How do we get the most out of our Wyndham Platinum membership?

[Paramedicgirl]

Hi everyone, my first post here. I found this website when I searched for Wyndham scams. My husband and I believe Wyndham is built on deception. We first bought in Hawaii two years ago, and only because the salesman, (named Greg) lied to us and told us we could sell back to Wyndham any time for our initial investment. We later found out we have to wait five years, and Wyndham will only pay 20% at most. (Pathway Program for Hawaii)

Then we upgraded our membership to Platinum in San Antonio with a salesman named Kevin. More deception followed here. We were led to believe that when we transfer 100,000 points over to the Rewards program, we would get $600 value to use against our maintenance fees. In reality, and they don't tell you this, when you transfer 100,000 Wyndham points over to Rewards, they give you only 40,000 Reward points. Yes, you do get $600 for every 100,000 Reward points, but they make you think you are getting $600 for the Wyndham points, and they don't mention the reduced conversion rate. The real value is $240 for 100,000 Wyndham points, but they hide that fact from you. They are such liars!

I have learned that when you are confronted by these sales people, you need to take a break and step outside and call the VIP hotline to ask them if things really work the way they are telling you. The VIP hotline people are the only Wyndham employees who don't lie to you. Thats because they are not selling you anything, I guess.

So, now that we are Platinum members, is there anyone on here who can advise us how to get the most out of our very expensive membership?

I know for a fee of $39 we can place our points into the credit pool every second year, making them good for three years. And we plan on converting our points on alternate years to Rewards, for a fee of $99, and use them for maintenance fees and airline tickets, car rentals, etc. We also know how to get $699 out of TPI in lieu of the bonus week when we exchange our Hawaii timeshare with TPI.

Are there any other tricks to help us get the most out of our ill advised investment?

 

[John_and_Val]

We are also Platinum Members. Unfortunately the best bang for your buck is to use the points. Also, taking advantage of the 60 days before reservation for a 50% discount and Upgrade is very nice. This way you can put about 1/2 of your points in Credit Pool (To save them for a big trip) and still have enough points to vacation yourself and rent some points. Maybe you have friends or co-workers that would need a great 1 or 2 bedroom with a full kitchen to vacation at for a great price? You can help offset dues and they get a great place to stay. Hope this helps.

 

[Paramedicgirl]

We are also Platinum Members. Unfortunately the best bang for your buck is to use the points. Also, taking advantage of the 60 days before reservation for a 50% discount and Upgrade is very nice. This way you can put about 1/2 of your points in Credit Pool (To save them for a big trip) and still have enough points to vacation yourself and rent some points. Maybe you have friends or co-workers that would need a great 1 or 2 bedroom with a full kitchen to vacation at for a great price? You can help offset dues and they get a great place to stay. Hope this helps.

What is the best way to do this? Do you book two and cancel one? Do you do it yourself online or go through the VIP Hotline?

 

[Bigrob]

What is the best way to do this? Do you book two and cancel one? Do you do it yourself online or go through the VIP Hotline?

I used to do cancel and rebook online, but now I call in to do it. Much safer since the VC's see the inventory immediately after you cancel it, but it takes 4-5 minutes before it shows back up online.

I'm sorry to hear about how you arrived at your current ownership level and how you feel about that. But I think you're doing the right thing now to look for ways to maximize the value of what you have.

 

[ronparise]

I think John_and_Val is (are) right. "the best bang for your buck is to use the points" and I would add use the points for reservations at the resorts

the unfortunate part as BigRob suggested is how you became Platinum>> Im going to assume $100000+ "invested"

I think you have to forget the purchase price. That is a sunk cost, is gone, never to be seen again. I know, easy for me to say. Its not my money, and I got to platinum status for a whole lot less

But if you can forget the initial "investment" and focus just on the annual cost I think you can probably enjoy yourself and if you can take advantage of the 50% discounts you can enjoy yourself twice as much

FYI and to answer the question you posed in the title of your original post "How do we get the most out of our Wyndham Platinum membership?" I use mine to generate rental income. I dont recommend it to the faint of heart but it works for me and as near as I can tell for several others that post here on TUG

 

[jaygould]

The best value received for your points is to use them for reservations within the Wyndham system, not conversions to points to cover maintenance fees, or for cruises, or for trading into RCI. Unless you want to spend a lot of time being a realtor, use them for your own vacations, not for rental income. Be sure any points you have left in your 2016 account have been put in the points credit pool by the end of September so you don't have any that are left over and lost at the end of the year, but rather are useable for another three years. If you forget to do this, you can put them into the free RCI account that comes with your Wyndham membership at the end of December and get two more years of use for RCI trades, but their value is less than within the Wyndham system.
Right now, your “point status” page should show remaining points for 2016 plus 1,000,000 points for 2017 and 1,000,000 points for 2018. You can actually use all those points today by putting all the 2017 and 2018 points in the points credit pool. I am not suggesting you do that, but just showing that is a possibility. For years I was under the impression you could only use the points credit pool to extend the life of this year's unused points. Last year I was low on points and missed an opportunity to get a reservation I wanted. It was only after the reservation was no longer available (Ft Lauderdale in March) that I found out I could have reserved it if I had just moved the next year's points backward in the points credit pool.
To get the biggest bang for your buck when you make a reservation, also make a reservation for the same date for a unit that is up to two sizes smaller. Then within sixty days of the reservation, cancel both reservations and rebook the smaller one at 50% off and get the upgrade to the larger unit. Ron Parise and Big Rob both recommend you do this with the help of a vacation counselor on the phone. I just did four cancel-rebooks online with no trouble, but during the 7-8AM EST period when online booking is available but before the phone booking system opens up. Take your pick.

 

[slabeaume]

Using your points for car rentals and such don't work out too well by the time you pay the conversion fees and taxes and such. The $699 through TPI for cruises isn't a bad deal, but you have to book certain Hawaii resorts from Wyndham 6 months out and give them to TPI (no VIP advantage). I've gotten a couple sweet exchanges through TPI by giving them a Wyndham week in under 60 days and was able to use my Wyndham VIP status for the exchange (booked a 1 bedroom for 1/2 the points and upgraded to a 2 bedroom so my exchange with TPI was for a 2 bedroom unit). So don't think you have to put the leftover points in just RCI. There are other exchange companies out there, too.

 

[ekajun1957]

Another thing to watch for is Prime,High, Value, and Quiet seasons. Many are based on seasons when kids are out of school, but if you don't have kids?? or have friends who don't you can vacation for even less, and also easier to cancel and rebook in fact sometimes in Value times its available to be booked at discount and upgrade without cancel and rebook. Also some places are Value or High when you think they would be Prime. Be open minded and you might find yourself saying "heck this is too few points to not go."

 

[Conan]

A radical alternative would be to permanently reduce the number of points you own by giving some of them back to Wyndham under the Ovation program. They won't give you any cash, but they will give you three years' maintenance-cost-free use of the points you give back.

I'm not aware of any five year rule in the Ovation program. Their rules change all the time, and as far as I know they don't currently require you to surrender all-or-nothing to participate. Of course you'll lose platinum status if the number of points you retain fall below the threshold.

If you're interested, call the general Wyndham phone number and ask to be transferred to the Ovation or Limited Edition division (the program goes by both names).

 

[Paramedicgirl]

Using your points for car rentals and such don't work out too well by the time you pay the conversion fees and taxes and such. The $699 through TPI for cruises isn't a bad deal, but you have to book certain Hawaii resorts from Wyndham 6 months out and give them to TPI (no VIP advantage). I've gotten a couple sweet exchanges through TPI by giving them a Wyndham week in under 60 days and was able to use my Wyndham VIP status for the exchange (booked a 1 bedroom for 1/2 the points and upgraded to a 2 bedroom so my exchange with TPI was for a 2 bedroom unit). So don't think you have to put the leftover points in just RCI. There are other exchange companies out there, too.

TPI told me they only take Wyndham bookings that are 6 months in advance. How do you get them to take one that's only 60 days out?

 

[Paramedicgirl]

A radical alternative would be to permanently reduce the number of points you own by giving some of them back to Wyndham under the Ovation program. They won't give you any cash, but they will give you three years' maintenance-cost-free use of the points you give back.

I'm not aware of any five year rule in the Ovation program. Their rules change all the time, and as far as I know they don't currently require you to surrender all-or-nothing to participate. Of course you'll lose platinum status if the number of points you retain fall below the threshold.

If you're interested, call the general Wyndham phone number and ask to be transferred to the Ovation or Limited Edition division (the program goes by both names).

We are not giving our points back. We want to learn how to use them to our utmost advantage. We had unscrupulous salesmen, to be sure, but now that we are in, we are going to maximize our membership.

That Pathways program I mentioned is only for Hawaii owners. Wyndham will buy back your timeshare after five years for no more than 20% of what you paid. Not sure if that's still being offered, but it was two years ago when we bought at Royal Gardens in Honolulu.

 

[Paramedicgirl]

The best value received for your points is to use them for reservations within the Wyndham system, not conversions to points to cover maintenance fees, or for cruises, or for trading into RCI. Unless you want to spend a lot of time being a realtor, use them for your own vacations, not for rental income. Be sure any points you have left in your 2016 account have been put in the points credit pool by the end of September so you don't have any that are left over and lost at the end of the year, but rather are useable for another three years. If you forget to do this, you can put them into the free RCI account that comes with your Wyndham membership at the end of December and get two more years of use for RCI trades, but their value is less than within the Wyndham system.
Right now, your “point status” page should show remaining points for 2016 plus 1,000,000 points for 2017 and 1,000,000 points for 2018. You can actually use all those points today by putting all the 2017 and 2018 points in the points credit pool. I am not suggesting you do that, but just showing that is a possibility. For years I was under the impression you could only use the points credit pool to extend the life of this year's unused points. Last year I was low on points and missed an opportunity to get a reservation I wanted. It was only after the reservation was no longer available (Ft Lauderdale in March) that I found out I could have reserved it if I had just moved the next year's points backward in the points credit pool.
To get the biggest bang for your buck when you make a reservation, also make a reservation for the same date for a unit that is up to two sizes smaller. Then within sixty days of the reservation, cancel both reservations and rebook the smaller one at 50% off and get the upgrade to the larger unit. Ron Parise and Big Rob both recommend you do this with the help of a vacation counselor on the phone. I just did four cancel-rebooks online with no trouble, but during the 7-8AM EST period when online booking is available but before the phone booking system opens up. Take your pick.

I think John_and_Val is (are) right. "the best bang for your buck is to use the points" and I would add use the points for reservations at the resorts

the unfortunate part as BigRob suggested is how you became Platinum>> Im going to assume $100000+ "invested"

I think you have to forget the purchase price. That is a sunk cost, is gone, never to be seen again. I know, easy for me to say. Its not my money, and I got to platinum status for a whole lot less

But if you can forget the initial "investment" and focus just on the annual cost I think you can probably enjoy yourself and if you can take advantage of the 50% discounts you can enjoy yourself twice as much

FYI and to answer the question you posed in the title of your original post "How do we get the most out of our Wyndham Platinum membership?" I use mine to generate rental income. I dont recommend it to the faint of heart but it works for me and as near as I can tell for several others that post here on TUG

We actually have two PICS that we were able to use to our advantage to obtain Platinum status, so our investment wasn't the same as outright buying a million points from Wyndham.

We are very interested in renting out our points. We thought we would start by word of mouth just with friends and people we know. One friend just paid $3100 for a week at a 2 BDRM condo in Maui, and we told them we could do a lot better than that if they want us to book them in as a guest at a Wyndham resort. When you say "Not for the faint of heart" have you had issues with renting before?

 

[jebloomquist]

When you say "Not for the faint of heart" have you had issues with renting before?

Just as the owners are trying to make a little money on their rental, the renters are also trying to get a good deal.

The renters shop and shop and shop. I know of too many cases where an owner has looked hard and long to find exactly what the renter wanted only to be told that the renter wanted the unit for less, or that the renter had a mind change and was no longer interested. A lot of effort can go into a rental with no return.

Sometimes the end of the year comes too quickly and the only real option is to dump points into RCI. But, RCI does not allow points to be used for rentals. I am sure that it is done by some, but I never have. I currently have 60,000 RCI points sitting there because a stepson changed his mind. To say the least, I am not a great fan of RCI property options. I'll stick with Wyndham.

If a renter keeps asking one question after another just to verify if I am legit, I eventually tell them to find someone else. I can begin to tell which potential renters will be more trouble than they are worth.

Then there is the last minute cancellation wanting a refund of the rental price. I'm sorry, but it is 10 days out, and I can't get any of the points or guest fees back. I'm sorry, sue me if you insist.

This leads to having the renter sign a contract stating exactly what is expected by all parties.

I am sure that Ron has a thousand more sides and angles to his comment. These are just a few that come to mind.

Jim

 

[jebloomquist]

TPI told me they only take Wyndham bookings that are 6 months in advance. How do you get them to take one that's only 60 days out?

I gave up on TPI a few years ago, once they required an annual fee. You suggested that you own Royal Garden, as do I along with other Hawaiian resorts. The TPI annual fee is waved for three years. Early on I dumped a 3 bedroom Bali Hai Villas week into TPI. I was given a comparable week and a bonus week. I never found any TPI options that I wanted, and ended up giving both weeks away. All the I asked was that the final recipient pay the $259 reservation/transfer fee. It was even hard to find someone who would do that.

To your question, the 3 bedroom reservation was only 60 days out, and TPI accepted it.

Jim

 

[Paramedicgirl]

I gave up on TPI a few years ago, once they required an annual fee. You suggested that you own Royal Garden, as do I along with other Hawaiian resorts. The TPI annual fee is waved for three years. Early on I dumped a 3 bedroom Bali Hai Villas week into TPI. I was given a comparable week and a bonus week. I never found any TPI options that I wanted, and ended up giving both weeks away. All the I asked was that the final recipient pay the $259 reservation/transfer fee. It was even hard to find someone who would do that.

To your question, the 3 bedroom reservation was only 60 days out, and TPI accepted it.

Jim

I just tried that, but they wouldn't take anything less than six months out. Maybe cuz it was at Kona Hawaiian on the Big Island?

 

[Bigrob]

We thought we would start by word of mouth just with friends and people we know.

You would think this would be a good way to get started, but my experience is that friends and word of mouth may not be the best way to get started. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1) They're your friends first, and rental customers second. Because of this, it can be awkward for you (you feel like you need to give them a deal) and they may feel "pressured" into "helping you use your week" and think you should be giving it to them for next to nothing (that's how most people think of timeshares).

2) Most of the reservations your friends are going to want will not be available by the time they figure out they want it.

3) Your friends may not recognize there is a cost associated to booking a reservation a long time in advance... holding it... and then canceling it within 30 days of the travel date. Yes, you get your points back. But you could have used the points for other reservations over the past year.

While I do sometimes help friends out with reservations, I certainly wouldn't recommend starting there as a basis for establishing yourself.

 

[Paramedicgirl]

I just tried that, but they wouldn't take anything less than six months out. Maybe cuz it was at Kona Hawaiian on the Big Island?

You would think this would be a good way to get started, but my experience is that friends and word of mouth may not be the best way to get started. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1) They're your friends first, and rental customers second. Because of this, it can be awkward for you (you feel like you need to give them a deal) and they may feel "pressured" into "helping you use your week" and think you should be giving it to them for next to nothing (that's how most people think of timeshares).

2) Most of the reservations your friends are going to want will not be available by the time they figure out they want it.

3) Your friends may not recognize there is a cost associated to booking a reservation a long time in advance... holding it... and then canceling it within 30 days of the travel date. Yes, you get your points back. But you could have used the points for other reservations over the past year.

While I do sometimes help friends out with reservations, I certainly wouldn't recommend starting there as a basis for establishing yourself.

So what works best then, for renting out your points/timeshare?

 

[vacationhopeful]

Deciding first where you can sell ... like what you know about and/or have an interest in learning about. Ever listen to different sales people? You & others rent from a person who can convince you their vacation place is just lovely and WONDERFUL.

Start travelling nearby (3 to 5 driving hours away) and TAKE PICTURES ... your pictures will make your ads more believable .. keep people OUT of the pictures as that allows renters to place themselves in that resort. Most people looking to stay somewhere need to know .. is the outdoor pool heated? What type of view will I have? Is there a KING size bed?

Like to play golf? So will your renters, if you have locations near courses... like Palm Aire in Florida or those Carolina courses or in Williamsburg.

Look at different ad sites ... prices, presentation, stuff that has rented. Some timeshare owners rent thru Craigslist. I like Redweek for my Florida weeks and Craigslist for local resorts in my area (nearby area codes). I also, for Craigslist ads, use "a per minute" throwaway cell - Tracfone ... text or call ... don't turn on Voice Mail as it eats minutes trying to listen to messages and I use my VOIP phone to just call back everyone.

I agree with Bigrob ... friends and relatives think your vacation units should be almost FREE .. actually, after 1 or 2 rentals ... you will start telling them, you have nothing available when the reality is, you need dollars to pay the bills and they think you are charging too much.

I rent in South Florida on the Atlantic Ocean ... why? That is where I wanted to spend my winters .. but it is the economy ..so I still am working back home. Ans renting my vacation weeks.

 

[scootr5]

So what works best then, for renting out your points/timeshare?

Craigslist, Redweek, TUG marketplace, your own webpage, eBay, pretty much in that order IMHO.

Don't try to just rent points, make a high demand reservation and rent that.

 

[Paramedicgirl]

Thanks for the help! I live in BC Canada, so I won't be able to drive to any Wyndham resorts to take pics, but I will certainly do that next time I travel. I like your cell phone idea as well.

Is there ever a problem with Wyndham honouring a guest reservation? I read somewhere online that a family got evicted as guests at Bonnet Creek cuz they wouldn't attend the time share presentation.

 

[massvacationer]

OP

I've owned Wyndham points for 8 years and my view is that Club Wyndham is a very flexible timeshare product with a large network of nice resorts. I think it is one of the best timeshare products out there.

The resorts are well managed and the maintenance fees are generally in-line with the quality received.

It is complex system and takes awhile to learn. Sounds like you paid pretty big bucks, but did get there using PIC (that was smart), so it could be worse.

For most people, I would recommend buying resale. Too late now, those dollars are gone. But, at least you know have Platinum VIP status. With the Plat discounts and upgrades, You should be able to stretch your points.

There are folks here who can probably guide you in how to rent some of those points to recoup some/most/all of your maint fees and still have some points let for personal use. IMO, this might be your best path, at this time.

Don't listen to the sales folks or whatever they call themselves (concierge etc)....learn here and by reading the membership guide. Don't buy more retail points....

 

[Paramedicgirl]

If you buy resale, you don't get the VIP benefits, though do you?

 

[massvacationer]

If you buy resale, you don't get the VIP benefits, though do you?

Correct. You have to buy from Wyndham to get VIP. There are ways to do this that may cost less, but still more than buying resale.

I bought all my points resale and didn't pay much, and they work great for me.

For most folks, resale is the best way to buy, without a doubt.

 

[ronparise]

We actually have two PICS that we were able to use to our advantage to obtain Platinum status, so our investment wasn't the same as outright buying a million points from Wyndham.

We are very interested in renting out our points. We thought we would start by word of mouth just with friends and people we know. One friend just paid $3100 for a week at a 2 BDRM condo in Maui, and we told them we could do a lot better than that if they want us to book them in as a guest at a Wyndham resort. When you say "Not for the faint of heart" have you had issues with renting before?

I think what I meant with the "faint of heart" comment. Is dont blame me if you cant do it

I met a guy that believed his salesman when the salesman said, buy twice as many points as you need for yourself, rent half of them for double their mf, to cover the mf on all your points, and vacation for free. so he added 7770000 points deeded at La Belle Maison. He used these points to book multiple reservations for an event weekend in New Orleans . He didnt rent a single one . As it turned out I had also made reservations for this same weekend 30 of them, and I got all mine rented; one as late as check in day, but i got it done

He was so upset, that he put his points up for sale and I bought all 770000 for $1000

Why was I successful and he not? I dont know the answer, If I did Id tell you. All I can say is that renting is not something everyone can do. And Im not going to tell you to do what I do, because there are lots of ways to get the job done, and if you do what I say and fail, I dont want to be blamed.

 

[Paramedicgirl]

Oh, don't worry, I'm not out to blame anyone for something that hasn't even gone wrong. But I did get a good laugh out of your story!

I'm just looking for advice on how to rent out our timeshares. I do realize that I have to sift through the answers, and decide what works best for us. So far, I'm convinced that renting out to others is way better than converting to rewards.

And thanks to everyone who has shared their expertise!