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is vacation village plus worth it?

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
anybody that actually had upgraded their unit to V.V.+ program ?
i own a few weeks in different resorts of their network , i do a very well use of their 45 days certificates ,so i was told by the sales people that with vv+ that goes up to 90 days inventory , but they will not show me what it could be , so i didn't go for it $5990 upgrade .so if u belong to that tier can you share what is your experience with it, thanks
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
anybody that actually had upgraded their unit to V.V.+ program ?
i own a few weeks in different resorts of their network , i do a very well use of their 45 days certificates ,so i was told by the sales people that with vv+ that goes up to 90 days inventory , but they will not show me what it could be , so i didn't go for it $5990 upgrade .so if u belong to that tier can you share what is your experience with it, thanks
anybody?
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
We got the hard-sell for that a year or so back. It might well have offered great benefits that we would actually use, I don't know. Two things decided us against it.

First, it was only available via buying a full-freight timeshare. They kept coming offering cheaper timeshares with fewer points, but everything presented was way more than we cared to spend.

Second, we never got a clear picture of how the advantageous features of Vacation Village Plus actually work in real time, only a description that was too vague to make sense of. We were left with the impression that Vacation Village Plus is basically RCI Platinum Plus (if there were such a thing).

Lots of sizzle. Not much steak. We said No Thanks.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

rboesl

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I'm actually VV Premier. The 2-90 bonus weeks were well worth having. The extra 45 days of booking window, for me, really helped. (Premier gives you 2-180 bonus weeks) Yes, a lot of the benefits match up with RCI Platinum but there are benefits beyond that list. Reduced exchange fee between VV locations is nice. Reduced Guest Certificates is nice as well and can be applied to the bonus weeks as well. I like the bonus weeks because it gives me the option to use those to travel and save points for those harder to get locations. Or, I can offer them to friends & family for the cost of exchange + guest cert and still vacation using my points.

Oh, and they used points I had from a VV ownership that I bought on the secondary market to get me to VV Premier. Very surprised, Alan, that you were told you had to buy from developer to get there.
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
I'm actually VV Premier. The 2-90 bonus weeks were well worth having. The extra 45 days of booking window, for me, really helped. (Premier gives you 2-180 bonus weeks) Yes, a lot of the benefits match up with RCI Platinum but there are benefits beyond that list. Reduced exchange fee between VV locations is nice. Reduced Guest Certificates is nice as well and can be applied to the bonus weeks as well. I like the bonus weeks because it gives me the option to use those to travel and save points for those harder to get locations. Or, I can offer them to friends & family for the cost of exchange + guest cert and still vacation using my points.

Oh, and they used points I had from a VV ownership that I bought on the secondary market to get me to VV Premier. Very surprised, Alan, that you were told you had to buy from developer to get there.
thanks so much .
yeah , i think they were just trying to sell Alan a new unit but i know that is not the case as they offered to me and i only units acquired in re-sale .
and that is exactly what i am trying to find out , if the inventory between 45 and 90 days is really worth it as i also do plenty of use for those certificates (45 days ) quite often .you also mentioned a couple of things i was not aware or it is just comparing to a regular membership (i am already a platinum)
1) reduced guest certificates . what you mean is same as platinum ,right ? just to confirm
2)2 -180 bonus weeks ? , they did not mention that . every year you get those? are they also exchange only certificates ?

i appreciate it if you can clarify on these , thanks again
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Only version of Vacation Village Plus they were offering was through purchase of leftover dogs & cats from their developer inventory -- offseason & biennial points units at Vacation Village In The Berkshires, Vacation Village At Weston, etc.

Straight-out upgrade to Vacation Village Plus without buying anything but that was not offered.

One semi-interesting wrinkle in the shuck & jive that time was handing us a piece of paper to sign affirming our acknowledgment that we were turning down & would never, never ever again be offered the full retail trade-in value of the (resale) Grandview At Las Vegas triennial points unit we already owned. We signed without hesitation.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
thanks , i did reply but it didn't show ,
i appreciate it .
so, Premier is the highest level , and it does come with 2 weeks at exchange only . question is , is it every year?
then , how much premier is ? as they offered VV plus for $5990 upgrade .
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,

rboesl

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thanks so much .
yeah , i think they were just trying to sell Alan a new unit but i know that is not the case as they offered to me and i only units acquired in re-sale .
and that is exactly what i am trying to find out , if the inventory between 45 and 90 days is really worth it as i also do plenty of use for those certificates (45 days ) quite often .you also mentioned a couple of things i was not aware or it is just comparing to a regular membership (i am already a platinum)
1) reduced guest certificates . what you mean is same as platinum ,right ? just to confirm
2)2 -180 bonus weeks ? , they did not mention that . every year you get those? are they also exchange only certificates ?

i appreciate it if you can clarify on these , thanks again

1) Reduced Guest Certificates - 25% discount
2) You get those 2-180 every year. You should call Vacation Village Customer Service each anniversary to be sure they get deposited.
3) I haven't found any issue with the 45-90 day inventory. Usually have found something worthwhile. The issues with inventory usually come up when you're trying to pigeon hole a specific area & time frame. But, that also usually happens with regular inventory too.

There's couple of other perks as well.

A) Reduced internal exchange (VV to VV). The first one is free (select resorts, not sure which). After that first 2 yrs internal exchanges are $99. Then it jumps to $119 (these you gotta watch as RCI tends to just charge $119). This is a very nice item as VV has a lot of locations.
B) Automatic upgrade to newest building at certain VV Resorts.
C) Free On-Going Search (like this)
D) Free Holds (have used a few times)
E) 10% on Extra Vacation Getaways
F) 2 yr Points Extension rather than 1 yr
 

tschwa2

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How much is your RCI membership fee per year? For the first year or two, I would imagine it was paid by VV but after that what do you pay. 75% of the benefits seem to be just the normal platinum benefits.
 

rboesl

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How much is your RCI membership fee per year? For the first year or two, I would imagine it was paid by VV but after that what do you pay. 75% of the benefits seem to be just the normal platinum benefits.

You're right. The first 2 years for RCI was paid by Vacation Village. My membership doesn't expire until next year. So I don't know what my fee will be. I'm waiting to the last minute to renew in the hopes they'll call with a discount offer. (I can hope, right? :)) And, I do realize that compared to II the membership fee for RCI is higher. But, personally, I like the broader range of RCI's inventory. Gives me more choices. Not necessarily all 4-5 star, but for a week's stay sometimes 3 / 3.5 star is good enough to visit where I want to visit.

You're also right about RCI Platinum vs VV Premier. I didn't argue that. But, I did list them so that chaparrusa had a full view. But, those few that are unique to Vacation Village have an impact and can save you a few dollars.
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
thank you once again .
one last question , what do you mean with , my membership will expire next year? , your RCI membership ?, VV premier or plus as i understand is forever , does it expire ?
and i was wondering what it meant with those two years $99 internal exchanges i saw in the catalogue . thanks for making that clear .
last but no least , i see you like snorkeling ,perhaps scuba diving . i go to los cabos area from mid february to mid april and i run a small snorkeling/scuba diving operation down there . it will me my treat as an appreciation for all the info to take you and your family on a dive down there .
:)
 

rboesl

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My RCI membership is expiring. You're right, the Vacation Village membership doesn't expire. There was a time when my wife and I were trying snorkeling. While I can still do it my can't due to ear issues. Really appreciate the offer but just happy I was able to help. Call it paying it forward for all the help I've received from this group.
 

tschwa2

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I did get an annual 2-180 day cert from Massanutten. I just checked the trading power. I was hoping to use it in January on a week that is currently 15 tpu's and on a recent sale it was 12 tpu's. It can't pull it. So I did a more detailed check and it looks like it only pulls weeks that are worth 7 tpu's or fewer.
 

rboesl

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My account is points. I haven't paid attention to any points limit. I have been able to book a 2BR in the past. But, I will admit it was shoulder season.
 

tschwa2

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I have both a points and weeks account so I can compare. While I might be able to get shoulder season with it probably not at 90+ days out. I also have a Vacation Village/Massanutten $239 rental week offer in my account. That one will let me book a Massanutten 2 BR (Woodstone or Summit) up to June 14 and then available again in October 2020. It looks that one only goes up to 7 as well but extends until mid December 2020. Last year I was given an offer for a free VV associate week but I think that one went up to about 18 tpu;s.
 

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I recently went to an "update" presentation at the Grandview. The salesman really pushed the VVP upgrade (best he could do was 5999$) if we bought a deeded unit (10,999 for a biennial 49,000 points). He then showed us these hotels stays for a week that were about 80% retail using an app for VVP owners. I was very impressed, some of these hotels were 2000$ regularly and on the app they were 350$, for the week! Has anyone seen this during a presentation recently?
 

richkadams

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I recently went to an "update" presentation at the Grandview. The salesman really pushed the VVP upgrade (best he could do was 5999$) if we bought a deeded unit (10,999 for a biennial 49,000 points). He then showed us these hotels stays for a week that were about 80% retail using an app for VVP owners. I was very impressed, some of these hotels were 2000$ regularly and on the app they were 350$, for the week! Has anyone seen this during a presentation recently?
Yes, they (Grandview presentation) showed me the really cheap hotel stays on the salesperson's laptop. That's the reason we upgraded to Premiere. But since upgrading, We can't figure out how to get those super cheap hotel rates. When we go to book on our RCI account using Cash and Points, it's the same price for us as it is for everyone else. WHAT IS THIS APP YOU SPEAK OF?
 

JeroMan

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Yes, they (Grandview presentation) showed me the really cheap hotel stays on the salesperson's laptop. That's the reason we upgraded to Premiere. But since upgrading, We can't figure out how to get those super cheap hotel rates. When we go to book on our RCI account using Cash and Points, it's the same price for us as it is for everyone else. WHAT IS THIS APP YOU SPEAK OF?
I am not sure, but I know it wasn't on the RCI website. I think it was through the Grandview app or something, he showed us on his phone.
 

jbiza

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Yes, they (Grandview presentation) showed me the really cheap hotel stays on the salesperson's laptop. That's the reason we upgraded to Premiere. But since upgrading, We can't figure out how to get those super cheap hotel rates. When we go to book on our RCI account using Cash and Points, it's the same price for us as it is for everyone else. WHAT IS THIS APP YOU SPEAK OF?

They may have showed you www.vacationvillagetravel.com to search for some hotel discounts & vacation stays.
Type that in the search bar on your mobile device or computer, & it will prompt you for login info (username & password).

The "super cheap hotel rates" (Save up to 40% on hotels worldwide!) are not much different than other hotel sites (for example, Grandview Las Vegas is ~ $225. per night :rolleyes:).

But, you might luck up on a deal. :cool:
 

Tim&Kaye

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They may have showed you www.vacationvillagetravel.com to search for some hotel discounts & vacation stays.
Type that in the search bar on your mobile device or computer, & it will prompt you for login info (username & password).

The "super cheap hotel rates" (Save up to 40% on hotels worldwide!) are not much different than other hotel sites (for example, Grandview Las Vegas is ~ $225. per night :rolleyes:).

But, you might luck up on a deal. :cool:
I also went to one of those timeshare updates and was shown the cheap hotels but I think its a scam. We bought and when our acount was activated and we tried to book we could not find any cheap hotels. the salesperson never actually let us click book to see the total price of the rooms. We are headed back to vegas in august and I will be making a trip to see these people. this is fraud and i want answers. Is this the way RCI is doing business now lying to its members. Ive been a owner for 21 yrs and this is the first time I feel like I was scammed
 
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