New FairField (Wyndham) Owner

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

Hi there!

My wife and I just returned back from a week in Hawaii and purchased the 154K package at the resort on Oahu while we were there. It was a difficult decision for us, and we almost recinded on the last day. In the end though, I think we feel it will save us more money than if we didnt have it and we are excited to vacation more than we have been the last few years. Seeing this forum here and the activity going on is good too, as I enjoy taking part on other forums as well.

I have a million questions but one that is pressing currently:
I was told that there was a way to use points to buy plane tickets. While our saleseperson told us this isnt a real efficient use of points, there are times when we fly home to visit family and stay with them, so wed liek to be able to get rid of points versus lose them. Can anyone inform me aout how I might go about buyign plane tickets with points and some details about poitn cost, etc?

At any rate, glad to be here.. Id love to hear what other people think of their purchases (worth it or not, what would you have done differently, how do you go about expending your points, etc etc)...

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

we almost recinded on the last day. ...

I have a million questions but one that is pressing currently:
I was told that there was a way to use points to buy plane tickets. While our saleseperson told us this isnt a real efficient use of points, there are times when we fly home to visit family and stay with them, so wed liek to be able to get rid of points versus lose them. Can anyone inform me aout how I might go about buyign plane tickets with points and some details about poitn cost, etc?

At any rate, glad to be here.. Id love to hear what other people think of their purchases (worth it or not, what would you have done differently, how do you go about expending your points, etc etc)...

Welcome. Your salesman told the truth. I believe last year when I check, you have to have around $3/K in MF cost in order to make the point for airplane work. If your MF is in that range, it may make more sense to just rent the point out to other owner, and use cash to buy the ticket.

This year, the point chart is not shown in the website, I suspect it is because the increase of airfare, and thus they will need to increase the point per ticket.

If you really want to throw points this way, you can start calling VC to ask the exchange rate, it is based on the date though.

Jya-Ning

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

Welcome to Wynfield! It is not a simple system, but with some effort, you can learn to use it to your advantage.

As for plane tickets---if you have *any* other use for your points, it is likely to be a better deal. If you don't have any other use, it's probably better to rent points to some other owner who can use them that year, and use the cash proceeds to buy a plane ticket.

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

Thanks for the quick responses! =)

I see what you guys are saying, that makes sense. Is it difficult to sell/rent points to another user? That seems like it could be quite a hassle...
Is there a generally accepted "market value" for x number of points?

Ive also been reading a good deal about buying resale instead of buying from the developer. While this obviously seems much less expensive (and I know my property cost me premium dollar being in Hawaii), I did a quick search and wasnt able to find any Oahu Wyndham points-based deeds for sale. Any idea what a resale Oahu deed would be worth?

I believe last year when I check, you have to have around $3/K in MF cost in order to make the point for airplane work. If your MF is in that range, it may make more sense to just rent the point out to other owner, and use cash to buy the ticket.

MF is basicly $600/year, which comes out to $3.89/K.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

Oahu is new one, so you may not see any people try fire sale in 2 year or 3 year. then you will see the number increase to the time a SA access because the POA does not have enough funding, then you will see a lot of fire sales, but that probably at least 7 years down the road, at this moment, Hawaii has certain attraction, so the resell price will be higher. If you like to go to HI, that is not a bad place to own.

Rent to owner is easier, you collect money (check, or paypal), get the account# from the person tht pays you, then call VC to transfer the points out. There is no market value, if depends on when the point will be expired, and why you want to rent out. I saw range from $4 to $7/k. It count as one transaction.


Jya-Ning

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

Welcome to Wyndham and TS4MS

Welcome to the world of timeshares. I have been owner of FF since 2003.
However, I just became an active member of TS4MS for about last 2 months. And I have learned more in the last 2 months than I did in previous 4 years. I am still trying to learn how to get the most out my
Wyndham/FF points, and there are plenty of people here on TM4MS,
TUGS and Fairfieldowners forum that have helped educate me and will do the same for you.

Here are 2 links to 2 different threads that have some answers to questions simliar to yours. The last message of first link also contains the link to new Wyndam owners site. Good luck!!!

RCI weeks - Timeshare Users Group Online Community Forums

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...ff-points.html

Best wishes,
biskits

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

You Don't Need to Own "HAWAII" to Stay There

Just a quick comment that you don't have to own in Hawaii (with FF/Wyndham or any other TS company) to stay there. We are on the Big Island right now for two weeks, thanks to RCI exchanges of our fixed week at FF Flagstaff. We caught these exchanges during a bulk space bank at Paniolo Greens.

I was also here in April 2006 (FF/Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort) thanks to an exchange in RCI . . . and in December 2005 (FF Royal Sea Cliff) also due to an RCI exchange. Both of these were also during bulk space banks, using FF/Wyndham fixed weeks.

Prior to that, we were on Maui in August/September 2003 again using an RCI exchange (that was a non-FF/Wyndham exchange).

Given the very high MF's in Hawaii, I would opt for owning elsewhere and trading into Hawaii. For our two weeks right now on the Big Island, we have less than $700 per week into our vacation ($495 MF + $149 exchange fee).

My personal advice would be to rescind the purchase you just made and do some more research and homework on what might work best for your vacation preferences. As mentioned already, using FF/Wyndham points for anything other than resort stays is a poor use of the program.

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

I'm with Von, you need to rescind your purchase, if you still can. There is no reason for you to keep these points when there are so many resales out there. You will have regrets, I guarantee it.

We bought 287,000 points at Kingsgate in Williamsburg for $1,150 + closing costs. The maintenance fees are 4.20 per thousand, not cheap enough to use for airfare, but the price was right.

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

Just to clarify, I dont plan on using my points for airline tickets knowing that there are more efficient ways to use them if need be. It was primaily a question out of curiosity.

Im also fully aware that one can own in one place and stay at another. This is the only reason we even marginally considered buying. One question you do bring up though, is why would you have to do an RCI exchange to stay in Hawaii, if you own with FF/W? Is an RCI exhange required to stay anywhere other than the place where you own? Is there a primer somewhere on RCI?

In terms if rescinding, as I stated above, I dont believe thats an option we have any longer, but I am yet to have an opportunity to really dig into the paperwork (and I hope to tomorow, time is just against me). Either way, Im not sure its all bad. Our MFs are actually under $4/1K; also, from what I understand we have some level of priority at our home resort, and some other perks.

This also brings up a question of trading power: Do certain resorts give the buyer more "power" in terms of gaining reservations at other resorts? Someone mentioned a resort in Wisconsin tryign to be sold, but its apparently not a popular destination: Would it be just as easy to get a reservation in Hawaii, if you owned in wisconsin, as it would be to get a reservation in Wisconsin, if you owned in hawaii?

I appreciate the help and concern. Im learning and doing so quickly. However it all works out, Ill be making the best of it.

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

Just to clarify, I dont plan on using my points for airline tickets knowing that there are more efficient ways to use them if need be. It was primaily a question out of curiosity.

Im also fully aware that one can own in one place and stay at another. This is the only reason we even marginally considered buying. One question you do bring up though, is why would you have to do an RCI exchange to stay in Hawaii, if you own with FF/W? Is an RCI exhange required to stay anywhere other than the place where you own? Is there a primer somewhere on RCI?

In terms if rescinding, as I stated above, I dont believe thats an option we have any longer, but I am yet to have an opportunity to really dig into the paperwork (and I hope to tomorow, time is just against me). Either way, Im not sure its all bad. Our MFs are actually under $4/1K; also, from what I understand we have some level of priority at our home resort, and some other perks.

This also brings up a question of trading power: Do certain resorts give the buyer more "power" in terms of gaining reservations at other resorts? Someone mentioned a resort in Wisconsin tryign to be sold, but its apparently not a popular destination: Would it be just as easy to get a reservation in Hawaii, if you owned in wisconsin, as it would be to get a reservation in Wisconsin, if you owned in hawaii?

I appreciate the help and concern. Im learning and doing so quickly. However it all works out, Ill be making the best of it.

J&D,

The most important thing of all, is that you are comfortable with what you bought and the deal you got. We in the peanut gallery are only providing input and opinions. If you are seriously considering rescinding, however, time is not your friend. In Hawaii you only have seven (calendar) days to do so. Not knowing when you signed, waiting even one day until tomorrow could hurt you if you think you may want to rescind.

As for your question about exchanging, please note that I used FF fixed weeks to go to Hawaii and not points within the FF/Wyndham system. With fixed weeks, my only options are to use RCI to go elsewhere, even within FF/Wyndham. With that being said, there are times when using your Wyndham points for exchanging with RCi will also be in your best interest. You'll need to do a lot of reading and learning, but the bottom line is that on occasion when there are bulk space banks within RCI, you can get real bargains on Hawaii. There are a number of FF/Wyndham owners who were successful in using 28K point valued weeks at RCI to get into Hawaii (normally over 200k in points for one week). Some folks stacked up several weeks and were in Hawaii for say three weeks for under 100k total points!!

You stated that you bought a 154k points package at the resort in Oahu. I'm assuming your points are for/at their resort there, and not another FF/Wyndham resort. I hope they told you that 154k isn't a lot . . . I don't think you can get a week on any of the Hawaiian islands for that few points. And while the MF's are low right now, FF/Wyndham is notorious for subsidizing MF's while they are in a "sales mode" and once the MF administration and management is turned over to a POA/HOA, you can expect to see an increase. Those who bought in Atlantic City had a rude awakening! Hawaii MF's in general are very high. I wouldn't expect to see them stay that low for long.

There are some other minor issues with the Oahu resort including high parking fees ($25/day I think is the rate). You will also have to pay the Hawaii occupancy tax any time you stay there. That is standard at all TS resorts in Hawaii, however, not just the FF/Wyndham ones or the ones on Oahu.

Trading power is best with Hawaii timeshares. If you own points, however, I'm not sure that you will have "Hawaii" to deposit with RCI to exchange. Someone else more knowledgable than me should comment, as I'm brand new to the points side of FF/Wyndham ownership.

In general there are a lot of factors that go into the trading power of any given week within the RCI system. The size of the ownership, the week used and the general quality of the resort all play into it. Many say a 2BR summer week in Wisconsin Dells, as an example, is a premium trader because the demand for those units are high. Shoulder seasons (April-May and Sept-Nov) are probably poor traders, but I don't know factually how they trade. Also how far in advance of the date of the week will also play into the trading power. A week banked with RCI a year (or even two) out will trade much better than one banked just a couple of months out.

The good news is, you've found this forum. You may also want to check out and join TUG. Also, there is a FF/Wyndham exclusive forum which is very good. The link to TUG is Timeshare Users Group - Timeshare Owners Helping Each other, Unbiased Timeshare Information for All Owners, Buy Sell Rent Timeshare and to the FF/Wyndham owners' forum/group is Wyndham Resorts Forums • Index page .

Good luck on your timeshare experience. I believe that once you learn more about what you have and how to use it, you will find TS is a great way to vacation. You may even find yourself, like the rest of us, buying more to add to your portfolio (hopefully via resale).

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

Great post, thanks for the info!

I believe you are right, rescind is 7 days which was several days ago now, and I accept that my purchase is final. Harboring ill-contempt about such things is a sure way to die early of anxiety. =) Nevertheless, I will be tearing into that huge stack of paperwork tomorrow, not just to read about rescind, but REALLY to read more technical details about what we bought.

In the end, we purchased so we could vacation to lots of new places--Im not sure we will even get back to Hawaii for another few years. We got 2 free 1-week vouchers and 154K in free points, making us VIP for the next 2 years...So right now were just overwhelmed with how we will ever use it all, and trying to learn the system. This is a big change for us in terms of the types of places we will stay, and so learning how to best optimize bang-for-the-point is the goal...

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

Great post, thanks for the info!

I believe you are right, rescind is 7 days which was several days ago now, and I accept that my purchase is final. Harboring ill-contempt about such things is a sure way to die early of anxiety. =) Nevertheless, I will be tearing into that huge stack of paperwork tomorrow, not just to read about rescind, but REALLY to read more technical details about what we bought.

In the end, we purchased so we could vacation to lots of new places--Im not sure we will even get back to Hawaii for another few years. We got 2 free 1-week vouchers and 154K in free points, making us VIP for the next 2 years...So right now were just overwhelmed with how we will ever use it all, and trying to learn the system. This is a big change for us in terms of the types of places we will stay, and so learning how to best optimize bang-for-the-point is the goal...

Happy to share my experiences and help in any small way I can. You will especially want to learn more about the FF/Wyndham product and the pros/cons of VIP. Most people you will hear from will say the extra high cost of VIP is simply not worth it, especially since the benefits and perks can be changed by Wyndham any time at their sole discretion. Many on the other Wyndham forums are very unhappy with the changes over this past year, making them feel as though what they bought "at retail" no longer holds the value that they were initially given for "overpaying" when buying from the developer.

I am in the camp that believes that buying as cheap as you can is best. And while I will never have VIP with Wyndham, I really couldn't care less. I have a total of around $9,000 into my purchases of what is now the equivalent of five weeks of TS vacation ownership, with MF's of around $1800/year. (This includes a wonderful "value" resort on Waikiki which I purchased for $2500 with a MF of $315/year.) Admittedly, I don't have the "best" purchase value you will hear about, I'm very happy with what we currently have all via resale.

Again, congrats on finding timeshare ownership . . . and this group!

[KathyJed Member Find all posts View Profile Close KathyJed]

Welsom to FF.

I am also a FF owner, and I'm going to slightly disagree with Yvonne. I have exchanged into Hawaii 2 BD using ony 154,000 FF points thru nightly stays. You can book these 10 months out, and whenever I want Hawaii or the Carribbean or Mexico I always book 10 months to the day. It's a cheaper use of points than using the FF system. THs only diadvantage that I've seen is that I can't increase the unit size the way I can when I book thru weeks.

Kathy

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

Kathy,

I think we're saying the same thing. I acknowledged that FF/Wyndham points owners have used points (in some case minimal points) to exchange into Hawaii. I do not think, however, that 154k points is enough to get a week in any of the Hawaiian FF/Wyndham resorts through FSP. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I think that the points charts that I've seen have FSP weeks starting at something over 200k points. I also do not believe that 154k points represents a week of "ownership" at the Wyndham Waikiki (or whatever the resort name is).

In recent years, exchanging into the Big Island FF/Wyndham resorts has been relatively easy with low point value weeks due to the bulk space banks. My Kingsgate 2BR unit, which is a 126k "valued" week if it were in FSP, got us a 2BR unit in Kona. This has especially been the case when RCI gives preferential trading power "within" FF/Wyndham as an "internal exchange".

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

Von,

It sounds like the 154,000 points for a week in Hawaii was done through Plus Partners and would be a red 2BR week via RCI Points resorts.