Should I add resale Margaritaville points to an existing Wyndham Founders Platinum Pres Reserve program bought from Wyndham?

[Slider5150]

Hi all. My wife and I have 1mil points and are at Presidential Reserve Platinum Founders level as we (gulp) bought the points from Wyndham before we found TUG. I use the several of the perks and discounts quite a bit so overall we are fairly happy with our program. We managed to get into Margaritaville Rio Mar on Puerto Rico. Nice resort! The Update offer was a round of golf for my wife and I if we went to the presentation. That worked. We went. We were told that if we bought the minimum number of points, around 115k, we would be able to access all of the Margaritaville properties, of which there are WAY more than I ever knew, and in places I would love to go. We were told that being Founders already meant that just getting the minimum contract with a Margaritaville property would allow us to enjoy Founders level access and benefits, and our 1mill Points, at all of the Margaritaville properties, not just the few that Pres Reserve can access. Essentially, we were told that the small contract would flip a switch in the system that we are Margaritaville next to the switches that already say that we are Founder Platinum etc. Shoot, sounds like a great way to add access to a bunch of properties that I would love to go to with all of our benefits attached!

Then I did the dirty shameful thing. I asked what would happen if I just bought a resale Margaritaville Contract. That got the air conditioning running at full power!!! Always entertaining to toss grenades in those meetings. But seriously, if buying the contract from Wyndham would essentially extend our Founders benefits and points throughout the ENTIRE Margaritaville Program, would we get the same impact if we just bought a resale contract? We would still be Founders in the Wyndham program. And we would be owners in the Margaritaville program. Which would seem to be the same situation in that respect as if we bought at the presentation. Adding thru resale would seem to be a wonderful and very cost effective way to leverage our Founders benefits without buying direct and bleeding for it.

Anyone KNOW how this would work? Has anyone done it? Is there a great thread on how a Founders Platinum Pres Reserve program bought from the developer is impacted by adding resale contracts like this? Or does Wyndham have a way to deny us the use of our Founders Benefits and Points at the Margaritaville-Only Properties because we didn't buy Margaritaville points from them? Worst case would be that they can do this thing, and we only have our resale points to book at Margaritaville properties and with none of the benefits of our Founders Program. Not being able to use the Founders Points and discount windows and accesses etc would de-leverage the Margaritaville points.

All thoughts and experiences appreciated!

 

[Pink_Warrior]

It will be separated out from your Founders/PR so no discounts and upgrades, so unlimited HK, and three month banking window. Same account but there is a dropdown between developer and resale. Personally I find my one resale contract a HUGE PITA that has simply got to go. I just can't find anyone who can close a Wyndham contract.

You just cannot access one Margaritaville (the one in Pigeon Forge.) So there really isn't a big draw. And don't buy one from Wyndham, either. I've been told that they cannot do equity trades on Margaritaville properties although I never had one to begin with.

 

[Jan M.]

Typical sales lies. The only Margaritaville resorts in our Wyndham system are: Rio Mar, St. Thomas, Desert Blue, Nashville and Atlanta. Also Pigeon Forge but only if you own there as @Pink_Warrior mentioned. They lead you to believe it's all of the Margaritaville resorts when it's only just those few. Although it could have changed, the word was that after Atlanta Margaritaville wasn't going to partner with Wyndham on any more resorts.

 

[Slider5150]

Very interesting. Yes, we were lead to believe we would have access to all of the Margaritaville locations such as Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica etc. Adding points just to get a handful of resorts makes no sense. Per the salesperson, when you have Margaritaville points, you can see and book into a lot of other resorts that Wyndham Owners can't see or access, and our status and existing points would be able to be used on those properties as well as the new points. So Margaritaville points can't book you into the Costa Rica Margaritaville eh? Sheesh. That's a shame.

 

[paxsarah]

I did see something recently (where, I can’t remember) about Margaritaville Vacation Club owners getting access to other (non-timeshare) Margaritaville hotels for some sort of points + cash deal. Obviously whether that’s worthwhile depends on the cash involved.

 

[paxsarah]

I did see something recently (where, I can’t remember) about Margaritaville Vacation Club owners getting access to other (non-timeshare) Margaritaville hotels for some sort of points + cash deal. Obviously whether that’s worthwhile depends on the cash involved.

Apparently Facebook.

Margaritaville Exclusives for Timeshare Owners

Enjoy owner discounts and benefits from Margaritaville Vacation Club by Wyndham. Kick-off your flip-flops and check out these Margaritaville exclusives today.

mgvc.wyndhamdestinations.com

 

[chapjim]

Hi all. My wife and I have 1mil points and are at Presidential Reserve Platinum Founders level as we (gulp) bought the points from Wyndham before we found TUG. I use the several of the perks and discounts quite a bit so overall we are fairly happy with our program. We managed to get into Margaritaville Rio Mar on Puerto Rico. Nice resort! The Update offer was a round of golf for my wife and I if we went to the presentation. That worked. We went. We were told that if we bought the minimum number of points, around 115k, we would be able to access all of the Margaritaville properties, of which there are WAY more than I ever knew, and in places I would love to go. We were told that being Founders already meant that just getting the minimum contract with a Margaritaville property would allow us to enjoy Founders level access and benefits, and our 1mill Points, at all of the Margaritaville properties, not just the few that Pres Reserve can access. Essentially, we were told that the small contract would flip a switch in the system that we are Margaritaville next to the switches that already say that we are Founder Platinum etc. Shoot, sounds like a great way to add access to a bunch of properties that I would love to go to with all of our benefits attached!

Then I did the dirty shameful thing. I asked what would happen if I just bought a resale Margaritaville Contract. That got the air conditioning running at full power!!! Always entertaining to toss grenades in those meetings. But seriously, if buying the contract from Wyndham would essentially extend our Founders benefits and points throughout the ENTIRE Margaritaville Program, would we get the same impact if we just bought a resale contract? We would still be Founders in the Wyndham program. And we would be owners in the Margaritaville program. Which would seem to be the same situation in that respect as if we bought at the presentation. Adding thru resale would seem to be a wonderful and very cost effective way to leverage our Founders benefits without buying direct and bleeding for it.

Anyone KNOW how this would work? Has anyone done it? Is there a great thread on how a Founders Platinum Pres Reserve program bought from the developer is impacted by adding resale contracts like this? Or does Wyndham have a way to deny us the use of our Founders Benefits and Points at the Margaritaville-Only Properties because we didn't buy Margaritaville points from them? Worst case would be that they can do this thing, and we only have our resale points to book at Margaritaville properties and with none of the benefits of our Founders Program. Not being able to use the Founders Points and discount windows and accesses etc would de-leverage the Margaritaville points.

All thoughts and experiences appreciated!

There is no such thing as VIP Platinum Founders. If you have 1 million developer points, you are VIP Platinum. If you have 1.4 million developer points, you are VIP Founders.

As @Jan M. said, there is only a handful of Margaritaville resorts. The others are hotels. I have no idea if Margaritaville points can be used at the hotel locations. I would not put much stock in what the salesperson said.

I have booked a Margaritaville resort but honestly, I don't know if that was because we are VIP Founders or Presidential Reserve. And, I never looked it up in the directory. In fact, I wasn't even looking for a Margaritaville resort. I wanted a 2BR Deluxe unit in Atlanta and the only thing available was a Margaritaville unit. Other than decor and a blender, I don't think there's any difference in Atlanta.

Dropping a bomb in those meetings is fun, no?

 

[Zeke_62]

I think they are Founders. 1M and presidential = Founders.

 

[chapjim]

I think they are Founders. 1M and presidential = Founders.

You're right. I didn't know that and had to look at the Directory to confirm it. It's kind of obscure but it's there.

Page 310, upper right corner:

FOUNDERS
1.4 million points or Presidential Reserve [emphasis mine]

 

[raygo123]

Margaritaville is total hyp. Don't bother buying either resale or direct. Why? How much is one month worth? And resale? Only at where you buy. And it's probably a UDI. Never bothered looking into what you actually own. Are you having trouble booking it?

You need more points?

Sent from my T618 using Tapatalk

 

[Eric B]

IMHO, the ability to book Margaritaville hotels through PlusPartners, even if it does currently exist, might be totally worthless. It's not a deeded right and subject to availability. Sounds a lot like the access to Outfitter hotels and resorts that was just officially eliminated and never supported by enough availability for Wyndham Outrigger Club (now known as Wyndham Kai) owners to actually use. More like something that would have the token one week per year access to show it exists.

 

[tschwa2]

My guess is if they aren't talking booking as plus partners, they are talking about booking with Travel up, which if you don't currently have you would need to make some kind of retail purchase. They are being really slippery with the buy and you will be able to book without indicating that the booking would be if you convert to reward points, or use travel up or through plus partners. There is no indication that kind of booking can be made with Wyndham Vacation club points or for that matter Margaritaville vacation club points, yet magically if you make a relatively small purchase all these new properties will open up for you to book.

 

[DrGavin]

I did see something recently (where, I can’t remember) about Margaritaville Vacation Club owners getting access to other (non-timeshare) Margaritaville hotels for some sort of points + cash deal. Obviously whether that’s worthwhile depends on the cash involved.

Here are the details:

• Owners can use up to 25% of total transaction in points.
• Offer valid at 15 select Margaritaville hotels or resorts.
• To redeem offer, the owner must call Club Wyndham Travel to book at 1-800-732-0203.
• Owner will pay $69 transaction fee for booking with Club Wyndham Travel.
• Owner can book up to 30 days prior to check-in.
• Owner or guest must travel by Dec 31, 2024.

Margaritaville Exclusives for Timeshare Owners

Enjoy owner discounts and benefits from Margaritaville Vacation Club by Wyndham. Kick-off your flip-flops and check out these Margaritaville exclusives today.

mgvc.wyndhamdestinations.com

 

[tschwa2]

So if I understand, if you are a Margaritaville owner and you want to book a $1000 hotel reservation you would call and you could use points for a 25% discount using the standard $2.20 per 1000 points (not specified but I am guessing that would be the conversion) plus the $69 transaction fee. So $750+ 69 + 113,636 points plus tax and any resort fees. It has to be for this year and you have to book at least 30 days in advance. Also not specified but I would imagine if you cancel the reservation you would not get the points and transaction fee back.

$819 and 113, 636 plus tax and resort fee using this offer vs $900 plus tax and resort fee with the 10 % discount. I am hoping my math is off somewhere because that seems like a horrible deal.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

$2.20 per 1000

Yikes.

 

[Eric B]

So if I understand, if you are a Margaritaville owner and you want to book a $1000 hotel reservation you would call and you could use points for a 25% discount using the standard $2.20 per 1000 points (not specified but I am guessing that would be the conversion) plus the $69 transaction fee. So $750+ 69 + 113,636 points plus tax and any resort fees. It has to be for this year and you have to book at least 30 days in advance. Also not specified but I would imagine if you cancel the reservation you would not get the points and transaction fee back.

$819 and 113, 636 plus tax and resort fee using this offer vs $900 plus tax and resort fee with the 10 % discount. I am hoping my math is off somewhere because that seems like a horrible deal.

Could be a fabulous deal if the fees on a Margaritaville ownership are around $1 or $1.50 per 1000 points. I don't own any so am not sure what their costs are, of course, but the ones I do own with Wyndham are a lot more than that.

 

[Slider5150]

I seem to remember from the pitch that the fees were somewhere between 7 & 8 bucks per 1000, so yeah, not a good deal there.......