Had a sales presentation yesterday - now have questions!

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

This is a wonderful forum - so much great information! Thank you all for sharing what you have learned.

Yesterday, my wife and I went to a sales presentation at Boyne Mountain in Michigan - a BG resort. I did my homework before the meeting and found a few examples of resale points on ebay and redweek.com

When they made their "you'll never get into BG for less than this" pitch, I pulled out my resale numbers. They said, sure, you can do that, but:

1) it depends on when the original purchase was made what resorts are available for you to use (if you have points that were purchased several years ago, then the newest resorts would not be available to us)

2) the Shell network would not be available to us

3) the "charter" would not be available to us with all of it's benefits

4) if we added more points in the future, we could not combine them into one account - meaning we'd have to pay additional membership and maintenance fees.

We were told that BG has to protect its legitimate retail customers and works to hamper the buyers of aftermarket / resale points from the perks of membership.

What is true in this? This program and Hilton's seem good to us, (both point based with a good collection of in-network resorts) but we don't want to pay the outlandish retail prices to own.

I found a link to Pinnacle Vacations that seems to have resale offers, that are approved by BG, but the prices aren't nearly as low as you find on other sites.

Also, what is the difference between "deeded" and "right to use" points?

Is there a benefit to having a deed that names a particular resort and week? Are any of the resorts more valuable for "trading" than others? We were told there is no trading in BG's system, but there has to be.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Joe

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

Answers to 4 points

This is a wonderful forum - so much great information! Thank you all for sharing what you have learned.

Yesterday, my wife and I went to a sales presentation at Boyne Mountain in Michigan - a BG resort. I did my homework before the meeting and found a few examples of resale points on ebay and redweek.com

When they made their "you'll never get into BG for less than this" pitch, I pulled out my resale numbers. They said, sure, you can do that, but:

1) it depends on when the original purchase was made what resorts are available for you to use (if you have points that were purchased several years ago, then the newest resorts would not be available to us)

2) the Shell network would not be available to us

3) the "charter" would not be available to us with all of it's benefits

4) if we added more points in the future, we could not combine them into one account - meaning we'd have to pay additional membership and maintenance fees.

We were told that BG has to protect its legitimate retail customers and works to hamper the buyers of aftermarket / resale points from the perks of membership.

What is true in this? This program and Hilton's seem good to us, (both point based with a good collection of in-network resorts) but we don't want to pay the outlandish retail prices to own.

I found a link to Pinnacle Vacations that seems to have resale offers, that are approved by BG, but the prices aren't nearly as low as you find on other sites.

Also, what is the difference between "deeded" and "right to use" points?

Is there a benefit to having a deed that names a particular resort and week? Are any of the resorts more valuable for "trading" than others? We were told there is no trading in BG's system, but there has to be.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Joe

Joe,

1. False.

2. True (unless bought from Pinnacle at $1.25+ per point.

3. True (research to see if the benefits are worth it to you for its cost).

4. False and True (You can combine, there is no additional membership fee, but you must, of course, pay more maintenance fees).

Charles

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

For question 4:
The points packages are held in trusts.
Each trust has a calculation for the maintenance fees. For the most recent trusts this is usually a base fee, plus a per point fee.
If you buy additional points packages you would want to make sure they are in the same trust that you already own.
They should automatically combine - which means you only pay the base fee just once. You will then start paying the per point fee for all of the points.
In most cases, there are price breaks in the per point fee when you have larger amounts of points.

In addition to the maintenance fees above, you will also pay a yearly membership fee - which right now is $129.

Also, if you buy resale points starting out there's no reason you couldn't buy a small qualified points package in the future (either from BG or Pinnacle or via Bocabum on this message board) to get the "perks" if you find, one day, that you want the perks. You would still make sure those points are in the same trust as what you already own.

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

Thank you both - how do I determine which trust the resale points reside in? In ebay and other sites, I don't find this info listed. Is it something the seller probably doesn't know, and would have to research for me?

Also, is there any benefit to buying one resort over another? For example, does Orlando have more value than (for example) Boyne Mountain? I know there is no "trading" so to speak, but help me understand this problem: It is obvious that not everyone who owns points based at Boyne Mountain in Michigan can decide to use their points on Christmas week in Aruba... there physically isn't enough room to accommodate them. So, what is the pecking order?

thanks again...

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

The only real benefits of one resort vs another are:

- if you buy non qualified points (ie, ebay), you can get bonus time @ that one resort. So if you own at a resort that is physically closer to you that may be of some benefit.
- you can always tell BG that you want "your" week at your home resort 13 (?) months out.
- when it comes time to sell, a high demand resort may be easier to dump?

Greg

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

It is obvious that not everyone who owns points based at Boyne Mountain in Michigan can decide to use their points on Christmas week in Aruba... there physically isn't enough room to accommodate them. So, what is the pecking order?

You always have first crack at the week (or partial week) underlying your ownership. Since Big Cedar can be tough to get into sometimes (4th of July, summer in the cabins), those resales are worth a bit more. If you have only resold points, then the only place you can get bonus time is your home resort, so sometimes that's pertinent. And if you're afraid of BG tanking it sometime, then your ownership would revert to the resort where you own.

Mostly, the only benefit to owning somewhere is having first dibs on that unit. And you have to do that before the eleven month window opens up. People with premier status (those who own 16000 authorized points or more, memory serves), can get on a "wait list" for specific units or resorts. Eleven months out, BG assigns the units first to that wait list on a first come, first served basis -- Gold owners can reserve out earlier than Bronze, but if they don't do it, they aren't supposed to get moved to the head of the line.

Whatever's left over after that is up for grabs, again on a first come, first served basis. No home resort perk and no reservation perk for owning a gaziillion points once the eleven month point is past.

There are a few units and times that are very difficult to get unless you can get on the wait list, but with a lot of those, even getting on the wait list is no guarantee. Fourth of July weekend at Big Cedar is the one most people grump about not being able to get. If you reserve early, and/or if you're flexible about where or when you go, not a big deal -- we've always been able to get reservations where and when we wanted to go eleven months out, easy, but we tend to avoid holidays.

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

On exchanging, it doesn't work quite like an exchange where someone puts something in and someone else takes it out. It's more like a pool where everything available is dumped in and you can pull from teh pool as you desire and spend your points. You get to decide check-in/check-out, not Bluegreen. 2 night minimum (holidays require 3). You could spend 2 nights or 17 or anywhere in between, so long as you have the points.

Assuming that you did not lay claim to your owned week, it goes into the pool with all the other unclaimed unit weeks. Someone else, even you, can then take the whole week, more than that week, a few days of it, whatever.

I find BG to be a great system IF you can be flexible. Flexible as to either time or place,and preferably both.

I personally have no desire to be @ Big Cedar over 4th of July and figure it's to my benefit that so many like to spend their points there/then. If they do not own that week, then they used points there, meaning, those points will not be used elsewhere, and their unit week is/was in the pool "up for grabs."

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

Spend some more time within this forum. One or two weeks of brousing and you'll become much more knowledgeable about Bluegreen's points system. I know I did!

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

I went to a Bluegreen sales presentation in Orlando. It was eye opening - I had never really thought about timeshares. Ultimately, I said thanks, but no thanks (so glad I did not fall for that trap. Subsequently, I've spent about two weeks in my free time browsing this forum as well as TUG2. And boy have I leaned a lot! Even buying points from resale can be a tangled web. But there is a great deal for everyone who does a little homework. I'm close to buying some point on resale now and I am confident that my family and I will have great experiences for many years.

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

And if you're afraid of BG tanking it sometime, then your ownership would revert to the resort where you own.

Can you tell me how you think this would work out?

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

It won't happen

Can you tell me how you think this would work out?

If Corporate BG went out of business, the Bluegreen Vacation Club would still exist since it is a separate entity. The trustee would simply hire some other corporation to handle reservations, paperwork, etc. If for some reason (and I can only think of one) the Vacation Club dissolved, then the Vacation Club would deed back to you the underlying week(s) that back up your points.

The only reason I can think of for the Club dissolving is if a significant number of owners stopped paying maintenance fees.

Charles

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

Try Bluegreen Yahoo Group

I've spent about two weeks in my free time browsing this forum as well as TUG2. And boy have I leaned a lot! Even buying points from resale can be a tangled web. But there is a great deal for everyone who does a little homework.

You should also consider joining the Bluegreen Yahoo Group and search their FAQ and message archives. The group has a lot of traffic, some significant and some not so.

Charles

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

Thanks Charles, I took your advice and joined. The format of the threads are different than I'm used to seeing on forums. I doesn't seem very user friendly. Hopefully I'll get used to it?

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

You will. It's just Yahoo style. Harder to follow a thread, and it has limitations and quirks, but I think most of us put up with it for the info.

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

Hopefully I'll get used to it?

I think it's more like "learn to put up with it." There's considerable information there and the hassle is definitely worth it, but Yahoo can be a challenge (it's actually improved considerable from when I was a member of another group there years back). But as you get a feel for things, gets easier to work with.

And there are people who think the Yahoo system makes more sense, while TUG and TS4Ms are tough to navigate. Don't think I'll ever be in that camp but each system has its strengths and weaknesses.