Looking for advice

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

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice. I am currently a shared owner of 13,000 points. The deed is shared with my parents and my sister. I recently stayed at The Fountains and attended an owner update. Unfortunately, I've been a little out of the loop with the changes in Travelers Plus lately, so that new information they shared was really helpful. Also, unfortunately, my parents let their Travelers Plus lapse about 2 1/2 years ago, so the only way we would be able to get it back is to purchase more BG points.

I've read in some posts on this forum that they'll only offer in 10K increments, which is what they originally did. The more we hesitated, the more the amount of points they were willing to sell us went down. They eventually got down to 4000 points, but since I share ownership, I still didn't want to make a decision without discussing with my parents and sister.

They then offered me a sampler package - 9000 points for $1145 that could be applied to a points purchase at the end of the 12 month period, and no maintence fees for the 9000 points. I took the deal and will be discussing purchasing additional points with my parents and sister soon. They also offered a price protection at $1.80 per point for 10K points.

Some questions I have:
- Was that a dumb decision? :-) (too late now, I guess)
- I've heard that you can purchase additional points through Pinnacle Vacations. If I do that, I'd only want to purchase enough points to get to the 15,000 level, AND so I can add Travelers Plus back on to the account. Is this possible? Or do I have to go directly through BG?
- I quickly looked at the Pinnacle Vacations website, and they have 2500 points available but not at the same resort as what our 13,000 points are from. Can those two points be merged if they're from different resorts?

Any information I can get would be very helpful. Even though we got some good info at the owner update, they kept us there for 3+ hours and could have told us the "real meat" info in less than an hour. They also tried every sales trick in the book - which I was prepared for. But experiences like that definitely make me hesitate on attending another owner update.

thank you!!

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Just saw this....involved at home but will answer in the am.


The reason I like travelers plus is because I use RCI points exchanges. Other then that,there is probably not much value.

It is okay that you bought the sampler...if you want more Bluegreen Points, we will guide you into the resale (almost free) process.

I really love my Bluegreen Points.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I'm amazed that the OP has been here for more than seven years and just made their first post, or just came up with their first question.

That's unusual.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Not everyone chooses to blab as much as you and as inappropriately.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Nope, but it's still unusual.

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

- Was that a dumb decision?

Nah. If you're going to make an impulse buy with Timeshares, then Samplers are the way to go.

- I've heard that you can purchase additional points through Pinnacle Vacations. If I do that, I'd only want to purchase enough points to get to the 15,000 level, AND so I can add Travelers Plus back on to the account. Is this possible? Or do I have to go directly through BG?

Last I knew, it was technically possible, give or take a bit. However, you need to be sure the new points mesh correctly with your current ones, and Pinnacle may or may not have a small points ownership that does so.

- I quickly looked at the Pinnacle Vacations website, and they have 2500 points available but not at the same resort as what our 13,000 points are from. Can those two points be merged if they're from different resorts?

You can combine points from different resorts (although you may have to keep an eye on things and give BG grief to make it happen), however points are in different Trust Funds, and you generally need to match like-with-like in order to keep your maintenance fees down. Trust Fund E ownerships are the most common and thus the easiest to merge, however there's another deal with Trust Fund E that you have to keep an eye on to make sure combining points isn't a problem. You can inadvertently change when the points roll over or something, I've never really gotten a handle on that.

So, yes, with some caveats.

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

Hi JLB,
I did log on several years ago and read lots of really good information. Because my folks are really the primary owners, (and they typically like to be the only ones involved in decision making), I take a back seat when it comes to making any changes. Therefore, I didn't really need any help until this point - which is why I haven't been on here in several years. Now that they are getting older, I'd like to become as knowledgeable as possible, and this forum is awesome for that. Not that I needed to give you any reason for me posting... but I thought you might be interested since you were so interested that I hadn't made any posts in many years. :-)

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

Thanks for all the advice. I really don't want to talk to a pushy BG sales person anymore - especially to find out if I can combine resale points with my current points - to get the VIP level and TP. Do you suggest I go through Pinnacle? I'm guessing BocaBum isn't selling with them anymore. Does anyone know of a good, reputable, non-pushy sales person through Pinnacle?

Much appreciated!

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Hi JLB,
I did log on several years ago and read lots of really good information. Because my folks are really the primary owners, (and they typically like to be the only ones involved in decision making), I take a back seat when it comes to making any changes. Therefore, I didn't really need any help until this point - which is why I haven't been on here in several years. Now that they are getting older, I'd like to become as knowledgeable as possible, and this forum is awesome for that. Not that I needed to give you any reason for me posting... but I thought you might be interested since you were so interested that I hadn't made any posts in many years. :-)

Welcome.



and good luck.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Thanks for all the advice. I really don't want to talk to a pushy BG sales person anymore - especially to find out if I can combine resale points with my current points - to get the VIP level and TP. Do you suggest I go through Pinnacle? I'm guessing BocaBum isn't selling with them anymore. Does anyone know of a good, reputable, non-pushy sales person through Pinnacle?

Much appreciated!

You will not have an issue with Pinnacle if you know what you want going in...and it seems you do.
If they don't have the 2,000-2,500 point contract you need/want, ask them to get one for you and wait until they get it.
There is really no rush and they will be able to get it for you.
FYI, there is a $450 closing fee on all BG contracts.

Your biggest issue would be to make sure your trust funds match so you only pay one base fee of $330 and since you parents have been owners for a while, you really must check this out.

Call Bluegreen and ask them what is your trust fund and sales type. Trust Fund E is generally the best for ownerships of more then 12,000 points.

Edit...I have also answered your PM regarding RCI. There are ALWAYS. Exchange fees with any transaction done outside of Bluegreen.

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

Just curious. Which bronze member benefit(s) do you think are worth a minimum of $6250? Which benefit of Travelers Plus do you anticipate using. Just because the salesguy made them sound like the bees knees doesn't mean they are. You have been getting along without them for several years and while they may have some value it may be better to pay out of pocket rather than lump some to pinnacle. If you need extra points you can get them for practically nothing without the TP or the credit toward bronze. Resale points would combine the same way. Whether you buy direct, Pinnacle, or other resale you just want to make sure you are in the same trust and you may want to make sure your use years are the same (for convenience). You can get guidance here or from the BG Yahoo group. Don't assume just because you buy from BG direct or Pinnacle that you will get an agent that will sell you one that will work with what you already have in the most cost efficient way.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Just curious. Which bronze member benefit(s) do you think are worth a minimum of $6250? Which benefit of Travelers Plus do you anticipate using. Just because the salesguy made them sound like the bees knees doesn't mean they are. You have been getting along without them for several years and while they may have some value it may be better to pay out of pocket rather than lump some to pinnacle. If you need extra points you can get them for practically nothing without the TP or the credit toward bronze. Resale points would combine the same way. Whether you buy direct, Pinnacle, or other resale you just want to make sure you are in the same trust and you may want to make sure your use years are the same (for convenience). You can get guidance here or from the BG Yahoo group. Don't assume just because you buy from BG direct or Pinnacle that you will get an agent that will sell you one that will work with what you already have in the most cost efficient way.

Sally, OP had PMed me and her interest seems to be with getting access to RCI Nightly stays using TP. She was led to believe there was no exchange fees for this service.
I sent her the fee schedule in a PM.

To purchase 2,000 qualified points from Pinnacle at $1.25/pt plus $450 closing would be under $3,000.

And agree about adding resale points for pennies as well.

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

I also think she needs to think long and hard and decide whether to go for bronze now or not. Sure she could go 2000 now and 3000 later but that will add extra transfer fees and will make it more difficult/expensive to potentially sell/give away 3 contracts rather than 2. I have access to rci points inventory (through RCI points) and I like it for the additional inventory but I haven't used for short stays in years primarily because of the extra housekeeping fees rather than the rci transaction fees.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

I also think she needs to think long and hard and decide whether to go for bronze now or not. Sure she could go 2000 now and 3000 later but that will add extra transfer fees and will make it more difficult/expensive to potentially sell/give away 3 contracts rather than 2. I have access to rci points inventory (through RCI points) and I like it for the additional inventory but I haven't used for short stays in years primarily because of the extra housekeeping fees rather than the rci transaction fees.

To get to bronze she needs. 2K points to add to her 13K to get to 15K.

I actually use nightly stays all the time. But YMMV.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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

Do most of your rci nightly stays have hk fees $40-$80 payable upon check in? I know not all do but all of the ones I have stayed at add the fee. I have a memorial day weekend scheduled for the beach I decided it was worth it but for most 1-3 day stays added to the fact that you usually can't check in before 4pm and have to check out by 10am make hotel stays a better option for us.

Sorry I missed the 13,000 for some reason I though she had 10,000- darn these middle aged eyes.