Help with Wyndham purchase decision.

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

I'm pretty new to these boards and I've been reading a little about Wyndham and see that most of you Wyndham owners are not happy with the new changes to the renting/borrowing of points. But I have been thinking of purchasing a Wyndham contract because I have been renting from Wyndham owners lately because they have great locations in cities as opposed to resort towns only and I do about 1-2 city trips a year and prefer a timeshare if there is one over hotels. I used to be a loyal Marriott rewards customer but they keep raising the points and now I'm not sure it's worth it anymore to keep staying with them. So........now that I see everyone mad at Wyndham, I thought maybe it is a good time to find a cheap contract from a disgruntled owner. I would be using the points myself. I'm thinking about buying a bienniel or trienniel use contract (if they exist) and banking and borrowing like I do with my RCI points and DVC contracts. Does Wyndham work like that too? Can I buy a bienniel contract and bank forward to have more points to do a city vacation in say San Francisco, DC or San Antonio? Has anyone done this with Wyndham? Is a 120,000 point contract any good? I'm trying to keep my expenses low since I already own 5 other timeshares. Thanks for any advice.

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

You are correct that Wyndham owners are not happy with disallowing of transfer of points between owners. But, we bitch and moan a lot. For those who can survive the changes we are still relatively happy. That one change did a great deal of damage to many.

Wyndham does have a feature called "pooling" which makes points available 3 years from the date of pooling but really only extends points usage another 2 yrs.

You probably would be better off joining

http://forums.WyndhamOwners.org

and exploring there.

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

Still a great system at resale cost

While the change in renting points is a negative and all owners should work to get it reversed or at least modified overall Wyndham points at resale remain one of the true values in all of timesharing. They have over 100 great locations internally including many urban areas ignored by most timeshare companies and the cost to buy resale is incredibly cheap - fees reasonable. A full RCI account comes along for free adding more value and ONLY if purchased resale.

Buy & enjoy.

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

While the change in renting points is a negative and all owners should work to get it reversed or at least modified overall Wyndham points at resale remain one of the true values in all of timesharing. They have over 100 great locations internally including many urban areas ignored by most timeshare companies and the cost to buy resale is incredibly cheap - fees reasonable. A full RCI account comes along for free adding more value and ONLY if purchased resale.

Buy & enjoy.

I've seen some nice contracts cheap on ebay. I already have an RCI weeks and points account so do they extend your contract length or it becomes a permanent account that I never have to renew again on my own? I know RCI and Wyndham are related corporations with Cendent, right? Or whoever they are this year.

I was just interested for the reason you say, that they have urban timeshares which everyone else except Marriott seems to ignore. But since Marriott is not doing right by their owners either and they are much more expensive than Wyndham I decided to look into Wyndham instead.

So is a small contract like 120,000 points bienniel enough to get 2 weekends a year in the city?

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

You are correct that Wyndham owners are not happy with disallowing of transfer of points between owners. But, we bitch and moan a lot. For those who can survive the changes we are still relatively happy. That one change did a great deal of damage to many.

Wyndham does have a feature called "pooling" which makes points available 3 years from the date of pooling but really only extends points usage another 2 yrs.

You probably would be better off joining

http://forums.WyndhamOwners.org

and exploring there.

Thanks I just joined. I guess I'll have a look around before I jump on any ebay auctions.
Also another question, does it matter where you own? Like with my RCI points I think that points are points no matter where they are. But with my DVC it's important to own where you want to visit because of the home booking advantage. Is it really important where or can I buy in Branson and use them in Washington DC?

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

I've seen some nice contracts cheap on ebay. I already have an RCI weeks and points account so do they extend your contract length or it becomes a permanent account that I never have to renew again on my own? I know RCI and Wyndham are related corporations with Cendent, right? Or whoever they are this year.

I was just interested for the reason you say, that they have urban timeshares which everyone else except Marriott seems to ignore. But since Marriott is not doing right by their owners either and they are much more expensive than Wyndham I decided to look into Wyndham instead.

So is a small contract like 120,000 points bienniel enough to get 2 weekends a year in the city?

They (RCI) will refund your payments. Thats a little low on points as you can't depend on split weeks always being available especially in prime times. Usually there is a minimum of 4 days. I'd shoot for 180,000 - 225,000 points.When pooled you can soend them as needed and have plenty in reserve.

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

They (RCI) will refund your payments. Thats a little low on points as you can't depend on split weeks always being available especially in prime times. Usually there is a minimum of 4 days. I'd shoot for 180,000 - 225,000 points.When pooled you can soend them as needed and have plenty in reserve.

Really, RCI will actually refund me money? I find that hard to believe. Are you sure they wont just give me a credit for future use on a vacation?

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

It can for some.

For most people points are points and they are best served buying for low MF's.

Since you mentioned Washington DC you may want to enquire further on this aspect. There are a very few where it is better to own to obtain specific times and generally pay higher MF's.

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

Really, RCI will actually refund me money? I find that hard to believe. Are you sure they wont just give me a credit for future use on a vacation?

Maybe not. You already have RCI point account. I will assume you will get a free RCI week account because of that. When you join Wyndham, you will get another "free" week account, and you can not cancel one of them. If you have another week account, RCI can cancel it and refund you. In fact, they should do that when they set up your RCI point account.

120k bi-annual is not enough. You can only make 1 free transaction per year, to try cover 2 short stay maybe a little bit harder sometimes. Plus, each stay you will need probably 63HK if you get 1BD or more so you need at least 126k. I probably go for more, since weekend usually cost more.

If you skip the holiday or special weekend, you can follow RCI's model, point is point except on the MF. Most people buy Wyndham so they can see different places, not just to stay in the same resort.

Jya-Ning

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

Jya-Ning,
How much is each transaction with Wyndham? If I decide to do 2 or 3 a year only the first is free? That is until they decide to charge for that too. It should be free for any Wyndham exchange. That sucks.

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

Each 77k give you one free transaction credit. Usually, bi-year is total transaction divide by 2 (since you may need this to make reservation at the other year even if you just make for the year your point is given), not sure in this case you will get 1 free transaction or not.

If you run out, believe the new rate is $30 on-line and $59 if you call a VC.

However, everything you do in the same day is considering 1 transaction. Thus, you can arrange 2 trips and use only 1 transaction

If your goal is 2 split trip year in year out, although sometimes 1 transaction will do, I will not count on that.

Jya-Ning

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

I can live with $30 but if they jack the fees up like they did for the guest certificates to 500% then it won't be such a great deal. Thanks.