My Survey - Buying Wyndham Resale

[NewbieMom]

I am so excited to find this forum! Huge thank you to everone who contributed so much valuable information. I've been reading as much as I can the past couple of days, and it has been a huge help.

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
We live in Northern California, and love going to San Francisco every year as it's driving distance. However, we also love traveling (domestically and internationally). But I am relatively new mom with 2 young children, so I'm thinking we will be taking more domestic trips for the next 10 years.

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Yes, I'm thinking San Francisco once a year and maybe another destination once a year for 2 weeks vacation total.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Wow, so many places I would love to go!
North America: Hawaii, Orlando (Disney for the kids), Southern CA (we have family in LA and San Diego), Mexico

International: There are plenty more places I'd love to visit internationally but from looking at the destination maps of the major timeshares, it looks like most are limited to North America. Not sure if I would have to do an exchange to find international properties? Haven't had a chance to research that piece yet. Would be great if we could use the TS to exchange for time in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and even South Africa are all on my bucket list. But like I said above, I don't foresee going that far with young children in tow at least for the next 10 years.

4) How many people do you usually travel with?
2 adults, 2 kids

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
School schedule and summers, as my older child is starting school next year.

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Yes

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
We are not picky as long as it's clean - no bed bugs, paint chipping, or moldy bathroom tiles please

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
As little as possible My sister-in-law is a Shell Vacation owner and gifted us (and other family) 3 weekdays at the Donatello right after Xmas. We had so much fun that we started thinking about getting our own TS so that we can go every year. They tried to get us to go to a presentation, but with 2 kids in tow, the scheduling didn't work out. Lucky for us (!) because after researching and finding this site, we now know to never buy direct! My mother-in-law did go to the presentation (bought but rescinded after doing the math at home), and I think she said the offer was around 2500pts for $12K? Don't quote me on that, but we are definitely not in a position to lay down $12K right now upfront (or financing).

So one of my questions is that I see a lot of people just giving away their points (even here on TUG). I know that you can't look at TSing as an investment but is it totally worth nothing? Also, if I'm looking at purchasing points (which can be used in any resort), under what circumstances would I buy a contract for $4k vs take one of the free ones (same # of points)? Case in point: I've pretty much narrowed down Wyndham as my TS of choice. I see an offer on TUG marketplace for a Wyndham 300k point contract for free but another one asking $4k. What makes the $4k one worth $4k more? How would I put a value on the points to determine what is a fair price?

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
As a newbie and first time TS owner, I don't want to start off too high. Also with increasing expenses with 2 kids, I'm thinking $1000-1500/year? Is this realistic, or am I dreaming?

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Yes

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
Yes

 

[Braindead]

Welcome to TUG

Regarding question #9. With Wyndham 300k points with MF of less than $1,500.00 a year is possible. Wyndham San Francisco Canterbury has very low MFs. But you will pay more upfront for those low MF contracts.
Simple math on why low MF contracts are worth more upfront.
A contract with a MF of $4.50 per thousand points verses one with $6.50 per thousand points
Saves you $2.00 per thousand points on 300k points that’s a savings of $600.00 a year. MFs are with you for as long as you are an owner. The difference adds up fast.

I would recommend buying 308k points. You get 1 free reservation transaction for every 77,000 points owned. You would get 4
You might also want to check out WorldMark because you are on the west coast

 

[NewbieMom]

Thanks for your reply and recommendation. I didn't even know it cost something to make a reservation! Lots for me to learn. I did briefly look at Worldmark, but thought the properties under Wyndham suited us more, although many were similar. At first glance, it also seemed Worldmark was selling for more (upfront asking price). But your explaination of the MFs makes a lot of sense. I will take another look at Worldmark and do a price/MF comparison.

 

[vacationhopeful]

RTs are reservation transactions and HK are housekeeping transactions ... FEEs to book a unit (or any size or number of days on a stay). If you cancel a reservation within the allowed period of time, you get the HKs and points back but NOT the RTs. HKs are based on unit size. RTs are good for ONE booking ONLY (see nest post which corrected my eariier understanding).Guest certificates cost more money via th call center than online .. but ANY change to the inbound guest, will cost you another GC fee. So, if you are sending some girlfriends, MAKE sure you explain to the GFs .. .the name on the GC is the ONLY person who CAN checkin .. no, if ands or buts ... and changes cost $129 each time.

Cancelling ANY points reservation within the 14 day window before checkin, everything is GONE. Annd failure to check into the resort, will cause the reservation to be cancelled after 24 hours of the checkin in ... 4 o'clock FRI is gone at 4 o'clock SAT... unless you get the resort to NOTATE on the reservation "Checkin for SUN" (and call each day day to reinforce YOU will be there ... writing down the names of the Front Desk staff.

 

[shorts]

Reservation transactions are no longer good for an entire day. That changed when the new website rolled out. It now takes one transaction or $19 online (if you are out) for every transaction even if done one right after the other.

 

[paxsarah]

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Yes, I'm thinking San Francisco once a year and maybe another destination once a year for 2 weeks vacation total.

I just wanted to add that a 1-bedroom unit at Canterbury is 300k points year-round (a 2BR is 400k), so 300k would get you one week in San Francisco only. Assuming a MF range of $4.50 (low) to $6.50 (average), that would be annual MFs of $1,350 to $1,950. An additional week at another resort could run you an added 100k-300k depending on location and season. (San Francisco is definitely at the high end of Wyndham's portfolio, but older resorts - still perfectly nice - have much more reasonable points requirements.)

 

[NewbieMom]

Wow, lots of little "rules" and fees I need to learn about. Why this forum is so great! These are the things one would never typically know or find out until you've taken the plunge.

It sounds like San Francisco is a high points location (which makes sense and is the reason why we started looking into TSing). I guess my research of 300k points is only for avg properties and we might need more points if we do want to use 2 weeks/year. However, the MFs would then go beyond our budget.

Does anyone have any insight/ideas on if it's possible/how I might be able to work out 2 weeks with around $1500MF budget, one week being in San Francisco? I know WorldMark also has a property there and it looks like their MFs are a little lower but I'm not sure if the points required would leave me enough for another week elsewhere? Any suggestions from folks familiar with the SF properties and various TS options would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jwalk03]

The weekend days always cost more points than weeknights. So you could stretch your points a lot further by staying Sun-Fri versus a full 7 days. That may work well for a place like SF that is close driving distance for you.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Have you checked AirB&B for San Fran? Might be more flexible and booking WHAT and WHEN you want verses using when you can or for the marginal days (like midweek) to use YOUR points. Plus, if you don't like a host or unit, it is easy to move on.

Timeshares work when the booking window and needs to use (like 7 nights from Sat-Sat .. but NOT Wed-Wed) match the resorts/system's Inventory Control options.

 

[Mosescan]

Does anybody know if you can exchange in to San Francisco through RCI with HGVC points. That may be an option for the OP but I’m not sure as I’ve never really used RCI. I’m just starting to explore those options now and I’ve owned for 7 years! It’s 3400 HGVC points for a 1 BR so a 7000 point platinum unit in Vegas would get her 2 weeks and keep maint fees around $1000/year.
You’ll need some HGVC owners who have experience with trading through RCI to tell how well this really works. I only know it’s theoretically possible.

 

[NewbieMom]

I have looked at AirB&B, and found the prices to be quite high even for small studios. I'm not set on staying a full week. Like jwalk03 suggested, I would consider two Sun-Wed/Thur stays to stretch the points further.

What Mosescan proposed though is interesting. Can anyone with knowledge of HGVC and exchanging via RCI chime in whether this is a lower cost option to achieve essentially the same goal? I only looked briefly at Hilton but ruled it out because I saw some mention that you can only book a full week at a time. I like the flexibility of points because I can book however many nights needed.

 

[shorts]

I have looked at AirB&B, and found the prices to be quite high even for small studios. I'm not set on staying a full week. Like jwalk03 suggested, I would consider two Sun-Wed/Thur stays to stretch the points further.

What Mosescan proposed though is interesting. Can anyone with knowledge of HGVC and exchanging via RCI chime in whether this is a lower cost option to achieve essentially the same goal? I only looked briefly at Hilton but ruled it out because I saw some mention that you can only book a full week at a time. I like the flexibility of points because I can book however many nights needed.

The newer (higher points and higher demand) resorts are rarely deposited into RCI. Some of the resorts are hard to book for Wyndham owners during prime season unless they own at that resort and book with their ARP (Advance Reservation Priority) or CWA using ARP. These are the resorts you will not find in RCI or at least very rarely.

 

[puppymommo]

With Wyndham ownership I don't think you need ARP at Canterbury in most cases. About 10 years ago I stayed in a 1 bedroom deluxe Sunday-Thursday and only made my reservations about 6 months out. Right now there is plenty of availability for this summer. For example, I found a 1 bedroom deluxe for 5 nights, check in June 10 2018, check out June 15, for 180,000 points. For the whole week, June 10, 2018 to June 17, the same 1 bedroom unit is 300,000 points. So you can see, by avoiding the weekend you can save a lot on points. I also agree that Wyndham Canterbury is rarely available through RCI. And with RCI, there is the exchange fee (currently $239 per week) in addition to the maintenance fee for your home resort.

 

[Mosescan]

I think this is why many people who do a lot of timesharing own TS in several systems. In order to have access to different markets and opportunities.

 

[ecwinch]

Living on the west coast, you need to evaluate Worldmark - a sister company of Club Wyndham - also managed by Wyndham. Far more options in the Western US, and far more flexible. Not as cheap to get into - but retains value better if purchased resale, far more liquid, less expensive dues.

 

[HudsHut]

The first thing you need to determine is whether you should buy at all. When you buy a timeshare you have an ongoing liability. I would recommend that you take a hard look at your finances and determine whether you should wait to buy. If you have a house, your cars are paid off, and you have no credit card debt, then proceed cautiously.

You said SF is driving distance - where do you live?
WorldMark is your best choice. It covers every location you mentioned without an exchange*. You can reserve as few or as many nights you need.
Mon - Thur are half the price of Sat/Sun.
Numerous cash options for that second trip or weekend getaways.

These WorldMark resorts are probably within driving distance to you: Clear Lake, Windsor, Angels Camp, Marina, South Lake Tahoe

*Since you sister in law has Shell, the two of you could exchange for destinations in each other's systems.

Feel free to check us out if you'd like to learn more.
http://www.wmowners.com/forum/

 

[NewbieMom]

Thank you for your suggestions. I will definitely look into Worldmark. We are definitely not going to rush into things as our 2018 vacations plans (1 week Orlando, 4 nights Tahoe) are taken care of by the generosity of my sister-in-law. But I don't want to take advantage of her generosity each year and hopefully can reciprocate in future years, maybe trade off as hudshut suggested.

We are in Sacramento, so everything is within 2-3 hrs drive (SF, Tahoe, Napa). The only reason I had preferred Wyndham to Worldmark initially is because the properties are more versatile. Even though I'm based in CA and we see ourselves using the TS more out here, I do have family in TN, DC, and NY. I don't see us going out there every year so I didn't mention it in my original post, but we might rotate those destinations every 3 years. So in the next 10 years we would probably spend a week each in TN, DC, and NYC. I'll need to do some thinking on whether it makes more sense to pay for lodging out of pocket those years, rather than choose a TS that fits all the places I have in mind.

Thanks everyone for your insight! I'll be spending 2018 doing lots of reading and research, and possibly making the leap over summer/fall if it still makes financial sense.

 

[Braindead]

So in the next 10 years we would probably spend a week each in TN, DC, and NYC. I'll need to do some thinking on whether it makes more sense to pay for lodging out of pocket those years, rather than choose a TS that fits all the places I have in mind.

If Wyndham fits all the places you have in mind.
I would definitely go with Wyndham!!!!
Exchange fees have been like MFs they just keep going up.
If one shoe does fit all - buy that shoe