[LOCKED] Gaming the system - Resale Club Wyndham Points with VIP.

[UNC Drummer]

I searched around a bit and did not see a thread or an information link about this. Could someone not in theory purchase resale points from someone, add the new owner name to the deed WITH the current owner, let it sit for a while and then remove the original owner name? Perhaps six months?

Thoughts?

 

[bnoble]

Used to work. Reportedly Wyndham caught on and is now auditing transfers. You should assume you will lose it sooner rather than later.

 

[bnoble]

If you go back you will see a more definitive report on this. I saw the post within the last month or so.

 

[1Melanie]

Added kids to our account. The only way they will get to keep the membership in its entirety with full benefits is when they present a death certificate to Wyndham.

 

[Jan M.]

Added kids to our account. The only way they will get to keep the membership in its entirety with full benefits is when they present a death certificate to Wyndham.

The only reason I know of that your kids would need a death certificate is if they remove your name from the account. Many people elect to leave a deceased family member on the account to have an extra name to hold reservations when they are debating where to go or need to piece together stays.

Frankly it's easier to leave the person on than to go through the headache of removing them and having the account tied up for several months while that's being done. One of your kids can just go online and change the primary owner name to their name instead of your name.

 

[1Melanie]

The only reason I know of that your kids would need a death certificate is if they remove your name from the account. Many people elect to leave a deceased family member on the account to have an extra name to hold reservations when they are debating where to go or need to piece together stays.

Frankly it's easier to leave the person on than to go through the headache of removing them and having the account tied up for several months while that's being done. One of your kids can just go online and change the primary owner name to their name instead of your name.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll be sure to let them know so when the inevitable happens they can get better usage out of it.

 

[UNC Drummer]

Thank you for the informative replies. Greatly appreciated.

 

[hdins]

Good information here. Thanks. Does it make sense to add your children to the contract? Could the children plan travel without me during the reserved owner weeks?

 

[bnoble]

Yes and yes.

 

[Jan M.]

Good information here. Thanks. Does it make sense to add your children to the contract? Could the children plan travel without me during the reserved owner weeks?

Yes, it does make sense. It's always better to be staying as an owner than as a guest.

Fifteen years ago we added our son as soon as he turned 21 so he could check in as an owner. Our DIL is now also on our account. When we added a small contract to our account we included her name on it.

Funny story I haven't told in awhile about our son being a platinum owner at the age of 21. He worked at Best Buy while he was in college. By way of greeting a customer in his department who was wearing a silver VIP hat he commented on the man's hat. In reply the man said quite disparagingly "Like you'd know what that is." Meaning silver VIP. Our son replied in a pleasant tone of voice: "Actually I do because my hat says platinum." That went over about as well as you'd expect. We still get a laugh over that. At the age of 26 he became a Presidential Reserve owner. No hat this time, lol.

 

[hdins]

Thanks for the information.

 

[Richelle]

Good information here. Thanks. Does it make sense to add your children to the contract? Could the children plan travel without me during the reserved owner weeks?

It makes sense, assuming they can afford it if you pass away. If they are on the contract when you pass away, they will be liable for the maintenance fees. If they are not, your estate will be responsible until it gets transferred to someone else. Your kids can choose to not accept it.


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[lkc1234]

I searched around a bit and did not see a thread or an information link about this. Could someone not in theory purchase resale points from someone, add the new owner name to the deed WITH the current owner, let it sit for a while and then remove the original owner name? Perhaps six months?

Thoughts?

Yes it can be done. I have done it myself with another timeshare company. Not sure about Wyndham. But you need to deal directly with the current owner without showing a resale to a new owner. Those added to deed will then be considered co-owners with the current owners. The co-owners will have the same benefits as current owners. New owners need to be added to current deed and then later remove the old owners from the deed.

 

[am1]

Use to be el cid contracts came with VIP without any extra hoops. Also a million plus Las Vegas contract came the same way. When my account was frozen I almost pulled the trigger to convert that to a presidential reserve platinum contract in my name. People at Wyndham knew it was resale so otherwise I would lose the Platinum status. In the end the sales people did not sell to me. A few months later I was no longer an owner.

 

[Richelle]

I searched around a bit and did not see a thread or an information link about this. Could someone not in theory purchase resale points from someone, add the new owner name to the deed WITH the current owner, let it sit for a while and then remove the original owner name? Perhaps six months?

Thoughts?

If the owner is removed from the account, you’ll lose benefits. It not might not be immediately, but eventually it will be classified as a resale contract and you will lose VIP status and other retail only benefits (Club Pass, convert to Wyndham rewards, etc). In theory, you could remove the original owner from the deed later, and not notify Wyndham of the change. That would leave the original owner on the account but not on the deed. Unless they are given a reason to look, they might not know. I still wouldn’t risk it for a few reasons. First, I don’t know if they will check back a year later (or more) to see if the original owner is still in the deed. Second, if they do find out you played them, you run the risk of being removed from the exchange system. You can still use your points, but you would be limited to your home resort. In the case of CWA, you’d be limited to CWA resorts. You’d lose all other benefits. I doubt that would happen, but they would be within their right to do so. Third, if you walk away, and the original owner is still on the account, they could potentially be liable for the maintenance fees. Fourth, the original owner would still have access to the account. Even if you change the password to the site, they would call in to have it reset and change it on you. They could also call in to make reservations.

Oh and of course, it’s just wrong to be deceitful. We complain about Wyndham being deceitful all the time. We would be no better then them if we did unethical things like try to circumvent the rules.


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[Sandi Bo]

Yes it can be done. I have done it myself.

So... you would have to find an owner that is willing to stay on the deed. It would be doable, but would take a bit of homework (and a lot of trust).

We used to joke that the best way to do this would be to marry the existing owner. So include looking for an eligible bachelor/bachelorette as the existing owner.

I'll 2nd or 3rd, where ever we're at here... adding children to existing deeds - but likely only one of them (that is all I did). That said, there is risk - which I say is as minimal as minimal can be, that does make them responsible for maintenance fees, I suppose. That would happen, in my situation, over my dead body, and even then, I don't think so. Have an exit plan, even if it's Wyndham's Certified Exit. My trust will pay my maintenance fees until my contracts are transferred (to those who want them) or sold or given back. I, with certainty, know no one will be stuck with the tab.

I had a very recent conversation with a niece on one of our deeds, asking about property ownership and if she should be concerned. Her fiancee is concerned about her being on a Wyndham deed (wait, what...etc)...I told her to have him call me and we can talk more to be sure he understands. Also, I'm more than happy to remove her - as long as she pays the fees to do so. She's more than recovered those by being an owner for quite some time now.

 

[lkc1234]

Yes. However I explained to the previous owners that they really had nothing to lose. By adding me and my wife as co-owners we are now responsible for the maintenance fees also. We also signed a separate purchase agreement that I would be responsible for the maintenance fees and scheduling usage until their names were removed from the deed. Once the deed was changed and submitted to the timeshare company we were added as Platinum co-owners and able to make reservations with all the benefits of the previous owners.

 

[bnoble]

I have done it myself with another timeshare company. Not sure about Wyndham.

Which is great for you, but it has nothing to do with the OP's question, which is can you do this with Wyndham.

And, reportedly the answer is "not anymore."

 

[lkc1234]

Which is great for you, but it has nothing to do with the OP's question, which is can you do this with Wyndham.

And, reportedly the answer is "not anymore."

As I said in my post. If you had read it you would have seen that I said I was not sure about Wyndham. Thanks.

 

[bnoble]

Yes, I did read the part that I quoted. And others had already posted before you that, with Wyndham, this is no longer possible. So, the person who isn't reading might not be me. Your post was not helpful, but you can be offended if you like, it's your nickel.

 

[lkc1234]

Used to work. Reportedly Wyndham caught on and is now auditing transfers. You should assume you will lose it sooner rather than later.

Does Wyndham have a written policy on adding and removing co-owners from timeshare deeds?

 

[Richelle]

Does Wyndham have a written policy on adding and removing co-owners from timeshare deeds?

Policy on what? Who you can add? How any you can add? What happens when you remove? Need a little more detail on what you’re looking for.

I don’t think anything written specifically about those, that we have access to. If you’re wondering if they specifically say that when the original owner is removed, it loses retail benefits, it doesn’t. At least not directly. There are a few places in the directory that say that specific benefits are only available to people who purchased direct from Wyndham. The VIP section for example has that. When you remove the people who bought directly from Wyndham, it is no longer eligible for those benefits. People who were added after the fact are not the ones who bought directly from Wyndham.


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[paxsarah]

Second, if they do find out you played them, you run the risk of being removed from the exchange system. You can still use your points, but you would be limited to your home resort. In the case of CWA, you’d be limited to CWA resorts.

Can/do they actually do this? Like, is there actually a mechanism in the system for Wyndham to place this sort of limitation on owners? I'm thinking of back in 2016, when Wyndham had a question about whether owners were playing them, they just froze the accounts. I guess I recall hearing of other issues where Wyndham placed some limitations on accounts and forced owners to call to be able to do anything - it all had to be manually over the phone. But I can't say I've ever heard of Wyndham placing this sort of restriction of points-based home resort only because of an infraction.

 

[bnoble]

I don't think so. CWA is not deeded; it is membership in a trust. If they think a CWA owner has violated their contract, they just terminate the ownership. In the words of Willy Wonka: "You get NOTHING. You LOSE. Good day, sir!"

In the case of a converted week, the week is withdrawn from the trust, and reverts to the underlying owned week.

I have no idea what the equivalent would be with UDI.

 

[Richelle]

Can/do they actually do this? Like, is there actually a mechanism in the system for Wyndham to place this sort of limitation on owners? I'm thinking of back in 2016, when Wyndham had a question about whether owners were playing them, they just froze the accounts. I guess I recall hearing of other issues where Wyndham placed some limitations on accounts and forced owners to call to be able to do anything - it all had to be manually over the phone. But I can't say I've ever heard of Wyndham placing this sort of restriction of points-based home resort only because of an infraction.

It wouldn’t be difficult to restrict their booking abilities to their home resort. They can restrict non-VIP owners from booking margaritaville more then 5 months out. They can make their membership not eligible to book any resort except their home resorts.

There is no real way of knowing exactly what they are capable of but it’s certainly a lot more then back in 2016. For example, separating resale from retail is something they couldn’t do back in 2016.


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