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Welk / Hyatt / World of Hyatt Information

superchunks

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@shankalicious. Can you explain in laymens terms why an every other year contract sucks? If I want to book January 2022 and I have an even year contract...can’t I book 15 months before that? You mentioned that they wouldn’t be able to book until November 2021 but that seems crazy to me.
 
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That would be with borrowed points.
In your scenario, if you own even year points and you want to book January '22 you could book 15 months before that but you'd have to pay all your maintenance fees before that.
But if I owned odd year points and wanted to book January of '22, I would have to wait until November of '21.
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Guitarmom

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I've been told by Owners Services (though I haven't tried it) that you can book ahead even if you haven't paid your MFs. You just have to pay them before your stay. I couldn't believe my ears, so I kept asking questions to verify, and the rep stuck to her story.

In this case, superchunks could book in October or November of 2020, pay the MFs in December of 2021, and stay in January of 2022.

It's worth calling Owners Services to see if you get the same advice.

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Guitarmom

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Shank, a Welk "tiered" owner here with 420K points: Per the FAQs, ALL platinum owners have a 60d booking window with accrued points. So there is no break there for tiered owners, unless I'm missing something.
We have 780k points, and we get a four month window to book any accrued/rollover points. My paperwork says that an owner with 420k points gets a three month window.

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fleecer

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When Welk used Interval as its primary exchange co, I used to just deposit 120K points (from my floating 420K) into II, i.e., without a particular resort or week -- and my II exchange power was whatever it was. Now if I want to exchange through II, II it asks for a specific resort and week. Do I now have to first reserve the resort and week at Welk, then deposit with Interval? And if so, I assume that weeks at the better resorts with higher demand will give me maximum trading power at Interval?
 
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We have 780k points, and we get a four month window to book any accrued/rollover points. My paperwork says that an owner with 420k points gets a three month window.

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Yes, that is accurate for annual owners at those tiered levels. Thanks for clarifying.

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I've been told by Owners Services (though I haven't tried it) that you can book ahead even if you haven't paid your MFs. You just have to pay them before your stay. I couldn't believe my ears, so I kept asking questions to verify, and the rep stuck to her story.

In this case, superchunks could book in October or November of 2020, pay the MFs in December of 2021, and stay in January of 2022.

It's worth calling Owners Services to see if you get the same advice.

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To my knowledge that only works for annual owners. I have done it for February stays before.

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When Welk used Interval as its primary exchange co, I used to just deposit 120K points (from my floating 420K) into II, i.e., without a particular resort or week -- and my II exchange power was whatever it was. Now if I want to exchange through II, II it asks for a specific resort and week. Do I now have to first reserve the resort and week at Welk, then deposit with Interval? And if so, I assume that weeks at the better resorts with higher demand will give me maximum trading power at Interval?
You can do that, it has to be a full week and yes, the higher demand weeks should get you the best trading power.
You can also just call owner services and tell them you want to deposit xxx,xxx points into interval and they'll do it for you. That's what we did to get Hilton Head during spring break a couple years ago

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fleecer

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Shank, do you know how many Welk Platinum owners exist? Also curious to know how many rooms Sirena del Mar (Cabo) has right now. I know it added another building or two a few years back.
 

paxlin

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Worldmark
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Currently I see listings on tug that shows different MF for different locations, even though points are equal.
So does that mean one cannot combine points from different resale into one account to lower the maintenance fee?
 
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Shank, do you know how many Welk Platinum owners exist? Also curious to know how many rooms Sirena del Mar (Cabo) has right now. I know it added another building or two a few years back.
I'm not sure about how many total owners. I can look it up but it will take some time.

Cabo has 98 units with three buildings.

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Currently I see listings on tug that shows different MF for different locations, even though points are equal.
So does that mean one cannot combine points from different resale into one account to lower the maintenance fee?
Different MF for the same amount of points is either a typo or one listing is for annual points while the other is for EOY points. Small variations may be due to how old an account is. My annual points bought in 2015 have a slightly lower MF than someone who bought the same amount in 2020.
Historically we have not been able to combine resale accounts into one. However, in 2019 and 2020, resale owners have been given the opportunity to combine and get the tiered benefits if they buy retail points at an owner update. The amount and cost being quoted to these owners varies quite a bit based on how many points/what tier they'd be getting

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Shank, do you know how many Welk Platinum owners exist? Also curious to know how many rooms Sirena del Mar (Cabo) has right now. I know it added another building or two a few years back.
This is not how many owners there are, but how many points and units at each resort the Welk Owners Association has.
At minimum one must buy 90k EOY.
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NOLA47

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Thanks so much for very detailed introduction to WELK Resorts.
 

jarnson

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I'm in Breckenridge quite often. the Welk Resorts location is about a 5-10 minute drive to the gondola (depending on traffic, could be more) north of town on US 9.
All parking is pay, so if they have a shuttle, it is more effective to take that
 

jarnson

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Few of the resorts in Breckenridge are useable without shuttle. Stayed at Grand Timber and shuttled everywhere. Stayed at Welk - Breckenridge twice so far. And will likely go up once or twice more this year. Resort is nice but small. As you described, not much around. It Is inside the city limits though. Conveniently adjacent to the river for fishing and the bike path the goes between Frisco/Breckenridge. The COVID shutdown really had an effect on the operations; everything is still in flux. But my daughter was there a few weeks ago and said the place was packed.

It depends on what you refer to as "shuttle" there is no parking on the mountain itself. there is one large parking lot in town that is pay (last I heard it was $15/day) that is at the base of the gondola. If no car, but staying in town (or Frisco) there is a loop bus that goes around to all the base areas.
 

liongate88

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So I hope this gets stickied as it it darn near all the information there is on Welk Resorts.
Desrciption from the Welk website:
"Whether you prefer relaxing with a glass of wine on your villa’s private patio or a round of afternoon golf, Welk Resorts offers something for every kind of traveler. Between world-class amenities and top-notch service, our team fine-tunes the vacation details to help you create unforgettable family memories. Pack your swimsuit and hit the beach in Cabo or bring your snowshoes along to trek through Tahoe. The Welk Experience awaits. "

Weeks or Points: Welk is almost entirely a points based system. They stopped selling set weeks nearly 10 years ago and have been buying set weeks from owners to convert them to points.
All Welk ownes have a 15 month full week booking window and a 9 month short stay/split week booking window. As tiered benefits go up, so does the booking window but less than 10% of owners are at a tiered level which starts at 420k points. San Diego and Branson two bedroom units are 240k points/week for a two bedroom and Breckenridge (newest resort) is 630k during prime season. Units range from studio to five bedroom in size. (five bedroom is Northstar only). As of 2020 maintenance fees on 240k annual points is $1500. Only Tahoe and Breckenridge have noteworthy seasons.

Number of Resorts: Welk has its name on 7 resorts in 7 locations and has just purchased an 8th. San Diego, Palm Springs CA, Lake Tahoe (North), Cabo San Lucas, Branson MO, Breckenridge CO, and Santa Fe (new acquisition of El Corazon de Santa Fe). Welk technically has two resorts in One Village Place on Lake Tahoe: One Village Place and Northstar Lodge. The main resort in San Diego has three sections: Lawrence Welk Resort Villas (original resort with only 2 bedroom units), Villas on the Greens with studio to 2 bedroom lockoff units and Mountain Villas which has studio to 3 bedroom units.
All Welk resort units contain at least a limited kitchen with apartment size fridge, two burner cooktop, dishwasher, and microwave as well as a private balcony/patio. 1BR units and bigger all have a full kitchen and average over 750sqft. All Branson and Cabo units face the same direction so there is no concern of owning a certain view. No Welk unit balcony faces only a parking lot.

Affiliated Resorts: Welk has 15 affiliated resorts that can be traded into for no fee. Affiliated resorts include: Arroyo Roble Resort in Sedona, The Cliffs at Princeville on Kuaai, Disney's Boardwalk Villas, Disney Saratoga Springs, Disney Aulani, Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond Oregon, Falcon Point in Avon CO, Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara in San Diego, Four Seasons Residence Club Troon North in Scottsdale, Pono Kai Resort on Kapa'a, Poste Montane Lodge in Beaver Creek, Red Wolf Lodge Lakeside at Lake Tahoe, Red Wolf Lodge at Squaw Valley, Stoneridge Resort in Blanchard Idaho, and Villas of Cave Creek near Phoenix. Ski area resorts have point variances per season but the rest do not. Disney, and hawaii resorts have no off season, nor do the Southwest region resorts.

Home resort: There truly is no home resort with Welk. You just buy points with a deeded interest. So if you buy 240k annual points in Branson, you can book at any Welk resort without limitation except what your points can get. As the resorts get newer, the points to book increase. 120k will get a large one bedroom in Branson, San Diego, and Palm Springs, but will only get you a studio in Cabo or Tahoe and only a studio in off-season in Breckenridge.

Exchange: Welk is dual affiliated with RCI and II but all owners, including resale owners get a Platinum RCI membership included in their maintenance/vacation ownership fees. Welk owners have to pay for II membership themselves but can still trade with II. Welk resorts trades better than almost any resort, evidenced by their priority access to Disney which all Welk Owners receive. (I've personally seen numerous two bedroom units at SSR and OKW, as well as units at Boulder Ridge and Animal Kingdom on RCI). When exchanging with RCI or II, owners receive a "bonus week" for exchanging. An accommodation certificate with II and a bonus week with RCI that has to be called in to claim/check availability of.

Price: Retail points start at $13k for 90K EEY points. 240k annual points go for around $50k. Resale Welk goes for around a penny a point plus transaction fees around $300.

Retail vs Resale: The only perk that retail owners have over resale owners is being able to book directly into the associated Disney resorts plus some very minor tiered benefits that start at 420k points. Benefits include discounts on golf, 18 month extended booking window vs 15 month which expands by one month per higher level, up to 35% points discount for bookings made inside 60 days, extended split week reservations by a month per level. There are 5 priority/tiered levels starting at 420k.

Tiered Ownership: Again, less than 10% of owners are at tier 5 and above. Tier 5 is 420K annual points, tier 4 is 720k annual points, tier 3 is 1,020,000 annual points, tier 4 is 1.5M annual points and tier 5 is 2M annual points.

Points accrual/rollover: This is Welk's biggest downfall. If you want to rollover/accrue points from one year (use year) to the next, those points have a limited booking window of 60 days unless you are a tiered owner. So DO NOT BUY WELK EEY RESALE BECAUSE IT SUCKS!!!

Extra costs: There are next to no extra costs with Welk aside from your MF/VOA. There are no parking fees, no short stay fees, not transfer fees to affiliated resorts, no housekeeping fees, no limit to how many times you can stay in a year except what your points allow. There is a $50 fee for a guest certificate if you let a friend stay under your name. Welk also has a rental program with a 75% success rate that will historically covers MF/VOA fees and then some.

Social Media: There is a "Welk Platinum Owners Group" Facebook page for any owners reading this who would like to share thoughts etc. If your'e not an owner, don't ask to join as I'm a moderator and there are screening questions. If you want to know more, just message me on here or find me on Facebook.

Links: The link below for tiered benefits is from the system that Welk stopped using in 2018. But the benefits are the same per level until you get to tier 1 at 2M points. Those benefits I don't know and definitely aren't worth it.
Interested in Welk platinum points (resale of course). You mentioned biggest downfall is banking points with limited 60 day booking, What about borrowed points? Say I have 150K and needed more points can you bank and borrow ? Is there restrictions as well for borrowing? How easy it is to book with affiliated resorts like four seasons with Welk exchange? And you also mentioned about unable to book Disney direct, would this mean you have to use RCI for Disney? Thanks!
 
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Interested in Welk platinum points (resale of course). You mentioned biggest downfall is banking points with limited 60 day booking, What about borrowed points? Say I have 150K and needed more points can you bank and borrow ? Is there restrictions as well for borrowing? How easy it is to book with affiliated resorts like four seasons with Welk exchange? And you also mentioned about unable to book Disney direct, would this mean you have to use RCI for Disney? Thanks!
Yeah, banking/borrowed/accrued points all have the 60 day restriction.
The affiliated resorts are easy to book with good availability, noting of course that the further out you try to book, the better your odds of getting the week you want.
Lastly, yes. You have to book through RCI for Disney but on Monday I glanced at Orlando and there were 40 check in days for SSR and 16 for old key west between January and mid April so welk sees more Disney inventory than anyone else.

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liongate88

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That would be with borrowed points.
In your scenario, if you own even year points and you want to book January '22 you could book 15 months before that but you'd have to pay all your maintenance fees before that.
But if I owned odd year points and wanted to book January of '22, I would have to wait until November of '21.
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Shankilicious, If I own EOY points like , example odd years 2021 can you bank half of the points and book for 2020 with 60 days booking window? Or if you own EOY 2021 you can only bank and book on odd years 2021 / 2023. Thanks
 
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You can roll your odd year points into an even year but they will have the limited 60 day window.

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Shankilicious, If I own EOY points like , example odd years 2021 can you bank half of the points and book for 2020 with 60 days booking window? Or if you own EOY 2021 you can only bank and book on odd years 2021 / 2023. Thanks
Just to be clear, you can bank all your points if you want. There's no limit to how many points you can bank/borrow.

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liongate88

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Just to be clear, you can bank all your points if you want. There's no limit to how many points you can bank/borrow.

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Thanks, would EOY contract bank for 1 year or two years? No fee?
 

jedimasterjem

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I read this thread and I wanted to know how resale would work if I want to get into Welk Northstar Lake Tahoe. How many points should I look into if I want either a summer week or a week in Dec or Jan.

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I read this thread and I wanted to know how resale would work if I want to get into Welk Northstar Lake Tahoe. How many points should I look into if I want either a summer week or a week in Dec or Jan.

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Look at my original post, the pdf labeled point valuation chart will show you how many points each unit size costs in each season.

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