Won a resort on SkyAuction - voucher question

[ushkina]

Hi,
I won a week's stay at Vistana Villages recently and just received my voucher by email. The voucher says:
"Fees and Assessments: When you utilize the RCI Exchange system, you are responsible for all taxes, surchages or additional assessments assessed from the resort".

Does it mean I might have to pay some extra fees/taxes in addition to whatever I paid to skyauction (195$ + bid + 15$)?

Btw, when I check out of the resort, do I pay to the hotel or everything is already prepaid to the Sky Auction? Could anybody explain the procedure please?

Finally, does this reservation work the same way as a regular hotel - will there be a room reserved for my dates? Any way to request what type of 1-bedroom unit we want?

Thanks!

 

[Jamieb]

Sometimes there are resort fees such as an energy surcharge but I have never had anything added that I did not want. Last year we stayed at Vacation Village on a Skyauction win and the only additional thing we paid for was $10 for use of the safe.

Your credit card is billed more or less before you get that email. Once they can confirm your dates they charge your card and send you the exchange voucher in the email. You should not have to pay anything on checkout unless you have incidentals such as food, long dsitance charges or things of that nature.

Your voucher is an RCI exchange and you have a room held for you. Some resorts will allow requests a head of time, many will not as you may have preassigned room depending on where the exchange came from. If say someone deposited thier week and they have a specific unit number, then you will most likely get that unit number. Some resorts don't assign rooms until arrival.

We always try to be there a little before normal check in time, say 3:30 or so since most check in times are 4pm. We have never had an issue showing 30 minutes early as our room has always been available.

If you do plan on calling for a room request it's good to know that RCI will not give the resort your name until 24-72 hours before you arrive usually, so you can't try and make a request until right before you arrive at the property. You are not guarnteed anything more then the excahnge. Some resorts may be flexible in that, but if your 1 Bedroom sleeps 4 with a partial kitchen that is all you may get. Most resorts have more then one 1 bed unit types. In fact, the Vistana Villages web site shows 3 different 1 Bedroom unit types, you can check them out at http://www.starwoodvo.com/resorts/villafeatures.jsp?resortID=1&view=

Look at your voucher, does it say F or P for kitchen? If it has a P then your looking at a Partial kitchen and are most likely being placed in the smallest of the units as it is listed as having a kitchenette. If it says F then you should be in one of the larger 1 bedroom units.

 

[ushkina]

Jamieb,
Thanks so much, it was extremely helpful!
My voucher does not specify whether I got a full kitchen or a partial kitchen.. but the auction I won said "full kitchen". I emailed sky auction about it.
I think I will call VV a day before our departure and see whether I can ask for a particular type of a 1 bedroom unit.. We will be checking in late (8-9pm), so I am a bit worried about the room, but hope everything works out fine.
Thanks again!

 

[curlyjbs]

ushkina: congrats!

I have been following skyauction for a week or two....seems like a great opportunity to pick up some great deals. Was it easy to do? Was this your first time? Could you give me your experience from the time you registerd till the time you won? Is it like ebay bidding?

Sorry for all the questions but i think I'd like to try it but the researcher in me needs more info.


thanks so much....


curly

 

[ushkina]

curlyjbs,
It was my first time. Furthemore, I bid on the spur of the moment - I was just casually checking skyaution and noticed Vistana Villages listed and available for my dates. I registered immediately, then read and re-read the fine print etc.. I could not believe my eyes LOL and then just bidded.
When you bid, keep in mind there is always a standard fee of 195$ that will be added to your bid (at least for the type of auction I won - 7 days at a particular hotel ), so whatever you bid, add 195$ to it plus 15$ fee that skyauction charges. My bid was 45$, so I paid (195$+45$+15$ ) for a week. I still can't beleive I did it The hotel was available for check-in on the certain dates only, so check and re-check the dates (and read all fine print) before you bid.
There is no housekeeping with type of auction I got, but that's ok for us - it is just a week. Let me know if you have any other questions, I am just learning all this myself.

I just went to skyauction and I see Vistana Villages being offered for some dates again.. Good luck to everybody who decides to bid on it!

 

[tublady]

I just started looking at Sky auction also. Could you let me know what a RCI exchange is?? Thanks!!

 

[ushkina]

tublady,
I don't know much about RCI exhanges, all I know is that Vistana Villages is a timeshare resort and people who are owners can exhange stays in the hotel with some other people (or they can sell it on skyaction). Somebody correct me please if I am wrong. There are certain rules that apply to RCI exchanges, but I don't really know much about it, After I won the auction, sky auction people contacted me asking for my prefered dates of stay (that were listed as available in the auction), then confirmed the dates and emailed me a voucher (it says Exchange Voucher) that I need to print and take with me on the trip to show at check in.
I know there is also this site, but I did not really use it myself:
www.rci.com

 

[26555]

Anything particular to be aware of in the fine print? I noticed the dates available say "at the beginning of this auction". Could your date be rented somewhere between the original post and when the auction expires and you wouldn't be able to know that? I'm not too flexible on dates so really need to feel like the ones listed are available.

ps WOW, your deal seems too good to be true! I guess skyauction does not have minimums?

 

[Jamieb]

Timeshare resorts offer the ability to exchange to other timeshare resorts around the world. Some people never stray from thier home resort but you do have the option to exchange out your week(s) for other locations.

RCI is one the of companies that handle exchanges, there are more but RCI and Interval are the largest exchanges. Some properties belong to one or the other and there are some resorts that allow you to exchange on both networks. Owners usually also pay a fee to exchange thier week out to another resort unless is is in a family of resorts and the property allows internal company exchanges for free.

Now, some owners don't appreciate what SkyAuction does since they have to pay out the initial outlay to purchase the timeshare, which on average can be from $5000-20000 depending on property and unit type. On top of that, owners pay an annual maintenance fee/tax depending on the the unit type and location.
On average I would says it's about $400-600 a year on a one bedroom, and can be more for a larger unit.

I just won a week in a 2 bedroom in July for $326 including the taxes and skyauction fee. That is cheaper then the owner would pay in maintenance for the year.


26555,

It can happen where, once you win, the week you want is not available. It happened to us last year. I picked Celebration World Resort and it was not available, and ended up at Vacation Village at Parkway. I am sure glad it happened that way because since then there has been nothing but poor reviews about Celebration World Resort and Vacation Village was very nice and we did not have any problems there.

 

[26555]

Thanks for all the info Jaimeb! It is a little scary to get all psyched about a certain resort and end up somewhere else. I suppose if the bid is cheap enough it would be worth a shot. I have to be careful since I don't want lesser quality than what I can book at Cypress Pointe Grande villas and not have some of the uncertainty issues. Ideally, I would like less than a full week but if its cheap enough, renting a whole week makes sense even if I can only use 5 or 6 nights.

 

[ushkina]

26555,
I remember when I won the auction they sent me an email with the link to the webpage to fill out my dates. Email said:
"All auctions are subject to availability and the earlier you submit, the better chance there will be that we will be able to confirm you on the dates that you prefer. If you wait too long there might not be availability!"
I also remember reading in one of their emails that if they can't confirm my dates, I won't be charged. But I am not sure what they will do in this case: offer alternate dates, just cancel the transaction or offer another resort..

 

[curlyjbs]

thanks for all the info about skyauction. I think I'll give it a try when it's time for another trip.


curly in need of professional help!

 

[Threehearts]

Are you penalized by the resort(extra fees beyond the agreed upon 1 week rental, if you leave early? I see many SkyAuction stays that would be great but we would have to leave after 4 days. I don't mean to hijack your thread culyjbs, just thought someone might know. Thanks a bunch. Threehearts

 

[Jamieb]

No, the resorts won't charge you any more for leaving early. If you plan on leaving early though be forwarned that office staff may be minimal since most timeshare reosrts work on the basis of check in/out Fri-Sun only. There will be someone there to assist you, they are just staffed more on the weekends.

Now, if you book a special packge with a resort, usually a discounted rate in exchange for 90 minutes of your vacation time to watch the sale presentation, and leave early you can and may be charged additional fees. If you win on Skyauction or have an exchange you will not get charged but you will also not get anything back for checking out early.

 

[DVC California]

What about checking in late? We won a week at Orange Lake that starts on a Friday. However, the family that we bid this for cannot check-in until Sunday. We understand that checkout will should still be the following Friday but want to make sure they don't give it away as a "no-show".

Thanks, Steve

 

[Jamieb]

They should not give it away but you will want to call the resort directly and let them know you will not be arriving until Sunday.

If it's an RCI exchange they won't have the guest names until 24-48 hours out so give them a call two days before the arrival date on the voucher and let them know they will not be there until Sunday. I would make sure to get the name of who you talk with at the resort and what day/time you spoke with them just in case something does happen. It should be easy enough for them to note your late arrival in thier computer as long as you call and let them know.

 

[jnl]

One more? I read thru all previous post and someone said that they bid for a place and then was told that it was no longer available at the time that they needed, so they switched them to a different place. So if a place says availble at time of placing, shows the week that you would like, you bid, but then that week is no longer available, then will you be given another place? Thanks.

 

[ttfn3]

That was me! We had won a skyauction for the Hilton Grand Vacation Club. We needed a 2 BR and had a couple of different dates (just a day apart). The date we wanted showed as an available date on the auction but by the time I won it and requested that date, it was gone. I know they have a disclaimer that the weeks are availability at the start of the auction. However, I took a shot at asking them if they had any other units available at the Vistana Villages or Vistana Resort for those dates. The customer service rep at Skyauction was very nice and gave me a couple of different options at the Vistana Resort. I asked if we could have it at the same price as our winning bid and they said yes. It worked for us and I thought I would share it here so that people knew it was a possibility - tho. I'm not sure it's a guarantee.

We're very happy. In fact, my DH preferred to stay at Vistana Resort. The bids were going much higher so we decided to go for HGVC. So, we lucked out when we were able to switch to VR for the same price. We have never used Skyauction before. So far, our experience has been good. (We've used Ebay and HotelKingdom in the past.

 

[jnl]

thank you so much. I am trying skyauction right now and am hoping to win!!!

 

[ushkina]

Jamieb and everybody else who answered my questions - thanks so much again! We came back from our trip and it was great
No extra charges, resort was very nice.