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Marriot, Hilton, Worldmark, or Wyndham .Which resale to purchase?

tbaseball2019

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rescinded Marriot Points in Aug,2019
I have been to a Marriot Presentation at South Beach where I ultimately got a bundle package for 7,750 points for approx 53,000(like 7 dollars a point). Purchased it but rescinded it and joined Tug immediately.
Just unsure of the whole timeshare thing.I really liked Marriot's program but the maintainance fees seemed high.
They were very professional and I actually was in the presentation for over 4 hours.
I learned a lot and was really prepared.

I went to a Wyndham presentation last month...at Bonnet Creek( purchased on Ebay 4 days for 350 dollars..Thought I was an owner. Did the parking pass trick.but I went to learn about Wyndham. Was offered like 300,000 points plus an additional 400,000 incentive points for 35,000....Hated the whole presentation, very high pressure, was there for like 3 hours trying to get questions answered but Wyndham seemed very evasive...
I have been looking on ebay and have now researched Worldmark...Not enough info for me to make a decision and in no hurry.. Seems like the mf are lower for higher purchases...
I have thought about buying Wyndham resale and Worldmark resale to get access to RCI and II.
We are both retired Age 61, do not need prime seasons, can pick up and go as we live in Florida.
Any and all suggestions from all the experienced timeshare owners out there.
Bottom line is I think this timeshare can really work and can really save money...I have been to Bonnet Creek by Wyndham and the Marriott in South Beach and Sheraton Vistana in Orlando..
All were paid cash...and were reasonable costs. I feel very lucky that I rescinded the Marriott purchase and now have a do over with the best information in front of me..
Thanks in advance for the advice!
 

Marathoner

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From the New To TUG section of the website. Please answer the following


1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
 

tbaseball2019

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1.Not really into going to the same place ...all the time..
2.not sure
3. If I were to buy, Florida, California, Hawaii, Tennessee, South Carolina
4. My wife and I (retired but have a junior in college who is a baseball player ) and we go to all the games.
Not sure about our only son but we would take him as we have in the past...but uncertain now with
college, baseball draft ( yes he is pretty good).
5. Can travel any time . pick up and go anywhere....last minute if the price is right.
6. a definite no...not good at it , never was and this was an issue with me with the timeshare reservation process.
7. Yes a full week is good at the right spot although I would Island hop in Hawaii.
8. We stay at 4 or 5 star resorts. The least would be a Marriott Residence Inn
9. kind of whatever it takes to get it right...The Marriott deal was like 53,000.
10. 5 or 6 thousand or so?
11. Absolutely detailed and work the system to the max...this is why I was so enamored with the timeshare
system...I talked the Marriott guy into letting me utilize his system so I could see what I could get short term at
the executive level...Kind of wanted to see if this is real?
12. Interested in passing down to my son and his family eventually...He will be a professional something ( not sure yet)
and his girlfriend at present is going for nursing...
My wife and I are both retired..Looking at buying a motorhome to travel and these are not cheap...but may suit our needs..
Comparing this to the timeshare...We are Marriott gold members and Wyndham diamond members at the present time.
 

rickandcindy23

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My input is very biased to what we own. WorldMark will not work for much on the east coast, except through exchange. But exchanges can be wonderful. I love WorldMark, so don't think that i am saying anything negative about it. It's 10K points for a 2 bedroom unit for a lot of the older resorts in WM. So less than $800 for a full week. That is pretty nice. That is if you can find something in the system that you want. California is an easy get, but a year out is always best for booking.

The Marriott thing that we did works very well. We bought resale weeks in Branson, right after the DC points made their appearance. Marriott decided to not allow resales from a certain point to be included. We pay $80 to lock them off and get two deposits. We get a hotel room and a 1 bedroom for about $1,200 in MF's + $80 to lock it off. We own platinum. It works great.

Our best traders, however, are Myrtle Beach weeks, Sheraton Broadway Plantation. We got them free. We just use the system for exchange and have done extremely well through II. We own no "options," flex or any other. We have older weeks and our fees are reasonable, but I keep expecting a major increase.

We own Wyndham, but our daughter uses it exclusively. i am not fond of the changes they have made to the system that took away our guest certificates (were unlimited at one time), and that is not all, but I won't go into it.

Shell is crap. I have figured out how to use our points every year. That is the nicest thing I can say about Shell.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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I think you need to hang around the TUG Board for a while, and rent timeshares in locations that you would like to visit in an effort to determine what timeshare system you would like to affiliate with, and what timeshare system that you absolutely want nothing to do with.

Keep your eye on the various threads, and the classified ads "for rent".

Do your homework and make an educated decision. And remember, there's no rush!



.
 

vacationtime1

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From the New To TUG section of the website. Please answer the following

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?

6. a definite no...not good at it , never was and this was an issue with me with the timeshare reservation process.

This is my reservation about advising any timeshare purchase for you. The most desirable properties are snapped up when reservations open one year in advance. For some properties, room assignments are made by order of reservation. If you don't plan in advance, you will not maximize the value of your ownership.

My advice: rent for a while. Rentals are often last minute and good deals are often available. Renting will also inform you about what kinds of timeshares, what locations, and what amenities are important to you should you eventually purchase.
 

tbaseball2019

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Thanks for all the input...My main question is about points and getting into the system...so I can buy the (In Worldmark case the Monday specials.) and get the RCI and II Short term specials.. It seems, may not be true, but
Worldmark and Wyndham are reasonable upfront resale purchases... I thought about purchasing like 35,000 to 40,000 resale Worldmark points...and like 300,000 Wyndham points... The mf on Wyndham would be like 165/month...and Worldmark would be 224....so for like 5,000 in maintenance. On ebay the upfront costs are minimal....for both...looks like less than 10,000 for both on the resale market.. With the points and utilizing them , I think I could get 5 or 6 weeks out of this...or am I just dreaming..??? Using Sunday through Thursday etc....and short term reservations...I would have RCI and II for exchanges..
Either way, I am going to have to pay.....If I rent or purchase...Which provides the most value?
My understanding in the point system that the home resort is important in the Wyndham system (if you want priority),,,not so much in the Marriot system??
My idea was to utilize this for spur of the moment reservations ( short window time) Marriott called them getaways.(and at the executive level gave a 25 or 30% discount just to have a body in the room..Worldmark calls them Manic Monday or something like that....
I am of the understanding that you can buy through RCI or II last minute stuff really cheap...
 

ski_sierra

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If you want getaways, you can buy a small Worldmark account. You can enroll in both RCI and II. If you don't use the points, you can rent them out quite easily. So your risk is minimal.

It seems like if you can travel last minute, a lot of great exchange opportunities open up. Check the sightings forum available with $15 TUG membership. You will see that many Marriotts in Hawaii and Four Seasons in California available to exchange last minute. Exchanges within 60 days are only 4k points in Worldmark (equivalent of about $350 in MF for small WM account).
 

tbaseball2019

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Thanks,,, I have a tug membership...not sure why this is showing a guest...Like I said before..I purchased a Marriott combo program in July of this year and rescinded it ...within the 10 days with the help of Tug...Best money I ever spent...Been a member and love the threads....I actually thought I did okay with the combo program. Had purchased 7,750 points with their new way of getting the points cost down...Really kicked the tires and really like it and I knew I wanted executive Marriott but ultimately 53,000 was way to much. and at the time the mf was 58 cents...did the math and it just did not work.
I wanted more information so I rented at Bonnet Creek last month and went to their version of a sales presentation...
Not sure if I have become obsessed with this but I am intent on getting the right deal..
Thanks...
 

geist1223

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We have been Worldmark Owners since August 2002. We love the system. However we have met many unhappy Worldmark Owners. They have been unhappy primarily because they can not get the Resorts they want. The primary reason they could not get the Resorts they wanted is they could not plan 13 months in advance. They would want to go to Hawaii with only 4 to 5 months of advance planning. Worldmark resell is relatively inexpensive - 25 to 35 cents per Credit/Point. But if you can not plan in advance you will have to take what is available. Also the quality of Worldmark Resorts is less than Marriott Resorts.

Booking in Worldmark opens 13 month to the day. Between 10 months and 13 months have to Book a full week. Worldmark has a very active WaitList.

Worldmark has several Cash options - Monday Madness (most Mondays the available Resorts for this option change. 7 day reservations, Book no more than 10 months out, 1 week stays, no more than 6 Bookings at any given time); Inventory Specials mainly midweek but sometimes weekends, constantly changes; and, Bonus Times 2 weeks before checkin.

Based upon your answers above we wonder if any timeshare system will truly work for you.
 
Last edited:

Grammarhero

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Former: Wyndham 276k, HGVC South Bend 1/1
I have been to a Marriot Presentation at South Beach where I ultimately got a bundle package for 7,750 points for approx 53,000(like 7 dollars a point). Purchased it but rescinded it and joined Tug immediately.
Just unsure of the whole timeshare thing.I really liked Marriot's program but the maintainance fees seemed high.
They were very professional and I actually was in the presentation for over 4 hours.
I learned a lot and was really prepared.

I went to a Wyndham presentation last month...at Bonnet Creek( purchased on Ebay 4 days for 350 dollars..Thought I was an owner. Did the parking pass trick.but I went to learn about Wyndham. Was offered like 300,000 points plus an additional 400,000 incentive points for 35,000....Hated the whole presentation, very high pressure, was there for like 3 hours trying to get questions answered but Wyndham seemed very evasive...
I have been looking on ebay and have now researched Worldmark...Not enough info for me to make a decision and in no hurry.. Seems like the mf are lower for higher purchases...
I have thought about buying Wyndham resale and Worldmark resale to get access to RCI and II.
We are both retired Age 61, do not need prime seasons, can pick up and go as we live in Florida.
Any and all suggestions from all the experienced timeshare owners out there.
Bottom line is I think this timeshare can really work and can really save money...I have been to Bonnet Creek by Wyndham and the Marriott in South Beach and Sheraton Vistana in Orlando..
All were paid cash...and were reasonable costs. I feel very lucky that I rescinded the Marriott purchase and now have a do over with the best information in front of me..
Thanks in advance for the advice!
If you can afford Marriott resale, go for it. I’ve heard really great things about Marriott.

I have five (5) Wyndham TS. Love them, but their sales presentations suck. What day and month did you rescind Marriott?
 

littlestar

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I would consider a resale Marriott Grande Vista platinum lock off for trading thru Interval International and maybe Worldmark or Wyndham for access to RCI.
 

Bill4728

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You asked about Hilton. HGVC is one of, if not the best system for resale buyers. The only thing you do not get with HGVC as a resale buyer is their "Elite status" That said HGVC locations are concentrated in just a few locations (Oahu, LV & Orlando) which could be very limiting for many owners.

Good Luck
 

tbaseball2019

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Purchased August 4th...Joined Tug on August 6th...Rescinded on August 8th...It was a blended program where you buy 3000 points and
combine it with the Ocean Point Marriott in Fort Lauderdale...Actually 2 contracts ...The ocean pointe was worth 4,750 points and
was the least costly option.
Also, The big drawback for Marriott was that the resorts were not available as I was told.....I agree and disagree...So for me...I was going to try and maximize
the 7750 points and also get the 25 % off...So What i did was , go to the resort, say the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco...If that didnt work, go to Club Pulse. See when I could book it in the short window and would plan around that...So I would maybe stay 3-4 days there..and 3 days at the other....and then work my way down the coast or to Palm Desert or whatever...
I also liked the short window stays in Interval...So living in Central Florida...I can be in South Beach in 3 hours, Orlando in an hour, the Panhandle in 3 hours,
Daytona in an hr...Marco in 3 hours etc..
Maybe that is not the traditional time share model, and how to use it so maybe geist1223 is right?
I also thought the for the big trips to plan, at least in Marriotts system , Executive got a better window to plan?? not sure how this works but If I was to go to
say Hawaii...I would plan that, book it for a time that I thought I would go, and can always cancel...
I really believe for this to work, at least in my opinion, is you have to work the system....so for me, buying Marriot at 2,000 points was not an option..
Not enough points to do what I wanted to do??? If that makes sense.
So my Goal is to get the maximum value, for the least cost....
Stay in 5 star resorts for 3 star prices....
 

DaveNV

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I want to point out @rickandcindy23‘s comment about WorldMark: The WM resorts are heavily populated in the western US. There are only a relative handful of WM locations on the east coast. If you live in Florida and are thinking you’d use WM for last minute getaways, you’ll need a way to travel to those locations. If you can’t drive there, your per-night costs go up substantially.

As @geist1223 said, to get the prime WM locations, you have to book 13 months out, which then requires a seven night booking. If you don’t need seven nights, you’d have to rely on the WM Waitlist, but you’re still looking to book months in advance, because the Waitlist processes in date-received order.

For those reasons, I don’t think WorldMark is a good fit for you. (Although I must say, as a WM owner, I find the system works great for my needs, but I’m on the west coast. I have four trips booked through WM [and two WM exchanges through II] for the next year, most made through WM Monday Madness, and I still have 10k of my 12k credits available for this year. These plans were made months ago, for travel in late Summer 2020. That wouldn’t fit your last minute travel model.)

Based on your uncertainty about which system is best for you, and your wish for mainly last minute bookings, I’d strongly recommend you don’t buy anything right now. Just rent what you want for now, until things sort themselves out. You’ll have zero long term obligation, and you can try things out without any commitment. There is no shortage of timeshares for rent, and by renting, you can test everything out. You’ll find which brand of resorts suit you best, so can focus on what you like, and learn what you don’t like, about each system.

When you do finally buy, if ever, you can make an educated purchase. You aren’t missing out on anything by waiting. That’s actually a great place for you to be.

Good luck!

Dave
 

tbaseball2019

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Thanks Dave...and you are right about the uncertainty.
I have been able to get last minute rentals at other people's expense.
I also have had no up front expense and no commitment.
I hate to say it but my wife has kind of been saying the same things.
 

DaveNV

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Thanks Dave...and you are right about the uncertainty.
I have been able to get last minute rentals at other people's expense.
I also have had no up front expense and no commitment.
I hate to say it but my wife has kind of been saying the same things.


Actually, you sort of have the best of all worlds right now. Go where and when you like, with no commitment. Enjoy the time away. Learn about “that” system. Check the Pro and Con boxes. Then move on to the next rental. Eventually, the cream will rise to the top, and you can make a smart choice about which system, if any, to buy into.

Truth be told, I think your wife is right. It’s easy to want to get on the bandwagon of timeshare ownership. But unless you need to be on the inside to get an owner-only perk, there really is no reason to commit to owning anything.

Going forward, as you gain first-hand knowledge of different systems, you’ll migrate toward one system over another. Once your son’s baseball career develops (or doesn’t) you’ll be able to make an even smarter choice.

Relax, enjoy the ride, and have fun. Early retirement in Florida with disposable income would be a great place to be.

Dave
 

Passepartout

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tbaseball2019

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Hey, Jim..Thanks for the info
, it worked but has the date joined wrong...I joined August 6th..
All credit goes to Tug members for the wealth of information I gained including how to rescind and why to rescind.
This website has put me into a better situation to make a better informed decision and saved me thousands of dollars.
I could be a poster boy!
Cant thank this website enough!!!!!!!
 

ski_sierra

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Goal is to get the maximum value, for the least cost....
Stay in 5 star resorts for 3 star prices....

If this is your goal and you have a flexible schedule, I really don't see any reason to own a Marriott trader week or Marriott points. They are far too expensive.

I own Worldmark and I can see a lot of Marriotts with WM. And it's perfect for trades < 60 days out. The reason I own a Marriott trader is I'm tied to school calendar and I'm going to high demand places (Hawaii & Ski resorts).

Check some posts by @tschwa2 . She is very experienced and provides incredible insights. Perhaps she will comment here.
 

rickandcindy23

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I have never joined II with WorldMark. I was looking forward to those fantastic deals to Disney World, those 2 bedroom units at the actual Disney resorts through RCI, but that doesn't happen anymore. So my RCI membership via WorldMark has been a waste. I think it's expired. :) I may join II, but I already have two II accounts, and I am super pleased with my Marriott and Sheraton exchanges, including that preference into those Westin resorts, and other great resorts around the country. It's been a lot of fun, and for me, it's a game.
 

Grammarhero

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There is so much to digest. My head is spinning.
Sleep in it. You should research for dozens of hours before buying a timeshare
 

bizaro86

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I have never joined II with WorldMark. I was looking forward to those fantastic deals to Disney World, those 2 bedroom units at the actual Disney resorts through RCI, but that doesn't happen anymore. So my RCI membership via WorldMark has been a waste. I think it's expired. :) I may join II, but I already have two II accounts, and I am super pleased with my Marriott and Sheraton exchanges, including that preference into those Westin resorts, and other great resorts around the country. It's been a lot of fun, and for me, it's a game.

If your vistana account is voluntary, you can add your WM to it in the same II account.
 
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