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Worldmark Questions

G

grs

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I've been thinking about getting a worldmark account because there are so many resorts that are in driving distance from where I live. I was thinking of using it for long weekends so I figure 7000 points should be good for that with the bonus time. Is this realistic, is it hard to book long weekends, is bonus time ever actually available, or is this just gonna be a huge hassle?

Thanks
 
grs said:
I've been thinking about getting a worldmark account because there are so many resorts that are in driving distance from where I live. I was thinking of using it for long weekends so I figure 7000 points should be good for that with the bonus time. Is this realistic, is it hard to book long weekends, is bonus time ever actually available, or is this just gonna be a huge hassle?

Thanks
Click to expand...

If you tell us where you live and what resorts you want to visit we can provide the most assistance.

Bonus time works best at select resorts, Sunday - Thursday, and/or in the off season. Bonus time is available at all resorts, but very little at some and abundant at others. All reservation types are more difficult to get during the summer and over holiday weeks.

Worldmark runs inventory specials. These are like bonus time, but can be booked out 60 days instead of 14 days. This is the page that describes the locations available. The resorts on the list vary from month to month. These resorts have the most bonus time available. Windsor is not on the list but it has lots of bonus time available.

http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/inventory_specials/

Bonus time costs $0.044 per credit. The bonus time fee includes the housekeeping. Each reservation needs a housekeeping. A Worldmark account under 20,000 credits includes one housekeeping per year. Additional housekeeping fee's are $65 for a two bedroom, $60 for a one bedroom, and $45 for a studio.

The booking guidelines state that red season reservations over 90 days prior to arrival must be a week or greater. If you want a long weekend you will either have to wait until 90 days or book in white of blue season. If you want to see the seasons and how many points you will need for stays please review the points charts:

http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/resorts/

The people who hate timeshares want to select a particular destination(Monterey for example), particular time, and make reservations on short notice. Those who have the most success with timeshares instead ask the following questions in the following order: When CAN I travel? What is the minimum size unit I need? Then they see what is available and choose from those destinations. The more you are willing to plan in advance or be flexible the happier you will be.

Worldmark is a great club with nice accomadations. I try to save half over a hotel stay, or get significantly better accomadations. Most of the time I succedd. I've owned Worldmark for about 8 years and now I vacation more then ever. I have great vacations and stay in great places. I couldn't afford my vacations without my timeshares.

Lastly, considering going with a 10,000 credit membership. The per night cost is better at 10,000 credits. The dues for a 7,000 credit membership is $425.74 per year or $0.0628 per credit. The dues for a 10,000 credit membership are 524.99 per year or $0.0524 per credit. If you use the credit chart from above you can calculate the cost per night.
 
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I live in the Pacific Northwest, so anywhere in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia would be the places I would be interested in staying.

Thanks
 
I mostly agree with re991 except that, according to Eric Clark's recent redseason.com newsletter, maintenance fees are $405.47 for a 6,000 or 7,000 credit membership and $594.51 for an 11,000 or 12,000 credit membership. So 7K annual membership is 5.79 cents/credit and 12K annual is 4.95 cents/credit, not a significant difference IMHO. In fact it's debatable whether one needs more than 6-7K annual points since credits are easy to rent at very reasonable price if you are already a WM member.

For bonus time reservation, it really depends on time and locations. For instance, I use bonus time to book multiple units at Windsor, CA for the past two years in Oct. I found bonus time in Hawaii and Mexico is quite easy to get, but it's always difficult (but not impossible) to use bonus time for peak traveling seasons at resorts in Northern CA (except Angels Camp). Also, weekdays are easier than weekend.
 
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LisaH said:
I mostly agree with re991 except that, according to Eric Clark's recent redseason.com newsletter, maintenance fees are $405.47 for a 6,000 or 7,000 credit membership and $594.51 for an 11,000 or 12,000 credit membership. So 7K annual membership is 5.79 cents/credit and 12K annual is 4.95 cents/credit, not a significant difference IMHO.
Click to expand...

Here's some maintenance dues info on www.wmowners.com that people may find useful.
 
grs said:
I live in the Pacific Northwest, so anywhere in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia would be the places I would be interested in staying.

Thanks
Click to expand...


I also live in the Pacific NW. In general:

* Weekdays are easier than weekends and regular weekends are easier than holiday long weekends.
* Off season is easier. Spring, fall, and summer at the Whistler resorts are easier than winter.
* Larger resorts (Birch Bay, Camlin, Eagle Crest, Running Y, Seaside, Victoria) are easier. The unit sizes with the most rooms are easier than the unit types with the least number of rooms. You can check out the quantities on the Unit Breakdown page on p.19 of the Owner Education Handbook here on the WM web site. You may also want to look at the Vacant Night Grid on p.17 of the same, which shows vacant nights after all bookings including BT.
* Because there are so many resorts in the Pacific NW, including a few large ones, if you are not restricted to holiday and high season weekends, and if you are willing to make some effort (look early in the morning and at least several times a day, be willing to grab days when you see them, and learn to use the cancellation policy), bonus time should not be very hard to get.

Accessing www.wmowners.com, as you are, also enhances your knowledge, and thus your bonus time success rate, tremendously. :)
 
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