• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Mega Renter Crackdown vs A 500k points holder wanting to sell off one of their trips each year.

Jethro37

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2021
Messages
88
Reaction score
18
Points
68
Location
Tennessee
Resorts Owned
Wyndham:
Canterbury
Bali Hai
Hey Folks,

I've seen a lot of buzz about the mega-renter crackdown and them selling off their points. It looks as though certain resorts have been blocked from guest passes certain times of the year. Is that the main issue or are there other factors at play impacting mega renters?

I guess my question behind that is, would there be a case for me to buy more secondary market points than I planned on using each year and sell 1 or 2 trips off of that balance to help offset maintenance fees? It would be nice to have the extra points down the road, but would be a stretch to use them every year.

Is it usually best to book a place and then try to sell it, or does anyone out there solicit extra points to book a trip of their choice? Thanks for any feedback on the matter.
 

Eric B

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2017
Messages
5,870
Reaction score
5,447
Points
499
Resorts Owned
Vacation Village, Wyndham, WorldMark, Vistana, Vidanta, Flora Farms, HGVC Max, and some independents
Renting the occasional stay with the points you already have is not a bad idea and was, of course, encouraged by the Wyndham sales department. Even some of the most rabid disparagers of the megarenters have admitted to the occasional rental. I wouldn't encourage taking on an additional obligation to pay maintenance fees to increase the amount you rent, though - there is always risk involved in that approach.

Koala has a decent methodology for advertising Wyndham bookings for folks with extra points that can book a stay someone has asked for and get a return to cover their maintenance fees. I've pasted a link to their site below - their payout rate for next year seems to be set at $7.50/K points. That seems like a much better approach to renting out stays than using the Extra Holidays outlet that Wyndham runs, and they aren't taking as big a cut. If Club Wyndham were to adopt a similar approach, Extra Holidays could be a good way to use points that would otherwise go to waste, but the lack of any kind of guarantee that they will rent any or all of what you give them and the stiff 40% cut they take out of the rental amount makes that a very bad use of points.

 

Jethro37

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2021
Messages
88
Reaction score
18
Points
68
Location
Tennessee
Resorts Owned
Wyndham:
Canterbury
Bali Hai
Renting the occasional stay with the points you already have is not a bad idea and was, of course, encouraged by the Wyndham sales department. Even some of the most rabid disparagers of the megarenters have admitted to the occasional rental. I wouldn't encourage taking on an additional obligation to pay maintenance fees to increase the amount you rent, though - there is always risk involved in that approach.

Koala has a decent methodology for advertising Wyndham bookings for folks with extra points that can book a stay someone has asked for and get a return to cover their maintenance fees. I've pasted a link to their site below - their payout rate for next year seems to be set at $7.50/K points. That seems like a much better approach to renting out stays than using the Extra Holidays outlet that Wyndham runs, and they aren't taking as big a cut. If Club Wyndham were to adopt a similar approach, Extra Holidays could be a good way to use points that would otherwise go to waste, but the lack of any kind of guarantee that they will rent any or all of what you give them and the stiff 40% cut they take out of the rental amount makes that a very bad use of points.

Thank you for sharing that link. That looks very promising. Do you know if most of those requests are presently available or are some of those requests no longer bookable in the Wyndham system. Thank you
 

Ty1on

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
5,119
Reaction score
1,952
Points
348
Bear in mind that the breakeven to Eric';s suggestion is maintenance fee rate of $6.84, as each thousand points would cost you $6.84+$0.66=$7.50. If you were to bring in contracts higher than $6.84, you're subsidizing the people renting from you. Every penny below $6.84 per thousand would be profit. Even at breakeven, remember there is inherent risk in owning points to rent them out through any avenue. Chargebacks, inability to find a renter (others get to these prospects before you), etc.

You'd have to get $12.50 per thousand points via Extra Holidays to match the $7.50 through Koala.
 

bnoble

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
11,636
Reaction score
5,371
Points
798
Location
The People's Republic of Ann Arbor
would there be a case for me to buy more secondary market points than I planned on using each year and sell 1 or 2 trips off of that balance to help offset maintenance fees?
I would not encourage anyone buying points with the expectation of doing this routinely. Being an occasional landlord is a lot of work because you never develop an expertise in managing the process. Putting yourself in a position where you are expecting yourself to rent by ones and twos year in and year out sounds like a lot of unnecessary work.

It would be nice to have the extra points down the road, but would be a stretch to use them every year.
And this is why it is unnecessary. If you anticipate needing more points in future years, why not wait to buy them until you find that you are ready to use them?

Note that you aren't asking "Should I rent out points if I get stuck every once in a while?" If you are sizing mostly for your own annual use, but you miss the target once in a while, renting is a good way to make up for it. Of course, the other good way (and the path I usually take) is to deposit those points forward to a future year and take a more point-intensive vacation that is a bit of a splurge.
 

rickandcindy23

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
31,901
Reaction score
9,003
Points
1,049
Location
The Centennial State
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge,Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau;Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms; WKORV-OF (2),Westin Desert Willow.
Agree with bnoble.
 

Jethro37

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2021
Messages
88
Reaction score
18
Points
68
Location
Tennessee
Resorts Owned
Wyndham:
Canterbury
Bali Hai
Thank you for sharing that link. That looks very promising. Do you know if most of those requests are presently available or are some of those requests no longer bookable in the Wyndham system. Thank you

I really appreciate all your helpful feedback. Could you help me with the specific questions below?

Is Wyndham inventory currently available for the two rental periods listed below? Those are both less than 10 months out, so It's my understanding anyone with points could book those dates assuming they're still available.


Club Wyndham Nashville2 Bedroom DeluxeJun 15, 2022Jun 21, 2022

Club Wyndham Nashville2 Bedroom DeluxeJun 23, 2022Jun 29, 2022
 

Ty1on

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
5,119
Reaction score
1,952
Points
348
I really appreciate all your helpful feedback. Could you help me with the specific questions below?

Is Wyndham inventory currently available for the two rental periods listed below? Those are both less than 10 months out, so It's my understanding anyone with points could book those dates assuming they're still available.


Club Wyndham Nashville2 Bedroom DeluxeJun 15, 2022Jun 21, 2022

Club Wyndham Nashville2 Bedroom DeluxeJun 23, 2022Jun 29, 2022

Yes and yes
 

Italag5

newbie
Joined
Sep 10, 2021
Messages
16
Reaction score
3
Points
3
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Grand Desert
Wyndham National Harbor
Wyndham Canterbury
Worldmark
Renting the occasional stay with the points you already have is not a bad idea and was, of course, encouraged by the Wyndham sales department. Even some of the most rabid disparagers of the megarenters have admitted to the occasional rental. I wouldn't encourage taking on an additional obligation to pay maintenance fees to increase the amount you rent, though - there is always risk involved in that approach.

Koala has a decent methodology for advertising Wyndham bookings for folks with extra points that can book a stay someone has asked for and get a return to cover their maintenance fees. I've pasted a link to their site below - their payout rate for next year seems to be set at $7.50/K points. That seems like a much better approach to renting out stays than using the Extra Holidays outlet that Wyndham runs, and they aren't taking as big a cut. If Club Wyndham were to adopt a similar approach, Extra Holidays could be a good way to use points that would otherwise go to waste, but the lack of any kind of guarantee that they will rent any or all of what you give them and the stiff 40% cut they take out of the rental amount makes that a very bad use of points.

Great a new subset of renters will be born!
 

Italag5

newbie
Joined
Sep 10, 2021
Messages
16
Reaction score
3
Points
3
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Grand Desert
Wyndham National Harbor
Wyndham Canterbury
Worldmark
Bear in mind that the breakeven to Eric';s suggestion is maintenance fee rate of $6.84, as each thousand points would cost you $6.84+$0.66=$7.50. If you were to bring in contracts higher than $6.84, you're subsidizing the people renting from you. Every penny below $6.84 per thousand would be profit. Even at breakeven, remember there is inherent risk in owning points to rent them out through any avenue. Chargebacks, inability to find a renter (others get to these prospects before you), etc.

You'd have to get $12.50 per thousand points via Extra Holidays to match the $7.50 through Koala.
The rental game is over for VIP owners that bought resale points to use with VIP benefits! $12/1000 is the new $6/1000 that VIP owners rented at with VIP discounts and free upgrades.
 

Ty1on

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
5,119
Reaction score
1,952
Points
348
The rental game is over for VIP owners that bought resale points to use with VIP benefits! $12/1000 is the new $6/1000 that VIP owners rented at with VIP discounts and free upgrades.

No argument from me.
 

Sandi Bo

TUG Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
5,085
Reaction score
4,644
Points
498
Location
Omaha
Resorts Owned
Wyndham
I'm being lazy here rather than research further... can anybody rent or is that just a VIP benefit? For sure if VIP (and the higher lever the better), seems like holding a little extra "just in case I need them" points isn't necessary. I think keeping the VIPF points I have and renting for $12/1000 is a pretty good strategy. And likely dumping anything else (I may keep the one that added all siblings to the account, one-off situations are out there, or maybe keep a Bali Hai or Canterbury if you have one, but as a rule thinking not worth keeping). The rented points will have VIP benefits, they are available to me if I need them, otherwise no risk or hassle on my part regarding owning excess points. Why hold any resale points any more?

What I don't know (and sorry ya'll, personally don't care about as it doesn't affect me) is if resale owners or non-VIP can rent points from Wyndham. I thought yes. $12/1000 is a little steep for those people, but still if you only need a little now and then, why not - and there is no risk or hassle about getting rid of excess points. If you need a lot extra, you could always rent from a VIP owner :LOL:
 

Sandi Bo

TUG Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
5,085
Reaction score
4,644
Points
498
Location
Omaha
Resorts Owned
Wyndham
The rental game is over for VIP owners that bought resale points to use with VIP benefits! $12/1000 is the new $6/1000 that VIP owners rented at with VIP discounts and free upgrades.
And where do rental points come from? I don't know. But if they come from the points Wyndham owns, all the better for them, too, right?
 

Jethro37

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2021
Messages
88
Reaction score
18
Points
68
Location
Tennessee
Resorts Owned
Wyndham:
Canterbury
Bali Hai

Italag5

newbie
Joined
Sep 10, 2021
Messages
16
Reaction score
3
Points
3
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Grand Desert
Wyndham National Harbor
Wyndham Canterbury
Worldmark
I'm being lazy here rather than research further... can anybody rent or is that just a VIP benefit? For sure if VIP (and the higher lever the better), seems like holding a little extra "just in case I need them" points isn't necessary. I think keeping the VIPF points I have and renting for $12/1000 is a pretty good strategy. And likely dumping anything else (I may keep the one that added all siblings to the account, one-off situations are out there, or maybe keep a Bali Hai or Canterbury if you have one, but as a rule thinking not worth keeping). The rented points will have VIP benefits, they are available to me if I need them, otherwise no risk or hassle on my part regarding owning excess points. Why hold any resale points any more?

What I don't know (and sorry ya'll, personally don't care about as it doesn't affect me) is if resale owners or non-VIP can rent points from Wyndham. I thought yes. $12/1000 is a little steep for those people, but still if you only need a little now and then, why not - and there is no risk or hassle about getting rid of excess points. If you need a lot extra, you could always rent from a VIP owner :LOL:
It works well for Wyndham since they rent at $12/1000 LOL! Makes cents for Wyndham! No pun intended.
 

A.Win

TUG Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
433
Reaction score
170
Points
254
Location
Northern VA
Like you, I have considered buying more points. But I have decided to help others use points that they cannot use instead. I don't want the long term obligation of buying more points that are no longer VIP. Through TUG and other places, other owners and I have been able to help each other.
 

Italag5

newbie
Joined
Sep 10, 2021
Messages
16
Reaction score
3
Points
3
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Grand Desert
Wyndham National Harbor
Wyndham Canterbury
Worldmark
Like you, I have considered buying more points. But I have decided to help others use points that they cannot use instead. I don't want the long term obligation of buying more points that are no longer VIP. Through TUG and other places, other owners and I have been able to help each other.
Helping owners use points they can not use has also been a option for me. Why buy additional points and be strapped with monthly maintenance fees when a lower cost way to travel is available?
 

Eric B

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2017
Messages
5,870
Reaction score
5,447
Points
499
Resorts Owned
Vacation Village, Wyndham, WorldMark, Vistana, Vidanta, Flora Farms, HGVC Max, and some independents
What I don't know (and sorry ya'll, personally don't care about as it doesn't affect me) is if resale owners or non-VIP can rent points from Wyndham. I thought yes. $12/1000 is a little steep for those people, but still if you only need a little now and then, why not - and there is no risk or hassle about getting rid of excess points.

Any Club Wyndham Plus owner can rent points from Wyndham for the $12/K. As someone else pointed out, for a VIP owner making a developer booking, those points would benefit from the VIP privileges - making the effective costs in the discount window VIPF = $4.80/K, VIPP = $6.00/K, VIPG = $7.80/K, VIPS = $9/K, and VIPB = $10.20/K, not accounting for upgrades if available. As a VIPG, the rental cost is still a bit steep, but might be worth it for a booking that gets an instant upgrade that's good enough.

There are circumstances when the effective costs for renting points are quite good for a resale booking, too. For example, I'm waiting for the new year to make a resale booking (to avoid paying the $19 for an RT because I'm cheap), but am 5,250 points short of what I need. I could use other avenues (e.g., WorldMark) to get the resort I want since it's a dual one for the days I want, but renting the points for the $63.00 will use up my resale points in that use year and save me the $39 to PDF them (or some of them) to another use year, bringing my effective cost of renting the points down to $4.57/K if I take the $39 savings into account. It's nice to have the rental option to top up a booking. (Now that I look at it again, though, that 5,250 points is less than the cost of the final night so I can probably borrow it from the FUY when I book it and avoid renting points - woo hoo! :banana:)
 

tschwa2

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2008
Messages
16,004
Reaction score
4,676
Points
748
Location
Maryland
Resorts Owned
A few in S and VA, a single resort in NC, MD, PA, and UT, plus Jamaica and the Bahamas
Thank you for taking the time to look that up!
a resale owner only gets 2 guest certificates after that it is $99 each plus with shorter stays you could end up having to pay housekeeping which would mean another $159 ish fee. All of these things can eat up any profit from rentals. I have also heard that for the better Koala rentals they are fulfilled by someone within an hour so you might end up looking up several and not get any. If you aren't VIP, you also can't grab things and then release it willy nilly because of the limited transactions or the $19 fee when you are out.
 

Sandi Bo

TUG Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
5,085
Reaction score
4,644
Points
498
Location
Omaha
Resorts Owned
Wyndham
Any Club Wyndham Plus owner can rent points from Wyndham for the $12/K. As someone else pointed out, for a VIP owner making a developer booking, those points would benefit from the VIP privileges - making the effective costs in the discount window VIPF = $4.80/K, VIPP = $6.00/K, VIPG = $7.80/K, VIPS = $9/K, and VIPB = $10.20/K, not accounting for upgrades if available. As a VIPG, the rental cost is still a bit steep, but might be worth it for a booking that gets an instant upgrade that's good enough.

There are circumstances when the effective costs for renting points are quite good for a resale booking, too. For example, I'm waiting for the new year to make a resale booking (to avoid paying the $19 for an RT because I'm cheap), but am 5,250 points short of what I need. I could use other avenues (e.g., WorldMark) to get the resort I want since it's a dual one for the days I want, but renting the points for the $63.00 will use up my resale points in that use year and save me the $39 to PDF them (or some of them) to another use year, bringing my effective cost of renting the points down to $4.57/K if I take the $39 savings into account. It's nice to have the rental option to top up a booking. (Now that I look at it again, though, that 5,250 points is less than the cost of the final night so I can probably borrow it from the FUY when I book it and avoid renting points - woo hoo! :banana:)
I also like that if you do cancel a reservation booked with rented points, you get reimbursed what you paid for the points (we used to get the points not the money). Renting them from Wyndham is pretty low risk, no commitment, pretty sure we'll be using it as part of our ownership strategy.
 

ronparise

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
12,664
Reaction score
2,134
Points
548
Hey Folks,

I've seen a lot of buzz about the mega-renter crackdown and them selling off their points. It looks as though certain resorts have been blocked from guest passes certain times of the year. Is that the main issue or are there other factors at play impacting mega renters?

I guess my question behind that is, would there be a case for me to buy more secondary market points than I planned on using each year and sell 1 or 2 trips off of that balance to help offset maintenance fees? It would be nice to have the extra points down the road, but would be a stretch to use them every year.

Is it usually best to book a place and then try to sell it, or does anyone out there solicit extra points to book a trip of their choice? Thanks for any feedback on the matter.

When I first started renting Wyndham reservations I ran into two problems. 1) for most weeks, the market rent was not much different than maintenance fees and 2) folks were reluctant to send some random guy, they just met on Craigslist, their money

The way I overcame the first problem was to reserve high demand weeks. that would rent for significantly more than maintenance fees. (Mardi Gras and other festivals in New Orleans is what I found worked for me.) The second problem was difficult. Folks would rather pay more for a hotel, that they knew wasnt a scam, than trust me. I had to wait until there were no vacancies in town before folks would work with me.

I had 385000 points. I made 5 weekend Mardi Gras reservations and rented them for enough to pay all my maintenance fees, and had enough points left over to spend a week in Orlando the week before Christmas

Bottom line It was a lot of work for little return.
 

am1

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
8,081
Reaction score
1,531
Points
448
Renting the occasional stay with the points you already have is not a bad idea and was, of course, encouraged by the Wyndham sales department. Even some of the most rabid disparagers of the megarenters have admitted to the occasional rental. I wouldn't encourage taking on an additional obligation to pay maintenance fees to increase the amount you rent, though - there is always risk involved in that approach.

Koala has a decent methodology for advertising Wyndham bookings for folks with extra points that can book a stay someone has asked for and get a return to cover their maintenance fees. I've pasted a link to their site below - their payout rate for next year seems to be set at $7.50/K points. That seems like a much better approach to renting out stays than using the Extra Holidays outlet that Wyndham runs, and they aren't taking as big a cut. If Club Wyndham were to adopt a similar approach, Extra Holidays could be a good way to use points that would otherwise go to waste, but the lack of any kind of guarantee that they will rent any or all of what you give them and the stiff 40% cut they take out of the rental amount makes that a very bad use of points.

Advertising is allowed now?
 

Eric B

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2017
Messages
5,870
Reaction score
5,447
Points
499
Resorts Owned
Vacation Village, Wyndham, WorldMark, Vistana, Vidanta, Flora Farms, HGVC Max, and some independents
Advertising is allowed now?

Nope. But I don't work for them or get any sort of compensation for sharing the information on the service they provide. In fact, it's somewhat against my personal interests to share that information because it could lead to competition for fulfilling their booking needs. Bottom line, mentioning an independent company that you are unrelated to and not being compensated in any way to represent isn't really advertising, it's sharing information, similar to when people mention listings on eBay or the existence of Redweek.
 

DRIless

Guest
Joined
Apr 29, 2017
Messages
1,364
Reaction score
404
Points
143
Advertising is allowed now?
Nope. But I don't work for them or get any sort of compensation for sharing the information on the service they provide. In fact, it's somewhat against my personal interests to share that information because it could lead to competition for fulfilling their booking needs. Bottom line, mentioning an independent company that you are unrelated to and not being compensated in any way to represent isn't really advertising, it's sharing information, similar to when people mention listings on eBay or the existence of Redweek.
Don't be so quick .... I would read this as advertising by KOALA.

Edited/added below this point
to say that many timeshare companies consider advertising rentals of your time to be prohibited and how does KOALA get away with advertising the time. I wasn't trying to say that Eric B was trying to advertise.
 
Last edited:

paxsarah

TUG Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Messages
3,771
Reaction score
2,915
Points
448
Location
Athens, GA
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Ocean Boulevard, Flagstaff, Grand Desert
Don't be so quick .... I would read this as advertising by KOALA.
I'm confused. Is this because of an incorrect assumption that @Eric B is affiliated with Koala, or because of a belief that any mention of a company is perceived as advertising for that company?
 
Top