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TS or Points System, or neither?

stumahlin

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2015
Messages
14
Reaction score
1
Points
63
Location
Cincinnati, OH USA
How does one buy Worldmark points? I've had a tough time trying to figure out how to find what's out there to purchase points-wise, except HGVC. Those seem easier to find and more straight-forward.

Look on eBay, T.U.G., My Resorts Network, tstoday and Redweek. There are 18-wheelers full of point fairly begging for buyers. Or takers.
 

JohnPaul

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
1,649
Reaction score
845
Points
323
Location
Sacramento, CA
Resorts Owned
Vacation Internationale, HGVC - NYC, Worldmark, Shell Vacations, Sedona Pines, RCI Points, Starwood (Avon, CO)
Worry not about points and point systems. Buy (1) deeded weeks in (2) high demand locations (3) that you like (4) and would be willing to go to frequently (5) with Interval International affiliations so you can make good trades. And (6) buy from people running ads on T.U.G., Redweek, tstoday, MyResortsNetwork and -- yep, no kidding -- eBay. The cheaper you buy -- $1000 to, say, $4000 total -- the faster you effectively amortize your purchase price. No matter your age, there was no way you were going to amortize your Hilton "We're Not a Timeshare" Vacation Club points.

Couldn't disagree more that this (deeded weeks) is the only way to go and you should forget points. Like most things in life you need to match up your ideas and personality to the right product.

Many people think that you have more security in a deeded week system than a true points system - like Worldmark or Vacation Internationale. These systems are structured in such a way that the real estate is held in a trust or similar instrument owned by the owners which cannot be touched by the manager/developer. When VI was managed by Sunterra (now part of Diamond) they (Sunterra) went bankrupt. No impact to the real estate or anyone's ownership. (BTW - new management came in and all is well.)

In my opinion, points systems offer the maximum in flexibility. However, they do require planning, especially for things like ski weeks and Hawaii. (BTW - so do floating deeded weeks.) FYI - some programs like HGVC are what I'd call a "blended" system. You own a deeded week but that gives you points in the point system.

With a good points system, you can book one day to as many days as you have points for and book anything from a studio to a penthouse in any of the systems locations (WM has around 90 and VI has around 60). There is no "Club Fee" (the way deeded week programs pay for an internal exchange system).

However, I highly agree with buying for places you want to go without needing exchanges.

Lastly (I could go on much more) just be sure you understand ANY system/property you consider buying. Among lots of things be aware of the following:

EXACTLY what am I buying (a fixed week, floating week, a deeded week with related points, true points, any difference in point types from the same program)
What are the rules on when you can reserve what
What are the maintenance fees - is there any history of how much the increases run (and of course realize they will increase)
What are the reservation fees (if any)
What are the club fees (if any)
What are the housekeeping fees and how do they work
What are the differences in benefits between Developer and resale purchases (the differences don't typically support the extra cost of Developer purchases but there ARE typically some to many differences)
The different points systems are like foreign currency - a few points in one system (i.e. DVC) could be the same as a zillion points in another system (i.e. Wyndham)

Good luck and great vacations as you become educated on timeshares.
 

BoBird1314

TUG Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2015
Messages
13
Reaction score
7
Points
113
Location
Sacramento, CA
How does one buy Worldmark points? I've had a tough time trying to figure out how to find what's out there to purchase points-wise, except HGVC. Those seem easier to find and more straight-forward.
I agree with the one posting to this forum indicating that the TUG Timeshares for Sale points listings is a good place to look. Not nearly as many listings as for HGVC, but usually for points/credits levels that should be about right for you. One problem with the eBay listings for WorldMark is that the majority of listings are for points/credits levels that are either too few (6,000 to 10,000) for a two bedroom unit or are for more points/credits than you are likely to be looking for, meaning that you'd be committing for more annual maintenance fees than you want to commit to. One issue with purchasing too few points/credits and banking them and having enough for usage the following year is that the maintenance fees cost per point goes down the more points you own so if you get 6,000 points/credits, bank them for a year and then use all 12,000 for a two bedroom unit the following year, you will be paying slightly more in maintenance fees for that usage than the person with a 12,000 points/credits ownership. The WorldMark owner's forum is a reasonably good site for resale points at levels that you are likely to be interested in (12,000 to maybe as high as 15,000, depending upon where you are interested in visiting) and gives one a decent idea what their points sell for. The URL for their forum is at:

https://www.wmowners.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=71
 

DoorCountyGirl

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Messages
47
Reaction score
4
Points
119
Location
Behind the Cheddar Curtain: Wisconsin
Resorts Owned
Rushes, Little Sweden
I own affiliates at Eagles Nest and Surf Club on Marco Island and both are members of II where they trade nicely. I get equivalent quality, areas and times. I would not use RCI directly for these. Maybe other tug members can respond on what other hgvc affiliates trade in II. I believe quite a few Sanibel and Captiva places do too.

As far as points, many will tell you get as many points as you can if trading in the hgvc system as points are points. I look at it differently. I would suggest you get a place and week you could see yourself using at times. If trading within Interval, I find point value not as important. With a high demand area, resort and week I have always received great trades. This would be one week for one week. Trading directly in hgvc will give you more flexibility.
We found that all of our expectations changed as our children got older. We started with a 2-year old, now she’s a teen and we have three more!!
 
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