Wyndham new owner

[Tankman127]

so I recently went to one of those “breakfast talks” and got talked into buying... signed payed up front got 136,000 points vip for 2 years.. being that I was with my wife and we are a young family didn’t seem bad. Seemed like a very good investment gives us that assurance that we will have to vacation and at times that is what we needs at least once a year so you don’t go crazy from work and best part is I get to pass it down to my kid / kids (in future lol )... but the guy didn’t try to upsell us by giving us a deal way over our heads... realistically i should’ve done my research before buying it knowing what I know now that I could’ve gotten it a lot cheaper resell from someone lol it’s a little to late but... overall what I’m asking is how does everyone like their Wyndam memberships? Is their any tips on being a new owner and how to use the points better and if I am able to buy more points this time not from Wyndham and attach to my points now ?

 

[jjking42]

Good Attitude
Learn how to get the most out of what you own. Read the threads in the sticky.

You can add resale Wyndham points to you membership but they don’t count towards vip etc but that’s not a big deal if you using them for personal use.

Learn about the reservation Windows put some points in rci and learn how to do exchanges. If you can’t cancel your purchase might as well learn to use it and enjoy it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jan M.]

Yes you can buy resale points.

If you are somewhat flexible about when you are able to go and can avoid the peak times, like holiday weeks and the second week of June through about the third week of August you can get some great stays. And likely for less points too because you should be able to find stays within the discount window. Maybe an upgrade on the unit size too.

We used to go to Myrtle Beach in mid to late May, September or October. Not after the third week of October however because that seems to be when the weather changes. Ocean Boulevard is a great resort. Ocean Walk in Daytona Beach is another great resort that you can get for less points in early May and after the first week of September.

I don't know what you and your wife like to do on your vacations. If you are the kick back, relax and spend time with each other kind of people some of the resorts from the Fairfield days, you may hear them called the legacy resorts, are great resorts for less points. Unfortunately at the newer resorts 136k points isn't going to get you much. So start looking at the point charts in the directory and see which resorts you think you might like to go to and when you can go to make the most of your points. But pay attention to the weather because at some resorts the lowest point seasons sometimes means the weather isn't great. Five night stays checking in on Sunday and out of Friday will make the most of your points.

Last Spring we went to Vegas and had a 5 day side trip to Flagstaff. Unfortunately I wasn't completely over a mild case of bronchitis while we were in Flagstaff and that combined with my asthma which under normal circumstances doesn't give me much trouble meant I wasn't up to walking around doing the sightseeing things we'd planned. Many people find it harder to catch their breath when they exert themselves at the higher elevation so I knew better than to even try. Our unit had a fireplace, a hot tub on the deck, a lovely view of the mountains and a very comfortable couch. I sent my husband off on his own to do a few of the things closer by that we'd planned and a few other things in the nearby area that the check in people told us about. While he was gone I spent my time on the couch in a nest of pillows and a blanket with my Kindle and a cup of tea. I had the fireplace going, a music channel playing on the TV and would pause in my reading to just enjoy the view of the mountains. The one day the temperature dropped a lot and we even had snow. I didn't realize when I planned our trip that the area still got snow once in a while in very early May! It didn't last and was gone the next day but it was beautiful, coating the pine trees around us. My husband hadn't seen snow since December of 2010 when he moved to Florida. The packets of hot chocolate they put in the welcome basket were a treat when we came in from using the hot tub on our deck that evening. That stay was nothing like what we had planned but we really enjoyed ourselves.

Recently I was talking to someone who loves Fairfield Glade. There is some stuff but not a lot to do in the area from what I gathered unless of course you are a golfer. When he was trying to explain why they like going there so much I'm not sure I would have really understood if we hadn't had our stay at Flagstaff. You may find there are areas you just like going to. Before we moved to Florida we would stay at Sea Gardens in Pompano Beach in early to mid January. I liked staying back in the Ocean Palms building so I had to walk through the garden/waterfall area and the pool/tiki bar area to get to the beach for my walks. At that time we lived in Pennsylvania and quite often the temperature was in the single digits while we were gone. Seeing the flowers and tropical foliage was wonderful.

You might consider looking at the Last Minute Timeshare Rentals. You can sometimes pick up stays very inexpensively instead of using your points.

 

[dgalati]

Renting points from a VIP is sometimes cheaper then paying MFs

 

[bnoble]

I love my Wyndham ownership; it was the first timeshare I bought, and while it was resale it has been a decision I have never regretted. If I was only going to give you one piece of advice: plan ahead. I have found that even hard-to-get reservations are possible if you plan ahead and are ready to make a booking first thing in the morning, ten months prior to use. If you own Access you can get many of those even earlier.

 

[Tankman127]

I love my Wyndham ownership; it was the first timeshare I bought, and while it was resale it has been a decision I have never regretted. If I was only going to give you one piece of advice: plan ahead. I have found that even hard-to-get reservations are possible if you plan ahead and are ready to make a booking first thing in the morning, ten months prior to use. If you own Access you can get many of those even earlier.

Yess actually I should have been a lot more Clearer, I actually got the access and I guess the deal came with the 2 years VIP, ARP , They said we get a Upgraded rooms if available and (not home to look that paper work) but saw something about also getting discounted prices for the Wyndham resorts and we got bonus points added so for these 2 years we will actually have around 600,000 points before we go back to our regular ones but we aren’t that big of a family just me and my wife and son so really we usually only need one room for now lol , but overall I like the Wyndham experience I just stayed at the start island resort in Florida Kissimmee it was great got a deluxe bedroom good Scenery and was a good experience all round got a discounted tickets at Disney so it was good but thank you all for the input I wanted to get a glimpse of what everyone’s experience is with Wyndham

 

[bbodb1]

This is going to sound fairly simplistic but learn to plan your vacations far in advance. BNoble is exactly spot on correct.

The one main lesson I have taken away from TS ownership is the need to plan - over a year in advance - where we want to go and start finding a resort as soon as I can. After I bought our 1st TS, I'd wait until 6-7 months prior to a possible vacation time to attempt to make plans. The most desirable locations were usually (but not always) unavailable but we did end up traveling to some places we would have never went to otherwise. In retrospect, had I known where we wanted to go 13 (or more) months in advance, our chances of going more places we wanted to initially would have increased.

Tank, our situation is like yours in that we overpaid but the places we've been in the last 25 years more than make up for that to us.

We are looking forward to retiring here in a few years and really make use of our TS when we do not have to worry about work schedules any longer.

 

[Tankman127]

Yes you can buy resale points.

If you are somewhat flexible about when you are able to go and can avoid the peak times, like holiday weeks and the second week of June through about the third week of August you can get some great stays. And likely for less points too because you should be able to find stays within the discount window. Maybe an upgrade on the unit size too.

We used to go to Myrtle Beach in mid to late May, September or October. Not after the third week of October however because that seems to be when the weather changes. Ocean Boulevard is a great resort. Ocean Walk in Daytona Beach is another great resort that you can get for less points in early May and after the first week of September.

I don't know what you and your wife like to do on your vacations. If you are the kick back, relax and spend time with each other kind of people some of the resorts from the Fairfield days, you may hear them called the legacy resorts, are great resorts for less points. Unfortunately at the newer resorts 136k points isn't going to get you much. So start looking at the point charts in the directory and see which resorts you think you might like to go to and when you can go to make the most of your points. But pay attention to the weather because at some resorts the lowest point seasons sometimes means the weather isn't great. Five night stays checking in on Sunday and out of Friday will make the most of your points.

Last Spring we went to Vegas and had a 5 day side trip to Flagstaff. Unfortunately I wasn't completely over a mild case of bronchitis while we were in Flagstaff and that combined with my asthma which under normal circumstances doesn't give me much trouble meant I wasn't up to walking around doing the sightseeing things we'd planned. Many people find it harder to catch their breath when they exert themselves at the higher elevation so I knew better than to even try. Our unit had a fireplace, a hot tub on the deck, a lovely view of the mountains and a very comfortable couch. I sent my husband off on his own to do a few of the things closer by that we'd planned and a few other things in the nearby area that the check in people told us about. While he was gone I spent my time on the couch in a nest of pillows and a blanket with my Kindle and a cup of tea. I had the fireplace going, a music channel playing on the TV and would pause in my reading to just enjoy the view of the mountains. The one day the temperature dropped a lot and we even had snow. I didn't realize when I planned our trip that the area still got snow once in a while in very early May! It didn't last and was gone the next day but it was beautiful, coating the pine trees around us. My husband hadn't seen snow since December of 2010 when he moved to Florida. The packets of hot chocolate they put in the welcome basket were a treat when we came in from using the hot tub on our deck that evening. That stay was nothing like what we had planned but we really enjoyed ourselves.

Recently I was talking to someone who loves Fairfield Glade. There is some stuff but not a lot to do in the area from what I gathered unless of course you are a golfer. When he was trying to explain why they like going there so much I'm not sure I would have really understood if we hadn't had our stay at Flagstaff. You may find there are areas you just like going to. Before we moved to Florida we would stay at Sea Gardens in Pompano Beach in early to mid January. I liked staying back in the Ocean Palms building so I had to walk through the garden/waterfall area and the pool/tiki bar area to get to the beach for my walks. At that time we lived in Pennsylvania and quite often the temperature was in the single digits while we were gone. Seeing the flowers and tropical foliage was wonderful.

You might consider looking at the Last Minute Timeshare Rentals. You can sometimes pick up stays very inexpensively instead of using your points.[/QUOTE

I love my Wyndham ownership; it was the first timeshare I bought, and while it was resale it has been a decision I have never regretted. If I was only going to give you one piece of advice: plan ahead. I have found that even hard-to-get reservations are possible if you plan ahead and are ready to make a booking first thing in the morning, ten months prior to use. If you own Access you can get many of those even earlier.

Yes actually we are pretty good planners usually planning months ahead and our work schedules are flexible so we like that but thank you for the advice I sure will look into those resorts cause I am planning. Getaway just us two somewhere really mice where they offer activities

 

[Crafty71]

+1 for USING Wyndham...

You'll see many horror stories about the buying process (it didn't seem to leave too much of a mark on you...). More horror stories about the "updates" (which are not-so-thinly veiled attempts to sell you more points...). But you rarely see horror stories about people who use their points and go on vacation at the resorts...

Just learn to use what you have, heed the advice about booking early and enjoy...!

I have original developer contracts that were transferred to me from my parents (thanks mom & dad...) and I have added resale points to my account and it all works seamlessly.

Cheers!

 

[Tankman127]

This is going to sound fairly simplistic but learn to plan your vacations far in advance. BNoble is exactly spot on correct.

The one main lesson I have taken away from TS ownership is the need to plan - over a year in advance - where we want to go and start finding a resort as soon as I can. After I bought our 1st TS, I'd wait until 6-7 months prior to a possible vacation time to attempt to make plans. The most desirable locations were usually (but not always) unavailable but we did end up traveling to some places we would have never went to otherwise. In retrospect, had I known where we wanted to go 13 (or more) months in advance, our chances of going more places we wanted to initially would have increased.

Tank, our situation is like yours in that we overpaid but the places we've been in the last 25 years more than make up for that to us.

We are looking forward to retiring here in a few years and really make use of our TS when we do not have to worry about work schedules any longer.

Whew.. lol that’s pretty far advanced but I’m sure we are able to do that we are working to enjoy our vacations going to Wyndham resorts yes if I knew what I knew now I would be better but got to make the best of it overall I enjoy it and looking forward to going to vacations with my wife and family vacations

Also, thank you and I hope you and loved one enjoy your retirement vacations after all this is what we are looking forward to when we retire enjoying our rest of our life’s with new experiences

 

[Tankman127]

+1 for USING Wyndham...

You'll see many horror stories about the buying process (it didn't seem to leave too much of a mark on you...). More horror stories about the "updates" (which are not-so-thinly veiled attempts to sell you more points...). But you rarely see horror stories about people who use their points and go on vacation at the resorts...

Just learn to use what you have, heed the advice about booking early and enjoy...!

I have original developer contracts that were transferred to me from my parents (thanks mom & dad...) and I have added resale points to my account and it all works seamlessly.

Cheers!

Yeah... we are still young 23-25 learning as we go lol yes it could have been way worse if I wasn’t the type of person to stand up for my self saying no to ridiculous amounts lol and me being pretty good at savings we were able to pay most of it off up front still owe maybe a a couple grand but that will be payed shortly... won’t be one of those sucked into long term deal to pay little by little just to pay more in the long run

But thank you for the advice I am looking to get more points maybe a little into the future added to my account so that’s good to know I will be able to add more points the smart way lol with less headaches

 

[bnoble]

we did end up traveling to some places we would have never went to otherwise.

This is another good piece of advice: be willing to be a little flexible about where you go. I've gotten a few vacations booked on more or less an impulse, and they were all great.

The bottom line: just USE IT. Don't worry too much about squeezing every last dime of value out of it. The best part about owning timeshares is that they are use-it-or-lose-it (within reason), so you tend to make vacationing a priority. Otherwise, it is all too easy to put things off, or go less often than you might, etc.

 

[Jan M.]

Given your ages you and your wife might really enjoy the resorts in San Antonio and Austin. Austin just opened last year so is going to be a lot of points. It would be a good one to look for something in the last minute rentals forum. Both cities have great bus systems and we made good use of them rather than renting a car and paying the daily parking charge. La Cascada has a shuttle that takes you to some of the popular places in the city. We walked to the HEB grocery store from La Cascada and the Trader Joe's from Austin to pick up groceries for breakfast, snacks and some lunches.

Depending on where we are staying we cook in more at some places than others. We often go out for lunch or dinner but like to have something on hand in case we are tired from a day of sightseeing and don't want to go out to eat. We very rarely eat more than one meal a day out and sometimes not even that. My husband used to have to travel for his job and doesn't enjoy eating every meal out. After we bought our timeshare and started using it we found out how much we were saving not eating out every meal on vacation. What we saved paid for more vacations. After that my husband never used his vacation time a day here or there; we always used it all to go on vacation. The same for me when I went back to work when our son was a junior in high school. In fact I negotiated with my then boss to be able to take time off without pay so we could continue to vacation like we were accustomed to doing. Since we weren't going at peak times anyhow it was no inconvenience to anyone else and I agreed to take phone calls if something really important came up while I was gone. My husband's co-workers used to ask him how we could afford to vacation like we did as they knew I had been a stay at home mom for years and they knew what the pay range was for his job. A few even made more than he did. He would always say that we have the timeshare and they would look at him like he was crazy. Our son and DIL's friends, co-workers and her family think we have serious money. Nope, we just have the timeshares. We are leaving Orlando today from a three week stay. Our 2 and 7 year old granddaughters were here with us for two of the weeks. Tuesday-Tuesday to take advantage of the cheaper flights. We have Legoland annual passes that include the Sea Life Aquarium and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. We paid $80 for those annual passes and you don't need to be a Florida resident like you do with our cheap Florida resident weekday select annual Disney passes. Usually once or twice a year Legoland has a half price sale on the mid level passes and that is when I buy them. Legoland is perfect at their ages. The last time we took the 2 year old to Disney she cried when she couldn't stay on the rides to ride a second time like she is used to doing at Legoland. I know families with older kids who like coming to Florida for vacations and they just buy the Disney annual water park passes. Timeshare ownership and TUG and teach you to get a lot of vacation bang for your buck.

I'm not one to want to be on the go constantly when we are on vacation except for our Vegas and Washington DC vacations. Old Town Alexandria is right by a Metro stop and King St. has a lot of great restaurants. It is less points than National Harbor and has easier access to DC. We prefer Grand Desert in Las Vegas for its location. Desert Blue is a lot more points and I'm not crazy about the location.

When I went back to work I used to work 50-60 hour work weeks and still prefer more leisurely stays. If we like a resort and an area we know we can go back. Especially now that we are retired. I don't want to feel any pressure to see and do everything in one stay. We joke that at some point we are bound to come across a resort and area we aren't likely to want to go back to but so far in 17 years that hasn't happened.

You get an RCI membership with your Wyndham ownership. RCI is another way to get some great stays.

 

[Tankman127]

Given your ages you and your wife might really enjoy the resorts in San Antonio and Austin. Austin just opened last year so is going to be a lot of points. It would be a good one to look for something in the last minute rentals forum. Both cities have great bus systems and we made good use of them rather than renting a car and paying the daily parking charge. La Cascada has a shuttle that takes you to some of the popular places in the city. We walked to the HEB grocery store from La Cascada and the Trader Joe's from Austin to pick up groceries for breakfast, snacks and some lunches.

Depending on where we are staying we cook in more at some places than others. We often go out for lunch or dinner but like to have something on hand in case we are tired from a day of sightseeing and don't want to go out to eat. We very rarely eat more than one meal a day out and sometimes not even that. My husband used to have to travel for his job and doesn't enjoy eating every meal out. After we bought our timeshare and started using it we found out how much we were saving not eating out every meal on vacation. What we saved paid for more vacations. After that my husband never used his vacation time a day here or there; we always used it all to go on vacation. The same for me when I went back to work when our son was a junior in high school. In fact I negotiated with my then boss to be able to take time off without pay so we could continue to vacation like we were accustomed to doing. Since we weren't going at peak times anyhow it was no inconvenience to anyone else and I agreed to take phone calls if something really important came up while I was gone. My husband's co-workers used to ask him how we could afford to vacation like we did as they knew I had been a stay at home mom for years and they knew what the pay range was for his job. A few even made more than he did. He would always say that we have the timeshare and they would look at him like he was crazy. Our son and DIL's friends, co-workers and her family think we have serious money. Nope, we just have the timeshares. We are leaving Orlando today from a three week stay. Our 2 and 7 year old granddaughters were here with us for two of the weeks. Tuesday-Tuesday to take advantage of the cheaper flights. We have Legoland annual passes that include the Sea Life Aquarium and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. We paid $80 for those annual passes and you don't need to be a Florida resident like you do with our cheap Florida resident weekday select annual Disney passes. Usually once or twice a year Legoland has a half price sale on the mid level passes and that is when I buy them. Legoland is perfect at their ages. The last time we took the 2 year old to Disney she cried when she couldn't stay on the rides to ride a second time like she is used to doing at Legoland. I know families with older kids who like coming to Florida for vacations and they just buy the Disney annual water park passes. Timeshare ownership and TUG and teach you to get a lot of vacation bang for your buck.

I'm not one to want to be on the go constantly when we are on vacation except for our Vegas and Washington DC vacations. Old Town Alexandria is right by a Metro stop and King St. has a lot of great restaurants. It is less points than National Harbor and has easier access to DC. We prefer Grand Desert in Las Vegas for its location. Desert Blue is a lot more points and I'm not crazy about the location.

When I went back to work I used to work 50-60 hour work weeks and still prefer more leisurely stays. If we like a resort and an area we know we can go back. Especially now that we are retired. I don't want to feel any pressure to see and do everything in one stay. We joke that at some point we are bound to come across a resort and area we aren't likely to want to go back to but so far in 17 years that hasn't happened.

You get an RCI membership with your Wyndham ownership. RCI is another way to get some great stays.

That’s awesome to hear!! gives me a sense of relief to hear that some people actually have great long experiences with Wyndham makes me feel a little bit better of the pricy purchase lol but thank you for the input

I actually just came back from a short vacation as I previously stated I was at star island resort which was a awesome experience had a good time with the family and got to be part of the Wyndham family

We will definitely look into the Austin resort that’s pretty much what we are looking for next vacation just us time and we have a good amount of points hopefully we get the right dates to where it’s not peak season And yes!!! Thank goodness for Wyndham having a full kitchen in most resorts vacations are pricy it’s self if you don’t plan right and eating in saving a couple dollars here and there is great we like going out to dinner most times so saving for breakfast and lunch is great

And yes forgot to mention that I did get a RCI membership for feee for life in the commitment to Wyndham

 

[talkamotta]

A lot of people bought their first from the developer and then got smarter and went to the resale market. Wyndam is a good one to get started with. With a little planning and lots of knowledge...what I've found is that I can stay in a very nice time share with a kitchen and front room for the cost of a hotel room. You will get spoiled. It's hard to stay in a hotel anymore. The one thing a salesman says that is true is "It will make you travel". I could never just pay those mfs and not use them, I'm too cheap. You will be surprised some people do. Keep reading here....it has helped me a lot and Facebook has a Wyndam sure also.

 

[weleftmn]

As far as the comments about planning ahead go I will agree with them if you want to stay at a popular resort on a popular week, e.g. Bonnet Creek Thanksgiving week. Two things about that. 1) If you can be flexible on your vacation and go in the off season you can do a lot of travel at the last minute. 2) Keep looking for the week you want. I recently scored a 3bdrm the week of Thanksgiving at Bonnet Creek. I had been looking for a month or so and just happened to hit it at the right moment when one was available.

We have owned for just over a year and have really enjoyed it. Yes, it does spoil you. Staying in a hotel now stinks.

 

[Tankman127]

A lot of people bought their first from the developer and then got smarter and went to the resale market. Wyndam is a good one to get started with. With a little planning and lots of knowledge...what I've found is that I can stay in a very nice time share with a kitchen and front room for the cost of a hotel room. You will get spoiled. It's hard to stay in a hotel anymore. The one thing a salesman says that is true is "It will make you travel". I could never just pay those mfs and not use them, I'm too cheap. You will be surprised some people do. Keep reading here....it has helped me a lot and Facebook has a Wyndam sure also.

So just updating this actually helped me out a lot good advice with the Facebook groups and definitely smarten up with the insiders of how to use it and buying resell