How does turning points into cash work at Wyndham?

hot2trot · Jul 20, 2016

I am currently at Shell Legacy resort in Phoenix, AZ. Shell is now part of Wyndham so the presentation is all about Wyndham's program. They sell points now here at Legacy. One of the big things the sales exec talked about was turning my points into cash and paying for Air fare, Gas, car rentals etc. When I asked how this worked she said "you turn your points into a prepaid Visa card" When I asked what the ratio was, she did not know.

I can't find any information on the 'net about this. Can someone explain EXACTLY how many Wyndham points converts into "cash"??? Do I have to turn in ALL of my yearly points, or can I just turn some of them in.

I used to sell timeshare, and I have worked for Marriott and Wyndham. Although it was a few years ago, I was pretty confused about what she was talking about. She kept telling me I could turn my Marriott week into Wyndham points. Now, why would I want to do that? To offer me more flexibility and more choices! Hah!

I currently travel about 10 months out of the year. I use my Marriott ownership at Marriott properties, buy a lot of getaways, and stay in a lot of hotels. Keep in mind that I go to Spain, Thailand and Bali. I never spend more than $30 a night, and in Thailand and Bali spend around $15 a night. It doesn't make sense to me what she was talking about, but then she was pretty aggressive.

I did not purchase anything but I wanted to understand this feature. Anyone done this? know how it works?

OutSkiing · Jul 20, 2016

hot2trot said:
I am currently at Shell Legacy resort in Phoenix, AZ. Shell is now part of Wyndham so the presentation is all about Wyndham's program. They sell points now here at Legacy. One of the big things the sales exec talked about was turning my points into cash and paying for Air fare, Gas, car rentals etc. When I asked how this worked she said "you turn your points into a prepaid Visa card" When I asked what the ratio was, she did not know.

I can't find any information on the 'net about this. Can someone explain EXACTLY how many Wyndham points converts into "cash"??? Do I have to turn in ALL of my yearly points, or can I just turn some of them in.

I used to sell timeshare, and I have worked for Marriott and Wyndham. Although it was a few years ago, I was pretty confused about what she was talking about. She kept telling me I could turn my Marriott week into Wyndham points. Now, why would I want to do that? To offer me more flexibility and more choices! Hah!

I currently travel about 10 months out of the year. I use my Marriott ownership at Marriott properties, buy a lot of getaways, and stay in a lot of hotels. Keep in mind that I go to Spain, Thailand and Bali. I never spend more than $30 a night, and in Thailand and Bali spend around $15 a night. It doesn't make sense to me what she was talking about, but then she was pretty aggressive.

I did not purchase anything but I wanted to understand this feature. Anyone done this? know how it works?

LOL. That is one of the most creative truth-bending sales statements I've heard them say! The closest actual feature that matches up as far as I can tell is that you can exchange Club Wyndham Plus (Timeshare) points for the Wyndham Rewards points on a Wyndham branded Barclays credit card. Exchange rate for that is 1000 Wyndham Plus points = 400 Wyndham Rewards points on the Barclays card. And there is a $99 fee to do it.

Other than that you could try to rent out a reservation which takes a lot of knowledge of peak demand weeks to do well.

Bob

hot2trot · Jul 20, 2016

I was told you take your Wyndham points and convert them into a prepaid VIsa card. It doesn't sound like what you mentioned, but that is another feature of the program. Not a good exchange!

Cheryl20772 · Jul 21, 2016

hot2trot said:
I was told you take your Wyndham points and convert them into a prepaid VIsa card. It doesn't sound like what you mentioned, but that is another feature of the program. Not a good exchange!

Don't believe the prepaid visa option exists. Generally any optional use of points is very expensive both in ratio and fees. It wouldn't have served her purpose, so she wouldn't tell you even if she knew.

JimMIA · Jul 21, 2016

If that was your first encounter with a Wyndham Sales Weasel, you should know two things:

They are among the sleaziest liars in a sleazy industry. When people say, "If their lips are moving, they are lying," they are not being cute. They are being truthful. Don't believe one word they won't put in writing in your contract.
Aggressive is their normal reaction to rejection. It wouldn't work with me, but it must work for some because they use it a LOT.

The Wyndham timeshare system itself is fine, but many of the sales weasels are scum.

ZEK1114 · Jul 21, 2016

We were told this also in a Bonnet Creek presentation on Monday. This was done by he main presenter before they broke us into groups for the beat-down, work-over session. They didn't say how but only that it was something new being offered.

raygo123 · Jul 21, 2016

ZEK1114 said:
We were told this also in a Bonnet Creek presentation on Monday. This was done by he main presenter before they broke us into groups for the beat-down, work-over session. They didn't say how but only that it was something new being offered.

One thing to remember, you will only get the cash back after Wyndham covers their costs. It will never be dollar for dollar spent with them.

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puppymommo · Jul 21, 2016

I don't get the appeal, even if it works.

You buy your timeshare with CASH. You then pay your maintenance fees with CASH. Then Wyndham "helpfully" turns your points into CASH.

Leaving aside that Wyndham will take a heavy cut for this "service", why would you buy points with cash to turn them back into cash. Why not keep your cash to begin with?

PS: by "you" here I don't mean the OP, I mean folks in general

hot2trot · Jul 27, 2016

Exactly! Their sales pitch is once you buy points you get them in your account every year. If you aren't using all of them for vacationing you can turn them into cash. It just didn't make sense to me, but again as you all know, the sales people will say just about anything. They are told about this "wonderful" option, but not how it works.

Thanks for all your input! Doesn't seem like anyone has actually done this. So glad I didn't fall for their pitch!

raygo123 · Jul 27, 2016

Do they ever tell you how anything works? Only the bullet points. The sizzle not the steak.

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Cheryl20772 · Jul 27, 2016

hot2trot said:
Exactly! Their sales pitch is once you buy points you get them in your account every year. If you aren't using all of them for vacationing you can turn them into cash.

The sales 'expert' most often uses the cash exchange idea to persuade a reluctant potential buyer that maintenance fees can be defrayed by this cash or by cash coming from renting out reservations from an additional points purchase.

The salesperson will never explain the exchange rate or other fees associated with the transactions. We own as many points as we need, but we've had them try to sell us more points to be used for rentals to make money to cover our maintenance fees. He even told us that he'd be available by phone to tell us what to reserve and how to get it rented through Extra Holidays. lt makes no sense at all! Never mind that I believe Wyndham forbids sales people representing themselves as personal consultants and none of the fees associated with Extra Holidays nor were the statistics for success (or not) with EH disclosed.

They are SALES people and no matter what they will sell. Don't trust them - ever.

candygirl · Aug 6, 2016

RCI Points for cash?

Cheryl20772 said:
The sales 'expert' most often uses the cash exchange idea to persuade a reluctant potential buyer that maintenance fees can be defrayed by this cash or by cash coming from renting out reservations from an additional points purchase.

The salesperson will never explain the exchange rate or other fees associated with the transactions. We own as many points as we need, but we've had them try to sell us more points to be used for rentals to make money to cover our maintenance fees. He even told us that he'd be available by phone to tell us what to reserve and how to get it rented through Extra Holidays. lt makes no sense at all! Never mind that I believe Wyndham forbids sales people representing themselves as personal consultants and none of the fees associated with Extra Holidays nor were the statistics for success (or not) with EH disclosed.

They are SALES people and no matter what they will sell. Don't trust them - ever.

Just read someone mentioned RCI points for cash-even at a discount, is this true and how does it work? Sold my ts and have leftover points. Can I actually get SOME money for them?