Newbie Questions

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

Hello all. I have been reading this forum for a couple of months now and it has been very helpful! I have quite a few questions but I'm sure you will all help me out!!

I am in the process of purchasing 238K points at the Kingsgate, Williamsburg resale. I purchased the points for $1750. The yearly MF are $720. I thought that I had made a good purchase but now I'm not sure. The add on ebay said the unit was a floating points- but when the owner sent the contract to me it specified week #27. What I found out was that the owner of the timeshare is in the Fairshare Plus program. So that makes my deed a converted fixed week deed, not a UDI correct?? Is the only benefit of having UDI points over FSP points that you have 10 months prior to reserve your vacation rather than 13? Am I correct that the FSP program automatically inrolls my FF points into the RCI program? Is there anything else I should know??

Subject #2- My husband and his brother spend 4 nights in Las Vegas around March of every year to watch a Nascar race. Every year I go on expedia or whatever website and reserve Thur- Mon. I was planning on using some of the points from this timeshare purchase to reserve them a room, but I noticed that the points chart on alot of the resorts require a Fri, Sat, or Sun check in or out. Are they strict on this check in policy?? Or am I not reading it correctly?

Subject #3- My husband and I own 1 RED week/1 BD in Sedona- which is an ILX resort (enrolled in the II program). Can anyone tell me if they have used the PIC Plus program and what they think of it. I believe it would give me an additional 105,000 points. Will I loose all of the owner benefits that I have at ILX?

Thanks everyone!

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

See my answers in green. Based on your questions, I highly recommend you go here and read the Wyndham/Fairfield Primer.

Hello all. I have been reading this forum for a couple of months now and it has been very helpful! I have quite a few questions but I'm sure you will all help me out!!

I am in the process of purchasing 238K points at the Kingsgate, Williamsburg resale. I purchased the points for $1750. The yearly MF are $720. I thought that I had made a good purchase but now I'm not sure. The add on ebay said the unit was a floating points- but when the owner sent the contract to me it specified week #27. What I found out was that the owner of the timeshare is in the Fairshare Plus program. So that makes my deed a converted fixed week deed, not a UDI correct?? Yes it does and you have one of the lowest maintenance fee basis in Wyndham/FSP.Is the only benefit of having UDI points over FSP points that you have 10 months prior to reserve your vacation rather than 13? No you are confused. With your converted fixed week 27, 13 to 10 months prior to your fixed week 27 you can reserve it for 3, 4, or 7 nights. That's it during this time period. At 10 months you can use your 238k points to stay anywhere in the Wyndham FSP resort system. The difference is if you have an UDI deed, you can reserve any week for 3, 4, or 7 nights 13 to 10 months before check in.Am I correct that the FSP program automatically inrolls my FF points into the RCI program? Again, you have the terminology but not the accuracy. With your FSP membership, you get a RCI Weeks exchange account. You use this account to deposit FSP point weeks into RCI for exchange. The number of points required are based on a set legend/schedule that depends on the unit size and season.Is there anything else I should know?? Yes, lots and lots. It will take you several months of reading to learn how sophisticated the Wyn/FF point system is in order to utilize it to its fullest. However, it is simple to use to book a reservation and go on vacation.

Subject #2- My husband and his brother spend 4 nights in Las Vegas around March of every year to watch a Nascar race. Every year I go on expedia or whatever website and reserve Thur- Mon. I was planning on using some of the points from this timeshare purchase to reserve them a room, but I noticed that the points chart on alot of the resorts require a Fri, Sat, or Sun check in or out. Are they strict on this check in policy?? If it is during a Prime Season week, yes it is strictly enforced. You are also limited to 3, 4, or 7 night stays during Prime Season. During any other season, you can check in or out on other days of the week.Or am I not reading it correctly?You are reading it correctly.

Subject #3- My husband and I own 1 RED week/1 BD in Sedona- which is an ILX resort (enrolled in the II program). Can anyone tell me if they have used the PIC Plus program and what they think of it. I believe it would give me an additional 105,000 points. Will I loose all of the owner benefits that I have at ILX? You can only PIC a week if you make a purchase directly from Wyn/FF developer. If you are not doing that, forget about PIC.

Thanks everyone!

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

I think you got a very good deal, $0.07 per pt purchase w/MF of just $3.03/pt. If you had 238K UDI points, your MF would be higher. Because it's a converted (prime) fixed week worth a lot of points, your MF is lower. In the long run, you'll benefit more from this than you would from a couple extra months to reserve at your home resort.

A key thing here is to verify that what you are buying is ALREADY converted to points and not just a plain, fixed week.

As for reserving Thu-Mon in March (prime season), you'll probably need to reserve 3 nights, either Thu-Sun or Fri-Mon... and wait to take your chances on adding the first or last night until 3 months out. It may also require a room change, though they seem to try to keep people in the same room if the unit type is identical for both reservations. Fortunately, a Thursday or a Sunday night at a hotel in Las Vegas is not generally as expensive as Friday or Saturday nights. If you don't get the Wyndham room for that night, he may need to switch hotels and pay cash for that night. See if you can select the 3 night stay that more likely to be busiest of the 4 nights in LV.

A 3-night weekend in LV during prime time is ~ 69,000 pts in their smallest unit - 1BR Suite. The extra weeknight, if you get it, will be 16,000 pts more.

Yes, you'll be given an RCI membership as part of this ownership. I have not used PIC, sorry. HTH!

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

Thank you both for your responses. I have been keeping an eye out for a low MF and this one was a buy it now from a man selling for his mom and dad. I thought I knew what I was doing and I grabbed it but then got really worried after he sent me the contract with the fixed week. But it sounds like it will be ok. He said his parents are already in the FSP program (and I called to verify). From what I understood from the members directory (that I found on this site) I think I will have to pay a fee for the FSP along with the MF? I was planning on calling Wyndham again tomorrow since I didn't think to ask that question when I had them on the phone. Even if it does not work out for his Vegas trip, I know we will use the points somewhere else. I was spending $600- $800 on a 2 bedroom for his Vegas trip, so that right there is the MF for the points, plus I will have points left over. So I think I will be happy with the points. Thanks again for your help!!!

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

oh.... I forgot to mention.. I have tried clicking on the link that you gave me (mshatty) to the Wyndham Resorts Forum. I had even signed up for membership and was approved, but I cannot get it to load for some reason. It keeps freezing up on me. Do you know why this is happening?

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

Not important, as you did not buy from the developer, but FYI to PIC your other TS, it must be affiliated with RCI. You mentioned II; some resorts are affiliated with both II and RCI.

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

oh.... I forgot to mention.. I have tried clicking on the link that you gave me (mshatty) to the Wyndham Resorts Forum. I had even signed up for membership and was approved, but I cannot get it to load for some reason. It keeps freezing up on me. Do you know why this is happening?

Try one of these - it freeezes for me, too

The web site can be reached at

Welcome to Wyndham Owners! (Wyndham Owners)
or
Welcome to Wyndham Owners! (Wyndham Owners)


The forums can be reached from a link on the web site or by entering one of the following

Wyndham Resorts Forums • Index page
or
Wyndham Resorts Forums • Index page
or
Wyndham Resorts Forums • Index page

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

Thank you. I was able to get in with that link!