Newbie with questions: Wyndham and Smugglers Notch

[MrsNick]

Hi there, I'm a newbie here and have been doing a little reading for a couple of days.

I think I have a generalized understanding of the Wyndham system, and I do have a possible interest in acquring some points. I think I get the basics, but at the end of the post do have some burning questions, lol.

Please correct me if I'm mistaken about the following:

1) for CWP you own a deeded interest (either a week, points or UDI) at some resort in the Wyndham Club system.

2) for CWA you "own" points but have no deeded interest. Your membership allows you 13 to 10 month ARD at CWA resorts, but only for the portion of the resort's dedicated CWA inventory. There may be other available inventory at 13 to 10 months ARD but because it is CWP inventory you would not be able to book with CWA points. (i.e. no cross pollination).

3) After 10 months out, points are points and CWA and CWP can book any inventory at CWA and CWP resorts.

4) Unless ARD is necessary, should look to purchase at a resort that has lower MF, but if also possible to purchase at a resort that you would like to use.

5) When buying resale you have to pay a $295 ransom fee to transfer the deed to your name.
QUESTION: If purchasing CWA, there is no deed. Do you still have to pay the ransom fee?

6) IF trading through RCI you are not subject to regional blocks because you deposit points into RCI, and you just reserve what you want with those points (provided there is resort availability and you have deposited enough points).

7) No one knows how much inventory is dedicated to CWA inventory at each CWA resort.

8) CWA has slightly higher MF but you are somewhat buffered from SA because fees are averaged across all CWA resorts and CWA club members.

QUESTIONS: One reason I'm really interested in owning Wyndham points is the ability to book at Smugglers Notch.

Is the 13 to 10 month ARD necessary to reserve at Smugglers Notch? For the next couple of years we don't have to book school vacations as DD won't start kindergarten until then, but after that I would imagine our schedules will be more rigid.

Are there any Wyndham restrictions on how frequently you can book at Smugglers Notch if you don't own there?

I did forum searches here on TUG and on TS4Ms but didn't come up with an awful lot of information on Smugglers Notch resales or prices. I think I'm leaning towards acquiring Wyndham points for ability to book other Wyndham resorts but am curious to know whether it would be worth owning a deeded week here? If so, what pricing should I expect?

I own a smaller contract with DVC so I'm not new to the idea of needing to plan in advance and being mindful of booking windows, so that doesn't bother me as long as I can be assured that I have a reasonable chance of booking something.

Thanks in advance for your expertise. I'm sure I will have lots more questions!

 

[MrsNick]

One more question (ok, more than one)

If I use Wyndham points at Smugglers Notch, I receive complimentary Smuggs passes.

If I buy a resale week at Smugglers Notch, I have to pay for those passes?

What are the owners benefits? Can I get those at Smugglers Notch with either the Wyndham points or a resale week?

Again, I still think I prefer the flexibility of the Wyndham system to a deeded week at Smugglers Notch but I just want to understand, thanks!

 

[rrlongwell]

...

For anyone buying Wyndham timeshare, direct or re-sale. I would suggest the concept of "Flight to Quality" be used. If Maintance Fees are a major consideration, consider newer resorts in large markets.

 

[simpsontruckdriver]

Here's some general info about Wyndham Vacation Resorts @ Smuggler's Notch. You can buy ANYWHERE in the Wyndham system (not Worldmark), and as long as you buy enough points per year, you should have no problem with getting a suite in 10 months. It doesn't matter if you buy RESALE or RESORT (resort charges approx $0.15/point, and in Prime season, you need 189000).
Unfortunately, you will need to pay $299 Transfer Fee, unless the listing says "Seller Pays". Charity auctions are usually $0 Transfer and $0 Closing, but the auctions can go sky-high.
I would say you would lose VERY SMALL benefits by buying RESALE. For instance, if you buy 300000 points from the resort ($0.15/point), you are a VIP. What does that get you? A special check-in line and a morning newspaper. Still better to buy RESALE! In terms of skiing passes at SN, I doubt there's any difference between RESALE and RESORT.
Now, there's the question about WEEK vs POINTS. Since Wyndham has been POINTS for a long time, not sure if you can trade for another resort. Buying weeks is ok, but only if you want to stay at that one resort every year. Converting to points is about $2500, and the only ARP you get is your week. In other words, if you have POINTS, you can reserve 13 months out at ANY time of the year. With WEEKS (and converted to POINTS) is 13 months from your assigned WEEK.
The big advantage to CWA is also having no extreme change in MFs. If you owned ONLY at Smuggler's Notch, and they decided to add $10/month to owners' MFs, you're screwed. But, CWA will only see a small increase.

Keep asking, we'll answer!

TS

 

[antjmar]

Is the 13 to 10 month ARD necessary to reserve at Smugglers Notch? For the next couple of years we don't have to book school vacations as DD won't start kindergarten until then, but after that I would imagine our schedules will be more rigid.

Are there any Wyndham restrictions on how frequently you can book at Smugglers Notch if you don't own there?

If you want new years week or feb school vacation I'd "guess" the ARP would be needed.

as far as buying that resort resale someone can correct me if I am wrong but I dont think you will find much (if any) resale, since they just "joined" Wyndham last year.

 

[ronparise]

A couple of small things re the original post...its Club wyndham Select and Club Wyndham Access are subsets of Club Wyndham Plus And its ARP not ARD

But generally I think you understand the system very well....

To answer some of your questions:

You will pay the $299 transfer fee for Club Wyndham Access

Club Wyndham Access fee are not in my estimation "high"..they are by the very nature of the product "average" maybe on the high side of average but still pretty close to the middle

You wont find a lot of Smuggles Notch points contracts on the secondary market, because its new to the system...give the Wyndham sales force time to get the some existing weeks owners to convert their weeks into the points system, and if Wyndham has points to sell, they need time to sell them

 

[Cheryl20772]

If I use Wyndham points at Smugglers Notch, I receive complimentary Smuggs passes.

If I buy a resale week at Smugglers Notch, I have to pay for those passes?

What are the owners benefits? Can I get those at Smugglers Notch with either the Wyndham points or a resale week?

Again, I still think I prefer the flexibility of the Wyndham system to a deeded week at Smugglers Notch but I just want to understand, thanks!

You need some of these answers from owners who have actually been to Smuggs and that's not me, but I did find this for you http://www.smuggs.com/pages/universal/wyndham/

As a Club Wyndham Owner you receive a complimentary SmuggsPass gaining you access to Smugglers’ programs and facilities as well as a number of discounts. See below for more details.

You probably already know all the fun stuff it says below on that page.

When we own Wyndham, it's a computerized system that we make reservations on and I don't think it marks us as to how we own. It is likely set up to indicate if we are VIP and what level, but not if we own resale points or all developer purchased. Some VIP's own resale points plus developer points. How would the resort know which points they chose for this reservation? They are all in the same pool of total points owned when the reservation is made and the system only cares about whether or not there's enough in the available total for that reservation.

If you have a contract for a property in the Wyndham system and pay your Club Wyndham membership fee, you are qualified to use the system and trade into the resorts. When we show up at a resort with our reservation, the front desk doesn't know where or how we bought. Their job is to service our reservation and the site says a SmuggsPass is an owner benefit. It doesn't say you have to be a Sumgglers' owner, just a Wyndham owner.

If you really want to make sure, you could call their front desk and ask them.