Vacation Village Plus (VVP)

[JeroMan]

Does anybody know anything about this program? We recently attended a presentation at the Grandview were the salesman tried to sell us an the VVP upgrade (5,999$, on top of the 10,999$ biennial 49,000 points). Apparently, you can only attach it to a deeded unit. What really interested us was the hotel savings. He showed us 5 to 7 day weeks for 200 to 500$ on hotels that normally run in the thousands for the same time. Has anyone else seen this offer?

 

[rboesl]

Vacation Village Plus does exist. It's based on purchasing a timeshare from the developer. There's no additional fees to get it that I'm aware of. Plus, as far as I know, and I'm Vacation Village Premier (a level up from Plus) there is no hotel discounts like you were shown.

As the saying goes "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't." If you haven't spent the $10,000 or $15,000 yet. DON'T! If you have. THEN RESCIND! I'm sure you can find the exact same thing the salesman was pushing on the secondary market for thousands less. Just check out the TUG Marketplace, Redweek, or eBay.

Oh, and by the way, to my knowledge, ALL Grandview weeks are deeded. Regardless of interval (annual, biannual, or triennial).

 

[JeroMan]

Vacation Village Plus does exist. It's based on purchasing a timeshare from the developer. There's no additional fees to get it that I'm aware of. Plus, as far as I know, and I'm Vacation Village Premier (a level up from Plus) there is no hotel discounts like you were shown.

As the saying goes "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't." If you haven't spent the $10,000 or $15,000 yet. DON'T! If you have. THEN RESCIND! I'm sure you can find the exact same thing the salesman was pushing on the secondary market for thousands less. Just check out the TUG Marketplace, Redweek, or eBay.

Oh, and by the way, to my knowledge, ALL Grandview weeks are deeded. Regardless of interval (annual, biannual, or triennial).

I definitely did not buy. I am interesting in acquiring this on the resale market though, only if it comes with VVP. Was your VVP added to the deed?

 

[rboesl]

My VV purchase was done from the developer. There was no additional fee to "add" Plus or Premier. There's nothing to add to the deed. All a deed does is describe the physical location of the property, the unit involved, and week purchased. Something like VV Plus or Premier would be described in the contract, not the deed.

In my case I've done 2 "upgrades" at Grandview. Both times all it did was restart the clock on the loan. But it did add info regarding Plus or Premier.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Timeshare sellers were flogging Vacation Village Plus last 2 times we got the old hard sell.

Vacation Village Plus sounded like an attractive program with nice benefits, along the lines of an enhanced version of RCI Platinum.

The deal killer was that they offered Vacation Village Plus only as part of a deal that involved buying full-price timeshare, which we need like a frog needs a hair net.

We said No Thanks & that was that.

We are so old now, The Chief Of Staff & I, that I think we have aged out of being invited to take more owner updates & other forms of timeshare sales pitches. Last 2 times we stayed at timeshares in Kissimmee FL (March 2021), we were never encouraged or even invited to go to any kind of sales presentation -- just 1 more perk of living long enough to become sr. citz., I suppose.

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

 

[tschwa2]

I definitely did not buy. I am interesting in acquiring this on the resale market though, only if it comes with VVP. Was your VVP added to the deed?

You can not purchase VV plus or VV premium on resale. You can purchase an already converted points VV unit. You will get $159 exchange fees to VV affiliates through RCI. You also should receive a bonus cert with resale for 2-45 day with the regular rci exchange fee of $249.

If you arrive with a VV points unit I think they would still expect you to make an additional $4995-$6995+ purchase. VVplus or VV premium is not part of the deed that transfers. It is a non transferable developer perk.

 

[AwayWeGo]

You can not purchase VV plus or VV premium on resale. You can purchase an already converted points VV unit. You will get $159 exchange fees to VV affiliates through RCI. You also should receive a bonus cert with resale for 2-45 day with the regular rci exchange fee of $249.

If you arrive with a VV points unit I think they would still expect you to make an additional $4995-$6995+ purchase. VVplus or VV premium is not part of the deed that transfers. It is a non transferable developer perk.

From the timeshare sellers' perspective, it's hard to blame the timeshare companies from doing everything they can think of to push back against resales.

For the The Chief Of Staff & me, it's resale-resale-resale & eBay All The Way.

The timeshare companies can keep the high-price sizzle & we'll go with the bargain-priced steak.

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

 

[Eric B]

We are so old now, The Chief Of Staff & I, that I think we have aged out of being invited to take more owner updates & other forms of timeshare sales pitches. Last 2 times we stayed at timeshares in Kissimmee FL (March 2021), we were never encouraged or even invited to go to any kind of sales presentation -- just 1 more perk of living long enough to become sr. citz., I suppose.

Vidanta would try to sell to you.

 

[JeroMan]

My VV purchase was done from the developer. There was no additional fee to "add" Plus or Premier. There's nothing to add to the deed. All a deed does is describe the physical location of the property, the unit involved, and week purchased. Something like VV Plus or Premier would be described in the contract, not the deed.

In my case I've done 2 "upgrades" at Grandview. Both times all it did was restart the clock on the loan. But it did add info regarding Plus or Premier.

Do you get hotel discounts with your VVP?

 

[rboesl]

Do you get hotel discounts with your VVP?

It's not mentioned in my contract. Vacation Village Premier/Plus is basically RCI's premium product with a couple of additional features.

I haven't used a hotel in years. But, due to this thread I did look into hotel rates. There is definitely a discount. Not as big as you mentioned, but there. I just can't tell you it's because of VV Plus/Premier or if it's due to RCI Premium.

The money you save buying resale will pay for a LOT of hotel stays if you need them. You may be just as well off using a hotel chain affiliated credit card.

Either way you shouldn't be using hotel discounts as the reason to buy a timeshare.

 

[CPNY]

I definitely did not buy. I am interesting in acquiring this on the resale market though, only if it comes with VVP. Was your VVP added to the deed?

49k points at GV isn’t worth it, go for a 61K unit and pay no attention to VVP

 

[escanoe]

You can not purchase VV plus or VV premium on resale. You can purchase an already converted points VV unit. You will get $159 exchange fees to VV affiliates through RCI. You also should receive a bonus cert with resale for 2-45 day with the regular rci exchange fee of $249.

If you arrive with a VV points unit I think they would still expect you to make an additional $4995-$6995+ purchase. VVplus or VV premium is not part of the deed that transfers. It is a non transferable developer perk.

Just to add clarity to this, my research indicates to make the (likely ill advised) decision to buy resale and the then try to do a developer upgrade to VV plus or premium ..... it matters what/where you own. You likely need something that VV developed and sold and not from an affiliate. For instance, I do not believe this is an option with any Massanutten division. I mostly hear about it in relation to Grandview.

 

[tschwa2]

Just to add clarity to this, my research indicates to make the (likely ill advised) decision to buy resale and the then try to do a developer upgrade to VV plus or premium ..... it matters what/where you own. You likely need something that VV developed and sold and not from an affiliate. For instance, I do not believe this is an option with any Massanutten division. I mostly hear about it in relation to Grandview.

Massanutten does not offer it. Grandview and VV at Parkway both definitely qualify and work. I would imagine VV at Berkshires, Williamsburg, Weston and the Colonies would also qualify. They are core VV properties like Grandview not just affiliates. If you pay your MF on the Daily management/ Vacation Village page, I think they sell the upgrade.

 

[rboesl]

I agree with @escanoe and @tschwa2 that it only applies to Vacation Village developed properties. Part of what made my last VV upgrade to Premier was a free property I had acquired at Vacation Village @ Bonaventure. Adding that property to my VV profile took me up to Premier. They also converted Bonaventure from weeks to points at no cost.

 

[timetofly]

I don't see any added value for VV Plus or Premier. If you are on weeks and prepay at Massanutten you get bonus TPU in the spring, that's the only freebie that I know of from VV that is worth anything. The last two sales pitches I went to at VV properties tried to sell point conversions and claim they can take on all of my other weeks timeshares and wrap them into one points account. This is a lie, as is everything else they promise you one a timeshare sales pitch. If you want those hotel stays that should cost a few thousand a week, it's probably better to just pay for those separately instead of trying to upgrade your status to plus or premier at VV.

 

[escanoe]

I don't see any added value for VV Plus or Premier. If you are on weeks and prepay at Massanutten you get bonus TPU in the spring, that's the only freebie that I know of from VV that is worth anything. The last two sales pitches I went to at VV properties tried to sell point conversions and claim they can take on all of my other weeks timeshares and wrap them into one points account.

I view the discounted exchange fees and certificates that reach out more than 45 days as a true benefit of VV Premiere. The problem is the benefit is very seldom going to be worth the cost of a developer purchase. Same story with having a Massanutten gold card that discounts activities and other purchases within Massanutten resort by about 20%.

I love the extra TPU deposit from Massanutten for early mf payment, but I would not factor that into a reason to purchase Massanutten. It is a benefit that is also eroding with time, and is likely to disappear as they have more sold inventory.

The main reason I have bought each of the three (effectively 2.5) VV properties I own is because each has an affordable MF and is a strong trader. Everything else (small freebies in my resale case) is just a side/fringe benefit of the ownership to me. I have not seen any evidence any of these side benefits alone justifying a purpose … yet alone a developer purchase from me.

 

[bendadin]

I woke up to find "Vacation Village Resorts" on the top left of my RCI points account. And clicking on the three lines on the top right it says "Vacation Village Plus. Get a FREE 7-night internal exchange when you upgrade to Vacation Village Plus."

That just happened last night. The link to learn about it is broken though.

 

[escanoe]

I woke up to find "Vacation Village Resorts" on the top left of my RCI points account. And clicking on the three lines on the top right it says "Vacation Village Plus. Get a FREE 7-night internal exchange when you upgrade to Vacation Village Plus."

That just happened last night. The link to learn about it is broken though.

My account looks the same way after last night's update. It is now Vacation Village branded when you first logon. The handy search screen that was there when you first logon is now gone.

#NewShapeOfTravel

 

[rboesl]

You gotta love "upgrades". Apparently someone in advertising decided the "Home" page needed to be used for advertising instead of being user friendly. I've also noticed that Vacation Village logo in the upper left always takes you back to that same home page where you land after login. Of course you can always do you searches using the options given when you select "Book".

 

[escanoe]

You gotta love "upgrades". Apparently someone in advertising decided the "Home" page needed to be used for advertising instead of being user friendly.

Speaking of which, can someone advise me how to navigate to my "favorite" resorts and searches that I have saved? Use to be handy to get to from the page you saw as soon as you logged in.

#NewShapeOfTravel

 

[Eric B]

See my post in the other thread on the subject:

RCI Points Web Update ... how do I see my favorites now?

As we celebrate RCI's 1st anniversary of its move to becoming "Panorama," my field of vision on the site has apparently shrunk to where I do not know how to see my saved "favorites." After RCI reemerged from its weekly, multi-hour Saturday being down for updates .... I appear to now have a new...

tugbbs.com

 

[BOBVW]

Vacation Village Plus does exist. It's based on purchasing a timeshare from the developer. There's no additional fees to get it that I'm aware of. Plus, as far as I know, and I'm Vacation Village Premier (a level up from Plus) there is no hotel discounts like you were shown.

As the saying goes "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't." If you haven't spent the $10,000 or $15,000 yet. DON'T! If you have. THEN RESCIND! I'm sure you can find the exact same thing the salesman was pushing on the secondary market for thousands less. Just check out the TUG Marketplace, Redweek, or eBay.

Oh, and by the way, to my knowledge, ALL Grandview weeks are deeded. Regardless of interval (annual, biannual, or triennial).

I just had a discussion with a fellow on Facebook about the VV+ program. At first, he claimed he exchanged his VV points (53k) for Berkshire in Las Vegas (122K points) and claimed it didn't cost him anything. Later in the conversation, he said it cost him $4,000.

Looking at this menu, It has nothing we would be interested in.

 

[BOBVW]

I just had a long text conversation with a person who said they bought this program. At first he said it didn't cost him anything to switch his Vacation Village points to Berkshire. Too good to be true. It was. After a bit, he admitted he spent $4,000 to trade his 53K from Vacation Village for 122K points at Berkshire-Las Vegas. There is always going to be some cost associated with "new programs". Timeshare Companies don't do anything that isn't going to make them money, lots of money. I found it interesting that he kept asking me how many points we get from Vacation Village and Worldmark, none of his business. I will say, we don't have any points left at the end of the year (not quite accurate with Worldmark, I have 50 points left (lol). He sounded too much like a salesman to me, I know, I spent just about my entire adult life in Sales. If you look at this menu, you can determine if it has any value for you. I have determined, it has no value to us. What do you think?

 

[escanoe]

Unless that list of benefits also comes with improved vision, it will definitely do me no good. The resolution is not such that it can be read. I even saved it as a file.

 

[feliciatd]

Vacation Village Plus does exist. It's based on purchasing a timeshare from the developer. There's no additional fees to get it that I'm aware of. Plus, as far as I know, and I'm Vacation Village Premier (a level up from Plus) there is no hotel discounts like you were shown.

As the saying goes "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't." If you haven't spent the $10,000 or $15,000 yet. DON'T! If you have. THEN RESCIND! I'm sure you can find the exact same thing the salesman was pushing on the secondary market for thousands less. Just check out the TUG Marketplace, Redweek, or eBay.

Oh, and by the way, to my knowledge, ALL Grandview weeks are deeded. Regardless of interval (annual, biannual, or triennial).

We too have been approached to buy VV Premier by adding on to our current ownership. The only quoted feature that interests us is the ability to get any week (even multiple weeks), anywhere, anytime, for no more than 10000 points. They claim these reservations can be made months in advance, rather than in the 45 day window for these bargain weeks through RCI. I would like to find someone who has successfully done this before we finalize any purchase. Since you are VV Premier, could you tell me if you have ever had success doing this? Thanks so much for any info.