Wyndham Privileges: new Wyndham VIP Levels starting late 2020 [Merged]

[dgalati]

We rent out enough points to cover our annual maintenance fees. Use to be more, but we are doing more traveling and stay longer. So many place and so little time.

Nice, so your a VIP that rents to cover maintenance fees?

 

[55plus]

Yes, for now. As we travel more and more and stay longer we'll do less renting. Add family and friends into the mix we'll need all our points. Family and friends stay for free with us. They even get their own units.

 

[Braindead]

Nice, so your a VIP that rents to cover maintenance fees?

I think your misinterpreting 55plus response.
He’s not renting at break even of the MFs on the points used for the individual rental reservation.
It’s more like some VIPs might rent for MFs X 2. Rent half of their points to cover 100% of their yearly MFs on all points owned
Someday you just might understand that for some owners it’s cheaper to own instead of renting. 55plus & others have told you their VIP account has paid for itself. The cost of their VIP account has paid for itself & now they are definitely staying cheaper than you renting & owning resales

 

[ecwinch]

I think your misinterpreting 55plus response.
He’s not renting at break even of the MFs on the points used for the individual rental reservation.
It’s more like some VIPs might rent for MFs X 2. Rent half of their points to cover 100% of their yearly MFs on all points owned
Someday you just might understand that for some owners it’s cheaper to own instead of renting. 55plus & others have told you their VIP account has paid for itself. The cost of their VIP account has paid for itself & now they are definitely staying cheaper than you renting & owning resales

Exactly. This premise that there is an unlimited supply of VIP owners who are willing to rent out their VIP discount and throw free upgrades into the deal as a bonus is simplistic at best. I am sure there are some who are willing to do that from time to time. But to suggest that it is simple and easy to do is just misleading people. It is an opportunistic strategy that works in some situations, but is somewhat like the claims made by Wyndham salespeople. It ignores all the people out there who have to put in for vacation well in advance, book airfares, might need more than 1 unit, and cannot wait to see if a VIP scores the desired time with their VIP discount.

 

[dgalati]

I think your misinterpreting 55plus response.
He’s not renting at break even of the MFs on the points used for the individual rental reservation.
It’s more like some VIPs might rent for MFs X 2. Rent half of their points to cover 100% of their yearly MFs on all points owned
Someday you just might understand that for some owners it’s cheaper to own instead of renting. 55plus & others have told you their VIP account has paid for itself. The cost of their VIP account has paid for itself & now they are definitely staying cheaper than you renting & owning resales

Correct on all points. Sounds to me he makes his situation work and enjoys many vacations at a very low cost by renting to cover most if not all of his maintenance fees.

 

[dgalati]

Exactly. This premise that there is an unlimited supply of VIP owners who are willing to rent out their VIP discount and throw free upgrades into the deal as a bonus is simplistic at best. I am sure there are some who are willing to do that from time to time. But to suggest that it is simple and easy to do is just misleading people. It is an opportunistic strategy that works in some situations, but is somewhat like the claims made by Wyndham salespeople. It ignores all the people out there who have to put in for vacation well in advance, book airfares, might need more than 1 unit, and cannot wait to see if a VIP scores the desired time with their VIP discount.

I agree, I own points and have found a way to make it work. My situation may not work for others. Sometimes it is cheaper to use my own points but on occasion it is cheaper to rent from a VIP booking within the 60 day window.
This post is my personal opinion

 

[dgalati]

Yes, for now. As we travel more and more and stay longer we'll do less renting. Add family and friends into the mix we'll need all our points. Family and friends stay for free with us. They even get their own units.

Any way you can make it work and enjoy while your still young and have good health.

 

[55plus]

Any way you can make it work and enjoy while your still young and have good health.

We enjoy traveling and it's nice to have a revenue stream that off sets our travel costs. We don't need the additional revenue, but like I stated, it's nice to have. We are retired so we can leave at a moment's notice. This means if I find something or a cancellation within 60 at a location that interests us I book it at half points and away we go. I enjoy the challenge to travel at half points. It's a challenge in the summer. You have to stay on top of it. Most openings happen at 15 days out from check-in. Those come from renters who dump their reservations that they didn't rent. Most don't or can't afford to lose the points so we take advantage of it. Does this answer your question?

 

[dgalati]

We enjoy traveling and it's nice to have a revenue stream that off sets our travel costs. We don't need the additional revenue, but like I stated, it's nice to have. We are retired so we can leave at a moment's notice. This means if I find something or a cancellation within 60 at a location that interests us I book it at half points and away we go. I enjoy the challenge to travel at half points. It's a challenge in the summer. You have to stay on top of it. Most openings happen at 15 days out from check-in. Those come from renters who dump their reservations that they didn't rent. Most don't or can't afford to lose the points so we take advantage of it. Does this answer your question?

Yes I also travel at last minute. Not many can wait till last minute but It is a great way to travel and stay at very nice resorts for less then renting a cheap hotel room. The changes that Wyndham made it a little more difficult but I have adapted and made it work still. I have also found it very common to find availability 15 days out. Only thing better then 1/2 off is free.
This post is my personal opinion

 

[55plus]

Yes I also travel at last minute. Not many can wait till last minute but It is a great way to travel and stay at very nice resorts for less then renting a cheap hotel room. The changes that Wyndham made it a little more difficult but I have adapted and made it work still. I have also found it very common to find availability 15 days out. Only thing better then 1/2 off is free.
This post is my personal opinion

The policy change Wyndham made that I see as beneficial to owners is the 15 day drop dead timeframe for cancelling a reservation. This helped force inventory back into the system for others to take advantage of whether for travel or as a possible rental. The rental option would only benefit those who have access to discounted points.

 

[am1]

Nice to see they will be changing the website. I only got a look at the last one "while under caution" and it was the pits. Never got a chance to exploit it as the one previously was. No guarantee the next one will be any better.

At the moment what happens when two platinum (possibly lower vip) accounts are combined? Has anyone done that recently?

I was surprised they were never interested.

 

[Braindead]

Not many can wait till last minute

That’s why you’ve been giving horrible advice to OPs when you made blank statements on renting from a VIP is cheaper than paying MFs without ever asking the OPs about there travel-Ownership needs.

Even if OPs can travel at the last minute doesn’t mean they will find rentals available

Your personal opinion-blank statements are FALSE for most OPs asking about becoming owners.

 

[dgalati]

That’s why you’ve been giving horrible advice to OPs when you made blank statements on renting from a VIP is cheaper than paying MFs without ever asking the OPs about there travel-Ownership needs.

Even if OPs can travel at the last minute doesn’t mean they will find rentals available

Your personal opinion-blank statements are FALSE for most OPs asking about becoming owners.

Got it. Make it work for you like I have. Due your own due diligence.
This post is my personal opinion

 

[Braindead]

Dgalati
Our daughter & SIL have to put in for vacation more than 60 days in advance.
Your personal opinion-blank statements would be worthless & horrible if they & OPs in similar situations happen to take your advice.

 

[Baby Jane]

Yes, for now. As we travel more and more and stay longer we'll do less renting. Add family and friends into the mix we'll need all our points. Family and friends stay for free with us. They even get their own units.

We do that too

 

[Baby Jane]

Exactly. This premise that there is an unlimited supply of VIP owners who are willing to rent out their VIP discount and throw free upgrades into the deal as a bonus is simplistic at best. I am sure there are some who are willing to do that from time to time. But to suggest that it is simple and easy to do is just misleading people. It is an opportunistic strategy that works in some situations, but is somewhat like the claims made by Wyndham salespeople. It ignores all the people out there who have to put in for vacation well in advance, book airfares, might need more than 1 unit, and cannot wait to see if a VIP scores the desired time with their VIP discount.

Well we wont profit off family and friends so I just pass on what our cost for said points are. May be stupid but that's how we do it. I know they will all miss it when we start our retirement trips. Some people want the guarantee and are willing to pay for full points but usually only summer beach. I also like the peace of mind knowing I am only sending people that I know wont trash the room or steal stuff. When you rent to strangers its a crap shoot.

 

[dgalati]

Dgalati
Our daughter & SIL have to put in for vacation more than 60 days in advance.
Your personal opinion-blank statements would be worthless & horrible if they & OPs in similar situations happen to take your advice.

BD,
You already covered this. Yes I agree with you. One size doesn't fit all. Everyone has to find their own way to make it work for them.
This post is my personal opinion

 

[Braindead]

This post is my personal opinion

We all post our personal opinions. We don’t need to see this phrase on every post
But when giving actual advice we all need to stick to the FACTS as much as possible

 

[dgalati]

We all post our personal opinions. We don’t need to see this phrase on every post
But when giving actual advice we all need to stick to the FACTS as much as possible

BD,
One more time yes I agree, you already covered this several times.
This post is my personal opinion

 

[dgalati]

The policy change Wyndham made that I see as beneficial to owners is the 15 day drop dead timeframe for cancelling a reservation. This helped force inventory back into the system for others to take advantage of whether for travel or as a possible rental. The rental option would only benefit those who have access to discounted points.

I thought this was policy before the change?

 

[55plus]

I thought this was policy before the change?

During Fairfield and early Wyndham you could cancel a reservation up to the day of check-in. An earlier Wyndham policy change, changed it to 15 days prior. That helped put inventory back in the system so others could take advantage of more last minute reservations.

 

[HitchHiker71]

We enjoy traveling and it's nice to have a revenue stream that off sets our travel costs. We don't need the additional revenue, but like I stated, it's nice to have. We are retired so we can leave at a moment's notice. This means if I find something or a cancellation within 60 at a location that interests us I book it at half points and away we go. I enjoy the challenge to travel at half points. It's a challenge in the summer. You have to stay on top of it. Most openings happen at 15 days out from check-in. Those come from renters who dump their reservations that they didn't rent. Most don't or can't afford to lose the points so we take advantage of it. Does this answer your question?

Do you handle your own rentals, or do you outsource the rental function to a third party? Or do you mostly rent to people you know? Curious as I'm considering taking this approach as well to help offset MFs.

 

[55plus]

Do you handle your own rentals, or do you outsource the rental function to a third party? Or do you mostly rent to people you know? Curious as I'm considering taking this approach as well to help offset MFs.

I use Craigslist and do my own invoicing through PayPal. No commission to pay.

 

[Jan M.]

During Fairfield and early Wyndham you could cancel a reservation up to the day of check-in. An earlier Wyndham policy change, changed it to 15 days prior. That helped put inventory back in the system so others could take advantage of more last minute reservations.

That was a change that I really appreciated. That change made staffing at the resorts much easier to manage which made more inventory available in addition to making cancelled reservations available to people who might still be able to use those stays. Before that change there were cancelled points and you had to deal with the restrictions on using them. For some people who go a lot that wasn't a big issue but for people who only took one or two vacations and/or a short trip a year with their points dealing with cancelled points was a headache. And you couldn't credit pool cancelled points either.

 

[Baby Jane]

That was a change that I really appreciated. That change made staffing at the resorts much easier to manage which made more inventory available in addition to making cancelled reservations available to people who might still be able to use those stays. Before that change there were cancelled points and you had to deal with the restrictions on using them. For some people who go a lot that wasn't a big issue but for people who only took one or two vacations and/or a short trip a year with their points dealing with cancelled points was a headache. And you couldn't credit pool cancelled points either.

I have found less inventory just out of the 15 day window and more inside it since they have the insurance cancel until day of.