• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Survey: Who uses and who does not use VIDA dollars with Vidanta resorts

seema

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
552
Reaction score
22
Points
378
Location
Ottawa, Canada
I am interested in the answer to this question.

If the answer is yes, please answer what you bought, what you paid out of pocket and what were the value of the vidanta dollars used for the purchase.

I am wondering whether the vida dollar "credit" or "discount" is really a marketing strategy to buy their items; perhaps the prices of their items (products/services) in the open market might not be much less than the out of pocket expenses you incurred when buying that product/service (with the vida dollars being added on to your out of pocket cost).
 

pianoetudes

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2012
Messages
207
Reaction score
97
Points
238
Location
19103
Resorts Owned
Wyndham and Vidanta Grand Luxxe
I never use Vida dollars because they already expired before I have the chance redeeming. At one point I was interested in redeeming Vida dollars to get discounts of timeshare exchange. But then I had to finish RCI points first.
 

seema

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
552
Reaction score
22
Points
378
Location
Ottawa, Canada
I am wondering if they are really a deal. Right, left, and centre (center), they give you bonus vida dollars. Obviously, they are making money by the custsomer using the vida dollars. But I am not sure if vida dollars are cost-effective for the customer
 

James Mathews

newbie
Joined
Apr 23, 2017
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Resorts Owned
Grande Luxxe, Riviera Maya
We have found genuine cruise deals, paid 20% of that price with vida$, the rest with our own. So, final cost to us was 80% of best deal we could find!

Problem is that you easily have more $ than you will use. Ignore them, concentrate on the discount you got on all travel you did book.
 

LBolon

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2016
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
111
Location
Goodyear AZ
I thought Vida Dollars are issued based on what you spend on your paid MF but they expire in one year. Is this correct?
 

pittle

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
4,034
Reaction score
2,146
Points
599
Location
Goodyear, AZ
Resorts Owned
Vidanta Grand Luxxe
Buganvilias Sky Suites
Pueblo Bonito Em Bay
We refused to take them because knew that we would never use them.
 

Johnsp

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
91
Reaction score
5
Points
218
Location
Oregon
Resorts Owned
Grand Luxxe, Marriott, Worldmark
We have used them to buy cruises. We have checked each time to make sure the prices are the lowest and without exception they are always the lowest.

We also use them on First Friday. We are lucky at times and have been able buy items with Vida dollars. The only out of pocket costs on Vida dollar purchases we have made is shipping.

We haven't attempted to use them for anything else.
 

Johnsp

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
91
Reaction score
5
Points
218
Location
Oregon
Resorts Owned
Grand Luxxe, Marriott, Worldmark
I thought Vida Dollars are issued based on what you spend on your paid MF but they expire in one year. Is this correct?
Yes. They expire one year after they enter your account. We go to Grand Luxxe every year so new dollars from our maintenance fees are added to our account yearly. We always have more than enough Vida Dollars for the purchases we make.
 

Eric B

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2017
Messages
5,862
Reaction score
5,440
Points
499
Resorts Owned
Vacation Village, Wyndham, WorldMark, Vistana, Vidanta, Flora Farms, HGVC Max, and some independents
We use them predominantly on First Fridays as well. Mostly We've gone for the wine, where we get stuck with the taxes as well as shipping, but it still winds up being a decent return on the vacation dollar.

Haven't done a lot of cruises lately, but the prices via Vida Lifestyle seem competitive with the other discount ones. Haven't actually tried using them for that yet, but will probably due so in the future.

Same experience on the expiration; we keep going down there so it doesn't really matter that they expire. It's tough to find enough stuff that I'd like to spend them on.
 

rboesl

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2016
Messages
884
Reaction score
789
Points
203
Location
West Seneca, NY
Resorts Owned
Divi Village Beach & Golf Resort
Vidanta Grand Mayan
Villa del Arco Cobo
Grandview Las Vegas
Vacation Village at Bonaventure
We've used Vida Dollars to discount hotel stays. Usually worked out to be a discount of 15-20%. Interestingly enough, purely by accident, I found out that RCI Vacations is using the same inventory of specials for their Savings Dollars program. I was on a call with an RCI Vacations rep when I mentioned what he was trying to sell me was very similar another program I had, Vida Vacations. And, he says "Yes, I can see your Vida Vacations membership ID."
 

Eric B

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2017
Messages
5,862
Reaction score
5,440
Points
499
Resorts Owned
Vacation Village, Wyndham, WorldMark, Vistana, Vidanta, Flora Farms, HGVC Max, and some independents
Both are run by ICE. They also run the travel store for SFX.
 

hurnik

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
1,937
Reaction score
667
Points
473
Location
Albany, NY
If it's the same SFX Travel Store (I think it is), sometimes you can get a really good deal on last minute (60 days or less) getaways/vacations.
Or sometimes longer-term.

About 2 years ago we stayed at the El Cid Puerto Morelos. They've since built a newer portion called Ventus.
I got a 1 BR WITH the AI fees included for TWO people for a week (granted it's in June) for $800
If you go in January, it's about $1250

Which really isn't bad, IMO, considering that's everything all-in. Since we've stayed before, I know it's not a 5-star resort, probably a 3.5-4 star, but I considered it a good deal.

And sometimes with the cruises (not always) they have good deals. I've sometimes gotten better deals direct with the cruise company or "cruise compete". but not always.
 

MoPops

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2018
Messages
211
Reaction score
161
Points
154
Resorts Owned
Grand Luxxe Nuevo Vallarta
Wyndham CWA, VIP Silver
Vida dollars are pretty much worthless, in my opinion. We were told the pricing using Vida dollars, would be fantastic, but when we actually looked at buying something, we could easily find the same pricing or better locally. The first Friday auctions are a joke. Unless you have a very high speed connection you have no chance. I tried for a few months. I did “win” six bottles of wine and a purse for my wife. It was not worth the time spent bidding etc.. We are not cruisers, so if there is a savings there, it was no value to me.
 
Top