Any VIP Wyndham owner wanting to try to use Koala?

[Sandy VDH]

I have some points left but only enough for family and close friends related bookings.

But there is some good opportunities for bookings with https://www.go-koala.com that could very likely take advantage of utilizing a VIP discount and upgrdes. Taking this from a $7.25 per K rental to over double that.

IF anyone is considering this and would like to start a PM with, please contact me.

 

[chapjim]

I check Koala's list from time to time and have not responded to any of the requests.

Right now, there is only one request inside the two-month discount window (Smoky Mountains, Aug 1-5) and there's nothing available for those dates.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Thanks for sharing this - I hadn't really looked at KOALA until just now - I like the way they simply list out the Wyndham rental opportunities. Easy to interact with for sure. Nice formatting. Good website overall.

 

[Sandy VDH]

There are ones that get posted periodically that are within the discount window, however most are not.

The trick is to find a sweet spot that historically has had decent availability and opportuntity for upgrades during the discount window. Koala will let you rebook it at the discount, without a change in the what the agree price is. They also will NOT ask to put the GC on until after the cancellation period has passed.

 

[comicbookman]

I have been using Koala to get rid og the points I accumulated during covid. No bookings within discount window, but i have completed 6 so far (booked, rented, used, paid) I have had onil display related issues, no problems with prompt payment or ease of use. Not really making a profit, but getting my cost and time covered on a large surplus of points.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I use Koala for other rentals, including Sheraton, Shell and WorldMark. It's worked extremely well for me. I like it because I don't have to pay upfront, and I price my rentals to cover all of the 8% commission taken out of the gross proceeds.

It's worked better than Redweek for some rentals, especially Anaheim weeks I am renting. But Redweek is still a great site that helped me sell some units I no longer want or need. I have a few listed that aren't moving, but maybe I have overpriced them and need to bring the price down a bit.

I also rented [through Redweek] a few nights at Animal Kingdom Villas in one day that didn't rent on Koala after they sat there for a while. I don't know why those didn't rent, but I would say that the high prices some brokers are charging on the DVC inventory on Koala are keeping people from looking deeper. I really only want to make $17.50 per point net profit. I am not charging $25-30 per point that brokers are charging. But it's all about making big money for the broker while paying the owner a profit as well. They probably rent a lot of them.

 

[Sandy VDH]

You really need a VIP account to make good money using Koala Hub listings on a wyndham account, but you can break even on a resale account if you find yourself with too many points left. If you have a really low MF fee you can even make some +ve cash flow on a resale account, GC are going to eat into that. One option is to look at what discounted point offering Wyndham has available to all owners regardless of status. Maybe you can find an overlap to a item on the request list, and get it at less points.

Having other desirable weeks to own and renting via a straight up ad is another option. placing Ads is free of charge, and you can just price it to include the 8% commmission rate they charge, as Cindy also noted Koala will take most deposits. I have had some success with placing ads as well, but for Wyndham I usually prefer the hub.

Worth a try if you have excess weeks or points.

 

[Jan M.]

You really need a VIP account to make good money using Koala Hub listings on a wyndham account, but you can break even on a resale account if you find yourself with too many points left. If you have a really low MF fee you can even make some +ve cash flow on a resale account, GC are going to eat into that. One option is to look at what discounted point offering Wyndham has available to all owners regardless of status. Maybe you can find an overlap to a item on the request list, and get it at less points.

Having other desirable weeks to own and renting via a straight up ad is another option. placing Ads is free of charge, and you can just price it to include the 8% commmission rate they charge, as Cindy also noted Koala will take most deposits. I have had some success with placing ads as well, but for Wyndham I usually prefer the hub.

Worth a try if you have excess weeks or points.

You aren't worried about Wyndham cancelling your reservations that have a guest name on them? Or didn't you get a certified letter or the email from Wyndham?

Just a heads up. If you got the letter and use more than just a few guest confirmations you risk getting your upcoming reservations with guest names on them cancelled.

I know someone this happened to just recently. The two cancelled reservations were for the same and overlapping dates while they have reservation for themselves at the resort! Owner Care didn't care about that or even that they'd only used maybe 4 or 5 of their 30 free ones. Because they did rent prior to receiving the letter Owner Care also didn't care that a number of the guest confirmations they've used in the past and are now using are for the same people in their lives they gift stays to. Their pastor, people involved in their medical care, the person who does their whole family's hair whose son is a good friend of their son, their daughter's s.o. How embarrassing is that!

 

[Snippy]

Jan - you stopped this thread dead in its tracks. This is my first post, but I've been watching and reading for a long time. This person you know receives 30 guest confirmations. I don't remember where to find the chart, but I'm guessing they own 2M to 3M developer? They rented in the past and received the "commercial" letter I'm assuming last year as they only used 4-5 guest confirmations this year? I'm puzzled by the energy that Wyndham is exerting. Wyndham separated resale from developer which I'm guessing will naturally reduce renting by some of the largest renters - some of which have stated as such in this forum. Wyndham reduced the number of guest certificates awarded, another way to naturally discourage renting. I love the Wyndham resorts themselves. We often take friends with us and they like Wyndham as well. I tell them to NOT buy. The changes Wyndham is making have made it clear that Wyndham does not value their owners. Cancelling reservations when a guest name is applied without notice? Even worse if the owner had an overlap? Just think - if Wyndham put their energy into positive tasks instead of negative tasks, wouldn't that be nice? Such as hiring and training their phone staff wouldn't we all be happier? What if Wyndham actually had a way to track the 2 guest certs that can be used during owner priority times? (Maybe they do now, but they did not when I called last fall). What if Wyndham put their energy into competent programmers? I've had a ticket open since mid July 2021 trying to untangle why one of my contracts shows as developer, but puts those points into a resale bucket. What if Wyndham put their energy into adding back in the handicap booking option. I could go on and on. Am I the minority? Do most owners not care that the phone support more often than not provides wrong answers? I remember a post about a phone support from certified exit that used the word "illegible" instead of "eligible". Do most owners not care that they can't see the name of the traveler without scrolling and drilling down into the reservation? As owners, other than the little "give feedback" button (which I use regularly), how can we be heard? How can we ask Wyndham to put their energy into making their booking system BETTER instead of being punitive?