flexibility of fairfield points

When I bought fairfield I was told I could go where I want when I want and for as long as I want. What went wrong that I have to book vacations 12 or more months in advance. I would not have bought if I had known this.

We have had excellent experience using the Fairfield point system. Yes the more popular resorts require longer reservations, but we have booked many trips in just a few months. We are more than happy with our Fairfield purchases.

We have been using Fairfield points for over 13 years, booking from 6 moths to 60 days ahead. I agree with Scottivins that the most popular resorts do require longer reservations but I have always gotten what we wanted. I always check the web site for reservations often. I have booked a reservation on the web site that when calling the 800 number was not listed.

Fairfield was the first to go to points, and because of that has the most complicated of all systems. Fairfield is also the Largest Timeshare company, and now larger as part of Wyndam Vacations. Overall, I am very happy with Fairfield. Their units are by far the best I've stayed in, and I've stayed in FAR less quality through RCI. At least if you stay at a Fairfield you know you are staying at a Gold Crown Resort, and it shows! Only thing I don't like are the ridiculous Maintenance Fees. It is getting so bad that you could probably rent a week from someone on Redweek for the same OR LESS money as your maintenance fees. I would tell anyone looking to buy AT ANY TIMESHARE company to seriously consider just renting for awhile till they are sure what they want. It is DEFINITELY not an investment, as the Sales People will lead you to believe. But, if you decide to buy, I don't think there is a better value for the money out there than Fairfield. There are other 'BIG' names out there that charge MUCH more, but the quality and amenities are no better than Fairfield from what I've seen. And no, I'm not an employee of Fairfield or Wyndam... ;)

If you are going to a hotel or a condo in a prime location at prime time, you are going to have to book well in advance, or take the chance that a cancellation will occur just before you want to travel. You have 10 months to make a reservation in advance of your travel with Fairfield, at a resort which is not your home resort, so if you want a particular resort at a particular time you have to plan in advance. I am a Fairfield owner, and my complaints are the time I have to spend on the phone to correct errors in my account, and the fact that the first day I arrive at a resort I have to make calls for maintenance to fix something. It is usually fixed promptly, but it is still an irritation. I have not yet done an exchange through RCI for a deposit of my points, so I can't comment on that aspect of Fairfield points. I will be using the RCI exchange in 2007. I have visited 5 Fairfield resorts, and while not perfect, I have in general been pleased with my vacation experience. Any Fairfield salesman who tells you a timeshare is a good financial investment is violating company policy, and is subject to being fired for such conduct.

You don't HAVE to book vacations 12 months in advance with FSP points. In fact, their home resort is the only resort most FSP owners can reserve at 12 months. If you reserve at 10 months you have an excellent chance of getting what you want unless you want Myrtle Beach in the summer, Alexandria during the Cherry Blossom festival, Daytona during race week, or other very high demand situation.

You can go where you want, when you want (as long as you checkin or out on a weekend), for 3, 4 or 7 days DEPENDING ON AVAILABILITY (which the salesman probably said softly :)

Have you joined the Fairfield_Timeshare Yahoo! group? This group has a lot of information on how to best use FSP points.

I'm currently in the process of closing directly with an owner on a 105,000 points Fairfield Grand Desert Las Vegas purchase.

I understand that additional points can be purchased at $5 or $10 per thousand? How does that work and what is the procedure?

Archie, you don't purchase them at that price, you rent them to complete a transaction within certain Fairfield rules. 60 days or less to reservation, you can rent point for $5 to complete an additional day. Over 60 days to reservation it is $10 per thousand points to complete a reservation. They are not recurring points.

Thank you for your explanation Stanley. Sounds like a reasonable way to go rather than purchasing another 105,000 package and paying maintenance on two timeshares.

stanleyf5 wrote:

60 days or less to reservation, you can rent point for $5 to complete an additional day. Over 60 days to reservation it is $10 per thousand points to complete a reservation. They are not recurring points.

Correction: 90 days to day of travel the price is $5 per thousand and you can rent up to the amount of points you have per year. Above 90 days up to 10 months it is $10 per thousand and you can only rent the amount needed to complete one more night.

jeff

jeffr92 wrote:

stanleyf5 wrote:

60 days or less to reservation, you can rent point for $5 to complete an additional day. Over 60 days to reservation it is $10 per thousand points to complete a reservation. They are not recurring points.

Correction: 90 days to day of travel the price is $5 per thousand and you can rent up to the amount of points you have per year. Above 90 days up to 10 months it is $10 per thousand and you can only rent the amount needed to complete one more night.

jeff

stanleyf5 wrote:

jeffr92 wrote:

stanleyf5 wrote:

60 days or less to reservation, you can rent point for $5 to complete an additional day. Over 60 days to reservation it is $10 per thousand points to complete a reservation. They are not recurring points.

Correction: 90 days to day of travel the price is $5 per thousand and you can rent up to the amount of points you have per year. Above 90 days up to 10 months it is $10 per thousand and you can only rent the amount needed to complete one more night.

jeff

Yes, Jeffs answer is more accurate.

Thanks for your input Jeff. Suppose I wanted to upgrade from a one bedroom to a two bedroom as opposed to completing one more night? Can I 'rent' additional points at the $5 per thousand rate?

archie14 wrote:

Thanks for your input Jeff. Suppose I wanted to upgrade from a one bedroom to a two bedroom as opposed to completing one more night? Can I 'rent' additional points at the $5 per thousand rate?

Only if you are within 90 days til check in and only up to your yearly amount. For instance, normally you pick up say 154,000 points at the beginning of your use year. you can only rent up to 154,000 additional points within that year.

Now if the time is greater than 90 days, it doesn't matter about 1 or 2br. What matters is that you already have enough points to make all but a partial day for that reservation. Its going to cost you $10 per thousand and you can only rent enough points to complete that final day. No more.

Jeff

What is the best way to advertise fsp on this site as an exchange or rental? The only way to advertise it seems is to enter a resort location. With fairfield points you have various location options. Thanks in advance.

deloresh7 wrote:

What is the best way to advertise fsp on this site as an exchange or rental? The only way to advertise it seems is to enter a resort location. With fairfield points you have various location options. Thanks in advance.

Hi Delores,

If you have a week reserved, the resort location is probably best. I noticed though that people who advertise renting the points seem to do it on redwishes (even if they plan to reserve the week someone chooses) take a look and see what some have done. You may have to go back a few pages.

Jeff

If you want to rent out your FSP points, I suggest you do so via the Fairfield_timeshare Yahoo! group. You can make a post (once per year, I think) stating that you are offering points at a given price (usually $5-$7 per thousand. The point usually rent quickly.

archie14 wrote:

I'm currently in the process of closing directly with an owner on a 105,000 points Fairfield Grand Desert Las Vegas purchase.

I understand that additional points can be purchased at $5 or $10 per thousand? How does that work and what is the procedure?

You can probably RENT point for a particular year from other owners in the price range you mention. You certainly won't own them for $5 per K. At $10 per K--well maybe you could find someone willing to sell.

MD

johnm333 wrote:

When I bought fairfield I was told I could go where I want when I want and for as long as I want. What went wrong that I have to book vacations 12 or more months in advance. I would not have bought if I had known this.

You may book your FF home resort 13 months in advance. Standard reservations can't be made more than 10 months ahead. RCI Exchanges can be booked up to 2 years ahead if you wish.

You can exchange into any resort in the Fairfield system or bank your time with RCI or II, depending on which is associated with the Fairfield at which you first purchased. An exchange company, however, has additional fees and can't give you what nobody has deposited. (Exception: Some resort chains give RCI some of their excess inventory to fill the rooms and bring prospective buyers to their doors.)

The "as long as you want" depends on how many points you bought. Was that for "as long as you wanted"? You can get more time per point if you do not travel only in Red season and try to avoid weekends! If you want to go to a location with lots of Fairfield space like Branson, you may even chance making your request in the reduced points window. Are you VIP? See the chart in the Directory. Orlando is usually available with the exception of Christmas vacation time when families bring the kids.

There are relatively few 3BR and 4BR units, so getting these can be a problem.

There are some unique situations. You will not get Daytona 500 Race Week even if you own points at Ocean Walk unless you call to reserve EARLY on the first morning of the Advanced Reservation window--13 months ahead. You WILL find this week offered on RedWeek by FF owners trying to make enough profit to cover most of their expenses for that week and all others they own! Even so, they are not out of line with the prices Daytona hotels will be charging.

Hope this helps.

MD