New to TUG and owned a timeshare since 2019

[hmachulsky]

Hi. I'm new here. My husband and I bought 400,000 Club Wyndham Access in 2019 in Oceanside Ca. We've used it in Kauai several times as well as once at Bonnet Creek. We have a family of 6 so 3 bedroom places are great for us. We came to timeshare ownership because my parents bought a timeshare when my sister and I were little that they still own today. They have a deeded fixed week at their timeshare and we have exchanged it through RCI all over the world with great memories had. My husband and I thought buying this timeshare would be a great thing to leave to the kids so that they can share in the maintenance fees and kind of be forced to travel.

Now, we're here in Kauai staying in a 3 bedroom at the Bali Hai (which we've stayed at before) and just did our Owner's Update (in exchange for free AC since its $25/day and we're here 9 nights). We did this same update back in 2021 where they are trying to sell us deeded access which I take this to be the ownership level called Club Wyndham Select. Is this correct?

We passed on the upgrade back in 2021 due to the cost. Of course we would need to buy more points as well as part of the transaction. Has anyone gone from Club Wyndham Access to Select and regretted it? Is this a downgrade or do we still have access to all of the Wyndham properties? Is the main difference that I'm going from a booking window at the lower 48 states from 13 months down to 10 but replacing that with 13 months to book at Bali Hai and 12 months at other Hawaii properties?

I'm hoping someone can clearly explain the difference in making reservations between the 2 types of ownership. We tried keeping our meeting to just over an hour because we had young kids with us so I'm really trying to understand what we get for the cost. Does deeded ownership in Kauai actually mean anything? Will we actually have an address on the deed of what we own, a specific unit?

The ONLY thing about the sales pitch that peeked my interest was the difference in MF over 15 years at 13% increase for CWA vs 3% for CWS. This was not presented to us back in 2021 or I may have made the decision then to make the switch! There was a significant difference, so even after taking the out of pocket cost of this upgrade, there is still a massive savings over 15 years in MF, so I'm just looking for feedback from people who have made this change from CWA to CWS if it was worth it.

I've read in several posts that owners with CWS will be sold that CWA is better and vice versa. I also think the sales rep told us something about Outrigger access? But not sure what that means and I think he also said free upgrades at our ownership level...how do free upgrades work?

Sorry if this post seems all over the place as I felt like I understood my ownership until presented with this sales pitch and now I'm questioning if investing more into this timeshare makes financial sense in the long run due to the MF savings and they are really pushing "deeded ownership" like it means something so I'm hoping to understand what that truly means as an owner. I will add that we come to Kauai often and usually stay at our friends townhouse across the street from Bali Hai plus we have other investment properties so timeshare ownership isn't the only way we travel. Thanks in advance!

 

[rickandcindy23]

Paragraphs can really be helpful for comprehension purposes. You could modify your post to add breaks.

Kauai has lower MF's. You can get Bali Hai contracts free through RW and ebay. Status isn't worth much.

I personally don't love most of the Wyndham resorts. Some are okay, and admittedly we have not been to more than about 15 different ones.

 

[Luanne]

Sorry, I couldn't get through the whole post. Paragraphs would have been helpful.

 

[billymach4]

I ran this thru my AI Editor. Took 30 seconds to fix.


Hi, I'm new here. My husband and I bought 400,000 Club Wyndham Access points in 2019 in Oceanside, CA. We've used our points in Kauai several times, as well as once at Bonnet Creek. Since we have a family of six, three-bedroom places work great for us.


We got into timeshare ownership because my parents bought a timeshare when my sister and I were little, and they still own it today. They have a deeded fixed week at their timeshare, and we've exchanged it through RCI all over the world, creating great memories. My husband and I thought buying this timeshare would be a great thing to leave to our kids, so they could share in the maintenance fees and, in a way, be encouraged to travel.


Currently, we're in Kauai, staying in a three-bedroom at the Bali Hai (which we've stayed at before). We just did our Owner's Update (in exchange for free AC, since it's $25 per day and we're here for nine nights). We did a similar update back in 2021, where they tried to sell us deeded access, which I believe is called Club Wyndham Select. Is that correct? We passed on the upgrade in 2021 due to the cost. Of course, we would need to buy more points as part of the transaction.


Has anyone gone from Club Wyndham Access to Select and regretted it? Would this be a downgrade, or would we still have access to all Wyndham properties? Is the main difference that the booking window for the lower 48 states goes from 13 months down to 10 months, but you get 13 months to book at Bali Hai and 12 months at other Hawaii properties? I would appreciate it if someone could clearly explain the difference in making reservations between these two types of ownership.


We tried to keep our meeting just over an hour because we had young kids with us, so I'm really trying to understand what we get for the cost. Does deeded ownership in Kauai actually mean anything? Will we have an address on the deed for what we own, or a specific unit?


The only thing about the sales pitch that piqued my interest was the difference in maintenance fees over 15 years: a 13% increase for CWA versus 3% for CWS. This wasn't presented to us in 2021, or I might have made the switch then! The difference was significant, so even after considering the out-of-pocket cost of the upgrade, there seems to be massive savings over 15 years in maintenance fees. I'm looking for feedback from people who have made the change from CWA to CWS—was it worth it?


I've read in several posts that owners with CWS are told that CWA is better, and vice versa. I also think the sales rep mentioned something about Outrigger access, but I'm not sure what that means. He also said something about free upgrades at our ownership level—how do those work?


Sorry if this post seems all over the place. I felt like I understood my ownership until this sales pitch, and now I'm questioning whether investing more into this timeshare makes financial sense in the long run, especially considering the maintenance fee savings and the emphasis on "deeded ownership." I'm hoping to understand what that truly means as an owner.


For context, we come to Kauai often and usually stay at our friend's townhouse across the street from Bali Hai, plus we have other investment properties, so timeshare ownership isn't our only way of traveling.


Thanks in advance!

I ran this thru my AI Editor. Took 30 seconds to fix.

 

[easyrider]

Hi. I'm new here. My husband and I bought 400,000 Club Wyndham Access in 2019 in Oceanside Ca. We've used it in Kauai several times as well as once at Bonnet Creek. We have a family of 6 so 3 bedroom places are great for us. We came to timeshare ownership because my parents bought a timeshare when my sister and I were little that they still own today. They have a deeded fixed week at their timeshare and we have exchanged it through RCI all over the world with great memories had. My husband and I thought buying this timeshare would be a great thing to leave to the kids so that they can share in the maintenance fees and kind of be forced to travel. Now, we're here in Kauai staying in a 3 bedroom at the Bali Hai (which we've stayed at before) and just did our Owner's Update (in exchange for free AC since its $25/day and we're here 9 nights). We did this same update back in 2021 where they are trying to sell us deeded access which I take this to be the ownership level called Club Wyndham Select. Is this correct? We passed on the upgrade back in 2021 due to the cost. Of course we would need to buy more points as well as part of the transaction. Has anyone gone from Club Wyndham Access to Select and regretted it? Is this a downgrade or do we still have access to all of the Wyndham properties? Is the main difference that I'm going from a booking window at the lower 48 states from 13 months down to 10 but replacing that with 13 months to book at Bali Hai and 12 months at other Hawaii properties? I'm hoping someone can clearly explain the difference in making reservations between the 2 types of ownership. We tried keeping our meeting to just over an hour because we had young kids with us so I'm really trying to understand what we get for the cost. Does deeded ownership in Kauai actually mean anything? Will we actually have an address on the deed of what we own, a specific unit? The ONLY thing about the sales pitch that peeked my interest was the difference in MF over 15 years at 13% increase for CWA vs 3% for CWS. This was not presented to us back in 2021 or I may have made the decision then to make the switch! There was a significant difference, so even after taking the out of pocket cost of this upgrade, there is still a massive savings over 15 years in MF, so I'm just looking for feedback from people who have made this change from CWA to CWS if it was worth it. I've read in several posts that owners with CWS will be sold that CWA is better and vice versa. I also think the sales rep told us something about Outrigger access? But not sure what that means and I think he also said free upgrades at our ownership level...how do free upgrades work? Sorry if this post seems all over the place as I felt like I understood my ownership until presented with this sales pitch and now I'm questioning if investing more into this timeshare makes financial sense in the long run due to the MF savings and they are really pushing "deeded ownership" like it means something so I'm hoping to understand what that truly means as an owner. I will add that we come to Kauai often and usually stay at our friends townhouse across the street from Bali Hai plus we have other investment properties so timeshare ownership isn't the only way we travel. Thanks in advance!

The one thing I can tell you is that almost everything the rep says is wrong or misleading. You can easily obtain what they are selling for nothing. I couldn't get through the single spaced with no breaks very easy either but it does sound like you are considering upgraded through Wyndham. Don't do it.

Bill

 

[jp10558]

Thanks to the paragraph breaks from @billymach4 - I think you shouldn't worry about the claimed higher MF increases - that is salespeople lies. Do you need more points for the stays you want? If so, look for lower MF like Bali Hai and add resale points for free and just have the MFs to cover.

 

[hmachulsky]

Paragraphs can really be helpful for comprehension purposes. You could modify your post to add breaks.

Kauai has lower MF's. You can get Bali Hai contracts free through RW and ebay. Status isn't worth much.

I personally don't love most of the Wyndham resorts. Some are okay, and admittedly we have not been to more than about 15 different ones.

Thanks, just edited the post. Can you tell me more about Bali Hai contracts free? What is RW? When you say status isn't worth much, do you mean the "deeded" ownership isn't worth anything? CWA that I own is just fine?

 

[hmachulsky]

Sorry, I couldn't get through the whole post. Paragraphs would have been helpful.

Just edited it. Thanks. And I see someone else added paragraph breaks! Already thankful for this community!!!

 

[LannyPC]

Does deeded ownership in Kauai actually mean anything?

So after all of that, what is your basic question? Is it is what the TS salesperson offered us worth it? If that is your question, then, as others have stated, answer is No! Very rarely is what a TS salesperson offers you worth it. They usually sell to you based on half-truths, exaggerations, omission of important pertinent facts, and outright lies.

And as for what deeded ownership means, it's basically the opposite of right-to-use (RTU). With deeded property, no matter where it is located, you own a piece of real estate just like a house. RTU "owners" don't actually own anything. It's basically a membership that gives you a the right (and obligation) to pay a membership or maintenance fee each year in order to use a week at the resort.

 

[hmachulsky]

The one thing I can tell you is that almost everything the rep says is wrong or misleading. You can easily obtain what they are selling for nothing. I couldn't get through the single spaced with no breaks very easy either but it does sound like you are considering upgraded through Wyndham. Don't do it.

Bill

Thank you! Where can I learn more about obtaining ownership at Bali Hai for nothing?

 

[hmachulsky]

Thanks to the paragraph breaks from @billymach4 - I think you shouldn't worry about the claimed higher MF increases - that is salespeople lies. Do you need more points for the stays you want? If so, look for lower MF like Bali Hai and add resale points for free and just have the MFs to cover.

Yes I would need more points to come here annually. Our 9 night stay in a 3 bedroom was 620,000 points and we have 400k annually so I had to deposit some into the next use year. What do you mean look for Lowe MF like Bali Hai and add resale point for free? What does that mean?

 

[hmachulsky]

So after all of that, what is your basic question? Is it is what the TS salesperson offered us worth it? If that is your question, then, as others have stated, answer is No! Very rarely is what a TS salesperson offers you worth it. They usually sell to you based on half-truths, exaggerations, omission of important pertinent facts, and outright lies.

And as for what deeded ownership means, it's basically the opposite of right-to-use (RTU). With deeded property, no matter where it is located, you own a piece of real estate just like a house. RTU "owners" don't actually own anything. It's basically a membership that gives you a the right (and obligation) to pay a membership or maintenance fee each year in order to use a week at the resort.

Thank you! So when the day comes and we want to sell it, is there any value in selling it because you own a piece of real estate? And am I correct in understanding that CWS is deeded ownership and CWA is right to use ownership?

 

[easyrider]

Thank you! Where can I learn more about obtaining ownership at Bali Hai for nothing?

All you would have to do is Google Wyndham Bali Hai resale. There could be a few in the Tug market place. This is where I would start.

Bill

 

[HudsHut]

@hmachulsky
Welcome to TUG!

RW = Redweek.com the largest "classified ad" website for timeshare sales and rentals
Here is the list of Bali Hai for sale. You may make an offer on any that appeals to you.

Club Wyndham Bali Hai Villas Timeshares For Sale | RedWeek

Buy a timeshare directly from Club Wyndham Bali Hai Villas owners, starting at just $1. Resales are almost always 30 - 50% cheaper than buying the same unit from the resort!

www.redweek.com

Also, go to ebay and type in bali hai timeshare for sale
I see some there.

The salesperson put "doubt" in your mind. You like your ownership and you're happy with it. No need to give any more thought to what the salesperson said.

<<My husband and I thought buying this timeshare would be a great thing to leave to the kids so that they can share in the maintenance fees and kind of be forced to travel. >>
Do not buy any more points with that thought in mind. If any of your adult children decide they want a timeshare, they can buy one resale, after researching the various systems and deciding which is right at that point in time

 

[hmachulsky]

@hmachulsky
Welcome to TUG!

RW = Redweek.com the largest "classified ad" website for timeshare sales and rentals
Here is the list of Bali Hai for sale. You may make an offer on any that appeals to you.

Club Wyndham Bali Hai Villas Timeshares For Sale | RedWeek

Buy a timeshare directly from Club Wyndham Bali Hai Villas owners, starting at just $1. Resales are almost always 30 - 50% cheaper than buying the same unit from the resort!

www.redweek.com

Also, go to ebay and type in bali hai timeshare for sale
I see some there.

The salesperson put "doubt" in your mind. You like your ownership and you're happy with it. No need to give any more thought to what the salesperson said.

<<My husband and I thought buying this timeshare would be a great thing to leave to the kids so that they can share in the maintenance fees and kind of be forced to travel. >>
Do not buy any more points with that thought in mind. If any of your adult children decide they want a timeshare, they can buy one resale, after researching the various systems and deciding which is right at that point in time

Thanks so much for this! Is there thread in here you can point me to to learn how resale works? For example, I have 400k CWA, but primarily use our timeshare in Hawaii, where I'm currently limited to booking 10 months out. Needing to find a 3 bedroom place at the 10 month window makes it difficult to book at times, plus I need more than the points I own to book here for 7+ nights for a 3 bedroom. I guess I'm curious to learn if I were to buy deeded access/points at Bali Hai as my home resort (not a fixed week/unit), how/if that would change my booking ability and how it would work with the existing CWA points I already have. Super great to know about RW and Ebay, etc, just need to understand how they work!

 

[Roger830]

Hi. I'm new here. My husband and I bought 400,000 Club Wyndham Access in 2019 in Oceanside Ca.

We did this same update back in 2021 where they are trying to sell us deeded access which I take this to be the ownership level called Club Wyndham Select. Is this correct?

CWA (Club Wyndham Access) has nothing to do with Oceanside as noted in your profile. It's a trust that has deeds of timeshare points from most of Wyndham's resorts. The main advantage is owner's in the trust have arp (advanced reservation priority) in those properties, thus the means to possibly book them 13-10 months prior to check-in. The disadvantage is the mf (maintenance fee) is higher than that of some of the holding in the trust and it's my understanding that resorts in Hawaii are not in the trust.

It true that Bali Hai has lower mf than cwa. If you could trade cwa into Bali Hai at an affordable cost, the offset of a lower mf over many years for a young family might give you a comfortable break even point. More points could take you to a vip level that could be to your advantage in the future.

Combining retail and resale points in your account presents it's own problems that someone else can address.

 

[jp10558]

Thanks so much for this! Is there thread in here you can point me to to learn how resale works?

Well, the way it's worked for me is I went to ebay and found a set of points for a MF I liked, won a bid and paid the amounts and got the points and account. I haven't needed 3BR though, nor have I ever gone to Hawaii, so I can't really comment on how available that is.

For example, I have 400k CWA, but primarily use our timeshare in Hawaii, where I'm currently limited to booking 10 months out.

Are you sure you can't book at 13 months out?
https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/owner-guide/resources/club-wyndham-access/resorts lists the CWA resorts, with 5 in Hawaii. Those you should be able to book at 13 months out with CWA. It sounds to me like you need that ARP, so in your case I think you should just bite the bullet on the higher MFs cause you need the 13 month booking. You can safely pick up one of any free CWA give aways, look at this forums free timeshares, look at the TUG2 free timeshares https://tug2.com market place listing, and go to ebay and search for CWA / Club Wyndham Access points. The vast majority are being given away with you at most paying closing fees. Also the MF/pt will stay the same as all CWA pay the same amount.

Needing to find a 3 bedroom place at the 10 month window makes it difficult to book at times, plus I need more than the points I own to book here for 7+ nights for a 3 bedroom. I guess I'm curious to learn if I were to buy deeded access/points at Bali Hai as my home resort (not a fixed week/unit), how/if that would change my booking ability and how it would work with the existing CWA points I already have.

If you must book a different resort at 13 months out then in that case buying points at the specific resort you want to stay in (CWS) will give you 13 month booking at that specific resort with those specific points. Your existing CWA points won't be able to be used at all for that - you'll have to use them at 10 months out or at one of the listed resorts above.

At 10 months out, all your points will be in an equal pool, and you can use them anywhere.

Super great to know about RW and Ebay, etc, just need to understand how they work!

Personally, I'd look in order of TUG Free Timeshare's forum (especially if you can watch and wait for a listing), then ebay, then TUG2 marketplace, then RW. Another place you can check is https://www.timesharenation.com/resort/wyndham-points though be careful, the Worldmark listing there isn't useful for you / isn't the same thing at all.

 

[Floridaman76]

I'm a little surprised you can't get what you are looking for at Bali Hai at 10 months

I just logged in and found a ton of 3 bedroom availability every month from July through May of 2026 which is as far out as I can look

Maybe look again?

This is Bali Hai, with the room type filter set at 3BR... apparently the only 3BR rooms they have there are Presidential, i've never been

 

[kanerf]

Not so long ago I purchased a 640K resale at Wyndham Kona for $500. Took a while to transfer, but it is now in my account.

 

[hmachulsky]

CWA (Club Wyndham Access) has nothing to do with Oceanside as noted in your profile. It's a trust that has deeds of timeshare points from most of Wyndham's resorts. The main advantage is owner's in the trust have arp (advanced reservation priority) in those properties, thus the means to possibly book them 13-10 months prior to check-in. The disadvantage is the mf (maintenance fee) is higher than that of some of the holding in the trust and it's my understanding that resorts in Hawaii are not in the trust.

It true that Bali Hai has lower mf than cwa. If you could trade cwa into Bali Hai at an affordable cost, the offset of a lower mf over many years for a young family might give you a comfortable break even point. More points could take you to a vip level that could be to your advantage in the future.

Combining retail and resale points in your account presents it's own problems that someone else can address.

Thank you. We're currently grandfathered in at VIP Silver with our contract of 400k CWA points. We're finding that we are primarily vacationing using our timeshare in Hawaii and needing a 3 bedroom place for our family of 6. I read if you buy Wyndham resale that VIP status isn't offered, only if you buy directly from the developer.

Someone else explained that CWS points and CWA points are all in the same pool at the 10 month mark. I'm contemplating getting rid of my CWA points because of the maintenance fees for resorts we don't use and instead buying resale at a resort we do use with 3 bedrooms to gain that 13 month booking window.

 

[jp10558]

Thank you. We're currently grandfathered in at VIP Silver with our contract of 400k CWA points. We're finding that we are primarily vacationing using our timeshare in Hawaii and needing a 3 bedroom place for our family of 6. I read if you buy Wyndham resale that VIP status isn't offered, only if you buy directly from the developer.

This is true, VIP is only offered for developer purchases. Though TBH I don't think there's much benefit from VIP anyways - From what you're saying I don't think you'd want to "risk" getting a 2BR and hoping to hit the 3BR upgrade, or be booking last minute for some of the points discounts. So basically - what are you thinking you're getting from VIP? Also, when you compare buying points retail, the price difference makes any supposed savings generally moot. I was offered 700,000ish pts for $44,000 vs getting them for ~$2,000 resale, you'd have to amortize $42,000 plus interest (either paid on a loan or forfeited from at least a savings account) which I'd argue you're somewhat unlikely to ever make that work out. If it saved you $1,000 on MF by booking smaller or last minute and paying less points and you could do this yearly, you'd still be looking at 50+ years to break even.

I'm contemplating getting rid of my CWA points because of the maintenance fees for resorts we don't use and instead buying resale at a resort we do use with 3 bedrooms to gain that 13 month booking window.

The only problem with getting rid of CWA points is you'll basically have to give them away, and they might be hard to give away because the MFs are considered "too high" for many looking for TSs. But yes, you'd need to find points at the resort you want to get 13 month booking at that resort.

 

[Roger830]

Someone else explained that CWS points and CWA points are all in the same pool at the 10 month mark. I'm contemplating getting rid of my CWA points because of the maintenance fees for resorts we don't use and instead buying resale at a resort we do use with 3 bedrooms to gain that 13 month booking window.

I'm in agreement to buy where you want to stay.
We own fixed weeks 4,5,6 in Hollywood Florida and week 7 converted to points with Wyndham.
We also have 350,000 additional low cost points with Wyndham.

I mentioned in another post, possibly on your other thread, the risk of buying a resale contract that doesn't meet your needs. It seems that you don't want a converted fixed or floating week. There where different phases of construction at Bali Hai. The newest phase would likely be udi points. If the 3 bedroom units are in that phase, then that's what you would want.

We enjoy our Wyndham points because of the flexibility for short stays. On a 7 day trip in April we had a 2 day stay in Indio and a 2 day stay in Vegas. Those stays were booked about 2 months before check-in. Recently we had a 3-day stay in Newport, RI with another coming up over Labor Day. You might want to do something similar when you are no longer traveling as a family of six. It would be a shame to lose vip status.

Some here have bought points directly from the company. Perhaps contacting the office you could swap into the proper Bali Hai points at a reasonable cost.