Weeks or Points

by Carol
(Indiana)

This past fall we bought a 2-bedroom lockout week in Las Vegas. At the time of purchase we inquired about weeks or points because we could go either way. The head sales rep who talked us through a lot of the terminology is a financial consultant who advised us to "never let anybody talk you out of your week," because points are inflationary. It's like owning a good piece of property vs. renting it in a booming area. The "rent" will go up around you while you still have your week. As we work with this, RCI and our home timeshare company--as well as fellow Vegas owners I have talked with online--tell us that we have some excellent trading/renting power with our unit in Las Vegas. On the other hand, we also know many unhappy timeshare owners who bought points in less powerful areas who in fact would do well to "buy up" their points, because they have little trading power.

We were recently subjected to the Fairfield/Wyndham points sales pitch. The sales rep answered a lot of my questions and I considered the session with him very informative. However, based on the good value of the timeshare we own plus the large up-front investment it would take to own Wyndham points, we decided to forego the additional purchase. Also, in considering the type of vacations we are planning based on our exchange, weekly increments are best for us until after we retire.

I must say that the aggressive calling tactics of the Wyndham Member Services staff were a bit intense. I went alone to the sales meeting. While I was there someone called my husband in the unit to reprimand him for not attending. There were a couple of other calls from the office staff as well, until he asked them to please stop.

It will probably take several years of managing our ownership to determine if we will need to upgrade or change, and I'm sure we'll have the opportunity at any time. These "today only" tactics are annoying.

My two cents