Wyndham TravelUp - a new benefit being touted at sales update meetings...

[HitchHiker71]

While attending an update at TOTG last week - Wyndham touted a brand new program just announced on May 20, 2021, called Wyndham TravelUp. The sales center had a poster board with the logo (link to the logo provided below via the patent trademark application).

Not much info to share at the sales meeting since it was brand new - other than a purchase was required to gain access (which I doubt is actually the case). This new program was touted as Wyndham's answer to the long asked for program to allow for owners to have broader access to travel deals at discounted prices through ownership using either points or direct payment. I was able to see the website via an iPad that the sales person had on him - the URL was masked - but we have located the URL login since here:

Travel Online Booking

www.vacationclubbenefits.com

Wyndham applied for a trademark patent here:

TRAVELUP - Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc. Trademark Registration

Trademark registration for Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc.. The mark consists of the stylized wording

uspto.report

Here's the sales collateral that we have located to date:

We also have a thread going on our FB group here:

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

Please add relevent info to this thread so we can all learn more about this emerging new benefit for Wyndham owners.

From what we have been able to gather - this will be subscription service of some kind available for anywhere from $129-200/year after a retail purchase - but details are very fuzzy right now. Here's some info from the T&Cs:

If anyone attends updates - please press for details and share them when you can so we can nail down what exactly TravelUp really offers and what the options are to gain access and if it's worth consideration.

 

[Eric B]

The Terms and Conditions includes identifying World Travel Holdings, Inc., as the cruise service provider.

ADDITIONAL CRUISE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

24.1.Cruise services are provided by a third party provider, World Travel Holdings, Inc., under contract with Club Wyndham. All terms and conditions of World Travel Holdings, Inc. related to the booking of any cruise product shall apply to You. Club Wyndham may change third party providers at any time, in its sole discretion and without notice to you. In addition to these terms and conditions, You must also comply with all applicable cruise line and hotel/resort terms and conditions and policies and procedures. Please contact Club Wyndham for additional information.

They are also the cruise service provider for RCI per their website. I wonder how many other service providers are also providers for RCI - it would make some sense. I question the value of paying $129 for a service I already have access to through RCI.

 

[Ty1on]

My gut tells me that Silver and below will find better prices in OTA then the discounts shown in the charts, and Platinum and above will find it a good deal.
Just my gut from looking at other Wyndham "discounts"

 

[jules54]

If there is not money in it for Wyndham they wouldn’t be doing it.

 

[CO skier]

Looks like an upgraded version of the subscription based Vacation Sidekick.

Soon we will be receiving the same kind of letters as Vacation Sidekick; e.g., "Your subscription to TravelUp is about to expire" if you do not PonyUp $129.

 

[Ty1on]

Looks like an upgraded version of the subscription based Vacation Sidekick.

Soon we will be receiving the same kind of letters as Vacation Sidekick; e.g., "Your subscription to TravelUp is about to expire" if you do not PonyUp $129.

As long as it isn't, "Per the automatic renewal clause in your subscription contract, your credit card has been charged the current renewal rate of $249."

 

[HitchHiker71]

Looks like an upgraded version of the subscription based Vacation Sidekick.

Soon we will be receiving the same kind of letters as Vacation Sidekick; e.g., "Your subscription to TravelUp is about to expire" if you do not PonyUp $129.

If we are to believe the collateral found to date - the discounted rates for VIPs are exclusively available only with a qualified purchase. I take that to mean a developer purchase is required to lock in the discounts advertised. Only time will tell as we learn more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[55plus]

Sales always come up with a new and improved bottle of snake oil you can’t live without.

 

[dgalati]

Sales always come up with a new and improved bottle of snake oil you can’t live without.

Just another product to help them daze and confuse. I'm sure some Wyndham math will be used to seal the deal.

 

[bryjake]

“Save up to” xx amount with xx vip status
I wonder how many discounts are actually close to the high end xx discount

I suspect discounts would more like 5 to 10%

Save 10% or save $5 off a $100 package coupons do not make me feel that special

 

[emstrips]

So I went to an update in Nashville this week and they talked about these “great” new programs TravelUp and Sidekicks. When I asked the rep about the programs she explained them as another way to book travel outside the system using points or cash with deep discounts. I was immediately skeptical and asked questions and got little information. I did ask if this had an annual fee and she said no that it was automatically part of my membership (Access - Gold Plus). I told them I never saw it on the web site and she started typing away on her tablet to show me something. She showed me a Club Wyndham page with TravelUP prominently displayed in the upper left of the menu. When I asked more, she left to go get my gift. She came back with a manager who started into a sales pitch about splitting my membership across Access and Selcect which made no sense to me other than to get more money from me. At this point my wife got fed up and we left. I did find this website vacationclubbenefits.com which looks suspiciously like third party marketing using Wyndham branding. My Wyndham login didn’t work there either (no surprise). I plan to dig deeper to figure this out.

 

[HitchHiker71]

We have confirmation from our Wyndham contacts that a developer purchase will be required for TravelUp. I’m not yet sure if this requirement is for the entirety of the TravelUp program or a subset thereof - I’ve asked for additional detail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Eric B]

We have confirmation from our Wyndham contacts that a developer purchase will be required for TravelUp. I’m not yet sure if this requirement is for the entirety of the TravelUp program or a subset thereof - I’ve asked for additional detail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You mean a new developer purchase is needed to qualify or would an existing one do?

 

[HitchHiker71]

You mean a new developer purchase is needed to qualify or would an existing one do?

AFAIK it’s a net new developer purchase, but don’t quote me until I get confirmation either way. I’ve already expressed my concern about the net new developer purchase requirement/approach. I’ve also recommended the subscription based option as well. Creating passive revenue streams is where it’s at in the business world these days. I’m a bit surprised Wyndham isn’t at least market testing a subscription approach with this in mind.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bloom58]

My wife and I attended an owner update in Nashville on Monday June 7th and as an existing owner we had to buy 64k points to have access to Travel Up. The potential savings seemed inflated and were said to be discounts from full retail so the actual savings vs what you could likely get on the open market would of course be less than what they are advertising. We were also told we had this one time chance to get Travel Up and the program will close in Sep of this year. Meaning we will never get another chance to get it. Especially after Sept. Of course we didn’t believe that either. We were told we could cruise at 75% off. If we would have had more time we would like to have had them look up the price of equivalent cabins for two cruises we already have booked just for comparison. But we were ready to leave.

 

[CO skier]

If we are to believe the collateral found to date - the discounted rates for VIPs are exclusively available only with a qualified purchase.

The information you posted lists a 20% discount for "Standard" owners (no mention of developer purchase to qualify as a "Standard" owner and "Standard" owners clearly do not have any VIP status). Do you think Wyndham is going to pass up the chance for $129 of revenue from any resale account by limiting the discounts to "developer" purchases. I do not think so, but we will see.

 

[dgalati]

The information you posted lists a 20% discount for "Standard" owners (no mention of developer purchase to qualify as a "Standard" owner and "Standard" owners clearly do not have any VIP status). Do you think Wyndham is going to pass up the chance for $129 of revenue from any resale account by limiting the discounts to "developer" purchases. I do not think so, but we will see.

$229 more then likely .

 

[55plus]

Read the fine print. This is like RCI Last Call, etc., inventory. Meaning it’s not top shelf lodging. It’s inventory most don’t want. In other words, it’s a new and improved bottle of snake oil.

“Destinations and travel times are subject to availability. Additional travel costs, mandatory all-inclusive fees, taxes, and other expenses are not included. Additional terms and conditions apply and will be provided at time of booking.

Travel services may be provided by a third party under contract with Resort Rental, LLC/RCI, LLC. The terms and conditions of Club Wyndham and any applicable third party providers will apply to your booking. RCI, LLC and Resort Rental, LLC, disclaim all responsibility in connection with any third-party services.

Hawaii TAT Broker ID #TA-023-193-6000-01 Resort Rental, LLC, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32821 ©2020 Resort Rental, LLC. All Rights Reserved.”​

 

[paxsarah]

Do you think Wyndham is going to pass up the chance for $129 of revenue from any resale account by limiting the discounts to "developer" purchases.

As a resale owner, completely plausible. They already forego my $59 for Vacation Sidekick and my $99 for Club Pass exchanges. They won’t take my $99 conversion fee to Wyndham Rewards points. I have no doubt they’d close me out of paying $129 for this new program, and I’m fine with that.

 

[HitchHiker71]

The information you posted lists a 20% discount for "Standard" owners (no mention of developer purchase to qualify as a "Standard" owner and "Standard" owners clearly do not have any VIP status). Do you think Wyndham is going to pass up the chance for $129 of revenue from any resale account by limiting the discounts to "developer" purchases. I do not think so, but we will see.

True, it's not just for VIP owners - but the discounts, IMHO, for the "standard" owners are likely to be no better than anything found on other travel sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak ,etc.

As someone else already said, there are other benefits not available to resale owners already - so I'm going to say that Wyndham is being open from the outset that this program will only be available via a developer purchase, meaning it will be closed to resale only owners. To me, it's becoming more likely that Wyndham is starting to suck up resale contracts via third parties and via ROFR exercises to start minimizing third party resale. My assertion is that they are taking more steps to discourage resale contract ownerships and/or obtaining additional inventory for other strategic purposes related to the acquisition of T&L that has yet to be announced.

 

[bryjake]

* Speculation: No supporting evidence, just perception of the trends

I do foresee CW seeking to further distinguish resale from developer. What leaves a bad taste is "new developer" purchase. Continue to treat developer like the hamster on a spinning wheel (- 50 respect points), whereas they should be honoring developer points with more value added features.

Data is data, they should be able to distinguish resale contract points from developer contract points. This could also potentially alter how VIP supplement discount power with resale contracts (Yet another arrow in the quiver I believe would be in the works as well)

 

[Eric B]

This could also potentially alter how VIP supplement discount power with resale contracts (Yet another arrow in the quiver I believe would be in the works as well)

... if that's something they really care about. Several folks here have discussed with CW VPs at the annual meetings over the years and they do not perceive it truly as being an issue, although there is a frequent poster on TUG that has been on that soap box for a while. My personal view on the matter is that this issue is just a tempest in a teapot for which the juice they could get out of squeezing it isn't worth the effort.

It might have made a difference in former iterations of their reservation system where people could book a desirable week at a desirable resort, then cancel and rebook the week in the discount/upgrade windows and recoup the points they had spent on the original booking at a low risk of losing the reservation, then turn around and rent it out. That isn't the case anymore and any benefits available at the discount/upgrade windows for VIP owners are somewhat limited as to what resorts and units are available for short term bookings - there's usually plenty to be had for a VIP that is interested in doing so in lower demand periods for smaller units, but the prime cheap bookings in the higher seasons aren't really there.

The result of all this is that the discounts and upgrades that VIPs get for whatever points they use serve their purpose of acting as incentives to travel (or gift/rent travel) more in the lower demand times when there is excess capacity in Club Wyndham. As you can see by looking at the deals for discounted points available to non-VIPs, there is still excess capacity in Club Wyndham that they want folks to use in the lower demand times. Often, those discounts will overlap, which is fine. It does seem like a win-win for Wyndham and the VIPs and other owners to have these incentives in place.

On the other hand, Wyndham did sell a lot of points to VIP owners under a program that granted them the additional privileges for use in booking and staying in the resorts on a personal basis rather than as a characteristic of or addendum to particular deeds/contracts that would vanish on resale. They do have the right to modify the terms of the program and have done so on several occasions, but never to the extent of breaking the tie between the VIP status and the owners to establish a limitation like you are suggesting. It would no doubt give them a fair degree of customer relations issues with the relatively few VIP owners of resale points - IMHO another effect could be raising the need for Wyndham to offer additional discount windows for the general owner population in order to incentivize booking the low demand capacity they are already incentivizing VIP resale point owners to use, which might be nice for non-VIP owners, but wouldn't be noticed by the majority and they would have upset a certain group of owners to no net gain for Wyndham.

It does remain possible that they could do what you (and he who will remain nameless) believe is something they should do in order to avoid having VIPs take advantage of low cost resale points. I just don't see the upside for them doing that, myself, and do believe that they would likely grandfather existing VIP owners with resale points if they were to make such a change. There could also be unintended consequences from doing something like that - currently Wyndham gets an extra 2 cents per 1,000 points for resale points in an account with developer points in it for participation in Plus Partners. This is because those resale points are made eligible for Plus Partners based on being in those accounts - I've never used any of the benefits of that program nor have I heard of anyone doing so, but do chip in my 2 cents even on my resale points. If they were to forbid me from using my resale points with VIP booking benefits, they would likely have to do the same for the Plus Partners benefits and that would cost them the skim for the unused benefits.

 

[bryjake]

Another trend supporting change in resale focus is ROFR. CW has started to pick up more and more on the market, resale, contracts. They saw a need to collect those "resale" contracts to recirculate into their inventory. The purpose? Who really knows. It would certainly allow for more developer inventory to keep the income meters flowing by reselling at developer pricing. If they are seeking more "resale" type contracts, distinguishing between developer from resale would be a mode to get more

"As is"... VIP pays MF and other fees on their resale (Good thing to keep the MF incoming streaming: While collecting additional 0.02 per 1,000 pts)
Distinguish developer from resale... Collect the MF and other fees while getting developer pricing (Even more $$$ rolling in to CW). That is if they can flip the collected inventory into purchased developer pricing

Either way the main thing is "Is balancing enough MF + fees incoming to sustain and grow"

 

[dgalati]

... if that's something they really care about. Several folks here have discussed with CW VPs at the annual meetings over the years and they do not perceive it truly as being an issue, although there is a frequent poster on TUG that has been on that soap box for a while. My personal view on the matter is that this issue is just a tempest in a teapot for which the juice they could get out of squeezing it isn't worth the effort.

It might have made a difference in former iterations of their reservation system where people could book a desirable week at a desirable resort, then cancel and rebook the week in the discount/upgrade windows and recoup the points they had spent on the original booking at a low risk of losing the reservation, then turn around and rent it out. That isn't the case anymore and any benefits available at the discount/upgrade windows for VIP owners are somewhat limited as to what resorts and units are available for short term bookings - there's usually plenty to be had for a VIP that is interested in doing so in lower demand periods for smaller units, but the prime cheap bookings in the higher seasons aren't really there.

The result of all this is that the discounts and upgrades that VIPs get for whatever points they use serve their purpose of acting as incentives to travel (or gift/rent travel) more in the lower demand times when there is excess capacity in Club Wyndham. As you can see by looking at the deals for discounted points available to non-VIPs, there is still excess capacity in Club Wyndham that they want folks to use in the lower demand times. Often, those discounts will overlap, which is fine. It does seem like a win-win for Wyndham and the VIPs and other owners to have these incentives in place.

On the other hand, Wyndham did sell a lot of points to VIP owners under a program that granted them the additional privileges for use in booking and staying in the resorts on a personal basis rather than as a characteristic of or addendum to particular deeds/contracts that would vanish on resale. They do have the right to modify the terms of the program and have done so on several occasions, but never to the extent of breaking the tie between the VIP status and the owners to establish a limitation like you are suggesting. It would no doubt give them a fair degree of customer relations issues with the relatively few VIP owners of resale points - IMHO another effect could be raising the need for Wyndham to offer additional discount windows for the general owner population in order to incentivize booking the low demand capacity they are already incentivizing VIP resale point owners to use, which might be nice for non-VIP owners, but wouldn't be noticed by the majority and they would have upset a certain group of owners to no net gain for Wyndham.

It does remain possible that they could do what you (and he who will remain nameless) believe is something they should do in order to avoid having VIPs take advantage of low cost resale points. I just don't see the upside for them doing that, myself, and do believe that they would likely grandfather existing VIP owners with resale points if they were to make such a change. There could also be unintended consequences from doing something like that - currently Wyndham gets an extra 2 cents per 1,000 points for resale points in an account with developer points in it for participation in Plus Partners. This is because those resale points are made eligible for Plus Partners based on being in those accounts - I've never used any of the benefits of that program nor have I heard of anyone doing so, but do chip in my 2 cents even on my resale points. If they were to forbid me from using my resale points with VIP booking benefits, they would likely have to do the same for the Plus Partners benefits and that would cost them the skim for the unused benefits.

Cancel and rebook was also once thought of as a VIP benefit that was untouchable. JMTCW

 

[dgalati]

* Speculation: No supporting evidence, just perception of the trends

I do foresee CW seeking to further distinguish resale from developer. What leaves a bad taste is "new developer" purchase. Continue to treat developer like the hamster on a spinning wheel (- 50 respect points), whereas they should be honoring developer points with more value added features.

Data is data, they should be able to distinguish resale contract points from developer contract points. This could also potentially alter how VIP supplement discount power with resale contracts (Yet another arrow in the quiver I believe would be in the works as well)

This is a novel ideal. Elimination of this would free up much needed inventory for owners to book for personal use. Who would of guessed the elimination of GC's on busy holidays? Cancel and rebook was also considered and sold as a benefit and VIP owners believed it was untouchable also.