New Wyndham Timeshare Owner

[Dyan_Mahan]

Hi,

I am a new timeshare owner at Wyndham. Unfortuntely missed our 10 day cancellation period so I am trying my best to accept our fate and see how we can get the most out of it. We only have 300k pts and owns at Bonnet Creek resort. My husband and I like going to new places. Any suggestion on where can we use our pts? We were given 400k bonus pts as well. We were promised that we can use this for flights that we were planning next yr but from what I've read so far is its a poor use of points.

 

[Jan M.]

You are correct that using your points for flights, rental cars, maintenance fees, etc. is an extremely poor use of them.

What size unit will you need?
Are there resorts within say 8-10 hours driving distance so you don't have to fly?
Are you restricted by school schedules into needing summer and holiday vacations?

Do those bonus points get you temporary VIP status so you get a discount on the number of points and a free upgrade on the unit size?
If you are able to plan and book within 60 days or less to get your 25% discount on the number of points needed for a reservation and at 30 days get the upgrade on the unit size you can get a lot out of your points while you have those VIP benefits. I would even suggest before those VIP benefits run out, typically two years if I remember correctly, that you borrow from the next year's points if needed to book and go as much as possible to take advantage of those benefits.

After schools are back in September and until the third week of October is a great time to go to Myrtle Beach. In our experience that last week of October the weather always turns. We've stayed at Ocean Boulevard, Westwinds and Seawatch. OB was our favorite. A lot of people love Great Smokies Lodge, Smoky Mountains, Nashville and Fairfield Glade in Tennessee. We just got back from a stay in Vegas (we love Grand Desert but didn't stay there this time) and the Flagstaff resort. This was our first time at the Flagstaff resort and we plan to go back. We really enjoyed San Antonio and stayed at La Cascada. In Florida the Pompano Beach resorts, Ocean Walk in Daytona Beach, Panama City Beach and Bay Clubs and Majestic Sun in Destin are all great places. Emerald Grande in Destin and the Clearwater Beach resorts are both very high point resorts to book so you might be better off renting a stay at one of them than blowing through that many points to stay at either. A lot of people like National Harbor and we like the convenience of staying at Old Town Alexandria so close to a Metro stop to get around DC. There are a lot of great resorts. Don't rule out the lower point older resorts.

 

[Dyan_Mahan]

We only need a 1 br unit, there's only 2 of us right now. Yes, we have the vip gold status for 2 yrs. Are rci resorts worthy to convert and use our pts too? We are at the west side and altough we can drive to Vegas it would take us about 10 hrs and 12 hrs to Flagstaff. I am restrictred with school for now til Spring next yr. I was browsing last night and saw Virign Islands and Lousiana options are attainable too.

 

[Passepartout]

Welcome to TUG, Dyan. Sorry you missed the opportunity to save some money, but your attitude of learning to use what you have and make the best of it is good. Half of TUGgers also bought their first (and some more) TSs from the developer, so you're in good company. Stick around. Read the Wyndham forum- including the Stickies in red at the top of the forum. There is a learning curve (like learning that flights and cruises are a lousy use of timeshare points) but once you get it, you'll find a whole new world of vacation possibilities.

I'd suggest you join TUG. It's $15 a year, and you can get extensions on the time by writing reviews of resorts you visit. Being a Member gives you access to those reviews of thousands of resorts worldwide. Details are up in the dark blue stripe at the top of this page under Support TUG.

Your Wyndham ownership includes access to RCI, and there are many good resorts available there as well (and the reviews are on TUG)

Again, Welcome!

Jim

 

[bnoble]

300K is a decent amount with which to get started. I only own 189K, though I also have two fixed weeks that I use for trading. Places west of the Mississippi with Wyndham resorts that I'd like to visit with just my SO and no kids in tow include: San Diego, San Francisco, Anaheim, Sedona, San Antonio, Santa Fe, and Vegas. Because you purchased from the developer, you also have access to WorldMark resorts via Club Pass, and there are many great options in the Western US in that set.

(Of course, add Hawaii to that set, but that requires either a flight or a very long swim...)

I would encourage you to get started by using Wyndham and WorldMark (via ClubPass) resorts, and work your way up to using RCI. There's a steeper learning curve with the latter, but it can be a fun hobby!

And, finally kudos to you for not beating yourself up. My sense is that most folks on TUG bought from the developer at some point or another, and we're all generally a satisfied lot. Having a forcing function to make you take vacations is one of the great advantages of being a timeshare owner.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Look at the Member's Directory for the resorts and points needed for booking a stay. RANK where you want to go via YOUR desire and plan. Being on the West Coast, your options for Hawaii should be explored (takes lots of points & airfare .. likely not a placre you will fly off to on a regular basis). City stays (SF) are expensive for weekends.

As a direct buyer, look at cross booking the Shell Vacation Resorts ... lots of very nice places on the West Coast.

 

[Eric B]

(Of course, add Hawaii to that set, but that requires either a flight or a very long swim...)

You could also get there by boat or ship; I used to do that a lot when I was in the Navy....

 

[Avislo]

Look at the Member's Directory for the resorts and points needed for booking a stay. RANK where you want to go via YOUR desire and plan. Being on the West Coast, your options for Hawaii should be explored (takes lots of points & airfare .. likely not a placre you will fly off to on a regular basis). City stays (SF) are expensive for weekends.

As a direct buyer, look at cross booking the Shell Vacation Resorts ... lots of very nice places on the West Coast.

I am impressed if you can do what is described above. I bought developer and am VIP Plat. Just got off the phone with Wyndham rep. I cannot cross book with Shell Vacation Resorts. I did not buy anything at a Shell Resort since Wyndham took them over, maybe some Shell purchases through Wyndham sales may have some cross book capability.

Anyone successfully cross book into Shell Vacation Resorts?

 

[Dyan_Mahan]

Initially I looked at hawaii but I guess I need to play around with the dates so we don't have to get more points, if that is even possible.

We have been wanting to see the grand canyon, what's the nearest Wyndham around the park?

Thank you all so much. Tonight I will be joining the group and looking forward to know more!

 

[Crafty71]

Initially I looked at hawaii but I guess I need to play around with the dates so we don't have to get more points, if that is even possible.

We have been wanting to see the grand canyon, what's the nearest Wyndham around the park?

Thank you all so much. Tonight I will be joining the group and looking forward to know more!

Wyndham Flagstaff and Wyndham Sedona plus the many options in Las Vegas are the closest...

Cheers!

 

[bnoble]

We did a week at Sedona with the kids, and drove up to spend one night mid-week w/in walking distance of the rim in one of the park lodges---we wanted to see a sunset and a sunrise, and didn't want to make it that long of a day from Sedona. Flagstaff is closer than Sedona, and from there a day trip could make sense. You could do it from Sedona too, but I'm lazy!