Timeshare Points vs. Weeks

How or where do you find the resorts through redweek that have points(how many to get into) and are availible? This is all new to me

david1432 wrote:

How or where do you find the resorts through redweek that have points(how many to get into) and are availible? This is all new to me

Hi David,

We don't have a list of points resorts. The best thing is decide what point system your interested in. Then, either look at our timeshare company page for that company (i.e. Trendwest/WorldMark or Fairfield), or go to the company's website for a full list of participating resorts. Some point systems like RCI have certain resorts participating in their points program, but not all owners at the resort will have a points membership. If they bought into the resort prior to the RCI Points program, they would have had to convert their timeshare over to points in order to be part of that program.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Marty

marty8084 wrote:

david1432 wrote:

How or where do you find the resorts through redweek that have points(how many to get into) and are availible? This is all new to me

Hi David,

We don't have a list of points resorts. The best thing is decide what point system your interested in. Then, either look at our timeshare company page for that company (i.e. Trendwest/WorldMark or Fairfield), or go to the company's website for a full list of participating resorts. Some point systems like RCI have certain resorts participating in their points program, but not all owners at the resort will have a points membership. If they bought into the resort prior to the RCI Points program, they would have had to convert their timeshare over to points in order to be part of that program.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Marty

The Bluegreen Vacation Club resort chain is another good points based group. There is no fee for exchanging among its members and unused points roll over into the following year (with some limitations). Fairfield/Wyndham lets you keep points you can't use if you put them into the Points Pool. This gives them a 2 year life, but there is a small fee and it must be done rather early in your use year. However, you can convert unused points into weeks to bank with RCI right up to the end.

If you have RCI, the directory tells you which of their resorts are RCI Points Resorts. Fairfield/Wyndham can access those also through Plus Partners.

If you are trying to rent through RedWeek rather than buying, it may not really matter to you whether or not it is a points based resort. The owners know what they can offer! A true fixed week owner can rent out the week owned. A floating time owner can offer any week in his "color" period (or lesser) even if his contract is based on a specific unit and week.

An owner in a points system can usually offer any time or location in his group for which he has enough points. BUT IF A SPECIFIC UNIT TYPE AND WEEK IS NOT INDICATED IN THE OFFER ON REDWEEKS FOR RENT, THE OWNER MUST CHECK AVAILABILITY TO SEE IF HE CAN GET WHAT YOU WANT AND CONFIRM IT FOR YOU. With the best will in the world, he can't get what is no longer there, so ask early and lock in what you want. The more specific your needs, the farther out you must act. For prime dates at a great location, 6 months out is probably NOT soon enough.

MD

I was checking the Timeshare Exchange (New) for Red Week and saw all the comparisons with the other exchange companies. It seems Red week has them all but I do not understand why only Argentina in South America is listed, what about Peru, Bolivia, Colombia. I have exchanged through II to visit these countries in the past 4 years, and we are considering doing the same with Red Week. Please clarify.

miriamj2 wrote:

I was checking the Timeshare Exchange (New) for Red Week and saw all the comparisons with the other exchange companies. It seems Red week has them all but I do not understand why only Argentina in South America is listed, what about Peru, Bolivia, Colombia. I have exchanged through II to visit these countries in the past 4 years, and we are considering doing the same with Red Week. Please clarify.

Hi Maryam,

We list all those countries under South America, http://www.redweek.com/browse#south_america but it appears that only have an exchange available at this time in Argentina.

Please keep checking back for more inventory as we continue to grow.

Thanks, Marty

adahiscout wrote:

james2602 wrote:

what catches my eye is the price you paid vs. what you will get if you sell. using the resale price as your expected return . my points cost vs. selling is about the same. where as with my fixed weeks if i were to sell the price i would likely receive is greater than what i paid.

Actually, getting into Fairfield/Wyndham would not have been that much of a savings Resale because the Resale points, as I understand it, do not automatically get into Fairshare Plus which is what facilitates the free exchanges among FF/W resorts. To get that, you would probably have to buy some new points and 105K is usually the minimum buy. This may be a new policy. I'm not sure. But I remember seeing something about that recently.

MD

Where did you hear that? It is NOT true for Wyndham (FF) Fairshare Points. It is true for some point systems such as Sunterra where you can sell the underlying deeded week but the Club membership has to be re-purchased. In Wyndham if you pay the $.03 or less for resale points (vs the $.12 or more they charge retail) your points spend exactly the same way as those far more expensive retail ones. Resale Fairshare Points are one of the great deals in multi-resort timeshare systems right now. Until Wyndham wakes up and starts doing things to raise - not depress - the value of resales they will continue to be a great deal an thus make retail Wyndham Points a ripoff.

jc196 wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

james2602 wrote:

what catches my eye is the price you paid vs. what you will get if you sell. using the resale price as your expected return . my points cost vs. selling is about the same. where as with my fixed weeks if i were to sell the price i would likely receive is greater than what i paid.

Actually, getting into Fairfield/Wyndham would not have been that much of a savings Resale because the Resale points, as I understand it, do not automatically get into Fairshare Plus which is what facilitates the free exchanges among FF/W resorts. To get that, you would probably have to buy some new points and 105K is usually the minimum buy. This may be a new policy. I'm not sure. But I remember seeing something about that recently.

MD

Where did you hear that? It is NOT true for Wyndham (FF) Fairshare Points. It is true for some point systems such as Sunterra where you can sell the underlying deeded week but the Club membership has to be re-purchased. In Wyndham if you pay the $.03 or less for resale points (vs the $.12 or more they charge retail) your points spend exactly the same way as those far more expensive retail ones. Resale Fairshare Points are one of the great deals in multi-resort timeshare systems right now. Until Wyndham wakes up and starts doing things to raise - not depress - the value of resales they will continue to be a great deal an thus make retail Wyndham Points a ripoff.

I'm not home right now to check sources. I'll try to get back to you oh that. There is also the question of VIP status achieved via secondary market points. You may not be able to do that. (It has been a continuing argument and I'm not sure how it has come out!)

MD

I would look into Wyndham points. They own RCI and they have two books available one for their own properties and one for RCI properties. They will convert your timeshare to points so you can vacation anywhere and usually at a gold crown caliber.

mike1536 wrote:

sheilaa39 wrote:

I just attended the Sunterra pitch at my resort, Royal Palm in St. Maarten. They offered that my Weeks 9-12 are worth 7000 points each, but I must buy 3000 points at $6000 for each week---for the lowest Club membership. (They claimed new customers would pay $31,000 for my ownership---which seems it would be worth the top membership at that cost!) Then a jump to $1000 in each maintenance fee, and I would not be guaranteed a return to my resort on my weeks, because I was giving up the leasehold. Who's to say I would find other vacations where/when I wanted? And then lots of confusing fees & rules---guess its's not for me, but I worry Sunterra won't have my interests at heart in my home resort now because I am not a Club participant....It's mind boggling, but making money for them!

I also just returned from Sunterra St. Maarten, after having converted weeks to points. Thankfully, you didn't fall for their sales pitch, as it was way off base. You should be able to convert all of your weeks at once and buy 3000 additional points for the priviledge of doing so for under $6000 total. Your weekly MF should stay the same if you don't give up your deeds (just deposit them for points) and you will have Club dues of about $500 per year including II. They will probably pay most of your first years' dues when you negotiate the initial purchase. I've collected 3 more deeds myself since converting and my regreat is that I didn't have written into my first contract that I could have a year to convert more weeks to points without having to buy more points. I plan to convert it anyway. Good luck to you!

------ I too attended a Sunterra Sales Pitch in Scottsdale, Arizona. Only it would have cost me over $13000 to buy into their system. Sunterra seems to have a good system, but it’s more complex than RCI points. The resort is part of a 19 resort trust and after reading their contract it seems to me that you really don’t own any Real Estate, just a membership. I have seen websites including the previously mentioned sellmytimesharenow.com that will sell Club Sunterra memberships at a lower price. Knowing how these guys make their money, I’m sure they'll accept next to nothing as a final offer.

FYI about four years ago I bought a Sunterra property in Arizona worth 6,500 points, and at the same time I converted 3 other Sunterra properties to points, and I did it over the phone, as I recall it cost me about $5,500 to convert them, and I ended up with 30,000 sun optons, it has been great for us, we go to St.Maarteen at least 2 weeks every year plus give the kids plenty of points to go where they choose, I actually have a friend using some of my points as I write this in St. Maarteen 8/9/07. I understand your reluctance to give up your prime weeks at Royal palm because I can yell you they are hard to book all of Feb. and and the first two weeks of March there the last two weeks of March seem to be a little more available, I have had to settle for the Flamingo Beach a couple of times in Feb., not that bad but we prefer Royal Palm, I also own 2 other non Sunterra properties that Sunterra allows me to convert to sun options every year for a fee of only $100. ea. that program is called (club select) so now instead selling those other properties for huge loss they give me an extra 16,000 sun options every year. I suspect the new owners of Sunterra will probably get rid of that program, but until they do it has really been good for us

jennie wrote:

Points systems do have some potential disadvantages. If you wish to reserve a high demand period ( e.g. Christmas, President's week), you need to call on the earliest possible date. With Fairfield, you can confirm at the resort from which you own points 13 months in advance. All others must wait until the 10 month opening reservation date, and by then the week you want may be unavailable. (This is the basis of a class action lawsuit now pending against Cendant and Fairfield).

The points must be paid for and used in the year received, or otherwise deposited with one of the exchange companies, thus incurring additional fees and rules governing usage.

But if you would like to be assured of the same week at a particular resort, especially in a high demand period, it is better to own a fixed week. If you wish to go somewhere else in a particular year, you have the right to rent your week for a good price. You can use the money to rent exactly what you want from another fixed or floating week owner through Redweek ads

Points based systems do not allow you to rent out the weeks or nights you have reserved. You may obtain "guest certificates" (usually for a fee of $49. to $59.) but their rules forbid you to do so for profit. People who have posted rental ads on web sites have been "caught" and have had the week cancelled. This can result in a lawsuit from the renter who does not get to use the week agreed upon. PLEASE SEE BELOW. THIS SEEMS TO BE ABOUT RCI POINTS, NOT RESORT GROUP POINT SYSTEMS.

With a fixed week, you can space-bank it with RCI or II or one of the smaller exchange companies up to 2 years in advance of the check-in date. Some resorts even allow you to do so without paying the maintenance fees until they are actually due a year or two later. If you enter an on-going search for a particular area or resort and season, you will have a greater chance of obtaining it, as your search will be "sitting there" longer and may catch other fixed week deposits coming in over a year in advance. Most points owners cannot, or do not, deposit and request weeks that far in advance so you have less "competition."

SAME WHETHER THE DEPOSITED WEEK WAS FIXED, FLOATING, OR POINTS BASED. YOU CHOOSE A SPECIFIC WEEK AND DEPOSIT IT.

If, after doing extensive research, you decide that one of the Points programs best meets your vacation needs, consider purchasing on the resale market, which includes owners who may post ads on Redweek, Ebay, etc...You will save huge bucks compared to the price you will pay buying directly from the developer.

If you are speaking about RCI POINTS, you are right about not being able to rent out the week you "paid for" with points, but I was not aware that any of the resort group's own point systems prohibited renting. The ones we have do not object. (Fairfield and Bluegreen) Some resorts even encourage it since that brings in new potential buyers. If we can't use all our points in a particular year, of course, we can reserve a week and bank it with an exchange company under its rules, whatever they may be. Some resort groups have additional systems for "rolling over" points to the next year, using them toward Maintenance Fees, etc. I can also rent my excess Fairfield points to another member.

We "pay for our points" when we buy. There are yearly maintenance fees (based on the points we own) and sometimes others costs such as Club Memberships, but something similar is probably true of fixed weeks also.

If someone has the perfect week in the perfect place for them, a fixed week is---perfect. But there are only so many of the Perfect weeks in existence, whether you are speaking of buying them Fixed or getting them with points. All the law suits in the world will not create more Christmas week units in Orlando or 500 Week units in Daytona. (Those are built by the Developers folks are so fond of trashing.) Why should the person who purchased his contract at a resort he likes NOT have first choice there?

That said, not all point system resort groups do give priority at the location where you bought. They may, however, give a VIP owner the opportunity to reserve earlier than a small owner. Or allow full week reservations earlier than partial week reservations. Or any of a hundred variations.

So the generic answer to Fixed vs. Points is that Fixed weeks are simple and predictable; points are almost infinitely flexible, which is a good thing but require more planning and knowledge of how your resort group works. Which is why I would recommend starting with a moderate buy from the Developer, so he will build more of what you want and will try to educate you in how best to utilize his system.

If you want more points in THE SAME RESORT GROUP, you might want to buy Resale later. But don't buy resale thinking that all points-based resort systems have the same rules or define their points in exactly the same way. THEY DO NOT! This can lead to major grief and misunderstandings between you and the Resale seller. Price per point means absolutely nothing if you don't know what the points will "buy" within their own system. MD

james2602 wrote:

what catches my eye is the price you paid vs. what you will get if you sell. using the resale price as your expected return . my points cost vs. selling is about the same. where as with my fixed weeks if i were to sell the price i would likely receive is greater than what i paid.

adahiscout wrote:

james2602 wrote:

what catches my eye is the price you paid vs. what you will get if you sell. using the resale price as your expected return . my points cost vs. selling is about the same. where as with my fixed weeks if i were to sell the price i would likely receive is greater than what i paid.

===== Why would someone want to pay more for a fixed week when a person can get so much more using resort based points? ( Unless, of course, you have a really great week in a hard to get location!) I've looked at the "For Sale" lists often posted at fixed week resorts (as their original buyers age). They are generally pretty low. Some owners would gladly give a week away to avoid maintenance fees. Of course, owners who bought 20 years ago may not have paid much originally compared to 2007 prices, but if maintenance fees did not rise and keep the resort in good shape, who will want it? Except maybe to bank with RCI WEEKS and annoy the folks who exchange into it! MD

the last thing i am is knowledgeable, but my 4 weeks of fixed are currently selling for more than i paid, whereas, my sunterra points ( same dollars expended ) provide only 2 weeks resort time mand i could buy at half what i paid sunterra for them.

james2602 wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

james2602 wrote:

what catches my eye is the price you paid vs. what you will get if you sell. using the resale price as your expected return . my points cost vs. selling is about the same. where as with my fixed weeks if i were to sell the price i would likely receive is greater than what i paid.

===== Why would someone want to pay more for a fixed week when a person can get so much more using resort based points? ( Unless, of course, you have a really great week in a hard to get location!) I've looked at the "For Sale" lists often posted at fixed week resorts (as their original buyers age). They are generally pretty low. Some owners would gladly give a week away to avoid maintenance fees. Of course, owners who bought 20 years ago may not have paid much originally compared to 2007 prices, but if maintenance fees did not rise and keep the resort in good shape, who will want it? Except maybe to bank with RCI WEEKS and annoy the folks who exchange into it! MD

the last thing i am is knowledgeable, but my 4 weeks of fixed are currently selling for more than i paid, whereas, my sunterra points ( same dollars expended ) provide only 2 weeks resort time mand i could buy at half what i paid sunterra for them.

======== Did you happen to buy your fixed weeks some years before the Sunterra weeks? Where are they?

nope, bought fixed weeks after, at fort myers beach fl.

james2602 wrote:

nope, bought fixed weeks after, at fort myers beach fl.

Ah!~ Very good location. When you say they "are selling" for more that you paid, do you mean you have seen them offered for more or do you know folks who have actually sold them for more? The fact that a RedWeek ad is marked "Sold" does not necessarily mean that the owner got his asking price. (Though I hope he did!) MD

I own both weeks at the Sheraton and Wyndam points. Buying weeks is worth it if you want to go to a hard to get location, often. My friend owns points but bought a 2-bd at Marriott in Aruba, which is extremely difficult to trade into even as a Marriott owner. In that case it was worth it because she goes there every year faithfully, as well as uses her points for other locations and travel. She says she has the best of both products.

I owned a fixed deeded week at a Sunterra resort for over 8 years. I did a straight conversion 2 years ago for $1295. I have been enjoying the flexibility of Sun Option points ever since. I used to be limited to only 7 days but now I have been able to get over 14 days of vacation time by being flexible. SunOptions gives me much more value for my original investment and yearly maintenance fees.

chris460 wrote:

Another thing to consider with points. If you travel within 45 days out, you can rent a resort ( based on availabilty) for no more than 9,000 points. So if you have 45,000 p you could potentially travel on short notice for 5 weeks rather than your 1 fixed week at a red season resort.

One disadvantage to points through RCI is that you can only search 13 months in advance tops! Weeks can search 2 yrs out.

Also, do your homework when trying to convert your points! Not all of your resorts allow you to convert to RCI points even though they are affilliated! Celebrity Weeks Resorts for instance only allow you to convert to points through them!!!!

It should be pointed out as well that RCI only allows short term stays under the Standard Reservation system. Under the Weeks Reservation system in a points account ( which I refer to as Last Call ) you must travel for 1 week!

stevej96 wrote:

chris460 wrote:

Another thing to consider with points. If you travel within 45 days out, you can rent a resort ( based on availabilty) for no more than 9,000 points. So if you have 45,000 p you could potentially travel on short notice for 5 weeks rather than your 1 fixed week at a red season resort.

One disadvantage to points through RCI is that you can only search 13 months in advance tops! Weeks can search 2 yrs out.

Also, do your homework when trying to convert your points! Not all of your resorts allow you to convert to RCI points even though they are affilliated! Celebrity Weeks Resorts for instance only allow you to convert to points through them!!!!

It should be pointed out as well that RCI only allows short term stays under the Standard Reservation system. Under the Weeks Reservation system in a points account ( which I refer to as Last Call ) you must travel for 1 week!

the discounted points of 9000 or less within 45 days only applies to the weeks resorts not points resorts

mike1536 has correctly observed, quoted only in directly pertinent part to my question:

>> One disadvantage to points through RCI is that you can only search 13 months in advance tops! Weeks can search 2 yrs out. << =======================================

Mike: This fact now has me wondering about something......

If a RCI search is initiated by using a "week" which has been (at the week owners' request) converted over to RCI "Points for Deposit", which time frame limits for searching will then apply? 10-13 months, or 2 years???

Since the deposit was originally a "week", maybe the search window is allowed to be 2 years. But since that "week" later became Points for Deposit, at week owner initiative, maybe the 10 month limit for a points search is then automatically inherited instead?

This is not a trick question --- I truly don't know (but I would certainly like to). If I called RCI directly 3 separate times, I'd almost certainly get 3 different answers from a VG on the phone (and it's entirely possible that NONE of those answers would actually be correct or accurate --- RCI phone reps seem very reluctant to EVER admit "I just don't know").

I have actually done exactly the above. Last month with RCI, I converted a February 2008 fixed "week" which I own over to become "Points for Deposit". That accomplished, I then immediately initiated a search for a specific week in February 2009. That's 12 months from the original "week", 17 months from date of my request. RCI accepted my search request (verbally) without hesitation or question, but now I'm wondering if the underlying computer programming won't actually just "block" my request from actual activation until 10 months "out" from the requested February 2009 reservation date.

Any thoughts or insights such a situation, Mike? You may very well have previously done just exactly what I have described above, so you may actually have the necessary direct, personal knowledge and experience on the matter with which to provide an accurate (non-speculation) answer.

Thanks.