UVCI Villa Group Booking Issues

[bundy81881]

Hi everyone, I just joined here.

Back in 2017, my wife and I signed up for a 1000 point bi-annual (studio) setup while visiting for a wedding in PVR. Long story short we were told we could use preferred points, borrow, bank, whatever for upgrades because we had a 3 and 1 year old with us. And could do this at any location, even Cancun, which was closest to us in Florida.

Fast forward to today I am told I cannot do any of this in Cancun at all. And can only do preferred points pretty much anywhere except Cancun.

Our kids are now 9, 6 and 4 and we are basically told we can't book a studio with a family that size, but can't upgrade with any banking, borrowing or preferred points. Essentially, we're just kinda stuck.

We did go over the fine print but the salesman did say all of that stuff was negotiable and Cancun always let's people in. Given that was verbal, it doesn't give me much ammo when trying to make reservations.

Do I have any recourse? Any ideas I can do to stay in Cancun? What I'd like to do is use the preferred points or bank/borrow so that I can get a 2 bedroom to fit everyone. But my emails and calls with customer service have gone nowhere. Perhaps is there another number to call to discuss these escalations? Or is there a way to buy more points without having to be on site? Can someone sell them to me after market?

Would love any advice. Thanks in advance!

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Hi @bundy81881 - Welcome to TUG

I would suggest going to the one of the Villa resorts in the Puerto Vallarta area- Villa del Palmar - or Flamingos.
The extra fly time is probably worth it for the location and weather.
[The Villa resort in Cancun is not central to the hotel zone / from Nov -May the west coast of Mexico gets almost no rain -so sunshine every day of vacation and temps of 78-86 F]

FYI - Villa has 2 owner developers and they have each developed resorts that are not part of their partnership. That is likely the reason why
you do not have access to Cancun. The salesperson may have been operationally truthful in 2017 but it is 2023 and Cancun is not contract listed for you.

I am sure some Villa owners can help you on the details of how to borrow and bank points.

 

[rboesl]

Villa Group is a points based system. If have enough points you can do what you say you want to do. But, in your case it could cost you.

You can buy Preferred Points. It'll basically cost you the same amount that you pay every 2 years. That would essentially double the points you have in your bi-annual year or be the same number of points in your off year. As long as you have enough points you can book whatever size room you want. There is a defined points scale and the number of points required for a given room can differ from resort to another. You should have been given a copy of that with your contract. But, you should ask for an updated document since additional resorts have been built.

Banking is a little different. You get 1000 points every other year. If you decide you don't want to visit a Villa resort one of your years you can "bank" those points for future use. You will have to designate which year to bank them into. Then when you do want to visit you can pull those out of the bank for a reservation.

As far as Cancun goes. It's an odd duck. It's technically not a UVCI resort. I believe it's Tafer. But it is made available to some contracts. Your contract is the key. It should list the resorts you have access to. I know mine has a list of resorts (mine includes Cancun) and says I have access to any future "Villa Group" resort. That terminology is key because it excludes me from booking Garza & Tafer resorts since they are not "Villa Group".

Borrowing is a little different. Generally it means you can pull weeks from the back end of your contract (yours is probably a 30 year contract) by paying the current usage fee. It shortens your contract but puts that usage fee in their hands quicker which is why they allow it. Usually that's reserved for Senior contracts so they can get your money before you die.

 

[bundy81881]

Thanks so much. I did go through my contract, and Cancun definitely is listed. The trick is that on preferred points, they are based on availability. So Cancun makes it extremely difficult to utilize them at all. However, I do really like the resort. The reason why I am not interested in doing PVR or Cabo etc is the plane flights from Tampa are MUCH more expensive from Tampa.

So all that being said, I think my only option is to upgrade points. Is there some sort of market or some place where I can do this? I know the Villa Group has to approve it.

Thanks again!

 

[skimeup]

FYI, ebay now has some points for sale. That might help you. The seller has been on ebay for quite awhile and has a decent reputation. Check it out.

 

[bundy81881]

FYI, ebay now has some points for sale. That might help you. The seller has been on ebay for quite awhile and has a decent reputation. Check it out.

Thanks! I saw that and am watching it. Thanks so much!

 

[douglasmhines]

Thanks so much. I did go through my contract, and Cancun definitely is listed. The trick is that on preferred points, they are based on availability. So Cancun makes it extremely difficult to utilize them at all. However, I do really like the resort. The reason why I am not interested in doing PVR or Cabo etc is the plane flights from Tampa are MUCH more expensive from Tampa.

So all that being said, I think my only option is to upgrade points. Is there some sort of market or some place where I can do this? I know the Villa Group has to approve it.

Thanks again!

preferred points are bookable for up to 12 months out . . . at least in my contract. if that is the case for yours, maybe you just need to book cancun as soon as that 12 month window opens. Just because it isn't available, doesn't mean you can't get it, it just means the rooms you have access to have already been booked. Hopefully that helps!

 

[douglasmhines]

FYI, ebay now has some points for sale. That might help you. The seller has been on ebay for quite awhile and has a decent reputation. Check it out.

just keep in mind, buying more points is usually buying another contract (right)? and if that is the case, you cannot combine points between contracts. But, you can get creative. For example, a one bedroom is 1700. if you buy another 1000 point contract you can buy some of the days with one contract, and the remaining days on the other contract. But that is contingent on your contract allowing you to buy on a daily basis. the good thing is, if you add up the individual daily costs of a one bedroom, it equals out to 1700.

That said, with how low resale costs are, I would advise you buy a contract that has the points you want, because it will probably only cost a tiny amount more for the one bedroom (1700) or two bedroom (2200). please note, these point values are for the slow season at most resorts, not all (may thru october)