Considering converting RCI (points) to Wyndham. Need opinions

[Trackingguru]

Hi. We're new here and just starting to dig into all the info. We've been RCI points members for a number of years. We just attended a sales presentation at a Wyndham property where we are staying. We're considering making the move to Wyndham, but would like to hear others thoughts.
Plusses as they appear to us include :
fewer fees for booking, canceling, rolling to next year, etc.
Gaining access to a much greater inventory of properties.
Ways of lowering your MFs, such as using their credit card program

Wyndham is offering us 154000 points for our RCI two bedroom program. We are considering buying into the Silver VIP program, which would require us to buy about another 250000 points. Their offer is at $145 per thousand points, so $36,250 buy in.

What do you think of this deal? Can I negotiate any better rates or a better offer for my current points? Is there another way to buy into Wyndham through others reselling their timeshare, etc.
Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions.

 

[bnoble]

Is there another way to buy into Wyndham through others reselling their timeshare

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Do not buy from the developer until you've done a *lot* more research. It is likely you will find that a purchase on the secondary market is a much better fit for your needs. If you instead decide that a developer purchase fits, you will be able to get this deal again.

 

[tschwa2]

Hi. We're new here and just starting to dig into all the info. We've been RCI points members for a number of years. We just attended a sales presentation at a Wyndham property where we are staying. We're considering making the move to Wyndham, but would like to hear others thoughts.
Plusses as they appear to us include :
fewer fees for booking, canceling, rolling to next year, etc.
Gaining access to a much greater inventory of properties.
Ways of lowering your MFs, such as using their credit card program

Wyndham is offering us 154000 points for our RCI two bedroom program. We are considering buying into the Silver VIP program, which would require us to buy about another 250000 points. Their offer is at $145 per thousand points, so $36,250 buy in.

What do you think of this deal? Can I negotiate any better rates or a better offer for my current points? Is there another way to buy into Wyndham through others reselling their timeshare, etc.
Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions.

If it is an RCI points resort I don't think you can use it to permanently get to silver or any other status nor will you be able to use those points in Wyndham, they count for status for a limited time. It is part of something called PIC express and usually only last about 5 years and then you would be back to no status.

 

[Trackingguru]

We did see a Pic form, not sure if it was express. We were given every indication that the "credit" of our RCI points would be permanent points in Wyndham.

 

[tschwa2]

It doesn't matter what was indicated. It matters what the contract says. RCI points have never been eligible in the past. It's possible that has changed but not very likely. It is much more likely that the agent that you were working with was either trying to deceive you with the temporary program or did not know the rules himself.

 

[Trackingguru]

Info continues to dribble out. They would convert my RCI points account back to weeks. Then each year I would have to call in to get that week converted to the points they offered me (154000). OH, and that costs $90 each year. Still no word on if this is limited to a certain number of times or years.

 

[tschwa2]

As long as it is removed from RCI points it should be a regular PIC transaction and not limited to a set period. As long as you don't (re-)enroll into a points program and as long as the resort continues its affiliation with RCI than it should remain PIC eligible. You pay the $90 fee whether you deposit the points into wyndham or not and you pay an additional program fee I believe $0.57 per 1000 points on the years you actually deposit the points.

You will no longer pay an RCI membership fee and if these are your only RCI points weeks and can request a prorated refund of any paid time left on that rci points account.

 

[breezez]

Hi. We're new here and just starting to dig into all the info. We've been RCI points members for a number of years. We just attended a sales presentation at a Wyndham property where we are staying. We're considering making the move to Wyndham, but would like to hear others thoughts.
Plusses as they appear to us include :
fewer fees for booking, canceling, rolling to next year, etc.
Gaining access to a much greater inventory of properties.
Ways of lowering your MFs, such as using their credit card program

Wyndham is offering us 154000 points for our RCI two bedroom program. We are considering buying into the Silver VIP program, which would require us to buy about another 250000 points. Their offer is at $145 per thousand points, so $36,250 buy in.

What do you think of this deal? Can I negotiate any better rates or a better offer for my current points? Is there another way to buy into Wyndham through others reselling their timeshare, etc.
Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions.

If you want to do this here is what I would do. There are several Massenutten 4 Bedroom's in the Bargin Bin that are not RCI Points for basically nothing with about $765-$800 a year MF's. You are allowed to PIC two on a Points purchase these 4Bdr units will get you 254,000 points if you pick 1 or 308K if you split the lock off and split both sides.

If you want VIP gold you only need to buy 192K points if you buy two of these and pic.

If you want Silver just buy one a pic both have's. Either way, You will get VIP cheaper. And you will have a really low MF/point cost on the points.

 

[Family_travel]

If you want to do this here is what I would do. There are several Massenutten 4 Bedroom's in the Bargin Bin that are not RCI Points for basically nothing with about $765-$800 a year MF's. You are allowed to PIC two on a Points purchase these 4Bdr units will get you 254,000 points if you pick 1 or 308K if you split the lock off and split both sides.

If you want VIP gold you only need to buy 192K points if you buy two of these and pic.

If you want Silver just buy one a pic both have's. Either way, You will get VIP cheaper. And you will have a really low MF/point cost on the points.

Im not OP, but can you explain this more. Is this PIC only for non-Wyndham weeks?

 

[tschwa2]

Im not OP, but can you explain this more. Is this PIC only for non-Wyndham weeks?

Yes (PIC is for non Wyndham weeks) but unless you are considering making at least an $18,000 or so retail purchase from Wyndham, the details of the program aren't important.

 

[breezez]

Im not OP, but can you explain this more. Is this PIC only for non-Wyndham weeks?

PIC has to be a weeks unit that is not a Wyndham unit they give you a fixed rate of points for PIC'ing the unit. You can PIC up to two weeks. A 3 Bedroom or larger unit gives you 254K points each, a 2 Bedroom gives you 154K and a 1 Bedroom gives you 105K points each year. You have to pay an $89 fee to PIC your week each year per PIC. I have heard others say you have to pay program fees on these points, but I don't see that in the knowledge base so that I am not sure of.

Wyndham uses this as a sales tool to get people to buy points, as PIC points do count towards VIP.

When you PIC your weeks you are giving their use to Wyndham to use as they see fit. They in turn give you points to use in Wyndham, If you ever loose your interval that you have PiC'ed then you will loose those points to. The only way to PIC an additional unit is make another developer purchase. So if you go this route make sure your resort is not on verge of going belly up, make sure they are not considering dropping RCI weeks affiliation.

If you PIC (2) 3+ Bedroom units that would give you 508K points per year. If you buy (2) 4 Bedroom Summit at Massenutten units to do this you MF would be around $1570 + $89 PIC Fee + $89 PIC fee or $3.44 per/1000 points.

508K for PICs and a developer purchase of 192K more points would make you VIP Gold. If you do this I would just try buying the 192K by calling owner care, and hold fast on around $145K per 1000 points is what others state they have gotten.

All this said is it really worth it only you can make that call... To me it's not at this point in my life, especially after their last efforts to devalue their VIP benefits. You also have to remember they can change this policy at any time. So do you really want to risk the cost for 192K developer points to do it?

If you do decide to do this make sure you are getting PIC Plus not PIC Express which expires after a few years!

 

[Family_travel]

Thank you breezez!
I am really trying to learn as much as I can about Wyndham and timesharing in general. ANd how to make it work best for my family.
Thanks again.

 

[breezez]

Thank you breezez!
I am really trying to learn as much as I can about Wyndham and timesharing in general. ANd how to make it work best for my family.
Thanks again.

No problem everything I have learned about TS in general I learned from TUG or WMOwners. The two most important lesson I learned is make sure the information you are using for a decision is current. TS companies make changes all the time so just because something was a certain way a few years ago doesn't mean it's that way today. Here is an example - You used to be able to use 28K Wyndham points to make a 1 week RCI exchange 60 days before check-in. Once I got enrolled I learned the hard way that policy was no longer valid and had been replaced by a fixed price grid requiring many more points for an exchange.

2nd one is be careful how much you buy.... Timesharing can be addictive but it's not free

 

[Family_travel]

2nd one is be careful how much you buy.... Timesharing can be addictive but it's not free

This is so true. I have had to stop myself a few times of buying "a great deal". It's not a deal if you don't need it, as my mother says.

 

[Capitalb]

I'm sure I've seen this posted somewhere, but can't find it right now. Is there a minimum purchase required when you PIC? Can I PIC a week with an EOY contract?

 

[tschwa2]

There is no hard fast rule- at least not one that Wyndham publishes or shares to the general public. The threshold is generally whatever you can negotiate with someone who has the authority to set up and approve a PIC contract. That could be corporate or it could be a local salesman. I haven't heard of anyone being turned down with 105,000 purchase. There is no reason not to try to negotiate for fewer points with a PIC or two thrown in. Just because one sales person says no doesn't mean that another one needing to meet some quota with a helpful manager can't get the job done that another said couldn't be done. On the other hand someone somewhere might get a PIC approved with a 68,000 EOY where other sales staff and managers can't match.

Another way to go about it would be to try to get the most points possible for $18,000 or so. That might be better than trying to negotiate fewer points but with a higher price per point. I have not heard of anyone recently making a $10,000-$15,000 (or lower) retail purchase getting a PIC contract approved. That doesn't mean that it doesn't happen or you shouldn't try, just that it is probably unlikely to happen.