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Trying To Understand Bonus Weeks.

escanoe

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One other option if you are a real baller :cool: ( Travel VERY frequently, short notice traveler,) & have some extra Crypto to spend,
Grandview has a VV PLUS pkg. where you can upgrade your ownership for a fee :oops:, that allows you $99. exchange fee for 2 years, & after 2 years, the exchange fee would be ~$139. ( and a few other "perks" :rolleyes: ) .

I am curious about this VV PLUS (or in some cases premiere) talk. I own an EOY Grandview. Where and how do I sign up? I thought getting that required a developer purchase?

I would like a way to get lower exchange fees or pay a higher membership fee to significantly bring down exchange fees. If the major exchanges (II and RCI) could lower exchange fees they (and the smaller independent resorts) would be much more competitive with the mini systems. Of course, with Wyndham owning RCI and Marriott owning II, they really do not have much incentive to do that.
 

jbiza

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My main gripe with Vacation Village Plus is that the only way it was offered to us, twice, required buying more timeshare property at developer prices.

That's a non-starter.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


Agreed.
That is the sticking point to offset to get some value from VV Plus.
 

jbiza

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I am curious about this VV PLUS (or in some cases premiere) talk. I own an EOY Grandview. Where and how do I sign up? I thought getting that required a developer purchase?

I would like a way to get lower exchange fees or pay a higher membership fee to significantly bring down exchange fees. If the major exchanges (II and RCI) could lower exchange fees they (and the smaller independent resorts) would be much more competitive with the mini systems. Of course, with Wyndham owning RCI and Marriott owning II, they really do not have much incentive to do that.


You could sign up to get the VV Plus information by doing a tour/ info session with the sales/marketing team :bawl:,
or, Owner Services at Grandview to potentially upgrade to VV Plus.

As noted by @AwayWeGo, the developer purchase is the main gripe.
To benefit from VV Plus, that is the challenge- overcoming a (mostly taboo on TUG) developer purchase requirement to get VV Plus :ponder:

But hey, everything is negotiable :shrug:
 

escanoe

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To benefit from VV Plus, that is the challenge- overcoming a (mostly taboo on TUG) developer purchase requirement to get VV Plus :ponder:

Being shamed by fellow TUGers ... I could care less. Math is my problem. I don't see the savings from VV Plus/Premiere ever adding up to enough to pay for a developer purchase.
 

Andrearr

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@rboesl gave you a really good breakdown on Grandview :thumbup:

Also, a 1BR Grandview Tri-annual would be low MF (~149. annually.) & ~16k RCI Points. I have seen them offered resale for FREE, where the Seller is paying all closing costs, fees, etc.

You would have to set up a new points account with RCI (~$239.). Having the RCI Points account with your Grandview ownership will give you access to Last Call & Extra Vacations in RCI.

Generally, there are good selections in Last Call & Extra Vacations( depending on where you want to travel, ymmv ;)).

Plus as @AwayWeGo mentions about promos, & bonus weeks, I have seen special promos from $99., $139., $159., $199. offered from time to time ( some with NO points needed), from VV Resorts.

If you can travel on short notice (<30 days or so) you can also regularly find 4700 point exchanges (+exchange fee).

One other option if you are a real baller :cool: ( Travel VERY frequently, short notice traveler,) & have some extra Crypto to spend,
Grandview has a VV PLUS pkg. where you can upgrade your ownership for a fee :oops:, that allows you $99. exchange fee for 2 years, & after 2 years, the exchange fee would be ~$139. ( and a few other "perks" :rolleyes: ) .

So, crunching numbers, a person taking a LOT of 4700 points, $99. exchange fee trips could offset the initial VV Plus costs :ponder:
TUG is the real MVP!!
I'm working with a seller now on Grandview triennial.
Of course thank you to everybody who assisted in coming to this decision and helped me analyze my options.
 

Andrearr

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TUG is the real MVP!!
I'm working with a seller now on Grandview triennial.
Of course thank you to everybody who assisted in coming to this decision and helped me analyze my options.
One last question so that I can provide some advice to someone else...

If you own Grandview can you pay for a personal II account to have access to interval too? Or is Grandview only affiliated with RCI?
 

escanoe

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One last question so that I can provide some advice to someone else...

If you own Grandview can you pay for a personal II account to have access to interval too? Or is Grandview only affiliated with RCI?

Grandview is exclusively RCI. Also as a point of information, even at a dually affiliated resort IF your unit is enrolled in RCI POINTS it cannot be traded in II.
 

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Regarding your last sentence
Someone asked me if I thought timeshares were still relevant with Airbnb and other home sharing platforms. Do you think timeshares are losing whatever position they currently hold in the travel industry? Could they be more or less valuable in the future considering inflation, competition, etc
I’m new to timeshares as I’m waiting for my transfer of ownership for a VV Williamsburg to settle but I definitely think timeshares will hold value. I would much rather be at a resort with beautiful pool areas and be around other vacationers rather than a private home. I think Air B&B is wonderful too though for when I’m traveling to a new city for a short stay. We used Air B&Bs for college visits and found great deals.
 

Tcbmcb5

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Also who knows if fees will stay under control in Air B&B. We used to rent from VRBO years ago and had to stop because the fees became outrageous. Taxes/service fees/cleaning fees made the final cost more than double what the base rent was advertised as. I never even look at that site anymore.
 

rboesl

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My main gripe with Vacation Village Plus is that the only way it was offered to us, twice, required buying more timeshare property at developer prices.

That's a non-starter.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Our original purchase for Grandview was from the developer. We've upgraded twice since to get to Vacation Village Premier with a 2 bedroom. In each case the upgrade simply restarted the clock on the loan. We've never exceeded the original loan amount so it was no big deal. We were already making the payment. On the last upgrade they picked up the cost of converting a 3 bedroom at Vacation Village @ Bonaventure, that we got free, from weeks to points. As a result we get 122,000 from the Grandview unit and 86,000 from the Bonaventure unit. We usually get 6-8 weeks out of those two.
 

rboesl

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Grandview is exclusively RCI. Also as a point of information, even at a dually affiliated resort IF your unit is enrolled in RCI POINTS it cannot be traded in II.

Grandview is a Vacation Village resort, along with 80+ other resorts. Vacation Village uses RCI to manage virtually all of their reservations. It's part of the reason the fees can be discounted. It means Vacation Village doesn't have to have a reservations department. And, the bonus weeks gives RCI a way to sell off inventory that's deposited by developers that's not tied to owners like you & I.
 

Eric B

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Vacation Village weeks, as far as I know, are always fixed weeks.

That's actually resort dependent in the Vacation Village family. At Massanutten, some of the Summit units are fixed week and some are floating week; Woodstone, Mountainside Villas and Regal Vista are fixed week; I'm not sure about the rest. At VV Williamsburg and the Colonies, most are fixed week, but I've seen sales on eBay for floating weeks typically limited to off season ones. The ones in Weston all seemed to be fixed week. Not sure about the rest.

I am curious about this VV PLUS (or in some cases premiere) talk.

VV Plus and Premiere are different versions of RCI Platinum status that have slightly different privileges and are offered in conjunction with developer purchases. IMHO, it's more cost effective to just upgrade to Platinum yourself with RCI - the additional savings on "internal" VV exchanges probably don't pencil out to a savings if you take into account the retail purchase needed to get there. I've never seen an offer to upgrade to that status without purchasing from the developer.
 

rboesl

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That's actually resort dependent in the Vacation Village family. At Massanutten, some of the Summit units are fixed week and some are floating week; Woodstone, Mountainside Villas and Regal Vista are fixed week; I'm not sure about the rest. At VV Williamsburg and the Colonies, most are fixed week, but I've seen sales on eBay for floating weeks typically limited to off season ones. The ones in Weston all seemed to be fixed week. Not sure about the rest.



VV Plus and Premiere are different versions of RCI Platinum status that have slightly different privileges and are offered in conjunction with developer purchases. IMHO, it's more cost effective to just upgrade to Platinum yourself with RCI - the additional savings on "internal" VV exchanges probably don't pencil out to a savings if you take into account the retail purchase needed to get there. I've never seen an offer to upgrade to that status without purchasing from the developer.

Thanks for the clarification on fixed vs floating.

There is one difference on VV vs. VV Plus vs. VV Premier that I liked. Base VV ownership bonus week has a booking window of 2-45 days out. VV Plus ownership bonus weeks has a booking window of 2-90 days out. And, VV Premier ownership bonus weeks have a booking window of 2-180 days out. The wider windows adds to the value of those bonus weeks.
 

tschwa2

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Thanks for the clarification on fixed vs floating.

There is one difference on VV vs. VV Plus vs. VV Premier that I liked. Base VV ownership bonus week has a booking window of 2-45 days out. VV Plus ownership bonus weeks has a booking window of 2-90 days out. And, VV Premier ownership bonus weeks have a booking window of 2-180 days out. The wider windows adds to the value of those bonus weeks.
With VV premier bonus certs, do you pay the regular RCI exchange fee of $249 or is it discounted? If you use one do you immediately have another one to use?
 

Eric B

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Thanks for the clarification on fixed vs floating.

There is one difference on VV vs. VV Plus vs. VV Premier that I liked. Base VV ownership bonus week has a booking window of 2-45 days out. VV Plus ownership bonus weeks has a booking window of 2-90 days out. And, VV Premier ownership bonus weeks have a booking window of 2-180 days out. The wider windows adds to the value of those bonus weeks.

Booking windows do vary. I have one bonus week certificate for a Massanutten resort with a 180-day one and am neither plus nor premier. I agree it adds a lot of value.
 

tschwa2

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Booking windows do vary. I have one bonus week certificate for a Massanutten resort with a 180-day one and am neither plus nor premier. I agree it adds a lot of value.
For whatever reason even though Massanutten is an affiliate, they can't sell VVplus or VVpremier, but can give out the 180 day bonus weeks.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
The deeds to our floating-week timeshares, which we enjoyed for several years before we downsized, specified fixed weeks in specific units -- e.g., B36A10B (Bldg. B, Unit 36 A+B [lock-off], Week 10).

Even so, the original condo resort document on file with all the timeshare deeds down at the courthouse specified that all use was on a floating-week system, 1st come 1st served, with owners having no particular use rights to their own deeded weeks.

So even though we owned B36A10B, we never occupied unit B36, A or B, during Week 10 or any week.

We stayed in other people's deeded units & other people stayed in ours.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

escanoe

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For whatever reason even though Massanutten is an affiliate, they can't sell VVplus or VVpremier, but can give out the 180 day bonus weeks.

Are the 180 day certs a developer perk? I only see the certificates like the one below. (2-45 days)
42983B1F-F31D-4615-9E06-BB883121A621.jpeg
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Something similar to that (except labeled Vacation Village rather than Masanutten) shows up on the opening page every time I log on to RCI Points -- meaning it has nothing to do with developer perks because our 1 remaining timeshare is resale (eBay all the way).

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
With VV premier bonus certs, do you pay the regular RCI exchange fee of $249 or is it discounted? If you use one do you immediately have another one to use?
I don't know about premier, but for regular Vacation Village bonus certificates, you just just pay money (+ tax) -- no points & no exchange fee.

Basically, the list of what's available as bonus weeks has been exactly the same as the list of available Last Call weeks, except that the bonus weeks are about $40 cheaper.

That's how it's been for the past year or so. I don't recall how it was before that. For how it will be in the future, who knows ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

rboesl

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With VV premier bonus certs, do you pay the regular RCI exchange fee of $249 or is it discounted? If you use one do you immediately have another one to use?

The exchange fee is the Vacation Village discounted rate of $199. Once you use it it's gone until the next year. I get 2 per year and they carry over 1 year automatically if they don't get used.
 

tschwa2

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The exchange fee is the Vacation Village discounted rate of $199. Once you use it it's gone until the next year. I get 2 per year and they carry over 1 year automatically if they don't get used.
So you get 4 if you don't use any on one year? And this is through rci points account VV premier? $199 whether you exchange into a VV affiliate or not?
 

rboesl

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So you get 4 if you don't use any on one year? And this is through rci points account VV premier? $199 whether you exchange into a VV affiliate or not?
Correct, 2 carry over and 2 new ones awarded. This is through RCI points Vacation Village Premier account. The certificates allow me to book from 2-180 days out which means the inventory is wider than just the Last Call list. The exchange fee is $199 using the certificate or to book a regular exchange to a non-Vacation Village resort. With VV Premier if I do an "internal exchange" (to another VV Resort) the exchange fee is $119. There have been cases where there's been discounts on the number of points required for a VV resort (once it was an 80% discount) and still paid the $119 fee. I also get a discount on Guest Certificates as well.
 

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I think these Bonus Weeks are the best thing about owning VV. It makes it very easy to get very high value out of your MF. I already own at Parkway and just purchased a triennial at Grandview. For some, the booking window may make it difficult to use them, but if you are flexible about a few of the specifics, you can get fantastic deals!
 

tschwa2

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Correct, 2 carry over and 2 new ones awarded. This is through RCI points Vacation Village Premier account. The certificates allow me to book from 2-180 days out which means the inventory is wider than just the Last Call list. The exchange fee is $199 using the certificate or to book a regular exchange to a non-Vacation Village resort. With VV Premier if I do an "internal exchange" (to another VV Resort) the exchange fee is $119. There have been cases where there's been discounts on the number of points required for a VV resort (once it was an 80% discount) and still paid the $119 fee. I also get a discount on Guest Certificates as well.
One more question. There was someone on an rci facebook group who claimed Disney Grand California was available to exchange using his VV premier account. I think he was just mistaken and although listed in the directory and technically would be eligible (unlike Orlando Disney where he would be ineligible because of the 30 mile restriction) nothing is ever available there through rci and that would include VV premier. I asked him what dates were available to exchange and he never replied. You don't actually see any inventory at Disney Grand California or any of the other non orlando vacation clubs through your VV premier account, do you?
 
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