DVC vs. Fairfield Smokey Mtns????

[yearlightbuzz]

I love my DVC!! We own @ BCV. One of my best friends in the world just bought (this past weekend, so I think he can still cancel) @ Fairfield Smokey Mtns. Aren't the Fairfield Timeshares the ones I always read everyone complaining about? Thanks for any help. My first recommendation for him will be to go to TUG and join and read, FAST! What else should I tell him?

 

[Dean]

Cancel, they can buy FF for pennies on the dollar resale.

 

[Lisa P.]

Your heading implies that you are considering a comparison between the two resort systems. I'm not sure what you are asking or saying about that.

These are two rather different kinds of timeshare points systems. Both offer lovely resorts. We are very pleased with our Fairfield points and we've enjoyed our Fairfield resort vacations very, very much.

If your friend wants to use their timeshare points in the destinations offered by Fairfield, they will likely love it too! Since you want to vacation at DVC's resort locations, DVC probably makes much better sense for you.

I agree with Dean, that resale is the way to go for Fairfield points, under most circumstances. The few exceptions (when a developer purchase may make sense) are a bit detailed for the purposes of this forum. If your friend is not absolutely certain that a developer purchase is really needed, they ought to rescind while they can and investigate it further before committing to this expensive purchase (by allowing the recision period to elapse). They could always go back and buy later.

BTW, the FF Smoky Mountains Resort is a nice place. If you like the decor, lighting and pools at DVC HHI, you'd probably like this resort as well - it suits its region. No pool slide but it does offer a nice indoor pool. We've had some great short stays there at different times of the year.

As for complaints, I haven't read many here at all. Hm. HTH.

 

[RumpleMom]

Does a Fairfield resale buyer miss out on anything that a non-resale buyer would be entitled to?

For example- I was told that buying a Marriott resale would exclude me from the ability to turn my week into points for a future vacation. That this perk was reserved for people who purchased directly from Marriott.

 

[Lisa P.]

Resale purchases (as of this year) are no longer counted toward the total # of points needed to attain "VIP" levels of ownership. VIPs receive certain benefits, like unlimited housekeeping check-ins (without a fee), unlimited free reservations per year and a slightly earlier reservation window for certain types of reservations. The lowest VIP level requires 300,000 points, rather like 2 weeks worth in a 2BR during prime season and it goes up from there.

The savings on resale is usually substantial enough to not worry about this, and most resale owners are satisfied with paying a rare extra fee, if they make many short reservations in a year and use up the freebies. For most points usage purposes (reservations at FF resorts, exchanges via II/RCI and cruises), there's no difference between developer buyers and resale buyers.

Also, if the resale contract purchased was originally sold to its first owner prior to Oct 2001, then the points are not eligible for use in "PlusPartners," the way of using points for hotels, car rentals, airfare, theme park tix and nightly stays at selected non-FF timeshares (in the RCI Points network). This may be upgraded to eligibility with an additional developer purchase, though, so it's not impossible to attain through resales. FWIW, FF has been handling more resale sales than in the past as well.

If one plans to stay at their home resort during prime time most years, it may make sense to buy there for the early booking window (especially at the most popular beach destinations). It may make sense to make a developer purchase as an add-on, if VIP privileges are negotiated into the deal. There are a few times when people just prefer or need to deal with the developer. But as I stated earlier, resale is usually the way to go, saving 70% of the purchase price!

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by Dean
Cancel, they can buy FF for pennies on the dollar resale.

Yep, what Dean said. Buying new is a big bad ugly financial mistake when it's not DVC, when you could buy the same points at the same resort for substantially less: "pennies on the dollar" as Dean puts it.

 

[JudyS]

I've looked into Fairfield; it's a good system for some people, but it is *very* complicated.

As has already been stated here, Fairfield resales are available much more cheaply that buying directly from Fairfield, but Fairfield gives VIP status, with lots of MAJOR perks, to people who buy large numbers of points *directly* from them. It apparently is also possible to get VIP status through combinations of Fairfield purchases and conversions of non-Fairfield properties -- like I said, Fairfield is a complicated system!

I second the suggestion to rescind. The deal will always be there later if your friends still want it. In the meantime, they can check out TUG, and also the Fairfield Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fairfield_timeshare/?yguid=135392073

The Fairfield Yahoo Group is a goldmine of information, more detailed than TUG's Fairfield info.

There are so many decisions when buying Fairfield (some Fairfieldresorts are better deals than others), that they really should research it a lot before buying.