Worldmark by Wyndham (formerly Trendwest) Timeshares?

[Tankard]

So I went to the Ventura county fair last week and I was approached by a salesman. He offered me a free $50.00 amex gift card, and a 4 night stay in the resort of my choice (Big Bear, Vegas, San Fracisco, Indio, and a few others). I said, "What do I have to do?"

Long story short, I went to a sales meeting with someone who worked for Worldmark timeshares. I wasn't originally planning to buy one, but after some convincing talk and tons of freebies thrown in, I decided to buy one.

The way it works : You get a certain number of points every year, which can be redeemed at over 4,000 different resorts around the world. The amount of points used depends on the particular resort, and the time of the booking. Peak season booking eats up more points.

You also get a thing called "bonus time" which allows you to not use your points, and instead, pay around $30-40 a night instead. You can allow family members to do this as well through your membership.

I got:
7,000 annual point membership
7,000 extra points right off the bat
1 free week at any RCI (sister network) resort around the world.
Cost: 13,450. I put $6,000 down.

Went home, got buyers remorse, and cancelled the membership (I had 7 days to make this decision). I am currently waiting for my refund.

THEN, this morning, I went online and saw a 10,000 point membership being sold on Ebay through the secondary market. It had 20,000 points already available for this year, with another 10,000 being accrued in January. I bought it for $5600.

Does anyone have any experience with this company? If so, what are your experiences? It sucks to have to pay maintenance dues (45 a month) but it seems like a great way to go see the world, and take different kinds of vacations. They have networks literally everywhere, and I'm planning to go to Australia as soon as I can find some decently priced plane tickets.

 

[findthefish]

My best friend's parents have a Trendwest timeshare. We stay at a timeshare at least twice a year, plus his parents, and the rest of his family use it too.

As far as I am concerned, Trendwest is a good deal. We usually get a room for a few bucks a night, plus we pay his parents more than they spent on it. It is still a deal.

The rooms are amazing, and the prices are low. Normally I would be really sceptical about this sort of thing, but they really seem to be on top of this.

 

[Tankard]

I feel the same way. The rooms are like luxury condos and even the studios are quite a bit better than the typical hotel room. I was impressed by how nice the rooms were, and most were quite spacious.

I'm usually skeptical as well, but I know several people who own these timeshares and they all describe it as one of the best things they have ever done.

My ex-boss was the first one to tell me about it, and he vacations more than anybody I've ever known.