Wyndham Vacation Club has announced it has entered into an agreement with Sundance Resort Club to offer new properties in Japan.

Sundance Resort Club is a points based vacation club with over 11,000 members and 16 resort destinations. By adding these resorts to the Wyndham portfolio, the timeshare giant now has a presence in Japan, and can offer members the chance to explore the region. The new properties will be managed by Wyndham Vacation Club Asia Pacific and the acquisition takes the Asia Pacific arm of Wyndham to 69 properties in total, located across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, Hawaii, Thailand, Europe and now Japan.

Wyndham Vacation Club Asia Pacific has over 70,000 members all on the Wyndham points based system, meaning members can choose to holiday in any of these locations depending on how many points they have. The 16 resorts are all located within a two hour train journey from Tokyo and feature locations such as Mount Fuji and the upcoming 2020 summer Olympics destination of Onjuku.

President of Wyndham Vacation Clubs, Barry Robinson said: “We are pleased to be expanding our operations across Asia with this significant acquisition in Japan. This complements the steady growth of Wyndham Vacation Clubs in the region, specifically Club Wyndham Asia and Club Wyndham South Pacific by adding 16 more locations across our portfolio of resorts. We look forward to building upon the achievements of Sundance Resort Club.”

Wyndham Destinations is one of the world’s largest ownership and exchange companies, with over 4 million members worldwide. The timeshare giant offers members the chance to vacation in any of its 220 resorts in over 110 countries. Wyndham also operates an affiliation with RCI, offering members a further 4,300 resorts worldwide.

The Problem with Points Based Memberships

Owners buy points to gain access to a resorts properties, the more points owned, the more access a vacation owner has to top properties at peak times. Holiday points programs can start at anything from £10,000 and owners are consistently persuaded to purchase more.

Points are valued depending on factors such as time of year, destination, size of accommodation etc. Points do provide a greater amount of flexibility, however, before purchasing a points based holiday product, do the math! Ask yourself, can the amount of point’s purchased provide you with the holiday you want each year without having to purchase additional points you didn’t budget for?

Can you gain access to the types of locations and facilities you want to visit when you want to? There are far too many holiday club members who report being unhappy with the standard of their accommodations using their annual points allowance. Even reports of people unable to book a specific week during peak seasons, when they were told by the sales agent they would be able to do so.

People who enter into Timeshare agreements often find it difficult to keep up with the mounting maintenance fees and simply cannot afford it any longer. They may also find that the Timeshare no longer suits their needs and simply want to end the contract. There are too many individuals who are willing to take advantage of Timeshare owners and offer fake products, along with timeshare exit schemes. Before agreeing to any Timeshare termination or exit procedure with an individual or company, seek independent advice and fully research any company you are thinking of working with.

It is also important to remember that purchasing a timeshare should NEVER be viewed as a financial investment. Timeshare is an investment in lifestyle, in future holidays and family time together. There is almost no resale value to a Timeshare.

The mis-selling of holiday products is, unfortunately, common practice within the holiday industry and these type of crimes often go unreported by the most vulnerable in our society and criminal convictions are few and far between.

If you have purchased a Lifestyle / Concierge Service, a Timeshare or a ‘holiday points’ based product from a resort or company and feel unhappy with the service, or feel you have been mis-sold this product, please get in touch with us to discuss how we may be able to help you with a possible timeshare termination.