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Greetings Timeshare Owners!

My wife and I own a 15k EOY via BlueGreen, this was purchased back in 2003 by her and her x-husband (sales - P, Trust - D). Paid off now free and clear...except for those pesky MF.

I am looking to add some more points to the package and will be doing it through Pinnacle so we can align the sales and trust into the much more common E Trust. This way we only have one base fee and one larger maint. fee

The only real problem with this is that they will not count towards and premier status levels, is there any way around this? The Pinnacle rep stated that unless you pay 1.25/point that Bluegreen will NOT allow them to be counted.

Any and all responses are appreciated...especially those that help me make a more informed decision!
Thanks in advance!

PaPa Slack said:

Greetings Timeshare Owners!

My wife and I own a 15k EOY via BlueGreen, this was purchased back in 2003 by her and her x-husband (sales - P, Trust - D). Paid off now free and clear...except for those pesky MF.

I am looking to add some more points to the package and will be doing it through Pinnacle so we can align the sales and trust into the much more common E Trust. This way we only have one base fee and one larger maint. fee

The only real problem with this is that they will not count towards and premier status levels, is there any way around this? The Pinnacle rep stated that unless you pay 1.25/point that Bluegreen will NOT allow them to be counted.

Any and all responses are appreciated...especially those that help me make a more informed decision!
Thanks in advance!

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Welcome!

But, sorry, Pops, you cannot have your cake and eat it, too. Either you can buy cheap points and forego "status", or you can buy via BG or authorized reseller at higher price to gain "status".

Join us on the Yahoo Group for Bluegreen for plenty of BG info.

Thoughts on the difference?

Are the benefits really worth the extra cost?
I researched alot and just want some honest opinions. I would like the extra friends and family, the extra month reservation timeframe and such...

the general rule here youll find is "very rarely are the benefits of retail worth the added cost"

there are of course always exceptions to the rule...sadly im not a BG expert...but im sure a few will be along shortly to give you a definitive answer.

id be shocked if any of them agreed it was worth it to buy retail though =)

The BG bennies could definitely be worth it, IF YOU USE THEM. There are free weeks, free nights, free upgrades, discounts on many types of stays, free cancellations, etc.

I am bronze. I'd like to go to silver at some point but stuck with day job vs leisure time.

Because OP already owns Bluegreen, and it was a mortgage, I assume that they already have network-wide bonus time and TP (Traveller's Plus). Those 2 items are, imo, the most useful.

It's not possible for me to say whether the bennies would be of use to you. Only you know how much you will be able to take advantage of them.

Please let me know what questions you have about any of the benefits, as maybe a little more insight into what something Really Means can help you towards your decision.

PaPa Slack said:

Thoughts on the difference?

Are the benefits really worth the extra cost?
I researched alot and just want some honest opinions. I would like the extra friends and family, the extra month reservation timeframe and such...

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Not sure what you mean by 'extra friends and family' (unless you mean all the people that will come out of the woodwork to help you use up your vacation time).

Extra month reservation timeline - that does not exist. What exists is Waitlist, a flawed program currently.

What other perks pique your interest?

The extra month on the waitlist is something I am def interested in.


Bronze owners – placed on wait list one month before 11-month window opens.
Silver owners – placed on wait list two months before 11-month window opens.
Gold owners – placed on wait list three months before 11-month window opens.


The additional Friends and Family perk:

Bronze owners may reserve one additional Bonus Time unit for the same reservation period, once per year.
Silver owners may reserve up to two additional Bonus Time units for the same reservation period, twice per year.
Gold owners may reserve up to three additional Bonus Time units for the same reservation period, three times per year.


I would think that the extra month and the additional F&F perk would be worth it. We are very familiar with working the system, but some hotter resorts are booked far out. Hence the extra month issue, you said it doesnt really work however which makes me leery. We would most def use the extra Bonus Units as we occassionally will take people with us (in laws, parents , cousins, etc etc) and could use this to offset the cost some.

Lastly, the villa upgrades option. I have been to numerous properties (off season, which we try to do to maximize our points) and have seen that this would work for us as well...

So if we pay the 1.25/point for new issue instead of cheap on resale we would get this. Really just wanting to get to Silver level same as you Geekette.

I would def buy more resale when necessary...oh and BTW, they would throw in 3 free (off season) RCI exchange weeks with this as well as a one time freebie of 4k points and a free cruise for 2 (4day/3night).

Im thinking it will be worth it but wanted some veteran guidance. We are learning te system as we go and are very happy thus far.

Use the system longer and look at all the BG points available on TUG and Ebay and talk yourself out of ever buying from the developer.
We have a saying here on TUG.
"If a Timeshare Salesman lips are moving, he's lying"
They are worse than used car salesmen. They will tell you just what you want to hear whether it is true or not. The benefits are never worth the cost and itf you read the fine print they can and will change the rules at any time. It will be in the contract.
Enjoy what you have for a while. If you want more, buy resale or buy another system resale to get you variety. Never buy retail.

With all due respect, if you are not familiar with the specific benefits in this program it is impossible for you to know whether or not they are worth it. In this case there are real benefits, not vapor. You cannot get the same benefits resale, there is one path to them, authorized points.

Further, please do not discredit Bluegreen and policy changes unless you are familiar with their history and how the system actually works. I have owned over a decade and have seen a few policy changes but BG is not in the habit of screwing over their owners nor nickel and diming. If you have BG experience that varies from that, please do share.

Banter from a salesman is suspect, I totally agree with you on that, but published and verified benefits are not. Plenty of us have and use them. They are not in the habit of taking away perks, but do add often enough to keep it interesting.

Papa, I forgot about FF Bonus Time - this is a great perk because, as you probably already know, you cannot otherwise book family on Bonus Time without your being there. Twofers are always good!!

It's great that you are so familiar with the system and know these perks fit your travel style. That is key. No reason to go after them if you won't use them.

Waitlist - this has worked for some people but understand that it is not yet what a true waitlist needs to be. Plenty that waitlisted did not get booked, and went online the morning the ressie window opened and found availability and booked it then. My point is, Do Not Rely on waitlist. Do it, hope for it, but definitely go after the ressie you want on The Day if waitlist doesn't book you a day or two before that.

Which of course means that you can do that Now, without waitlist, and potentially ahead of waitlisted owners. So far as I know, no one knows When or If waitlist will be fixed.

momeason said:

Use the system longer and look at all the BG points available on TUG and Ebay and talk yourself out of ever buying from the developer.
We have a saying here on TUG.
"If a Timeshare Salesman lips are moving, he's lying"
They are worse than used car salesmen. They will tell you just what you want to hear whether it is true or not. The benefits are never worth the cost and itf you read the fine print they can and will change the rules at any time. It will be in the contract.
Enjoy what you have for a while. If you want more, buy resale or buy another system resale to get you variety. Never buy retail.

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Thanks all for the info,

Owners Update - going back tomorrow on final day @ Mt. Olympus resort...Will update tomorrow with the deal we got.

PaPa Slack said:

<snip>...going back tomorrow on final day @ Mt. Olympus resort...Will update tomorrow with the deal we got.

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Chose to delete post; OP will ultimately make his own decision on developer-direct purchase to "upgrade".

Results:

Went in with the intent to purchase but to only pay the 1.25/pt as required and told the sales rep that. After a few pitches of higher rates and approx. 30m of messing around with the 'manager' they came back with an offer of:

Use the existing deed as equity, no down payment. 6mos no interest w/payoff option (which we will do once sucure financing from bank)

They gave us the 3 free off season weeks (RCI extra vacations).
Bonus 4k points one time award
Cruise certificate for 2 (4n/3d)

They wanted the sale badly so they offered to sell us 7500 @ 1.30 and gift us 7500 matching, so basically we bought 7500 pts and they matched 7500 giving us the 15k/yr necessary for Bronze status.

All in all they did ok, we like the extra benefits and will def put them to good use.
To say that it was easy would be a lie, at one point I stood up and said:
'well if you can't do it I will buy them from pinnacle for 1.25/pt' and get the Bronze'
the rep actually said 'if you don't stay through the whole update you will not get the 100/ gift card, to which I replied 'i dont give a rats ass about the 100 bucks, are we going to make this deal happen or not'

15m later the rep and the MGR came out with this deal

If you go in demanding and know what you want, accept no less, threaten to leave and you will probably get it. Hope this helps anyone else doing a future update!

Query on Release of Contract

Thanks for all the helpful information about TS, but I have concluded that they are not for me (lots of extenuating circumstances) and I have checked with Mayan and was told I can get a release from my contract without any refunds, which would suit me at this point. All I have to do is ask for the papers and fill them out and the release will be arranged. Is there something I am missing (except my investment to date)?

A suggestion...

NicksDad said:

Thanks for all the helpful information about TS, but I have concluded that they are not for me (lots of extenuating circumstances) and I have checked with Mayan and was told I can get a release from my contract without any refunds, which would suit me at this point. All I have to do is ask for the papers and fill them out and the release will be arranged. Is there something I am missing (except my investment to date)?

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Some Mexican facilities extort require pre-payment of several years' worth of maintenance fees for an ownership transfer and /or for a release from the associated RTU contract. I do not claim to know if "Mayan" is one of those doing so, but it certainly warrants your definitively finding out.