Bluegreen 101: Help a newbie out

[sahmof2 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sahmof2]

We do not usually plan our vacations in advance. This year we booked a week at Patrick Henry Square in Williamsburg, VA for this past week. We booked it 2 or 3 weeks before we went. We used a combo of points and bonus time. This resort is great if you are going for Colonial Williamsburg. It is a short walking distance to get to it. Last year we went through RCI and booked a week in Orlando. We went in July. We booked about a month before hand. It was in a great location also. We were able to watch the nightly fireworks from Universal from our room. It is possible to book closr to when you are going but it is better to not wait until the last minute but somehow we always do.

[SIDA! Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SIDA!]

Thanks again to everyone for their feedback and assistance. I am seriously thinking about getting some authorized points thru Boca and wanted to see if I understand the RCI system out.

In a previous thread I located a converstion chart that is based on regions and seasons (red, white and blue). Each and every resort in that region cost the same amount of BG points. So, if I want to go to Coast Rica and stay in a 1 Bdrm unit during Red Season for a full week it is going to cost me 13,000 pts at all two dozen or so resorts, right?

Plus the $179 exchange fee (or less for stays less than a week)?

And if I stay for less than a week, some resorts may charge a housecleaning fee?

It would seem to me that this is very similar to Select Connections, right?

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

So, if I want to go to Coast Rica and stay in a 1 Bdrm unit during Red Season for a full week it is going to cost me 13,000 pts at all two dozen or so resorts, right?

That was the case when I first looked at Orlando -- all resorts cost the same for the same size unit and same season. There's been some shifting since or some have shown that weren't there the first time with more variation. Be aware that, even if you get tons of dead accurate info on what RCI is doing when you buy in, things may have totally changed a few months for now. RCI is constantly reconfiguring stuff.

Plus the $179 exchange fee (or less for stays less than a week)?

If you are exchanging using Bluegreen points, you get one week for your points plus $179 (there are sometimes additional fees for particular resorts, most minimal but for DVC it's $95 or thereabouts). Your BG membership will get you a weeks membership with RCI; if you want to be able to trade in your BG weeks for RCI points, that's a different deal.

And if I stay for less than a week, some resorts may charge a housecleaning fee?

There are sometimes extra fees (which will be listed at the bottom of the page showing availability), but the regular BG membership you are exchanging for weeks, so there shouldn't be an additional charge for staying less than a week (you'd just be paying for nights you're not there).

It would seem to me that this is very similar to Select Connections, right?

Except for being limited to week-long stays, yes.

[abe11 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close abe11]

This is my first time to post on a forum -- ever, so I apologize if I do something wrong. My husband and I are considering purchasing from the developer, but I don't have a good feeling about it. We visited Big Cedar, and were most interested in having the bonus time. We purchased the sampler packge because we were told that the bonus time was a one time offer, and if we walked away we would not be able to have that benefit if we purchased at a later date. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface in understanding the timeshare world. I haven't quite understood everything from this thread, and have a few questions:
1) Do we have to purchase from the developer in order to get the bonus time?
2) If we purchase through Pinnacle, can we get the bonus time?
3) How do you purchase bonus time from multiple locations?
4) What is a trust fund
5) How do I view a sticky? I've been looking around and can't figure it out

I will have lots more questions, but thought this was a good place to start.
Thanks for your help!!

[kcbedo Member Find all posts View Profile Close kcbedo]

First, the part about bonus time being a limited offer as an outright lie to get you on the hook.

There are two ways to get bonus time.

If you purchase "authorized" points, which are from the developer or from Pinnacle for at least $1.25 per point, then you get unlimited bonus time at all Bluegreen resorts.

If you purchase points from anywhere else, like ebay, then you only get unlimited bonus time at the specific resort that your points come from. So if you are only interested in bonus time at Big Cedar, you can buy a low cost Big Cedar points package.

You should know that you are not likely to get bonus time at Big Cedar during the summer months, since the resort is fully booked for the most part 10-11 months ahead of time. Once the kids are back in school, bonus time is easier to get, but there is no guarantee that it will be available.

[motomem Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close motomem]

This is my first time to post on a forum -- ever, so I apologize if I do something wrong. My husband and I are considering purchasing from the developer, but I don't have a good feeling about it. We visited Big Cedar, and were most interested in having the bonus time. We purchased the sampler packge because we were told that the bonus time was a one time offer, and if we walked away we would not be able to have that benefit if we purchased at a later date. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface in understanding the timeshare world. I haven't quite understood everything from this thread, and have a few questions:
1) Do we have to purchase from the developer in order to get the bonus time?
2) If we purchase through Pinnacle, can we get the bonus time?
3) How do you purchase bonus time from multiple locations?
4) What is a trust fund
5) How do I view a sticky? I've been looking around and can't figure it out

I will have lots more questions, but thought this was a good place to start.
Thanks for your help!!

Some answers:
1 & 2) Either one. A Pinnacle purchase will need to be at $1.25 per point or more to get bonus time.
3) If you purchase a qualified points package and get bonus time with it, it's good for all BG resorts. Non-qualified points package is only good for the underlying resort.
4) All points packages are "held" in a trust fund. The trust fund is used to determine the maintenance fees.
5) "stickies" are topics on this message board that are "stuck" at the top of the list of threads (simply so they will always be at the top of the list). You see the word "Sticky:" in front of the thread name. You view them the same way - click on the thread name.