Shell Vacations Club access to Wyndham property

[christye77]

Hello,

This might be in the wrong spot. I know some SVC info is here since Wyndham bought them. I went to an update this morning. Usual stuff but my husband wasn’t traveling with me so I wasn’t expecting a hard sell. I have some developer points with SVC West that I have added to with a lot of resale points. But I’m not Signature level. Avoided that over the years because I never saw the “value”. I actually purchased and rescinded a few years ago after a sales pitch turned out to be flat out lies. But this time I was offered the chance to purchase enough to get to Signature level and have all points given “3rd Generation” status to be able to book across Wyndham and Shell properties. Now called Wyndham Destinations or something fancy like that.

I need 3450 developer points to move to the first level of Signature. I have 3550 developer and another 18,000 resale. They did offer me a package of just 1500 points which would allow all my points to be “grandfathered” in. We have a small, eoy contract with Wyndham that I want to unload and just keep the SVC package. I like Wyndham properties and would love to use the points I have to stay in them.

I walked away without a purchase and told them we would be back in 2 weeks so if my hubby was on board we would see them again. So my questions are simple, should I even consider this? Of course they were offering a package for $6.30 or so a point which is more than I will pay. I think I can get them down to under $5 a point. I am considering an investment of about $15-17k to get these points if the stats align. Am I crazy?

I’ve always wished that I knew more 10+ years ago so I would have invested in one TS system instead of the 3 I’m involved with now. I’ve also always hoped that I could use what I had with SVC to go where Wyndham was.

They were clear that my resale points would only work at certain properties and my developer points would have access to the others.

We have become very comfortable with SVC and how it works. I’ve often corrected sales people during presentations with info. We have mainly used the CA properties since we can drive to them and with younger kids that was our comfort level. But they are growing and we want to see more.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks
Christye

 

[vacationhopeful]

I own BOTH Wyndham and Shell points (West Club).

You live in California ... WEST Coast. Wyndham is mostly based on the East Coast resorts. There is VERY limited number of units available to Wyndham owners. The old Shell sales staff is been taken overly influenced/cloned by the "lying" sales tactics of Wyndham.

If you want EAST COAST vacations .. .RENT from other owners. Then you are NOT tied to Wyndham Vacation Club, needing to learn a NEW system with every changing rules (and FEES designed to bully low point owners into BUYING more points OR re-sale owners into 2nd class benefits with MORE fees).

Wyndham's RESALE owners PAY more overall for benefits .. no FREE unit upgrades, paying for EVERY (but 1) Reservation Transaction (so cancel a week, that RT was USED, need to buy another) and some Housekeeping Fees (get so many each year .. but short stays USE as many as a full 7 nights plus 8 night stay require 2 weeks of HKs points .. do get HKs back if you cancel a reservation ,, but not the cash paid).

Most people learn after a couple of bookings, they are paying something for many bookings .. but that is designed to enrich corporate Wyndham (the manager of the computer system) .. the RT fees to not go to the resorts AND I can only wonder about the HK fees. Resorts list Housekeeping as a cost of running the resort in the MF ... is there a LINE ITEM on the resort books for reimbursement of Housekeeping(HKs) costs for EACH and EVERY stay of 7 nights or less for ALL Wyndham POINTS reservations? The Wyndham resorts which have Fixed Week ownership do NOT pay a separate HK fee ... owners of CONVERTED FIXED WEEKS, by the MFs for the resort AND the HK fee(s) for stays using those points thru the reservation system ANYWHERE in the system (and the people staying in their unit, pay their HKs for staying in that unit, too).

 

[paxsarah]

I don't have any experience with Shell so I won't opine on the OP's question about purchasing more Shell to get access to Wyndham properties (though I suspect the advice about simply renting from Wyndham owners is pretty salient). But I did want to correct a couple of small things:

Wyndham's RESALE owners PAY more overall for benefits .. no FREE unit upgrades, paying for EVERY (but 1) Reservation Transaction (so cancel a week, that RT was USED, need to buy another)

Non-gold/platinum Wyndham owners receive 1 reservation transaction per 77k points owned (not 1 overall as seems to be implied here). After that, yes, it's $19 to pay for another. I've rarely had to pay for any RTs in nine years of ownership (though I do expect to need two or three when I book a multi-stop trip for 2019).

and some Housekeeping Fees (get so many each year .. but short stays USE as many as a full 7 nights plus 8 night stay require 2 weeks of HKs points .. do get HKs back if you cancel a reservation ,, but not the cash paid).

If you pay cash for additional HKs and then cancel the reservation, you DO get back the cash paid to whatever source you paid with. It is true that a lot of short stays will probably mean that you run out of HKs at some point during the year and will need to buy some along the way.

 

[schoolmarm]

All owners get Housekeeping at 1 credit per 1,000 points. If you stay partial weeks in a big unit, you will probably run out of HK. If you stay in a studio or 1 BR, you will probably be ok, even with partial weeks. I never say a full week, and I rarely run out of HK. If you are within the 90 day express period, you can borrow HK from your next use year.

If you run out and want to pay, it is only $2.25 per credit. It is NOT a big fee unless you are booking short stays in a 4-bedroom.

 

[Richelle]

I don't have any experience with Shell so I won't opine on the OP's question about purchasing more Shell to get access to Wyndham properties (though I suspect the advice about simply renting from Wyndham owners is pretty salient). But I did want to correct a couple of small things:


Non-gold/platinum Wyndham owners receive 1 reservation transaction per 77k points owned (not 1 overall as seems to be implied here). After that, yes, it's $19 to pay for another. I've rarely had to pay for any RTs in nine years of ownership (though I do expect to need two or three when I book a multi-stop trip for 2019).



If you pay cash for additional HKs and then cancel the reservation, you DO get back the cash paid to whatever source you paid with. It is true that a lot of short stays will probably mean that you run out of HKs at some point during the year and will need to buy some along the way.

Just to add, HK credits are for the resort cleanings. For those that don’t charge that, they have to average out the amount of cleanings an owner needs. So if the average owner goes on two vacations, and you only go on one, you’re paying for their second cleanings. It doesn’t matter whether you spend two nights or seven nights, they do the same cleanings so the cost shouldn’t be any different. If you get more cleanings then your allotted, you have to pay for them. That way, the rest of us who stays within our allotment, don’t pay for your cleanings.

 

[scootr5]

Christye77, in general there are relatively few times it makes sense to buy direct from Wyndham/Shell. Do you find yourself running short of points currently? If not and you are just buying to access the Wyndham inventory, I think you would be better off as said to simply rent or trade for the occasional Wyndham reservation you want.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I doubt they will add a new purchase to the ones you have and give all of your points the upgraded status. I own Shell and sat in on at least four presentations over the last few years, and they told me I cannot convert my resale points with any purchase. My developer points would be in a different account from my resale points. Don't do it. They are lying to you.

 

[bizaro86]

For 15k, you could buy a cheap Wyndham resale and pay the MF on it for over a decade.

You could also just rent vacations from a Wyndham owner when you want to use their resorts.

Personally, I prefer to own for the extra control, but would never buy retail to access Wyndham through shell. If you get a good Wyndham contract your ongoing fees will probably be less than an equivalent number of shell points as well.

 

[ecwinch]

This thread kinda got off-track requiring some clean up, but to bring the thread back the OP's main questions, I think these are the main points from this thread:

1) You want to verify that all your points will be grandfathered
2) What is the all-in conversion ratio/cost when booking Club Wyndham with Shell? For instance as a WM owner booking thru Club Pass, my all-in cost is sometimes lower than what a Wyndham owner pays in dues at that resort. Is it cheaper to just make open market rentals as VacationHopeful points out - when you factor everything in - included the purchase cost? Even if you pay a 50% premium (over m/f) for every Wyndham reservation you rent for 10 years - will you still be ahead by not buying?
3) You want to specifically understand the booking rules/procedures for booking Wyndham properties if you buy up to the "Signature" level. Is your booking window 9 months out - meaning you are effectively blocked from booking popular resorts during peak season? Is access just to Club Wyndham properties or everything (Worldmark, Margaritaville, etc)?

Apologies to any opinions I may have omitted....

 

[JohnPaul]

I own Shell West. There are certain Wyndham properties that can be booked using developer points. It is not all resorts by any means.

You can find them on the Shell website by selection "Point Charts" then "Lifestyle Options" then "Accommodations - North America".

I currently find Cypress Palms, Indio, Nashville, Ocean Walk, Palm Are, Riverside Suites, Sedona, South Shore and Steamboat Springs.

It is not necessary to be at any signature level to book these but you MUST have enough developer points. Also, Shell uses developer points FIRST so you should book things requiring developer points as the first thing with your annual points.

For example, I have 7000 developer points but 15,500 total. Their exchange with BlueGreen resorts is a Lifestyle feature so requires developer points. I book the BlueGreen Chicago property as the first thing I do with my annual points. If I booked 7000 for a Shell Property first I would have no remaining developer points for that year and could not book the BlueGreen even though I hadn't booked anything requiring developer points.

 

[JohnPaul]

With 3450 developer points you will be limited in what Wyndhams you could reserve although it will give you a week in a one bedroom in lower season in a number of the resorts.

It isn't necessary to book a full week (but I don't know how far out you can book less than a week) and you can save by avoiding Friday and Saturday which have higher point values.

 

[nuwermj]

Shell uses developer points FIRST so you should book things requiring developer points as the first thing with your annual points.

My developer points would be in a different account from my resale points.

Hmm, are Shell's resale and developer points held in different accounts? If so how can the reservation system use the developer points first?

 

[rickandcindy23]

Since I only have resale points, I don't know how to answer that. I only know what the salesperson told me.

 

[JohnPaul]

All your points are kept in the same account (unless you set it up differently) but there are sub divisions. If you look at your point balances on the website (Member Balances) , you will see that they fall into a lot of buckets such as "Points Available for Lifestyles". Only your developer points fall in this category and Lifestyles is the program that lets you do Developer only things like Wyndham resorts. If you don't have any "Points Available for Lifestyles" then you can't book those programs. You will find that these are the points that Shell uses first.

 

[rickandcindy23]

All your points are kept in the same account (unless you set it up differently) but there are sub divisions. If you look at your point balances on the website (Member Balances) , you will see that they fall into a lot of buckets such as "Points Available for Lifestyles". Only your developer points fall in this category and Lifestyles is the program that lets you do Developer only things like Wyndham resorts. If you don't have any "Points Available for Lifestyles" then you can't book those programs. You will find that these are the points that Shell uses first.

So what a waste of money, just to get Wyndham resorts. So only your points bought via developer will count to book Wyndham resorts. Buy a Wyndham contract and book Wyndham directly. That is the best solution.

I bought too many Shell points.

 

[alexadeparis]

So what a waste of money, just to get Wyndham resorts. So only your points bought via developer will count to book Wyndham resorts. Buy a Wyndham contract and book Wyndham directly. That is the best solution.

I bought too many Shell points.

I was able to give two contracts back, you could always do that if there are too many.

 

[christye77]

I think everyone’s thoughts have been interesting. I have contacted my salesperson and let him know what I would consider paying for developer points. I know it is far below what they have ever offered me. I would be interested in gaining some of the benefits of signature level like more reservation and housekeeping credits. We do a lot of short stays and those fees add up quickly over the year. That said, I think renting from other owners for resorts we really want will be out future plan for now too. I have very much enjoyed the things we have done with Shell over the years of owning but would really like to explore outside of their resorts.

Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas.

 

[JohnPaul]

I'm a little confused about your logic. The big benefits of no housekeeping or reservation fees only seem to come at 25,000 developer points. My belief would be that you could pay A LOT of housekeeping and reservation fees for the cost of that many developer points.

I'm sure you are aware that you can leverage reservations by making as many as possible on the same day (only one fee).

Also, if you own 12000 points or more (from any source) you are entitled to 6 housekeepings a year. I had to do a trouble ticket as they were only giving me two on my account but they did fix it. So make sure you are getting your 6 housekeepings.

That said, each person needs to decide what is important to them and what it's worth.