Internal exchanges

[sandals99]

quick question,


If i purchase some wyndham points at location 'x', say bonnet creek, can i book another wyndham property without paying exchange fees? ie, if i wanted to book a wyndham property in Vegas, Hawaii, etc?

 

[ausman]

Yes, of course, it is a points based system with internal trading allowed based on the number of points owned.

There are a few minor nuances involved depending what interests you but for the most part most resorts are available at the 10mth window.

 

[sandals99]

thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Jya-Ning]

The current rule is there are some free stuff when you deal with transactions and stay. As soon as you used all the free one, you will get charged. But they go to too detail. You don't need to worry about it unless you are serious about purchasing it.

Jya-Ning

 

[sandals99]

woud star island points be part of the wyndham fsp program?

 

[Jya-Ning]

If it is Wyndham or FSP point, then yes.

If it is week, than you need to call Wyndham, get the contract number, and ask if it can be converted to FSP points. The way the price go, that is not a good way to approach,

Jya-Ning

 

[sandals99]

it says that it is wyndham star island, Fairfield point system

 

[Sandy VDH]

If you are talking Bonnet Creek as a purchase then it will be in points in the wyndham system already as it was sold as ONLY points. There are some older wyndham properties that were sold as weeks. They may or may not be converted to points. If they are not converted to points there is a fee to convert. So it would be wise to purchase something that is already points in the wyndham system. Eliminate the conversion charge.

There are transactions charges to make reservations in the wyndham system, you get a certain number of free transactions based on how many points you own. However Wyndham just recently changed the costs and rules around transactions. Once you have exceeded your free allotment then booking online costs $30 for a wyndham reservation transaction. It cost more to book over the phone, $59.

That reservation can be anything from a single day to a 7 day. I do believe that all reservations made on the same call count as 1 transaction. So if you are only doing 1 reservation, book it online, but if you are doing 2 or more do it via the phone.

 

[Sandy VDH]

If you are considering Star Island, and this is your first Wyndham purchase realize that Star Island comes with an II membership NOT a RCI membership.

You need to consider which trading company you want to deal with, nearly all Wyndhams are affiliated with RCI, but a rare few are attached to II and Star Island is one of them.

You would trade internally with Wyndham points, but would have II as your external trading company.

Just so you know.

 

[sandals99]

Thanks Sandy for all that info. I am looking to make a wyndham purchase (points) and am looking on ebay and have seen both bonnet creek and star island.

at this point i am not sure if i would prefer rci over ii for the external exchanges. I do like all the wyndham locations, especially in hawaii and the south pacific for internal exchanges.

thanks!!

 

[vacationhopeful]

RT - reservation transaction - is all bookings (including deposits for exchanges) done on the same DAY. This is a calendar day - not a 24 hr day or on a single phone call.

So do three reservations on day 1 - one RT used.

Do three reservations, one each on Mon, Tue, and then Wed - THREE RT used.

 

[sandals99]

i am looking at 189,000 points at star island, and what would a reasonable amount to pay for the points be? Maintenance fees are $800 for the year.

thanks,

 

[sandals99]

I just bid and won the auction for 189,000 points at the Star Island for $90 and the mtce fees are $800. closing costs and transfer fees total $595. i am hoping that this is a good deal.

 

[Bill4728]

I just bid and won the auction for 189,000 points at the Star Island for $90 and the mtce fees are $800. closing costs and transfer fees total $595. i am hoping that this is a good deal.

It is a really great deal if one of two things are true:

1. If the week isn't converted to FSP ( the FairSharePlus point system), but you want to use the week at Star Island most all of the time.

2. If you wanted a FSP point week and it has already been converted to FSP then you got a killer deal ( last year it would have cost about $2000)

Good Luck

 

[sandals99]

i had emailed the seller and he said that the points are FSP points. I don't plan to use that particular resort but more so to stay at other wyndhams, ie hawaii, south pacific, etc.

How can i confirm that these are in fact fsp and not something else?

here is the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=300278789784

 

[Bill4728]

From the ad it looks like a FSP week. That's great!!

BUT you bought from a company called wanted weeks, They are not the owner of the week you're buying but just the seller. They sell a LOT of TS and sometimes don't get all the info right about each week they are selling. see this thread

I'm not sure how you can find out for sure without Wyndham & the owner confirming that the week converted to FSP.

Good Luck

 

[mianmike]

I too am looking to buy Wyndham points, in either Orlando or Las Vegas, but may be open to other resorts if the MFs/points ratio outweighs our desire to easily stay somewhere else (as a home resort).

I'm looking to buy through Ebay and will be curious to see how your transaction through "wanted weeks" goes. I don't know these Ebay closing companies from Adam. Will you please let us know how smoothly the transaction goes?

My question to the board is: how valuable is having your home resort at say Bonnet Creek . . . a place we would frequently use, over owning a resort someplace else which has a cheaper MF vs points ratio? I'm looking for personal experiences and opinions. Thanks for any help!

 

[sandals99]

thanks Bill for that link. wow, i just started to read it and it seems like a long and frustrating road with those guys. I'll email and see what other information they can send to me, ie closing company, confirmation of FSP points, etc.

thanks,

 

[Jya-Ning]

i had emailed the seller and he said that the points are FSP points. I don't plan to use that particular resort but more so to stay at other wyndhams, ie hawaii, south pacific, etc.

How can i confirm that these are in fact fsp and not something else?

here is the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=300278789784

Very likely it is. Ask them for the contract number in the deed which they should also included in their contract aggreement with you, and the old owner name. Than call Wyndham with that number, they can verify a lot of stuff, (resort, if it is in the FSP system, use year, ...). SOme of the info they will not give you until you have the old owner's name.

Jya-Ning

 

[Jya-Ning]

My question to the board is: how valuable is having your home resort at say Bonnet Creek . . . a place we would frequently use, over owning a resort someplace else which has a cheaper MF vs points ratio? I'm looking for personal experiences and opinions. Thanks for any help!

Depends, if you go at the holiday usually, that is quite valuable. If not, that is only valuable if Wyndham (or whoever take over Wyndham, not that will happen soon) decides to dissolve the trust, or your POA decides not to stay in FSP program. Both are very unlikely.

Besides that, the only value is you can tell your friends you own there

Jya-Ning

 

[Sandy VDH]

Owning give you a 13 month window to book into the resort, versus the 10 month window that everyone else has.

If you want holiday weeks and large Penthouse units you will need that amount of points at bonnet creek. But If you want 1 - 2 BRs that are lots and lots of them at the 10 month mark. Remember it is Wyndham's largest single resort and there are plenty of rooms.

 

[mianmike]

. . . decides to dissolve the trust, or your POA decides not to stay in FSP program. Both are very unlikely.

That doesn't sound so good. I hope that doesn't happen. So they can dissolve the trust and leave everyone out in the dark? Their investment gone poof?

 

[mianmike]

If you want holiday weeks and large Penthouse units you will need that amount of points at bonnet creek. But If you want 1 - 2 BRs that are lots and lots of them at the 10 month mark.

Thanks . . . that answered my next question . . . I was wondering if you could own 154,000 Bonnet Creek points and throw in another 182,000 Wyndham Flagstaff points and use the combined total to book at Bonnet Creek 13 months out. But I guess they track which points belong to which resort and commingling is not allowed . . . they foiled my best laid plans!

 

[vacationhopeful]

The non Wyndham units - 3bdr/2 bath lockout MF 2009 is $815 including property tax. Per my Star Island Fixed week MF invoice.

189,000 pt is what is needed for a HIGH season 3bdr/2ba unit of that description. Plus, you would have your FSP fee added into that based on the total points you as a member (not contract) owns. Plus, you would get a separate invoice from Wyndham for the property taxes.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Thanks . . . that answered my next question . . . I was wondering if you could own 154,000 Bonnet Creek points and throw in another 182,000 Wyndham Flagstaff points and use the combined total to book at Bonnet Creek 13 months out. But I guess they track which points belong to which resort and commingling is not allowed . . . they foiled my best laid plans!

You could combine at the 10 month mark. What you could do if you wanted a big unit is book the number of days that you have points for at the 13 month mark, then at the 10 month mark add the additional days.

I would suggest booking the weekends first as they tend to go first, then go back to try to get the remaining days you need when the rest of the inventory opens up. If you don't get what you need you can always cancel the whole thing.