Anyone hear of Vacation Station or Bluegreen Vacation Club?

[lovespugs]

I got a telemarketing call earlier this week to attend a travel agency survey and discussion, and for attending I would receive my choice of 3 day, 2 night trips with airfare and hotel. One of the locations was Las Vegas, and DH and I have been talking about visiting Vegas. I figured if the trip were free we could spend a little more money gambling, so I said yes.

DH and I went to the presentation last night at a 'travel agency' called Vacation Station which is affiliated with the Bluegreen company. Apparently Bluegreen buys hotel rooms, cruises, vacation packages, etc. in blocks, and then resells to wholesalers and travel agents. So they decided to create a plan where you buy a membership and then can purchase directly from them.

DH and I weren't interested in buying, so I didn't take any notes, but here's the gist of it. You pay them a one time membership fee ($6,995), one time processing fee ($299), and yearly dues ($180) and in exchange you get four weeks a year at any of their condo resorts and the ability to buy vacation packages, rent hotel rooms, book cruises, etc. directly from them for forever (the membership is transferrable, willable, saleable, etc.).

DH and I walked away thinking that it didn't sound like a bad deal if you were retired. While we're still working though, we just can't possibly travel enough to take advantage of all the savings. Has anyone else heard of this program? I was just wondering if there was any catch. I didn't recognize any of the names of the resorts that were mentioned, so I thought maybe the rooms or the locations weren't the greatest. It was definitely an interesting presentation though, and I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has any experience with this program.

 

[Dean]

These "clubs" are very common. Bluegreen vacation club is OK but not in the league with DVC. It is different with advantages and disadvantages. The packages deals where you buy so many weeks and can use them whenever, where ever within a system are usually not nearly as good as they sound. BG itself has a number of mid level resorts and a few very good ones. There fees are lower than DVC but still high. They work on a points system very similar to DVC but the weekend penalties and ease of use for short stays are far worse than DVC.

 

[Doug Wolfe]

I am not familiar with these companies, but I suspect you would also be locked into certain weeks of the year. That's not the case with DVC, since you can go anytime as long as you have points.

I personally would stick with larger timeshare programs like DVC, Marriott or Hilton Grand Vacation Club.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Doug Wolfe
I am not familiar with these companies, but I suspect you would also be locked into certain weeks of the year. That's not the case with DVC, since you can go anytime as long as you have points.

I personally would stick with larger timeshare programs like DVC, Marriott or Hilton Grand Vacation Club.

Bluegreen VC works on a points system and you are not locked in. There are many timeshares that give you flexibility. In some ways some are better than DVC in that regard but each situation is different.

 

[KristiKelly]

My DH & I sat thru a Bluegreen presentation at Myrtle Beach one time, no intent to buy, it was raining (nothing better to do) and they were going to give us $80. I looked in their book for Orlando destinations, I told them that their places were nothing compared to WDW resorts - not even AllStar. He came back with a very smart remark and put down Disney. I told them that I would much rather pay more for Disney's accomodations than to stay there. It is high, high, high pressure sales, by the time we left they had made us feel like the scum of the earth, poor white trash. I would never buy from them. Just my opinion - hope it helps!

 

[lovespugs]

Thanks for the input all. Like I said, DH and I had no intention of buying, I was just wondering if the program was as good as they made it sound. Luckily we didn't have high pressure sales and they let us walk out the door within five minutes of the end of the presentation with our gifts in hand (our poor personal advisor/salesman was not in the right field).

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by KristiKelly
My DH & I sat thru a Bluegreen presentation at Myrtle Beach one time, no intent to buy, it was raining (nothing better to do) and they were going to give us $80. I looked in their book for Orlando destinations, I told them that their places were nothing compared to WDW resorts - not even AllStar. He came back with a very smart remark and put down Disney. I told them that I would much rather pay more for Disney's accomodations than to stay there. It is high, high, high pressure sales, by the time we left they had made us feel like the scum of the earth, poor white trash. I would never buy from them. Just my opinion - hope it helps!

This is more the norm for timeshare sales. I could rattle off a long list of lies and happenings I have experiinced and even more that I know about including refusing to show people where their children were and locking them in a room for 6 hours until they bought (both in MX). Westgate in Orlando is right up there on pressure tactics as well.

Anytime one attends a sales presentation they must separate out the event and the system as they are two totally different things. Most options are available resale like DVC and the savings is potentially far greater than one can do with DVC. I've bought timeshares for 10 cents on the dollar and have never bought from the developer. If one likes BG resorts and locations, points can be had for a very reasonable price. They have good resorts in places like Sanibel, Orlando, Charleston, Big Cedar Lodge and Gatllinburg. I've owned weeks at a resort they are involved with but they never were able to do points in that country due to the laws there. I did investigate fairly extensively as I thought they were going to offer us the conversion and i wanted to be prepared, but it never happened.

 

[dvc_john]

I really doon't know anything about BlueGreen, but did notice recently that the 'Oasis Lakes' property on I-drive (not far from Sheraton Vistana Villages and Marriott Grande Vista) is now a BlueGreen resort named 'Fountains'.