OT - Wyndham Vacation TImeshare - Waste of Time??

[hrhofmann]

I have been contacted by the Wyndham vacation timeshare folks to hear a 2-h our talk and be rewarded as worded below.

"You will receive a "Fly Away Getaway" vacation certificate which is valid for 4 coach-class round-trip airline tickets to your choice of more than 30 destinations in the U.S., Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe, good f or 2 years from Issue Date (2 airline tickets per vacation, 2 vacations all owed) and, when you are ready to make your reservation (advance notice is r equired), you must purchase your hotel stay through the airline-ticketing a gency, First Priority Travel, for a minimum number of nights, choosing from the hotels offered. Or, if you don't want to fly, you can use the certif icate for a discount of up to $100 per night at select hotels. Your "Fly A way Getaway" certificate includes a 47-page booklet with pictures and descr iptions of the destination and hotel choices. Taxes (hotel tax plus airl ine/airport tax of $28-$98 per domestic airline ticket) and fuel surcharges , if applicable, are not included. Baggage fees, if applicable, and premiu m seat assignment fees, if applicable, are not included. Incidental expens es are not included.

And

You will receive $200 in dining dollars redeemable at

You will have a choice of popular restaurants in your area or various citie s thought out the US. Log on, search to find your favorite restaurant, prin t certificate and use, it's that simple. Please seewww.diningdough.com for details."

I think I can resist any pressure to sign anything during the 2-hour presen tation, but I am wondering if the tickets they propose to make available ar e worth while or not. It is hard to tell if their choices of destinations are places I might want to go, and I probably would not stay at their choic es of hotels since I would be going places where I know local residents.

Anyone have any experience with this sort of gimmick???

[Thane]

How do you know it was from Wyndham and not just some main sleaze spammer?

Note - one of my customers gets junk from Fidelity, Costco, and a dozen other well known companies, none of which comes from the mentioned customers. It may be a scam to a) confirm your email address, b) sell you something other than from the company mentioned, b) have you click on a link taking you to a malware site or d) something else, including loading your details into a honeypot site so they can sell your address.

Unless you can really analyze the sites and links they give you, your best course is to delete the emails and especially, *do not* click the unsubscribe link.

Thane

[Ed Pawlowski]

No contact with them but I'm a strong believer in the "no free lunch" Too many restrictions already listed as to who you book with.

[Don Y]

Do you *really* think you're going to game THEIR system?

[gfretwell]

fees,

If you can resist the sales pitch, these things are usually what they say they are. They will be steering you into time shares they own as the "hotel". I used to get them a lot but I guess I have abused them so many times I am blacklisted now. You can usually get kicked out of the sales pitch early by asking embarrassing questions like how much does this cost total (purchase price, service fees, club dues etc) and dividing it by the number of days you stay there. I take a little calculator but my brother in law showed me how to really do it by running the numbers in his head. Just be aware they do everything they can to obfuscate the cost while telling you all of the benefits. You can break their patter if you can spontaneously come up with the cost questions and calculate the real price. I think my record was 8 minutes and out the door with my free room, Disney tickets and meal chits in hand. That was also when I stopped getting the solicitations (Marriott world center in Orlando). We did get a nice Disney trip out of it tho.

[cheezwhiz]

*There's a sucker born every minute.*

[trader_4]

-hour talk and be rewarded as worded below.

d for 4 coach-class round-trip airline tickets to your choice of more than

30 destinations in the U.S., Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe, good for 2 years from Issue Date (2 airline tickets per vacation, 2 vacations a llowed) and, when you are ready to make your reservation (advance notice is required), you must purchase your hotel stay through the airline-ticketing agency, First Priority Travel, for a minimum number of nights, choosing fr om the hotels offered. Or, if you don't want to fly, you can use the cert ificate for a discount of up to $100 per night at select hotels. Your "Fly Away Getaway" certificate includes a 47-page booklet with pictures and des criptions of the destination and hotel choices. Taxes (hotel tax plus ai rline/airport tax of $28-$98 per domestic airline ticket) and fuel surcharg es, if applicable, are not included. Baggage fees, if applicable, and prem ium seat assignment fees, if applicable, are not included. Incidental expe nses are not included.

. You will have a choice of popular restaurants in your area or various cit ies thought out the US. Log on, search to find your favorite restaurant, pr int certificate and use, it's that simple. Please seewww.diningdough.com fo r details."

entation, but I am wondering if the tickets they propose to make available are worth while or not. It is hard to tell if their choices of destination s are places I might want to go, and I probably would not stay at their cho ices of hotels since I would be going places where I know local residents.

It says the airline tickets are free, but you must purchase your hotel stay through the "airline ticketing agency", which is likely Wyndham's own. How do you know what the cost of the hotels, what the choices are, etc? If they charge you $100 more a night for a hotel than similar properties, then someone is getting some $$$ back from you.

What makes this one better than similar I've seen is that it's for

4 tickets with Hawaii and Europe included. Assuming you really can get tickets there, it certainly makes it a lot more attractive, at least to me. I'd ask to see the 30 destinations and hotels. They can likely change them at any time though.

Almost all of these, I'd walk on. This one might be worth it.

[dadiOH]

Not really a gimmick, they are selling stuff at huge markups; therefore, even with very generous commissions, they can afford to be generous in the "free gift department" as long as enough people buy. The trick is not to buy.

I went to one once in Kissimmee. I was going to be there anyway so I didn't mind investing a bit of time for the four Outback dinners (your peddlers are much more generous). They were selling local condos - worth about $150K - for $30,000/per week. Eventually, after many, "No thanks", on the my part the price trickled down to $6,000/week, still a healthy markup. However, some, no idea of what percentage, actually bought at the 30K price. Which is why they can be generous with the freebies.

Just remember: no one selling anything is your friend. That includes stock brokers, investment counselors, etc. as well as time share and cars.

[gfretwell]

The thing about these deals is you also have several hundred a year in service fees, dues or whatever they call it. That is why you need to ask as many questions, as early in the pitch as you can. It will not take long to figure out the amortized cost of the condo for the week you are buying, the cost of the loan, plus the service fee is more than you would pay for a nice suite in a hotel, maybe even from the same company. In these days of AirBNB and the sites that hawk cheap hotel rooms, I am surprised that business even exists. The sooner you start pointing that out to them, loud enough to distract the other salesmen and customers, the faster they will hustle you out. I am not sure about other states but in Florida, they have to honor their promise of the gifts, no matter how long you stay as long as they say you are done. I suppose they could put you in detention hall for the whole 2 hours but they really don't want to waste the salesman's time and they don't want you pissing in the pond screwing up the other pitches. We are always quietly shown the door, with gifts in hand.

[Don Y]

A neighbor here goes out for free meals every week -- on someone else's dime (the more upscale restaurants). He, of course, knows there's a pitch involved (let us manage your retirement portfolio) but has gone through the drill so many times that it no longer phases him. He just thinks of it as "slow food service".

We, OTOH, won't go more than 10 minutes out of our way for "$10 off a $10 purchase". A client offered to fly us back east in exchange for 4 hours of my time (of course, it would take more than 8 hours of travel time, round trip, in addition to that 4 hour meeting): no thanks.

Another tried to bring us to Vegas for a 3 day weekend for a similar exchange. Travel time would have been only half of the east coast trip! Again, "Sorry, not interested." Let them buy my time and my standard rates and *I* will "spend" the proceeds as I see fit.

Whenever you get something for free, *you* are the product being sold!

[thekmanrocks]

And remember: When you buy a time share, you are not buying bricks & mortar - you are buying a slice of TIME during which you are entitled to make use of specific units in certain hotels, cabins on ships, etc.

Try selling a piece of time when you're ready to get out of the deal.

[John G]

-hour talk and be rewarded as worded below.

d for 4 coach-class round-trip airline tickets to your choice of more than

30 destinations in the U.S., Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe, good for 2 years from Issue Date (2 airline tickets per vacation, 2 vacations a llowed) and, when you are ready to make your reservation (advance notice is required), you must purchase your hotel stay through the airline-ticketing agency, First Priority Travel, for a minimum number of nights, choosing fr om the hotels offered. Or, if you don't want to fly, you can use the cert ificate for a discount of up to $100 per night at select hotels. Your "Fly Away Getaway" certificate includes a 47-page booklet with pictures and des criptions of the destination and hotel choices. Taxes (hotel tax plus ai rline/airport tax of $28-$98 per domestic airline ticket) and fuel surcharg es, if applicable, are not included. Baggage fees, if applicable, and prem ium seat assignment fees, if applicable, are not included. Incidental expe nses are not included.

. You will have a choice of popular restaurants in your area or various cit ies thought out the US. Log on, search to find your favorite restaurant, pr int certificate and use, it's that simple. Please seewww.diningdough.com fo r details."

entation, but I am wondering if the tickets they propose to make available are worth while or not. It is hard to tell if their choices of destination s are places I might want to go, and I probably would not stay at their cho ices of hotels since I would be going places where I know local residents.

Just run away and don't look back.

[Stormin Mormon]

Ultimately, it's going to be YOUR money that gets spent (plus the expense of the scam and the rental dining hall). You'd get better value to contact a travel agent and have a regular vacation.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .

[thekmanrocks]

Stormin Mormon wrote: " Ultimately, it's going to be YOUR money that gets spent (plus the expense of the scam and the rental dining hall). You'd get better value to contact a travel agent and have a regular vacation. "

^^^ Should be canonized ^^^

Yep! That's the model that has worked since people started vacationing. Work. Save up. Go on vacation. Some can afford one week away per year, others two weeks or more. Some by car, others by ship or plane.

The time share hustlers tricked my folks into thinking they'd "save money" by not spending on hotels, and having a guaranteed slot the same time every year in a part of the world they enjoyed visiting. Guess they never thought about that mortgage they were paying for that privilege!

Years later I was stuck with that time share as part of their estate settlement after they had both passed. After dozens of sharks offered to buy it from us, all claiming they had other buyers "anxious to buy your timeshare!!", and wasted months down the toilet, I finally agreed to my attorney drafting a quit-claim deed, essentially giving the thing back to the bastards who conned my folks earlier on.

[Stormin Mormon]

Thanks for the rare moment of agreement, on this list. Sad to hear your parents got stuck with such a money sink. Maybe others will learn from your wisdom.

[hrhofmann]

I have absolutely no intention, plans, or anything even remotely related to actually signing anything. Tomorrow,I am going to contact the sales force that called me and then emailed me the letter I put in my original post, t o learn more about the mandatory hotel words. That alone is enough to comp letely turn me off.

[gfretwell]

If you are sure you will not fall under the spell, these things can be fun and usually when the salesman figures out you are not buying, they kick you loose. Just go in knowing the down sides so you can ask the embarrassing questions early.

[sms]

es, if applicable, are not included. Incidental expenses are not included.

The scam here is "First Priority Travel." "...you must purchase your hotel stay through the airline-ticketing agency, First Priority Travel, for a minimum number of nights, choosing from the hotels offered."

The hotel stay you must purchase is marked up an enormous amount to cover the cost of the airline tickets. See .

Q. What's the difference between a Timeshare and gonorrhea?

A. You can get rid of gonorrhea.

[hrhofmann]

to SMS,

Thanks, the hotel vs airfare gimmick was exactly how I thought it was, I just wanted someone to agree with my thinking without my mentioning the problem first. So, again,

THANKS!!!!!

[trader_4]

I mentioned that you have to book the hotel through their travel agency and they could jack up the price in one of the first replies.