I agree that $2,500 is not a good deal for 105,000. Just watch eBay. This time of year, prices are much lower. If you watch Timeshare Nation, they usually get CWA contracts 1 or 2 times a month. TN points are 100% free to you.
The timeshare sales guy is correct that resale will not count towards VIP status and as far as I know, they won’t take them on trade.
Your maintenance fees for the new points (including the 105,000 you have to buy to do the trade) will be $1,937 a year or $161.45 a month. That includes the program fee. As mentioned by Bendadin, CWA is $5.99 per 1,000 points. The program fee is currently 60 cents per 1,000 points bringing it up to $6.59 per 1,000 points. 105k+105k+84k= 294k points. 294 times $6.59 is $1,937.46.
I’m guessing that is more then what you are paying now in maintenance fees. Your base rate for the maintenance fees may go down, but because you’re adding additional points, the overall cost goes up. None of this includes the maintenance fees on your PIC weeks.
IF you can use Gold VIP benefits and IF you can use all those points, then the whole deal might be worth it. Don’t assume you’ll always get discounts and upgrade. Most of mine (as Gold VIP) have been upgraded, but it’s usually one bedrooms to two bedrooms. Most discounts happen during high season. I did get (2) two bedrooms (at a discount) upgraded to 3 bedrooms during prime season, but that was not at the most popular resort in the area. I wouldn’t count on that in most cases. My point is, don’t make discounts and upgrades a deciding factor to go Gold VIP. Consider them as just bonuses. If you travel a lot during prime season and book two or three bedrooms, your chances of getting upgraded get much smaller then someone who booked a one bedroom. Look at the other Gold benefits and decide if those are worth $16k to you. I do not regret going Gold VIP. I get a lot of use out of the benefits. Sure, the $35k total I paid for VIP Gold would buy a lot of housekeeping credits, reservations credits, and guest certificates. If you try running the numbers, VIP Gold will likely never get a ROI. So don’t try to justify it with numbers. It never works. If the benefits are worth that much to you, and you can afford it, go for it.
Oh and don’t factor in renting points to offset costs. There are a lot of people doing that and Platinum owners provide the beat deals. Never buy points with the thought that you’ll offset the costs by renting. You’ll be competing with people like me who don’t care about making a profit. I charge just enough to pay the maintenance fees on the points I don’t use. I don’t rent often.
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