New looking at possibly joining Wyndham, advice?

[Beckie467]

Hello all,

I have about a million things that have been going through my head with all of these different timeshares out there. Originally got introduced during a Disney vacation (Disney vacation club is everywhere there) came home, researched it for a year and decided that was a lot of money for a couple that doesn't necessarily go to Disney every single year. But I did realize that a timeshare would be a good idea for us because we do enjoy traveling. I have attempted to read all the sticky notes (some of which were overwhelming) so I was hoping for some help from the Wynham community on here.

I have heard/read that it's best to pick a home resort somewhere that you go to often/can drive to. So I'm thinking a good choice for my husband and myself as a home resort would be Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg TN seeing as we go there at least once a year! Now that being done, I'm trying to figure out what the best bet is for us with points purchasing and how to make sure we get enough points. My brain is kind of set around the DVC way, because well I researched it for a year but now that we're looking at other options its overwhelming and I don't know how many points we will need.

Basically, we go to Tennessee once a year at least (it's the easiest place for us to just get away.) I would love to have a timeshare that will allow us to travel elsewhere though (Orlando, NY, Vegas, Hawaii, Europe) based on the pamphlet I saw from Wyndham, all of this would be covered. We tend to vacation a couple times a year, one long trip and one weekend getaway. I'm just trying to get a feel for the nitty gritty I guess and would love some help/advice from current Wyndham users before I even begin to look at a purchase! I would appreciate any and all input from you guys!

Thanks!

 

[persia]

Wyndham has it's strengths and weaknesses. Choosing a home resort is usually based on two criteria.

1) Do you need ARP (13 month advanced reservation priority)? Are you going to a high demand place at a high demand time? Glade (in Tennessee) is not known for being a high demand location and there are many resorts in Florida, so it's likely the answer to this question for you is No.

2) Low maintenance fees. At 10 months out from reservations "points is points" takes over. You go to wyndhamvacationresorts.com and book your reservation. It doesn't matter where you own, if there is something available at the resort you are interested in it will be shown to you and you can book it. Maintenance fees are billed annually, they are really the cost of your vacation. Since 1K points at $10/K/yr maintenance are identical to 1K points at $4/K/yr. It makes sense to buy the $4 ones.

Look at Wyndham's website, all the resorts are there. Wyndham also trades into RCI, which may or may not have availability when and where you travel. It's somewhat unpredictable. RCI will charge you a fee for book.

Wyndham gives you one free transaction for every 77K points you own on January 1st. After the free transactions they charge you.

You might want to check out forums.atozed.com as well.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Beckie,
It takes the astute Wyndham owners years to learn the in's and out's of the Wyndham system. There are many other posts about reading the Member's Guide 3X with different colored highlighters as the basic means to understand Wyndham.

Many Tuggers have advanced college degrees (and lots of other's are just smart as all get-out) who have trouble learning Wyndham's vacationing rules.

If you haven't read Goofyhobbie's tutorial/stickie on Wyndham, READ IT. Then rent a vacation week or weekend at one of its resorts. Spend time talking to and meeting other owners (pools, hot tubs, activities centers, etc) and you will start to figure out if this your level of vacationing. Don't be surprised if you get the impression your questions are too HARD for these other owners. Most don't even KNOW about resale on eBAY nor have they ever heard of TUG. Nor have they ever done an external exchange.

 

[timeos2]

Speaking in very generalized terms it is my opinion that Wyndham points at resale (which may be nothing more than the transfer fees / annual fees or less now ) is one of if not the best value in all of timeshare . It doesn't come without issues. Wyndham controls the whole system - not the owners as it should be - and they have caused the near total loss of resale value through their actions of the past decade BUT you benefit from that with the low or no cost to buy in thus when you are done with them you too can just give them away. You basically pay only the annual fees while you own/use them . Plus they have great locations and you get a free RCI account. There is a learning curve to maximize your use of points but plenty here will help you with that.

I'd recommend it highly for what you want.

 

[JimMIA]

I personally have not found Wyndham difficult to understand at all, although my transition may have been easier because of my prior ownership of DVC. I really find Wyndham VERY easy to use, and all of the Wyndham people I've talked to on the phone have made it even easier.

Goofyhobbie's Articles were very helpful when we were researching, although all the stuff about the super-cheap RCI exchanges back into Wyndham is outdated now. But the basic nuts and bolts info in those articles was very helpful.

Yes, you have periods when you can book and periods when you can't, but you have that with any timeshare system. And you have periods when there may be points discounts available, which not all systems have.

But really, the only difference we've noted from DVC to Wyndham is the reservation and housekeeping accounting. Wyndham charges after a while, DVC doesn't. And frankly, I think Wyndham's policy better allocates costs to those who use the services more than others, so I don't see it as a big deal.

I expect much more of a learning curve with RCI exchanges, but we haven't tried any of those yet.

 

[JimMIA]

OP, as far as a home resort, ours is Wyndham Smoky Mountains -- one of two Wyndhams in Sevierville, TN...the Gatlinburg area you were considering.

We did NOT buy Smoky Mountains for its convenience to us; we bought it because of the low MFs. Our MFs for this year (we have 501,000 points) are $4.28 per thousand.

We're doing our first stay there next summer -- three 2 bedrooms for a week.

 

[puppymommo]

I am a happy Wyndham owner. Yes there are some frustrations but I believe this is true with most other timeshares. I own a non-Wyndham week as well. For me the worst part of my timeshares is the hard-sell sales pitches.

As far as Wyndham, if you are buying for your own use and possibly occasionally gifting or renting a week to someone, you will probably be satisfied. But Wyndham over the past few years has made it more difficult to use it as a rental business, though I know there are some people on this board who do so.

It is true that for most timeshares it is advised to purchase a home resort somewhere you are most likely to go and perhaps within driving distance. But with Wyndham it really doesn't matter due to the points system. My points are deeded in Mexico and Williamsburg, VA and I've never been to either place. With Wyndham, as has been said elsewhere on this thread, the choice of home resort comes down to two factors: Is there are resort where you want to have Advanced Reservation Priority (ARP) which is good for 13-10 months out? At 10 months out any Wyn member can make a reservation at any resort. The second issue for home resort is that it is best to get as low a maintenance fee as possible.

 

[djohn75087]

wyndham could be a good fit

I read your post on newbies help and I saw that you don't travel during the summer and you don't have kids. So, I'm assuming you would be booking 1 br units. If thats the case you might only need 126k points 154k tops. Traveling during the offseason is fairly cheap. The 126k would give you enough hk credits for 2 trips, however if you booked your 2 trips on different days you would have to pay $30 dollars for you 2nd res. transaction. However, assuming $4.50/k in mfs the differnce between 126k pts and 154kpts is $126 per yr. in mfs. So, if 126k pts is enough to book your trips stick with that and pay the $30. When you have kids and you have to travel during the summer just pick up more pts on ebay for $1. To travel during the summer 224k is a pretty safe number for a 2br. That way you can get into the resorts with lots of ammenities. We are going to the resort in the smokies this summer with the indoor and outdoor water park. It's more expensive 224k points vs aprox 175k but our 11 yr old will love the water park. As long as you go during the offseaon renting might be cheaper, but I'm not sure about that. Expect to pay about $40-$60 worth of points per night during the off season for a 1 br without the discount at 45 days. You could check the classifieds here on tugg to compare. Just be sure to buy resale if you decide to buy. And don't let a salesperson trick you into buying anything from them if you ever need more points. Hope that helps!

 

[persia]

Actually if you book BOTH weeks on the same day it should cost only one transaction....

Robert