What to do, what to do, points are building up in RCI and Wyndham and no one using them

[rickandcindy23]

Trying to decide where to use our Developer Wyndham points. We have a lot, two accounts, one much better than the other, especially with the PIC weeks we have, but what use are points if you don't use them and they get rolled over to another year or banked into RCI? I don't even like RCI anymore.

I always thought we could get a little bit for our Wyndham points that are deeded to Kauai resorts, but doubtful we will get anything at all for them. I need to be done completely with Wyndham for my own sanity. It's been crazy what Wyndham has done to stop people from renting, and our account is scrutinized for any addition of a guest name.

I cannot think of anything Wyndham has that is worthy of keeping. Shearwater is wonderful but I can get that through exchange, but it can be difficult to get. Bonnet Creek is nice, but the Marriott resorts near Disney are great, and exchanges into Disney resorts sometimes work for our dates, so Bonnet Creek is not a reason to keep Wyndham. Wisconsin Dells would be nice to go once in a while, but it's not close to home and requires flights to get there. Never stayed in Avon, might be nice to try it, but the parking fees are a turnoff for owners. Steamboat Springs is okay but Sheraton is nicer.

This is exactly why we didn't build a cabin on our land in South Park, CO, because I pictured myself (even had dreams/ nightmares about it) leaving the cabin to rot because I'd be bored going there and then the resulting guilt of not using what we paid a lot to build. The guilt of paying fees for what we aren't using is getting to be overwhelming.

 

[bnoble]

Hawaii will burn 205K at a time for 2BRs. I know you hate paying resort fees, but the Hiltons (that were just posted in sightings) could be worth it.

 

[jp10558]

I think you do need to sell / give away the Wyndham contracts. It's clear you aren't enjoying it/them. But there are people who do enjoy Wyndham for personal use and if the MFs are decent for the points it would be usable for some.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Hawaii will burn 205K at a time for 2BRs. I know you hate paying resort fees, but the Hiltons (that were just posted in sightings) could be worth it.

We are going to the Big Island in late June-early July, if Rick will go with me. He is pretty negative on the Big Island.

If Wyndham had anything on Maui, we could use a lot of our points that way.

I did use 300,000 for a 3 bedroom on Maui at Sands of Kahana for a full week. Those were points that were going to expire at the end of February, so it worked great, and the resort was nice for our bunch.

 

[JohnnyO]

We use the majority of our Wyndham points at Wyndham Oceanside Pier in California. It's a wonderful place and updated and clean. The balance we use for shorter stays here and there. What's left over we deposit in RCI for trades in HGVC Marbrisa in Carlsbad or one of the HGVC timeshares in Las Vegas.

 

[WyndhamBarter]

pretty negative on the Big Island

Huh. Hawaii has long been my personal favorite. Of course, whatever floats your boat.

I find the volcano (especially from a chopper view when red lava is visible) and the
long drives to be quite compelling. And more recently we’ve been enjoying
Wyndham stays at the slightly funky Paniolo Greens location with fast access
to both westside and eastside locations.

Here’s yet another article to show him…https://www.traveloffpath.com/black...ap-honolulu-for-this-authentic-hawaiian-town/

 

[rickandcindy23]

Huh. Hawaii has long been my personal favorite. Of course, whatever floats your boat.

I find the volcano (especially from a chopper view when red lava is visible) and the
long drives to be quite compelling. And more recently we’ve been enjoying
Wyndham stays at the slightly funky Paniolo Greens location with fast access
to both westside and eastside locations.

Here’s yet another article to show him…https://www.traveloffpath.com/black...ap-honolulu-for-this-authentic-hawaiian-town/

Yes, I like the Big Island. The long drives can be fun from one end of the island to the other. I like the Waikoloa area best. The Wyndham Kona had a roach problem, a huge roach problem, our last stay. It was bad. You would cut up fruit, go to the table to take some and come back to the table with a dozen roaches crawling on the cutting board. It was really terrible. They would scurry when the cupboards were open, the trash we took out twice a day because roaches were constantly in the bag. I have never had that happen at Hilton, Marriott, Westin, or even Soleil on Maui.

We like the location of Kona Coast Resort, but the unit we had was not a view of the ocean.

We stayed at Paniolo Greens in 2000 for a family celebration. Such a long time ago. I exchanged in with our summer Colorado week.

 

[BrownThunder]

Trying to decide where to use our Developer Wyndham points. We have a lot, two accounts, one much better than the other, especially with the PIC weeks we have, but what use are points if you don't use them and they get rolled over to another year or banked into RCI? I don't even like RCI anymore.

I always thought we could get a little bit for our Wyndham points that are deeded to Kauai resorts, but doubtful we will get anything at all for them. I need to be done completely with Wyndham for my own sanity. It's been crazy what Wyndham has done to stop people from renting, and our account is scrutinized for any addition of a guest name.

I cannot think of anything Wyndham has that is worthy of keeping. Shearwater is wonderful but I can get that through exchange, but it can be difficult to get. Bonnet Creek is nice, but the Marriott resorts near Disney are great, and exchanges into Disney resorts sometimes work for our dates, so Bonnet Creek is not a reason to keep Wyndham. Wisconsin Dells would be nice to go once in a while, but it's not close to home and requires flights to get there. Never stayed in Avon, might be nice to try it, but the parking fees are a turnoff for owners. Steamboat Springs is okay but Sheraton is nicer.

This is exactly why we didn't build a cabin on our land in South Park, CO, because I pictured myself (even had dreams/ nightmares about it) leaving the cabin to rot because I'd be bored going there and then the resulting guilt of not using what we paid a lot to build. The guilt of paying fees for what we aren't using is getting to be overwhelming.

What's your opinion on the Palms resorts near Disney? Do you like them? We're staying there in June and am curious what your thoughts were. They seem to be pretty popular in all the videos I've seen on YouTube. My main plan is to use Uber while staying at Sabal and see how that works out. If it works out great, I may not even bother looking into DVC.

 

[kanerf]

I frequently stay at Old Town Alexandria. Great for a visit to the D.C. area and you can blow off another bunch of points by driving down to Williamsburg (about 1.5 hours) and stay down there as well.

 

[rickandcindy23]

What's your opinion on the Palms resorts near Disney? Do you like them? We're staying there in June and am curious what your thoughts were. They seem to be pretty popular in all the videos I've seen on YouTube. My main plan is to use Uber while staying at Sabal and see how that works out. If it works out great, I may not even bother looking into DVC.

I really love the Palm resorts, specifically Imperial and Royal Palms, but we have not stayed at Sabal Palms yet.

 

[90_Min_Sales_Pitch]

I would personally start downsizing your portfolio. I originally bought a dud HGVC contract in Orlando, and not that there aren't better Hilton contracts and people that are utilizing them well, but it didn't have equivalent enough value. You could cut it down to one contract just to stay in the system, it sounds like there are enough Wyndham locations that you still enjoy, or leave it altogether and use what you can through the exchange.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Well, we decided to keep enough points for one Founder's account (508K points are PIC), so we are giving away a bunch of points.

We have about 3.69 million points with our PIC weeks. Gonna be giving some away.

 

[Jan M.]

Well, we decided to keep enough points for one Founder's account (508K points are PIC), so we are giving away a bunch of points.

We have about 3.69 million points with our PIC weeks. Gonna be giving some away.

With 3.69 points and the Founder's discount a person, couple, or family who can use one and two bedroom units could easily be living out of just the Wyndham resorts. With the upgrades, they should be able at times to get some three bedroom or possibly even four bedroom units at the resorts that have them. It would just mean moving units more often if they wanted to stay at the resort for a length of time.

There are some owners who live out of a resort. Some, two or three resorts. Some people would be willing to be more flexible about where they went and when and wouldn't even need that many points. A lot of resorts have lower point shoulder seasons with decent weather.

Living out of a resort or resorts full-time, or even a better part of the year, isn't for everyone. But it's fun for some of us to think/dream about.

 

[BrownThunder]

I really love the Palm resorts, specifically Imperial and Royal Palms, but we have not stayed at Sabal Palms yet.

Awesome, thank you for letting me know.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I advertised the giveaway in TUG classifieds, but I may put it on the main forum as well.

 

[Eric B]

We have way less in Wyndham than you but feel the same issues. There are a few unique spots in Wyndham we like (e.g., Austin) but most of the other locations just use it to fill in for a few days we can’t get through other systems. We’ll probably offload some contracts, too, as our tastes have shifted, some of which is due to how Wyndham treats owners that understand the value of resale. Frankly, they have a good product with a crappy sales organization that supports the majority of their corporate profits and haven’t figured out how to treat resale owners well as good prospective customers. The problem is I know how good what I own is and don’t want to just give it away yet.

 

[bnoble]

haven’t figured out how to treat resale owners well as good prospective customers.

That's because they aren't good prospective customers---points are points. Who, after paying a dime on the dollar, is going to buy a full-freight developer purchase for a few extra minor benefits? I am sure there are some, but I"m guessing the conversion rate for tour prospects who own resale is much lower than the average.

I'd also claim out that the only people who don't treat resale owners well is the sales staff. I never interact with them, because I do not go to sales meetings, so I never get to find out what they think about me.

 

[paxsarah]

I'd also claim out that the only people who don't treat resale owners well is the sales staff. I never interact with them, because I do not go to sales meetings, so I never get to find out what they think about me.

Exactly this. I've encountered a few phone staff who simply didn't understand some aspects of resale ownership, but I've never been treated poorly - always treated as a "real" owner.

 

[WManning]

Exactly this. I've encountered a few phone staff who simply didn't understand some aspects of resale ownership, but I've never been treated poorly - always treated as a "real" owner.

I have debated the "real" owner pitch with sales a few times. The pitch always went like this... Buy developer points to become a VIP for only 50-100k and use discounts and "free" upgrades to rent vacations and pay all maintenance fees. The savings in maintenance fees will easily cover the 50-100k outlay. The rental pitch still being utilized believe it or not.

 

[Jan M.]

I have debated the "real" owner pitch with sales a few times. The pitch always went like this... Buy developer points to become a VIP for only 50-100k and use discounts and "free" upgrades to rent vacations and pay all maintenance fees. The savings in maintenance fees will easily cover the 50-100k outlay. The rental pitch still being g utilized believe it or not.

Renting is once again steadily growing. Look on the various rental sites, not just EH and Vacationshare, and in the Facebook groups that allow rentals.

I, among others, doubted or flat out didn't believe @RENTER. Looks like he can say "I told you so" just like I'm saying about my assertions that Wyndham wouldn't succeed or follow through with putting a stop to owners renting. My assertion was that once again they'd stop the big renters but those renters would be replaced by a multitude of smaller renters. I also maintained that a number of those smaller renters would expand their renting once they figured out how to do it and got a taste of the money.

One of my repeated comments was owners renting too cheap were a problem. Does even a day go by that someone in the Facebook groups isn't posting contact me for rentals or I have x number of points left we can't use, my price is $6, $7 or $8 per thousand points? Not many owners have maintenance fees of even $6 per thousand maintenance fees anymore. CWA owners pay $8.88 or $8.86. That's the 2025 maintenance fees of $8.13 plus the program fee of $0.73 or $0.75 per thousand points as long as they over the minimum program fee.

It's been months since I've seen anyone post here or in the various Wyndham Facebook groups I belong to that they or an owner they know got a certified letter.

 

[DeniseM]

We have the same problem with RCI points: Lately we've sent family to Las Vegas, Kauai, and Las Vegas - I enjoyed doing it!

 

[WManning]

Renting is once again steadily growing. Look on the various rental sites, not just EH and Vacationshare, and in the Facebook groups that allow rentals.

I, among others, doubted or flat out didn't believe @RENTER. Looks like he can say "I told you so" just like I'm saying about my assertions that Wyndham wouldn't succeed or follow through with putting a stop to owners renting. My assertion was that once again they'd stop the big renters but those renters would be replaced by a multitude of smaller renters. I also maintained that a number of those smaller renters would expand their renting once they figured out how to do it and got a taste of the money.

One of my repeated comments was owners renting too cheap were a problem. Does even a day go by that someone in the Facebook groups isn't posting contact me for rentals or I have x number of points left we can't use, my price is $6, $7 or $8 per thousand points? Not many owners have maintenance fees of even $6 per thousand maintenance fees anymore. CWA owners pay $8.88 or $8.86. That's the 2025 maintenance fees of $8.13 plus the program fee of $0.73 or $0.75 per thousand points as long as they over the minimum program fee.

It's been months since I've seen anyone post here or in the various Wyndham Facebook groups I belong to that they or an owner they know got a certified letter.

No way near rentals from pre 2020. Wyndham use to account for 80% or more of Last minute rentals. A few owners were passing along the VIP discounts and upgrades. I haven't looked lately what anything is renting for but the priority dates helped eliminate a lot of rentals on busy holiday travel times

 

[Jan M.]

More context would give a better picture. As in what constitutes a last minute rental. 14 days, 60 days? 80% was all timeshare rentals or just Wyndham rentals? How much of whatever percentage was owner rentals and how much was Wyndham's?

Regardless renting is steadily growing. Once again we're hearing and seeing too many owners say they can't find stays in recent months. In the Facebook groups I'm seeing people asking why they're seeing resorts and dates being offered on Groupon and like sites but there's no availability for owners at those resorts and dates. Yes, most of us on TUG know that Wyndham can take inventory for their own use. However Wyndham also rents on the various rental and deal sites the inventory owners list with them on EH and Vacationshare. Someone in a TUG thread is asking about buying a Discovery package. They mentioned getting a package deal from Southwest that included a 5 night stay at a Wyndham timeshare resort.

 

[bnoble]

It's been months since I've seen anyone post here or in the various Wyndham Facebook groups I belong to that they or an owner they know got a certified letter.

I expect that this will ebb and flow. And realistically, there are still some brakes on the process---the Owner Priority periods for example, plus the split of Develoepr and Resale points for VIP benefits. For example, there still hasn't been a renaissance of Bonnet Creek rentals on DISboards. People have moved on. But, if renting overall grows big enough again, Wyndham will ramp back up.

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
--Ecclesiastes 1:9

 

[rickandcindy23]

If I am going to rent to friends and family, which I have been doing a little of, not much, I would add the guest certificate immediately, so I don't trigger an alarm at Wyndham that I am renting commercially again.

Love the quote @bnoble