Wyndham limiting access by non-owners during most sought-after dates/locations

[jules54]

FYI I have found I can make more than 1 reservation under the same name for the same dates at many resorts. I get the change name alert if it won’t wrk.

 

[Sandi Bo]

FYI I have found I can make more than 1 reservation under the same name for the same dates at many resorts. I get the change name alert if it won’t wrk.

I think the unwritten rule is they won't cancel if there are only 2. But I would never chance it. If I have a lot going on I'll call a VC and have them double check that they don't see any flags (they see flags, we don't). I chalk up allowing 2 to the very poorly written software, I figure if they aren't giving us flags, they decided to give us some leeway. Seems like a lot of explaining to do for a rental, especially if it's not someone you know. Oh by the way, I'm checking you in and oh by the way there are 2 rooms in my name, please tell them you are in room 123. And leaving the room in your name. And some resorts don't require a credit card deposit if you are an owner. I'm not saying what you are suggesting won't work, but I for one am looking forward to a quiet Christmas, while hoping this is a 2021 thing and things are back to normal next year.

 

[jerrybev]

How was the notification letter sent? Postal service or by email? We did not receive it and I wonder why
thankyou
jerrybev
plantinum

 

[Jan M.]

How was the notification letter sent? Postal service or by email? We did not receive it and I wonder why
thankyou
jerrybev
plantinum

The email about the black out dates went out only a few hours before the deadline to add a guest. If owners were at work, out for the evening, not someone who has to constantly be checking their phone, etc. they would have missed the extremely short window to add a guest to a reservation.

For some reason some of us don't get every email that Wyndham sends. A friend of mine usually forwards any emails she gets from Wyndham because I sometimes don't get them. This was one time I not only got the email but I just happened to check my email shortly after it came and actually read it. I didn't have any reservations nor plans to make any reservations for the resorts or times on the list. I did feel bad for the owners who did and was glad to hear that Owner Care has been making exceptions on a case by case basis.

At the time I was truly appalled at what seemed a very underhanded and poorly considered thing to do. Since then I've learned of a situation that I believe explains why it was done that way. It made me rethink all but one part of my earlier criticism. If I'm correct about the reason then I'll still stand by saying that whoever was responsible for compiling the list of resorts and dates could and should have done a much better job with it.

 

[Eric B]

Newest email on the subject with a refinement that allows use of guest certificates twice per year in the Owner Priority periods.

See also https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/owner-guide/resources/reservations/owner-priority-reservations?utm_source=member-update_20210618&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=cw_geoff&utm_content=<strong>

The summer season is in full swing.

Dear XXXXX Family, With the summer season in full swing, our resort teams are ready to welcome you back for memorable and fun-filled experiences. Whether it’s a relaxing beach getaway, an adventure-packed vacation in the mountains, or something in between, you have virtually unlimited opportunities to explore incredible destinations this summer. Vacation Ready To help ensure you enjoy your vacation experience, we remain committed to Vacation Ready, our enhanced health and safety measures. Our housekeeping teams are working in overdrive, and we continue to follow state and local mandates, where applicable. We’re pleased to share many of your resort amenities have reopened for your enjoyment. We’ve also made several improvements around our resorts to enhance your experience, including curbside check-in to get you on your vacation safely and efficiently, and new wristbands that allow you to open your suite, access resort amenities, and unlock local deals. Prioritizing Owner Reservations To help you cross different destinations off your bucket list, we are continuing our efforts to prioritize owner reservations by limiting access by non-owners at select resorts during peak travel times. Since we began these efforts in March, we’ve heard feedback from many owners that you’ve been able to achieve your vacation plans and visit many popular destinations during your desired travel times — and that you’d like to see these options expanded even further. You’ve also told us how much you enjoy sharing your love of travel with family and friends, and spending time with them at our resorts during family reunions and other special occasions. With owner feedback in mind, we’re making several enhancements to this effort, including: • Adding even more resorts and travel dates where owner travel will be prioritized. Your owner website is the best place to find the most up-to-date information about the select destinations and travel periods so that you can plan your vacations accordingly. • Allowing you to bring guests with you when you will be visiting these identified resorts during the select travel dates. As long as the owner and guest reservation(s) have an overlapping day, you may reserve as many guest reservations as you would like. • For reservations at identified resorts during the select travel periods when you are not traveling with your guests, up to two times a year, you can use a Guest Confirmation from your annual allotment. Guest reservations during these peak times in excess of the two allowed will be subject to cancellation. You can read more about these updates here. When I reflect on where we were a year ago compared to where we are today, it’s a journey none of us could have anticipated. Your wellbeing remains our top priority, and we will continue to adapt operations as local, state, and federal guidance evolves. While there may be a few bumps along the way, we are excited to see that so many people are able to get back on vacation — as owners, you understand better than anyone the powerful impact that vacations have in our lives. I hope we see you on vacation soon. Here’s to a safe, fun, and unforgettable summer! Sincerely, Geoff Richards Chief Operating Officer Wyndham Destinations

 

[Jan M.]

Well now I have to take back what I said this morning. They did a much better job with this list.

The one thing that has me puzzled is why Westwinds, and only Westwinds, is on the list for November and December. Of the Myrtle Beach resorts Westwinds is the last choice for most owners and some won't stay there because it's an older resort. Also I didn't think there was much demand for Myrtle Beach period in November and December. Is there something going on there that I'm missing?

 

[vacatiionking]

Have you seen the NEW black out sites and times? Most weekends and special events will no longer be available to unaccompanied guests at some but not all resorts. It will take an Excel spreadsheet to figure out how you are affected. Thanks, Wyndham for continuing to deny me the use you sold me. So the March letter was just the camel's nose under the tent.............

 

[rickandcindy23]

Our daughter found out about this through Koala because of course she has rented a lot through that site. This is extremely vindictive of Wyndham. This is going to make a lot of owners angry. This is not how we were sold on Wyndham in 2006. So much has been taken away, including unlimited guest certificates for platinum. Once again, I am constantly reassessing what I need to do with our ownerships for Shell, WorldMark and Wyndham. It's not what was sold to us.

 

[PhilD41]

Well, I don't know about you, but this one does perturb me as an owner. To @rickandcindy23's point, this is not what was sold to my parents either. They spent 10's of thousands because they were told that is how they made it cheaper for their kids (me). Now I am being told, "Just kidding!" Well, michael.brown@wyn.com will be getting an email this time. It will be polite and respectful, but it will voice my frustration in their bate and switch. It will also let him know that this direction will loose them business... I know, they already have my parents money, and they would love to get our points back so they can resell them... That may be true, but I can guarantee that everyone we know or ever have interaction with on the subject will know Wyndham is not a trustworthy company and they should never do business with them. If nothing else, it will make me feel better... maybe.

 

[Sandy VDH]

That is another super shitty move on Wyndham's part. I think they are definitely putting pressure on the renter crowd.

Notify everyone late on a Friday and give them that day only to arrange it.

 

[paxsarah]

This is going to make a lot of owners angry.

I think this is going to make a very small percentage of owners angry. The vast majority of owners will be satisfied with unlimited guest reservations overlapping with an owner and two guest reservations separately per year. I’m sympathetic to the fact that Wyndham has significantly moved the goalposts, but I think your perception of how many owners will be negatively affected is off. (I don’t doubt that the proportion of TUG owners affected is higher than the general owner population.)

 

[chapjim]

I have to look at my reservations for the next couple of months. My gut impression is that I may not have many left after canceling those that are affected.

 

[LDBEH]

Not just for the remainder of 2021 - but into 2022 - Wyndham keeps changing the rules. I don't have anything affected, but it sure makes for some difficulties helping friends and family next year. Unbelievable that they can change how people can spend points that they purchased...and without any way to fight it!

 

[chapjim]

Not just for the remainder of 2021 - but into 2022 - Wyndham keeps changing the rules. I don't have anything affected, but it sure makes for some difficulties helping friends and family next year. Unbelievable that they can change how people can spend points that they purchased...and without any way to fight it!

The thing that annoys me most is that Wyndham is taking care of small owners by peeing on the legs of the people who have spent the most on Wyndham's product.

Just for spite, I will probably keep the reservations I have, even though I can't add a guest, and cancel at Day 15.

 

[chapjim]

I think this is going to make a very small percentage of owners angry. The vast majority of owners will be satisfied with unlimited guest reservations overlapping with an owner and two guest reservations separately per year. I’m sympathetic to the fact that Wyndham has significantly moved the goalposts, but I think your perception of how many owners will be negatively affected is off. (I don’t doubt that the proportion of TUG owners affected is higher than the general owner population.)

Thinking that I am part of a minority doesn't give me any comfort or make me think more highly of Wyndham corporate.

 

[chapjim]

Delete.

 

[rickandcindy23]

That doesn't give me any comfort.

Me neither. I agree with you.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I feel for all of those who did not find out about this on TUG or by email. This is such a nasty thing for Wyndham to do, and it really does affect more people than some might think. It's going to hurt a lot of people. At least we can give back our points that aren't platinum/ founders.

I see a lawsuit in Wyndham's future.

 

[Jan M.]

I think this is going to make a very small percentage of owners angry. The vast majority of owners will be satisfied with unlimited guest reservations overlapping with an owner and two guest reservations separately per year. I’m sympathetic to the fact that Wyndham has significantly moved the goalposts, but I think your perception of how many owners will be negatively affected is off. (I don’t doubt that the proportion of TUG owners affected is higher than the general owner population.)

The verbiage in the letter differs from what the website says. For now I'd go with what the website says.

The letter says:
Allowing you to bring guests with you when you will be visiting these identified resorts during the select travel dates. As long as the owner and guest reservation(s) have an overlapping day, you may reserve as many guest reservations as you would like.

For reservations at identified resorts during the select travel periods when you are not traveling with your guests, up to two times a year, you can use a Guest Confirmation from your annual allotment. Guest reservations during these peak times in excess of the two allowed will be subject to cancellation.

The website says:
You can travel with your guests to these resorts during the dates listed below and may use two guest confirmations during the restricted dates. Any guest reservations made after the dates listed below at the following resorts during the select peak travel periods will be subject to cancellation (including guests added to an existing reservation after those dates).

Some people may be assuming that the new list supersedes the old list. To be on the safe side until we hear otherwise I'd go with the new list is in addition to the old list.

 

[lost patience]

I have reservations that I made for a group of friends that had not yet booked their flights and did not know who was arriving first. How can Wyndham make changes like this with no warning? I am presidential and paid a lot for this. Not even allowing guest names to be added to reservations already made? How can I protest?

 

[lost patience]

Well now I have to take back what I said this morning. They did a much better job with this list.

The one thing that has me puzzled is why Westwinds, and only Westwinds, is on the list for November and December. Of the Myrtle Beach resorts Westwinds is the last choice for most owners and some won't stay there because it's an older resort. Also I didn't think there was much demand for Myrtle Beach period in November and December. Is there something going on there that I'm missing?

So the only thing I could think of is that, They dont want to lose out all the money that they make from extraholidays. Last time when they chose the resorts the black outs extended to extra holidays. So if they make a lot of money from extra holidays at certain Myrtle beach resorts or resorts across the nation they will not want want to have those dates blocked off.

 

[Jan M.]

This new list was a bold move and I admit to being surprised by the scope of it. In case someone from Wyndham is following this thread and reporting in about what's being said, whoever compiled this new list did a much, much better job this time. It could still use some more work but I doubt anyone from Wyndham is going to call me and ask for my expertise.

I know some people think Wyndham is doing this to benefit Extra Holidays. That isn't at all what these lists are about. While it's true that because of COVID there are a number of owners with points they need to use there's also more to it than that. I can say with absolute certainty that there are valid reasons that factored into the decision to do what Wyndham is doing. I'm not going to discuss what I know or how I know it but I can assure you that Wyndham believes that what they're doing will improve the ownership experience for the majority of owners. It's my personal opinion that if what they're doing doesn't bring about the desired results Wyndham will be taking other steps to accomplish their agenda.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Any information on how this is enforced? It's a lot to keep track of, especially the exceptions (like OK if overlapping with an owner and the 2 unaccompanied guests over the year). And how would that flow into extraholidays (if an owner was on property could they turn over rooms for that time period to extra holidays). Whether it's a reservation made on the owner site, or turned over to extraholidays, you can sure see the opportunity for abuse. I would think it would have to be manually (I got the impression what was being done 1st wave was), and this exponentially more complicated. Lord help us if they are trying to program it, well I guess lord help us either way.

I am not willing to ever risk renting to someone and have them not have a room when they arrive (or even have it cancelled before). So don't take this as something I would try, but what if I have this:

Jun 20-July 2 - book room and add guest
July 1- July 8 - book room in my name

Have guest checkin on June 20. On any day after that, cancel my July 1 reservation. I realize it's not that simple, I could lose the points cancelling the owner reservation, but I could have insured that, or what if I put a guest on it after June 20 but prior to July 1 - then it would auto cancel and I'd get my points back (and I have my June 20 reservation checked in).

I can't imagine running a rental business juggling these type of things. But with complicated rules come more opportunities to find loopholes/wiggle your way around things.

I for one will be creating my own spreadsheet, assessing dates and locations, and with the number of points I typically rent, feel comfortable I can still get those points rented, or look to get rid of some points, perhaps even our ownership. Bad overall for the family as we do use a considerable amount of our points for personal use and being able to rent any excess has allowed the family to use as much or little as they wanted, and not have to commit to helping pay maintenance fees on the excess points. If renting the excess is too challenging, then reassessing if it's worth having comes into play big time.

Other thoughts overall, this has made rebooking when discounts become available much less possible. Nice win for Wyndham. The issue of who is arriving first if you place a guest on a reservation is more critical (if Wyndham cared they would allow for more than guest name on a reservation, something like that). Wyndham has continued to provide a substandard system, searching still sucks. Almost for sure owners are complaining they can't find stuff, and it's the sub-standard / not user friendly system crippling their ability to book a vacation. And here we are pointing the finger at guest usage instead.

Ahhhh, and thanks Wyndham for the couple hours notice. Just what was needed in the midst of a family emergency. These short notice fire drills have to be kept in mind, as well, when assessing if Wyndham is something I want to continue to own. You just stole precious, irreplaceable time from me. That I won't forget.

 

[Eric B]

While I can sympathize with the megarenters, I think the new policy isn't the end of the world for them. Wyndham did include a fairly large loophole in it - in addition to the 2 guest confirmations annually there's the following:

Allowing you to bring guests with you when you will be visiting these identified resorts during the select travel dates. As long as the owner and guest reservation(s) have an overlapping day, you may reserve as many guest reservations as you would like.

If you really want to rent out a 4 BR Presidential or more during one of the blackout periods and have already used your 2 guest confirmations, all you have to do is reserve a studio at the same resort (or whatever the smallest room size is) for the minimum number of days with a single overlapping day. That raises the costs, of course, but those will just get passed on to the folks that rent from them. Might make it a bit harder for others to get a small room Sunday-Thursday during those periods as we'll probably wind up with a bunch of 3-day reservations in the lower cost rooms to allow guests in the bigger ones once the real megarenters figure it out, but that's not necessarily a bad thing as there's a reason for those days being less costly.

 

[Eric B]

So don't take this as something I would try, but what if I have this:

Jun 20-July 2 - book room and add guest
July 1- July 8 - book room in my name

That's along the lines of what I was thinking the approach would wind up being. My thought is that the more rational approach would be:

July 31 - August 7 - book Bonnet Creek 4 BR Presidential for rental (424,000)
August 2 - August 5 - book Bonnet Creek 1 BR Deluxe in my name so I can rent the 4 BR (60,000)

Net increase in point cost = 14%. You do make a good point about insuring the deposit to further reduce the costs, though they could eliminate that option during the blackout periods to restrict it more.