Bluegreen vacation Club?

[Kitzka]

I know many folks on here are members of the DVC but i was wondering if anyone belonged to the Bluegreen vacation club or anything similar?

How does it work?

How do you like it?

I'm looking at it and wondering if i should join something like this but i really have no idea how a vacation club works or if this is a reputable one.

thanks

lara

 

[*pixie*dust*]

All timeshares are a little different. Some sell you points to use when you want and are priced as demand dictates. Some are for a set week at a set unit. There are also many other variations.

My parents attended a Blue Green presentation and found it to be a very pressured and unpleasant experience. They did like the resort though. My Dad said that he did research and BG has had some issues in the past with their business practices. (His words not mine)
The most important thing to do is research, research research! It is not an investment and it is not a "money saver" in most cases. It is more of a "pre-arranged vacation" plan.

 

[cjnix29]

I'm a bluegreen owner. Overall, we have been very happy with it. The owners that are the most happy are the ones that really understand how it works and can use the system to their advantage. My only regret is that we bought through the developer and not through resale, would have saved us some serious cash!! But, I do not regret actually purchasing. I really like the resort options we have. We can go all over without having to worry about exchange fees, etc. since there are about 40 resorts in our immediate network. We have been to northern Michigan, Daytona, stayed at the fountains in Orlando. Our personal favorite, and were we actually have our ownership is at Big Cedar, outside of Branson, MO. Absolutely beautiful.

There is a great yahoo bluegreen group with very knowledgeable people. There is also a moderator on there that sells authorized resales. If you are serious, I would talk to him. You'll figure him out when you start reading posts.

A timeshare is a timeshare. Not an investment. If you know how to use it, don't pay too much, and can be flexible, it is great! I have been able to take my family on vacation, my extended family that is, something I thought I would never be able to do.

As for business practices...we have not had any bad experiences. We were educated going in, so we knew what it was, what it was worth, and knew that salespeople are just that....their job is to sell. There are really good ones, and really bad ones.

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. But we have been happy bluegreen owners!

 

[chalee94]

i'd try this website for information as well as TUG.

from what i've heard, definitely stay away from their timeshare presentations. if they have a timeshare near you that you like and would actually use, if there were no options for exchanges, it might be a good option for you if you can find a good deal on a resale.

just keep in mind that you are responsible for annual maintenance fees - even if you don't use it - until you can sell it to someone else.

i prefer sticking to brands like disney and marriott, but ask over on the DVC boards...someone like dean or bnoble could probably help you.

 

[cjnix29]

As for how it works....it is a points system. You buy a set amount of points and have those to use. Similar in that respect to DVC. each resort has a points chart for how much each day is in each type of unit during certain seasons. Weekends are more expensive, points wise. If you are a regular (not premier) owner, you can book up to 11 months out. You are deeded at a particular resort. Points not used in one year roll over and you can use them with some restrictions. The trick comes in the planning, realizing how many points things take. You also can get what is called bonus time, where you pay, rather than use points, but at a much reduced rate. For example, a studio unit costs me 49 a night to rent, no matter the day, as long as there is availability. So we usually travel Sun-Thurs if we are going on points, and then if we want weekends, we try to get bonus time. Tricks to that too.

Do not buy from the developer. Difference in price is in the thousands of dollars. You pay maintenance fees based upon the number of points you own. Also there is a club dues, which covers your membership in RCI, which is a timeshare exchange company. This allows you to go to many, many other resorts all over the world. The fees are yearly.

You should figure out what type of vacation you want to take, and that will help you decide how many points you should get. For example, we have 8000 points. For us, we use our bluegreen for one week a year, and then use bonus time. This works well for us. We often have extra points at the end of the year. But, we go Sun-Thurs, and try not to go during peak times. More desireable resorts and times of the year book way in advance, so you have to be able to plan ahead. Being flexible with dates, times and resorts really makes a difference. If there is someplace that you know you want to go to at peak season, plan at the 11 month mark.

I would be happy to answer any other questions you may have. Whatever you decide, get as much info about it beforehand, so you are not disappointed.

 

[rapmarks]

I belong to the Bluegreen Yahoo group, and live in a Bluegreen Resort. Most of the people on the Yahoo group are very happy with it, but those are the ones who know how to use it.
People say don't buy from developer, the problem is that Bluegreen took away a lot of privileges that make the system worthwhile if you buy resale.

 

[Melynny]

I am an owner/member of Bluegreen Vacation club as well as a DVC member, I am another happy owner, but also I wish I had purchased my points as a resale not the developer. That said, it's just like anything else the more you understand the system and can take advantage of the process, the happier you are. We have stayed at many of the Bluegreen resorts and have been happy with all of them. The Fountains near Disney is very, very nice, Via Roma on Anna Maria Island is not Lux, but it's a great beach get away. Big Cedar is Awesome, It's the closest resort to our home. Daytona very nice. Miami is great! Our personal Favorite is the Hammocks at Marathon, we go there for a week each year, and I must say, I look forward to that trip as much as Disney!

There is no way in the world that my husband and I would be able to take the vacations that we do and stay in the accomodations that we do without our timeshares. We always have something planned and it's nice to know that we already have our vacations paid for. I know it sounds cheesy, but I have vacations planned for thanksgiving, and 2 weeks over Christmas, and all I have to really worry about is how I am going to pay for food. That's it.

I do have to pay maintenace fees, and club fees and then Bluegreen charges you an additional Traveler's plus membership that gives you access to the entertainment card, and allows you to use Bonus time a the resorts and other benefits so there is costs, but if you plan and used the time wisely, you can have very nice vacations for not much money.

hope this helps!

 

[Kitzka]

to all of the PP thank yuo SOOOO much. this is quite helpful. We stayed at one of the Bluegreen resorts near Hershey park, PA with friends of ours. They are not members but paid per night. the repsort was so nice that i started looking into it and seeing if it's something that we could work into the budget.

I am going to look up the yahoo group and read what i can about it before i make a decision.

thanks again!
Lara

 

[cjnix29]

I belong to the Bluegreen Yahoo group, and live in a Bluegreen Resort. Most of the people on the Yahoo group are very happy with it, but those are the ones who know how to use it.
People say don't buy from developer, the problem is that Bluegreen took away a lot of privileges that make the system worthwhile if you buy resale.

You live in a BG resort?

 

[rapmarks]

Yes, i live at Christmas mountain Village in Wisconsin Dells.

If you buy bluegreen resale, they will not let you have Travelors Club, or bonus time, or lots of other things. We pay a fee to bluegreen, but they took away bonus time, etc, because we do not have vacation club from them. We used to get those things too, for an additional fee.

 

[cjnix29]

I didn't know you could live there. Interesting. It was always my understanding that if you bought resale from an authorized reseller like Pinnacle, that you could maintain those additional benefits.

 

[hrslvr142]

I agree with the PP who are happy because they know how to use Bluegreen. We bought through the company rather then resale and I think we probably paid way more then we should have but I cannot comment on having more privileges. I have stayed at Wisconsin Dells, Virginia Beach, Marathon (agree this is a great resort), Miami, Orlando (but not the Fountains-can't recall the name but very nice) and all have been very nice and I love the extra room. I have a hard time staying in a standard hotel room for any extended time now.

One of the most recent advantages I just discovered is through RCI (other then being able to exchange and stay at Saratoga Springs in October-yeah!) is that through our free membership with RCI via Bluegreen the amount of "extra" and last minute vacations available is larger then Bluegreen and the last minute vacations are very cheap-$199 or $249 for a week if I recall correctly-no exchange necessary. This is a great benefit if you have the freedom to travel pretty freely.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do, have to agree that you should be aware of the maintenance and yearly membership fees if you do decide to join us.

 

[rapmarks]

Yes, you can get the benefits by buying thru Pinnacle Vacations, however there is almost a $2000 fee to buy witht he benefits. You are paying less than thru developer, but not a tremendous amount less.

christmas Muontain has three homeowner subdivisions, it is about 1100 acres in size.

 

[drakester]

I would not own a bluegreen property if it was given to me. They are horrible to deal with. They called us and invited us to Myrtle Beach for a weekend and I have never been treated so rudely in my whole life.

 

[rapmarks]

Someone on TUG just won a 20,000 bluegreen vacation club packae for $50 on EBAy. A prety good deal.