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Newbie Wyndham questions

Surfer Dude

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My family of 6 travel 1 to 3 times a year, and each trip last for about 1 to 3 weeks. We prefer to stay in condos rather than hotels, and we've been using vbro, skyauction, priceline, hotel.com, etc. For our most recent trip during X-mas, we had the pleasure to stay at Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk and it was NICE. Now I am wondering if owning a timeshare like Wyndham is the way for us to handle our travel accommodation needs.

We attended the Wyndham presentation but we did not buy because I do not like to make big investment after just hearing a 90 min presentation. Unfortunately, these sales folks did not let us keep any of the sales material to review at home.

Here're a few basic questions I hope some of you can answer?

1. Are Wyndham resorts readily available or do you have to make reservations months in advance? We normally plan our trip 2 to 8 weeks in advance.

2. Is it easy to make reservations through exchanges, like RCI, or is that one of those deals where I would have to plan way ahead of time.

3. For RCI, are the rentals for weekly only, or can I rent for 5 or 10 days starting from any day of the week.

4. What about international travel, like to Europe. Are Wyndham points useful for getting accommodations abroad?

5. I like the free upgrades and discounted points of the platinum status. Is there any way to get this status other than buying points directly from Wyndham?

Anyway, I am trying to understand how Wyndham timeshare works to decide if it is the right thing for me.

Thanks for any help.
 

bnoble

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2 to 8 weeks is very short term for internal reservations---in most cases, the only thing available at that time will be lesser resorts, at lesser times. 90 days is getting to be "last minute" for internal bookings.

RCI can work better last minute---especially with Wyndham, where you can deposit very small #s of points for a low-value week, because "value" is ignored for exchanges with in the next 45-14 days, depending on destination. But, it takes a lot of flexibility; you have to take what shows up, rather than having a very specific destination in mind. And, this will more likely be successful in lower-demand times/locations, though sometimes you'll get lucky. RCI also has a very attractive "last minute" pricing structure for offseason stuff. But, Wydnham in RCI is a mediocre trader. You will not see the highest-demand weeks (urban destinations, Disney resorts, etc.)

As a resale buyer, RCI is weeks only, but sometimes at a low enough cost that you don't mind throwing away nights. I'm taking my kids to a Northern Michigan "ski" resort (it's not Colorado, or even Vermont, but I can drive to it) over MLK weekend. We'll stay Fri-Mon in a 2BR condo, for a total cost of $300. I'm just throwing away the other four nights. No problem.

I think Wyndham would be a poor choice for Europe. No internal resorts, and mediocre trade power.

Platinum status: no. General consensus is that VIP benefits are not worth anything close to what you have to pay to get them. Worse, they are changing all the time, and usually for the worse.

In your case, I think I would stay the course for most of your travel needs---continue getting deals on last minute rentals from folks who own a few units and need to recover something before their usage time expires.

However, a mini-system like Wyndham could work very well for you as a part of your vacation portfolio if you can sometimes plan farther in advance, but as you live in Seattle, I think Wyndham is the wrong choice. WorldMark would be a much better option---they have many more resorts on the West Coast and my opinion is the WorldMark west coast resorts are generally nicer than their Wyndham counterparts.
 

timeos2

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1. Are Wyndham resorts readily available or do you have to make reservations months in advance? We normally plan our trip 2 to 8 weeks in advance.

Except for the busiest times (most of summer, holidays) there is good availability at most Wyndham resorts - even late in the use process. In fact we've obtained some of our best reservations under 60 days out.

2. Is it easy to make reservations through exchanges, like RCI, or is that one of those deals where I would have to plan way ahead of time.

Very easy on line or by phone. If you want to trade with RCI you get "request first" meaning you get the trade you desire before you give up the points.

3. For RCI, are the rentals for weekly only, or can I rent for 5 or 10 days starting from any day of the week.

The trades are into RCI Weeks so they are under the same rules as any RCI weeks trade.

4. What about international travel, like to Europe. Are Wyndham points useful for getting accommodations abroad?

They have no Wyndham resorts there but RCI has good availability.



5. I like the free upgrades and discounted points of the platinum status. Is there any way to get this status other than buying points directly from Wyndham?



Anyway, I am trying to understand how Wyndham timeshare works to decide if it is the right thing for me.

You can only get VIP (whatever level) now with horribly overpriced direct purchases. It simply isn't worth any possible savings (you are better off buying what you would normally need in a year resale at a tremedous savings then utilizing the guaranteed rights to borrow or bank any extra points you require for a given year - you can also rent points although recent changes may limit that to rentals from Wyndham not other owners). VIP benefits are NOT guaranteed and have been cut significantly in the recent past.

It sounds like a nice bunch o resale Wyndham Points may be a great fit for your vacations. We have loved ours for over 12 years and never felt the need to add more since we purchased two weeks resale back in the 90's. The system just keeps adding great resorts and our non-VIP points "spend" just as well now as they did in 1995. We love the Wyndham FSP system.

Thanks for any help.[/QUOTE]
 

vacationhopeful

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I too love my Wyndham points. It is a mini-system which takes some time to learn and some time to stay on top of the reservation windows and opportunities for a varity of vacationing adventures.

I have friends and family who can't believe all the interesting and fun places I go to at the best time of the year. Of course, since they don't see me paying for any of these checkins or the rolodex that I use to keep track of everything for 2+ years out - they feel it is soooo easy.

If you love to travel - buy 2 resale deeds and keep them in separate member numbers. ONE being an Wyndham II resort and the other being a Wyndham RCI resort. That will really help your last minute planning ... keeping the deeds with separate names (wife owns the II deed;husband owns the RCI) and you can use/search both exchange companies for their "last call" vacations.

Worldmark provides it members with both exchange companies - another advantage over Wyndham.

Happy Researching!
 

Bill4728

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Since SurferDude is from Seattle, IMO, he is likely asking about Worldmark by Wyndham and not asking about Wyndham vacations?

So many of the answers may change for worldmark.

If you plan your vacations 2-8 weeks ahead of time, then buying a TS is likely not a good idea for you. Unless you can plan 6 months ahead, I think you'll find that there is little available for you at the worldmark resorts in the NW & West coast.

Good Luck
 

Surfer Dude

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Since SurferDude is from Seattle, IMO, he is likely asking about Worldmark by Wyndham and not asking about Wyndham vacations?
Good Luck

I really don't quite know why one I am asking about. I'm asking about the one where I can purchase a deed for Wyndham Waikiki Beack Walk for n number of points per year. Is that Worldmark or is that Wyndham vacations?

When the owner at Wyndham Waikiki booked for me 10 days over X-mas break, I was surprised that he was able to secure a place 5 days before checkin. How did he do that?

I was so impressed with the Wyndham resort and the ease in which the owner booked it for me that prompted me think about ownership.
 

Surfer Dude

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Thanks

Hi All,

Thanks for the prompt and helpful replies.

Perhaps it's time for me to re-evaluate how I plan vacations. Right now it is like "Oh no, school will be out in 3 weeks. Plan a vacation or our house will be an animal farm over break! Of the places we like to visit or have enjoyed visiting in the past, which place does not entail ridiculous airfares? Book. Panic. Book. More panic."

Unfortunately for us with 4 kids in 3 different schools with different schedules, the only time we can travel is during prime/high-season. From the replies that I've received, it seems to me that I really need to plan trips waaaaaaay in advance.

My trepidation right now is the fear of the unknown. Perhaps I should get an inexpensive Wyndham deed for 2 weeks or so and actually plan a vacation a few months in advance using the points. I probably should not worry about RCI or II just yet.

Where is a good place to get Wyndham resales? I've heard of resales at 5 to 10% of retail but the sites I've found from google sell for considerably more.

I like Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk and I can imagine going there once every 1 or 2 years. Does it matter if I buy a deed for Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk for would a deed for any other Wyndham resort work just as well. Do I get some sort of preference for the resort to which I hold the deed?

Thanks to all again.
 

vacationhopeful

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One word of advice for you which is good for the next 6 months - RENT. Don't buy anything.

You need to learn a lot MORE about the various timeshare options and products before you get stuck with something you aren't happy with or you can't get rid or or you sunk too much money in. You are going to be spending many hours of prime family time and real dollars - buy in haste, repent in leisure will not be true.

With the economy being slow, there are many very good rentals available. At least, learning can be enjoyable. :)
 

bnoble

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Agreed---take your time, and go slowly. It was 12-18 months between the time I first thought "Hey, this timeshare thing might actually be a good idea" and my first purchase. The last several months of that were spent reading TUG and other timeshare resources in pretty serious depth. Even then, there was a lot I didn't know when I finally took the plunge.

I'm sure I'll say the same thing years from now about today. In this particular little corner of the world, there is always more to learn. But, this is also a product where the more you know, the better value you can extract.
 

jodivk

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wyndham timeshare

I was reading over everyone's comments.

Some things you can count on:

1. Once you buy, annual fees will increase

2. Availability of exchanges through RCI to places you actually want to go or when you want to go is tough.

3. Re-sale fees are going to continue to decline for another 6 mos. at least.

4. Sales presentations flat out lie. They will say anything to get a sale. After you go home and do some research (or just go from year-to-year as an owner), you find many, many things they say aren't shades of grey - they are flat out lies.

We own in Kauai. We really like the area and got a good deal on the purchase price. But exchanges aren't what they were. Best bet is when you buy, to buy a place that either is close enough to you to use easily or a location that your family repeatedly would go to regardless of ownership.

Take your time.
 

sevenvii

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Last trip to Vegas I was actually debating purchasing one of these at retail:eek: , but stuck with my gut and decided to do some research....boy am I glad!

Noobie questions here as well.

1) Is the only reason to purchase a deed at a resort close to your own geographical location simply because you get preferred reservation there, or is there something else? After just a couple days reading, I would assuming the location for me really wouldnt matter, just keep the MF's as low as possible, am I missing something?

2) At the Las Vegas retail demo thing/tour they said I can borrow up to 2 years in advance, and pool any unused points for up to 2 years in the future. I assume this is a "retail purchase" only perk?

3) Could someone elaborate a little more on
If you love to travel - buy 2 resale deeds and keep them in separate member numbers. ONE being an Wyndham II resort and the other being a Wyndham RCI resort. That will really help your last minute planning ... keeping the deeds with separate names (wife owns the II deed;husband owns the RCI) and you can use/search both exchange companies for their "last call" vacations.
Whats the difference in a RCI resort and a Wynd II resort? If you have ownership in a Wyndham resort thats also an RCI resort do you get some sort of preferential treatment for RCI booking?

Thanks in advance!
 

bnoble

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1: depends. Some folks really like to have local ownership if the points program completely disintegrates. I put that at a very low likelihood.

2: Credit pooling is available to resale buyers. (So far.)

3: You get one external exchange membership for "free", determined by the resort at which you purchase initially. Later add-ons generally "combine" unless you title them differently on the deeds and babysit transfer. This trick allows you to be affiliated with both exchanges. However, now that point transfers are dis-allowed, this trick is a lot less valuable than it used to be.
 

Timeshare Von

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I really don't quite know why one I am asking about. I'm asking about the one where I can purchase a deed for Wyndham Waikiki Beack Walk for n number of points per year. Is that Worldmark or is that Wyndham vacations?

I wouldn't encourage you to buy points in Hawaii due to the high price in MF's. And yes, that is a Wyndham resort, not Worldmark. The poster who suggested it maybe W/M was basing that on your location (W/M is largely in the western US).

Once you own points, you can use them to go to Hawaii based on the points chart for the resort you want to stay in. 203k points at another resort will be less expensive on a per 1000 basis, and at the end of the day, most here will say "points are points" so don't pay the high Hawaii MF for their points.

When the owner at Wyndham Waikiki booked for me 10 days over X-mas break, I was surprised that he was able to secure a place 5 days before checkin. How did he do that?.

Hard to say, obviously they had the stay available. If he really booked it that last minute, he got a reduction in the number of points it took to get that time.

I was so impressed with the Wyndham resort and the ease in which the owner booked it for me that prompted me think about ownership.

Ownership has a lot of perks . . . and also comes with a lot of hassle and frustration. The suggestion to take six months to better understand your options and the program is very wise.

As for some of your other questions . . . I have found my Wyndham fixed weeks to be decent traders, and have gotten me to Hawaii for dirt cheap money (MF + RCI exchange fee). Many Wyndham points owners have taken their points from other resorts to trade into Wyndham's Hawaiian resorts (often Kona Hawaiian Village) for 28k blue studio weeks. On a price per week basis, there are no better "deals" in timeshare anywhere! You don't need to own Hawaii to get to stay in Hawaii.
 

sevenvii

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Im confused, are you saying with careful planning you can stay at hawaii for an entire week at 28k wyndham points?
 

Timeshare Von

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Im confused, are you saying with careful planning you can stay at hawaii for an entire week at 28k wyndham points?

Yep even better, some folks stayed for several weeks at 28k/week!! Relatively speaking, Hawaii (especially the Big Island) is easy to get to even with mediocre traders. My 1BR Kingsgate gets 2BR units there all the time.
 

Sandy VDH

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I booked a big island week at Wyndham with a 28K week via RCI, of course you have to also pay the $164 exchange fee via RCI.

If I would have booked the same week via Wyndham it would have cost me 231K.

We are going labor day week 2010. It will be our 14th Anniversary that week.
 

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Im confused, are you saying with careful planning you can stay at hawaii for an entire week at 28k wyndham points?

It can be done now, but don't count on it for countinue, or it will happen year in year out, and don't necessary count that you can get the place you want, the date you want. But it will happen especially when economic went bad, and you are very flexible.

With your situation, you should plan to use point to get to certain time and place. You will pay for airline tickets for all the members in the family for a while, and need to get the time when their schedule allowed, and you are willing to take them out.

If 28k happen, consider it as a bless, and you will find it happens more than you can image, but don't expect it happen every year or every other year, or even every x year.

Jya-Ning
 

rickandcindy23

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Im confused, are you saying with careful planning you can stay at hawaii for an entire week at 28k wyndham points?

You cannot get Waikiki Beach Walk or Shearwater for 28K points, but you can get those Big Island resorts, which are bulk-banked by Wyndham, so we can get them. But don't count on it, as Jya-Ning said. As soon as you count on it, it's sure to not work for you.

I just found out that one person got 9 consecutive weeks at Anaheim Dolphin's Cove, each cost 28K points, but I paid 154K points for a 2 bedroom just recently:wall: , although it was summer, which might have cost more than February-March. If I had have known, I wouldn't have deposited that many points and would have tried lesser points. :doh: I am always learning.
 

sevenvii

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What all circumstances have to happen for you to use a 28k points and exchange it to RCI for a week in Hawaii. Watch the website like a hawk, or simply just booking well, well in advance? Because to me 164 bucks and 28k points to relax in a Hawaii for a week sounds very very nice.

Sorry for the ignorance, I just cant wrap my head around this trading thing since I have no clue how it works :D They didnt explain that much at my "tour"
 

bnoble

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I paid 154K points for a 2 bedroom just recently
I snagged a 3BR at Dolphin's for late June/early July '10 with a 70K deposit, but that was the day the bulk deposit went in.

Unlike Florida, Anaheim is actually pretty slow for most of February, President's Weekend excepted, and even that's not a big deal.
 

Jya-Ning

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but I paid 154K points for a 2 bedroom just recently:wall:

I thought you no longer need to worry the kids, you can go as you like. You can wait till 14 days, can't you? You don't need to bring your daughter and grand kids with you right?

So you should not deposit big point.:D 70k will be too much for you to deposit.

Jya-Ning
 

rickandcindy23

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I thought you no longer need to worry the kids, you can go as you like. You can wait till 14 days, can't you? You don't need to bring your daughter and grand kids with you right?

So you should not deposit big point.:D 70k will be too much for you to deposit.

Jya-Ning

Well, you have to be prepared with a larger unit, just in case the kids and grandkids decide to go. :D
 

Sandy VDH

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Be opportunistic is the best approach.

Don't have any particular resort or location or date in mind.

I have a list of places that I want to go to. I check the Sightings page, and if I see a bulk spacebank deposit go into RCI for ANY of the locations I am interested in, then I see if the dates work for me and check to see if I can utilize one of my Wyndham deposits. Lately I have been waiting until the deposit is sighted before I try to move points into RCI. You can do a search first. I only moved points into RCI if they are about to expire in Wyndham. I have the luxury of having other RCI deposits to search with and don't have Only Wyndham deposits to work with.

Being completely flexible is best. I saw a sighting of the Bulk Big Island depositing for most of 2009 and 2010. So I booked a 2 BR Labor Day week 2010 at the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Village. It was only a 28K deposit that obtained the exchange.

Cheers
 

sevenvii

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Thats how I am completely flexible. I find where the prices look good usually, and then make the determination if I want to go there. At least in the past with cruises anyway, and it has been a fantastic experience.
 
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