Wyndham - RCI

[dltorrisi]

Hi everyone. We just attended a Wyndham sales presentation (but didn't buy ) however we may be interested in buying after market points.

What we were very interested in was the ability to access the Wyndham portal to book flights and all-inclusive resorts as well as the getaways for $269/$319. Does anyone know if I buy aftermarket will I also get access to those features (wouldn't use the timeshare portion of the ownership)?

And if buying aftermarket do I have to pay an additional RCI membership fee or is it included with the taxes and maintenance fees?

 

[bnoble]

Your Wyndham program fee will include the cost of the RCI account whether or not you have a developer purchase.

access the Wyndham portal to book flights and all-inclusive resorts

Some of these are through PlusPartners, and only available to accounts with either (a) a qualifying developer purchase or (b) a standalone enrollment of a few thousand $. However, these are nearly always terrible deals; it would be better to just pay cash directly to the airline/resort operator. For all I know some might be available to resale-only accounts but I've never even bothered to check. I've always thought of it as a waste of time.

as well as the getaways for $269/$319.

These are just part of RCI---so accessible to resale-only accounts. They can sometimes be good, and I've booked some enjoyable ones over the years. Be aware they are nearly always low-demand times, typically either deep off-season for the area or in the least-popular resorts in over-built places.

 

[dltorrisi]

Thank you everyone! So the salesman was showing us the Wyndham booking portal and I asked him to look up the cost of a flight for a date in March that I already have reservations for. Same flights were several hundred dollars cheaper! He said this is because Wyndham has "buying power" with the airlines. He insisted this was available to Wyndham owners to purchase at anytime. He made no mention of using points to "buy down" the cost. I guess the question is, has anybody used this airline booking feature? Is it cheaper? or was he trying to mislead us ?? Thx everyone !

 

[Jan M.]

Thank you everyone! So the salesman was showing us the Wyndham booking portal and I asked him to look up the cost of a flight for a date in March that I already have reservations for. Same flights were several hundred dollars cheaper! He said this is because Wyndham has "buying power" with the airlines. He insisted this was available to Wyndham owners to purchase at anytime. He made no mention of using points to "buy down" the cost. I guess the question is, has anybody used this airline booking feature? Is it cheaper? or was he trying to mislead us ?? Thx everyone !

Using your points to book flights and rental cars is an absolutely horrible value. Same thing with using them to pay your maintenance fees. With the flights being cheaper, airlines typically have sales on flights so it was likely just a good day to look not that Wyndham could get you a better price than you could have gotten for yourself. In other words you may have gotten the best price on the day you did your booking but that day wasn't a good day to get a good price. For instance I've been looking at flights for our granddaughters and DIL who live in Ohio to come to Florida after Christmas. The flights had been more than I was willing to spend but I continued to check because I have nothing better to do with my life. Lol. Anyhow two weeks ago I hit the jackpot; four round trip flights for $294.95. Then I looked at flights for their Spring Break in later March and found a kid flies free with an adult deal on Frontier. So our son, DIL and granddaughters are meeting us in Orlando and I paid $151.96 for the flights for the four of the and that includes one checked bag.

As for the all inclusives. It's usually dirt cheap to book the resort but the mandatory all inclusive fee isn't cheap. You can do better on www.cheapcaribbean.com. Not just on the price but also on the resort selection.

Everyone, resale point owners included, gets a free RCI weeks account.

 

[dgalati]

Hi everyone. We just attended a Wyndham sales presentation (but didn't buy ) however we may be interested in buying after market points.

What we were very interested in was the ability to access the Wyndham portal to book flights and all-inclusive resorts as well as the getaways for $269/$319. Does anyone know if I buy aftermarket will I also get access to those features (wouldn't use the timeshare portion of the ownership)?

And if buying aftermarket do I have to pay an additional RCI membership fee or is it included with the taxes and maintenance fees?

Only one thing salesman said that is true RCI is a usefull benefit. You can buy resale don't need to purchase developer to enjoy this benefit. Plus partners is a horrible use of points and only benefits Wyndhams bottom line! I wonder if he said you could rent points to pay all maintenance fees?

 

[dltorrisi]

He must have been using the points for the air then. Because I checked yesterday (the same day as our presentation) and the published price American listed was way higher than the price he showed us. I didn't seem right. He also said that Wyndham "owners" can book a week anywhere for 269 for a 2 bed and 319 for a 3-4 bed. I questioned this over and over again. My wife asked 3 times "so you can book into disney for $269 without trading points?" "Just a cash booking?" he said yes repeatedly. We found that hard to believe.

 

[bnoble]

I have never seen DVC in last call. Not even in the depths of the pandemic when the parks were closed.

Last call is for the stuff they can’t move any other way. That can still be a good stay but it won’t be something that is ordinarily in demand.

 

[MaryBella7]

He also said that Wyndham "owners" can book a week anywhere for 269 for a 2 bed and 319 for a 3-4 bed. I questioned this over and over again. My wife asked 3 times "so you can book into disney for $269 without trading points?" "Just a cash booking?" he said yes repeatedly. We found that hard to believe.

I have used Last Call quite a few times. While it can be a good deal, it is extremely limited inventory in off season places. I live in New Jersey, and have used last call mainly for Atlantic City in the winter (1 bedrooms were all that was available for times that worked for me). I have also gotten Shawnee in the fall just before ski season but after summer. The availability is very limited. I am resale and can access it without developer purchase.

 

[sandkastle4966]

regarding DVC....it is possible to get an off-season 1 bedroom, usually at Saratoga (and occasionally Old Key Resort) for the exchange fee, 105k wyn points, plus the resort fee ($95?) thru RCI. As bnoble said - never seen DVC thru LastCall. this is usually Cheaper then using RCI Weeks or owning DVC. But its not $249 !

Note: off season, 1 bedroom ! I haven't seen thru Wyn Portal nor thru RCI weeks a 2 bedroom or any other resort in years.

Getting this takes work and diligence.

As far as "all-inclusives" - there is the exchange fee PLUS an all-inclusive fee charged by the resort. the $249 does NOT include the "all -inclusive" portion.

 

[cbyrne1174]

He must have been using the points for the air then. Because I checked yesterday (the same day as our presentation) and the published price American listed was way higher than the price he showed us. I didn't seem right. He also said that Wyndham "owners" can book a week anywhere for 269 for a 2 bed and 319 for a 3-4 bed. I questioned this over and over again. My wife asked 3 times "so you can book into disney for $269 without trading points?" "Just a cash booking?" he said yes repeatedly. We found that hard to believe.

LOL the only Orlando resorts that are somewhat decent you can actually get using RCI is Vacation Village at Parkway and Cypress Palms. When I say decent, I mean the room being updated and the beds being comfortable. SSR and OKW are the only deposited DVC resorts (90% SSR deposits). It costs about $1100 for a week at SSR in a 1 bedroom. 1 bedrooms are the only room type deposited.

 

[paxsarah]

SSR and OKW are the only deposited DVC resorts

Not the only, but I'd estimate that combined they make up something like 98-99% of the deposits. I say this not to get people's hopes up about exchanging into a different resort, but simply because others have appeared on rare occasion in the last year. While I'd say a Wyndham owner has a 0% chance of a DVC 2BR, they have a 1-2% chance of a non-SSR/OKW resort.

 

[Melder]

regarding DVC....it is possible to get an off-season 1 bedroom, usually at Saratoga (and occasionally Old Key Resort) for the exchange fee, 105k wyn points, plus the resort fee ($95?) thru RCI.

SSR and OKW are the only deposited DVC resorts (90% SSR deposits). It costs about $1100 for a week at SSR in a 1 bedroom. 1 bedrooms are the only room type deposited.

While I'd say a Wyndham owner has a 0% chance of a DVC 2BR, they have a 1-2% chance of a non-SSR/OKW resort.

What are the advantages of getting a DVC through RCI vs. booking Bonnet Creek through Wyndham?

 

[paxsarah]

What are the advantages of getting a DVC through RCI vs. booking Bonnet Creek through Wyndham?

Staying in DVC through RCI provides Disney on-site benefits, such as airport transportation and transportation between the resorts and the parks. Free parking at the parks for length of stay if you decide to drive rather than use Disney's transportation. You can charge things to the room with your Magic Band. 60-day advance fastpasses instead of 30-day for off-site (though currently the fastpass system is suspended for Covid). For us, it's much easier with a scooter in our party to use the Disney transportation system than to drive and lug the scooter to the parks every day. And the earlier fastpass window was also a big plus.

In terms of cost, it depends on the season - sometimes DVC through RCI is cheaper (even taking fees into account), sometimes booking BC through Wyndham is cheaper. If you need a 2-bedroom, you're out of luck with a DVC exchange.

 

[geist1223]

Also there is the Meal Plan. Do not know if they are currently offering it. You have to buy it in advance. Several years ago we did the Basic Plan. One stand up meal, one sit down meal, and one snack per day. Stand up meal is where you order from the Counter and carry it to your table. Snack can be a coffee, piece of fruit, bag of chips, etc. Some of the fancy restaurants cost 2 sit down. So we are breakfast in our Condo and then lunch and dinner in the Park. We did Valentine Day at Wolkgang Pucks. It cost two stand up meals but was worth it.