Newbie, potential purchase of multiple CWA contracts.

[djro]

I am looking to potentially purchase two separate CWA contracts that total around 200k points. From what I understand CWA MF per 1000 points tend to be higher than Wyndham Select. This would be our first time buying into any contract; What cost per 1000 is reasonable or how do I know it's excessive?

Also, Looking for advice from the Wyndham experts on pros/cons of CWA.

 

[jp10558]

I don't think there's any benefit of CWA really. It just tends to cost more in MFs. I guess the purchase price can be negative, in that someone may pay you to take it. Select at least is usually just very cheap.

 

[chapjim]

I don't think there's any benefit of CWA really. It just tends to cost more in MFs. I guess the purchase price can be negative, in that someone may pay you to take it. Select at least is usually just very cheap.

Well, the ability to ARP into a bunch of resorts is a benefit. The question is whether it is a benefit worth paying for.

 

[jp10558]

Well, the ability to ARP into a bunch of resorts is a benefit. The question is whether it is a benefit worth paying for.

I didn't know if that transferred with resale.. Suffice it to say I don't think it's a benefit worth paying for at this time anyway.

 

[bnoble]

ARP is based on what you own, not how you bought it. RARP is sometimes based on how you bought it.

 

[Shiba]

I have found it beneficial since we were tied to a school schedule. I have encountered situations where room size and type are not available without the ARP.

We are no longer tied to a school schedule and will be traveling off season. I will be letting my CWA go once I complete the purchase of a resale contract.

 

[callwill]

please define ARP

 

[chapjim]

please define ARP

The ability to book reservations at the resort where you own thirteen months before check-in, rather than at ten months before check-in.

 

[HitchHiker71]

please define ARP

ARP is only accessible based upon your contract type. For CWA - ARP is available at all participating resorts in the trust where the trust actually contains deeds for the resort in question. Wyndham often states that you have ARP at 70+ resorts with CWA - and while this is technically true - what really matters is how many deeds the CWA trust actually holds for the resort in question that you may want to book into within the ARP window. Some resorts have a large percentage of deeds held within the CWA trust, other resorts have a very small percentage of deeds held by CWA, with the vast majority held as CWS contracts. This is why it's important to determine which resort(s) within CWA you're most interested in using ARP to book into, and then ask Wyndham for the most recent POS (Public Offering Statement - this is the bible for what the CWA trust actually owns) and look up how much inventory for your chosen resort(s) is actually held by CWA as a whole. I've seen in the past where someone purchases CWA contracts, but cannot book into the resort using ARP for the room size they want - this is often because of the type of inventory that CWA actually holds for that resort. When booking into the ARP window using CWA (or any other contract type), you can literally only book inventory that's actually held by the trust. So for example, let's say you're trying to book a four bedroom Presidential unit in Clearwater in ARP using CWA - and you cannot find anything for the dates you're looking for - that's because the CWA trust doesn't hold any inventory for a four bedroom Presidential unit within your chosen date range. This is a very explicit example, but it's worth pointing out exactly how ARP booking works for those who may not understand - you don't get ARP to all inventory (you get no/zero access to all CWS ARP inventory in other words) - you only get ARP to the actually subset of inventory actually held by the trust.

 

[jp10558]

please define ARP

ARP is advance reservation priority - i.e. at the resort you own you can reserve earlier than everyone else, CWA gets that at multiple resorts.

 

[Family_travel]

As mentioned above CWA is helpful if you need to travel during peak times and want to visit different places.
How are you planning to use the points (where and time of year)?
For 200k points the maintenance fee difference is not that much.

 

[WManning]

Well, the ability to ARP into a bunch of resorts is a benefit. The question is whether it is a benefit worth paying for.

If ARP is needed CWA might be worth paying higher maintenance fees. ARP is not necessarily needed if your travel plans are flexible.

 

[chapjim]

If ARP is needed CWA might be worth paying higher maintenance fees. ARP is not necessarily needed if your travel plans are flexible.

Happy that we agree on this.

 

[bnoble]

There is another argument for ARP. It may not be something one NEEDS for their vacations, but it can provide a lot of peace of mind. It is much nicer to grab something at 10AM at 13 months rather than try tonplay the atomic clock game at midnight at ten months.

Even in situations you don’t NEED to do this it can be worth the reduction in stress. It’s vacation and timeshares are a toy. It’s okay to treat them that way.

 

[bizaro86]

There is another argument for ARP. It may not be something one NEEDS for their vacations, but it can provide a lot of peace of mind. It is much nicer to grab something at 10AM at 13 months rather than try tonplay the atomic clock game at midnight at ten months.

Even in situations you don’t NEED to do this it can be worth the reduction in stress. It’s vacation and timeshares are a toy. It’s okay to treat them that way.

Indeed. One big benefit to this is it makes it easier to get airfare using points. I often find there's points availability for saver type points tickets at 11 months but not 10, for example.

 

[WManning]

Indeed. One big benefit to this is it makes it easier to get airfare using points. I often find there's points availability for saver type points tickets at 11 months but not 10, for example.

This is exactly my experience with Southwest, more points are needed as the seats are sold. On some occasions points needed drop when they need to fill seats. Supply and demand in a free market. I liked United when points needed never changed. The super saver offers cutting points by 50% for 1st class and coach were hard to beat.