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Wyndham Points via Resale

kbb

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I had the misfortune of sitting through a Wyndham sales session this weekend at the Wisconsin Dells. While I wouldn't buy a bucket of water from this outfit if my hair was on fire, I am interested in the Wyndham program. I'm wondering if anyone on this forum could help me understand some details about the program that the Wyndham sales people could not:

1. If I buy Wyndham points via a resale market, what limitations will I run into? The salesguy told me that I would not be able to trade those points through RCI. Is that true, and what would I have to do to be able to trade resale-purchased Wyndham points in RCI? Are there other benefits of value that are not available to people who buy through resale?

2. Is there any benefit in purchasing a specific "home" resort in the Wyndham system? Or is the better approach to look for points at a resort where the property taxes are lower and just plan to use those points to reserve whichever Wyndham property we want?

I apologize for questions that have probably been answered a million times, and thank you in advance for your help.

-Keith
 

Culli

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I had the misfortune of sitting through a Wyndham sales session this weekend at the Wisconsin Dells. While I wouldn't buy a bucket of water from this outfit if my hair was on fire, I am interested in the Wyndham program. I'm wondering if anyone on this forum could help me understand some details about the program that the Wyndham sales people could not:

1. If I buy Wyndham points via a resale market, what limitations will I run into? The salesguy told me that I would not be able to trade those points through RCI. Is that true, and what would I have to do to be able to trade resale-purchased Wyndham points in RCI? Are there other benefits of value that are not available to people who buy through resale?

2. Is there any benefit in purchasing a specific "home" resort in the Wyndham system? Or is the better approach to look for points at a resort where the property taxes are lower and just plan to use those points to reserve whichever Wyndham property we want?

I apologize for questions that have probably been answered a million times, and thank you in advance for your help.

-Keith


I just bought resale for almost next to nothing for the reason to use at the Dells (I assume you were at Glacial Canyon). I was just there a few weeks ago in a 3br deluxe and didn't have any issues. I have an RCI account set up through Wyndham and have the same trade/deposit rights as anyone else. The only thing was the wait for the transaction etc but given the probably $50k I saved it was worth it. I have about 290k points and have had no problem going through resale. I have called their ressie line and their online system many times with good results.

I know there are better experts on Wyndham then myself but this is just my newbie first hand experience.......so far so good. I bought as a cheaper way to go to the waterparks in the Dells with large accommodations and then to use at other places to supplement my other TS. I started on TUG and they have great info to help you research......start with the sticky posts on the Wyndham area.
 

kbb

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Culli,

Thanks for the info. We were at Glacier Canyon, site of the ridiculous sales presentation! We spent the weekend in a 2-bdrm rental condo on site. Did you buy specifically at Glacier Canyon, or are your points with a different "home" resort? Also, are the Wilderness water park admissions included with your stay?

Thanks!
Keith
 

dcdowden

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Keith,
Resale points can be used for both internal and external exchanges the same as those purchased directly from the developer. The only difference is whether or not the points count toward achieving VIP status, but most people on this forum consider the VIP benefits (like a free newspaper, a mid week cleaning, and point discounts on reservations made on short notice) to not be worth any where near the difference in price between buying resale and buying directly from the developer.

I tend to subscribe to the principle of buying points at a resort that you would like to go to frequently. You get Advanced Reservation Priority (ie., you can reserve at 13 months vs. 10 months) at your Home resort. So if you think you want to go to a popular resort at a popular time, this could be important. If your travel plans are far more flexible and don't have a major preference for a resort, then 'Points are Points' for exchanging through the Wyndham network or through RCI, so look for the lowest maintenance fees.

Hope this helps,
Doug
Naperville, Il
 

kbb

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Thanks, Doug... Not surprisingly, the developer sales guy sure made it sound much more limited than that! He sure had some contempt for the notion of a resale timeshare, though...
 

Bill4728

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1. If I buy Wyndham points via a resale market, what limitations will I run into? The salesguy told me that I would not be able to trade those points through RCI. Is that true, and what would I have to do to be able to trade resale-purchased Wyndham points in RCI? Are there other benefits of value that are not available to people who buy through resale?

The sale guy wasn't completely full of it.

If you buy resale you can trade your Wyn pts into "RCI weeks" If you buy direct from Wyn you can use "RCI points"

IMHO, RCI points is a much better program than RCI weeks. But IMHO, the main reason to own Wyn is to do internal trading within the Wyn system not do trades via RCI. So save 99% off the developer price and don't worry about the RCI weeks vs RCI point thing.

PS If you really want to trade via RCI points, don't buy Wyn buy a different system RESALE!!
 

Culli

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Culli,

Thanks for the info. We were at Glacier Canyon, site of the ridiculous sales presentation! We spent the weekend in a 2-bdrm rental condo on site. Did you buy specifically at Glacier Canyon, or are your points with a different "home" resort? Also, are the Wilderness water park admissions included with your stay?

Thanks!
Keith

Keith sorry for the late response, I lost the thread somehow:annoyed:

I bought at Williamsburg for next to nothing, pretty much the 08 MF on ebay. I went with something that reasonable MF and a good price. Yes you get the Wilderness water park admissions.....actually we are going again for a few days before christmas.

The staff at the front desk was very nice, I just ignored the phone messages from the sales staff that they had a "free gift" for me. I went to the front desk and acted dumb and said I had a message about some free gift....is it a sales pitch. The girl smiled and says yes that is the sales staff.

I have not had any issues so far using the wyndham points...I like that you can do ressies online or call. One thing I have not completely figured out is they seem to nickle and dime you to death for just about everything you do and you don't seem to know about it until after the fact. I don't find it to be a big deal but compared to DVC member services you get spoiled. DVC people who complain about MS need a reality check.

I also don't feel I have been treated any differnt by any of the Wyndham staff for purchasing resale. I have found them all to be very nice......not always the most knowledgable but always very nice. Make sure to check out the house keeping credits (or whatever they are called) and how they work, because this did put a small wrench in my theory of booking a couple days at a time as we live so close to Glacial Canyon. Still a good deal but this is something I didn't resarch and was a definate "ah ha" moment for me.

Let me know if you have any other questions.....sorry for the delay.

EDIT TO ADD: The booking period is not that big of deal for me, so far I have not had issues. Heck I got a 3br deluxe christmas week at Glacial Canyon with about 3 or 4 months out. However, I'm not banking on the fact I will also be able to do that, if that is important to you might want to see if you can get GC resale, but I think their MF are high.

Culli
 
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Leturno

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Thanks, Doug... Not surprisingly, the developer sales guy sure made it sound much more limited than that! He sure had some contempt for the notion of a resale timeshare, though...

Yea the sales part of Wyndham seam to think they are in competition pricewise against the resale market which is a loosing proposition for them. The more they attack the resale market the lower the price goes and the less attractive purchasing from the developer seems. I wish they would set up a Marriott style resale program and befriend the owners but they are clueless.

You are getting good advise here. When I purchased my (then Fairfield) points I did so with the intention of buying from resorts withing a days drive of where I lived. If the whole kit and kaboodle fell appart I wanted to be able to drive and use the locations I purchased. That probably cost me more.

The popular strategy appears to be purchasing for the lowest MF per point trying to keep it down to as close to $4 per thousand points as possible. There is a thread on that in this forum if you look for it.

Good luck. The Glacier Canyon resort in the Dells is one of their newest and is a model for what they will be building in the future. We have not been disappointed in any Fairfield (Sapphire Valley, Seawatch in Myrtle Beach, Cypress Palms, and a few others) but these new resorts are indeed very very nice. I wanted you to know that so you wouldn't expect those same accomodations at every location.

Talking about trading in RCI, we have always maximized the value of our points by trading up through RCI in a rolling forward method. We deposit a couple of units into RCI smaller then what we want to get out. You as a Fairfield/Wyndham owner have trading preference back into fairfield/Wyndham. If the search is taking a while we at some point (10 months out or less) book the week directly with Fairfield points. Then if we get the trade we cancel the points reservation and depost those points into RCI. This has worked well for us in the past and has given us more vacation then we can use. RCI has been raising their fees so it is getting more and more likely that this will not be cost effective at some near future point but as long as the math works it is a good way to go. It works real good to go to Orlando where trading in is really easy.

Good luck and don't buy the first deal that looks good. Watch the market for a bit, it really is a buyers market out there right now so don't hurry and get the best deal/not the first.

Scott:banana:
 
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