how can travel share end bonus time ?

cruisin said:

I know people who work at wyndham, the time they can book as non owners is the same time wyndham can book, at 45 days out, I am not accusing anyone of wrong doing, I think the developer can book at 45 days, and does so for its employees. I will be the first to admit I am wrong if this is not so. Once I received a 3 day stay certificate from wyndham , and I could not book until 45 days out. Again, I am assuming since Wyndham was booking the 3 night stay for me, it had to be in the 45 day window. I am not the expert on this, but I think it is within Wyndham's right to book at 45 days?
I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, and I may be.

Click to expand...

I don't know because i don't work for wyndham. I think it may happen under some program, such as a big corporate account member or something, Abuse is happen everywhere at lower level: discrimination, corruption, embezzlement at any organization even US government. I know for sure they are not tolerated by any law, any policy, And these things will be punished if uncovered. There is nothing we can do about it. If you want to be a Timeshare policeman go for it, but if you tell something untrue, unprovable you may received an unpleasant consequence. They are all hearsays, even they are true and we don't have any proofs, it's hard to pursue further, and it only happen at lower level. To contribute for your story, I myself experienced a similiar occurrence. On one of my vacation at WM resort, I was in the hottub with several occupants of a penthouse of the resort. I ask how long had they been owners and I was answered that they are not owner, they're just renters. On the way checking out, I met them checking out too and overheard the frontdesk guy atalk to them "if you want to come and stay, give me a call". I was very angry at the time but what can I do. As I said above abuse always happen and life is not alway fair.
I don't know if you have ever read this thread yet, I see that it's a form of abuse in line with the law. Can you, will you do anything about it. By the way it is a very old news, and most of the evidents have been cleaned, but you can tel who was the culprit
http://www.wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7923&highlight=

I do not see this as abuse, I am just saying that Wyndham has the ability to book at 45 days, I am sure that is why fun time goes up to 42 days, since fun time is a wyndham perk, it can only be booked inside 45 days by Wyndham.

cruisin said:

I do not see this as abuse, I am just saying that Wyndham has the ability to book at 45 days, I am sure that is why fun time goes up to 42 days, since fun time is a wyndham perk, it can only be booked inside 45 days by Wyndham.

Click to expand...

Wyndham is booking units well outside the 45 day window. They don't even bother to deny it. Peggy has admitted it.

Furthermore, the declaration restricts the reasons for which wyndham can reserve units, and rental income is NOT one of them.

From the "Declaration of Vacation Owner Program:


Emphasis added by me.

It seems to me that booking Oceanside or Las Vegas almost any time, and many of the other resorts during summer certainly "unreasonably interfere with the use and enjoyment of the Property by Members."

cruisin said:

I think that would be fun, if we are not enjoying our Wm vacations at the time I will also try to post some updadtes..

Click to expand...

4th of july, 2009 Oregon coast

Depoe Bay no availability
Schooner landing no availability
Gleneden only 1 bed less desirable and 1 bed back building
Seaside only studio, and 1 bedroom less deisirable


It was possible to book the 4th 13 months out if you booked weeks starting Sunday june 28th, Also a few for Friday July 3rd, but gone early in the morning.

There is usuall a lull the week or 2 after the 4th, so book quickly if you want a week on the Oregon coast.

Availability this evening when I checked, 2 bedroom or larger units oregon coast 13 months out availability to book Aug 5th,2009

Depoe Bay= 0 available most need 2 throwaway
Gleneden=0 availabler most need 2 throwaway
Schooner Landing 2 2 bed units available
Seaside 2 2 bed less desirable units available

So 4 units total out of a couple hundred.

This morning,

1 unit 2 bed or larger on the Oregon Coast 13 months out

Seaside 2 bedroom less desirable Aug 6th

Thats it.

No 2 bedrooms or larger on the Oregon coast can be booked 13 months out at this moment.. If you get up tomorrow, at 6 AM, there are 2 bedroom units available for Saturday Aug 8,2009 start dates. At seaside, the penthouses require 7 throwaway days, the 2 and 3 bed ocean fronts are farther than 14 days out, so at the moment they can't be booked with even 13 throwaway days.

cruisin said:

No 2 bedrooms or larger on the Oregon coast can be booked 13 months out at this moment.. If you get up tomorrow, at 6 AM, there are 2 bedroom units available for Saturday Aug 8,2009 start dates. At seaside, the penthouses require 7 throwaway days, the 2 and 3 bed ocean fronts are farther than 14 days out, so at the moment they can't be booked with even 13 throwaway days.

Click to expand...

This was 100% predictable. People said we were smoking dope when we predicted this several years ago. It is so disgusting... I can't even stand to look at the inventory pages anymore. Something has to happen... WM is being distroyed.

/Jim

This morning at 10am Pacific there were some back building 2 bedrooms at Gleneden, a few front 2 beds at depoe bay, and a few 2 bedrooms at seaside, now there is only 1 unit available, a 2 bedroom less desirable at seaside. This was for a saturday start next August 8, so still possible to get a nice week long booking if you hit it early AM exactly 13 months out for saturday stays, fridays are harder, and 3 bedrooms are getting really tough.

all 3 bedrooms Oregon coast

Depoe Bay
3 bed phase 1- 4 throw away days too book
3 bed special needs 7 throwaway days to book

Gleneden
3 bed front building- 8 throwaway days
3 bed less desirable -6 throwaway days
3 bed special needs- 7 throwaway days

Seaside

3 bed penthouse - 7 throwaway days
Almost all other 3 bedroom types 1 throwaway day

I was informed that RCI employees can book WM without a membership. The information came from a TS presentation where there was an article the presenter shared about RCI and WM. Is this true ?

cruisin said:

This morning at 10am Pacific there were some back building 2 bedrooms at Gleneden, a few front 2 beds at depoe bay, and a few 2 bedrooms at seaside, now there is only 1 unit available, a 2 bedroom less desirable at seaside. This was for a saturday start next August 8, so still possible to get a nice week long booking if you hit it early AM exactly 13 months out for saturday stays, fridays are harder, and 3 bedrooms are getting really tough.

Click to expand...

Instead of looking 1 x per day...you may want to look several times...several hundred times...preferably in the AM.

*WHAM* they'll be there when you least expect it!

Shon_t said:

Instead of looking 1 x per day...you may want to look several times...several hundred times...preferably in the AM.

*WHAM* they'll be there when you least expect it!

Click to expand...

Shon:

Were you thinking of 2008? I think cruisin was talking about 2009. Different years, different behaviors.

The same method applies whether you are looking for Bonus time, or looking 13 months out. Looking around specific cancellation deadlines seems to also be a good strategy.

What are "throw away" days?

Shon_t said:

Instead of looking 1 x per day...you may want to look several times...several hundred times...preferably in the AM.

*WHAM* they'll be there when you least expect it!

Click to expand...

Shon_t said:

The same method applies whether you are looking for Bonus time, or looking 13 months out. Looking around specific cancellation deadlines seems to also be a good strategy.

Click to expand...

Looking several hundred times a day for 14 days or 13 months? Or around specific cancellation deadlines when you most expect it?

I have looked 10 times a day for 6 months and nothing moved (note: non-bonus time). You could get on the waitlist (harder when you need less than 7 days more than 90 days out in red). However, sometimes people see days on line that they should have been called for a match but were not.

Of course, there is always the lower-rated or higher-credit resorts and unit types that you can get, and they are still better than motels.

ocdb8r said:

What are "throw away" days?

Click to expand...

See this WMO Knowledgebase article:

http://www.wmowners.com/WMOwners/web/knowledgebase/jump_on_reservation.php

Some call the leading days "throw away" days.

LLW said:

Shon:

Were you thinking of 2008? I think cruisin was talking about 2009. Different years, different behaviors.

Click to expand...

Yes, these are all 13 months out, last year we had the conversation about availability, I just thought I would update it once in a while this summer. It is still possible to book a few 2 bedrooms on the Oregon coast 13 months out for next summer, but almost has to be done at 6am exactly 13 months out, or they are gone, .

Right now, even if you get up at 6am tomorrow, you cannot book any 3 bedroom on the Oregon coast, they are all 2-14 days out past 13 months.

Same thing for 2 bedrooms, at all 4 Oregon coast resorts.

1 2 bedroom special needs at Gleneden is available now

Tomorrow this same unit, 1 2 bedroom twin at seaside, and 1 2 bedroom twin less desirable at seaside are available if you are first at 6am.

1 2 bedroom available now
3 2 bedrooms available to the lucky 3 people up at 6AM
0 3 bedrooms for at least 2 days

Thats the whole Oregon Coast!!

3 2 bedroom units out of over 350 2 and 3 bedroom units available on the oregon coast tomorrow at 6AM WOW....

I’ve been tracking the bookings for next summer and have seen the same thing. It looks like owner education is working. A common theme here on TUG is “You’ve bought this timeshare thing now learn how to use it and then go out and enjoy it”. That's not just about WorldMark, it’s about timeshares in general.

At least some WorldMark owners have done that. They have learned what it takes to get the reservations they want. Owners of larger accounts with many credits and owners of smaller accounts with the knowledge and means to rent extra credits are willing to use their credits to book throw away days to get the reservation they want. Is that bad? If it is we better shut down all the owner education that get pushed here and at other places.

Btw, it’s not just on the Oregon coast that this is happening. At West Yellowstone, one of those new higher credit WorldMark resorts, you can’t even book a studio for next summer without using throw away days.

cotraveller said:

I’ve been tracking the bookings for next summer and have seen the same thing. It looks like owner education is working. A common theme here on TUG is “You’ve bought this timeshare thing now learn how to use it and then go out and enjoy it”. That's not just about WorldMark, it’s about timeshares in general.

At least some WorldMark owners have done that. They have learned what it takes to get the reservations they want. Owners of larger accounts with many credits and owners of smaller accounts with the knowledge and means to rent extra credits are willing to use their credits to book throw away days to get the reservation they want. Is that bad? If it is we better shut down all the owner education that get pushed here and at other places.

Btw, it’s not just on the Oregon coast that this is happening. At West Yellowstone, one of those new higher credit WorldMark resorts, you can’t even book a studio for next summer without using throw away days.

Click to expand...

Interesting take on why there is less availability, I never would have thought to blame it on the owners. Clever

cruisin said:

Interesting take on why there is less availability, I never would have thought to blame it on the owners. Clever

Click to expand...

Blame it on the owners?? Interesting phrasing. Clever.

Well..there is also factors other than timeshare that can negatively impact availability.

1. More people using high speed internet-makes booking faster and more convenient.

2. High fuel prices/economic concerns---5 resorts in Hawaii and one in Cabo are relatively empty...people are just choosing to stay closer to home..and as a result...Availability is really impacted in the North West.

3. Owner Education in higher.

As to how much these factors negatively contribute to availability, that subject is up to debate.

I'm not a Travelshare fan myself... I believe it creates multiple classes of users, which is in direct violation of the governing documents of the club. I also don't believe the benefits are anywhere near offsetting the cost of purchasing such credits from the developer. It's also a program that the developer could decide, at any time, to cancel...leaving people that paid for extra credits, just to have the service, holding an empty bag.

cotraveller said:

At West Yellowstone, one of those new higher credit WorldMark resorts, you can’t even book a studio for next summer without using throw away days.

Click to expand...

Fred, there is a studio sitting on line for 7-31-09 to 8-9-09! Go get it!

Thanks for reminding us if we want West Yellowstone for September (when the credits are lower) we'd better get ready to get it. The white season is the new red. Owner updates should educate owners on that.

LLW said:

Fred, there is a studio sitting on line for 7-31-09 to 8-9-09! Go get it!

Click to expand...

Ah if only I could. It's been 30+ years since I've been to Yellowstone. But other plans are already in the works for 2009. Maybe in 2010.

LLW said:

Thanks for reminding us if we want West Yellowstone for September (when the credits are lower) we'd better get ready to get it.

Click to expand...

Glad to help. Just doing my part to promote owner education.