Best choice for Ts?

Really thinking we are ready to take on one of the lonely lost TS somewhere out in internet land. Have been leaning toward Wyndham Bonnet Creek as home. Would like input on what you all think. We are family of 4 with 2 Kids under 10, would need 2 bedroom at minimum.....would always do one week a year in Orlando, other week elsewhere in FL possibly either through points or trade or extra vacations. Would like a week annually from June through August. Or points? Please advise with your input as to your opinion on my thoughts about this resort or your opinions on others that are similar family friendly home resorts of similar quality. I know there are plenty to be had. Points? How many is enough?
Thanks for your replies.

I think you have some more study to do before you're ready to buy. Resale Wyndham points might fill your needs. If you think you might like that, you can learn what you need by studying the Owner's Directory http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/plus_membersdirectory1415/

In there you will see how many points you need for different weeks and different size units at different resorts. Note that newer resorts require more points than older ones. In the owner education section, you can see how that system works and what the additional fees are such as housekeeping fees and reservation fees and points pooling fees and exchange fees for using RCI.

If you think you would rather one of the other resort systems such as Marriott, then you need to get into their information and learn the system before you buy.

If you just want a fixed week at a given resort, that's more straight forward. Best wishes in your adventure and welcome to TUG.

Since you are a Florida resident, you could make good use of the many Wyndham resorts in your state. As Cheryl20772 said read through the Members Directory, however what you won’t find there is costs for maintenance fees (MF). If that is an issue you may want to consider Panama City Beach. It has lower MF than Bonnet Creek and you can still use PCB points at Bonnet Creek. If you want to reserve holiday weeks at Bonnet Creek you should have Advance Reservation Priority (ARP) which you would get if you own at Bonnet Creek or if you buy into Club Wyndham Access (CWA). With 2 young children, I’m sure you would really enjoy Bonnet Creek. Have you ever stayed there?

If someone wanted a 2 br at Bonnet Creek annually in the summer what would be an estimate of the number of points needed, a reasonable range to pay to buy those points and the range for average MF's for those points.

I've always thought Wyndham points looked good (love the locations and the flexibility) but I think I am just too cheap to pay for that flexibility primarily in terms of the MF's for the points for the locations and times I want.

Just for reference does anyone know the current tpu's required for a summer week at Bonnet Creek in a 2 br through RCI? I know there are some resorts that either never show up in RCI or only during the off off season but are there any summer Florida Wyndham resorts that are practically impossible through RCI but available without ARP to Wyndham owners.

Bonnet Creek is just one of 3 Wyndham resorts in the area. Star Island costs less points and is about 4 miles from Bonnet Creek ... older resort which costs LESS points to stay at. Has many tennis courts (and a tennis pro) plus a real spa plus 2 pools plus ... Cypress Palms is nearby also.

If you are travelling from afar ... your desires might and wallet might afford the ONCE this decade stay; checkin one a month, costs become a bigger issue along with things a vacation home offers .... very close to the supermarket, reasonably price dining, and few people all crowded into around a fake lake in buildings which are towers.

tschwa2 said:

If someone wanted a 2 br at Bonnet Creek annually in the summer what would be an estimate of the number of points needed, a reasonable range to pay to buy those points and the range for average MF's for those points.

I've always thought Wyndham points looked good (love the locations and the flexibility) but I think I am just too cheap to pay for that flexibility primarily in terms of the MF's for the points for the locations and times I want.

Just for reference does anyone know the current tpu's required for a summer week at Bonnet Creek in a 2 br through RCI? I know there are some resorts that either never show up in RCI or only during the off off season but are there any summer Florida Wyndham resorts that are practically impossible through RCI but available without ARP to Wyndham owners.

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It takes 224,000 points for 1-week in a 2-BR unit during the prime summer season at Bonnet Creek. Currently the MF at Bonnet Creek is $4.98 per 1000 points plus the Program Fee (57 cents per 1000). The Bonnet Creek MF is slightly higher than the CWA fee of $4.90 per 1000. As for RCI availability and TPU at Bonnet Creek, someone else will need to provide that info since I have never had to use RCI to reserve any of the Florida Wyndham resorts.

I have owned between 50 ad 75 different Weeks over the years. I am now down to one (a ski week) which is in my Son's name. If I were starting over, I would seriously consider a Tri-Annual already converted into RCI Points. There is one in Orlando. I think it is something like Vacation Village Parkway. I see this as a cheap flexible way to get started.

George

OP is still looking for a giveaway. 3 or 4 bedroom Presidential would be OK. Looks like he still has a TS in Ireland to get rid of to free up some money. I can't fault the guy for wanting 'champagne on a beer budget', but (I think) he needs to concentrate effort on putting him and his family on a track to get financially able before committing to high MFs, and securing a nice rental for this years' vacation.

Using Ron's numbers for a 2 bedroom, it comes to $1243/yr more or less in ongoing MF. Over $100/mo for one week's use. And that's with a $zero buy-in cost.

I wish him well, but think that for a young family with pre-school kids, this is not the time for taking on this kind of financial commitment.

My customary free opinion and worth every penny.

Jim

good info

the money is not the issue, its the value for the money......good advice, strange to think yearly would be 1200 plus a year for a 2 bed.....you can find many 2 bed rentals for bonnet creek for a lot less so owning makes no sense in that situation even if you get for free....hmmm....so my question would be why own? where is the benefit? the Ireland ts I have is non issue...400 yearly fee....when it was affiliated with RCI I got 38 tpus which always got me 2 weeks in pretty decent accomodations yearly...so maybe this would be a better question...if I was to spend 800-1000 in yearly m fees what do you think would work best for me to get 2 good trade weeks a year? or the highest tpu value on rci for me to use for trades? cheers

Something like this (EOY) might be a good idea... MFs quoted at $568/yr, but it's every other year usage. Again, as mentioned previously, that's only if you want peak usage. If you can settle for non-peak, then own a Wyndham somewhere else or trade through RCI.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WYNDHAM-BON...631?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae6f481ef

It's tough to beat RENTAL prices on Wyndhams. There are a lot of VIP owner/renters who work the system very well. I'm not sure I would ever want to OWN Wyndham (especially as a non-VIP, and developer prices are WAY too high to justify becoming VIP).

MichaelColey said:

It's tough to beat RENTAL prices on Wyndhams. There are a lot of VIP owner/renters who work the system very well. I'm not sure I would ever want to OWN Wyndham (especially as a non-VIP, and developer prices are WAY too high to justify becoming VIP).

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Good advice, and I actually sold my points last year. However, if you want prime time peak, IMO it would be best to own the points. You're definitely making sense here though, and it's actually my situation now.

Ok...doing research i figure to get something for a week at bonnet creek you would need from 150,000-200,000 points......so if i was to do a yearly week here what would be my best options...and differences of regular, vip, etc etc.....i can do any week usually between june and september....