My survey results

We attended a Club Wyndham Access presentation in Destin, Florida and liked some of the concepts presented but not the price so we are here to learn more and make good use of our financial resources. We live near Atlanta, GA make road trips mostly.

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
4) How many people do you usually travel with?
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?

mrdane;1903209... said:

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?

Kind of. Difficult to give away? Is there no option to just quitclaim ownership back to the developer/trust?​

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Did Wyndham bring this up, or is this something you heard about here? I'd be surprised if any timeshare salesman mentioned this.

No, most timeshares will not allow a deedback. Not even if the timeshare is paid in full. The timeshare developers do not want a situation where the economy tanks and suddenly they are stuck paying lots of taxes, upkeep fees, etc. Plus, there are many weeks -- Cape Cod in January, say -- that have negative value.

OTOH, there are timeshares that keep their resale value well, and can be sold easily if the owner wants to. Worldmark is one such timeshare, and it fits your needs well. (Although it would work better if you lived in the west -- most Worldmarks are in the western US. Worldmark will still work OK if you are willing to use an exchange company for some of your vacations.)

Key West is one of the hardest timeshare trades in the US. The other locations should be doable with the right timeshare. Worldmark has a timeshare at West Yellowstone, and also some in Hawaii. It has a timeshare or two in Orlando, although fancier timeshares are readily available in Orlando via exchanging.

JudyS said:

Did Wyndham bring this up, or is this something you heard about here? I'd be surprised if any timeshare salesman mentioned this.

No, most timeshares will not allow a deedback. Not even if the timeshare is paid in full. The timeshare developers do not want a situation where the economy tanks and suddenly they are stuck paying lots of taxes, upkeep fees, etc. Plus, there are many weeks -- Cape Cod in January, say -- that have negative value.

OTOH, there are timeshares that keep their resale value well, and can be sold easily if the owner wants to. Worldmark is one such timeshare, and it fits your needs well. (Although it would work better if you lived in the west -- most Worldmarks are in the western US. Worldmark will still work OK if you are willing to use an exchange company for some of your vacations.)

Key West is one of the hardest timeshare trades in the US. The other locations should be doable with the right timeshare. Worldmark has a timeshare at West Yellowstone, and also some in Hawaii. It has a timeshare or two in Orlando, although fancier timeshares are readily available in Orlando via exchanging.

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Both Wyndham and Worldmark owners can indeed give the timeshare back to Wyndham under their "Ovation" program, the caveat is the timeshare must be fully paid up and MF current.

JudyS said:

Did Wyndham bring this up, or is this something you heard about here? I'd be surprised if any timeshare salesman mentioned this.

No, most timeshares will not allow a deedback. Not even if the timeshare is paid in full. The timeshare developers do not want a situation where the economy tanks and suddenly they are stuck paying lots of taxes, upkeep fees, etc. Plus, there are many weeks -- Cape Cod in January, say -- that have negative value.

OTOH, there are timeshares that keep their resale value well, and can be sold easily if the owner wants to. Worldmark is one such timeshare, and it fits your needs well. (Although it would work better if you lived in the west -- most Worldmarks are in the western US. Worldmark will still work OK if you are willing to use an exchange company for some of your vacations.)

Key West is one of the hardest timeshare trades in the US. The other locations should be doable with the right timeshare. Worldmark has a timeshare at West Yellowstone, and also some in Hawaii. It has a timeshare or two in Orlando, although fancier timeshares are readily available in Orlando via exchanging.

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The salesperson brought up Ovation when I asked about the ability to get out of the deed if desired.

From lurking around here the last few days it seems we have much to learn about how to effectively use a points program.

Good point that Worldmark and Wyndham have their Ovation deedback program.

Most timeshares will not accept deedbacks, though, except maybe if the owner is very ill or has some other serious crisis.

mrdane said:

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?

Not usually. We seldom book a whole week. Nearly all our trips are 3-4 days in length.​

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Based on all your other criteria listed, Worldmark would be a decent fit. However, if you're not vacationing a full week at a time, the prime inventory is rarely available (with Worldmark, you can't book less than seven nights less than 10 months in advance and the most highly sought-after resorts in prime season go in minutes at the 13-month mark).

I was one of those who rarely vacationed in one spot for a week at a time, but since I had kids and bought into the timeshare concept, it's completely changed how I vacation.

K2Quick said:

Based on all your other criteria listed, Worldmark would be a decent fit. However, if you're not vacationing a full week at a time, the prime inventory is rarely available (with Worldmark, you can't book less than seven nights less than 10 months in advance and the most highly sought-after resorts in prime season go in minutes at the 13-month mark).

I was one of those who rarely vacationed in one spot for a week at a time, but since I had kids and bought into the timeshare concept, it's completely changed how I vacation.

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Most of our excursions are about 4 days long. He has days off, she does not - so we try to limit the length of time we are away. Plus, I think we both would rather have 4-5 smaller vacations (16-20 days annually) rather than fewer longer stays.

Since we road trip mostly around the south-eastern USA (though we do fly occasionally and will also continue to fly to some locations but not as frequently) is there a recommendation as to research for buying in the south-east? We like the beach (with beach access from our accommodations) and the Smoky Mountains and Disney, and whatever else might be fun.

Budget-wise, is $150/night for the 16-20 vacation days an unreasonable amount to expect in annual costs (apart from the initial outlay)? (Though I would expect nicer amenities than a $150/night hotel would be.) That would imply annual expenses (MFs, program costs, etc) would run $2400-$3000 per year. Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?

Also, what of activities and associated costs? Like horseback riding, biking, snorkeling, fishing (both fresh & salt water), etc. Any pointers on how to manage costs, find deals on these things?

Wyndham

K2Quick said:

Based on all your other criteria listed, Worldmark would be a decent fit. However, if you're not vacationing a full week at a time, the prime inventory is rarely available (with Worldmark, you can't book less than seven nights less than 10 months in advance and the most highly sought-after resorts in prime season go in minutes at the 13-month mark).

I was one of those who rarely vacationed in one spot for a week at a time, but since I had kids and bought into the timeshare concept, it's completely changed how I vacation.

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We own with Worldmark and have for over 25 years. Being where you live and taking shorter vacations I would think you would be much better with Wyndham.
I realize both under same roof but so many more for you in your region. Worldmark is cheaper and I feel run must better and you will pay more one way or another with Wyndham but better then paying and not using if Worldmark.
Of course this is my opinion and thoughts. Read as much as you can here, and also on Worldmark and Wyndham boards please before deciding.
Good luck,
Bart

mrdane said:

Budget-wise, is $150/night for the 16-20 vacation days an unreasonable amount to expect in annual costs (apart from the initial outlay)? (Though I would expect nicer amenities than a $150/night hotel would be.) That would imply annual expenses (MFs, program costs, etc) would run $2400-$3000 per year. Or am I thinking about this the wrong way?

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I think you can actually do better than the $150/night target - especially since you've indicated you're only tied to the school calendar about half the time. You can often get getaway weeks in low season in nice resorts for between $250-$450 per week. Even if you only stayed four nights out of those 7-night getaways, you can end up paying less than $100 per night.

Hilton (HGVC) might have a program you'd be interested in. Their program is very friendly toward short stays and has some resorts in locations you're interested in. I think it comes with both RCI weeks and points access.

What if we are not very good at 13+ month planning. We tend to be more spontaneous. How would we find something that allows booking with shorter notice? And what time frame is that going to be? 45-60 day window? Or what?

mrdane said:

The salesperson brought up Ovation when I asked about the ability to get out of the deed if desired.

From lurking around here the last few days it seems we have much to learn about how to effectively use a points program.

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It is admirable that Wyndham has adopted this "Ovation" (a.k.a "deedback") program (and only quite recently), but please bear in mind that the program could be unilaterally terminated by Wyndham just as unexpectedly at any time in the future, at their whim and fancy. There is no legal obligation on their part to continue the (relatively new) Ovation program indefinitely and they clearly will only do so if they find that it proves to be in their own best financial interests.

In regard to your question about booking with points (whether in the Wyndham system or in any other system), space availability always rules all. There are places and seasons consistently in high demand (but in finite supply) and to borrow a phrase from Dr. Phil McGraw (although he was certainly not referring to timeshares), "there are a lot of dogs after them bones". In other words, outside of owning deeded fixed unit / weeks at a specific resort (which likely does not fit your particular family situation and / or objectives), there are quite simply no guarantees in the timeshare reservation world, regardless of the particular "system".

mrdane said:

What if we are not very good at 13+ month planning. We tend to be more spontaneous. How would we find something that allows booking with shorter notice? And what time frame is that going to be? 45-60 day window? Or what?

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Then time sharing is not for you.

mpumilia said:

Then time sharing is not for you.

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Not really, I disagree. Since they mentioned they are not locked into the school schedule that indicates to me that they'll be able to get very decent choices within the 2-3 month window at different resorts - in Wyndham or Worldmark. I wouldn't necessarily say it rules out buying in.