New Wyndham Website: feedback on pros/cons for formal submission to Wyndham

[HitchHiker71]

Outside of TUG I’ve authored several threads on many of the Wyndham Facebook forums to gather data for submission to Wyndham executives sometime this week. Please reply with your own feedback. Let’s keep the comments constructive and pros/cons focused:

PROS

1. It’s mobile device friendly - particularly for touch devices.
2. The calendar is much easier to navigate for picking dates on touch devices - no more clicking arrows 10-12 times to book a year out.
3. Search results come back MUCH faster - HUGE WIN
4. Including other nearby resorts that are also available by default - gives more resort options when searching
5. Checkbox for date flexibility that adds +/-3 days
6. Seeing points values while searching across multiple resorts more easily and more quickly
7. Owner Dashboard - has just about everything users should see at their fingertips

CONS:

ID	TYPE	DETAIL	PRIORITY
1	Regression	Loss of the availability calendar for specific resort reservations, including the E, S, and P designations for the booking type for each day.	CRITICAL
2	Regression	Loss of all browse functions (vs search functions) - many users like to browse the list of resorts before having to enter search criteria - currently the website appears to require search criteria to facilitate browse functions. Add browse functions back to allow for resort browsing without required search criteria.	HIGH
3	Regression	No floorplans (that I can find at least)	HIGH
4	Regression	No way to exit current booking engine on mobile device - there’s a “continue” blue bar option but no “cancel” option and the browser back button appears to offer an exit option but then when trying to book again you get the “multiple transactions” error.	CRITICAL
5	Regression	Cannot add points protection to an existing reservation (at least not that I can find).	HIGH
6	Regression	Access to Maintenance Fee documents seems to have been removed	MEDIUM - workaround available
7	Regression	Provide the list of resorts in the search drop down box for browsing (as opposed to searching) - users want to be able to browse the data on resorts without having to perform date based availability searches.	HIGH
8	Regression	If a specific resort doesn’t have availability when searching - please list the resort as unavailable for the date range(s) in scope.	HIGH
9	Regression	Points calculator function is missing	MEDIUM
10	Regression	Add the option to restrict an initial search by unit size/type similar to the capability that existed in the prior version of the web site. The 'Filter & Sort' function offers this option but not until the initial search is already executed. Extra clicks waste time when searching.	MEDIUM
11	Regression	Keyword searches in the Availability search boxes for resorts seem to have to include either "Wyndham" or "Club Wyndham" prefacing the resort name, such as "Wyndham Bonnet" to retrieve Bonnet Creek as a search hit. This behavior doesn't occur in the website search boxes in comparison - the availability search boxes should behave exactly as the website search boxes do specific to searching for resorts. Adjust the keyword files for all resorts to not have to include preface words like "Wyndham" or "Club Wyndham" so that "Bonnet" will immediately pull up "Bonnet Creek" as a search hit for example.	HIGH
12	Regression	Add back the consolidated points history view that displays all points history on a single webpage - along with the supporting points breakdowns for each past reservation (to enable users to see which points from which buckets/use years were used for each reservation)	MEDIUM
13	Regression	Lost option to book a 14 night reservation. 13 is the new maximum allowed right now - both desktop and mobile	MEDIUM
14	Regression	Lost option to book a 7 night reservation at 13 months out - 6 days is the new maximum allowed right now - both desktop and mobile	MEDIUM
15	Regression	Listing of booked resorts should display the person registered for check-in (whether owner or guest) for the the reservation as it did previously	MEDIUM
16	Regression	Lost the ability for the map function to pan out to view all resorts at a national/international level. Currently the map only works at a state or multi-state regional level. Expand the map to allow resort display to national/international levels.	MEDIUM
1	Bug	Audit all URL links on the website to identify and remediate links that aren’t loading correctly (404 errors) - quite a few website links for points charts for example - don't function properly when launching into a new web browser tab	HIGH
2	Bug	Certain key functions - like the calendar view when searching for availability - are not sizing correctly on smartphones and tablets. Users report having to pinch the calendar to get the website to size properly within the current window.	MEDIUM
3	Bug	Smartphone calendar search only scrolls up to 11 months into the future (April 2021) - not 13 months. Desktop browsers appear to work fine though.	HIGH
4	Bug	When searching resorts that have multiple buildings, if a single room is available - the building is not listed, however if multiple rooms are available - each room lists the building. A single search hit should also list the building.	HIGH
1	Enhancement	Add a checkbox for flexible duration when performing availability searches.	HIGH
2	Enhancement	Add the ability to search by regional or national options - northeast, southeast, southwest, Midwest, northwest, east/west, USA should all be options - especially given the search indexing issues seem to finally have been resolved - it would be nice to choose a date range and then see everything available in that range	HIGH
3	Enhancement	Add a “Exclude nearby resorts” checkbox for those who are only interested in seeing resort specific availability. This checkbox could then be used to show the availability calendar addressed in item one in this list.	HIGH
4	Enhancement	Add a points breakdown by two colors on the current points availability bar - points eligible for deposit vs points ineligible for deposit displayed via two different colors - along with supporting numerical values - to easily know how many current use year points must be used this year vs the points that are eligible for use year deposit.	MEDIUM
5	Enhancement	Add a "Search by Points" checkbox that will allow users to perform searches by input points allotment - if the user only has 230k points available - search and display only items that fall within the points allotment value specified	MEDIUM
6	Enhancement	Add a “next available” checkbox when searching a specific resort - this checkbox would iterate through each next available set of dates at that particular resort	MEDIUM
7	Enhancement	Add a “remember me” checkbox for sign-in credentials and save login credentials for future logins	HIGH
8	Enhancement	List a points breakdown in the owner points webpage for the current use year by points eligible for standard vs advance (ARP) bookings.	MEDIUM
9	Enhancement	Update availability searches to only include Worldmark resorts if there is actually availability at that resort based upon actual search criteria.	MEDIUM
10	Enhancement	Add the same touch-based calendar scroll capability for all touch devices - not just smartphones. The search calendar function on smartphones utilizes a touch based scroll function - not arrows to move between the months - however tablets - which are also touch based - still require the arrows to move between the months - allow ALL touch-based devices to utilize the calendar scroll function - not just smartphones.	MEDIUM
11	Enhancement	Add a "Saved Searches" function - store and display the last five searches for the user in the drop down box when clicking into the Search boxes (whether the website search boxes or the availability search boxes). Consider adding a "Saved Searches" area to the Owner dashboard to manage these items.	MEDIUM

 

[schoolmarm]

ACK!! Don't do #14...Some of us want to borrow from our next use year OR rent from Wyndham (yeah, that $12/1000 is useful when I need a receipt for business reimbursement). I would like to see resorts that exceed my "available points".

They also need to take Chicago OFF of the list of resorts. There are other mysterious resorts mentioned (Bavaria, etc.)

Has anyone found a way to find a resort page WITHOUT requesting a reservation. I might have done it once, but it is not intuitive. NEED to be able to look at and compare two rooms...have the points info/size info stay open to avoid clicking back and forth.

The link to the directory needs to be more prominent. Right now it is at the bottom of the page embedded in the Publications.

They should fix the default location to either the owner's address, OR their current location. I am not in Florida. That seems to be the default.

Need the US map with resorts on it, like in the directory.

Thank you for compiling this.

 

[Eric B]

I don't actually mind #14 being in there as long as it is an option rather than mandatory. That's how it is phrased.

I would add:

Regression: add the ability to restrict a search by unit size/type similar to the capability that existed in the prior version of the web site.

 

[comicbookman]

Bug: fix points deposit feature. Claims not enough points when over 300k points available for deposit.

 

[Braindead]

Dashboard- current use year points does not match the current use year displayed.
iPad is touch screen but calendar is the same as before so you still touch the screen 10-12 times to arrow out to book a year out.
Dashboard-resort page are the only places you can book a reservation.
Point deposit feature needs fixed

I haven’t seen it mentioned but I liked the Points history with all use years put together on one page. Now each use year is displayed separately.
If Voyager had options it seems all options are gone. It’s now take it how it is.

Website just needs cleaned up. Seems like it was rushed out the door for some reason.
Voyager was cleaned up, realigned use years were gone along with irrelevant credit pool buckets. This would fix the points deposit feature & wrong use year on Dashboard.

 

[comicbookman]

Dashboard- current use year points does not match the current use year displayed.
iPad is touch screen but calendar is the same as before so you still touch the screen 10-12 times to arrow out to book a year out.
Dashboard-resort page are the only places you can book a reservation.
Point deposit feature needs fixed

I haven’t seen it mentioned but I liked the Points history with all use years put together on one page. Now each use year is displayed separately.
If Voyager had options it seems all options are gone. It’s now take it how it is.

Website just needs cleaned up. Seems like it was rushed out the door for some reason.
Voyager was cleaned up, realigned use years were gone along with irrelevant credit pool buckets. This would fix the points deposit feature & wrong use year on Dashboard.

While I cannot make points deposits, the points displayed on my dashboard do match the use year displayed, and both are correct.

 

[Cyrus24]

Here are my comments. On your Pros.
#2 was specific to Mobile users. Laptop users had a drop down. So, only a pro for Mobile Users.
#3 may have been specific to Mobile users. Even today, my laptop moves faster than my iphone8 running on the most current OS version.
#5 is nice but, it is not a viable replacement to the calendar. You got to the month and you saw ALL of your options. So, this is really not a Pro.

On your Cons
#1 is HUGE. Not just Major. It is a terrible step backwards when it comes to using the site for the purpose it was designed, vacation planning.
#6 would not be a con where it not for the elimination of the calendar.
#14, I'm not a fan of this since unless it's via a box check option.
Add something about WorldMark. Don't tell us to call unless a unit is truly available. It might be part of another con, but, it merits a separate con. All the clutter requires a lot of scrolling.

I know that they designed this to be more mobile friendly, you've made that very clear. But, there are many users that prefer a laptop for a variety of reasons, ie, arthiritis, eye conditions, while chilling in the recliner, ease of flipping between wyndham and non-wyndham websites, while at work on a corporate machine, etc. etc. etc. We really don't need more people searching for vacations in the car while driving!!!

I would encourage folks to send their own feedback, also. A bucket list is nice but volumes of purposeful comments would probably do more good.

 

[HitchHiker71]

ACK!! Don't do #14...Some of us want to borrow from our next use year OR rent from Wyndham (yeah, that $12/1000 is useful when I need a receipt for business reimbursement). I would like to see resorts that exceed my "available points".

I've adjusted the verbiage to make this an option with input, meaning you input the points allotment after choosing the option (probably via a checkbox under advanced search). It was never intended to be a default just to be clear - it's an enhancement.

They also need to take Chicago OFF of the list of resorts. There are other mysterious resorts mentioned (Bavaria, etc.)

Agreed however this is a data hygiene issue and this list is limited to functional issues at this time.

Has anyone found a way to find a resort page WITHOUT requesting a reservation. I might have done it once, but it is not intuitive. NEED to be able to look at and compare two rooms...have the points info/size info stay open to avoid clicking back and forth.

I will work on this today and see if I can post screenshots.

The link to the directory needs to be more prominent. Right now it is at the bottom of the page embedded in the Publications.

Will take a look at this item.

They should fix the default location to either the owner's address, OR their current location. I am not in Florida. That seems to be the default.

This already works for touch devices that provide location by default - you receive a pop-up to share your location - and when you say yes - it defaults to your current location. If you say no, it defaults to Florida. This should also work on desktops/laptops if you share your location data for the website.

Need the US map with resorts on it, like in the directory.

This is a browse vs search function and already captured/logged in certain items - but I'll revisit how to better capture this need.

Thank you for compiling this.

You're all welcome, Wyndham isn't going to fail back - they are failing forward - so the best we can do is to improve on the new website, which is the intention of this thread.

 

[HitchHiker71]

I don't actually mind #14 being in there as long as it is an option rather than mandatory. That's how it is phrased.

I would add:

Regression: add the ability to restrict a search by unit size/type similar to the capability that existed in the prior version of the web site.

Added as requested - it's actually already there as an option under the 'Filter & Sort' under Suite Type - however the options are grayed out until after you select a location and date range - so I think what you mean is to allow for this option on initial search - so that's what I've added to the list.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Bug: fix points deposit feature. Claims not enough points when over 300k points available for deposit.

I've seen quite a few posts on the Facebook forums about this - along with supporting information that the cause is because the new points buckets combine points that are not eligible for points deposit (like PIC, bonus, and previously deposited points), hence item #13 was added to the list. Can you confirm for me if this fits your use case? If so, I will amend item #13 to also have this same color coded bar displayed on the points deposit webpage.

 

[Eric B]

Added as requested - it's actually already there as an option under the 'Filter & Sort' under Suite Type - however the options are grayed out until after you select a location and date range - so I think what you mean is to allow for this option on initial search - so that's what I've added to the list.

I saw it grayed out in Filter & Sort, but it never stopped being gray for me. Might be I was just disgusted with the need to modify my methods of searching/browsing from the old site and gave up before I came up with the proper order to use the aspects of the interface in to get it to work. I'm also a bit disgusted that checking the box for having flexible dates doesn't have any effect on the outcomes of my searches.

 

[schoolmarm]

I just thought of one more thing...Where are our past reservations? Some of us need that for business record keeping or just to remember what kind of unit we had last time we were at a resort.

Also--need to find (the pdfs of) yearly assessments. Others probably want other financial info.

I'll try to tool around the website on my MacBook Pro again today.
Thanks for this!

 

[paxsarah]

Where are our past reservations?

They are kind of in the points transaction history, but with no detail. For past reservations, it will show me where the reservation was and the number of points, check-in date, and confirmation number, but clicking through for detail will not show the unit type, traveler name, etc. Also, if you made a reservation that used points from two different use years, you have to pull down to look at each use year separately and add them up if you want to see the total amount of points for that reservation (and there's no indication otherwise that points would have come from two separate years - you just have to remember that you did it or look at all transactions in different years to see how they line up).

 

[comicbookman]

I've seen quite a few posts on the Facebook forums about this - along with supporting information that the cause is because the new points buckets combine points that are not eligible for points deposit (like PIC, bonus, and previously deposited points), hence item #13 was added to the list. Can you confirm for me if this fits your use case? If so, I will amend item #13 to also have this same color coded bar displayed on the points deposit webpage.

all of the points i have available are eligible, so no "bucket mixing"

 

[HitchHiker71]

Dashboard- current use year points does not match the current use year displayed.

Please provide a screenshot if you can - so that I can see what you're referring to - mine seems to be accurate. PM me if you don't want to share here.

iPad is touch screen but calendar is the same as before so you still touch the screen 10-12 times to arrow out to book a year out.

I'm going to be testing on iPad sometime today and will update accordingly.

Dashboard-resort page are the only places you can book a reservation.

This is working as designed - bring people to the features that you want to have them adopt - the dashboard is where you should start your journey.

Point deposit feature needs fixed

Please provide specific details on what's not working.

I haven’t seen it mentioned but I liked the Points history with all use years put together on one page. Now each use year is displayed separately.
If Voyager had options it seems all options are gone. It’s now take it how it is.

The site is not designed to mimic Voyager it's designed with a mobile first approach and will therefore be quite a bit different than Voyager was and I for one like the new website better overall. Showing large amounts of data on a single page is something desktop centric- not mobile centric. That said:

Enhancement: Add a consolidated points history view that displays all points history on a single webpage.

 

[HitchHiker71]

They are kind of in the points transaction history, but with no detail. For past reservations, it will show me where the reservation was and the number of points, check-in date, and confirmation number, but clicking through for detail will not show the unit type, traveler name, etc. Also, if you made a reservation that used points from two different use years, you have to pull down to look at each use year separately and add them up if you want to see the total amount of points for that reservation (and there's no indication otherwise that points would have come from two separate years - you just have to remember that you did it or look at all transactions in different years to see how they line up).

Per BD's request - would a consolidated points history webpage address this issue?

 

[chapjim]

Did the inability to book 14 nights make the list? Someone said you could only book 13 nights.

 

[kaljor]

Agree with a prior poster that on an iPad you still have to click the calendar arrow, no scrolling.

The one big item that’s missing from this list is the inability to book a 14 night reservation. 13 is the maximum allowed right now. Desktop and mobile.

 

[paxsarah]

Per BD's request - would a consolidated points history webpage address this issue?

Yes. An option to view chronological consolidated points history would put those points pulled from multiple use years together. It would be nice to have the option to see both "What exactly happened to all my UY 2020 points?" (which is what they've given us now) and "Where did all the points come from for X reservation?" (which requires some searching around if some of those points came from multiple use years, but would be solved by a consolidated view).

Where I discovered this is I have a reservation in my current year that was showing 0 points. I realized that's because I entirely borrowed points from next year, so I switched to viewing next year's points and I saw the same reservation with the actual amount of points it took to book it. In my case it was obvious because of the 0 points, but looking at a reservation that used points from two years, you might not realize right away that you weren't seeing the full points cost of the reservation.

 

[HitchHiker71]

all of the points i have available are eligible, so no "bucket mixing"

So do we think this is a bug then?

 

[HitchHiker71]

Did the inability to book 14 nights make the list? Someone said you could only book 13 nights.

I've seen two reported issues like this. One is the 13 day maximum booking duration, the other is if you book 13 months out to the day, you can only book 6 days not 7 days - I need to validate both of these reported issues and once validated I will add them to the list. If someone else could validate the 6 night issue it would be most appreciated.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Agree with a prior poster that on an iPad you still have to click the calendar arrow, no scrolling.

The one big item that’s missing from this list is the inability to book a 14 night reservation. 13 is the maximum allowed right now. Desktop and mobile.

Added as a regression item.

 

[HitchHiker71]

Yes. An option to view chronological consolidated points history would put those points pulled from multiple use years together. It would be nice to have the option to see both "What exactly happened to all my UY 2020 points?" (which is what they've given us now) and "Where did all the points come from for X reservation?" (which requires some searching around if some of those points came from multiple use years, but would be solved by a consolidated view).

Where I discovered this is I have a reservation in my current year that was showing 0 points. I realized that's because I entirely borrowed points from next year, so I switched to viewing next year's points and I saw the same reservation with the actual amount of points it took to book it. In my case it was obvious because of the 0 points, but looking at a reservation that used points from two years, you might not realize right away that you weren't seeing the full points cost of the reservation.

Added as a regression item.

 

[thomassontag]

Main complaints:
1. Availability calendar---I often want to know a span of time resorts are available. If I want to go to the Carribean in February, let me see what is available and when without searching each resort individually week by week.

 

[kaljor]

I've seen two reported issues like this. One is the 13 day maximum booking duration, the other is if you book 13 months out to the day, you can only book 6 days not 7 days - I need to validate both of these reported issues and once validated I will add them to the list. If someone else could validate the 6 night issue it would be most appreciated.

I just validated it. On the desktop and iPad. Can't check on iPhone because of the bug already on your list where you can't scroll down to the 13th month on mobile.