What should I do?

[james007calif]

I have owned a small 77,000/yr Wyndham points package (once Fairfield) for 10 years now. As busy as my life is, I have not used the points many of the years of owning and have even forgotten to roll them into RCI a couple of times. What a poor investment.

8 years ago, as part of my honeymoon, I actually used 2 years of points (154,000) and went to the Hawaiian island of Kauai and got a 2 bedroom suite with a kitchen and sitting area for an entire week fo

Are the points worth much less than they were 8-10 years ago? My wife and I and some friends were discussing taking a group trip back to Hawaii and when I looked up the points chart for the 3 Maui resorts, it ranged from 360,000 to 515,000 points for a 1-Bedroom unit per week (Prime Only). Are you kidding me??? This year's points + next year's points = 2 nights stay??? What the hell happened. Did the ebay's cheap resale knock the value of these points way down?

OK, here is my real question. What is the best way to get the additional points that I will need for a Hawaiian trip next spring? Should I purchase additional points through Wyndham? Should I buy additional yearly points (re-sale) on ebay? If I do, can you combine the points from my initial timeshare with points from an additional timeshare?

Also, Now-a-days, what is a good amount of points to own per year to get a one week's stay in a 2-bedroom suite with kitchenette and since you can use the points anywhere, does it really matter what resort you are buying into?

Sorry for the million questions, but I need to start learning more about my timeshare and start using it instead of letting it go to waste. And if that means upgrading to get enough points to enjoy it, well.......if I must, I must.

Thanks in advance for ANY info you can add to this thread

James

 

[Passepartout]

Others will chime in with details, but a couple of words: (1)Welcome to TUG- you'll definitely learn to use your TS here, and (2) buy resale!

Jim Ricks

 

[vacationhopeful]

Knowledge is power in the timeshare world. Welcome to TUG!

As for me and my buddies in Hawaii this year:
I managed my friend into 3 weeks in Hawaii on 3 different islands into only Wyndham 2bdr/2ba units for middle of Nov 2011 thru the first week of Dec. Combination of RCI exchanges and a week reserved using his Wyndham points.

I booked 4 units in Kawaii for last April 2012 for my family event thru RCI at the 11.5 month mark.

Additionally, the newer resorts have much higher point costs to reserve than the older ones. It is nicknamed 'point inflation'.

First, get online and get your NEW Wyndham's Member's Directory. You know the pretty picture book. One is free each time they update it. It will have the newer resorts and resort info.

Then READ IT ... banking points will be important to you. If you still have your 2011 points, read how they have changed the rules on RCI deposits. Of course, you can do the "borrow and cancel" trick, to make a bigger deposit this year to RCI ... but you need to figure out if you want to use RCI or Wyndham reservations (and their reosrts).

Read the Member's Directory with a highlighter! Suggest you read it 3X - Yes, it really takes that to learn their vocabulary -- it is not true if you say, "oh, they mean" --- no, it is really different meaning than previously stated ... that book is very well proofed.

 

[ronparise]

Lets think about this for a minute...You own 77000 points and probably pay between $5 and $6 per 1000 points maintenance fees or about $425..... The fact is that $425 doesn't go very far. If you were to buy a 2 bedroom fixed week somewhere on the beach, anywhere, let alone Hawaii you will pay a lot more than that for maintenance...probably closer to $1200 -$1500

I somehow doubt that you could ever use 77000 points for a 2 bedroom in Hawaii in the Wyndham system....I would bet that you traded through RCI to get the week you mentioned. There was a day (just last year as I understand it) when a Wyndham owner could deposit 28k points to RCI and get a week at some pretty spectacular resorts....That has changed and Wyndham and RCI have closed that loophole...The oldtimers here dont like it, but it is a much fairer system now. (ie you have to pay to play)

So what to do about it...You could buy more points. It looks like 250k to 400k points will get you what you want...or find a wyndham owner that owns too many points and who is willing to make a reservation for you to just cover his mf...or you could rent from Wyndham or RCI or a Wyndham owner that rents their stuff for a profit.....or perhaps buy a fixed week at a resort you like

 

[learnalot]

I will echo what others have said about reading up and then asking questions. The only thing I would add is that the Maui resorts you looked at for the points cost are not inventory that belongs to wyndham. They are part of the outrigger collection and only available if your home resort is hawaii. Besides which, the points cost for those resorts is RIDICULOUSLY high and I would never spend that many points there. You can do better on the other islands through wyndham or put in an ongoing search request with RCI if you are set on maui.

 

[vacationhopeful]

The prices on eBAY has nothing to do with the MFs of the Wyndham resorts. eBAY sales have most likely brought many more users who PAY their MFs than if those owners had simply defaulted their overpriced ownerships. Corporate Wyndham is unhappy as to the lost of high dollar retail sales of their vacation products -- sales more in the toilet due to the economy than to eBAY (IMHO).

Also, you should read more here on TUG about the other timeshare systems than just Wyndham. Your life has changed in the past 10 years; has your vacationing style also changed? Most Tuggers own in multiple timeshare products -- just like most peoples stock portfolios are mixed.

Don't be afraid of renting. It is part of our recommended learning curve.

 

[rrlongwell]

It does not appear you want annual or better vacations. Until the market turns, rental of accommodations would be better. If you want a few years worth of vacations, you may want to enter into a 3 or 5 year lease from a owner. I do not follow anything but the Northeast and Southeast, but you might be able to find a fixed week owner at a resort you want and to lease it from them on the terms described above, or just rent what you want where you want it on a annual basis.

77,000 points I think can still get you a week in off seasons at the older Fairfield resorts. Check out Mrytle Beach in the Winter, Tennessee in the off season, etc.

If you only want a vacation every third for 4th year. Do not use RCI, use the credit pool (you get three years). That would give you 77,000 points times 3 that way. Just rent for this year.