Welk point conversion

[Upland]

Very recently my wife and I were contacted by Welk Resort to schedule an appointment for a representative to come by our house and discuss some new options being offered by Welk. We met with the representative aside from all the folksy talk that usually comes with sales pitchs, I felt I needed to check on what this indivdual was saying. I found this site and hopefully some one can enlighten me.
Our current situation: We have a 1 br every other year bought and paid for. We generally use Interval and get the bounus week so we have a vacation atleast one time a year. We have done this for about 5 years now and are pretty happy although at times we struggle a little with getting the exact resort we want but in the end it works out.
Now: The rep explained that Welk is converting to a point system and they want to offer us 120,000 points plus a fee of 3695.00. The rep did explain the whole thing about flexibilty and that if we bank 90,000 with interval they would guarantee us 2 vacations of 2nights up to 6 nights. The rep said that interval does not use a point system so when I asked about how many points the vacations cost he said none....we get two. The rep also indicated that we could book anytime any season blah blah blah. The rep also said that at some point in time or week would be obsolete and we would be forced to buy into the point system,
So maybe folks here could help me uncover any hidden concerns I should have about converting. Is points better? Hidden fees? Is it as flexible as they say? Is it worth the additional cost?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

 

[mjm1]

First, I will let you know that we converted a 2 BR in the Lawrence Welk Resort 2 BR (older part of the resort). That was a fixed week in July, which was a valuable week for them. Overall, we do like the points system, because it gives us more flexibility than what we owned and our travel needs have changed now that our kids are grown and not living with us.

I am assuming you own a 1 BR in the Villa on the Greens (VOG) section of the resort. If that is true, is it the larger or smaller side of a 2 BR unit? I am not as familiar with that section of the resort, but do you also own in a specific season or are all weeks in one year round season? If you own the larger side, you should receive 180,000 points. If the smaller side, it should be 120,000 points.

Within the points system, the larger side of both the Mountain Villas (MV) and VOG requires 180,000 points for a full week. The smaller side requires 120,000. A 2 BR in the Resort Villas (the oldest section of the resort) requires240,000. A 2 BR in the MV and VOG requires 300,000 points. These are the points requirements to stay in those respective units. You can also use your points in the other Welk Resorts (Branson, Cabo San Lucas and Cathedral City). The Branson and Cabo resorts are very nice. The Cathedral City resort units have been upgraded, but it isn't as nice as the other locations. Points required for each of these resorts vary.

If you want to trade a week within II, a 2 BR requires 240,000, a 1 BR requires 120,000 and a studio requires 90,000. Welk Resorts currently has an agreement with II that you will receive a accommodation certificate if you deposit a week with them. That is how you receive an extra week for a deposit. Welk says this agreement will most likely be extended, but there is no guarantee that will happen.

You should also compare your current maintenance fee to what they say it will be.

As I mentioned, we like the resort and the quality they provide. Some of their sales tactics can be high pressure like most timeshare sales presentations, but I must say I have never heard of a sales person going to someones house.

I would think hard about whether you want to switch. The $3,695 you would pay just to convert to the points system could buy you an entire new week in another system if you wanted that. It just depends on whether your current unit provides what you need or if you think the points program would be better for you.

Good luck.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

We did the points conversion and added 60,000 points to get 300,000. We paid a lot more. Our only developer purchase and there were extenuating circumstances! I would say, if you like what you have now, keep it. You have to deposit 120,000 points into II to get a one bedroom exchange. I never heard of depositing 90,000 for a studio, but that would make sense.
Liz

 

[Upland]

Thanks for the infomation...

 

[Icc5]

Own the older units

A few years ago we went to the presentation at Welk for points and didn't buy in. We like what we have.
Yesterday the rep. also called us and I told him no thanks.
Still happy with what we bought originally and like the week.
Bart