Best TS to supplement my DVC (170 points at BLT)

[myxdvz]

Hi everyone, I have 170 points at BLT and am thinking of getting another non-Disney TS. I went to an HGVC presentation and yes, while I did sign their contract - I plan to rescind immediately (I hated that I had to commit before they give you ANY materials).

Anyway, My kids are young 2, 4, 6 (plus one coming) so we got DVC last year. That should take care of one of our vacations (not summer). I'm looking for another TS that will handle our non-Disney vacations including summer with more choices than DVC. I'd love to be able to just go somewhere in the Midwest, or within a days driving distance from Chicago. 18 hours of driving to FL is too much to do more than once a year!

I liked HGVC because it seemed to have more choices, but since they're RCI, I feel like I have those same choices thru DVC. No? But now that I'm reading the fine print - it seems DVC RCI exchanges can only be done weekly? And I want to be able to book days (long weekends for example).

So for those who have DVC, what other TS do you have? Why did you get that? Should I stick with HGVC but buy from resale market? I've read Worldmark is good as well.

Appreciate any help.

 

[Metsoskil]

OK, here's my $0.02. Take it for what it's worth.

In 99.9% of cases, buying direct from a developer makes no sense. You can get the same TS for 75-100% cheaper on the resale market. Canceling your contract was probably a very smart move.

I've seen this advice given to others on this board and the Timeshare User's Group (www.tug2.net and www.tugbbs.com) boards and totally agree - When you are looking into buying a timeshare, spend 6 months researching before you purchase. It's wise advice. Make sure you know what you are getting into.

The internet is littered with people trying to get rid of timeshares that they bought for thousands of dollars that they literally can't give away for free now. And they are still paying Maintenance Fees every year.

As to your direct question of whether buying a RCI timeshare would be unwise because you could get the same trades with DVC, that's not necessarily the case. Again, Research, Research, and then Research more.

What other TS do I own? We bought a 3 BR lock-out at Star Island in Kissimmee, week 33 on Ebay for $0.99 about 3 years ago. We enjoy our trips to Disney, like the resort (we had been there previously several times), and like the ability to trade it as 2 separate 1 BR units. We're very happy with that purchase. It's allowed us to travel to Disney quite a bit, and will give us the opportunity to go other places with the kids as they get older. We use the unit every other year. In the "off years" we trade for a TS in the Disney area a week before so that an AP covers both trips. Our small DVC contract allows us to add a few days on-site and get the AP discount. We did quite a bit of research before buying the Star Island TS.

With all that being said, Star Island was a good purchase, but probably not the BEST purchase of an off-site TS for us. Getting something outside of the Orlando area probably would have allowed us to get something with better trading power and lower maintenance fees. We could have traded into the Disney area every year for less than what we pay now in MF. And owning an II unit in the Orlando area means that we cannot trade into the Marriotts in the Orlando area.

Again, we probably needed to research more, even though we looked into our purchase a lot before pulling the trigger.

 

[JimC]

We bought Marriott for non-Disney vacations. I use Marriott almost exclusively for business travel and like their offerings. They have a large portfolio of resorts to choose from.

Marriott, like DVC, is undergoing changes. Marriott and Disney still do a good job providing a consistent quality product and service. Both have highly regarded brands. However, both will make hard business decisions to navigate changing market conditions. Owner reaction to those changes will vary.

Resale or direct is a decision that needs to be evaluated for each purchase. But generally I agree that in the vast majority of situations resale will be the better decision.

Whether either is a good option depends on individual circumstances and travel preferences.

 

[myxdvz]

With all that being said, Star Island was a good purchase, but probably not the BEST purchase of an off-site TS for us. Getting something outside of the Orlando area probably would have allowed us to get something with better trading power and lower maintenance fees. We could have traded into the Disney area every year for less than what we pay now in MF. And owning an II unit in the Orlando area means that we cannot trade into the Marriotts in the Orlando area.

Thanks for the reply! This is my thought process as well. I want to get a TS that will mainly be used for outside Orlando/trading, so a fixed TS for a specific location is not something that's on my radar right now.

Low MF is also a factor. Right now, I'm thinking one of the hotel chains. HGVC, Marriot or Sheraton.

 

[myxdvz]

We bought Marriott for non-Disney vacations. I use Marriott almost exclusively for business travel and like their offerings. They have a large portfolio of resorts to choose from.

Marriott, like DVC, is undergoing changes. Marriott and Disney still do a good job providing a consistent quality product and service. Both have highly regarded brands. However, both will make hard business decisions to navigate changing market conditions. Owner reaction to those changes will vary.

Resale or direct is a decision that needs to be evaluated for each purchase. But generally I agree that in the vast majority of situations resale will be the better decision.

Whether either is a good option depends on individual circumstances and travel preferences.

What do you like about your Marriot? I just became a member of TUG to research these. Looking between Marriot, Hilton, Starwoods right now. Maybe Wyndham, but am not a big fan of their hotels. Our company partners with Starwoods so most of my business travel is with them (or Hilton).

 

[arthur06]

We are looking at adding on to our DVC as well. I already know that we will buy resale with whoever we go with.

We have narrowed it down, as of now, to Wyndham, BlueGreen, and Marriott. Take the time to research before you buy. It's so easy to buy a TS for cheap right now, but to sell one is a different story! Once the MF's start, they don't stop. So know what you are buying!

 

[taaren]

What do you like about your Marriot? I just became a member of TUG to research these. Looking between Marriot, Hilton, Starwoods right now. Maybe Wyndham, but am not a big fan of their hotels. Our company partners with Starwoods so most of my business travel is with them (or Hilton).

We have Marriott in addition to DVC, which we bought because we like to go skiing at that particular resort every year, and the resort's location is perfect (Mountainside). The main thing with Marriott, at least at our resort/season, is that you have to call 1 year out, as soon as the phone line opens (which for us is usually 3a due to time differences-ugh) to book something, because even if you don't want to use it you have to have a booked week to trade it and those weeks get booked within hours of the lines opening. (Unless you're trading for Marriott points which barely gets you back your MFs) The trading power of our platinum ski week is good, but we would never trade bc we ski. We have become Marriott people since you get reward points for all stays, including TS stays, and credits towards Elite status so my mom has made Platinum the last couple of years which is awesome. We have also used the Interval International options heavily, particularly the 'get-aways' where you can book other people's unwanted weeks - often for less than the MFs (but they tend to be off-season, etc). The II is a separate fee but you have to pay it (once every 5 years its a hundred or two) in order to split your week into lock-offs or 3/4 day combos anyways, so the rest was gravy to us.
Marriott quality and service has been consistently high for us, but we never really looked at Hilton since they didn't have a resort in the location we wanted. The MF's are about the same for my DVC as for the Marriott (I own 275 points), and there haven't been any dramatic increases or assessments.
If you're looking to trade, I've heard good things about Wyndham (particularly from my sis-in-law who worked for them), but the strategy surrounding it sounds kinda time consuming so we'll just stick with Marriott and DVC for now. The main thing we'd look at before buying another TS would be the primary resort where we'd want to stay, but we're not big on trading yet obviously. Good luck!

 

[Dean]

Hi everyone, I have 170 points at BLT and am thinking of getting another non-Disney TS. I went to an HGVC presentation and yes, while I did sign their contract - I plan to rescind immediately (I hated that I had to commit before they give you ANY materials).

Anyway, My kids are young 2, 4, 6 (plus one coming) so we got DVC last year. That should take care of one of our vacations (not summer). I'm looking for another TS that will handle our non-Disney vacations including summer with more choices than DVC. I'd love to be able to just go somewhere in the Midwest, or within a days driving distance from Chicago. 18 hours of driving to FL is too much to do more than once a year!

I liked HGVC because it seemed to have more choices, but since they're RCI, I feel like I have those same choices thru DVC. No? But now that I'm reading the fine print - it seems DVC RCI exchanges can only be done weekly? And I want to be able to book days (long weekends for example).

So for those who have DVC, what other TS do you have? Why did you get that? Should I stick with HGVC but buy from resale market? I've read Worldmark is good as well.

Appreciate any help.

Step back. You need to spend around 6 months of active investigation to see what works for you and what's a good price. We own Marriott, Bluegreen, RCI points and DVC. Wyndham, Westin, Hilton, Hyatt, Worldmark and others can be good as well. Ultimately it depends on where you want to go and how you'd use it. What might be perfect for you, might be horrible for your neighbor and vice versa. In general look at the prices, yearly fees, resort quality and locations of their resorts. It also depends on how flexible you are realizing that MOST people who say they're flexible, really are not. It also depends on volume. Someone wanting to go somewhere every 2 or 3 years will get a different value than someone looking at 2 weeks a year or more. Sometimes cash really is the best way to go.

 

[myxdvz]

Hi Dean,

That's what I'm starting to do. I've registered at Tug as well, but wanted POV of people who already have DVC. I think I know what I want and need:

1. Needs to be flexible to book weekends, long weekends, and NOT only weeklong vacations, so points system is better
2. Needs resorts around the midwest within driving distance from us (Chicago). Wyndham has Glacier Canyon, and I wonder what Marriot/Hilton has around the Midwest
3. We go around school schedule for our looong vacation (Spring Break, Summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas) but need something for 4th of July, Labor Day, Presidents Day, etc type of long weekends where I can just drive the kids
4. Low MF, Flexibility to exchange within RCI/II would be great

 

[Dean]

Hi Dean,

That's what I'm starting to do. I've registered at Tug as well, but wanted POV of people who already have DVC. I think I know what I want and need:

1. Needs to be flexible to book weekends, long weekends, and NOT only weeklong vacations, so points system is better
2. Needs resorts around the midwest within driving distance from us (Chicago). Wyndham has Glacier Canyon, and I wonder what Marriot/Hilton has around the Midwest
3. We go around school schedule for our looong vacation (Spring Break, Summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas) but need something for 4th of July, Labor Day, Presidents Day, etc type of long weekends where I can just drive the kids
4. Low MF, Flexibility to exchange within RCI/II would be great

Bluegreen and Wyndham are likely best. You should look at their resorts and options as well as the fee structures and see what's best. Unless you go to 15-20K BG points or more, cash is still likely better. Brian and Jim can give you a better idea on the intricacies of Wyndham and how the fees are determined but I think it's normally the fees of the underlying week making the home resort more critical for Wyndham and of little importance for BG. Marriott doesn't have much nor does Hilton or Hyatt for that area. Marriott wouldn't work well for your situation anyway. BG has Wisconsin Dells, Branson, Hershey. Both come with RCI built in and both have their limitations. You might also look at the weekend points penalty and what the limitations are on booking shorter stays. For some BG resorts it may be about as cheap to get a whole week as just a long weekend but with BG you can book at 11 months out for anything available currently. I think with Wyndham you have to wait longer for shorter stays.

 

[Brian Noble]

Ultimately it depends on where you want to go and how you'd use it. What might be perfect for you, might be horrible for your neighbor and vice versa.

Exactly right.

As another Midwesterner, I agree with Dean's first-blush take that Wyndham and Bluegreen might either be good choices. Other than Branson, Marriott doesn't have much in the central US. Both Wyndham and Bluegreen should have more options. I happen to own Wyndham, and have visited a couple of their central US resorts---one in the Wisconsin Dells and one in the Smoky Mountains. Both were fun stays. I've also spent a long weekend at Bluegreen's resort in Northern Lower Michigan. That was great too. I ended up going with Wyndham because their resort portfolio was a better match for what I was looking for.

I think it's normally the fees of the underlying week making the home resort more critical for Wyndham

Yes, this is true.

I think with Wyndham you have to wait longer for shorter stays.

Not entirely. Wyndham has a similar home resort/all resorts model to DVC's. Wyndham's windows are: 13 months for home resort reservations, and 10 months for system-wide. Unlike DVC, home resort priority isn't as big of a deal, except for Washington DC during July 4th and Cherry Blossom, New Orleans for Mardi Gras, the lower-point-cost resorts in Myrtle and Destin in the summer, and a few other odds and ends. At 10 months, you can reserve "high demand" time only in blocks of 3, 4, or 7 days, and only starting or ending on a "check in day" for that resort. In practice, that's not much of a limitation, as most long weekend-type trips can fit that pattern. In "moderate or low demand" times, you can book any stay of two nights or more at 10 months. At three months, any two-night-or-more-stay is legal, subject to availability.

I would *not* buy Wyndham for access to RCI, though. It's got a fixed conversion grid into RCI, and it's not particularly favorable for the Wyndham owner. It's not horrible, but there are better options (and I think Bluegreen is one of them, but do not know for sure.) That said, Wyndham's resort portfolio is large enough that you probably don't *need* to use external exchange for the most part, and purchased resale at the right low-cost resort is a good deal used internally.

 

[myxdvz]

Wow! All great info! Thanks a bunch! I will have to look into BG and drop the Marriot/Hilton searches.

Brian, looks like you have a home resort, not just Wyndham points? I've been trying to determine the differences on these as well as comparison with Worldmark.

3 months and 10 months are good enough lead time I think. It fits more my old planning pattern which has been changing since I got DVC.

 

[Brian Noble]

Yes, Wyndham has a notion of "home resort". However, there is also a trust product where inventory held in the trust is considered "one home" for advanced reservation priority purposes.

Wyndham can be a fairly complicated system, but at its core it's not that difficult to grasp. For more details on Wyndham, go here:

forums.atozed.com

and read the "Primer". It will give a decent introduction to the system.

Fair warning: that's a Wyndham owners' discussion board that is dominated by some real curmudgeons who bought from the developer for big bucks, realize they were swindled, and spend a lot of time complaining about how awful Wyndham is. Don't let their attitudes color your judgement too much. Purchased resale, it's a fair value.

 

[littlestar]

We like the locations of Wyndham's resorts - Waikiki Beach, Gatlinburg, Washington DC, San Antonio, Destin/Panama City, FL, and Bonnet Creek which sits beside Disney's Caribbean Beach resort. We ended up buying Wyndham resale points off of Ebay deeded in Gatlinburg (the non water park resort as I figured dues would be lower). We probably could have just rented from a Wyndham VIP owner and accomplished our goals, though, without buying anything.

There's a lot to be said for paying cash - that way you're not trapped if greedy executives/management decide to stick it to their owners. It's risky out there, so be careful. Definitely do like Dean says and study for at least six months. You might be better off renting.

 

[Dean]

I would *not* buy Wyndham for access to RCI, though. It's got a fixed conversion grid into RCI, and it's not particularly favorable for the Wyndham owner. It's not horrible, but there are better options (and I think Bluegreen is one of them, but do not know for sure.) That said, Wyndham's resort portfolio is large enough that you probably don't *need* to use external exchange for the most part, and purchased resale at the right low-cost resort is a good deal used internally.

BG is still a good RCI choice but it is not nearly as so now as it was before (a few months ago) for the experienced timeshare person. One good thing about BG is that you can deposit with RCI (access included) or II (must pay to be a member).

Wow! All great info! Thanks a bunch! I will have to look into BG and drop the Marriot/Hilton searches.

Brian, looks like you have a home resort, not just Wyndham points? I've been trying to determine the differences on these as well as comparison with Worldmark.

3 months and 10 months are good enough lead time I think. It fits more my old planning pattern which has been changing since I got DVC.

I hinted before but I'll emphasize it here. For BG certainly there is a significant economy of scale that makes owning a small points package worse than cash and having a LOT of points much better. There are no housekeeping fees with BG and at the present time you can reserve anything at the same time as everyone else for as little as 2 days (1 at Charleston, 3 days some holidays). BG has a few great resorts, a number of very good resorts, a few OK resorts and a few I wouldn't stay at. I think the qualify overall between BG and Wyndham is comparable and a notch below (overall) that of DVC, Hilton, Marriott, Westin and the like. BG does charge for cancelations in many cases but there are ways around that most of the time as well. They do not charge housekeeping, Wyndham does in some cases though I don't think it's a big deal there either.

I think the bottom line for your situation is to find the perfect points mini-system, but realize it needs to be a GREAT value for you. That way if they change things in a neg way (they always do) you won't be so close to the edge it makes it a poor choice for you with the change. Think of it like DVC for us S-F people when they reallocated. If that was enough of a change to make or break, DVC really was not a good choice for that person to begin with.

If you decide to pursue BG, I can put you in touch with a great and honest person that resales. He'll give you the real info and if you decide to buy, will get you the best price possible. One thing to note about BG and Wyndham is related to the tiered options much like we've discussed here only to a much stronger degree. With both you can buy in but to get those options, you've got to pay the big bucks in most cases. You want to understand all the options and all the limitations before buying. I just added 14K BG points to our contract. Didn't really need the points per say but they were free (economy of scale for fees) AND it allowed me to add my daughter to our contract (and RCI account) as part of the addition. BG's best resorts overall IMO are the Bass Pro Shop resort near Branson (Wilderness Club), The Fountains (Orlando), World Golf Village (St. Augustine), La Cabana (Aruba), LAI (Charleston), Hershey, Hammocks (Marathon), other 3 Branson options, Odyssey Dells, Cibola Vista (AZ), The Manhatan Club (is now part of BG). BG also covers MB and Daytona very well with good to very good resorts. There are a number of others that are VERY good and a few new ones I don't know well enough to know. One aspect about BG (Like Hilton) is they have CLUB resorts and ASSOCIATE resorts. Concentrate on the CLUB resorts. You can see a lot of info at Bluegreen's website and I can send you some points tables for MOST of them if it'll help, just email me.

I think you need to be looking at a week a year in a 2 BR or greater (or the equivalent in long weekends) to make BG work for you when you consider finances. You may hear that Marriott has a new points system, they do but it's too limited and too expensive for your needs even if it works otherwise. However, some of their resorts (but not most) allow split stays (one 3 and one 4 night) including Branson.

 

[got4boys]

Thanks for the reply! This is my thought process as well. I want to get a TS that will mainly be used for outside Orlando/trading, so a fixed TS for a specific location is not something that's on my radar right now.

Low MF is also a factor. Right now, I'm thinking one of the hotel chains. HGVC, Marriot or Sheraton.

If you are looking at Marriott, look at lockouts in the summer season in Branson - Marriott's Willow Ridge Lodge on the resale out on every other year. This basically gives you 2 weeks (when lock out) to deposit into Interval International. If you purchase a Marriott Lockout and deposit it into Interval International, you get the internal trade priority of getting into other Marriotts into larger units.

Not only that, it is not that far for you to drive with the family. There is a lot there to do in Branson.

The only problem right now about the Marriott is that their Maintenance fees are very high.

 

[Brian Noble]

One aspect about BG (Like Hilton) is they have CLUB resorts and ASSOCIATE resorts. Concentrate on the CLUB resorts.

Wyndham has this as well---and the advice applies there. Think about the Club Wyndham Plus resorts as potential places you can stay, not the Affiliate or Associate ones.

 

[Dean]

If you are looking at Marriott, look at lockouts in the summer season in Branson - Marriott's Willow Ridge Lodge on the resale out on every other year. This basically gives you 2 weeks (when lock out) to deposit into Interval International. If you purchase a Marriott Lockout and deposit it into Interval International, you get the internal trade priority of getting into other Marriotts into larger units.

Not only that, it is not that far for you to drive with the family. There is a lot there to do in Branson.

The only problem right now about the Marriott is that their Maintenance fees are very high.

That's true but generally you can buy the every year options for about the same price as the EOY. So the up front costs and II membership costs are the same regardless for EY vs EOY, however the yearly fees are less for EOY because you only pay for the years you get a unit. While theoretically you can uptrade unit size, it's more complicated than trading for like size units. I'd suggest you consider what you want to trade for when buying, both location and unit size. I'd also suggest anyone just getting into it to buy something they themselves would use at least part of the time, even if more expensive. For many, buying something they can use and then trade part of the time, is the best option. Often without joining II or RCI and just using the independent exchange companies for the occasional exchanges.

 

[JCerniglow]

We own marriott st thomas. their new system is point based also. send me a PM if you want to talk. I am truly happy with our purchase. Love DVC but the newer marriott units Kick butt.

 

[JimC]

Marriott offers a similar quality in product and service to DVC, although Disney is better at "story-telling" and immersive themes. Service at both are quite good.

Marriott is very consistent across their entire portfolio and refreshes its resorts on a frequent schedule, more frequently than Hilton. It is a large portfolio with resorts in many locations, so it is possible to stay within the Marriott brand if that is important.

Although Marriott does not use the "welcome home" tag line, it does a remarkable job at making feel welcome and at home.

What do you like about your Marriot? I just became a member of TUG to research these. Looking between Marriot, Hilton, Starwoods right now. Maybe Wyndham, but am not a big fan of their hotels. Our company partners with Starwoods so most of my business travel is with them (or Hilton).