CesnaCaptn
newbie
Hi TUGers. I found this site yesterday, but it turns out it's a little after the fact. I know very little about TSs, made an impulse buy, and now I need help. I did spend a few hours reading the 10 articles, but I wanted to get clarification on some things.
I need help making this decision and I only have about 24 hours to make it. I'm leaving the country tomorrow and thought it would be easier to mail a letter before we go. I'm sorry for the length of this post. Thanks for bearing with me.
We got roped into a TS presentation--enticed by the incentives, at the Wyndham Beach Walk in Waikiki. As an airline employee, myself, my wife and two kids under 5, take full advantage of our flight bennies. I have relatives on Oahu and we make frequent visits. I'd say we visit at least every other year, but sometimes will fly out twice in one year.
We didn't think we'd really buy in, but we were convinced. We ended up buying an EOY one-bedroom, 154k points, for about $12k. MFs, I believe, are running us $33/mos. So, almost $800/week in MFs per visit.
Here are my questions/concerns:
The salesperson said that buying into Waikiki would give us trading power. Does that just mean we bought more points than if we had bought a week on the mainland somewhere? What exactly is trading power?
If we don't use our week, we can sell it back to Wyndham for $699. Is that true? Is it really as easy as picking up the phone and asking for a check?
I asked point blank if I would be able to get a week, with adequate notice, EOY over Christmas. Their reply was "yes." If I understand correctly, after referencing the chart, I need more than double the points to get this peak period. Basically, they meant "yes, you can get that week, just not at the point level you are purchasing." Maybe that's why the salesman kept say I'd be back for more points. BTW, we don't think we'd actually want to be here for Christmas, I was just curious if it was even a possibility. More precisely, we often travel at off peak times since we mostly fly standby. We've taken trips Europe in March and May, Sydney in May, and Thailand in June.
We want to be able to trade into one-bedroom condos all over the world. Waikiki is nice, but the lure of Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific is greater. In fact, we thought we would rarely stay in the TS we actually bought. We also travel spontaneously and thought we would use another part of the program I haven't seen anyone else mention. Supposedly we can book excess inventory on short notice for $244 or $299 a week. Since we are the type of people that would plan a trip anywhere in the world with only a week or a month's notice, we thought this program would be a perfect fit for us.
I asked why we would buy retail instead of resale and was told the following:
Buying retail in Hawaii would allow us to take advantage of a 2 for 1 offer. Offered only to people who buy into Hawaii, we would get a week in Waikiki EOY and get an extra week in a different resort for "only" $169. Is this really an exclusive program?
Buying retail would get us bonus points (nice, but not permanent), temporary VIP, and all current and future points purchased counting toward VIP. I guess I don't understand the benefits of VIP. Why would I buy points at 10 times the resale price just so I can earn VIP? I feel like I'd be better off buying up a bunch of points on the resale market. If I want an upgraded room, I'd just use the points that bought for little or nothing.
So here's the bottom line. I want confirmation that I'm doing the right thing by rescinding the contract. I believe that our family, if we even need a TS, should buy off the secondary market.
If we do buy resale, how would we be treated differently, if at all, by staff at the TSs?
I need help making this decision and I only have about 24 hours to make it. I'm leaving the country tomorrow and thought it would be easier to mail a letter before we go. I'm sorry for the length of this post. Thanks for bearing with me.
We got roped into a TS presentation--enticed by the incentives, at the Wyndham Beach Walk in Waikiki. As an airline employee, myself, my wife and two kids under 5, take full advantage of our flight bennies. I have relatives on Oahu and we make frequent visits. I'd say we visit at least every other year, but sometimes will fly out twice in one year.
We didn't think we'd really buy in, but we were convinced. We ended up buying an EOY one-bedroom, 154k points, for about $12k. MFs, I believe, are running us $33/mos. So, almost $800/week in MFs per visit.
Here are my questions/concerns:
The salesperson said that buying into Waikiki would give us trading power. Does that just mean we bought more points than if we had bought a week on the mainland somewhere? What exactly is trading power?
If we don't use our week, we can sell it back to Wyndham for $699. Is that true? Is it really as easy as picking up the phone and asking for a check?
I asked point blank if I would be able to get a week, with adequate notice, EOY over Christmas. Their reply was "yes." If I understand correctly, after referencing the chart, I need more than double the points to get this peak period. Basically, they meant "yes, you can get that week, just not at the point level you are purchasing." Maybe that's why the salesman kept say I'd be back for more points. BTW, we don't think we'd actually want to be here for Christmas, I was just curious if it was even a possibility. More precisely, we often travel at off peak times since we mostly fly standby. We've taken trips Europe in March and May, Sydney in May, and Thailand in June.
We want to be able to trade into one-bedroom condos all over the world. Waikiki is nice, but the lure of Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific is greater. In fact, we thought we would rarely stay in the TS we actually bought. We also travel spontaneously and thought we would use another part of the program I haven't seen anyone else mention. Supposedly we can book excess inventory on short notice for $244 or $299 a week. Since we are the type of people that would plan a trip anywhere in the world with only a week or a month's notice, we thought this program would be a perfect fit for us.
I asked why we would buy retail instead of resale and was told the following:
Buying retail in Hawaii would allow us to take advantage of a 2 for 1 offer. Offered only to people who buy into Hawaii, we would get a week in Waikiki EOY and get an extra week in a different resort for "only" $169. Is this really an exclusive program?
Buying retail would get us bonus points (nice, but not permanent), temporary VIP, and all current and future points purchased counting toward VIP. I guess I don't understand the benefits of VIP. Why would I buy points at 10 times the resale price just so I can earn VIP? I feel like I'd be better off buying up a bunch of points on the resale market. If I want an upgraded room, I'd just use the points that bought for little or nothing.
So here's the bottom line. I want confirmation that I'm doing the right thing by rescinding the contract. I believe that our family, if we even need a TS, should buy off the secondary market.
If we do buy resale, how would we be treated differently, if at all, by staff at the TSs?
