Oh, I didn't think VIP really meant anything more than a newspaper outside the door and maybe some extra chocolate by the bed.
I'm just trying to find out how this whole Wyndham system works;
1.how to get a good deal (if thats even possible anymore - in law talks about canceling 30 days before hand and getting an upgrade to a larger room for the same as we were paying before)
2. how to effectively manage their points (online shows different time periods with different values of points,)
3. What resorts we have access to? there are grayed out sites on the mywyndham site that folks have now told me you can only rent there by calling in and paying a fee. the Presidential status implies I have access to theregistrycollection, are there other resorts too?
4. how or why would i convert points to RCI? (in law spoke of doing that as well)
5. probably more questions once peel another layer of the onion.
Just trying to learn how to use the system, and the website is about as entry level as you get for information.
If your in laws have an old directory it might be helpful to browse through it and identify the Wyndham resorts as opposed to the associate resorts and Worldmark resorts.
As a presidential reserve owner you have access to the presidential reserve inventory held exclusively for PR owners. You also have access to the regular inventory. As long as the presidential reserve was developer purchased that also makes you a VIP platinum owner. So anything you book within 60 days of check in you will get a 50% discount on the number of points needed to book. You are eligible for any upgrades on the unit sizes that are available at that time of booking and can request an automatic upgrade if something should become available. Right now the automatic upgrades aren't working as they should a great deal of the time from what we've seen but hopefully Wyndham will get that fixed soon.
Platinum owners have until the last day of the year to deposit any unused points into a future use year or into RCI weeks. RCI weeks will cost an exchange fee of something like $239 I think it is.
Prior to the new website back in May, as a platinum owner you could book a reservation, cancel it at the 60 day mark, rebook it to get the discount and upgrade it yourself then if something was available or keep checking for the upgrade to upgrade it yourself. Occasionally you might lose a reservation but unless you were in a situation where you had a 3 or 4 bedroom unit you absolutely had to have to accommodate the family, flights and vacation time already booked it was worth taking a chance. Since then sometimes people have been successful in cancelling reservations and rebooking them but the risk is significantly greater now. Now the reservation may come back from within a few minutes to anywhere up to 24 hours and sometimes not at all. The not at all part has been an issue of much speculation and discontent among us owners this year.
If you have been following the Wyndham threads you have probably realized that the inventory is pretty much a nightmare right now thanks to the new website that Wyndham top management insisted upon bringing out before it was even remotely ready. I'm sure it must be extremely confusing for you to see no availability at so many resorts and not understand why. I wish I could tell you something more positive but right now all any of us can do is keep checking to see what is available. For instance you could have seen absolutely nothing available for several months at any one or all of the five Orlando resorts but this afternoon, tomorrow or next week there were be a lot available. And the availability could even disappear and reappear again. Your best bet is to be flexible and keep looking several times a day if possible. Say you want to go to Orlando and all you see is Cypress Palms or Star Island. Go ahead and book it to make sure you have something if it means you can get a great price on flights. Then keep checking back for the resort you would rather have, say Bonnet Creek or Reunion. Unless you are looking for something that is likely to be hard to find, like a 3 or 4 bedroom presidential at Christmas/New Years, you stand a good chance of finding what you want. BTW after we finally gave Star Island a chance we have since stayed there a number of times and really like the resort.
At our level of ownership we don't have to pay transaction fees or housekeeping credits, so if you haven't already, go online and play around with making reservations so you can see how things work. It is an excellent learning tool. You can always cancel the reservations with no penalty as long as they are 15 days before the check in date.
