Bluegreen Vacations has nearly 70 resorts in its program with over 220,000 owners within its membership base. A company this large and providing the vacation services they offer couldn’t be considered a ripoff. However, some Bluegreen owners may think they have been ripped off, but this often boils down to the way they were originally sold their timeshare and the price paid for their ownership.
Like any other product or service, the more you pay, the higher the expectation level and the higher the scrutiny of the product. Therefore, it is important for buyers to first check the Bluegreen timeshare resale market, since the bargains on offer as resales can make a big difference in how the purchase is perceived.
The cost of a week of timeshare averages just under $23,000 according to ARDA, the national advocacy association for the timeshare industry. However, this is the average of the new sale prices of timeshares purchased at the resorts. Resales can be discounted as much as 60 percent, since resales remove the sales commissions and marketing costs that are baked into the resort retail prices. These lower prices can help improve the perceived value for money in the eyes of Bluegreen owners.
Other issues can involve the use of the product – since points programs can sometimes be confusing and not as straightforward as fixed or even floating week timeshare ownership. One key is understanding the point value of staying in specific resorts within the network, since some owners only find out afterwards that they may not own enough points to stay at certain resorts.
Let’s use a two-bedroom unit as an example, since that is the most popular timeshare unit configuration. A two-bedroom standard unit in red season at Bluegreen the Fountains in Orlando requires 13,000 points to vacation for a week. A two-bedroom villa at Bluegreen Harbour Lights in Myrtle Beach will only need 10,000 points for a red season week. Meanwhile, a two-bedroom red season week at Bluegreen Club 36 in Las Vegas will need 19,000 points. By now you get the idea.
Buyers should first identify their favorite vacation location or type of vacation, then determine how may points they will need for their preferred unit size. Those answers will go a long way toward avoiding a ripoff feeling afterwards.