NOTE: Much of the information included in this post is valid, but as of January, 2011, some major changes occurred within the Wyndham system concerning usage of points. To get the most current information, please click on this post.
Previously known as Fairfield Timeshares, the Wyndham system is one of the largest timeshare systems in the world. They offer quality resorts all over the United States, as well as some affiliate resorts in foreign countries.
When the timeshare idea first began, companies sold fixed weeks. This meant that you bought a week at a resort in a certain season and unit. There was almost no flexibility as far as trading. However, over time, exchange companies were born and with the creation of RCI and II came the ability to exchange for different resorts, different seasons, different-sized units.
Wyndham also eventually created a point system for its more recent owners, which offered even more flexibility. Fixed week owners were given the option to buy into the point system, but didn’t necessarily have to. Those who opted for the points program purchased deeded property, which can be passed on to someone else, just like the properties of the fixed week owners.
There are some major advantages to the Wyndham points system, a notable one being that you can go to any Wyndham resort, not just the one that you own. Also, you do not have to go for a full week, but can divide your vacation time into smaller blocks of days if you desire. The system requires you to use more points for weekend nights, so you may want to try to book trips on weekdays, instead.
If you are traveling alone, or with one other person, you might take advantage of a studio, or smaller unit, which requires less points. The season in which you travel also influences the number of points you will need to use. Within a resort, certain units may require a greater amount of points, such as a Presidential Unit, an oceanfront unit, or a higher floor. Sometimes newer resorts, or resorts in high demand areas, like Hawaii, may require higher point values to stay.
Let’s look at the points chart for Wyndham Royal Vista in Pompano Beach, Florida, located right on the beach. Let’s say you are planning a week’s trip for 3 adults during prime time, and you have decided that you would like a 2-bedroom villa. According to the chart, that will cost you 203,000 points. You really don’t want to spend quite that many, as you were hoping to save some for another trip. So, back to the chart. You decide that probably you could really get by with a 1-bedroom, as it has a king bed and a sleeper sofa.
The beach view would be nice, but since the resort is on the beach, and you’ll be there for several days, you really don’t care too much about the view from your unit. This resort offers a “point saver” option, which is basically a unit with an obstructed view, so you decide on that, instead. And, if you move your trip back a week, it will put you in high time, instead of prime time, thus saving you more points. Then, instead of booking Sunday to Sunday, you decide to leave on Saturday, which will save you an expensive weekend day. So now, you’re looking at 90,000 points instead of 203,000 points. You’ve saved so many points, you could go for almost two weeks!
By making some adjustments, you have saved 113,000 points! Of course, you might not want to make all these concessions, but the point is that if you examine the options carefully, you may be able to use less points.
You can also use your Wyndham points for trading into RCI. You call your Wyndham counselor, and deposit a designated number of points into the RCI system. They assign you a resort, unit size, and season for trading purposes and you use this deposit to search RCI’s inventory for your vacation. Often you can “trade up,” getting a larger unit, or a better season. You can also trade back into Wyndham using fewer points, but you will have to pay the RCI exchange fee.
We have four other posts covering the Wyndham Timeshare System. You might check these out for additional information: An Overview of the Wyndham System, a Wyndham RCI system explanation, a Wyndham Wrap-up, and using the Wyndham Points Chart. Overall, the Wyndham points system offers a great deal of flexibility and allows you to plan some great vacations!
If you found this helpful, click the Facebook Like button below or Tweet it.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I recently purchased a Wyndham timeshare. I am told buying in Alexandria is one of the top rated locations. Is this true or is there no difference between williamsburg vs alexandria vs hawaii?
Yes, Alexandria is a top-rated location, and a salesman who works there will try to sell his resort, so he’s going to tell you that you want to buy there so you can book it easily.
We purchased 4 Wyndham contracts, all resale: 2 in Myrtle Beach, Nashville and Branson. We bought the Myrtle Beach because we were teachers, had summers off, and wanted to go, then. Being owners, we could book 11 months out. It’s pretty hard to book Myrtle Beach in the summer, especially 4th of July week. Now that we’re retired, we wish we hadn’t bought Myrtle Beach, because summers there are crazy and we prefer to go in the spring. We could have bought at a Wyndham resort where the maintenance fees are lower, and still easily booked into Myrtle Beach any time but in the summer.
We have booked Alexandria, National Harbor, Kona Hawaaiian Village and just about any other Wyndham you can think of, at 10 months out or less. If you plan ahead, you should have no problem–just be aware of the exact date that you can book, and make the call or go online. The bottom line is: POINTS ARE POINTS. Go for the lower maintenance fees, making sure it’s a place you like to go to, just in case they change stuff! If you keep reading some of our posts, you can learn a lot about timesharing. Good luck!
{ 1 trackback }