Massanutten Gold Card vs Owner Card

[jc3]

Greetings!
My family and I are on the "free preview" 4 day/3 night at Massanutten. We went through the sales pitch, and compiled a bunch of information but did not buy. We have absolutely loved our time here, though, and are very interested.
I live about 2 hours from Massanutten, and would not be looking at trading from year to year (ie, we're happy with what Massanutten has). The big thing that we would like to do, since we are so close, is take advantage of the amenities such as Le Club, the pools, etc. We would love to be in a situation where would come down frequently on weekends and stay in local hotels for free (I have hundreds of thousands of hilton honors points), and still use the amenities here. Or we could stay in the local hotel here on the Massanutten campus.
What I am evaluating as alternatives, and am asking for advice on, are:
1. Don't buy and instead rent one or two weeks a year. Pros: not as expensive, flexibility. Cons: No access to the amenities except for those weeks we rent.
2. Buy a resale. Does anyone know if I were to buy a biennial or triennial, if I get an owners card that is good for the amenities for any weekend trips down? I don't know that I need a full week every year, as much as I would like access for long weekends and maybe a full week every two years or so.
3. Buy a new model. This one makes no sense to me that I can see (please tell me if I'm wrong), since my family mainly uses the condo to sleep and shower only.
Also, does anyone know what a gold card at Massanutten gives you that an owners card does not? Is it only discounts, or does it matter for access?
Thanks for any insight that anyone has!!!

 

[janej]

Hi,

I am an owner at the Summit at Massanutten. I bought resale and got our picture IDs when we first stayed at the resort. I am not sure what the difference between owner card and gold card. We can use our card for the pool and rec centers. Our guests get paper cards with expiration date to use at the pool.

Hope this helps,

Jane

 

[jc3]

Thanks!

Hi Jane!
Thanks for the info, that's what I was thinking was the case. It does help, many thanks! I am guessing that an owner card gets access...the gold card is merely discounts...thanks!!!
Cliff

 

[janej]

Cliff,

I checked our cards today. It does say Gold owner card. I am not sure if there is any other types. We bought resale.

Jane

 

[NTHC]

Live on the resort and use the facilities each and every day with the card we have and all of our weeks are resale weeks.

Thanks,
Cindy

 

[bdemerchant]

1. Don't buy and instead rent one or two weeks a year. Pros: not as expensive, flexibility. Cons: No access to the amenities except for those weeks we rent.

My timeshares are not great traders and my maintenance fees are about 1/3 of Massanuttens- but I have never had a problem trading in there for ski weeks- that should tell you something.

 

[catcher24]

I own a biannual at Woodstone at Massanutten. I haven't been there since I bought it, because I bank the time and then convert it to points. However, I did get a letter from the Homeowner's Assoc. telling me to stop in the next time I'm down to pick up photo IDs for my family so that we can use the amenities.

 

[jc3]

Owners card = Gold Card

Greetings!
Just to close the loop...at Massanutten, the owners card and what I heard called the "gold card" are the same thing. It is a hard plastic card that allows access to Le Club, Woodstone, etc...and also identifies you as an owner so you can get discounts on skiing, golfing, etc. Just wanted to close the loop.

 

[Mel]

Do all resale buyers have access to the Gold Card/Owners Card? We toured many years ago, and I recall being told that only those who purchased through the resort would get the Gold Card, and that it did not transfer when you sell.

I would imagine they would have to have grandfathered in owners at some of the older properties (like Eagle Trace), so it would in fact transfer with SOME resales. Was I told yet another of those lies so common among timeshare sales staff, or do some reslaes include day use, and other resales, (the newer phases) not include it?

 

[Tommart]

Gold Card

I own two weeks at Massanutten, and live two hours away as well.

We bought a week 22 two-bedroom locked unit at Woodstone, and got our Gold cards. I believe that they are the same as owners cards, but I'm not sure. They are good year round even when not staying at Massanutten.

The week 22 unit did not exchange very well. We upgraded to a week 31 unit. It is a very good trader. For example, in 2009 traded each one-bedroom for a week in Hawaii (stayed two weeks in Hawaii). This January we traded one-bedroom for a three bedroom 5-star resort in Orlando. (No it doesn't trade like a Mariott in Vail with $1400 maintenance fee, but it is a decent trader.)

The Woodstone maintenance fees were a bargain 5 years ago ($330), but even the 2011 rate of $540 is much lower than most. That's $270/one-bedroom. The Hawaii and Orlando units each had MFs around $1K.

We recently bought a week 24 Luxury 4-bedroom in Woodstone through resale for far less than what we paid for the week 31 units. It can be traded as two 2-bedrooms. It's the week we will use, and we'll generally exchange both week 31 units, and if we do not need the extra two bedrooms, we will exchange half of the week 24 unit.

We often stay a second week in May or September. We use a bonus week we got when we purchased from the developer which saves us about $50 over the RCI price -- costs us about $200. Not sure if we will continue doing that now that we have additional weeks to exchange.

Be aware that if you are not an owner, you are limited to one exchange or rental per four years "in to" Woodstone. We can get around this by staying at Summit, Villas, or Eagle Trace.

I believe that the owner card would be good anytime, even if you had a bi-annual timeshare, but I would call Massanutten to verify. There are no restrictions, dates, etc. on my card.

My advice: Don't buy from the developer like I did.

If you are interested in exchanging, purchase a week 5-9 or week 25-33 unit. They have the best exchange power.

However, if there's a week (even if bi-annual) that you expect to use (and not exchange), buy the week that you want. We bought week 24 because it's perfect for us.

Also, in mid-November, RCI will begin revealing the exchange value of resorts in the Weeks program. I recommend waiting until then before purchasing so you will know the exchange value before you buy.

 

[catcher24]

Do all resale buyers have access to the Gold Card/Owners Card? We toured many years ago, and I recall being told that only those who purchased through the resort would get the Gold Card, and that it did not transfer when you sell.

I would imagine they would have to have grandfathered in owners at some of the older properties (like Eagle Trace), so it would in fact transfer with SOME resales. Was I told yet another of those lies so common among timeshare sales staff, or do some reslaes include day use, and other resales, (the newer phases) not include it?

See my post above (#7) from a year ago. I bought resale ($1600 for a biannual four bedrooom, four bath lockout), and as noted above I did receive an email from the Massanutten people advising me to stop in and pick up photo IDs for my family in order to use the amenities. This may or may not be the "owner's card" that others have mentioned. I don't know for sure because I haven't been back yet.

Incidentally, for anyone in the RCI points program picking up one of these Woodstone Gold Crown resorts is a great way to get some extra points pretty cost efficiently. As mentioned, mine is a biannual unit that I paid $1600 for resale. The MF is presently about $600 ($300 per year). I split the four bedroom into two two bedroom units, bank them, and then convert to points for $26 per unit (total $52). The total cost to pay my MF and then convert to points is $652. I receive 60,500 points for each two bedroom unit from RCI, so I get 121,000 points every two years. This makes the cost per point .54 cent, which is considerably less than most places I've seen on a cost per cent basis. Also, based on the ads I've seen here at TUG and elsewhere, the resale value of the Woodstone units seems to be pretty decent as well, and I think if I decide to sell I could get my original $1600 or pretty close to it back.

Finally, when my wife and I did stay at Woodstone, we liked it so well we signed a contract on a trienniel Casa de Campo unit for $6000 (one bedroom unit at Woodstone). Thankfully, although I didn't know about TUG at the time I DID know about resales, since I had bought my original points unit at Tanglwood that way. As soon as I got home, I checked the resales, found the four bedroom biannual unit for much less than we were paying for a one bedroom trienniel, and canceled the contract on the Casa de Campo unit. That was a close call for sure.

 

[Tommart]

See my post above (#7) from a year ago....

I didn't notice that the original post was a year old. I just noticed the month of October. Oh well....

 

[jc3]

Resales do get owner cards

Do all resale buyers have access to the Gold Card/Owners Card? We toured many years ago, and I recall being told that only those who purchased through the resort would get the Gold Card, and that it did not transfer when you sell.

Hi Mel!
Don't get sold a bill of goods from the developer reps...that's where my confusion came in. We bought our Eagle Trace floating week 1-52 from Ebay, and got our owner/gold cards from Massanutten with no problems at all...same as if we had bought from the developer.
Hope this helps!
Cliff

 

[BSgueglia1]

Gold/owners card

We own 2 timeshares here. My fries just bought one resale and went up this weekend to escape the hurricane. It's not her week, so she rented one of the private homes, but wanted to use the amenities. She went to get their owner cards/picture ID...whatever she needs to use the pool this weekend and they refused to give her anything because she didn't buy from the developer. Any help??? Thanks!!

 

[Patri]

I bought resale and got the picture ID. Did she have proof of ownership? As a renter of a home she wouldn't get that.

 

[BSgueglia1]

Yes! She took all her paperwork! They first told her you can't get a gold card bc you didn't buy from us. She knew enough to say "I'm not asking for a Gold Card, I jut want the picture ID for owners" They told her here was no such thing for resale and that she was only allowed to use the pool and Rex center on her week. I know this is hogwash...but why are they being so mean to a family afraid and escaping the hurricane, and how do we get them to give her what shes entitled to? I haven't gotten my cards yet either, so I'll be facing the same when we go for Christmas and want to be prepared.

 

[dawna]

gold card

Yes! She took all her paperwork! They first told her you can't get a gold card bc you didn't buy from us. She knew enough to say "I'm not asking for a Gold Card, I jut want the picture ID for owners" They told her here was no such thing for resale and that she was only allowed to use the pool and Rex center on her week. I know this is hogwash...but why are they being so mean to a family afraid and escaping the hurricane, and how do we get them to give her what shes entitled to? I haven't gotten my cards yet either, so I'll be facing the same when we go for Christmas and want to be prepared.

My husband and I just got back from Massanutten. we bought a 4 bedrooms woodstone from ebay. we got our gold card last year when we stayed our week there. we had no problems getting the cards. I don't know why they treated your friend like that. as far as I know the people who takes the pictures has no idea how you purchase your timeshare. we can use the resort any time we are there. since we only live about a two hour drive I plan to take some long weekend there. our week is the 34th week so we missed the earth quake and the hurricane. had a nice time there too.

Dawna

 

[janej]

I wonder if you friend has completed the purchase. The resort does not know the purchase until the seller paid the transfer fee to get the name transferred. If they completed the purchase, they should have an account number and no paperwork would be necessary to proof the ownership. Actually the front desk might ask them to go get the picture id when they check in.

If they just have the new deed, the resort might not want to take that as proof of ownership.

 

[Mel]

Judging by this series of quotes, one of two things is probably happening:

1 - Resale owners are not supposed to get Gold Cards, but check-in staff doesn't speak with sales staff, and are giving resale owners Gold Cards when they arrive to use their own weeks. This would explain why some are getting them, but an owner who arrives outside her use week would not get one.

2 - As suggested, this new resale is not in the computer system yet (even if the transfer fees were paid), and as a result they could not verify that the new owner was entitled to the card. They may be working on the assumption that part of the transfer fee is to buy into the Gold Card program, or that resale purchasers are offered the option of buying a Gold Card for a significant fee (when in reality there is nothing in the system to indicate one way or the other).

I can say that at my original home resort, Orange Lake, they had no clue that we were not the original owners, since our names were just appended to the original account. But our West Village deeds include some benefits that were "sold" as a perk to retail purchases of later phases - because they were included in our original purchase, they transfer with our unit, but later units were sold with benefits that do not automatically transfer.

I don't think we have a definitive answer yet. If BSgueglia1 can find out if the friends had completed the transfer process, that might shed some light.

We own 2 timeshares here. My fries just bought one resale and went up this weekend to escape the hurricane. It's not her week, so she rented one of the private homes, but wanted to use the amenities. She went to get their owner cards/picture ID...whatever she needs to use the pool this weekend and they refused to give her anything because she didn't buy from the developer. Any help??? Thanks!!

Yes! She took all her paperwork! They first told her you can't get a gold card bc you didn't buy from us. She knew enough to say "I'm not asking for a Gold Card, I jut want the picture ID for owners" They told her here was no such thing for resale and that she was only allowed to use the pool and Rex center on her week. I know this is hogwash...but why are they being so mean to a family afraid and escaping the hurricane, and how do we get them to give her what shes entitled to? I haven't gotten my cards yet either, so I'll be facing the same when we go for Christmas and want to be prepared.

My husband and I just got back from Massanutten. we bought a 4 bedrooms woodstone from ebay. we got our gold card last year when we stayed our week there. we had no problems getting the cards. I don't know why they treated your friend like that. as far as I know the people who takes the pictures has no idea how you purchase your timeshare. we can use the resort any time we are there. since we only live about a two hour drive I plan to take some long weekend there. our week is the 34th week so we missed the earth quake and the hurricane. had a nice time there too.

Dawna

I wonder if you friend has completed the purchase. The resort does not know the purchase until the seller paid the transfer fee to get the name transferred. If they completed the purchase, they should have an account number and no paperwork would be necessary to proof the ownership. Actually the front desk might ask them to go get the picture id when they check in.

If they just have the new deed, the resort might not want to take that as proof of ownership.

 

[BSgueglia1]

Update

I have spoken with the resort management.

Apparently, in 2010...they stopped giving Gold Cards to resale "for obvious reasons". They have refused to give us anything-and my friend, too. (Yes, her sale went through months ago and all paperwork is in order. She received her owners packet from Massanutten several months ago.)

I had even called up there and asked if we would be able to get them because we thought the owners only area in the lodge was cool..they told us yes-this was in December. So, we are very frustrated. The only solution they offered is to sell us a new unit. Seriously. :annoyed:

 

[kwelty]

I am reviving this thread started in 09 in hopes of someone having new information about the Massanuttten Gold Card/Owners Card.
A friend just bought a resale Summit and when he tried to get his owner's card, he was told at the place where the cards were issued that resale buyers no longer got them and they were called Gold cards. He next went to the Owner's Association's office and was told there that he should get a card but when the lady there checked for him, she was told that no he couldn't have one. It is hard to believe that he is the only Summit resale buyer that has had this problem.
To me you are either an owner or you are not and if you are, you should get a card saying you are. It wouldn't be an issue but the resort offers an attractive discount to owners on lift tickets and as a Mountainside Villa owner (these Massanutten units have a different owner's association) I have enjoyed this little perk.
Has anyone had any recent success in getting this card?
Would it help to send a letter to the president of the Summit Owner's Association or would this fall on deaf ears as this association may be controlled by the developer?

 

[tschwa2]

I can't answer for Mountainside owners, but my understanding for all the other associations is that they don't issue "owners cards" to anyone anymore. Retail buyers are entitled to a Gold Card. Gold Card members get discounts as do full time HOA residents in the houses in the Massanutten community (not timeshare owners). These full time owners pay a monthly fee to be entitled to the "discounts and perks"- like trash pick up and discounted lift tickets. Resale buyers before x date (not sure when) may be grandfathered in but new owners don't get the discounts and day use privileges. The discounts aren't a deeded right and although it sucks not to get them for most they still aren't worth the premium of paying retail. Since the associations are developer controlled and not owner controlled I don't think it is going to change.

 

[mitch7704]

I just got back from Massanutten TODAY. We traded in tri-annual and bi-annual (wholesale - for week 33 annual at the Summit. The sales rep specifically said they no longer provided gold cards for after market purchases, they would only provide gold cards to retail purchasers or those who the unit was "gifted" to...for example from a parent to a child.

 

[Patri]

What did that trade cost you?

 

[Jojo531]

I bought resale at woodstone. I’m wondering would we be able to use the amenities such as the other pools and gym the week we’re there? It’s disappointing we can’t get the gold card as we only live a couple hours away but I hope we can at least use all the amenities the week we’re there. It’ll get expensive having to pay for things to do every day of our stay.