If you did decide to purchase a small points resale contract make sure to first get a look at the Club Wyndham Plus Member's Directory. Link:
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/plus_membersdirectory1415/index.php#/1
You will have a good idea of what amount of points you would need to stay a few nights or a week somewhere depending on the season. You can choose to travel in Prime, High, Value, or Quiet Season depending on the amount of available points you have?
You should also know that maintenance fees differ from resort to resort. Some maintenance fees are much higher than others for the same amount of points when they are deeded at a particular resort. Some people look to buy at a resort for the lowest possible maintenance fees for their points. Some people buy at a particular location and pay higher maintenance fees. There is no standard maintenance fee rate between all of the Club Wyndham timeshare properties. However, if you have Club Wyndham Access (CWA) you do not have a deed to one property. You have a membership in Club Wyndham to an expanding list of properties and pay an average yearly maintenance fee for the resorts that are part of the group. Do you want deeded ownership rights or CWA?
If you purchase a small contract, you can opt to "Credit Pool" your points (look that up in the member's directory) and use them to get a larger unit or stay a full week in a higher demand season) Keep borrowing from future years to get what you need. This may work well for you? If you need another vacation after you have used up your Wyndham points, you could use RCI "Last Call" and pay under $300 to book a week's vacation online. No points are involved for that. RCI also has the "Extra Vacations" for a cash purchase ( no exchange fee needed) and has specials throughout the year.
Keep in mind (when you use RCI), you can select to use your Wyndham points plus you pay the RCI $209 exchange fee. Depending on how the resort classifies the demand season: Quiet, Value, High, Prime. A Hotel Room or Studio in Wyndham points cost 35K, 52K, 77K, 90K . A 1 bedroom 63K, 77K, 105K, 126K. A 2 bedroom 77K, 126K,165K, 205K. A 3 bedroom or larger 112K, 159K, 232K, 300K . It is helpful to know how many points a vacation might require before buying a timeshare. Afterall, you want to have enough to go somewhere, right?
If you book a vacation and need to cancel - know the rules so you don't lose points. You must cancel a reservation 15 days or more with Wyndham. RCI has their own point forfeit structure or you buy the vacation protection and only lose the exchange fee.
With the "Endless Vacation Rentals" site which non-timeshare owners can also use, you can cancel 5 days before and get all of your cash funds returned! I always compare my timeshare versus non-timeshare vacation options. I always look for quality resorts and destinations. If I can't get what I am looking for with timeshare, then I look elsewhere. My last vacation was $600 less expensive than using RCI's Extra Vacations for a property that was not available with points - only cash. I opted for a larger unit with Endless Vacation Rentals and at a less expensive price.
I use my Club Wyndham timeshare to book many vacations. I look forward to my vacations and am very careful about finding the best places for less dollars. My family enjoys our Wyndham timeshare ownership because it works for us. I have found the Wyndham system easy to use.
It is important to figure out if you need a small, medium or larger size contract? Can you use the points each year, every other year, etc... Most of all do not buy what you cannot afford. There are options to make things work to get more for less. Not everyone's needs are the same. Not everyone can be a Mega Wyndham owner. What works well for you is what matters. Some people like the flexibility of timeshare points to stay a few days, a week or longer? Other people like owning a fixed week somewhere - no points.
You can always rent a vacation from a Mega owner, or get a Wyndham rental from someone? Are you flexible? There are always these bargain deals here on TUG BBS. Owners who have too many points need to rent the reservations they have booked. You can get a vacation rentals for $700 or under! These can be for large units. You might get lucky and get a vacation rental at a too good to be true price!
Find out what works for you? Read the Club Wyndham Plus Member's Directory and figure out if a small points contract can work for you?
Good luck with your decision!
Cynthia T.
