Worldmark program questions, also as it relates to Wyndham

[ruebixcube]

We are rescinding on a retail Wyndham CWA purchase we made over the weekend before we discovered this wealth of knowledge. We were interested in Wyndham as we want to travel all over and the link to Worldmark was desirable as we live on the west coast and would want access to the supply of Worldmark resorts that seem more plentiful than Wyndham in this area. Now, purchasing Wyndham CWA on the resale market does not offer the same access to Worldmark that we would have had with our retail purchase. I have several questions that I will number so that it is easy to reference which question you may have an answer for if not all of them.

1. If we were to purchase a small point package in Worldmark (say 6k), in addition to a Wyndham point package, does that offer any availability to use resale Wyndham points in conjunction with Worldmark points to gain a better position in the Worldmark market? So, if we have over 200K Wyndham points and only 6k Worldmark points, will we be able to use our Wyndham points to book Worldmark stays beyond our 6K points?

2. Does anyone own both Worldmark and Wyndham and have a good handle on using both systems? Do you book separate Wyndham vacations from your Worldmark vacations? Do you combine points into RCI? Is there a better position through RCI with either Worldmark or Wyndham? Do you have a preference over either Worldmark or Wyndham and for what reason?

3. Do you have to pay a membership to RCI for your Worldmark points to transfer? Correct me if I am wrong, but an RCI membership is included in your program fee to Wyndham so there isn't an additional membership needed to transfer Wyndham points.

4. Ultimately, should we forget Wyndham completely? Does Worldmark offer enough of a variety for Disney, east coast, Hawaii and international travel at a good dollar per point ratio to get what you need? It seems that the consensus on most threads is to have membership and points in both and I am trying to get a good handle as to the benefit to having both versus a larger amount of points in one or the other.

Thank you in advance for your help in clarifying these things!

 

[geist1223]

1. No. Only Developer Wyndham Points can be used in Club Pass.
2. Eric would be a good person to talk to about this. But your Bookings would be separate in Wyndham and Worldmark and in RCI.
3. You would have to have a separate RCI Account for your Worldmark Points.
4. Worldmark locations are in Fiji, Mexico, Canada, primarily West of the Mississippi. There are some location on the East Coast. Worldmark has several location in Anaheim and Orlando.

Remember with a 6,000 Worldmark Account you could rent in from other owners 12,000 Worldmark Points every year.

 

[ruebixcube]

1. No. Only Developer Wyndham Points can be used in Club Pass.
2. Eric would be a good person to talk to about this. But your Bookings would be separate in Wyndham and Worldmark and in RCI.
3. You would have to have a separate RCI Account for your Worldmark Points.
4. Worldmark locations are in Fiji, Mexico, Canada, primarily West of the Mississippi. There are some location on the East Coast. Worldmark has several location in Anaheim and Orlando.

Remember with a 6,000 Worldmark Account you could rent in from other owners 12,000 Worldmark Points every year.

What do you mean by renting other owners 12,000 points? Is that beneficial over owning your own points? How do I reach out to Eric, I am not sure who that it yet as we just joined last night : ). Thank you!

 

[geist1223]

What do you mean by renting other owners 12,000 points? Is that beneficial over owning your own points? How do I reach out to Eric, I am not sure who that it yet as we just joined last night : ). Thank you!

ecwinch = Eric. He has answered several of your questions on the Wyndham thread. In the Worldmark System Owners can rent in/out their Worldmark Points up to twice their account size. There is market for renting in or out on www.wmowners.com/forum.

 

[bizaro86]

If you live in the West I think I would buy Worldmark as opposed to Wyndham. Wyndham doesn't have any better international access than Worldmark, and both have Orlando locations (and Orlando is an easy trade through RCI/II if you want to go there). Wyndham has better coverage in the East in general, but I think it's likely you'd be better served buying a WM account to start with, see how it goes, and then decide if you need to add wyndham later.

 

[ecwinch]

When you own both Club Wyndham and Worldmark, your accounts are completely separate and there nothing between them can be combined or transferred. I see my Club Wyndham and Worldmark memberships as complementary to each other. I am VIP on the Club Wyndham, and have a resale WM membership. So while I could use my Club Wyndham points to book WM resorts, I never do that, nor can I think of a scenario where I would.

WM gives me a lot of options I would not have if I was just a Club Wyndham and accessed WM thru Club Wyndham. First is the booking window (13 months for WM members vs 9 months for Club Wyndham) at WM resorts. With a 9 month booking window, there are a number of WM resorts that are virtually impossible for Club Wyndham members to book during desirable times... i.e. West Yellowstone, coastal WA/OR. And some resorts that are almost impossible any time of the year.... Hawaii, Fiji, Pismo Beach CA and Marina Dunes CA. Those resorts tend to book up 12-13 months out for WM members, so Club Wyndham members have little or no chance to book there.

Likewise WM opens up the option of joining Interval International (RCI competitor) - which allows access to the Marriott and Hyatt resorts that do not trade with RCI. This in addition to being able to join RCI also. Club Wyndham owners are limited to just RCI.

WM membership is just more flexible. With WM your points (they are called credits) expire two years after they are issued, and you can borrow from next year's credits at any time. Plus as Tom mentions, every year you can rent in an additional 2x your annual allocation. With Club Wyndham your credits basically expire 1 year after they are issued and you can only borrow from next year if you are booking within 90 days of check-in. And Club Wyndham does not allow you to rent in points from another owner.

And I dont want to make it more confusing, but Worldmark has a variety of cash booking options where you can not use your credits, but instead make reservations at a cash rate that is near what you pay in dues. This part can be very confusing to a new member, but in my case I actually use cash bookings for over half my reservations. They are great for short stays because housekeeping is included.

Some people think WM is more confusing than Club Wyndham, and that is true to some extent... but mainly because WM is so flexible. It is like comparing a swiss army knife to a pocket knife.

 

[bendadin]

When you own both Club Wyndham and Worldmark, your accounts are completely separate and there nothing between them can be combined or transferred. I see my Club Wyndham and Worldmark memberships as complementary to each other. I am VIP on the Club Wyndham, and have a resale WM membership. So while I could use my Club Wyndham points to book WM resorts, I never do that, nor can I think of a scenario where I would.

WM gives me a lot of options I would not have if I was just a Club Wyndham and accessed WM thru Club Wyndham. First is the booking window (13 months for WM members vs 9 months for Club Wyndham) at WM resorts. With a 9 month booking window, there are a number of WM resorts that are virtually impossible for Club Wyndham members to book during desirable times... i.e. West Yellowstone, coastal WA/OR. And some resorts that are almost impossible any time of the year.... Hawaii, Fiji, Pismo Beach CA and Marina Dunes CA. Those resorts tend to book up 12-13 months out for WM members, so Club Wyndham members have little or no chance to book there.

Likewise WM opens up the option of joining Interval International (RCI competitor) - which allows access to the Marriott and Hyatt resorts that do not trade with RCI. This in addition to being able to join RCI also. Club Wyndham owners are limited to just RCI.

WM membership is just more flexible. With WM your points (they are called credits) expire two years after they are issued, and you can borrow from next year's credits at any time. Plus as Tom mentions, every year you can rent in an additional 2x your annual allocation. With Club Wyndham your credits basically expire 1 year after they are issued and you can only borrow from next year if you are booking within 90 days of check-in. And Club Wyndham does not allow you to rent in points from another owner.

And I dont want to make it more confusing, but Worldmark has a variety of cash booking options where you can not use your credits, but instead make reservations at a cash rate that is near what you pay in dues. This part can be very confusing to a new member, but in my case I actually use cash bookings for over half my reservations. They are great for short stays because housekeeping is included.

Some people think WM is more confusing than Club Wyndham, and that is true to some extent... but mainly because WM is so flexible. It is like comparing a swiss army knife to a pocket knife.

So how many credits is a fair amount to own when you are VIP Wyndham (2.5-3 million) ? Do they run minimum program fees like Wyndham?

 

[geist1223]

The more WMTC Credits/Points you have the less you pay in MF's per Credit/Point. The gross amount is greater. Also in WMTC MF's are set in 2,500 Blocks of Credits/Points. Not necessarily accurate because I did not pause and pull up the most recent table of WMTC MF's Chart but as an example someone that owned 6,000 Credits/Points would pay the same gross MF's as someone that owned 8,499 Credits/Points. I would suggest a WMTC Account of 20,000 Credits/Points. This gives you enough Credits/Points for 2 Reservations. It also gives you 2 HKC, 3 Guest Certificates, and the ability to rent in 40,000 Points every year from other owners.

As Eric mentioned in passing WMTC has several Cash options. Each one has its own rules. They are Bonus Time (BT), Monday Madness (MM), and Inventory Specials (IS). Every WMTC Owner/Member has access to these options.

 

[JohnPaul]

The more WMTC Credits/Points you have the less you pay in MF's per Credit/Point. The gross amount is greater. Also in WMTC MF's are set in 2,500 Blocks of Credits/Points. Not necessarily accurate because I did not pause and pull up the most recent table of WMTC MF's Chart but as an example someone that owned 6,000 Credits/Points would pay the same gross MF's as someone that owned 8,499 Credits/Points.

This is not quite right. 6000 and 8499 credits fall into different buckets. One bucket (all pays the same) is 5001 to 7500. The next bucket (all pays the same) is 7501 credits to 10,000 credits.

Also, you get one housekeeping token for every 10,000 credits you own.

 

[JohnPaul]

For awhile I owned 13,000 credits which is kind of a stupid amount because MF are the same as owning 15,000 credits. I'm now rounded out at 25,000 credits.

 

[geist1223]

This is not quite right. 6000 and 8499 credits fall into different buckets. One bucket (all pays the same) is 5001 to 7500. The next bucket (all pays the same) is 7501 credits to 10,000 credits.

Also, you get one housekeeping token for every 10,000 credits you own.

Please REREAD my posting I said it was not accurate and was just an example. Boy people pick pick pick. Got to have something to complain about.

 

[geist1223]

Also, you get one housekeeping token for every 10,000 credits you own.

Actually this is not accurate you get 1 HKC from 5,000 Credits to 19,999 Credits, then a 2nd at 20,000, then a 3rd at 30,000, etc.

 

[JohnPaul]

Touchy