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Alexandria vs Another location

harveyhaddixfan

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There’s an auction ending in a little over 2 hours for a CWP EOY 126,000 Point contract at Old Town Alexandria through Sumday. Listed MF are approximately $39 a month. The only reason I’m interested in this is to be able to go there since it’s never in RCI. Would I be better off looking for another contract with lower MF or is booking period an issue? I haven’t studied up on Wyndham enough like I have RCI so any pointers are appreciated.
 

Richelle

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Wyndham Canterbury
Wyndham Atlanta
Bay Club of Sandestin
Williamsburg Plantation
First, it’s currently a sellers market. If you’re not in a hurry, you’re better off buying in November or December. I bought a Branson contract for $1 on eBay in the beginning of November. That same contract sold for $510 in May the following year.

With that said, the main reason I would buy a contract deeded to a resort is if I wanted to be able to book it 13 months out during the ARP period. Everyone else has to book at the 11 or 10 month mark (Gold and Platinum VIP can book RARP 11 months out). If you are going to go during a week that is going to book up fast, you’ll want that advantage. If not, you might be better off going with a lower Mf resort. The down side to that is, you will not find those for $1. Any resort with Mf less then $5 per 1,000 points is going to go for hundreds or the thousands of dollars. As one wise old man once told me....(I think his name was Ronparise? ;) ) you either pay for it now, or you pay for it later. So you either pay a bunch of money now for the lower fees or pay for it over time in the form of high Mf. If you plan on keeping it for less then five years, I wouldn’t sweat the MF because you wont save anything.

One thing you may not be considering is your exit plan. When we purchased our house, I was looking at more then just number bedrooms, bathrooms, Sqft,etc. I was looking at resale. How easy would it be for us to sell the house if we had to up and leave for a job relocation and had to get out fast. It sounds odd to think of an exit strategy before you even put down a contract, but you have to. Timeshares are the same in that you have to think, can I dump this quickly if I have to? If you have to get out fast, the quickest route is Ovations. Ovations does not take every contract back. I don’t know if they take Old Town Alexandria. I know they take CWA, National Harbor, Bonnet Creek, and other popular choices. I’m not trying to discourage you from buying that contract, but do some research and look to see if that auction had been up multiple times before it had a buyer. If you look at completed listings and see a ton of Old town Alexandria listings with no buyers, that’s not a good sign. If you do need that specific resort, get it. Just be prepared that if you have to get rid of it, you might have to pay the maintenance fees for upwards of a year while you are searching for a buyer and waiting for the transfer.
 

Richelle

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Wyndham Atlanta
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Points chart so you can see which weeks are prime for that resort.
 

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DaveNV

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FWIW, I tried for over a year to get a match for an OGS in RCI for OTA. Despite RCI's people assuring me it would happen ANY DAY NOW, it never came in. Tuggers finally clued me in that OTA never shows up in RCI, because Owners can rent them, if they want to. After wasting 13 months, I was able to arrange a private exchange with another Tugger to go there. It worked out so well we did the same thing a second time, two years later. I'd go back again, if the opportunity came up. (The private exchange was arranged with Wyndham Points.)

If you want to own at OTA, buy it. If you want to trade in, buy a points contract elsewhere with lower MF. Good luck!

Dave
 

paxsarah

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I’m going to guess that for most weeks of the year, booking at 10 months (i.e. with any Wyndham points) will be adequate and you can purchase based on MFs. Others can chime in whether events like the cherry blossom festival need ARP. I know we had no problems booking at 10 months for our March spring break week next year.
 

Avislo

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Do not know if this helps or not but the following shows available.

All Room Types
2. Check-In DateMar 02, 2019
3. Checkout DateMar 09, 2019
4. UnitSelect a Unit

Select Available Unit
MORE INFORMATION

Managed By Wyndham

  • Staying7 Nights
    1 Bedroom VIP Benefits Apply UNIT DETAILS

  • Staying7 Nights
    1 Bedroom Deluxe VIP Benefits Apply UNIT DETAILS

  • Staying7 Nights
    2 Bedroom Deluxe VIP Benefits Apply UNIT DETAILS

  • Staying7 Nights
    2 Bedroom Lockoff VIP Benefits Apply UNIT DETAILS
 

schoolmarm

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Old Town is a smaller resort that "never" shows up on RCI (according to people who work there). I have booked it during the express period midweek before, but often this resort fills up....except in their quiet and value seasons. I often go there in January to do archival research at the Library of Congress and U Maryland. It is not full then, but close. This summer OTA was totally booked for the three days I needed so I stayed at National Harbor, where I own. More points and no free parking, but very nice resort with pools.

I love that OTA is across the street from the Metro Station and close to the Amtrak station for when I'm in the city without public transportation.

I would get a Wyndham deed for a low MF resort (National Harbor, NYC, Panama City, Canterbury, Steamboat, Bali Hai, etc.). You can use that for OTA reservations.
 

Railman83

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First, it’s currently a sellers market. If you’re not in a hurry, you’re better off buying in November or December. I bought a Branson contract for $1 on eBay in the beginning of November. That same contract sold for $510 in May the following year.

With that said, the main reason I would buy a contract deeded to a resort is if I wanted to be able to book it 13 months out during the ARP period. Everyone else has to book at the 11 or 10 month mark (Gold and Platinum VIP can book RARP 11 months out). If you are going to go during a week that is going to book up fast, you’ll want that advantage. If not, you might be better off going with a lower Mf resort. The down side to that is, you will not find those for $1. Any resort with Mf less then $5 per 1,000 points is going to go for hundreds or the thousands of dollars. As one wise old man once told me....(I think his name was Ronparise? ;) ) you either pay for it now, or you pay for it later. So you either pay a bunch of money now for the lower fees or pay for it over time in the form of high Mf. If you plan on keeping it for less then five years, I wouldn’t sweat the MF because you wont save anything.

One thing you may not be considering is your exit plan. When we purchased our house, I was looking at more then just number bedrooms, bathrooms, Sqft,etc. I was looking at resale. How easy would it be for us to sell the house if we had to up and leave for a job relocation and had to get out fast. It sounds odd to think of an exit strategy before you even put down a contract, but you have to. Timeshares are the same in that you have to think, can I dump this quickly if I have to? If you have to get out fast, the quickest route is Ovations. Ovations does not take every contract back. I don’t know if they take Old Town Alexandria. I know they take CWA, National Harbor, Bonnet Creek, and other popular choices. I’m not trying to discourage you from buying that contract, but do some research and look to see if that auction had been up multiple times before it had a buyer. If you look at completed listings and see a ton of Old town Alexandria listings with no buyers, that’s not a good sign. If you do need that specific resort, get it. Just be prepared that if you have to get rid of it, you might have to pay the maintenance fees for upwards of a year while you are searching for a buyer and waiting for the transfer.


Seller’s market? Because you pay a nickel on the dollar instead of two cents the dollar?
 

Richelle

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Seller’s market? Because you pay a nickel on the dollar instead of two cents the dollar?

On a $20,000 contract, that extra 3 cents is $600. That auction closed at $104.50 and the buyer is paying a $99. In the fall, someone may have been giving that away on Tug. Or he could have gotten it on eBay for $30 with free closing. I’m not sure about you, but I’m never in a hurry to overpay for something even if it is just $100. If someone who is reading this, later decides to buy more points, they know to buy in the fall. This is especially important if they are looking at places line Canterbury or national Harbor which can go for thousands of dollars anytime of year, so the savings would be greater on a contract like that.
 

DaveNV

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There’s an auction ending in a little over 2 hours for a CWP EOY 126,000 Point contract at Old Town Alexandria through Sumday.

So Chris, did you buy it?

Dave
 

harveyhaddixfan

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I missed out on it. I wasn’t willing to pay more. I may check with Sumday to see what they have in inventory for 126k or 154k contracts. I’m currently at the Wyndham in Panama City Beach via an RCI exchange and avoided the “update” like the plague. It does appear that PCB has lower MF, but they also have a higher points requirement so it may make sense to get one here for the lower MF to use as an exchange.

Question: do unused points carry over to the next year? If I’m buying an EOY contract, I’m not sure that I’d use all the points in the year they are issued. With RCI, my use year starts Dec 1 so I’m always playing the borrow a year ahead game.
 

Richelle

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I missed out on it. I wasn’t willing to pay more. I may check with Sumday to see what they have in inventory for 126k or 154k contracts. I’m currently at the Wyndham in Panama City Beach via an RCI exchange and avoided the “update” like the plague. It does appear that PCB has lower MF, but they also have a higher points requirement so it may make sense to get one here for the lower MF to use as an exchange.

Question: do unused points carry over to the next year? If I’m buying an EOY contract, I’m not sure that I’d use all the points in the year they are issued. With RCI, my use year starts Dec 1 so I’m always playing the borrow a year ahead game.


They do not carry over. If you are non-VIP owner, you can move the points forward to next year or the year after that (for a fee), but you have to do it within the first three months of your use year. Silver VIP has until six months into their use year, and Gold has 9. Platinum cab move then forward anytime before the last day of theirnyse year.
 

harveyhaddixfan

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I’m going to have to read over the resort directory a little more that has the program info. But from the looks of it, I need a 154k contract to get 2 reservation credits and enough housekeeping credits for 2 short stays. Looks like it’s $39 to put the points into the credit pool and they’re good for 3 years. This seems like a good and affordable option to be able to get 2 short 4-5 Sun-Thurs night stays over 2 years.
 

Richelle

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I’m going to have to read over the resort directory a little more that has the program info. But from the looks of it, I need a 154k contract to get 2 reservation credits and enough housekeeping credits for 2 short stays. Looks like it’s $39 to put the points into the credit pool and they’re good for 3 years. This seems like a good and affordable option to be able to get 2 short 4-5 Sun-Thurs night stays over 2 years.


Be sure to read those supplements. Credit pool was retired last year. You can only push points forward now.
 

MaryBella7

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I’m going to have to read over the resort directory a little more that has the program info. But from the looks of it, I need a 154k contract to get 2 reservation credits and enough housekeeping credits for 2 short stays. Looks like it’s $39 to put the points into the credit pool and they’re good for 3 years. This seems like a good and affordable option to be able to get 2 short 4-5 Sun-Thurs night stays over 2 years.

The credit pool is gone. You can only move points to a year that you specify for a fee.
 

bnoble

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You may not need ARP. I got a 2BR for Easter Week several years ago, which happened to be the first full week of April. Travel demand has picked up, so that might be harder now, but I don't know. This was right at the 10 month mark, and the category was open only a day or two into the 10 month window, but it was there.
 

Richelle

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Richelle

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You may not need ARP. I got a 2BR for Easter Week several years ago, which happened to be the first full week of April. Travel demand has picked up, so that might be harder now, but I don't know. This was right at the 10 month mark, and the category was open only a day or two into the 10 month window, but it was there.
This is what is available for waster week now. Just one and two bedrooms. I am not sure how many three bedroom units they have but they are not available.
 

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harveyhaddixfan

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Richelle

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Thanks! I spent the last hour reading through this. What benefits don’t apply to resale points? Is it only the VIP benefits?

Also, for PIC Plus, do you know how much the fee is; “Members who pay the PIC Plus Membership Enrollment Fee.”? They tried to sell me a 154k contract a few years ago to get my other weeks into Wyndham Points.

In addition to no VIP benefits, you get no Club Pass (WorldMark resorts) and no Plus Partners. If Club Pass is important to you, I would consider getting a WorldMark contract. They are more expensive then Wyndham contracts on eBay, but still cheaper then retail contracts. Plus, with Club Pass, there is a $99 exchange fee when you make a Club Pass booking. Plus partners allows you to convert your Club Wyndham points to things like air fare, car rentals, etc but the exchange rate is terrible. It’s like spending $500 in maintenance fees for a $200 airline ticket. Some people do it if they have left over points I can think of better things to do with left over points.

The fee is $2,395 but it’s waived if you buy points. That’s weird because I keep getting told that the only way to enroll a week into PIC is with buying more points. Then why do they have a fee to begin with? It’s weird. Anyway, the minimum purchase if you buy from corporate is 49,000 points. The resort sales guy isn’t going to tell you that, because he wouldn’t make as much commission on a 49,000 point sale. A 49,000 point sale is around $12,900, but you can likely negotiate that down depending on what you get. Some of the higher MF contracts are cheaper because they are harder to dump. With a package that small, the higher fees will not make much of a difference. By the way, you can enroll up to two PIC weeks with that single 49,000 point purchase.
 

harveyhaddixfan

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Sounds like PIC is definitely not worth it since you’re really not getting anything other than another way to exchange your existing timeshare. Maybe if you had a large unit and got the max points where it would save you 2 or 3 exchange fees each year.

In regards to what you do/don’t get with resale, you have access to the top 4 types of locations, but not the bottom 3?

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harveyhaddixfan

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Ignore affiliate/associate locations. There is little to no inventory there; they are there just to make the list look longer.


I figured as much since it notes limited inventory on those. Kinda like the RCI Platinum exclusive availability that was slim to none.
 
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