Updated COVID-19 announcement

[Eric B]

We just canceled a Memorial Day trip and are having doubts about one for July 4th.

 

[comicbookman]

I am worried about this impacting my daughters wedding. In October, in New Orleans. Have a bunch of reservations at La Belle.

 

[cbyrne1174]

I have had to push out all my reservations. In fact, I had to move a Hawaii vacation from May (that I had planned for a year) out to September and October. Because of the advanced planning needed for Hawaii, I was not able to book the WorldMark units I had previously... Luckily, I was able to re-book the Westin and Hilton portions. But I agree with the comments about extending the deadline to use points.

Which got me to thinking about what will life be like a year from now. What will be the new normal? How will this change as compared to how travel changed after 9/11? I've included my thoughts in a video. I am most interested to learn if my ideas will come to pass so recording it in a video will allow me (if I survive) to look back and see what has changed vs. how I see it changing now.

I watched your video. I think there's going to be a boom in remote jobs. Companies will learn it's actually cheaper to let employees work from home since you dont have to pay for office space or utilities. I think their will be an increased demand in IT jobs because companies will change their infrastructure and need a secure VPN that can be accessed remotely. I also think tele health is going to boom for basic care.

I think schools will incorporate more technology into their curriculum. I have my kids on Khan Academy right now and since they all have different questions and nobody to cheat off of, a lot of them are doing better in Algebra than before. Before they would take pictures on their smart phones of their work and share it and fail the tests, then blame me for failing them. Now it's apparent to their parents when they aren't doing the work, so a lot are actually doing better.

 

[Richelle]

I got a notice that my May 9th trip would be canceled. It's still there. Waiting to see how long it takes them to autocancel it. Maybe they wait until right before check-in day? BTW, a rep told me they are allowing PIC points to be rolled over. They usually are not eligible for rollover. If my August trip gets canceled, I hope she is right. If she is, I will still have almost 700,000 worth of rollover points I'll have to burn off before the end of the year or dump into RCI. That's a lot of RCI rooms, but they would cost me $239 each.

 

[55plus]

I watched your video. I think there's going to be a boom in remote jobs. Companies will learn it's actually cheaper to let employees work from home since you dont have to pay for office space or utilities. I think their will be an increased demand in IT jobs because companies will change their infrastructure and need a secure VPN that can be accessed remotely. I also think tele health is going to boom for basic care.

I think schools will incorporate more technology into their curriculum. I have my kids on Khan Academy right now and since they all have different questions and nobody to cheat off of, a lot of them are doing better in Algebra than before. Before they would take pictures on their smart phones of their work and share it and fail the tests, then blame me for failing them. Now it's apparent to their parents when they aren't doing the work, so a lot are actually doing better.

I'm helping to homeschool some of the neighborhood kids. One of the little bastards called in a bomb threat hoping I'd expelled him.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Not sure if that's even expellable nowadays. Kids pull the fire alarm during release and only get in school suspension for 1 day. I taught a kid a few years ago that got arrested for possession of an unregistered fire arm and wasn't expelled because it was "in his car", not "on school property". This was the same year as the valentine's day shooting, a few weeks after it even... in the same state!

 

[55plus]

I'm helping to homeschool some of the neighborhood kids. One of the little bastards called in a bomb threat hoping I'd expelled him.

As I stated, yesterday I was helping homeschool some of the neighborhood kids when one litter bastard called in a bomb threat. Well, today I held a fire drill and locked all of them out of the house so I can take a nap.

 

[Richelle]

I got a notice that my May 9th trip would be canceled. It's still there. Waiting to see how long it takes them to autocancel it. Maybe they wait until right before check-in day? BTW, a rep told me they are allowing PIC points to be rolled over. They usually are not eligible for rollover. If my August trip gets canceled, I hope she is right. If she is, I will still have almost 700,000 worth of rollover points I'll have to burn off before the end of the year or dump into RCI. That's a lot of RCI rooms, but they would cost me $239 each.

I got the actual cancellation confirmation email yesterday (the 10th). I then logged into my account to see if my points were refunded, and the points where there.

 

[55plus]

I'm hanging onto my week in DC during Memorial Day. Plan was to take Amtrak to DC, but now I think I'll drive so I can control the environment, that is if Wyndham is still open. I cancelled National Harbor reservation and booked Old Town Alexandria for the free parking. Upgraded from a one Bedroom to a two Bedroom Lock off.

 

[Rolltydr]

I got the actual cancellation confirmation email yesterday (the 10th). I then logged into my account to see if my points were refunded, and the points where there.

I had a trip scheduled to start May 10th. I got the automatic cancellation email yesterday, also. My points were returned but unless I’m forgetting a transaction, it has not been returned yet. I haven’t taken the time to look into it but I will in a couple of days if it doesn’t show up.


Harry

 

[cbyrne1174]

For reservation tokens and cancellations under the 14 day window, they are backlogged about a month. I called yesterday because some of my RT weren't refunded and that's what I was told.

 

[Rolltydr]

Checked this morning and the reservation transaction has been returned to my account.

 

[Eric B]

New update from Wyndham includes the following:

"As this situation constantly develops, we encourage you to reschedule your upcoming stays with check-in dates through May 31, 2020 to a date later in the season. Your owner website is the fastest way to cancel an existing reservation and rebook for new dates with no penalty."

Update is at:

Resources

Get the information you need to fully take advantage of your Club Wyndham vacation ownership. From timeshare points to reservations you will find what you need.

clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com

They are still saying that the resorts are closed through May 15th and they'll automatically cancel reservations before then. N.B., Mexico is supposed to continue to be shutdown except for essential activities through May 30th, so I wouldn't expect the resorts in Mexico to open before then.

 

[chapjim]

Kind of a wishy-washy post by Wyndham -- we're not closing but we don't want you to come.

 

[Rolltydr]

New update from Wyndham includes the following:

"As this situation constantly develops, we encourage you to reschedule your upcoming stays with check-in dates through May 31, 2020 to a date later in the season. Your owner website is the fastest way to cancel an existing reservation and rebook for new dates with no penalty."

Update is at:

Resources

Get the information you need to fully take advantage of your Club Wyndham vacation ownership. From timeshare points to reservations you will find what you need.

clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com

They are still saying that the resorts are closed through May 15th and they'll automatically cancel reservations before then. N.B., Mexico is supposed to continue to be shutdown except for essential activities through May 30th, so I wouldn't expect the resorts in Mexico to open before then.

I have a reservation in Destin and a guest reservation in New Orleans both starting on May 18th. I checked the availability calendar and it still shows availability from May 15-30. They haven’t blocked it out yet. I was going to cancel anyway since I don’t think it’s going to be safe to be on the beach and in restaurants by that time.

 

[chapjim]

I have a reservation in Destin and a guest reservation in New Orleans both starting on May 18th. I checked the availability calendar and it still shows availability from May 15-30. They haven’t blocked it out yet. I was going to cancel anyway since I don’t think it’s going to be safe to be on the beach and in restaurants by that time.

I agree with you. I canceled really nice reservations at Bonnet Creek (2BR Pres) and at Royal Vista (2BR), one of each starting May 23 and 30.

Even if the resorts are technically open, it's hard to imagine anyone having a quality vacation.

 

[makersforme]

I cancelled a Panama City trip starting June 13 and moved it to August 8th. Hopefully that will buy some time. We didn't get a trip in last year because of my daughter's summer school scheduled and band camp so really looking forward this year.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Will the pools be open once the resorts are open?

 

[philemer]

Sure, why not? With all the chlorine they use, yes I have one, it will be the cleanest area of the resort. We all need to relax. Breath deeply.

 

[Jan M.]

Will the pools be open once the resorts are open?

Unless we are done with social distancing I'm having a hard time imagining how they could open the pools and maintain any control whatsoever. I could see if they opened the pools for a couple of hours in the early morning with a security guard present. It would only be for adults wanting to swim laps or walk in the pool. They would have to limit the number of people who could be in the pool at one time. We all know from staying at the resorts that too many people aren't responsible for watching their kids and not allowing them to do whatever they want.

When they do open the pools, work out rooms, etc. I'm expecting that Wyndham will have guests sign a waiver that they are using the pools and work out rooms at their own risk.

 

[Rolltydr]

I just cancelled 2 reservations, Majestic Sun and La Belle Maison, for week of May 18. I checked and Wyndham has blocked everything through May 31 now. Our next reservation is at Fairfield Glade starting August 2. My wife always goes to the World’s Longest Yard Sale and stays there. I won’t be surprised if we have to cancel that one, too. Then, we have a week at Bonnet Creek starting October 28. I’m actually thinking about trying to tack another week on that one now.

 

[Richelle]

Sure, why not? With all the chlorine they use, yes I have one, it will be the cleanest area of the resort. We all need to relax. Breath deeply.

The pool water isn’t the issue. It’s the people gathering around the pool and being in close proximity to each other that is an issue.

 

[cbyrne1174]

I was thinking of staying at Reunion in the summer for a swimming getaway. There are 11 resort pools that are all spread out and the grounds are huge. I think Reunion is a perfect resort to visit once they open back up if the pools open back up.

 

[morrisontravels]

New update from Wyndham includes the following:

"As this situation constantly develops, we encourage you to reschedule your upcoming stays with check-in dates through May 31, 2020 to a date later in the season. Your owner website is the fastest way to cancel an existing reservation and rebook for new dates with no penalty."

Update is at:

Resources

Get the information you need to fully take advantage of your Club Wyndham vacation ownership. From timeshare points to reservations you will find what you need.

clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com

They are still saying that the resorts are closed through May 15th and they'll automatically cancel reservations before then. N.B., Mexico is supposed to continue to be shutdown except for essential activities through May 30th, so I wouldn't expect the resorts in Mexico to open before then.

Just got off the phone with someone at Wyndham and she said that they expect to open the resorts back up on May 16. She did not say it was a for sure thing that’s just what they’re forecasting.

 

[9969hi]

I tried starting a new topic but the system wouldn't accept my topic. I believe all of us timeshare owners are in a world of "hurt". I am Platinum Wyndnam and a Platinum Diamond owner as well as 5 other timeshare associations, my fees are over 25k a year, for the past few years I have been using about half my units and renting the other half to cover about half of my fees. I believe over half of the owners will not pay their fees this year and next year, it is there only choice they have to survive. I believe the timeshare companies will try to add these unpaid fees to bad debt expense on the new budgets. I am considering to stop paying all fees as I see this situation as a losing battle. Resorts like Disney will have to lower hotel rates to try improve park attendance and that will make any timeshare ownership or rental a bad deal in Orlando for 2 years. Over half of my ownerships are in Hawaii and how many people over 60 are going do 5 plus hour flight to Hawaii. I have enjoyed my ownerships for the past 20 years but see all of this as a time to"bite the bullet"and not to try to wait this out. I am 73 and don't see that this situation will rectify in my lifetime. I do have the Wyndnam buy out that was offered for one year for the 20% refund. My children are very educated but are struggling for survival with their families and theyt have no interest to accept any of these timeshare obligations. In a earlier post I pointed out how Vacation Village already had a 27% bad debt expense as a budgetary line item and I believe this is just the beginning of what is going to happen. Please change my mind so I can rethink my over 250k purchases I have made in the past 20 years.