VIP Upgrade Optimization - implemented on Monday night, 9/21/2026 late maintenance announcement (implemented on the 21st, announced outage 9/22)

dioxide45 · Oct 2, 2026

CO skier said:
As an example of the presumed new process, at a resort with 2 BR and 2 BR Deluxe and/or 2 BR Lock-off, when the various Upgrade windows open, any 2 BR Deluxe and/or 2 BR LO suites continue to remain available to book

a) by non-VIPS at full points cost
b) by VIPs using the tiered discount (and upgrade, if one is available).

This will certainly increase availability of (larger) suites within the 60 day booking window, because there is no upgrade path to those suites. "More availability" may be Wyndham's objective, without eliminating VIP upgrades altogether.

While it might increase availability, will it really mean more rooms being booked? This is leftover last minute stuff at 60 days. If it was really in demand the rooms would already be booked. It’s mainly getting reserved because of VIP discounts or upgrades, absent those, they probably will just sit empty. Perhaps that’s better in some cases where it costs more to clean the larger unit but if the goal is making more availability to people who actually book the rooms, that may not actually happen.

Floridaman76 · Oct 2, 2026

Pink_Warrior said:
Has anyone received an upgrade as opted-in?

I have not though I am trying to book at a resort that has a handful of dates until the end of the year, and then every date was available.

@HitchHiker71
So I was told that AI actually shows different inventory to different owners. This can’t be true though at times, I rather think it may really be true.

I was also told that inventory shows as per the points that the system is using. For example, I have 105 CWA. I won’t see anything since that isn’t enough to book a week (not that I ever book a week.). I book within 60 days so I would assume that points should be points, no? That is not what they were saying. Hmm.

I got two auto upgrades this year. One in July at Palm Aire (1br std to 2BR Deluxe) and one at Kingsgate in October (1br suite to 2BR deluxe). The Kingsgate one hit RIGHT at the date of my upgrade window (30 days). The Palm Aire one took a few days longer, but hit before 15 days.

I also got upgraded at check-in unexpectedly in July at Smokey Mountains from a 1BR DLX to 2BR DLX (that one was booked using resale points even)

Floridaman76 · Oct 2, 2026

dioxide45 said:
While it might increase availability, will it really mean more rooms being booked? This is leftover last minute stuff at 60 days. If it was really in demand the rooms would already be booked. It’s mainly getting reserved because of VIP discounts or upgrades, absent those, they probably will just sit empty. Perhaps that’s better in some cases where it costs more to clean the larger unit but if the goal is making more availability to people who actually book the rooms, that may not actually happen.

Correct... especially the bolded part. Hence my frustration with the attitude from Wyndham of "we want butts in rooms", but are now disincentivizing VIP's making bookings by screwing up the upgrade paths / possibilities.

I flat out wont make last minute plans if it means spending full suite cost. It's not happening.

Will this possibly help people who can't plan and try to use timeshares like hotels for last minute travel? Maybe, but they will be paying full cost for the larger suite.

The system should not be "dumbed down" because a percentage of owners can't be bothered to learn how to use the system to their biggest advantage, or people who just flat out cannot plan

dioxide45 · Oct 2, 2026

Floridaman76 said:
Correct... especially the bolded part. Hence my frustration with the attitude from Wyndham of "we want butts in rooms", but are now disincentivizing VIP's making bookings by screwing up the upgrade paths / possibilities.

I flat out wont make last minute plans if it means spending full suite cost. It's not happening.

Will this possibly help people who can't plan and try to use timeshares like hotels for last minute travel? Maybe, but they will be paying full cost for the larger suite.

The system should not be "dumbed down" because a percentage of owners can't be bothered to learn how to use the system to their biggest advantage, or people who just flat out cannot plan

They really should be incentivizing VIPs to upgrade making the smaller units still open and available. It is more likely that non VIPs will book the smaller units since they don’t have as many points and don’t get the discounts. By filling smaller units with VIPs, it just blocks the cheaper inventory that non VIPs could book.

rickandcindy23 · Oct 2, 2026

I am getting an upgrade for Grand Desert:

CO skier · Oct 2, 2026

dioxide45 said:
While it might increase availability, will it really mean more rooms being booked? This is leftover last minute stuff at 60 days. If it was really in demand the rooms would already be booked. It’s mainly getting reserved because of VIP discounts or upgrades, absent those, they probably will just sit empty. Perhaps that’s better in some cases where it costs more to clean the larger unit but if the goal is making more availability to people who actually book the rooms, that may not actually happen.

Floridaman76 said:
Correct... especially the bolded part. Hence my frustration with the attitude from Wyndham of "we want butts in rooms", but are now disincentivizing VIP's making bookings by screwing up the upgrade paths / possibilities.

Here is some "Number of Reservations" data (as opposed to raw speculation) from WorldMark, which does not have VIP discounts, so all the <60 day bookings are equivalent to Club Wyndham non-VIPs.

Wyndham may be looking for the same availability effect in Club Wyndham with this change. Wyndham certainly has the capability to perform the same analysis for Club Wyndham.

Floridaman76 · Oct 2, 2026

rickandcindy23 said:
I am getting an upgrade for Grand Desert:

For purposes of upgrades, a 1BR Suite is the same as a 1BR Deluxe at this resort. So the upgrade path, even as it has been poorly implemented here, at that resort is to a 2BR Deluxe.

You could not upgrade from a 1BR Suite to a 1BR Deluxe before, and apparently cannot now either. So the upgrade to a 2BR Deluxe is expected, at least here. Several resorts are like this.

Sandi Bo · Oct 2, 2026

Floridaman76 said:
I got two auto upgrades this year. One in July at Palm Aire (1br std to 2BR Deluxe) and one at Kingsgate in October (1br suite to 2BR deluxe). The Kingsgate one hit RIGHT at the date of my upgrade window (30 days). The Palm Aire one took a few days longer, but hit before 15 days.

I also got upgraded at check-in unexpectedly in July at Smokey Mountains from a 1BR DLX to 2BR DLX (that one was booked using resale points even)

For purposes of upgrade optimization, upgrades at checkin are irrelevant, IMO, When that happens, my guess it's to the resorts advantage - maybe an inventory issue on their part. It doesn't show in your account and I doubt Wyndham (corporate) is even aware.

chapjim · Oct 3, 2026

CO skier said:
That is an exception to the rule,

because the next "Larger Room" for a Studio LL at PCB is a 1 BR Lower Level, and definitely not a 2 BR of any kind.

View attachment 129892

If we knew the rule, and all the exceptions to the rule, we'd be in great shape!

Pink_Warrior · Thursday at 6:24 PM

So instead of upgrading my reservation to a 2 LO since there is a 2D in the point chart, I have to book two 1 bedroom units (12,000 each) and use a free HK on each.

Does this make sense to Wyndham?

Floridaman76 · Thursday at 6:42 PM

@HitchHiker71 did you get any insight into whether or not this BS will be reversed or tweaked?

Pink_Warrior · Thursday at 8:03 PM

The only way it will be tweaked is if it starts costing them more money.

HitchHiker71 · Friday at 4:47 PM

Floridaman76 said:
@HitchHiker71 did you get any insight into whether or not this BS will be reversed or tweaked?

Reversed entirely no, but I was able to get confirmation today during our meeting that due in no small part to our efforts, they will be loosening the rules as requested - for both better view and larger room upgrades. Couple of noteworthy updates as follows:

PR owners will continue to enjoy basically the "old rules" for multi-room jumps up for upgrades - particularly if there are available PR/Presidential rooms (which explains the @chapjim example he provided earlier in this thread that showed a two bedroom PR unit upgrade from a studio unit).
Wyndham is working toward loosening the upgrade rules away from the strict "adjacent points chart only" approach to "any larger room" that has an additional bedroom (even if that larger unit doesn't sleep more people), same for the "better view" rooms. The caveat here is that doing this, particularly for some of the more complex resort points charts - such as OB or PCB - may take some time - so it won't happen overnight - but it's coming. Hang in there, and thanks to you all for your feedback along this line both here on TUG and through other online channels - Wyndham heard you and is adapting as a result of said feedback.

Floridaman76 · Friday at 5:28 PM

Well that's better than nothing, if they are asking for input on what constitutes "complex points charts", it needs to include these resorts at minimum. I have personally verified each one of these and can give you detailed info on what's broke. In some cases it's you can't upgrade in any circumstance to a 2BR LO or other 2BR type like a Deluxe if there is a "lesser" type room on the chart, but not available. Some are more broke than others. But some of these there is seemingly no upgrade path at all in almost any circumstance.

Emerald Grande
National Harbor (the balcony rooms screw up everything)
Ocean Blvd
Ocean Walk
Ocean Ridge (multiple associations each with varying room types has this resort messed up)
Pagosa
Palm Aire
Panama City Beach
Sea Gardens
TOTG

I have not checked it, but Smugglers Notch is NO DOUBT completely messed up as well because of all the different points charts there and room values.

There are no doubt more I just have not tried. Sedona and Flagstaff come to mind as possibilities. Shawnee would be too if it was still around.

I would also ask, is their intent to lock "regular owners" out of any upgrades into Presidential suites? I tried at several resorts which should upgrade into a 2BR Presidential but would not currently. Hoping this is something they plan to fix... also flat out not allowing an upgrade into a LockOff is BS just because there are no Deluxe rooms available. It's already difficult to book these, but when the planets align and one opens up, and then we can't upgrade into it, it's infuriating. Because it's been something allowed forever.

Anyway, thanks for assisting with this. The feedback from owners on Facebook probably grabbed some attention too...

Floridaman76 · Friday at 5:33 PM

Also some of the Hawaii resorts, although I have not tried. I know places like Bali Hai, Ka Eo Kai, Beachboy and Waikiki Beach Walk have a ton of room types and i'm not sure how viable it ever is to get upgrades there, but i'm sure they are broke right now.

I am planning a Hawaii trip and mapped out every room type by size, points, view, etc in an excel spreadsheet to figure out how many points I will need and some of these resorts have a ton of room types. Upper, lower, plus, loft, etc

Pink_Warrior · Friday at 10:12 PM

HitchHiker71 said:
Reversed entirely no, but I was able to get confirmation today during our meeting that due in no small part to our efforts, they will be loosening the rules as requested - for both better view and larger room upgrades. Couple of noteworthy updates as follows:

PR owners will continue to enjoy basically the "old rules" for multi-room jumps up for upgrades - particularly if there are available PR/Presidential rooms (which explains the @chapjim example he provided earlier in this thread that showed a two bedroom PR unit upgrade from a studio unit).

Wyndham is working toward loosening the upgrade rules away from the strict "adjacent points chart only" approach to "any larger room" that has an additional bedroom (even if that larger unit doesn't sleep more people), same for the "better view" rooms. The caveat here is that doing this, particularly for some of the more complex resort points charts - such as OB or PCB - may take some time - so it won't happen overnight - but it's coming. Hang in there, and thanks to you all for your feedback along this line both here on TUG and through other online channels - Wyndham heard you and is adapting as a result of said feedback.

So does this mean that we don’t have to find the floor plans and count all of the smallest unit type in each category?

For example, Clearwater only has a small number of 2 bedroom units therefore maybe only 4 or 5 upgrades available from a 1 since the deluxes and presidentials will no longer qualify?

CO skier · Saturday at 1:46 AM

HitchHiker71 said:
Couple of noteworthy updates as follows:

PR owners will continue to enjoy basically the "old rules" for multi-room jumps up for upgrades - particularly if there are available PR/Presidential rooms (which explains the @chapjim example he provided earlier in this thread that showed a two bedroom PR unit upgrade from a studio unit).

chapjim said:
"I can think of one instance where I did what might be called inventory manipulation. I booked a Studio Lower Level at Panama City Beach and a 1BR Deluxe at Emerald Grande for the week starting February 21, the idea being that we'd go to whichever one got upgraded (to a 2BR Presidential at PCB or a 3BR Deluxe Pool View at Emerald Grande). Turns out they both upgraded. I canceled both reservations and booked the Emerald Grande at a discount exactly two months before check-in. So take me out and shoot me! I spent a pi$$pot full of money to be able to do that."

Presidential Reserve for the WIN!

What does that make ordinary VIPs?

UGA1981 · Saturday at 12:42 PM

The change only allows to the next unit size up--any 1 bedroom will automatically upgrade to a 2 bedroom, but if the resort only has 2 bedroom lockoffs you get no upgrade--this is the worst portion of the change. It's catastrophic at the resorts that only have 2 bedroom lockoffs and no "regular " 2 bedrooms. It also penalizes greatly if an owner makes/takes a studio unit as there is no hope to get to a 2 bedroom. Furthermore, those owners that have paid hundreds of thousands to buy into the ownership they may never get to stay in a 3 or 4 bedroom unit as often they are only available, by chance, thru upgrades. Management implemented this simultaneously as the wait list moved to within 15 days which will lessen the opportunity to receive any upgrade.

Pink_Warrior · Saturday at 1:29 PM

So with the new upgrade system in place and upgrades are only eligible for the next unit size in the point chart, I was wondering how this really impacts VIP owners at Clearwater.

So there are only 3 two bedroom units at Clearwater (including the accessible.)

How many VIPs are there?

And while thinking about this, what are the odds that Wyndham just picks up all of the smallest size units of each category as clearly they do have that ability at 60 days from check-in? Hmm.

I think that it is time to really look at the directory and the points charts to get a complete picture on what this looks like.

Floridaman76 · Saturday at 4:47 PM

Yeah, we have been complaining about it for like 2 weeks in another thread, it's complete BS

Floridaman76 · Saturday at 4:52 PM

It's complete BS, the whole thing and the louder you complain, the better chances are it might get fixed. I've stayed at the resort a few times but not in a 2BR standard. If I had to guess they are units on the "back" (inland) facing side that have some sort of obstruction. One of the times I stayed there, it was in a 1 BR Deluxe on I think the 8th floor that faced inland. Room was very nice, but the inland view was disappointing. You did have some water view with the intercoastal waterway, so wasn't all bad, but the view on the gulf side is much better. The other 2 times I stayed in an Ocean facing 2BR Deluxe and Ocean facing 4BR Presidential (that I upgraded from a 1BR Deluxe...)

Pink_Warrior · Saturday at 5:56 PM

I’ve stayed in a 2 bedroom there. It overlooked a roof with lots of litter on it.

Going through the directory there are quite a few that are a standard view. I think that I’ll start a spreadsheet.

dioxide45 · Saturday at 6:33 PM

There's an existing thread already about this issue.