Timeshare Resale

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Expert Advice For Using Fairfield/Wyndham Points

Frank and Carol are retired and they absolutely love to travel. They spend about 35 weeks staying at the finest resorts around the world. Frank and Carol schedule one luxury cruise every year and the balance of their eight months of vacation is spent in timeshares. They currently own 2.7 million Fairfield points. This represents about half of their timeshare assets. Frank was kind enough to share his advice on how to maximize the use of Fairfield/Wyndham points.

Frank said the most important thing is to understand how the FairShare Plus System works. He suggests that you get very familiar with the Members Directory. There is a wealth of good information contained in the book. It explains the different types of reservations and how they work. The Members Directory has outstanding details on all of the 150 Wyndham resorts throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and South Pacific. The directory details the facilities at each resort and exactly how many points are required for your reservation. There are four seasons at Wyndham resorts: Prime, High, Value and Quiet. Since all points expire in 12 months, you must learn how to manage your points wisely and Frank is an expert at this. He is always able to stay at his favorite resorts in the desired rooms without wasting a single point in any year! If you have points that are about to expire, Frank recommends that you deposit them in the Points Credit Pool to extend the life or use them to purchase airline or cruise tickets so you do not lose them.

The key to Frank’s success is good planning. He maintains two separate calendars on his laptop computer. One is the couple's actual vacation planner that tells them the details of all their trips. It is filled out for the next 15 years, through 2022. Obviously, most of these plans are tentative but currently their vacation reservations are very solid through 2009. You need to be flexible when necessary. The second calendar is Frank's reservation schedule. This tells him exactly when to call the resort and make his reservations. Most are made 13 months in advance. He always calls on the first eligible day at 8 a.m. Eastern Time. If he happens to be on the West Coast, he will set his alarm for 4:30 a.m. so he is always one of the first to make a reservation. Frank knows exactly how many points are needed for every reservation. He takes full advantage of his Platinum Status in the Wyndham system to add more value to his points. This allows him to reserve earlier and often upgrade to a nicer unit.

Frank and Carol like the quality of the Wyndham resorts. They have wisely purchased most of the points at their favorite resorts. They really enjoy staying at the Welk Resort in Escondido, California where they own 1,200,000 points. They love the big rooms, separate adult swimming pool, golf courses and live theater. The couple also had a great time at the new Wyndham Vacation Ownership Resort at Lake Tahoe, The Resort at South Shore. The property is co-owned by Wyndham and their partner, Trendwest. WorldMark manages the resort and they were very accommodating. Frank and Carol liked the resort so much; they decided to purchase another 140,000 points so they could spend an extra week at beautiful Lake Tahoe. Maintenance fees always play a role in the couple's buying decisions. The Resort at South Shore currently has the lowest maintenance fees in the entire Wyndham system at $3.39 per 1000 points.

Here is the bottom line: managing timeshare points is more complex than managing a traditional timeshare week. However, some policies are the same for both. The most important rule to follow is plan ahead and always call on the first day you can make a reservation. This will allow you to get true pleasure from the perfect vacation with your family and friends. If you have any questions about timeshare points, please call one of our friendly experts at 1-800-996-2001. Great Deals on Wyndham Point Resorts