BlueGreen Addition – currently FF centric ?

[Summit1231 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Summit1231]

Currently have FF Converted Fixed week ( affilliated RCI not II ) but was considering acquiring BG points. Wondering if BG would be a good addition or if I should just buy more FF or possibly look at Worldmark ? We have been kind of taking the points is points approach. We are flexible to plan ahead or on short notice.

My reasons for considering BG

• we really enjoy vacationing and exploring in Florida and Carolinas
• although I don’t necessarily want to own a Florida based unit
• want to increase odds of getting good Florida/Carolina weeks and a good variety of locations
• want to diversify away from being completely Cendant centric
• BG appears to offers a very flexible Points based plan and possibility of rental days

I have joined the BG group on Yahoo and browsed message board. Wondering if the Timeshareforums group members, with their diverse experience, might have some thoughts.

1. Are BG points more like FF UDI or FF Converted fixed weeks points ?
2. Are BG owners really able to trade well according to the points charts ?
3. Do you have to be a Silver or Gold member ( with high points ) to get good trades ?
4. Are there any BG gotchas that I should be aware of ?

Thanks

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

Currently have FF Converted Fixed week ( affilliated RCI not II ) but was considering acquiring BG points. Wondering if BG would be a good addition or if I should just buy more FF or possibly look at Worldmark ? We have been kind of taking the points is points approach. We are flexible to plan ahead or on short notice.

My reasons for considering BG

• we really enjoy vacationing and exploring in Florida and Carolinas
• although I don’t necessarily want to own a Florida based unit
• want to increase odds of getting good Florida/Carolina weeks and a good variety of locations
• want to diversify away from being completely Cendant centric
• BG appears to offers a very flexible Points based plan and possibility of rental days

I have joined the BG group on Yahoo and browsed message board. Wondering if the Timeshareforums group members, with their diverse experience, might have some thoughts.

1. Are BG points more like FF UDI or FF Converted fixed weeks points ?
2. Are BG owners really able to trade well according to the points charts ?
3. Do you have to be a Silver or Gold member ( with high points ) to get good trades ?
4. Are there any BG gotchas that I should be aware of ?

Thanks

Bob,

I own both Bluegreen and WorldMark and I think both are great. They are very similar in many ways. In reviewing your reasons for considering Bluegreen, I think your reasoning is sound. Bluegreen does have good availability in Florida and the Carolinas. I'd say that you won't go wrong with either and given that Florida and the Carolinas is important to you, then Bluegreen would be a better choice than WorldMark to meet your needs.

Let me try to answer your specific questions.

1) Bluegreen points are like WorldMark points in that all deeds are put into a trust. There is one major difference in that each owner has use rights directly associated with a deeded week. That gives owners two benefits. First, they have access to their deeded week from 12-months to 11-months in advance of check in. They will always be able to have access to that week. So, from that point of view it is better than WorldMark and FF UDI points which don't guarantee you a fixed week. Second, if Bluegreen goes bankrupt, you get access to that specific deeded week. There is some comfort in knowing that.

2) Bluegreen owners can reserve weeks fairly easily. There are certain resorts at certain times that only Gold and Silver members can get. But, I've found the availability to be pretty good over all.

3) I would say that two things you should be aware of are a) about half the Bluegreen resorts have limited availability since they are not managed by Bluegreen. They are marked on the point charts. But, the availability isn't there. b) Bluegreen automatically allows you to save points for one year, but you cannot book what is called high red, ultra red, special red or leaf season in that second year. It really isn't a problem if you manage your points properly.

4) WorldMark has a much better reservation system than Bluegreen.

5) Bluegreen has better bonus time and opportunity to reserve partial week stays. Bluegreen doesn't charge housekeeping fees for points. That's awesome. Bluegreen does have a cancellation fee if you are not a preferred owner.

6) Both have low maintenance fees, but fairly high upfront cost to get in.

I personally think that Bluegreen is a better run company than Cendant.

Feel free to ask anymore questions.

[Summit1231 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Summit1231]

Bob,

3) I would say that two things you should be aware of are a) about half the Bluegreen resorts have limited availability since they are not managed by Bluegreen. They are marked on the point charts. But, the availability isn't there. b) Bluegreen automatically allows you to save points for one year, but you cannot book what is called high red, ultra red, special red or leaf season in that second year. It really isn't a problem if you manage your points properly.

Thanks for the response. That answers a lot of the questions that were in my mind but lead to a couple more.

As and Example: Say I acquired a Points unit at the 7,000 level and at some point wanted to vacation at a ultra red requiring 12,000 points.

Are you saying I would not be able to apply 5,000 Saved points mixed with 7,000 current points to get a 12,000 reservation ?

Could I borrow 5,000 points in a future year to use with my 7,000 current year to make a 12,000 reservation ?

Is there a possibility of getting extra current points from another BG member to make up the 5,000 point deficit ? Roughly what would be the going rate to get extra 5,000 points ?

Thansk again

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

Bob,

You can always borrow next year's points. So, you could use this year's 7000 points and borrow next year's 7000 points for 14000 total. But, the reservation must be booked this year. So, your use year matters. If your use year is March to March, then it would be difficult to pull this borrowing trick for summer weeks since by March all of the good summer weeks are gone. Bluegreen did this to create an incentive for owners to own more points. To be safe, you need to own at least as many points as the highest point week you would like to reserve. This is a general rule of thumb. Or, you need a use year that is one or two months ahead of the season you most desire. If you want July 4th week every year, you need an August or September use year.

You cannot transfer points between accounts at Bluegreen. Actually, I like this model. It forces people to own the points they use.

[Summit1231 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Summit1231]

Boca,

Thanks so much. That all made sense and certainly gives me some parameters to look for on a use year target.

Both good and bad to not being able to transfer points between accounts. Bad is that I would need to do a better job of multi year planning if purchasing a lower point value unit. Good is there might be others who let good weeks escape into the pool for the use of the better planners.

Thanks again.

Bob

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

While you can't transfer points, another member could make a reservation on your behalf using their points. None of that guest certificate nonsense either. There isn't the RCI nickel-and-diming crap.

Those saved points can be used for Red and below, and there are several resorts that do not have above Red season.