Do you own points and weeks?

[Dancingfish]

We were told this weekend that Points was the wave of the future and that more and more resorts were changing out of the weeks program.
If you own both-- Which program do you like best?
Do you feel you get the same value from Points that you do with weeks.

My DH feels that his weeks contract Guarantees him 7 days for the rest of his life... where in 5 years his points might get him 3 days...

[BocaBum99]

Originally Posted by Dancingfish

We were told this weekend that Points was the wave of the future and that more and more resorts were changing out of the weeks program.
If you own both-- Which program do you like best?
Do you feel you get the same value from Points that you do with weeks.

My DH feels that his weeks contract Guarantees him 7 days for the rest of his life... where in 5 years his points might get him 3 days...

He is incorrect in his description of points inflation. If you buy enough points to get you 7-days at a given resort where you purchase, you can still get 7-days at that same resort in 5 years.

The inflation comes into play usually at other resorts you may want to use your points at. But, those resorts didn't exist in the point system when you first joined it. So, if you choose to only take 3-days somewhere else, that was your choice. You could have still taken the 7-days at the original resort you purchased.

Points are simply an alternative to one for one trading in a weeks exchange system. We all know how that changes at the whim of the exchange company. You may be able to get 7-days in the future in a weeks based system, but you may only be able to go to Orlando or South Africa when in the past you could go almost anywhere.

I strongly believe the way of the future is away from independent weeks based resorts and toward branded resort groups based on some type of point system. I've believe that for 3 years and everything I see continues to point in that direction.

[Dancingfish]

By branded do you mean Wyndam or Vacation Villages or Hyatt types?

[Jya-Ning]

Originally Posted by Dancingfish

By branded do you mean Wyndam or Vacation Villages or Hyatt types?

I believe that what he implies. I also see that trend. But I believe there are enough tradition week. So in the next 40 years, there will still enough week system around.

As said, majority of the mini-point system (WorldMark, Wyndham, Disney, HGVC, Diamond ...) keep there point value for today's resort they build. The Wyndham resort when I first bought my home resort, has never change the point value for that resort in 8 years, and I don't see the change happen in any near future. So if you bought point just for the purpose of visit that resort for x days, you will always be able to do that.

However, the newer resort they add in, will cost close to double the points. As said, it is your choice. In some systems that does not protect the home resort owner, or if you bought other places intend to use the point in different resort you will find you need more work just to make reservation in the original resort you plan to stay, and may feel like you are push to make reservation to high point resort that you don't plan to.

The exchange company's point system probably should not stay as constant, but you should still get same day's stay in your home resort

Jya-Ning

[Lisa P]

We love our points ownership (Wyndham) because it offers the flexibility of shorter stays, varying unit sizes and, above all, the ability to reserve at any resort within its system without paying an additional exchange fee. It's complex to learn but if an owner learns the ropes, they can get great value for their money as well.

We also own several fixed and floating weeks. We like them for trading through RCI/II or independent exchange companies. Some of our weeks are at independent resorts. But some are managed through a larger company (VRI), which provides a boost in trade power when seeking an RCI exchange into another sister (VRI) resort.

All of our ownerships are deeded in perpetuity, which we also prefer, over a RTU week or leased points.

As far as points losing value over time, it's only a concern if you are talking about RCI points. Those are subject to change. If you get points with most developer systems (resale, of course), a change in the value of your points will generally only happen if your home resort becomes extremely unpopular for some reason. And that would also happen with a drop in trade power for a fixed/floating week, if it becomes unpopular too. The "loss in points power" that most people see is that they get enough points for a particular unit size and length of stay. Then NEW resorts come into the system which cost more points for that same unit size and length of stay. However, the stay at their home resort didn't change. Hope that makes sense.

[madmitch]

I own Weeks and Points
My week ownership is at San Luis Bay Inn, via RCIM and not Sunterra.
I only get 7 nights, but usually split those into several stays over the year, often adding to with inexpensive bonus time. (it ends up being cheaper than using Sunterra points most of the time)
My points ownership is via Sunterra/Diamond, and I now have 22,500 or equal to three weeks, all through resale.
Playing the 59-out game I can extend that to almost double, but I can't use that amount of time so I often rent my points and gain a bit of a profit.
Some stays are full fare, about 7500 points for 7 nights, others are discounted, 3750 for a full week. If I don't need a 2 bedroom I save points booking something smaller.
We stay in Tahoe or other day-drive areas and avoid Fri-Sat nights when possible so other nights use less points.
I have 3 nights in Sedona coming in May. Only possible via points, and booked at a time that offered good savings. Meeting my cousin from Iowa and we'll be riding motorcycles there and on day-rides out and back.

That's my 2¢.

[Icc5]

We own 3 units in the week system and Worldmark a points system. We use the points sometimes to stay at Worldmark for a week or sometimes a few days in between our weeks stays at the other units. It works well for us but we are planners. If you plan ahead you can usually make any system work.
Bart

[somerville]

I own fixed weeks, floating weeks, Worldmark points and Festiva Adventure Club (formerly equivest) points. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. For making exchanges, I like the points, because the number of points required is dependent on unit size and season. I have a Marriott deeded week that I also use for Marriott exchanges. For my use, I like the deeded weeks.

[BoardGirl]

RCI is always going to say that RCI Points are the future.

While I do believe that Points are the future, I don't really believe that RCI's system is All That. I don't plan to buy into their system as I don't believe it to be a good fit for me. But others have had a lot of experience in it and are pleased.

I own Bluegreen and it's a great system, like having the best of both worlds (points and weeks).

[Sue S]

I own Diamond(Sunterra) points plus a fixed week which I trade via RCI. I'm currently selling the fixed week because I find that it's becoming too expensive to use when I factor in the RCI membership and exchange fee.

The DRI points are excellent, I bought enough (resale) to book 3 weeks high-season in a 2-bed, that was when the children were younger. Now that they don't holiday with us anymore the points will stretch to 6 or more weeks per year (and if we go to a DRI resort there's no additional fee).

The flexibility of points is definitely a plus for me.

Sue