Fixed week versus point system - need help deciding

[mforster]

We currently own 1 fixed week at Shawnee Depuy Village ( 2 bedroom) and 1 bi-annual week at Westgate Town Center (3 bedroom). We are trying to decide if the up front money and the monthly expense are worth spending in order to gain the flexibility of the Wyndham point system.

We are looking at:
1. $17,000.00 up front.
2. $ 250.00 Club Wyndham Monthly Fee
3. Annual renewal fee of $60.00.

Please advise ASAP.

 

[VacationForever]

Buy resale, and save 95% of the numbers above.

 

[elaine]

No. Use your weeks or deposit with RCI or II and trade for something (thought your trade value might be low, depending if the weeks are off-season). I can think of ZERO scenarios where paying more this is a good option. Plus, is Westgate part of Wyndham? If not, you're likely still on the hook for that as well. Many others will also chime in.

 

[Carolinian]

Paying developer prices is NEVER a good idea. There are ways you can most of the time get what you want with a resale for a much cheaper price. As to points, I avoid them like the plague.

 

[paxsarah]

Making a few assumptions (some or all of which might be completely off base), it seems the best thing you might be being offered here is:
1. A purchase of somewhere in the neighborhood of 105,000 points,
2. Conversion of the Depuy 2BR to points,
3. Bringing in the Westgate as a PIC.

Not knowing the season of the Depuy, I can only guess that this would give you a total of VIP-eligible points ranging from 300 to 400k (assuming they count the biennial PIC as half points*). That would put you at VIP Bronze, which I don't think is worth it, especially because you're not even sure if you'd benefit from the flexibility of the Wyndham points system. If you really are interested in Wyndham points, I would recommend purchasing a resale contract and taking it for a spin. A year or two down the road, once you've figured out your way of using the system, you can consider whether you'd benefit from VIP ownership and whether a retail purchase makes any sense financially.

*There used to be a loophole where biennial fixed weeks and PICs would be brought in as full VIP-eligible points every year even though they should count for half, but Wyndham started cracking down on this and readjusting accounts to correctly only count half. So I can't imagine they'd be brought in as double-counted (though I can imagine a salesperson trying to sell it that way).