WE DID IT! We bought Fairshare Plus Points and are reading all the literature!

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

What do you mean? Weren't Shearwater sold out a long time ago? Are you saying that now Wyn is managing Pahio, the existing reservation procedures have been changed? Just curious...

According to the salespeople, the Shearwater owners are going to get second choice, after the VIP Platinum. This does change everything we understood as owners, though we are resale owners.

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

One thought: if you can rescind and then get the same deal a bit later, some FF owners have had a lot of success putting their ownership in a trust---VIP flows with the trust, and can therefore be transferred. It will require some work on your part, but might be a good way to go.

FWIW, I think you got a pretty fair deal, as long as you have permanent Plat VIP written into your contract.

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

FWIW, I think you got a pretty fair deal, as long as you have permanent Plat VIP written into your contract.

I agree that you got a fair deal to get the VIP status. At this time, the most economical way to achieve any VIP status is the way you did it with PIC weeks. It also sounds like you have a plan to help pay for the purchase price.

With the Platinum VIP level, you have the most reservation advantages in the FF system.

This is a case where I would not tell someone to automatically rescind.

You have added great flexibility into your entire TS portfolio. You have an ability, if you choose to do so, to rent a portion of your annual allotment of points to cover your entire MF etc each year and still have lots of points to use to travel.

Good luck.

In the end, you will have to decide what's best for yourself.

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

If you're happy, I'm happy. I'm not VIP but I got 300,000 EY for $3650 at a resort I wanted. .

Was this the ebay deal?
Congrats, good buy!

Cindy, it sounds as if you did you homework.... but the commet about the 'trust' is an excellent one!

[vincenton Member Find all posts View Profile Close vincenton]

The other improvement I see are the two PIC weeks you have. I would rescind now and find two 3 bedroom red week to get an additional 254K per week.

There are plenty of 3BR week with very low MF fee. I know of some that is currently aprox. $350.

You do need to do this quick as the price at Pahio will go up each quarter.

The way you are doing is the 'best' currently to get VIP.

I have heard of fixed week conversion to get VIP but this is a hit/miss deal.

Vincent.

[vincenton Member Find all posts View Profile Close vincenton]

According to the salespeople, the Shearwater owners are going to get second choice, after the VIP Platinum. This does change everything we understood as owners, though we are resale owners.

The above statement doesn't seem right. Isn't Shearwater a fixed week resort? In other (current) Fairfield fixed week location. Weeks owner get 13 -10 months priority at there resort.

VIP doesn't trump fixed week owner as they have 13 months reservation on their unit each year.

VIP (gold,plat) only gets 11 months RARP (Reciprocal Advance Reservation Priority). gold only get 1 and plat get 2. This allow VIP (gold, plat) to reserved at other Fairfield resort before standard reservation start (10 months).

Hawaii resort belong to 'Outrigger Resort Club' only get 12 months at other Hawaii resort other than 'home' resort. VIP does get 13 months at home resort. But these only apply to inventory that belongs to UDI.

Vincent.

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

The way you are doing is the 'best' currently to get VIP.
Vincent.

That is not true. It appears that FF is relaxing it's rules for acquiring VIP. I have discovered at least one new loophole that didn't exist 6 months ago for getting to VIP. It's better, in my view, than PIC.

I have been actively seeking new loopholes because of what I felt would be a need of Wyndham. The first need is to find a way to get those Pahio weeks into the system. The second is that it's getting harder to sell at retail, so they need to add some incentives to get there. It appears those cracks are appearing. Time to keep looking because once they start cracking the doors, it isn't long before opportunities abound. And, they won't last forever.

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

According to the salespeople, the Shearwater owners are going to get second choice, after the VIP Platinum. This does change everything we understood as owners, though we are resale owners.

Cindy,

I don't know the rules for Pahio. But, I am very familiar with how points systems acquire and convert inventory.

I believe based on experience that there are at least 2 different inventory pools at Shearwater. One pool is for Shearwater fixed/floating week owners and the second pool is for Fairshare Plus owners.

Fairshare Plus owners can ONLY access weeks that have been converted into the system. If no owners convert, there is no availability in FSP.

It is true that Platinum FSP owners will have preferred access to FSP inventory, but that will Pale in comparison to what Shearwater owners have.

The key will be how fast owners convert from weeks into points. If they convert slowly, then it will be better for Shearwater owners to hold out.

That's why I have always believed that FF would create a special incentive just for Pahio owners to convert to points.

I need to check all of these assumptions. But, I'll bet that I am fairly close on this otherwise the points system will not have integrity. It must.

[vincenton Member Find all posts View Profile Close vincenton]

That is not true. It appears that FF is relaxing it's rules for acquiring VIP. I have discovered at least one new loophole that didn't exist 6 months ago for getting to VIP. It's better, in my view, than PIC.

Care to share?

If you are refering to the conversion of Fixed week into points to get VIP. This is a hit/miss thing. If I was looking for VIP I would want this in writing. Fairfield official stand to resell weeks is it do not count toward VIP.

If points is all you're looking for, then a 3BR at Bali Hai do convert to 500K. While this may or may not work when you want to just do a straight conversion. Points purchase 'may' still require.

If so...

For Hawaii, the least amount of points I can see at Bali Hai is 154K. If you were to purchase this amount of points, why not do 2 PIC as well as convert your weeks. It doesn't cost that much more per year only $.5/K (currently).

Vincent.

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

Boca, are we going to get to meet you this week? The sooner the better, like tomorrow, would be good. I want to make sure we are doing the right thing, if we keep this purchase as is. We are flying over to Oahu today to check in at Waikiki Beach Walk.

So once you choose your PIC weeks, can you change those to three bedrooms? They told us you could change when you want, but I would bet that is a lie.

Converting weeks at the $2,395 for the first week at other resorts also gets VIP? Or do you only get points and no VIP status?

I am afraid of huge MF increases because our point cost is very low. I have not figured out what our purchase price per point is. I am wondering if buying somewhere else, would be smarter.

Vincent, our Shearwater weeks are floating.

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

The Fairfield Yahoo Group Digest for yesterday had a post about trade power into Manhattan Club and 154,000 points did not pull even a studio, but Worldmark at only 8,000 points pulled it. RCI told this person that nothing is withheld from Worldmark members. So what do you think we are thinking?

I want strong trade power. I want to be able to come to Hawaii when we want and pull Shearwater that way. The idea of Worldmark is a good one.

There were also some people that posted in the Yahoo Group that they had a problem with the Fairshare Plus people saying something was not available for an upgrade. That concerned me too.

Funny that on TUG, everyone is in shock that we would consider this purchase. If it worked exactly as they promised, it would be the ideal system, but it sounds too good to be true and it also sounds like there are many reasons to wait and ponder. Emmy was right when she said we have the luxury of rescinding still.

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

RCI told this person that nothing is withheld from Worldmark members. So what do you think we are thinking?

I'm thinking that the way RCI figures trade power can change week to week. I would't make a purchase based on a comment like this without a clear exit strategy.

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

Converting weeks at the $2,395 for the first week at other resorts also gets VIP? Or do you only get points and no VIP status?

Cindy,

They are only talking about other Fairfield fixed or floating weeks being converted NOT non-Fairfield weeks. The only way to get non Fairfield weeks into the Fairfield system is through their PIC program.

The conversion prices apply only to Fairifeld fixed or floating weeks being converted into FSP points.

[Lisa P Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lisa P]

I don't necessarily care about 13 month priority, except I was pretty bitter that Fairshare Platinum get priority on Shearwater over OWNERS with deeds.

Cindy, Platinum FSP owners don't get priority over other, non-FSP owners at this home resort. If a Shearwater owner has not purchased into FSP, their owned time is not part of the FSP inventory, from which FSP owners request their reservations. Only inventory that's managed as FSP inventory may be assigned to FSP owners.

Here's the timeline for when FSP owners may make reservations (out of that limited FSP inventory) to vacation at Shearwater:

13 months ahead - FF/Wyn releases inventory into the system, made up of UDI (floating) points which have been sold at this resort.

13 months ahead - FSP owners who own at Shearwater (home resort) may reserve up to the amount of points they own there, per year. 3, 4 or 7 night stays only.

ALSO - 13 months ahead - VIP may reserve at Associate locations (mostly Outrigger and WorldMark) from the extremely limited inventory that FF/Wyn has at those resorts - this does not apply to Shearwater, a Fairfield-managed property. Don't let this confuse you - it seems to confuse some salespeople too.

11 months ahead - VIP Gold/Plat FSP owners from any home resort may reserve at Shearwater, using any of their points, for 1 (Gold) or 2 (Plat) reservations per year. 3, 4 or 7 nights stays only. Again, these reservations may only come from FSP UDI (floating time) points sold at this resort - converted fixed week inventory has not yet entered the system.

11 months ahead - certain ownership contracts permit a limited number of reservations to be made at a particular sister resort (ex., Governor's Green Wmsbg => Alexandria --or-- Cypress Palms => Bonnet Creek). There are very few of these contracts out there. 3, 4 or 7 night stays only.

10 months and 1 day ahead - deadline for Shearwater fixed week FSP owners who signed on w/FSP to decide they want to keep their own fixed week and not take the points that year. The next day, it becomes part of open FSP inventory. Weeks which were never converted to FSP have nothing to do with any of this - they retain their original rights. Regular floating week owners are probably at the greatest disadvantage as other floating week owners sign on w/FSP, especially if they are not able to reserve their floating time at 13 months ahead.

10 months ahead - all FSP owners may reserve at all FF/Wyn resorts, Associates and Affiliates (from whatever inventory FF/Wyn actually controls). 3, 4 or 7 night stays in prime season; 2 night minimum other times unless single nights happen to be available.

3 months ahead - open booking, 2 night minimum unless single nights available.

Hope that helps explain. The bottom line is that there is always a 2 month lead time for home resort owners, ahead of VIP owners from elsewhere (13 months vs. 11) and 3 months ahead of the resort of the FSP owners (13 months vs. 10). People can miss the deadlines but the system provides the opportunity for home resort owners to get priority on making reservations.

Can't help with evaluating your purchase - sorry. We own a piddly 154K in NC so we're garden variety FSP owners.

[vincenton Member Find all posts View Profile Close vincenton]

Boca, are we going to get to meet you this week? The sooner the better, like tomorrow, would be good. I want to make sure we are doing the right thing, if we keep this purchase as is. We are flying over to Oahu today to check in at Waikiki Beach Walk.

So once you choose your PIC weeks, can you change those to three bedrooms? They told us you could change when you want, but I would bet that is a lie.

This is a lie, once you choose the size unit, it is in the contract and can't be change. That is why I said you should recind now, then go find two fixed 3BR red (RCI affiliate) unit that is 'non' Fairfield.

Converting weeks at the $2,395 for the first week at other resorts also gets VIP? Or do you only get points and no VIP status?

Yes, straight (Fairfield Only) conversion of 1st week is $2395 then $995 for each additional week (at the same time). VIP status is a hit/miss, some resort may do this, if so get it in writing. Most often no VIP, only points.

I am afraid of huge MF increases because our point cost is very low. I have not figured out what our purchase price per point is. I am wondering if buying somewhere else, would be smarter.

You're not paying that much more for your converted fixed week at Bali Hai, current Fairfield fee for these weeks are $.5/K in addition to what a fixed week owner would pay.

Vincent, our Shearwater weeks are floating.

Shouldn't matter as all weeks at Shearwater is red in Fairfield system. Have you asked them if they would convert the week, and how much points you'll get?

Vincent.