What changes are you making?

1. A reduction in Privileges fees for all Privileges members, effective from 1 June 2020
2. A requirement to surrender housekeeping token/s for transactions where credits are exchanged
3. A minimum night stay for the Privileges Diamond, Platinum and 100 Club complimentary housekeeping benefit
4. A revised Fun Time benefit
5. Removal of Golfers Plus and Registry Collection
6. An expansion of the Lifestyle program

1. Reduction in Privileges fees

• Privileges fees will be reduced by 12.5 per cent for every member, from 1 June 2020 onwards.
• Those owners who have pre-paid their Privileges fees will automatically receive a credit on their next payment.

2. Housekeeping tokens for exchanges

• From 1 June 2020, when you exchange your credits for products and services by using Developer benefits or the Privileges program, you will be required to provide a housekeeping token from your annual allocation – one for the first 19,999 credits and one for each subsequent 10,000 credits (or part thereof).
• Privileges Diamond members and above will not be able to use complimentary housekeeping tokens toward this and must provide a housekeeping token.
• If no housekeeping tokens are available for the exchange, then you will be required to pay a flat housekeeping fee, currently $116 for each housekeeping token required.
• This will affect the following programs:
  • Travel Club – including Club Wyndham To/From, Club Tours, Personal Choice, Urban Escapes
  • Wyndham Rewards
  • RCI Rentals
  • OVC Cruises
  • Privileges Holiday Extras

3. Complimentary housekeeping

• The complimentary housekeeping benefit remains available for stays at Club Wyndham South Pacific properties but will be subject to minimum stays:
  • Of five nights or more, if you are trialling Privileges Diamond
  • Of four nights or more, if you are a Privileges Diamond member or trialling Privileges Platinum
  • Of three nights or more, if you are a Privileges Platinum or 100 Club member
• If no housekeeping tokens are available, then you will be required to pay the relevant housekeeping fee at the time of booking.

4. A revised Fun Time benefit

• Fun Time and Fun Time – Priority Access have been reworked to provide excellent value to Club Wyndham South Pacific Premier owners and Privileges members
• Owners will be able to purchase up to their annual credit allocation every year at a low cash rate of AU9 cents per Fun Time credit, inclusive of housekeeping and some jurisdictional taxes
• The benefit has a two-night minimum and a 14-night maximum stay per booking
• Cancellation rules will be the same as for standard credit bookings
• Fun Time windows will depend on Privileges tier:
  • 100 Club – 13 months (including Exotic Resorts)
  • Platinum – 12 months (including Exotic Resorts)
  • Diamond – 10 months (including Exotic Resorts)
  • Elite – 8 months (including Exotic Resorts)
  • Standard – 6 months (8 months for Exotic Resorts)
  • Non-Privileges – 3 months (8 months for Exotic Resorts)

5. Removal of Golfers Plus and The Registry Collection

• The contracts for Golfers Plus and The Registry Collection will end on 20 May 2020 and 20 October 2020 respectively and will not be renewed.
• Only a very small portion of Privileges Elite members and above are registered users of Golfers Plus.
• The Registry Collection has seldom been utilised over a number of years.

6. Expansion of Lifestyle benefit

• The Lifestyle program is free for Privileges members
• It currently offers exclusive deals on brands you know and trust at up to 76 per cent off the market price
• More than 150 brands are part of the platform and recent additions include Vodafone, Click Energy, Foxtel, Chempro Chemists, Endota Spa Products and Tavalon Tea

Which programs are affected by the housekeeping change?

• For all owners, the Club Wyndham To/From benefit or Club Tours from the Travel Club, Interval International or Dial An Exchange benefits will now require housekeeping token(s).
• For all Privileges members, when exchanging your credits for Wyndham Rewards, RCI, Privileges Holiday Extras, OVC and Travel Club (including Club Tours, Personal Choice, Urban Escapes, specials), housekeeping tokens will be required.
• For Privileges Diamond, Platinum and 100 Club members (including trials), the minimum stay requirements apply to all bookings at Club Wyndham South Pacific resorts and complimentary housekeeping can no longer be used for Associate Resorts, Affiliate Resorts, One Time, Travel Club credit usage (Personal Choice, Urban Escapes, Club Wyndham To/From, specials), RCI exchanges, OVC Cruise Exchange, Wyndham Rewards exchanges, DAE Exchanges and Interval International exchanges.

Logistics

What if I don’t have a housekeeping token if I go to book a non-Club Wyndham product?

• Instead, there will be a flat housekeeping fee for each token your transaction requires but you do not have. The fee is currently AU$116 per token but may be subject to change each year.
• AU$116 is the average housekeeping cost in 2020 across all room types – and this fee may be adjusted in the future to factor in a yearly price increase.

I’m a Privileges Diamond/Platinum/100 Club member – can I just use complimentary tokens?

• Going forward, complimentary housekeeping will be available purely for stays at Club Wyndham South Pacific properties when booking with your credits (and not with Developer Benefits).
• Complimentary housekeeping will be available for stays:
  • Of five nights or more, if you are trialling Privileges Diamond
  • Of four nights or more, if you are a Privileges Diamond member or trialling Privileges Platinum
  • Of three nights or more, if you are a Privileges Platinum or 100 Club member
  • If no housekeeping tokens are available, then you will instead pay the relevant housekeeping fee at the time of booking.
• Fun Time now has housekeeping included.

Can I borrow a housekeeping token?

• You can still borrow a housekeeping token to complete a Club Wyndham South Pacific reservation as part of your Club benefits. But when using developer or Privileges benefits, only tokens in your account (your annual allocation) can be used.

What do I do if I have used all my housekeeping tokens in my account?

• If you are booking a stay at a Club Wyndham South Pacific property you can borrow housekeeping tokens from next year to use for bookings.
• When exchanging your credits for a Privileges benefit, you can pay the flat housekeeping fee for each token your transaction requires but you do not have. The fee is currently AU$116 per token but may be subject to change each year.
• When staying at a Club Wyndham South Pacific property, and you have no housekeeping tokens available, and none to borrow from next year, the usual housekeeping fees will apply depending on the apartment type (and complimentary housekeeping is available to Privileges Diamond and above)

Can I save my tokens to use on shorter stays, Wyndham Rewards exchanges or with Travel Club and just use the complimentary ones on Club resort stays?

• It has always been the case that your annual allocation of housekeeping tokens must be used first before you can pay a fee, so you cannot save tokens for a later transaction.
• There are ways you can save housekeeping tokens and/or minimise any expense by planning ahead and changing your booking patterns. Our Owner Information Centre is happy to share these tips with you in personalised one-on-one training.

Will I still be able to use complimentary housekeeping when booking online?

• We suggest that you use a housekeeping token online (and you can borrow a token if needed) in order to proceed with the online reservation. If your reservation meets the requirements for complimentary housekeeping, a housekeeping token will be replenished back into your account on the next business day. Alternatively, you can call Owner Services to make the eligible booking over the phone using complimentary housekeeping.

Travel Club

What do I do if I’ve received a quote through Travel Club?

• The changes are set to take effect on June 1, 2020. Any quote issued by Travel Club will be honoured until May 31, 2020, as long as a deposit is paid, regardless of the rule change.
• If the exchange has not been formally confirmed by May 31, 2020 with the payment of a deposit, then the quote will no longer be valid and housekeeping tokens (or payment) will be required. You will need to request a new quote.

What do I do if I’ve made a deposit on a Travel Club booking? Is my booking going to be cancelled or will I have to pay a token?

• If you have paid a deposit on a Travel Club quote by May 31, 2020, it will be honoured regardless of the change in the Program rules.

What if I had a Travel Club booking cancelled by COVID-19 and currently have credit with third parties? Will I need to surrender a housekeeping token when I rebook?

• If your Travel Club booking was cancelled because of COVID-19 and you have credit with third parties, you will not need to surrender a housekeeping token if you rebook through the Travel Club by September 30.

Reasoning

Why are you making this change?

• The purpose of these changes is deliver better value to as many owners and Privileges members as possible, while ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of developer benefits.
• In addition, enhancing the value of developer benefits has been a key theme in recent owner feedback. All feedback is carefully considered, whether it comes through interactions between owners and our teams, at Owner Information workshops, in annual surveys, by email or through social media.
• We have decided to make some changes to provide additional value to the entire Privileges member base in exchange for some changes to benefits used by a small percentage of owners.
• The Developer may also be able to roll out additional benefits as allowed through cost savings from the program changes.

How much of the owner base is affected by this change?

• It affects all owners who want to use their credits toward a Developer benefit, but it also provides a very positive benefit for all Privileges members in the form of reduced payments.

Why attach a minimum night condition to complimentary housekeeping?

• Housekeeping is undertaken at the end of every stay. An increase in short term stays has seen a significant increase in the housekeeping costs. This change ensures that this benefit can continue to be offered under the Privileges program to Diamond members and above.
• There are ways you can save housekeeping tokens and/or minimise any expense by planning ahead and changing your booking patterns. Our Owner Information Centre is happy to share these with you.

Why not start a minimum night condition at fewer nights?

• Much thought and financial modelling was undertaken before the Developer set the minimum night requirements. The change strikes the necessary balance between making the benefit financially sustainable for the long-term while still offering Privileges members the flexibility to travel the way they want and the ability to save on housekeeping.

Is there any chance this housekeeping benefit could change back to what it was?

• The Privileges program is a benefit provided by the Developer and is subject to change. This means that additional benefits can be added or further restrictions incorporated. However, you should not base a decision about your ownership on Developer benefits, as these can change or be removed by the Developer.

Why is one HK required per 9,999 credits? If I book a week at some resorts, up to 40K, only one HK is required.

• Club Wyndham South Pacific owners receive one housekeeping token if they own up to 19,999 credits, then at a rate of one per additional 10,000 credits.
• When the Developer collects housekeeping tokens for these Developer benefits, it maintains the same ratio in the interests of fairness. The Developer charges owners only the housekeeping tokens that correspond to the amount of credits they are using and this assists it to monetize the credits it receives in exchange for the benefits it provides under Privileges (see further explanation below).

If I book a flight with my credits why do you need my HK tokens?

• When you use Privileges benefits, the Developer provides you with goods and services which it has purchased in exchange for your credits.
• The Developer must use or monetise these credits before their expiry date. When it uses the credits for accommodation bookings it must also incur the cost of housekeeping, as housekeeping tokens are not supplied with the credits currently. So while you used your credits for flights, the credits are being used by the Developer for accommodation and incurring a housekeeping cost.
• Developer bookings include, among other things, campaigns to promote club ownership and, in turn, boost club growth – which provides benefits including the potential for future resort acquisitions.

What will Wyndham do with all the housekeeping tokens?

• The housekeeping tokens will be used by the Developer when making accommodation bookings with the credits it receives in exchange for Developer benefits.
• Developer bookings include, among other things, campaigns to promote club ownership and, in turn, boost club growth – which provides benefits including the potential for future resort acquisitions.

Why are you removing Golfers Plus and the Registry Collection?

• Golfers Plus is available to Privileges Elite members and above, although only a very small portion of these members are registered users of the benefit.
• The Registry Collection is exclusively for Privileges Platinum and 100 Club members but has seldom been utilised.
• One of the most popular features of the Golfers Plus membership is its online discount shop. For those who want to purchase golf equipment, our Lifestyle by Wyndham e-commerce platform – which is complimentary for all Privileges members – currently offers you significant discounts on eGift cards for outlets like Rebel Sport.
• Our team continues to investigate opportunities to add new benefits that provide you with excellent value for your member fees.

Why will this improve sustainability – either to the developer or to the benefits provided?

• When Privileges benefits were first introduced, the Developer (Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific) was able to cover the cost of the low level of complimentary housekeeping transactions and exchange transactions where it did not receive a housekeeping token.
• However, the increasing popularity of the Privileges program has made this change necessary. Without conditions added, the benefits would prove to be unsustainable as Privileges membership grows.
• Making these difficult decisions ensures that the existing range of benefits can continue to be offered to Privileges members.

You mentioned COVID-19. What role does that play?

• Post COVID-19, like many businesses, Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific will make some changes to its business model to ensure its sustainability going forward and the benefits it offers Club Wyndham South Pacific owners.
• We also realise many owners will experience financial impacts from COVID-19, so we are determined to deliver the best value possible for them through developer benefits.

Developer benefits

How is it that Developer Benefits can change?

• As part of our sales presentation, you will have been advised of the additional or complementary benefits available to you as a Privileges member. You will have completed an application for membership in the Privileges program separate to your request to purchase vacation credits.
• An explanation of Developer benefits and the Privileges program is contained in the Product Disclosure Statement provided to you at the presentation.
• The Privileges Program Rules also specifically state: “the benefits bestowed under the Privileges Program are provided at the complete discretion of the developer, which may revoke, modify or add benefits at any time at its discretion without prior notice.”

What are the benefits of being a Privileges member?

• Privileges gives you access to an array of Developer benefits and additional ways to use your credits. As you progress through the tiers, you receive expanded benefits.
• Some of the benefits include access to Associate Resorts, Affiliate Resorts, Fun Time, RCI Exchange, OVC Cruise Exchange, loyalty and discount benefits, Wyndham Rewards Exchange, complimentary movies, complimentary resort activities, access to complimentary housekeeping, and Personal Choice, depending on your tier of membership.

What do the Privileges fees I pay for cover?

• The Privileges payments you make are distinct from club levies; they are program fees.
• They give you access to an array of Developer benefits including Associate Resorts, Affiliate Resorts, RCI Exchange, OVC Cruise Exchange, loyalty and discount benefits, Wyndham Rewards Exchange, complimentary movies, complimentary resort activities, access to complimentary housekeeping and Personal Choice, depending on your tier of membership.