Vacation Village Timeshare Links and Information

[loris]

Tamara, I own at the Berkshires - my first resort, ever - that I bought through the developer. I get those $159 deals with no exchange, but through the Cliffs at Peace Canyon, which I bought as a resale, I do not.

I don't think RCI controls who gets a certificate and who doesn't. I think they come from VV. Just my opinion, though. Let us know if you find differently.

 

[F1or1da1]

I stayed at VV at Parkway twice in January. It’s showing it’s age. Furniture was very uncomfortable in LR area. Looks like a hotel where construction came to a halt which we had to drive by coming and going. The checkin process was not comfortable the first visit. After telling them I’m an owner there, they proceeded to pas me along to various reps to whom I politely repeated “I’m an owner. No thank you.” 15 minutes later I had my keys and ran for the exit. Second visit, I repeated my NO mantra and was handed my keys!
At the pool taken over by families with reckless children, we were the only couple wearing a mask!! Both visits, few wore masks beyond the checkin. Guests didn’t wear them on elevators, but we did refusing to ride with others.
Gas grills are not convenient to any units. Kitchens don’t lend themselves to cooking. Bring your own or only carry in prepared food. I continue to wonder why I ever bought here years ago. But, to be fair to those exchanging in, it’s still better than most others in RCI inventory in the area.
Oh, there is a HUGE reserve for bad debt that owners have been footing in their maintenance fees for years. Four more years until I say goodbye to my albatross, hoping deed backs will be accepted then.

 

[Travelguy55]

@rboesl , Thank you so much for those details. Now I see the difference is in the internal booking. I never took notice to how much RCI factors into the internal trading. Now it makes more sense. However, so far I have not received the perks/certificates that @escanoe describes. I am so new to this. I have exchanged one of my weeks for an upcoming vacation at the end of this month. I don't think I got a good deal as I booked into a VV property(Vacation Village @Parkway). Sure it only costs me 8TPUs and I had 18. It shows I am left with a credit of 10TPUs for it. However, I also had a resort certificate so I should have been able to use that. Maybe I should have called RCI instead of doing it myself online. I think I messed up there and now it's too late. Oh well, live and learn. I should have come to TUG first like I always do. Now I see I should've had better options when booking into another VV resort. I see you mention Diamond resorts. Didn't HGVC just acquire Diamond Resorts. I think that is a huge benefit for Diamond owners to now be a part of the HGVC family.

I am new to all this too. I just bought on resale. How do you get a certificate?

 

[Travelguy55]

Tamara, I own at the Berkshires - my first resort, ever - that I bought through the developer. I get those $159 deals with no exchange, but through the Cliffs at Peace Canyon, which I bought as a resale, I do not.

I don't think RCI controls who gets a certificate and who doesn't. I think they come from VV. Just my opinion, though. Let us know if you find differently.

I just bought a VV week on resale. What is a certificate and how do you get one and how are you entitled to one?

 

[rboesl]

I am new to all this too. I just bought on resale. How do you get a certificate?

This should be in the paperwork of the contract you just bought. Hopefully you were given a copy. If not then contact your home resort's member services. They should be able to tell you all about what you just bought.

But, there are actually 3 types of "certificates" that I know about. Most contracts award 1 or 2 "bonus" weeks with varying booking windows. The most common allows you to book from 2-45 days ahead for an exchange fee (no points required). That inventory generally corresponds with RCI's Extra Vacations. The next level allows you to book 2-90 days ahead. A wider inventory list is provided. The final level allows you to book 2-180 days ahead. Much wider inventory.

Vacation Village also offers specials periodically. The most recent was $159 for a week at one of 11 different VV resorts.

Don't know where you purchased. Massanutten also offers some specials to their owners. Usually a week for $249

 

[Travelguy55]

This should be in the paperwork of the contract you just bought. Hopefully you were given a copy. If not then contact your home resort's member services. They should be able to tell you all about what you just bought.

But, there are actually 3 types of "certificates" that I know about. Most contracts award 1 or 2 "bonus" weeks with varying booking windows. The most common allows you to book from 2-45 days ahead for an exchange fee (no points required). That inventory generally corresponds with RCI's Extra Vacations. The next level allows you to book 2-90 days ahead. A wider inventory list is provided. The final level allows you to book 2-180 days ahead. Much wider inventory.

Vacation Village also offers specials periodically. The most recent was $159 for a week at one of 11 different VV resorts.

Don't know where you purchased. Massanutten also offers some specials to their owners. Usually a week for $249

Thanks, bought VV Williamsburgh resale, 4br. Will call home resort when sale and transfer goes through and inquire about certificates.

 

[Shopgirl0502]

So new to forums, sorry if this isn't how it's done...but I have a question about Vacation Village. I have a contract purchased 6 years ago now on a points system at Parkway. I have yet to use it (unforseen circumstances) but now that they are partnered with RCI I believe I'm supposed to have points deposited to them? Also, do you know if any of the previous years' points are still available to use?

Thanks!

 

[tschwa2]

So new to forums, sorry if this isn't how it's done...but I have a question about Vacation Village. I have a contract purchased 6 years ago now on a points system at Parkway. I have yet to use it (unforseen circumstances) but now that they are partnered with RCI I believe I'm supposed to have points deposited to them? Also, do you know if any of the previous years' points are still available to use?

Thanks!

did you just convert to rci points or has it been in points all along? Have you been paying not only your MF's but also your RCI membership fees?

 

[Shopgirl0502]

did you just convert to rci points or has it been in points all along? Have you been paying not only your MF's but also your RCI membership fees?

It was originally weeks but converted to points in 2015. I have paid MF's and RCI dues.

 

[Shopgirl0502]

Wait, maybe I have not been paying RCI. Does that change your answer? lol

 

[tschwa2]

Wait, maybe I have not been paying RCI. Does that change your answer? lol

Yes because you probably don't have points anymore. I think you have to maintain an RCI membership for RCI points. Otherwise I believe it would convert back to a deeded week and you would have to pay a re-activation fee to RCI. If you didn't have an rci membership anything in past years is gone. If you did have rci than with points you would owe an extra $40 ish for last years points but would still have those.

 

[Shopgirl0502]

Thank you so much for responding, I really appreciate it. Hopefully last question and just clarification...if I converted my Vacation Village week into points, it turned into RCI points? If yes, and I didn't pay my RCI membership those points would be lost?

 

[tschwa2]

Thank you so much for responding, I really appreciate it. Hopefully last question and just clarification...if I converted my Vacation Village week into points, it turned into RCI points? If yes, and I didn't pay my RCI membership those points would be lost?

Sometimes when you convert they pay a year or two of rci but after that it would be on you. Try to log onto rci or call them and see if you have an account and if their is a re-activation fee and if they can do anything about any points other than this year. Otherwise you will start with a new rci account and see how much it would cost to enroll it in rci points or if your only option is to go through rci weeks at this point.

 

[AwayWeGo]

​

Vacation Village At Parkway -- new buildings completed.

​

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Out of here Oh Dark Thirty tomorrow morning, heading to Kissimmee FL for a bonus 2BR week in Vacation Village At Parkway with 2 granddaughters + 2 friends -- a return visit for the whole group, depending on which friends will be coming.

We're traveling by air this time, instead of subjecting ourselves to another grueling summertime road trip down I-95 & back.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Checked in yesterday afternoon to Unit 21111 A&C.

So far, so good.

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

 

[TamaraQT]

Checked in yesterday afternoon to Unit 21111 A&C.

So far, so good.

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

I hope you are having a FANTASTIC time!!! Looks like you got placed in building #21. I hope you come back and share some details.

 

[AwayWeGo]

I hope you are having a FANTASTIC time!!! Looks like you got placed in building #21. I hope you come back and share some details.

[ Tamara, you are the only 1 so far to catch on to the joke of the photo in Entry 39 -- a picture of a Russian housing complex in Moscow that I compared to new buildings at Vacation Village At Parkway. ]

We did have a nice time, as usual -- have not been disappointed in Vacation Village At Parkway at any time, except once when we got there late for check-in (11PM, in the old check-in building) & had to stand in line for 90 minutes before we got our unit assignment. But that was in 2916, so it goes under the heading bygones.

This time, they checked us in pronto. We like ground-floor units because being on the 1st floor means never waiting for elevators (or sharing elevators with people who might have been exposed to covid-19, so we were happy with Unit 21111 A+C.

Our 1st night (Sunday), we had 2 old folks (The Chief Of Staff & me ) + 2 granddaughters (10 & 12) & 1 friend (11). Another friend (13) joined the group Wednesday.
The 4 girls got along great, were consistently polite, were never demanding or whiny, said please & thank you, & enjoyed themselves in the resort pools and in our timeshare condo. They insisting 1 night on swimming in every pool in the whole complex one night. I said OK & they piled into the car & we made the pool circuit. Except for going out for treats several times, we all just stayed at the resort and had a good time there.

My older granddaughter said of all the timeshares where they've stayed with us (Fantasy World, Star Island, Kingstown Reef, Vacation Village At Parkway), she likes Vacation Village At Parkway the best.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

I hope you come back and share some details.

More details about our recent week at Vacation Village At Parkway with our granddaughters & friends are in the TUG Resort Reviews section.

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

 

[Mongoose]

So if you own Grandview, to access other VV, do you have to exchange through RCI and pay $159? Do you at least get some type of priority?

 

[escanoe]

Some people here say VV has an internal exchange program outside of RCI, but I think it only exists in the mist if at all.

There is no preference for internal trades (that really isn’t a thing in RCI as it is in II).

Any VV property I have ever wanted to trade into has not been that hard to match if requested in a reasonable timeframe. In all but peak times, I usually wait until a couple of months out so I am booking something heavily discounted. I am usually trading into Massanutten or Williamsburg so YMMV if going for something with more scarcity.

My 2BR President's Day week/ski week at Massanutten with a check-in tomorrow took all of 5 TPUs + a $159 exchange fee. The resort has been all booked for the last few weeks, but there was inventory for Presidents’ Day week going into January.

Additional note: this post and the $159 exchange fee applies only to RCI weeks. I believe there is a way to book other resorts in the VV family in RCI Points at 12 [correction from @youppi below, it’s 11] months out versus 10 for everybody else if you own VV points. For what I do, that is not a good use of points as the exchange fee is higher than RCI Weeks and if you wait to book the trading power will be discounted.

 

[Sn0wbird]

Some people here say VV has an internal exchange program outside of RCI, but I think it only exists in the mist if at all.

There is no preference for internal trades (that really isn’t a thing in RCI as it is in II).

Any VV property I have ever wanted to trade into has not been that hard to match if requested in a reasonable timeframe. In all but peak times, I usually wait until a couple of months so I am booking something heavily discounted. I am usually trading into Massanutten or Williamsburg so YMMV if going for something with more scarcity.

My 2BR President”s week/ski week at Massanutten with a checking tomorrow took all of 5 TPUs + a $159 exchange fee. The resort has been all booked for the last few weeks, but there was inventory for Presidents’ week going into January.

Additional note: this post and the $159 exchange fee applies only to RCI weeks. I believe there is a way to book other resorts in the VV family in RCI Points at 12 months out versus 10 for everybody else if you own VV points. For what I do, that is not a good use of points as the exchange fee is higher than RCI Weeks and if you wait to book the trading power will be discounted.

I'll be at Massanutten this weekend. Would be nice to see a tugger there.

 

[youppi]

Additional note: this post and the $159 exchange fee applies only to RCI weeks. I believe there is a way to book other resorts in the VV family in RCI Points at 12 months out versus 10 for everybody else if you own VV points. For what I do, that is not a good use of points as the exchange fee is higher than RCI Weeks and if you wait to book the trading power will be discounted.

Yes there is a priority to book other VV resorts but it's not 12 months. It's 11 months.

The booking windows of each category with RCI points are:
13 months (396 days) : your home week priority.
12 months (365 days) : your home resort priority.
11 months (334 days) : your home group priority (other VV resorts if you own at a VV resort)
10 months (303 days) : the standard points reservation.

 

[sharewhereMiMi]

I'll be at Massanutten this weekend. Would be nice to see a tugger there.

How about a meet up Tuesday? We will arrive to Massanutten FEB 20 early afternoon. Our check in was yesterday (Sun), we dragged our feet in leaving Savannah.

 

[Sn0wbird]

How about a meet up Tuesday? We will arrive to Massanutten FEB 20 early afternoon. Our check in was yesterday (Sun), we dragged our feet in leaving Savannah.

Would love to meet but we left today.