Where does Wyndham line up in the Timeshare Pecking Order?

[Jethro37]

I realize this sub probably has a lot of Wyndham "homers," but I'd be glad to hear some of your honest assessments of Wyndham's strengths and weaknesses compared to other systems.

I'll set a primer on a few of the aspects I'm curious about

Cost - How are the sales price and maintenance fees compared to other comparable stays? I've seen the chart, but it's pretty broad.

Variety - Gross numbers is one consideration in this field, but cool amenities like indoor water parks or other unique resorts can play into this. Also broader range of locations is also a plus

Availability - How easy is it to book in each location with proper planning? Are there some locations you just can't book unless you get lucky?

Other Program Features or intangibles - Any special features or flexibilities that other timeshare ownerships just don't offer?

Thank you on advance for your input.

 

[bnoble]

Sales price: Hard to beat if you are talking resale. There might be less expensive ones resale, but not by much.

MFs: middle of the pack. A notch or two higher than WorldMark (and maybe Bluegreen). Less than Marriott/Hilton/Disney.

Variety: very good. Much better than Disney/Hilton (until Diamond is folded in), arguably better than Bluegreen. WorldMark is maybe just a bit smaller, but not by much. Marriott might have more. Diamond is much bigger.

Availability: I haven't tried to get many of the insanely difficult bookings, but have gotten a few hard ones that required right-when-the-window-opened reservations.

Intangibles: can tend to nickle-and-dime you if you don't use the program the "right way." (I do, so this hasn't been a problem for me.) Complicated system to understand wrt reservation priorities due to several different systems overlaid on top of one another. Sales activity is actively off-putting and makes the check-in process painful. Resorts are generally well-kept, and refurbished reasonably frequently. Resorts usually in good-to-very-good locations in most destinations (i.e. close to the action rather than a bit out of the way.)

 

[Ty1on]

An important point about DRI being much bigger: If you buy resale, that world shrinks dramatically because you are relegated to a "home club" only. Or so I hear.

 

[Jethro37]

Sales price: Hard to beat if you are talking resale. There might be less expensive ones resale, but not by much.

You think they treat resale owners worse than other systems?

Thanks for all the great feedback!

 

[geist1223]

An important point about DRI being much bigger: If you buy resale, that world shrinks dramatically because you are relegated to a "home club" only. Or so I hear.

DRI resell is limited to "Home Collection." Also many of the DRI Dots are Affiliates not DRI Owned or Managed. Worldmark has 90+ Resorts.

 

[Sandy VDH]

You think they treat resale owners worse than other systems?

Until Aug the answer to that was other than counting toward VIP levels, you got pretty much the same thing.

Now if you NON-VIP Resale then they a bargain to buy and you have lots of choices and flexibility. Note that VIP is not transferrable upon resale deal. So IF you are NOT VIP then things are pretty much the same. They treat them pretty much the same as everyone else.

Only different now is if you are VIP you don't get VIP oerks on resale points, so now essentially you have an account with resale and developer points, and both with different rules for each type.

For overall comparison done a few years back, this is a good overview.
https://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare-system-comparison-chart.html We might have to alter this again, as a collective group efforts.

 

[bnoble]

You think they treat resale owners worse than other systems?

I don't. Owning points is owning points. For the most part, the developer perks are not particularly helpful unless you have very specific use cases, and even those use cases are hard to justify in dollars-and-cents terms.

 

[rickandcindy23]

For using yourself, Wyndham is a great system. You don't want to book short stays with Wyndham because housekeeping can be expensive.

The sales' tactics, bottom of the barrel. Lying is their game. Buy resale and save thousands of $$$ and enjoy the resorts as they are.

 

[troy12n]

It's important to recognize that WorldMark has more of a West coast US presence than Wyndham. And Wyndham has more East coast presence than WorldMark.

So if you are doing resale, look at the resorts of both, you may find buying a small amount of each is the right fit for you. If you are a retail owner you can book both.

 

[geist1223]

With Worldmark you get 1 free HKC from 0 to 19,999 Credits. A second at 20,000, a third at 30,000, etc. Guest Certificate are 1 free for every 10,000 Credits or part thereof. So at 10,001 to 20,000 you get 2 free Guest Certificates, etc. You can have 4 free Wait Lists registered at anytime. Credits and HKC are good for 2 years plus about 1 month from the Anniversary Date. So Credits and HKC issued on August 1, 2021 are good until August 31, 2023. You can Book out 13 months so on August 31, 2023 you could use the about to expire Credits to Book a Resort for September 2024. Resell Credits are treated the same as Developer Purchased Credits for the 90+ Worldmark Resorts. You can cancel 30+ days before Check-in and get all your Credits and HKC restored. If the Booking is with expired Credits you can cancel by calling in and have the expired Credits placed into one of your other Bookings and you get the non-expired Credits and HKC put back into your Account. Worldmark also has various Cash Options - Bonus Time, Monday Madness, and Inventory Specials.

Worldmark is a true pure Credit System.

It is true that Worldmark is primarily West of the Mississippi but they have added Resorts in the Poconos, South Carolina, and Florida. They also have Resorts in Fiji, Mexico, and Western Canada (Canmore and several in BC). They are Building a new Resort in Moab Utah.

Worldmark has Resorts on Mau'i, Kaua'i, and the Big Island.

 

[KimmieM]

Until Aug the answer to that was other than counting toward VIP levels, you got pretty much the same thing.

Now if you NON-VIP Resale then they a bargain to buy and you have lots of choices and flexibility. Note that VIP is not transferrable upon resale deal. So IF you are NOT VIP then things are pretty much the same. They treat them pretty much the same as everyone else.

Only different now is if you are VIP you don't get VIP oerks on resale points, so now essentially you have an account with resale and developer points, and both with different rules for each type.

For overall comparison done a few years back, this is a good overview.
https://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare-system-comparison-chart.html We might have to alter this again, as a collective group efforts.

What happened to resale points being able to use with VIP perks? When did this change happen? Resale market had to drop substantially.

 

[Ty1on]

What happened to resale points being able to use with VIP perks? When did this change happen? Resale market had to drop substantially.

Changed this summer. Resale market hasn't dropped that substantially, but we're just getting out of the tourism season.

 

[troy12n]

What happened to resale points being able to use with VIP perks? When did this change happen? Resale market had to drop substantially.

August. Resale market seemingly has not taken any sort of hit. There's a lot of high points contracts out there right now that i'm not sure are selling though.

 

[montygz]

When you compare timeshare systems, you have to heavily weigh those ratings based on properties you will actually use.

For example, if you visit Disney frequently and want to stay on property, DVC would be the right timeshare. However, if you don't visit Disney, or do it infrequently, it would not be the right purchase even though it has very nice resorts.

Some regions of the country are heavy on different systems. If the places you want to visit don't have a Wyndham timeshare, you may be frustrated trying to trade-in or just be shut out.

On the overall quality of resorts and cost to own resale, I think Wyndham is a good value if they have resorts in the places you want to go.

Before buying anything, I suggest renting some stays in various systems to get a feel for their overall standards and quality.