I disagree with the logic and assessment that nothing much will change with respect to availability. Let's use a logic example here since Ron did so earlier. The first is with respect to those who keep saying they all played by the rules - just to make abundantly clear that this is factually a false statement:
All CWP reservations made for commercial rental purposes violate Wyndham Commercial Use Terms & Conditions
Commercial renters made tens of thousands of reservations consisting of hundreds of millions of points for commercial rental purposes
Therefore commercial renters violated Wyndham Commercial Use Terms & Conditions
True or False?
True (IMHO)
Now let's use another logic example regarding availability:
Every rental reservation booked for a non-Wyndham
renter removes that exact amount of available inventory for an actual Wyndham vacation
owner
Commercial renters made hundreds of millions of points rental reservations (at least)
Therefore commercial renters removed hundreds of millions of points of inventory availability for
renters that was made inaccessible to Wyndham vacation
owners
True or False?
True (IMHO)
It is basic logic that whenever
anyone books a reservation that consumes available inventory from the system - that exact piece of inventory is no longer available to anyone else in the system. If you booked hundreds/thousands of reservations for
renters during your ownership span - then that exact amount of inventory was in point of fact removed from the system and no longer available to
any other owners in the system. The system was designed to allow
owners vs owners to compete for available inventory - points chasing reservations as Ron stated. It is
not currently designed to accommodate commercial rental businesses using up large blocks of points for non-Wyndham
renters in comparison (not since Voyager was rolled out). This fact is why megarenters were exited from the entire system back in 2016 yes? Unless my logic is wrong here, which is possible since I'm only one person, I'm really at a loss to understand how we can say with a straight face that availability won't change when hundreds of millions of points will be recovered as more megarenters exit the current system.
Does that mean as
@paxsarah said that there won't be unhappy owners who wait until the last minute to attempt to book a prime season reservation and then complain that there's no availability? No it does not. There will always be people who complain about any system because they don't understand how to use it to their advantage. But freeing up hundreds of millions of points (at least) that were being consumed
solely by renters that will be consumed
solely by owners is a significant step in the right direction and will have a net positive impact on
owners booking vacations. Exactly how the owner base consumes the extra inventory (planners vs impromptu) really is immaterial - and therefore all of the arguments as to
which owners consume inventory really is moot. As
@Eric B said - it will take time for these changes to play out - and if Wyndham doesn't observe the results they expect - I would expect more actions to further encourage the cessation of commercial timeshare rental business activities.
Now to respond to a couple of underlying tones that I've observed repeatedly here on TUG that I think are changing - at least in part - and to demonstrate some sensitivity to those who are seeing the death of the old as we move toward something new (whatever that may be). As
@Sandi Bo and
@rickandcindy23 have demonstrated in recent posts - there's a sense of "us vs them" on two levels that I've observed. The first level is Wyndham vs TUG. The TUG culture in the past has largely created an environment that encourages an "us vs them" attitude with respect to Wyndham. I am not the type of person to buy into this perspective. I believe in building bridges to effect change for the better for all involved - and I try to lead by example - which is why I've worked extremely hard over the past three years to build strategic relationships with key resources at Wyndham. With that in mind, I'm going to use something
@Sandi Bo posted as an example of what we should try to avoid IMHO:
I've bolded the words I take issue with. Who is they? It appears They is Wyndham. IME there are
many good people at Wyndham - just like the
many good people here at TUG - who are simply trying to support their families as best possible via the income that working at Wyndham generates, just like there are many people running commercial rental businesses here on TUG to support their families as best possible using Wyndham timeshare inventory. Because I reject the "us vs them" premise, IMHO I think we need to be extremely careful with our words when we make statements like this, because when we do so it colors our entire outlook at a fundamental level. Now that said, do I think that's what
@Sandi Bo really meant? With respect to Wyndham - I doubt it - but only she can answer that question - but I don't believe that all Wyndham people are bad people - just as I don't believe the folks here on TUG are bad people - because my experience with all of these people tells me otherwise (whether Wyndham or TUG). But that's me - because I believe in building bridges and relationships to work together to make things better for all involved. I believe in tearing down walls that promote division.
This brings us to the second level of "us vs them" and that's what we see playing out on this thread. The old perspectives vs the new perspectives. I suspect that at least a part of Sandi's response was actually an attempt to shift blame away from the megarenters and toward Wyndham - and at least in part given Wyndham once encouraged the exact behaviors they are now attempting to discourage - there's at least some validity in taking this approach. I also recognize that she and many others who have been here for a long time are seeing other folks that they have built relationships with via TUG come under scrutiny, and that's never easy to watch - and we often want to come to the defense of those we care about when this type of thing plays out. That is natural - it is even healthy to do and to see happen. This is likely a process we will continue to see play out here on TUG in the ensuing months. It is a healthy process and in many ways its a
necessary process to get to the other side of all of this. When we come across especially contentious topics where we will inevitably disagree - we will likely have to simply agree to disagree and/or suspend debate to allow calmer heads to prevail.
The last point I wish to make is about the old vs the new perspectives. History teaches us that the new perspectives will eventually win out. That's just how it almost always works out. The young eventually replace the old. We are all navigating a state of transition for the Wyndham system here on TUG. It won't be easy for the older TUG folks to sit by and watch the death of commercial rental businesses - especially those who were running those businesses or had family or close friends doing so - since part of their livelihood is likely coming to an end. Having recently gone through a significant forced career change myself due to my company being acquired last year - I can certainly empathize with the prospect of having to face an uncertain future with respect to bringing in a paycheck. Overall - let's try to embrace the "seek first to understand before being understood" proverb when it comes to contentious topics.