[MERGED] Book Club Pass Online - A Message From Annie Roberts & Trina Miller

[Sandi Bo]

It is not the first time for a multi-day shutdown of Club Wyndham booking during prime time.

This is a taste of what we may expect following the 4-day shutdown

The New Club Wyndham Website (General Discussion)

Well, I got in. Here's what I think, and it's just that, simply my opinion. While I know there'll be bugs to work out, this thing is going to work. Not like we might want it to work, or how we are used to it working, but it will work. And it will do the things they said it would do. Not...

tugbbs.com

Hopefully this won't be as painful as the move to voyager. That was a mess. It wasn't a planned days out outage, but still that was the end result - lots of ugly down time - bugs that still linger today - 6 years later.

The call center will not be able to do anything during this outage, either. The message when you call in announces the outage as being for the web-site as well as the call center. Do your bookings, cancellations, and any additions of guest confirmations before the outage. Personally, i wouldn't want to be checking in anywhere, either. I say good luck if you need anything that week.

Hitchhiker's post #18 has the Worldmark announcement - listing the slew of enhancements (Trina William's words, not mine) - is Worldmark coming on to the Wyndham system? So maybe more changes for them than for us Wyndham only people? Pure speculation, I know nothing about Worldmark.

Leaving with a chuckle after reading the Worldmark announcement - the outage times are in Pacific Time - is that the norm for Worldmark?


*** Updated to include the message when you call in today, seems a little more clear than the email some people received ***

We're working on improving your online experience and will be upgrading your owner website and reservation system.

On June 12th your owner website will be down starting at 8pm EST to begin the upgrade. During this upgrade time, you will be unable to book or make reservation changes on clubwyndam.com or thru the vacation planning center on June 13th, 14th, and 15th. Normal operations are anticipated to resume on June 16th at 8am EST.

We encourage you to complete any bookings and cancellations, or add guest names to your reservations before June 12th to ensure minimal interruptions to your vacation planning.

We can't wait for you to experience the exciting features coming your way.

One more chuckle --- cause time is my thing (my last major project had to do with scheduling appointments online across multiple time zones, so very near and dear to my heart (very problematic (and fun, too)).... I bet she means Eastern Daylight Time (not Eastern Standard Time). The devil is in the details, lol.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Your calculation does not include any amortized costs for the 105,000 points purchase ($20,000+?) to PIC the Massanutten contracts.

My last two eBay purchases of WorldMark, the sellers essentially paid me ($3,000 in one case) to take over their memberships, when factoring in the pre-paid and available credits at $0.09/credit (which seems to be the going rate for renting One-Time-Use WorldMark credits).

Here is the rest of the story:

613,000 Club Wyndham points is roughly equivalent to 37,000 WorldMark credits when booking through Club Pass. The mf on 37,000 WorldMark credits is $3,300 ($0.089/credit). How long to the break-even point PIC-ing 613,000 Club Wyndham points at a cost savings of $367/year?

Then there is the actual booking through Club Pass. $2,933/613,000 = $0.004785/point. Booking a 1 bedroom in one of the lower cost WorldMark resorts using Club Pass, Seaside on the Oregon coast for example: 133,000 points x $0.004785/point = $636 for a week. Using a WorldMark membership with all its booking advantages over Club Pass: 8,000 x $0.089 = $713. So, a cost savings of $77/week for the PIC through Club Wyndham.

As I calculate it through the entire process, $20,000/$77 = 259 Club Pass reservations to the break-even point. 613,000 annual points/133,000 points per reservation = 4 Club Pass reservations (rounded to the whole number) per year. 259/4 = 64 years to the break-even point PIC-ing through Club Wyndham versus buying a WorldMark membership for next to nothing or less on eBay.

Yea but you also get discounts and upgrades on Club Wyndham reservations. The problem I saw with no unlimited HK was that you would run out of HK before points if you used most of your points on discounted stays. I wasn't saying it as spending all your points on Club Pass, I was saying it is an additional option for your points that has an added value.

Also, Worldmark MF have been going up faster than most PIC locations so give it a couple more years and the savings gap will probably increase. I expect WM credits to eventually get to be the same MF as CWA.

 

[CO skier]

Leaving with a chuckle after reading the Worldmark announcement - the outage times are in Pacific Time - is that the norm for Worldmark?

Yes, the WorldMark system is on Pacific Time. The WorldMark booking window opens at midnight Pacific Time. It would be a godsend if this changes to midnight Eastern Time as a result of the dual system integration.

 

[CO skier]

I expect WM credits to eventually get to be the same MF as CWA.

Not in the near future because there is currently such a wide disparity. A Club Wyndham red week in a classic, 154,000 2 bedroom runs $1,100 using CWA points. A WorldMark red week in a classic, 10,000 credits 2 bedroom runs about $850.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Not in the near future because there is currently such a wide disparity. A Club Wyndham red week in a classic, 154,000 2 bedroom runs $1,100 using CWA points. A WorldMark red week in a classic, 10,000 credits 2 bedroom runs about $850.

Ahh okay, I see the discrepancy in our thought process. I live east coast, so I view 10,000 credits as $1074 in MF because that's the max I'll probably ever use and that's the underlying MF for a 10k credit account. I couldn't use enough WM credits to get my costs to $85/thousand.

WM resale MF on 10k credit: $1074
PIC Plus MF on 154,000 points: $736

I just like the idea of being able to book WM without any BS fees when I want to use the locations. Also Club Wyndham gives you more than double the housekeeping credits as Worldmark does. If I ever bought retail, I would also stay at Bonnet Creek Sun-Fri a lot in the summer for 25% discount + 1 bedroom to 2 bedroom upgrade. It's usually available in the summer months at the VIP Silver 30 day mark. Right now it would cost me $163/night in a 2 bedroom during the summer. With PIC to SIlver, it's $72. Also, I do like Cypress Palms value as well. I could stay in a 2 bedroom lock off for $38/night if I upgrade from the 1 bedroom suite. The issue with those prices is that I would run out of housekeeping before points because I only would get 10 housekeeping on 613,000 points. If I also did 1 WM trip a year that's equal to 10,000 credits, that ends up being 9 remaining HK on 459,000 remaining Club Wyndham points.

Right now I have no WM access and pay $6.04 per thousand. Again this scenario would only work out if WM and CW were flawlessly integrated with no BS fees. I think reducing the Club Pass fee to $0 is a good benefit to replace the lost value of not getting unlimited HK. Will they actually do that? Probably not, because they're too greedy, which is why I stick with resale only currently.

 

[CO skier]

WM resale MF on 10k credit: $1074
PIC Plus MF on 154,000 points: $736

The previous owners essentially paid me to take over their WorldMark contracts, which is not too difficult to find. A 10k WorldMark account may easily be purchased for $2,000-ish most anytime. Amortized over 10 years and disregarding annual mf increases (which would increase for both WM and the PIC):

$1074 +$200 = $1,274

Purchase price for 105k retail Club Wyndham to PIC the $736 timeshares would be at least $20,000. Amortized over 10 years and disregarding annual mf increases (which would increase for both WM and the PIC):

$736 + $1,000 = $1,736

 

[VAlegacy]

Does anyone have any intel on this?

WEBSITE & RESERVATION SYSTEM OUTAGE
Your owner website and reservation system will be down for maintenance June 12 (8 p.m. ET) - June 16 (8 a.m. ET) while we enhance your online experience. Please note: Your Vacation Planning Center will be unable to help with transactions or vacation planning during this time.

If you need to book, cancel, or add a guest to a reservation, please do so prior to June 12 (8 p.m. ET) to avoid disruption. For additional assistance while the website is temporarily offline, please visit the “Help” page.

 

[bnoble]

Yes, it has to do with the roll-out of Club Pass reservations.

[MERGED] Book Club Pass Online - A Message From Annie Roberts & Trina Miller

tugbbs.com

 

[Jan M.]

I posted the following in the other thread about this outage but it's worth repeating.

Before the outage I strongly urge everyone to take screenshots or pictures with their phone of their point balances and all their upcoming. reservations

 

[Sandy VDH]

This afternoon everything worked fine, now I am getting that owner number is not currently active. Is it just me, or are others getting this too?

 

[Sandy VDH]

This afternoon everything worked fine, now I am getting that owner number is not currently active. Is it just me, or are others getting this too?

username is suddenly case sensitive, didn't used to be. So I am in however I get the circle of death and something unexpected happened. Boy this this is the way it is working BEFORE the big fix, I am worried.

 

[bnoble]

Before the outage I strongly urge everyone to take screenshots or pictures with their phone of their point balances and all their upcoming. reservations

Just a reminder that this is worth doing. I just did mine. The outage is just over a week from now.

 

[Armada]

WEBSITE & RESERVATION SYSTEM OUTAGE
Your owner website and reservation system will be down for maintenance June 12 (8 p.m. ET) - June 16 (8 a.m. ET) while we enhance your online experience. Please note: Your Vacation Planning Center will be unable to help with transactions or vacation planning during this time.
If you need to book, cancel, or add a guest to a reservation, please do so prior to June 12 (8 p.m. ET) to avoid disruption. For additional assistance while the website is temporarily offline, please visit the “Help” page.

Does this mean no phone reservations?

 

[geist1223]

Yes.

 

[Hobokie]

The scary thing about this is that it's not just the site but the entire system that will be down!

 

[bnoble]

We've been talking about this for a bit. One very good piece of advice from @Jan M. : Take screen shots of your current reservations and point totals for this year an the next two, just in case, and do it soon.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Per the AOM today - Annie Roberts indicated the online Club Pass reservation fee will be $49.00 - as I had surmised - and if I heard correctly - it will be $149 through a VC after next week ($50.00 higher than the current VC fee).

 

[schoolmarm]

Per the AOM today - Annie Roberts indicated the online Club Pass reservation fee will be $49.00 - as I had surmised - and if I heard correctly - it will be $149 through a VC after next week ($50.00 higher than the current VC fee).

Yes, you heard correctly that the call-in fee will be $149.
I'm liking the $49 online booking--I might have to look "west coast"!

 

[geist1223]

Yes, you heard correctly that the call-in fee will be $149.
I'm liking the $49 online booking--I might have to look "west coast"!

Call-in use to be $99 for Worldmark Members.

 

[Richelle]

Call-in use to be $99 for Worldmark Members.

It was. By increasing the cost for over the phone reservations, and making online reservations half the original booking fee ($100 cheaper), they are making it more desirable to use the online system. They want people to use the site to book, because it's cheaper then using humans to make the reservations. It should help with hold times as well since there will be fewer people calling in.

Let's just hope it actually works out of the gate.

 

[geist1223]

Let's just hope it actually works out of the gate.

LOL. If anyone truly believes it will work when they turn it back on I have a Bridge For Sale. Wyndham has never released a Major Update or New System without major glitches that take weeks if not months to resolve. It is like they deliberately hire incompetent IT/IS Folks that have no understanding of the User's wants/needs. Then do little to no BETA Testing with real users.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Just a quick reminder for anyone that wants or needs to use the online system - starting tomorrow at 8:00 PM the system goes offline for most of this week. Get your reservations and/or system tasks done today or early tomorrow!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rolltydr]

Just a quick reminder for anyone that wants or needs to use the online system - starting tomorrow at 8:00 PM the system goes offline for most of this week. Get your reservations and/or system tasks done today or early tomorrow!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you or @Richelle know how checkins are going to be handled or is that a completely separate system and dependent on resort? DW is checking into Majestic Sun on Friday and we have printed a copy of her reservation that she will take with her. I know the system is scheduled to be back online Friday morning, but….

She’s meeting other family members there so we’re just trying to make sure she has her bases covered in case the system is still down.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Do you or @Richelle know how checkins are going to be handled or is that a completely separate system and dependent on resort? DW is checking into Majestic Sun on Friday and we have printed a copy of her reservation that she will take with her. I know the system is scheduled to be back online Friday morning, but….

She’s meeting other family members there so we’re just trying to make sure she has her bases covered in case the system is still down.

Two different systems - checkins shouldn't be impacted by these changes. The local resort management systems used by the resorts download reservations from the centralized reservation system that is being updated (in this case both the Worldmark and Club Wyndham reservation systems are undergoing maintenance at the same time). These downloads typically occur 2-4 weeks in advance of the reservation start dates - as that's when resorts start actually making room assignments. Your DW should be fine - especially if she is taking along a printed copy of your reservation just to be on the safe side.

 

[altiste1]

It is emblematic of Wyndham's difficulty with clear communication and mastery of certain details that the phone message alerting inbound callers to the impending website upgrade states that the outage will begin at 8:00 pm "Eastern Standard Time" tonight and will end on Friday at 8:00 am, again, "Eastern Standard Time." We are now on Daylight Saving Time, so it is impossible for those deadlines to occur at the stated times. They will occur at Eastern Daylight Time.

This is admittedly a tiny nit to pick, but when they mess up details like this, it makes sense that they have problems with other material matters, such as accurate reporting of maintenance fees, for example. IMO, it speaks to an overall failure of process.