Looking to get into Wyndham

[Charles Thring]

We just spent a wonderful week at Dolphins Cove Anaheim and we are hooked. Looking to get into something that will allow us to do this annually.
Any input would be appreciated. Can I get any Wyndham property and use the points wherever we choose? What are the pitfalls / bonuses.
We dont want to spend more that $100 per month on fees.
I did find a property on Ebay.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/CLUB-WYNDH...781498?hash=item443da1ab7a:g:XDUAAOSwLzFcweIx but not sure if its a good starting point or not.

 

[ecwinch]

We just spent a wonderful week at Dolphins Cove Anaheim and we are hooked. Looking to get into something that will allow us to do this annually.
Any input would be appreciated. Can I get any Wyndham property and use the points wherever we choose? What are the pitfalls / bonuses.
We dont want to spend more that $100 per month on fees.
I did find a property on Ebay.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/CLUB-WYNDH...781498?hash=item443da1ab7a:g:XDUAAOSwLzFcweIx but not sure if its a good starting point or not.

No, that would not be a very good option for an annual visit to Dolphin's Cove. It is only 128k points, and that may not be enough points to book a full week at Dolphins Cove (depending on unit size and season). Plus the dues (if accurate) are very high.

Your limit of $100 per month on fees puts you in the ballpark of 200k points - which is basically a week every year at the majority - but not all - resorts.

Spend some time reading the sticky's at the top of this forum - but here are the high points:

1. If you buy Club Wyndham points (via resale of course), you can book your home resort (ie. where your points come from) at 13 months out, and any Club Wyndham resort at 10 months out. At 10 months points are points.
2. If you want to go somewhere every year - it is best to own points attached at that resort - in particular if you want to book peak usage (summer, holidays, etc).
3. Pay particular attention to what the maintenance dues are - they vary greatly between the resorts. With your $100 per month target that will be very important.
4. Maintenance dues will increase over time - just like anything else.

Congratulations on finding TUG and avoiding the sales trap most first time visitors to Club Wyndham resorts find themselves in. How did you book Dolphin's Cove?

Advice Articles: https://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index...ndham-information-and-advice-articles.128302/

ps. If you live in the western US, you might want to consider Worldmark The Club as alternative. Dolphin's cove is a shared resort with WM, and WM has better resort coverage in the western US.

Points chart for Dolphin Cove:

 

[55plus]

Do be in a hurry to buy something. Research the program. If it will work for you then pull the trigger to buy, but buy resell.

 

[Charles Thring]

We rented the timeshare from an owner with great results. My wife is concerned that if we don't own Dolphins as a home resort, booking may be an issue. Is owning Worldmark points a viable alternative? Is there a cost difference...don't want to make a mistake, and Ive been trying to wrap my head around this for quite some time.....quite confusing as there is little information available until you become a member of one of the clubs it seems.
P.S. We are Canadians (not our fault)....lol
We try and do annual Disney vacations.

 

[ecwinch]

We rented the timeshare from an owner with great results. My wife is concerned that if we don't own Dolphins as a home resort, booking may be an issue. Is owning Worldmark points a viable alternative? Is there a cost difference...don't want to make a mistake, and Ive been trying to wrap my head around this for quite some time.....quite confusing as there is little information available until you become a member of one of the clubs it seems.
P.S. We are Canadians (not our fault)....lol
We try and do annual Disney vacations.

Booking is unlikely to be much of a problem as long as you are flexible and not strictly focused on "peak-peak" periods (i.e. holidays).

Worldmark is a sister club to Club Wyndham - they are managed/developed by the same entity (Wyndham). There is more of upfront cost with WM, but it retains resale value better than Club Wyndham.

And while the information is more readily available after you become an owner, most of the information is actually available before you buy. For instance go over to YouTube and you will find many videos on both Club Wyndham and Worldmark - many of the same videos that are on the owner website. Also the program guides are available in those stickies, here is the links:

Club Wyndham: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/plus_membersdirectory1819/index.php#/0
Worldmark: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wyndham/worldmark_directory1819/index.php#/14

It just can be very confusing without being able to learn by doing - ie. getting on the website, making reservations, etc.

There is no need to rush into a purchase decision. A deal may look good, but trust me - they are available all the time. So take your time and research what you want to buy.

Where are you located in Canada?

 

[Charles Thring]

We are located in Kelowna British Columbia. I very much appreciate your information.

 

[ecwinch]

We are located in Kelowna British Columbia. I very much appreciate your information.

I would then really recommend Worldmark over Club Wyndham. Worldmark is the best resort system for the Pacific Northwest area. Numerous resorts in WA, OR, and a number in Canada. Club Wyndham only has a shared resort in Portland, and then a few properties in the major areas of CA (San Diego, Anaheim, and SF).

With WM - there is no home resort to worry about. Points are good at all WM resorts and everyone has the same booking window at 13 months out. Which does make for more competition, but the WM system is so much more flexible than Club Wyndham. (I own both).

 

[Charles Thring]

does it cost the same points wise...same number of worldmark points or wyndham points required for each location?

 

[jwalk03]

World mark and Wyndham each have different points charts and different MFs.

Deciding between the two should really be based on which has resorts in the most places you want to go. Worldmark has many more resorts in the West, while Wyndham has more coverage in the east. Some of the big tourist spots and major cities have both. Vegas, Anaheim, Orlando, Branson, Austin, etc.

But I would start with the catalog for each and their resort locations. And understand that as a resale owner you only have access to the club you buy into. You can’t use Wyndham points for worldmark or worldmark for Wyndham.(unless exchanging through RCI, which is often NOT the best value and has more limited availability.)

 

[Charles Thring]

Ok, so if it costs 196,000 Wyndham points for Dolphins cove at prime time...Worldmark would be? .... lol.... sorry for all the questions

 

[jwalk03]

Ok, so if it costs 196,000 Wyndham points for Dolphins cove at prime time...Worldmark would be? .... lol.... sorry for all the questions

A 3BR at Dolphins Cove is 12,000 Worldmark credits.

Worldmark Dolphins Cove only has prime season, there isn’t a separate high season chart like with Wyndham.

 

[e.bram]

Is Dolphins Cove a points only or does it have deeded units also?

 

[dgalati]

We rented the timeshare from an owner with great results. My wife is concerned that if we don't own Dolphins as a home resort, booking may be an issue. Is owning Worldmark points a viable alternative? Is there a cost difference...don't want to make a mistake, and Ive been trying to wrap my head around this for quite some time.....quite confusing as there is little information available until you become a member of one of the clubs it seems.
P.S. We are Canadians (not our fault)....lol
We try and do annual Disney vacations.

Can I ask if renting was cheaper then paying the $100 per month as if you purchased resale for next to nothing?

 

[Roger830]

Is Dolphins Cove a points only or does it have deeded units also?

Those sold on ebay are floating weeks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wyndham-Do...784104?hash=item5b56975c68:g:6vIAAOSwdzBc1cF~
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wyndham-Do...364282?hash=item41ff419cba:g:vDQAAOSwP9dcdZNM

A few years ago, a new poster won a converted floating week on ebay, weeks 1-24 & 36-52. He wanted arp for the summer, which this wouldn't give him. Also the points allocated wasn't enough for a summer week.

 

[ecwinch]

Is Dolphins Cove a points only or does it have deeded units also?

Dolphin's Cove is mix of deeded, WM, and Club Wyndham points. As Roger830 points out, deeded - even converted - will only give you ARP privileges consistent with the underlying deed. That is an important distinction if buying points at Dolphins Cove.

The resort has 136 units, WM has 23 1BR units, 9 2BR units, and 2 3BR units for a total of 34 units.

From looking at the WM booking calendar, it does not seem like it is a uber popular WM resort that has to be booked exactly 13 months out.

 

[CO skier]

Ok, so if it costs 196,000 Wyndham points for Dolphins cove at prime time...Worldmark would be? .... lol.... sorry for all the questions

This is how a typical comparison would translate to costs.


Using this eBay auction just as an example of a WorldMark purchase

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WORLDMARK-BY-WYNDHAM-12-000-ANNUAL-CREDITS-TIMESHARE-MEMBERSHIP/254223684919?hash=item3b30e99537:g:2z8AAOSwPcVVyRYu

Purchase price = $2823

1 Year maintenance fees = $1035.64 ($517.82 added to purchase price)

Unused credits automatically rollover for one year.


Using this eBay auction as an example of Club Wyndham purchase (196,000 points is an unusual size contract to find, 210,000 points is much more common)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WYNDHAM-CLUB-ACCESS-210-000-ANNUAL-POINTS-TIMESHARE/254201778853?hash=item3b2f9b52a5:g:e-4AAOSwZTJa63wt

Purchase price = $1148

1 Year maintenance fees = $1413 ($588.75 added to purchase price)

You would have to use the points before December 31, 2019 or deposit them to the RCI exchange account that is included with ownership. There would be an additional fee when booking the RCI reservation.

3 Bedroom Club Wyndham units usually run 300,000 points, so with 210,000 points you would be in 2 bedroom units for most other Wyndham resorts.


Plan on the transfer of ownership to take 4-6 months from purchase date for both Wyndham and WorldMark.

Being an owner in both Club Wyndham and WorldMark, and considering where you live, I think WorldMark is a better fit for you.

There is more information here, if you have not seen it.

http://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare-system-comparison-chart.html

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/worldmark-information-and-advice-articles.59141/

 

[jwalk03]

Looks like with Wyndham there is very little availability May-Nov. right now. Some in earlier Dec. and then a lot of availability in Jan.-Feb. as of now.