Looking Advice

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

I am new to Bluegreen having just assumed ownership of a timeshare at Harbor Lights from a family member. Included in the price was week 36 and 10,000 annual points.

I just booked my first vacation and quickly found that 10,000 points will not be enough for the vacations we would like to take in the future. Being a teacher, i have a 2 month window to take a week long vacation, but it falls during high red season.

My family would ideally like to have a week during the summer and points left for a few long weekends throughout the remainder of the year.

Since i am new to this i would appreciate any tips and information anyone could spare on upgrading, costs, and any other things i should know.

Thanks.

[BWD6 Member Find all posts View Profile Close BWD6]

First, congratulations on finding this forum. It sounds like you have done some research and know where and when you would like to travel. That is a great first step to determine how many points you will need annually. I think you will find that 20K points will get you a 2 BR week at almost all of the BG resorts. More importantly 20K will get you to Silver Preferred Level which will bring many benefits that most people value. You can read about the preferred levels above. However, the only way you can purchase more points and get to Silver Preferred is if you buy directly from BlueGreen or a BG Authorized Reseller. I highly recommend talking with Boca Bum from this forum. I have gotten great advice from him and have also had family purchase BG points through him. He is honest and extremely knowledgeable. You can get all the benefits of buying through BG without paying the high developer prices. Good luck and enjoy your future vacations.
BW

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I am new to Bluegreen having just assumed ownership of a timeshare at Harbor Lights from a family member. Included in the price was week 36 and 10,000 annual points.

I just booked my first vacation and quickly found that 10,000 points will not be enough for the vacations we would like to take in the future. Being a teacher, i have a 2 month window to take a week long vacation, but it falls during high red season.

My family would ideally like to have a week during the summer and points left for a few long weekends throughout the remainder of the year.

Since i am new to this i would appreciate any tips and information anyone could spare on upgrading, costs, and any other things i should know.

Thanks.

Here are some considerations.

First, make sure that you tell Resort Title that you are getting this ownership from a family member. They will send you an extra closing document that will enable you to transfer the charter member benefits of bonus time and Traveler Plus.

Second, to determine how many points you need, here is the advice I give to my customers. Do not over buy points. Only buy as many points as you need on an annual basis. You will know when you need more points. It will be when you constantly borrow points from the future and keep running out. It's very easy to add points later.

Third, check out the point table which is one of the stickies of this forum. Figure out the size unit that you want to use most of the time and estimate how many points it will take. Buy that many points and use bonus time as much as possible.

Fourth, when you decide you need to have 20,000 or more points, definitely upgrade to Silver Preferred. You will eliminate all cancellation and change fees. You will have access to the waitlist for hard to get reservations such as Pono Kai, Shore Crest 1 and anything on the Gulf Coast. And, you can use points to pay for maintenance fees when you know you can't use all of your points in a given year.

Fifth, if you need to travel in the summer, the best anniversary dates to get are Sept and Oct. Then, you can double up your points easily to book a bigger size unit. And, you won't have to borrow next years points all the time to book a reservation for next summer.

Good luck. Welcome to the forum. Bluegreen is a fantastic Vacation Club and when you know how to use it properly, it's the best travel value anywhere.

Jim

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

First, congratulations on finding this forum. It sounds like you have done some research and know where and when you would like to travel. That is a great first step to determine how many points you will need annually. I think you will find that 20K points will get you a 2 BR week at almost all of the BG resorts. More importantly 20K will get you to Silver Preferred Level which will bring many benefits that most people value. You can read about the preferred levels above. However, the only way you can purchase more points and get to Silver Preferred is if you buy directly from BlueGreen or a BG Authorized Reseller. I highly recommend talking with Boca Bum from this forum. I have gotten great advice from him and have also had family purchase BG points through him. He is honest and extremely knowledgeable. You can get all the benefits of buying through BG without paying the high developer prices. Good luck and enjoy your future vacations.
BW

Thanks BW. I appreciate the kind words.

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

Thanks for the help and warm welcome.

I keep hearing about bonus time and traveler plus. What are these items or where can i found out more about them?

Also, our earn date is May 1. So if we plan on vacationing for a week in high red season wouldn't we be better off with a earn date in the fall?

Finally, how would the process work in adding annual points and/or changing earn dates?

Sorry for all the questions.

[BWD6 Member Find all posts View Profile Close BWD6]

You may want to visit the Sticky Thread titled "Preferred Owner Benefits" to learn more about Bonus time and different levels of ownership. I copied the description below from that thread.

"All Bluegreen Point owners automatically get the designation of VIP member. VIP membership gives you access to Bonus Time for available units less than 45-days from check in for the rate of:

Studio: $49/night
1 bedroom: $59/night
2 bedroom: $69/night
3 bedroom: $79/night"

Instead of using points to stay at a resort, you can pay the rates listed above and stay at the resort. This is great because Bonus Time is unlimited and still gives you options if you run out of points and want to stay at a resort. There is a minimum 2 night stay.

I will let Boca answer your other questions.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Thanks for the help and warm welcome.

I keep hearing about bonus time and traveler plus. What are these items or where can i found out more about them?

Also, our earn date is May 1. So if we plan on vacationing for a week in high red season wouldn't we be better off with a earn date in the fall?

Finally, how would the process work in adding annual points and/or changing earn dates?

Sorry for all the questions.

May 1 is a good anniversary date for Winter and Spring reservations. For summer, Sept and Oct are best.

To change your anniversary date, you need to make a purchase from an authorized reseller. Send me a pm if you are interested in that and I'll provide you with the details.

Adding points is easy, you just buy them and they combine with your account. The biggest issue is ensuring you have the best maintenance fees available. If you purchase the wrong types of deeds, you can over pay by several hundred dollars per year.

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

Teaching and Bluegreen work out fine

Being a teacher, i have a 2 month window to take a week long vacation, but it falls during high red season.

An advantage of being a teacher is that you know a year in advance when your summer vacation is. My daughter, who is not a teacher, doesn't find out until January or February. So, if your school gets out June 9, you can start calling July 9 and every day thereafter until you can find what will provide you with a great vacation.

Also, many of the resorts that can provide a two, bedroom two bath for 9000 or 10000 points do not have "high red" seasons.

Charles

PS You will soon want to go to 20,000 points and Boca can help quite a bit.