…And How Does it Compare to WM Explorer Club?

Many of our clients have questions about the travelshare program that Wyndham sells at retail presentations. When purchasing on the resale market, no broker can offer benefits under the moniker of Wyndham’s Travelshare program, but can a resale company offer a better program? We would like to explain the benefits as well as costs of the travelshare program and we hope to show you why you may consider the WM Explorer Club offered exclusively by Selling Timeshares, Inc., when you purchase, rather than the Wyndham Travelshare membership. The vast majority of our clients realize that the major benefits of the travelshare program can be had on the resale market at a much lower initial cost, with less reoccurring costs as well.

Understand the Basics

The travelshare program is a developer’s incentive membership that is designed to entice people to purchase at the presentation for a higher price than resale market value. As you can imagine, Wyndham has to offer some rebuttal to the question “Why would I pay 3x or more for a retail account, when I can buy an account from an existing owner?” The only thing they can really say is that if you buy resale, you will miss out on the travelshare program. Due to the fact that the travelshare membership cannot be transferred to any party outside of the owner’s immediate family, if you ever needed to sell an account bought at full price, you cannot include those benefits. Effectively, you will be forced to sell for current resale market value at the time of the sale. With the exclusive WM Explorer Club, all benefits are transferrable to the next owner, whether it’s your heirs or a buyer.

Fun Time Feature

Travelshare – The fun time feature is an extended Bonus Time program. Rather than booking within 14 days, you can now book up to 25 days in advance, but it is more expensive at 6 cents per credit rather than 4.8 cents per credit and you are limited to 5 days per reservation.

Explorer Club – We can offer One-Time-Use credits to supplement your account. Generally the credits will cost about 6-8 cents per credit, but you can book 13 months in advance, book full weeks and you can use as many weekends as you’d like.

Use of Credits for Airfare, Cruises and Car Rentals

Travelshare – Wyndham will allow you to use any unused vacation credits toward other travel expenses, but the exchange rate is so unpreferrable, most owners will never elect to use these benefits. One example, is that a cruise averages 10,000-30,000 credits per person to book, which can be literally thousands of dollars of maintenance for a couple to go on a travelshare cruise. You are obligated to book through WorldMark and use their inventory.

Explorer Club – We will buy back any unused available credits at a higher rate than what WorldMark will offer and send you a check for the sale upon the transfer completing. We can then help you either use your free, included SFX Diamond Rewards memebership to book your dream cruise, or you can book with any other cruiseline, airline, use the check however you see fit.

Included RCI membership (included travelshare fees)

Travelshare – Includes an RCI account that can be used to trade with other resorts. This memebership is not free, as you will have to pay a monthly travelshare fee. Wyndham owns RCI and has a vested interest into getting you to pay more for these benefits. Some owners will never use this trading feature, but still have to pay the fees involved and they are paid for the lifetime of the ownership, adding to maintenance liability.

Explorer Club – We included a free, pre-paid SFX Diamond Rewards membership for years after your purchase, which offers some of the most luxurious boutique resorts available in today’s market. You will not pay any reoccurring costs to keep the membership active during this time, and you can decide to keep it active after the initial pre-paid period for less than the travelshare dues will cost you.

Use of certain affiliated resorts

Travelshare – Wyndham offers access to affiliated resorts to those that purchase at full retail price.

Explorer Club – Access affiliated resorts and many more through your pre-paid SFX Diamond Rewards membership.

Free Movie Rentals

You would have to watch a few lifetimes of movie rentals to offset the price of paying full resale price for your ownership.

We look forward to delivering new ways to benefit our clients. You can get up to the date news on this and many other topics in our online articles or by talking to one of our experienced agents.