Potential buyer looking for advice.

[MisterMoregore]

I’m looking for a little advice. This site has a ton of valuable information, and thank you to GoofyHobbie for the awesome intro article. Heres my situation, We are a family of 6, looking to go to Florida every other year. The kids are young, so in the short term these will be Disney trips to Bonnet creek or Star island. In the long term, the trips will probably move towards the coast, but Wifey and I are always going to be Disney lovers. Even though the plan is odd year trips, I like the freedom annual points gives you.

Im leaning towards buying just under 168,000 annual points. In order to accomplish a “bigger” trip, I’ll end up using two years worth of points every odd year.

Question 1) In order to use my annual points, every other year - Is it still correct that I can put unused points (before the use year starts) into a pool for a small fee (In 2019, I could save my 2020 points for use in 2021). Alternatively, I can choose to “borrow” my full points from 2020 to use in my 2019 trip?

Question 2) I read that “double booking” might get one of the rooms canceled. In the event I needed a second room for family - (or to escape my screaming children) how could I avoid getting the second room canceled? Is it as simple as putting someone else name on the room reservation?

Question 3) For anyone with Club Wyndham Access, does the ARP work out for you? I understand CWA only hold a certain number of rooms in the resorts, Im debating between a resale Bonnet creek / Star Island timeshare, or a club Wyndham access. If CWA works, it might be neat to get ARP at other resorts outside of Florida.

Thank you in advance! You guys are great.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Star Island is a mixed developer ownership. Be sure you are buying WYNDHAM Points and NOT a Star Island fixed week. And then there are the converted Fixed Week units (no ARP other than the underlying week or season).

Bonnet Creek is either deeded ownership for that resort - CWP points (UDI) or CWA points (a club which holds the deeds at many resorts). Many sellers ov CWA points list under a "POPULAR and in demand" resort name as they have to provide a location of the resort.

I own Disney points (DVC) at Animal Kingdom ... easy to rent and GREAT onsite Disney advantages. And Wyndham points. I am familiar with Star Island .. several stays.

 

[harveyhaddixfan]

I’ll let others answer the questions as I’m still learning also, but this might be helpful. I put together a spreadsheet calculating the maintenance fees plus program fee on popular points packages. There’s annually and EOY @ $4.50 (it’s been stated that $4.50 is really good) and annually @ $5.00 & $5.50.

 

[MisterMoregore]

Star Island is a mixed developer ownership. Be sure you are buying WYNDHAM Points and NOT a Star Island fixed week. And then there are the converted Fixed Week units (no ARP other than the underlying week or season).

Bonnet Creek is either deeded ownership for that resort - CWP points (UDI) or CWA points (a club which holds the deeds at many resorts). Many sellers ov CWA points list under a "POPULAR and in demand" resort name as they have to provide a location of the resort.

I own Disney points (DVC) at Animal Kingdom ... easy to rent and GREAT onsite Disney advantages. And Wyndham points. I am familiar with Star Island .. several stays.

Thank you Vacationhopeful. I did catch that Star Island had some fixed week timeshares & I thought that seemed goofy. I've been stalking Ebay and TUG forums for more time than I care to admit - so I have a decent idea of what I would like. I'm just unsure if I could use the points the way I interpreted.

 

[bendadin]

If you have other owners on your account, just put a reservation in their name. Or attach a guest certificate to one and then grab another in your own name if you don't have anyone else on your account.

 

[ronparise]

Be careful with the goofy information

Since it was written several changes have happened

1) RCI dosent work the way it’s described in th primer

2) the credit pool is no longer a thing. You used to be able to “push” points into future years and you used to be able to “pull” points from the future (borrow) for use in the current year. No More

3) the points deposit feature has replaced the credit pool. With it you can deposit current years points into either next year or the following year. And you (not VIP) will have until March of the current year to do that

4) CWA ARP works well depending on the resort. The amount of arp available depends on the number of points CWA owns at any one resort. There are severe restrictions at some resorts, Oceanside calif for one

 

[MisterMoregore]

Be careful with the goofy information

Since it was written several changes have happened

1) RCI dosent work the way it’s described in th primer

2) the credit pool is no longer a thing. You used to be able to “push” points into future years and you used to be able to “pull” points from the future (borrow) for use in the current year. No More

3) the points deposit feature has replaced the credit pool. With it you can deposit current years points into either next year or the following year. And you (not VIP) will have until March of the current year to do that

4) CWA ARP works well depending on the resort. The amount of arp available depends on the number of points CWA owns at any one resort. There are severe restrictions at some resorts, Oceanside calif for one

Thank you - you actually just alerted me to kind of a big deal. Family took us to Bonnet Creek in 2017, with points they borrowed from 2018. We were all planning a trip in 2019 with the intention of borrowing points from 2020........ I assumed we could continue borrowing points from a future year. This change kind of stinks, but at least we know now.

 

[Lisa P]

...We are a family of 6... in the short term these will be Disney trips to Bonnet creek or Star island. In the long term, the trips will probably move towards the coast, but Wifey and I are always going to be Disney lovers.

Towards the coast... which coast of which state?

Question 1) In order to use my annual points, every other year - Is it still correct that I can put unused points (before the use year starts) into a pool for a small fee (In 2019, I could save my 2020 points for use in 2021). Alternatively, I can choose to “borrow” my full points from 2020 to use in my 2019 trip?

Ron explained about depositing current points into a future use year. This is doable.
However, you may only "borrow" points from a future year for a reservation that you are making less than 3 months ahead of travel. If you need to book WBC or SI during school breaks, waiting until 3 months ahead to try to book your trip is not a good plan.

Question 2) I read that “double booking” might get one of the rooms canceled. In the event I needed a second room for family - (or to escape my screaming children) how could I avoid getting the second room canceled? Is it as simple as putting someone else name on the room reservation?

Yes. If there are two or more owners listed on the contacts, you can reserve each room in a different owners' name. Or you can use a Guest Certificate to put an additional, overlapping reservation in another person's name. You would have two free guest certs per year and pay $99 online to use a 3rd or 4th, etc.

 

[Braindead]

I’m looking for a little advice. This site has a ton of valuable information, and thank you to GoofyHobbie for the awesome intro article. Heres my situation, We are a family of 6, looking to go to Florida every other year. The kids are young, so in the short term these will be Disney trips to Bonnet creek or Star island. In the long term, the trips will probably move towards the coast, but Wifey and I are always going to be Disney lovers. Even though the plan is odd year trips, I like the freedom annual points gives you.

Im leaning towards buying just under 168,000 annual points. In order to accomplish a “bigger” trip, I’ll end up using two years worth of points every odd year.

Question 1) In order to use my annual points, every other year - Is it still correct that I can put unused points (before the use year starts) into a pool for a small fee (In 2019, I could save my 2020 points for use in 2021). Alternatively, I can choose to “borrow” my full points from 2020 to use in my 2019 trip?

Question 2) I read that “double booking” might get one of the rooms canceled. In the event I needed a second room for family - (or to escape my screaming children) how could I avoid getting the second room canceled? Is it as simple as putting someone else name on the room reservation?

Question 3) For anyone with Club Wyndham Access, does the ARP work out for you? I understand CWA only hold a certain number of rooms in the resorts, Im debating between a resale Bonnet creek / Star Island timeshare, or a club Wyndham access. If CWA works, it might be neat to get ARP at other resorts outside of Florida.

Thank you in advance! You guys are great.

1. If you own 168,000 points you will have until March 31 to deposit your current use year points in ONE of the next 2 use years.
If you make a reservation 90 days or less you can borrow next years points it’s called Express Booking Window.

2. You can have a reservation in your name and your wifes name as long as you are both owners. You can have several reservations for the same date as long as all of the reservations are in different names using different owners or guest certificates[GCs]

3. We do own CWA. ARP at Bonnet Creek works very well. I would definitely recommend CWA over Bonnet Creek or Star Island.
CWA is a very good product with kids and school schedules. Who knows where you will decide to go in a few years and CWA ARP might come in handy.

Buy resale absolutely no reason to buy from Wyndham if your going to own less than 400,000 or I would even say less than 700,000 points. Minimum program fees are based on 231,000 points. If you can handle the MFs on 231,000 points that would be the minimum I would by.

 

[Lisa P]

Family took us to Bonnet Creek in 2017, with points they borrowed from 2018. We were all planning a trip in 2019 with the intention of borrowing points from 2020........ I assumed we could continue borrowing points from a future year.

While the program has been retired, the credits were good for 3 years after points were placed in the pool. There are a few people out there with credit pool credits still available. Any chance family have some remaining for the 2019 trip?

Also, if you purchase a "loaded" resale contract that includes credit pool credits, or 2017/2018 use year points that the seller has deposited for you, forward into the 2019 use year, you may still be able to do this. If you deal directly with the seller and/or a reputable, individual resale broker (maybe not eBay mega-reseller), this may be doable. Get verification that sufficient points exist in the 2019 use year before following through with the sale. It would show up in the seller's online account and they ought to be able to provide you with a screenshot and/or permission to review the account with Wyndham as part of your due diligence.

 

[Braindead]

Family took us to Bonnet Creek in 2017, with points they borrowed from 2018. We were all planning a trip in 2019 with the intention of borrowing points from 2020........ I assumed we could continue borrowing points from a future year. This change kind of stinks, but at least we know now.

Don’t know the date your planning the 2019 trip for. But if family borrowed points instead of using credit pool points which is very possible as Bonnet Creek has availability at 90 days or less a lot of the time especially if your willing to check several times a day for availability.
If you get a purchase closed by the end of the year and are planning your trip for summer 2019 you should be able to find availability at Bonnet Creek.
I think you will find availability at Star Island at 90 days or less pretty much anytime. I can’t remember looking at Star Island and not finding availability except maybe Xmas,New Years and spring break.

 

[HitchHiker71]

1. If you own 168,000 points you will have until March 31 to deposit your current use year points in ONE of the next 2 use years.
If you make a reservation 90 days or less you can borrow next years points it’s called Express Booking Window.

2. You can have a reservation in your name and your wifes name as long as you are both owners. You can several reservations for the same date as long as all of the reservations are in different names using different owners or guest certificates[GCs]

3. We do own CWA. ARP at Bonnet Creek works very well. I would definitely recommend CWA over Bonnet Creek or Star Island.
CWA is a very good product with kids and school schedules. Who knows where you will decide to go in a few years and CWA ARP might come in handy.

Buy resale absolutely no reason to buy from Wyndham if your going to own less than 400,000 or I would even say less than 700,000 points. Minimum program fees are based on 231,000 points. If you can handle the MFs on 231,000 points that would be the minimum I would by.

Just curious exactly what you mean when you stay minimum program fees are based on 231k points?


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[Braindead]

Just curious exactly what you mean when you stay minimum program fees are based on 231k points?


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All levels of ownership on this chart are paying the same minimum program fee. About $131.00 a year. Any amount of points owned over 231k pay .56cents per 1k points if its all resale points. Minimum program fee is based on total points owned not individual contracts. If you own three 77k point contracts you will pay .56 cents per 1k points program fee as your ownership is now at the minimum. If you own 77k points you will pay $131 the same amount for program fees as the owner that owns the three 77k point contracts

 

[ausman]

Re your question 3):

Since you are looking to deposit points forward into a future year for a big trip be aware that the ARP feature is lost for points deposited forward. If you were considering using ARP for that big trip that may not be feasible.

Program fees are a flat $131 for resale points owned up to 231K points and there after are 56 cents per thousand.

 

[MisterMoregore]

Since you are looking to deposit points forward into a future year for a big trip be aware that the ARP feature is lost for points deposited forward. If you were considering using ARP for that big trip that may not be feasible.

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This was very helpful. So if I was to buy 168,000 annual CWA points,I could deposit my 2019 points into 2020 for use. However, If I wanted to blow through all 336,000 points in a single trip, I'd be restricted to the standard reservation window of ten months? Thats not a deal breaker, but absolutely good information to have ahead of time.

 

[MisterMoregore]

P.S. You guys are an awesome resource - I can't thank you enough!

 

[Braindead]

Since you are looking to deposit points forward into a future year for a big trip be aware that the ARP feature is lost for points deposited forward. If you were considering using ARP for that big trip that may not be feasible.

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This was very helpful. So if I was to buy 168,000 annual CWA points,I could deposit my 2019 points into 2020 for use. However, If I wanted to blow through all 336,000 points in a single trip, I'd be restricted to the standard reservation window of ten months? Thats not a deal breaker, but absolutely good information to have ahead of time.

You will find Bonnet Creek availability at 10 months most of the time. You can always use ARP for the first three or four days of your big trip then add the rest of the days at 10 months. Use your ARP for the high demand days such as weekends and look at 10 months for middle of the week days

 

[MisterMoregore]

This brings me to a whole new question- I read somewhere about "renting points"
Lets say I own 168,000 CWA points today. I want to book at resort X in 2019, but that will cost me 224,000 points. Am I able to book the trip, and pay cash for the remaining 56,000 points? I think I read they cost something to the effect of $8 per 1000 points, so this spread would cost be about $500?

Also, What if I add my in laws to the account. Say I buy 168,000 annual points, and they already have 168,000 annual points. If I add myself, my wife, and my in laws onto my ownership, could we have the ability to "pool" all of our points together? ARP isn't a huge deal, we are very flexible with scheduling at the moment.

I already picked my in laws brain about this quite a bit, but they are more casual about TS ownership.

 

[Braindead]

This brings me to a whole new question- I read somewhere about "renting points"
Lets say I own 168,000 CWA points today. I want to book at resort X in 2019, but that will cost me 224,000 points. Am I able to book the trip, and pay cash for the remaining 56,000 points? I think I read they cost something to the effect of $8 per 1000 points, so this spread would cost be about $500?

Also, What if I add my in laws to the account. Say I buy 168,000 annual points, and they already have 168,000 annual points. If I add myself, my wife, and my in laws onto my ownership, could we have the ability to "pool" all of our points together? ARP isn't a huge deal, we are very flexible with scheduling at the moment.

I already picked my in laws brain about this quite a bit, but they are more casual about TS ownership.

Yes as long as all contracts share one common name they can go into the same member number.
Both in laws don’t have to be on your contract. Your in laws already have an account so you will be added to their existing account if one or both of their names are on the contract your buying. If all four of you are owners then you could have upto 4 reservations for the same date without using GCs.

That would also get you over the minimum program fee.

 

[Jan M.]

This brings me to a whole new question- I read somewhere about "renting points"
Lets say I own 168,000 CWA points today. I want to book at resort X in 2019, but that will cost me 224,000 points. Am I able to book the trip, and pay cash for the remaining 56,000 points? I think I read they cost something to the effect of $8 per 1000 points, so this spread would cost be about $500?

Also, What if I add my in laws to the account. Say I buy 168,000 annual points, and they already have 168,000 annual points. If I add myself, my wife, and my in laws onto my ownership, could we have the ability to "pool" all of our points together? ARP isn't a huge deal, we are very flexible with scheduling at the moment.

I already picked my in laws brain about this quite a bit, but they are more casual about TS ownership.

It is now $12 per thousand to rent points.

As to sharing an account. The second one of you to purchase would need to have either one names of the first ones to purchase on their deed or contract when they buy. They would also need to give the account number when they send the information to the seller and closing company. You would be asked to send copies of the driver's licenses of everyone who will be on that deed or contract. Most closing companies do everything by email now so you can scan your driver's licenses and email them. The sales agreements are e-mailed and e-signed too.

It doesn't take long for most new owners to figure out that they didn't buy enough points. There are so many places to go other than Orlando that aren't expensive vacations because of park tickets. You will find yourself going more often and more places than you are imagining right now. Especially if there are resorts with 8 hours or less driving distance.

 

[HitchHiker71]

It doesn't take long for most new owners to figure out that they didn't buy enough points. There are so many places to go other than Orlando that aren't expensive vacations because of park tickets. You will find yourself going more often and more places than you are imagining right now. Especially if there are resorts with 8 hours or less hours driving distance.

This is at least part of why I rescinded my initial contract from last week. After performing due diligence we realized only having 126k points for wasn’t going to be anywhere near enough points for us to be happy TS owners. We are now looking at leveraging PIC and a new contract to start out with 700k annual points (VIP Gold).



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[MisterMoregore]

Thank you all for the advice.
I took the plunge after several years of contemplation. I purchased my first timeshare at Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Harbour (Converted to Club Wyndham Plus 154,000 points). I managed to pull this off from e-bay for pretty cheap, without paying closing costs.

I was planning on buying a timeshare in Florida. Thanks to these forums we decided to find a low MF resort, that we could use anywhere. We may not be able to get ARP, but I don't think thats an issue with the places/times we would go. Right now our plan is to take a trip every odd year, so 154,000 points annually should give us plenty of points....as we get older, and perhaps have a little more money for travel, we might get a few more points.

Thank you again!