I believe that everyone should be able to express themselves the way they like, but I can assure you, I have not limited myself to a few resorts, I have only limited my time-frame ( I still have one child in school).
The problem with our entire country is the idea that the other guy does it so why shouldn't I. Stop doing the wrong thing (because everyone else does) and start doing the right thing because it's the right thing.
But hey, you got yours.
I just don't have the problem of not being able to use my points so I will not buy into the 'worthless points because of mega owners' theory and I absolutely do not believe they are "profiting off the backs" of the other owners. If I had such a hard=on for Big C that I HAD to be there but couldn't do it pointsly, I'd rent from a mega for probably less than my own points cost.
I play by the rules and get vacations. What exactly is it that I am doing wrong? what exactly is it that mega owners are doing wrong? nothing illegal, nothing against club rules. Would you like to see rentals prohibited so that none of us can do it? I am asking because I am curious, not being snarky.
There are many MANY cases of people being unhappy with BG and usually because they do not plan ahead and believed "anytime, anywhere" without considering the ever-present "SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY".
I am not talking about you, Air, because you are apparently targeting that 11 month window, which is exactly how to do it, especially with the waitlist being unreliable. You can snake ressies away from megas that waitlisted if their requests weren't gotten to by 11 mo.
Timesharing requires flexibility and there are so many resorts that I just don't see how people have such difficulty using their points. Last week I reserved AZ in January, penthouse unit Hardly planned ahead, and true, not in competition for those on school calendar, but I expected retirees and the self employed to maybe ditch cold for AZ in January.
Some years back I got Hershey over 4th of July less than a month in advance. One would think that ressies not being rented will be cancelled, putting the units back into the pool.
I have spent hours online trying to book vacations on the Atlantic Coast, or the Gulf Coast. I have tried numerous times and never been able to find "anything". I live in Texas, DFW area, so the north east is not likely, as we typically drive where we are going. The Fountains (which is one of my deeds) is great, but if all i ever wanted to do was go to Orlando, I would have bought a fixed week. My HXXX On for BC (that you so crudely refer to) is geographic. It is 8 hrs to drive. Everything else is at least 12 to 14 hrs and the one you referred to "Hershey" is 23 hours.
One should remember, when attempting to judge others, that not all circumstance are the same. You stated that you are "not in competition for those on school calendar". Try to imagine that you were and then apply you "Timesharing requires flexibility" statement. Then, consider that, during the sales pitch, the sales people assure people everyday (except updates, when they change their pitch to "buy more points so you can get waitlisted") that if you plan ahead, you shouldn't have any problems getting what you want. It is simply not true for families with kids. You can tell me all day about how you found some booking at some great place at some short time frame, but for families with school age children, that just is not the case.
Originally Posted by BoardGirl
Judging?? uh, I don't think so. Trying to consider the circumstances of others, yes. apology for crude remark, it was inappropriate.
Sales people lie. Any Place Any Time is not reasonable. Doesn't that sound Too Good To Be True?? Associate resorts do not have much inventory, they will always be hard to get into. I gave up on Gulf Shores and Panama City a long time ago, but can always try via exchange or rental. Have you tried exchanging into areas you can't reach in the BG network?
I don't live close to any resorts, either, at least 8 hours driving to any. I'm seriously landlocked, it's a hike to hit ocean. I knew where the resorts were located when I bought and I liked the locations on offer and like even more the great expansion BG has done over time.
My question to you is, have you tried searching Again for something that was booked solid at 11 months? My point was that just because your choice is Unavailable at time of the search does not mean that it will not show back up (that was my point on the Hershey example - should have been booked solid, but Surprise, I scored late in the game - It Can Happen unless you give up and don't go look for it again).
For you, For Me, for those with kids, for those without, for those retired, if you give up because something was not available at 11 months, then there is nothign anyone can do to help you. You miss out and whining about mega owners solves nothing.
Maybe BG just isn't a good fit for you? It's great for me, but, we know that my situation is different than yours. But for both of us, chasing a high demand / low supply resort will more often than not bring disappointment. BG is strongest in the Southeast. If that's not a good region for you, there's just not crap BG can do for you to change that, BUT, they have added A LOT OF RESORTS to the network in the past decade plus, which this owner is very happy about. Nothing closer to home and I'm fine with that.
There are choices. If you choose to give up then that's your choice. If you choose to be angry at mega owners, that's your choice. If you choose to only target certain resorts, that's your choice. But none of these choices is going to score a reservation for you so seems to me to be wasted energy.
If BG doesn't work for you, dump it and get something that does.
This has been a very good discussion and I like the idea of being able to rent a unit for whatever reason, if it be because something came up and can't use it or just making a little extra cash, but when you go to say Craigslist and I see a single posting with over 30 something different listing for 4 and 5 night stays in various units mainly for the months of June and July and a few other months under one add and the add has a dot com timeshare rentals address listed for additional info. This really gets my goat. I know, they should be able to do that and you should be more flexible bla, bla, bla ,well I am flexible and I do get something where and when I want it just may not be exactly my preferred unit or time but I do adjust. You have to or you'll be staying home and not going anywhere these days. I just have a concern about what I’ve been seeing happening. I have no problem with someone posting a few time to sell for whatever reason and I know some people don't always get to go on vacation every year but when someone turns it into a business and that competes with families trying to book time using BG's ever changing rules to get something booked, well I really have a concern with it.
When I first purchased, and all my points are with home resort BC, there wasn't any limitation on RED points and HIGH RED but BG seen fit to change the rules to make it fairer. Well I purchased on that premise, flexibility, renting, multiple stays, bonus time, it seemed like a great fit compared to others I looked at. So I think there may need to be some changes but not to eliminate the renting out, but some kind of change to keep these Craigslist businesses from dominating all kinds of inventory. It seems to be more of this going on at BC because they can sell for much less of what the BC lodge charges. The way I see it the RED point, High RED point limits were set to keep someone with a limited number of points saving up for a couple of years to be able to reserve a coveted summer week, and this seemed to come into play soon after BC started getting inventory. So I think most of these changes have come because of BC, it's has become the Crown Jewel for BG. There would be no difference if BG comes up with a plan to limit this type of mass bookings than when it changed to limiting saved points for booking High Red time.
I know most of the discussion here is about BC and that should tell you something about how popular the resort is. I purchased about 12yrs ago during its idea stage before a single unit was built, so I’ve seen this place grow into what it is today. I have always been able to find inventory for some time during summer and X-mass months I have a flexible job and my wife teaches so we can be flexible during these months. But, it seems since the introduction of the Platinum level it is next to nothing and I get online and look all the time even bonus time is nonexistent. I'm just saying and conveying what I’m seeing and saying that BG may need to address this type of activity.
Bent, you beat me into the club by a year or so, there was already the red/high red deal when I came on board and I thank you for providing a piece of history I did not know.
Were you part of RDI or bought directly when it became BG?
I do understand that it is frustrating to see 'the businesses' but it seems to me that it has to be either or - we all can rent or none of us can. trying to set limits would be nearly impossible to enforce and we all know that plenty in the world are NOT rules followers.
Airport said it : "I got mine" with the implied, tough crap on the rest of you. I think the problem would get worse, not better. But, I do know some of The Megas and they would play by the rules. And potentially sell off a ton of points.
What you said is truth:
I am flexible and I do get something where and when I want it just may not be exactly my preferred unit or time but I do adjust. You have to or you'll be staying home and not going anywhere these days.
ESPECIALLY when it comes to BC. Appreciate your adding insight into the evolution of hte problem.
Only went to silver to get enough points for two weeks.
I am glad I Don’t like going anywhere high season.
Did Islands of Adventure Orlando in November and some guy was complaining about it being quite.
The weather was great and no standing in line for the rides.
Also you got to remember these mega owners got to pay the MF even if they don’t get a booking.
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