most reasonable cost. Thanks "
> 
> The Four Seasons in both San Diego and Scottsdale are part of the Welk Experiences Collection. It takes 120,000 points for a Studio at either location, all the way up to 450,000 points for a two-bedroom lock-off.
> 
> Having said that, I have this vague memory that you have to own a certain minimum number of Welk points to be allowed to book in the Welk Experiences Collection. I may be wrong! Does anyone else know about this?


No. You don't need to own a certain number of points/own at a certain tier/level. That only applies to the disney properties in the collection

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## Guitarmom

Shankilicious said:


> No. You don't need to own a certain number of points/own at a certain tier/level. That only applies to the disney properties in the collection



Thank you, Shankilicious. I had heard that restriction second hand chatting with another Welk owner who had just upgraded his points. Although he had a good supply of existing points, he was told that he "needed" more points to access "The Experience Collection." Can we say "sales weasels"?


----------



## Shankilicious

Guitarmom said:


> Thank you, Shankilicious. I had heard that restriction second hand chatting with another Welk owner who had just upgraded his points. Although he had a good supply of existing points, he was told that he "needed" more points to access "The Experience Collection." Can we say "sales weasels"?


Yeah, almost guaranteed. I could sell Welk all day without lying. Well, used to could have before the big question of the Hyatt Residence Club merger.


----------



## RunCat

Guitarmom said:


> Thank you, Shankilicious. I had heard that restriction second hand chatting with another Welk owner who had just upgraded his points. Although he had a good supply of existing points, he was told that he "needed" more points to access "The Experience Collection." Can we say "sales weasels"?



Yes, "sales weasels" are everywhere.  At the "owner's updates", I'm always asked if I have any issues.  I can always think of something. . . . surprisingly the answer is almost always, "you need more points."  I'm Priority 1. I think I have enough for now.   
Anecdotally, I was on a presentation in Escondido, and the sales manager said, jokingly,  that more points would get us into our own special program.


----------



## wallyboag

Thank you Shankilicious for this very excellent rundown.

My father-in-law died recently. He and my mother-in-law inherited a one week two bedroom timeshare from my wife's grandparents. Now my mother-in-law is looking to get rid of it as she does not travel often and would like to stop paying the maintenance fees.

She asked us if we were interested in having it, and I am trying to figure out if it is worth it for us or not. While we do enjoy going to the resort in Escondido, I don't see us wanting to go there every year, so the exchange idea is interesting. Especially the exchange to Disney resorts. Is that something that is easy to do, or is exchanging to a Disney resort nearly impossible to achieve?

Also, what would the process be if she does give it to us? Would we inherit all the owner's perks, or would it then become a "resale" contract and we would not have all the perks of "retail" ownership?

I am thinking that if the only way for her to give it to us is through a sale, then we might as well just sell it to someone else instead of keeping it, but if it is just a matter of transferring ownership and we keep all the perks, then it would be worth it to own. Does that make sense? Is another way to do this, since the father-in-law is deceased, could my wife's mother put her on the contract instead of him, and then no sale would be necessary?

Thank you everyone for any advice you can give on this situation.


----------



## Shankilicious

With just one week in a two bedroom, you won't be getting any perks as that's not in the points program. 
However, you're in a pretty good spot as Welk has been converting fixed weeks to points any chance they get.
So have the spouse of whoever is on the title contact Welk and say they need to update to their name on the contract. Then she can transfer it to you And you can convert it to points.
What week is it?

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## nuwermj

Shankilicious said:


> However, you're in a pretty good spot as Welk has been converting fixed weeks to points any chance they get.



I think there is a price to make this conversion. I was offered the conversion last week for the every-day low price of $13,000.


----------



## Shankilicious

nuwermj said:


> I think there is a price to make this conversion. I was offered the conversion last week for the every-day low price of $13,000.


We're they just gonna give you 240k points? Or how many?

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## RunCat

Shankilicious said:


> We're they just gonna give you 240k points? Or how many?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk



My recollection is that the have to get something for the purchase; but it is likely a small amount, maybe 30,000/60,000  
Re: 240,000 points.  Within the Welk Experience collection, there will be some limitations at the Disney FL locations.  
See more here:  https://thecollection.welkresorts.com


----------



## Shankilicious

RunCat said:


> My recollection is that the have to get something for the purchase; but it is likely a small amount, maybe 30,000/60,000
> Re: 240,000 points. Within the Welk Experience collection, there will be some limitations at the Disney FL locations.
> See more here: https://thecollection.welkresorts.com


Yes, sorry, forgot to answer that. You won't be able to book directly into Disney with less than 420k points, making you Tier 5. HOWEVER, it costs half as many points to book through RCI. Yes, that means you'll have to pay the $235ish exchange fee but I think 120k points is worth a lot more than $235.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## wallyboag

I am able to log in to her account and I see 240,000 points, so it looks like they are already on points, not a week.

So does this mean that I cannot exchange for the Disney resorts at all? I do not see them available on RCI as an exchange.


----------



## nuwermj

Shankilicious said:


> We're they just gonna give you 240k points? Or how many?



The offer was for 300k points. My deed is week 32 in the Villas and the developer has no right of first refusal, a very valuable property in my view.


----------



## nuwermj

wallyboag said:


> I am able to log in to her account and I see 240,000 points, so it looks like they are already on points, not a week.
> 
> So does this mean that I cannot exchange for the Disney resorts at all? I do not see them available on RCI as an exchange.



Regrading Disney resorts ... Although we do not know for sure, there is a high probability that the Disney option will go away sometime after Welk's sale to Hyatt is complete. Another small resort system called Embarc, in Canada--a high quality group like Welk--had the same kind of exchange relationship with Disney and when Embarc was sold to one of the big developers, Disney terminated the relationship. I doubt Welk's relationship with Disney will continue after the sale is finalized.


----------



## Guitarmom

wallyboag said:


> ... my mother-in-law inherited a one week two bedroom timeshare from my wife's grandparents. Now my mother-in-law is looking to get rid of it as she does not travel often and would like to stop paying the maintenance fees.
> 
> She asked us if we were interested in having it, and I am trying to figure out if it is worth it for us or not. While we do enjoy going to the resort in Escondido, I don't see us wanting to go there every year, so the exchange idea is interesting. Especially the exchange to Disney resorts. Is that something that is easy to do, or is exchanging to a Disney resort nearly impossible to achieve?



It sounds like your mother-in-law owns a deeded one week, two bedroom unit in Escondido: fixed week, fixed unit. Is that correct?

A fixed week, two bedroom Escondido unit trades very, very well in RCI (in II, too, and you would have a choice which of those you joined). So you would not be limited to staying in Escondido. As @Shankilicious said, there's an exchange fee of about $240, and you'd have to pay for your RCI membership every year, too.

Your mother-in-law's fixed week, two bedroom is the equivalent of 240,000 Welk Platinum Points. Welk Platinum Points do NOT translate directly into RCI points. Last I checked, which was many years ago, depositing my two bedroom lock-off got me about 60 RCI points. You can get some good trades with 60 RCI points! Also, any benefits that your MIL has would go to you. It's only when you climb up to 420,000 Platinum Points that there are benefits which don't transfer in a sale.

But I don't think your mother-in-law needs to sell the timeshare to you, all she needs to do is call Owner Services to change the title. There may be a fee for this, I'm not sure; based on buying my aging aunt and uncle's 240,000 points, there was a fee of about $300-$400 for the transfer. If Owner Services balks at her giving you the timeshare, have her add the two of you to the title, so that it's held in all three names. A side effect of this is that only TWO of the people on the deed may have membership cards. When we bought our first Welk two-bedroom lock-off, our daughter was going to college in San Diego. We included her on the deed and let her have one of the two membership cards so that she could get day use. Eventually we filed a quit-claim deed, taking her off the title. Eventually, you could do the same.

I apologize that I have no experience with trading for Disney timeshares. As @Shankilicious mentioned, 240,000 Platinum Points do not qualify for trading for Disney through Welk's Experience Collection. You can, as he says, deposit your Welk timeshare into RCI and try for Disney that way.


----------



## Guitarmom

@wallyboag  - I just saw your post that says your mother has 240,000 points. This level of membership has a lot more flexibility than a fixed-week, fixed-unit. For one thing, you can go to Welk Escondido, Palm Desert, or Branson and stay in a small one bedroom unit for two weeks. Or go for one week and deposit 120,000 points into RCI. You could even stay in a studio for two weeks in the off season in Tahoe and still have 60,000 points to roll into the next year (certain limits apply with rolled over points). This is not a bad timeshare investment. The question is, would you use it? If so, do it!

The one caveat I'd give is that you should not do this if Disney is your real goal. I think your chances of grabbing Disney are only moderate.

If your MIL decides to sell her timeshare, I highly recommend www.CalResorts.com. They are legitimate real estate agents/brokers who specialize in Welk timeshares. Here are their current Platinum Points listings: http://www.calresorts.com/Welk-Resorts-Mountain-Villas.html . CalResorts.com's commission is $1000, so your MIL would clear between $500-$1000 if she worked with them.


----------



## wallyboag

Guitarmom said:


> @wallyboag  - I just saw your post that says your mother has 240,000 points. This level of membership has a lot more flexibility than a fixed-week, fixed-unit. For one thing, you can go to Welk Escondido, Palm Desert, or Branson and stay in a small one bedroom unit for two weeks. Or go for one week and deposit 120,000 points into RCI. You could even stay in a studio for two weeks in the off season in Tahoe and still have 60,000 points to roll into the next year (certain limits apply with rolled over points). This is not a bad timeshare investment. The question is, would you use it? If so, do it!
> 
> The one caveat I'd give is that you should not do this if Disney is your real goal. I think your chances of grabbing Disney are only moderate.
> 
> If your MIL decides to sell her timeshare, I highly recommend www.CalResorts.com. They are legitimate real estate agents/brokers who specialize in Welk timeshares. Here are their current Platinum Points listings: http://www.calresorts.com/Welk-Resorts-Mountain-Villas.html . CalResorts.com's commission is $1000, so your MIL would clear between $500-$1000 if she worked with them.



Thank you for the great information! This is very helpful.

I am still trying to figure out if $1600 a year is worth it for us. Poking around I see that we have access to RCI to exchange, but when I go to exchange I am not really impressed with what we get for exchange. It looks like a lot of the places are not that great and it is only a 2 bed to 2 bed exchange. Am I doing something wrong? What is typically available as an exchange through RCI? It would be worth it if $1600 plus two exchange fees got us two weeks in a two bedroom wherever we plan to travel, but not if $1800 is only going to get us one week in a two bedroom. I always seem to find better deals through the timeshare rental sites for a week in a 2 bed. Is there a site that tells you how to get the most out of an RCI exchange?


----------



## Guitarmom

@wallyboag - I haven't used RCI in several years, so I'm no expert. I also don't know of a site that can help you, but Mr. Google might. 

The number one secret for an RCI exchange is to look ahead a year or so. You'll never get anything decent if you're looking for "next month." It took me quite a while to learn that planning ahead is critical to happy timesharing. I started out thinking I could book something "next week" and I was always disappointed. It took hanging out here at TUGBBS to figure out I had to stop being spontaneous about our vacations!

Second, you can deposit just 120,000 points to trade for a one bedroom, then deposit your other 120,000 to get a second one bedroom. The last time I used RCI, I could pay an extra $100 (i.e. $335 instead of $235) to upgrade to a two bedroom. So if that option is still available, for $1600 plus $335 plus $335 (total = $2275) could get you two weeks in two-bedroom units.

Are you signing into your MIL's Welk account and accessing RCI from there? That will show you the units actually available to you. Don't let them force you into depositing 240,000 points all at once. I always found that was the worst deal I could get. It was far more advantageous to deposit 120,000 two times.


----------



## mattcrook

Shankilicious said:


> *Retail vs Resale: *The only perk that retail owners have over resale owners is being able to book directly into the associated Disney resorts plus some very minor tiered benefits that start at 420k points. Benefits include discounts on golf, 18 month extended booking window vs 15 month which expands by one month per higher level, up to 35% points discount for bookings made inside 60 days, extended split week reservations by a month per level. There are 5 priority/tiered levels starting at 420k.
> 
> *Tiered Ownership: *Again, less than 10% of owners are at tier 5 and above. Tier 5 is 420K annual points, tier 4 is 720k annual points, tier 3 is 1,020,000 annual points, tier 4 is 1.5M annual points and tier 5 is 2M annual points.
> 
> *Points accrual/rollover: * This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!



Hi Shankilicious (or anyone else who knows) - I'm a prospective Welk resale timeshare owner.  I'm planning on buying at least 420k (maybe more) Welk points to get Tier status.  

1. Can I do this by buying only resale points?  (Just want to make sure I'm not making a mistake.)
2. Also if/once I have tier status, then I can roll-over EEY resale to future years, is this correct?
3. Also, you mentioned booking Disney-associated resorts directly - does this mean you can't book them at all with resale points?  (Or just not directly?)
4.  Last but not least - with Marriott taking over Welk, do you think Retail vs Resale owner benefits will change?  Do you think Welk resorts timeshares will become more or less valuable?  

Sorry for all the questions, but I really appreciate the insight from an experience Welk owner. 

I really appreciate the insight, thank you!


----------



## RunCat

@mattcrook 
1) Don't think so. . . . but the perks at Tier 5 are not that great any way. 
2) Accruing: there are still limits on the reservation windows when you accrue; even at the tiered levels. None of the accrued points are treated as non-accrued. 
3) Not sure where we are with Disney.  Tried to book some stuff last year and it was not available.  Not sure about 2022 (suspect that there are a lot of Disney owners that will be trying to get in this year and next) . Also not sure  if that perk will continue post-purchase. 
4) Unsure. . . it all depends on how Hyatt/Welk are merged and the points valued; that's assuming that there is some kind of combined program.


----------



## klipywitz

Thank you for this great info, @Shankilicious ! Looking to buy Welk resale as my first timeshare, potentially, at around 240k points. (Rescinding contract with the developer as we speak...) 

Noobie questions, if I may:
Thank you for sharing that there's no really home property for Welk's point system. So does VOA varry by location? Am I better off buying resale from someone who purchased in a specific property so I can keep VOA low?

How does one go about adding points later one? Can I stack different resale purchases if I want more points? Downsides to doing that?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## dmelcher13

klipywitz said:


> Thank you for this great info, @Shankilicious ! Looking to buy Welk resale as my first timeshare, potentially, at around 240k points. (Rescinding contract with the developer as we speak...)
> 
> Noobie questions, if I may:
> Thank you for sharing that there's no really home property for Welk's point system. So does VOA varry by location? Am I better off buying resale from someone who purchased in a specific property so I can keep VOA low?
> 
> How does one go about adding points later one? Can I stack different resale purchases if I want more points? Downsides to doing that?
> 
> Thanks in advance!



Refer back to post #62. I think this answers your questions.


Dave


----------



## Shankilicious

No. No home resort. VLA fees set up as $700ish base fee with $0.0033/per point. Does not vary by location when buying points. 

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## klipywitz

Shankilicious said:


> No. No home resort. VLA fees set up as $700ish base fee with $0.0033/per point. Does not vary by location when buying points.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk



Thanks @dmelcher13 for pointing to #62. 

And thanks @Shankilicious for the insight on the fee structure. 

Is it possible to buy two contracts and merge them to avoid the base fee on both? Or is there another smarter way to increase the number of points after you have a contract?


----------



## Guitarmom

Hello @mattcrook! I'm going to answer your questions one by one. My answers are red. 
1. Can I do this by buying only resale points?  (Just want to make sure I'm not making a mistake.)
Unfortunately not. The "Priority" status cannot be re-sold. So you'd have your 420k points, but you would not get any of the Priority perks. (What you call "Tier" status is actually called "Priority" status.)

2. Also if/once I have tier status, then I can roll-over EEY resale to future years, is this correct?
You won't have Priority ("tier") status, so your rolled over points will be subject to a 60-day reservation window. This is actually WAY worse than it sounds. On day 60, Welk seems to remove ALL inventory from its website. I've actually asked what they do on Day 60, and the memorized gobbledygook of a response completely avoids the question.

3. Also, you mentioned booking Disney-associated resorts directly - does this mean you can't book them at all with resale points?  (Or just not directly?)
Good question, and I'm not sure of the answer. You have to have a minimum number of points to book Disney through Welk (I don't have that number in my notes). The question is, if you buy resale and thus have enough points but no Priority status, are you allowed to book Disney? I simply don't know. I suspect you might be able to. But getting the right number of points is critical. I believe @Shankilicious was suggesting that you book Disney using your included RCI membership rather than through your Welk membership.

4.  Last but not least - with Marriott taking over Welk, do you think Retail vs Resale owner benefits will change? 
My best guess is that Marriott won't care how you bought your points. But keep in mind, 420,000 resale points do not give you Priority status, so there's no special benefit to carry to Marriott. Change is inevitable in this acquisition. The real question is: How bad will the change be? Do you think Welk resorts timeshares will become more or less valuable? I think the resale market will hold fairly steady. I popped over to BuyATimeshare.com, and comparing apples to apples (2 BR - 2BR), the prices seem comparable. Each has a bit of a low ball asking price, each have offerings at $20,000. My big question is this: If Marriott parks us Welk owners in Hyatt Residence Club, fine. If they park us in Hyatt Points Program, not so fine: HPP resale points are not honored. Jon Fredericks is saying that we'll be in the Hyatt Residence Club; I'm not holding my breath.

Elsewhere on TUGBBS, you can read how I became a Priority Level IV member. Welk offered to combine our existing three contracts (1 deeded week 2 BR unit; 1 deeded floating week 2BR lockoff; 240,000 Platinum Points; all purchased resale) and give us 780,000 Platinum Points plus Priority status for $7,000. This lowered our MFs enough that we will break even in less than ten years. We are so glad we did this, as we love the perks of Priority status. Will they offer this to you if you buy some resale points? Maybe, maybe not. It's a big gamble. I do think that Welk is desperate to convert all their deeded weeks to Platinum Points. So my best advice (if you want to gamble) would be to buy two deeded weeks at Lawrence Welk Resort Villas; this is the equivalent of 480,000 Platinum Points. The MF for these two combined is a couple hundred dollars less than for 480,000 Platinum Points, and each week is a good trader in RCI (you have to pay your own property taxes and your own RCI membership fee). With the Marriott take over, they don't want deeded weeks! But, as I said, it's a big gamble. I highly recommend visiting www.CalResorts.com (you need the "www") and look at what they're offering. Keep in mind, this is fixed unit, fixed week!

I'm terribly wordy, so my apologies. Of most importance is understanding that to get Priority status, you need to spend some money with the developer.


----------



## Guitarmom

klipywitz said:


> Is it possible to buy two contracts and merge them to avoid the base fee on both? Or is there another smarter way to increase the number of points after you have a contract?


Yes, but Welk will charge you a fee for doing so. I don't know if that fee will be thousands of dollars or just a few hundred. Start a new thread asking this question of Welk owners. You're more likely to get a solid answer because you will reach more Welk owners.


----------



## Shankilicious

klipywitz said:


> Thanks @dmelcher13 for pointing to #62.
> 
> And thanks @Shankilicious for the insight on the fee structure.
> 
> Is it possible to buy two contracts and merge them to avoid the base fee on both? Or is there another smarter way to increase the number of points after you have a contract?



There is no guarantee that Welk will combine contracts even for a fee. They might, but that's a MIGHT. There is no smarter or easier way without going through Welk.

Also, I've been told you can't book the Disney locations directly through Welk with resale points, no matter how many.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


----------



## jarnson

mattcrook said:


> Hi Shankilicious (or anyone else who knows) - I'm a prospective Welk resale timeshare owner.  I'm planning on buying at least 420k (maybe more) Welk points to get Tier status.
> 
> 1. Can I do this by buying only resale points?  (Just want to make sure I'm not making a mistake.)
> 2. Also if/once I have tier status, then I can roll-over EEY resale to future years, is this correct?
> 3. Also, you mentioned booking Disney-associated resorts directly - does this mean you can't book them at all with resale points?  (Or just not directly?)
> 4.  Last but not least - with Marriott taking over Welk, do you think Retail vs Resale owner benefits will change?  Do you think Welk resorts timeshares will become more or less valuable?
> 
> Sorry for all the questions, but I really appreciate the insight from an experience Welk owner.
> 
> I really appreciate the insight, thank you!



*Matt, 
I am in the process of selling my Welk ownership. I have quite a few carryover points including 240,000 with RCI.  Contact me if you are interested.  will be less than retail.  I haven't gotten my account set up with  with Red week yet, but if you are interested, I can do so now.
jill*


----------



## MCTravel

Shankilicious said:


> I've not been to Breck yet but I've heard the location isn't good. However they provide shuttle service to one of the area lifts I'm pretty certain. But here is the 19 MF chart.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk



I was in Breck last week at Grand Lodge P7, I did see the Ranahan shuttle picking up people at the Gondola station.


----------



## Mongoose

Looks like they plan to convert to Hyatt in early 2022.  I wonder if the points program will go HPP and the legacy weeks will go HRC?


----------



## serjco

We are thinking of taking over 540k points (someone is giving it away). The maintenance fees are around $2800 per year. Am I better off just renting from another owner? If I'm understanding correctly, it's 540k is good for a 2 Bedroom unit for 2 weeks. Is 2 weeks worth $2800 a year ($100/night)?


----------



## RunCat

serjco said:


> We are thinking of taking over 540k points (someone is giving it away). The maintenance fees are around $2800 per year. Am I better off just renting from another owner? If I'm understanding correctly, it's 540k is good for a 2 Bedroom unit for 2 weeks. Is 2 weeks worth $2800 a year ($100/night)?



Depends on your timeframe for owning.  Recognizing that MF will go up and so will hotel rooms costs.   IMO, since it is "free", I think it is well worth it.  

FWIW, do some price comparing.  On hotels.com, Oct 9 - 16, in a standard 2-bed in Escondido (240K/week) ,  lowest , non refundable is $1785/week.  In VOG in the large 1-bed (180K),  the lowest rate is $1891/week.


----------



## rickandcindy23

serjco said:


> We are thinking of taking over 540k points (someone is giving it away). The maintenance fees are around $2800 per year. Am I better off just renting from another owner? If I'm understanding correctly, it's 540k is good for a 2 Bedroom unit for 2 weeks. Is 2 weeks worth $2800 a year ($100/night)?


The only reason I would buy Welk (still way down on my list of things I want to own) would be to get the exchanges of DVC that @Shankilicious used to post about, including 2 bedrooms via exchange through RCI.  That would be my only reason to buy, and if that went away, I would feel pretty stuck with that purchase.  It's not that easy to rent Welk in CA because it's not on the ocean.  I love it personally, but I can trade in too easily to buy it.  I like the Branson resort as well, but not enough to buy.  Too few resorts in that system for me.


----------



## dannybaker

nuwermj said:


> Regrading Disney resorts ... Although we do not know for sure, there is a high probability that the Disney option will go away sometime after Welk's sale to Hyatt is complete. Another small resort system called Embarc, in Canada--a high quality group like Welk--had the same kind of exchange relationship with Disney and when Embarc was sold to one of the big developers, Disney terminated the relationship. I doubt Welk's relationship with Disney will continue after the sale is finalized.


We trade our Welk  Escondido units with RCI and we are given about 50 tpu points for a two bedroom lock off. We have exchanged into Disney over twenty times. We usually do last minute and have exchanged for 10-12 points fir a one bedroom. To be honest the exchange to tpu has decreased from over 80 points to 48 over the last five years. Also the maintenance fees have gone from $787 to $1386 in the sane five years.


----------



## Mongoose

serjco said:


> We are thinking of taking over 540k points (someone is giving it away). The maintenance fees are around $2800 per year. Am I better off just renting from another owner? If I'm understanding correctly, it's 540k is good for a 2 Bedroom unit for 2 weeks. Is 2 weeks worth $2800 a year ($100/night)?


That's equal to about 4000 Hyatt points which would get you 2 weeks in a 2 bedroom during prime season for MF's of $1400 per week or 4+ weeks in a 2 BR off season.  Not bad.


----------



## Mongoose

rickandcindy23 said:


> The only reason I would buy Welk (still way down on my list of things I want to own) would be to get the exchanges of DVC that @Shankilicious used to post about, including 2 bedrooms via exchange through RCI.  That would be my only reason to buy, and if that went away, I would feel pretty stuck with that purchase.  It's not that easy to rent Welk in CA because it's not on the ocean.  I love it personally, but I can trade in too easily to buy it.  I like the Branson resort as well, but not enough to buy.  Too few resorts in that system for me.


They have been purchased by Marriott and will start converting to Hyatt in early 2022.


----------



## Shankilicious

I haven't heard anything about being converted in 22. I've heard that there is a big change coming October 1 from a sales manager. But nothing about 22. And all that will happen immediately is changing the actual welk named resorts to HRC

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


----------



## Mongoose

Shankilicious said:


> I haven't heard anything about being converted in 22. I've heard that there is a big change coming October 1 from a sales manager. But nothing about 22. And all that will happen immediately is changing the actual welk named resorts to HRC
> 
> Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


Take a look at this thread:  MVC not taking Hyatt/Welk under its umbrella | Timeshare Users Group Online Discussion Forums (tugbbs.com)


----------



## nuwermj

dannybaker said:


> We trade our Welk  Escondido units with RCI and we are given about 50 tpu points for a two bedroom lock off. We have exchanged into Disney over twenty times. We usually do last minute and have exchanged for 10-12 points fir a one bedroom. To be honest the exchange to tpu has decreased from over 80 points to 48 over the last five years. Also the maintenance fees have gone from $787 to $1386 in the sane five years.



Good to know. But, to be clear for readers, my comment was referring to accessing Disney through the Platinum Program's Experiences Collection, not an RCI exchange.


----------



## Cottonlane

Is there a points chart for Welk Breckenridge resort?


----------



## ocdb8r

...I'd also like to see the above.  The Calresorts page only seems to have the first page of the points chart.  Aside from Breckenridge, it's missing the prime ski weeks for Northstar (as I assume points requirements match the prime summer weeks, but would like to see what Welk publishes).


----------



## tomvc

Can accrued (banked) points be deposited into RCI/II?  If yes, is the exchange restricted to reservations less than 60 days from check-in?

To exchange with II, do you book a week and then deposit it or do you deposit points like RCI?


----------



## Shankilicious

Once points are deposited into RCI they have two years to book and RCI doesn't see them as accrued points. So same value as normal points.
II you have to book a week and then exchange it. I prefer calling owner services to do it for me with II

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


----------



## jarnson

RunCat said:


> Few of the resorts in Breckenridge are useable without shuttle. Stayed at Grand Timber and shuttled everywhere. Stayed at Welk - Breckenridge twice so far. And will likely go up once or twice more this year. Resort is nice but small.  As you described, not much around. It Is inside the city limits though. Conveniently adjacent to the river for fishing and the bike path the goes between Frisco/Breckenridge.  The COVID shutdown really had an effect on the operations; everything is still in flux.  But my daughter was there a few weeks ago and said the place was packed.


It's really outside town.  Where other resorts are inside the town proper (or up on Ski Hill Road).  Folks can take free shuttles around town, but the shuttles don't go out to the Welk Resorts location.  It's technically in Breckenridge, but a good 20 minute or more walk into the center of town


----------



## RunCat

jarnson said:


> It's really outside town.  Where other resorts are inside the town proper (or up on Ski Hill Road).  Folks can take free shuttles around town, but the shuttles don't go out to the Welk Resorts location.  It's technically in Breckenridge, but a good 20 minute or more walk into the center of town


The Welk resort has it’s own shuttle.


----------



## dannybaker

Any updates on the 1 octiger date?


----------



## MattnTricia

Where can I find the point chart for the welk collection?


----------



## Shankilicious

Not much. They just launched a new website for owners but it still says Welk, which is interesting...

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

The affiliate resorts or Welk resorts?

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## MattnTricia

Shankilicious said:


> The affiliate resorts or Welk resorts?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk



I am looking for the points chart for the experience collection or affiliates.

Also still looking to have a better grasp on what the booking window is for the affiliates and your tier status effects this. 
I apologize Shank  that you answered this question before for me but I did not understand the answer. 

I have found a couple points packages and now just need to fully grasp these last details so I can decide how big a package I am going to buy. 

Thanks


----------



## auntiepen

Shankilicious said:


> El Corazon de Santa Fe).


I don’t own the Welk but we stayed at El corazon de Santa Fe (formerly fairmont resort). We love it,  a small resort, no pool but great location. You can walk everywhere.  I’m looking forward to book via RCI.  In the past we booked via registry collection. 
Thanks for this update


----------



## Shankilicious

They just redid the owners site and they no longer have a listing of the affiliate resort points. The previous site, required an owner to look at each resort individually to see the point requirements. I've never been given a chart for all the affiliates.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## Shankilicious

I found it but cannot get it to come through clear. I'll message you directly


----------



## Shankilicious

Here it is folks! Became VIP just for this.....
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	













Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## shawiris

tugcccsp said:


> I bought resale Welk Escondido, fixed summer week and fixed unit.  It shows up in my account 18 months prior to use.  I am grateful I don’t have the hassles of a floating week.
> [/QUOTE
> 
> HI, Can you explain how to use fixed week and fixed unit, if I can go that fixed week, can I exchange some other week?


----------



## tugcccsp

Since it is fixed week and fixed unit, I can't change it to any other time.  It is use it or lose it.


----------



## seaside2022

Interested in Welks resale.  Does someone have access to see availability of the studio at Northstar, by weekday or weekend?.  Wondering how far ahead would have to book to get the studio?  Are there many dates available for this year or are they gone and would have to book a one bedroom?


----------



## Mongoose

So with the merger, what happens to The Collections by Welk?  https://thecollections.welkresorts.com/index.html


----------



## Shankilicious

We don't know for certain yet

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## Mongoose

Shankilicious said:


> We don't know for certain yet
> 
> Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


My bet is that the weeks will end up with II eventually.  i just don’t see it benefiting HRC.


----------



## RunCat

Mongoose said:


> My bet is that the weeks will end up with II eventually.  i just don’t see it benefiting HRC.


The points associated with the trust include the experience collection units (inexpensive way to build inventory). So it might not be too easy to dismiss. I suspect the units will stay in the system.


----------



## Danielle1124

[Deleted: not allowed in the discussion forums]


----------



## someguy123

seaside2022 said:


> Interested in Welks resale.  Does someone have access to see availability of the studio at Northstar, by weekday or weekend?.  Wondering how far ahead would have to book to get the studio?  Are there many dates available for this year or are they gone and would have to book a one bedroom?


There is no 1 bedroom at Northstar. There are studios and then 2 bed, 2 bed w den, 3 bed, etc.


----------



## seaside2022

Are there any studio units at Northstar that can be booked for a friday or saturday night at this time?  If so when are the first date available?


----------



## NorcalDisFan

changing schedule is allowed in Welk system, from a full week to short days?  With/without fees? Thinking about buying resale points for stays at Northstar in ski season but a full week is too long for us.


----------



## NorcalDisFan

NorcalDisFan said:


> changing schedule is allowed in Welk system, from a full week to short days?  With/without fees? Thinking about buying resale points for stays at Northstar in ski season but a full week is too long for us.



Self answering, found from a rule document. It's not possible:

_Reservations cannot be canceled/changed to decrease days of a full Week reservation
when originally booked as a Week._


----------



## NorcalDisFan

Self answering again. I check hyatt hotel webpage and I can book Northstar lodge for a short stay for 2023 ski season. Except for a holiday week, the price is comparable to the annual maintenance fee for the required points for the stay. So, my conclusion is that buying welk points to stay at Northstar for a short stay is not a good idea.


----------



## Mongoose

NorcalDisFan said:


> Self answering again. I check hyatt hotel webpage and I can book Northstar lodge for a short stay for 2023 ski season. Except for a holiday week, the price is comparable to the annual maintenance fee for the required points for the stay. So, my conclusion is that buying welk points to stay at Northstar for a short stay is not a good idea.


Only concern would be availability.  I’m not clear what the source of those nights are on Hyatt.com


----------



## fishwithwater

seaside2022 said:


> Are there any studio units at Northstar that can be booked for a friday or saturday night at this time?  If so when are the first date available?



I am also curious about this.  Thinking about buying Welk points to use primarily for Northstar studios, not sure how feasible is it. 



NorcalDisFan said:


> I check hyatt hotel webpage and I can book Northstar lodge for a short stay for 2023 ski season. Except for a holiday week, the price is comparable to the annual maintenance fee for the required points for the stay. So, my conclusion is that buying welk points to stay at Northstar for a short stay is not a good idea.



I also checked Hyatt's website and found availability for studio and 2 bedrooms the entire month of March, not sure what the source of the inventory is. Maybe Hyatt has its own hotel inventory? One week pre-paid rate for a 2 bedroom is about $4000 after tax and fees,  so that's still a little more expensive than the MF for the points equivalent .


----------



## NorcalDisFan

fishwithwater said:


> I am also curious about this.  Thinking about buying Welk points to use primarily for Northstar studios, not sure how feasible is it.
> 
> 
> 
> I also checked Hyatt's website and found availability for studio and 2 bedrooms the entire month of March, not sure what the source of the inventory is. Maybe Hyatt has its own hotel inventory? One week pre-paid rate for a 2 bedroom is about $4000 after tax and fees,  so that's still a little more expensive than the MF for the points equivalent .


Right. Too early to conclude. Still thinking.


----------



## seaside2022

Does anyone here have a Welks account and if so, can you determine if there are any studio units at Northstar that can be booked for a two or three night stay, arriving on thursday, friday or saturday.  If so when is the first date available?  Are there several available?


----------



## RunCat

seaside2022 said:


> Does anyone here have a Welks account and if so, can you determine if there are any studio units at Northstar that can be booked for a two or three night stay, arriving on thursday, friday or saturday.  If so when is the first date available?  Are there several available?


not finding any studios via a cursory review (Jan and Feb, Friday check-in) .  This somewhat makes sense since many considering how few points are required for the studio compared to the  2-bed.  (Note, normal points owners can book at week at 15-mo.  Priority owners can book a week as early as 22 mos. Also, any weeks booked at 15-mos can be used as rentals.)


----------



## GussieMae

No mention of how the Hyatt Resorts merger effected all this? Or are these old posts?


----------



## fishwithwater

RunCat said:


> not finding any studios via a cursory review (Jan and Feb, Friday check-in) .  This somewhat makes sense since many considering how few points are required for the studio compared to the  2-bed.  (Note, normal points owners can book at week at 15-mo.  Priority owners can book a week as early as 22 mos. Also, any weeks booked at 15-mos can be used as rentals.)



Thank you for checking, that's good to know, and I should keep my expectation low


----------



## RunCat

GussieMae said:


> No mention of how the Hyatt Resorts merger effected all this? Or are these old posts?



As of now, there is no program merger, outside of discounted II exchanges, between the HRC and HVC (nee Welk).  HVC is supposed to get access to hotel points in the Fall but details have not been made available.  And, I have seen nothing regarding any type of program merger.  From what I have heard from management, it is quite challenging due to the way the programs operate and the way that the resorts are owned. (eg. the discussion about HSH leaving HRC could not happen in HVC since the resorts are owned by a trust.)


----------



## fishwithwater

Do resale owner need to get their own II account or does it come with the MF?
Also if I get a biennial contract, can I deposit current year points in II and still get two years to use them for exchanges in II?
For point deposits in II, I saw in another thread that 120,000 points can get a 1 bedroom in high season and 2 bedroom in low season, but is there a choice for paid size upgrade? for example, if I only have 120,000 and can see 1 bedroom in high season, can I pay $99 for the size upgrade to a 2 bedroom if available?


----------

