Global Access thru Orange Lake Resorts

Do you need to "buy in" to be a member of this club if you already have a points week at Orange Lake? Now one thing I did was get a unit for two nights at Orange Lake-Kissimme by using the points I accumalated in my Holiday Inn priority Club Account. Which was a plus, but if I can do this, why pay them anything to get in.

This news just keeps getting worse and worse!!! We are priority club members. I believe we joined through Crowne Plaza Hotels. There is no fee to join Priority Club so I am curious as to the applications of the points. I am also curious as to what great advantage having joined the no longer existing Global Access but the now, new and improved Holiday Inn Club will really be for those of us foolish enough to be harangued into buying into the OL points system in the first place!!! We also own points (rci points) in Vegas. I was shocked to learn from RCI that we cannot combine our OL points with our Vegas RCI points for a longer stay or larger unit anywhere because "OL is on there own"!!! NO ONE told us that when we upgraded to points at OL either! Needless to say, we feel duped as do others!

Guess you can't combine apples and Orange Lakes! However, with OL points, aren't you allowed to go to any of the Orange Lake related resorts, not just the one where you bought? If so, is there a fee to do this? I know that there is such a fee (rather high) with Westgate resorts but none with Bluegreen and Wyndham (Fairfield). MD

I have the same feeling!! I am looking into selling my week at orange lake as well!!! Use to love the place and look forward to it , now HATE all the Hassell!!!!

There is one fee after another after another. You pay an annual fee of $99.00, then $40.00 for each transaction. There is also a housekeeping fee that they impose after a certain number of reservations, which changes with whomever you talk to.

I asked them if I was going to get a refund of my maintenance fees since they had my weeks available to give to others. I told them that any housekeeping fee should be taken care of by my maintenance fees. They said no to that one.

I used to love OL, too. I am frustrated and resentful. You pay high maintenance fees for points that you may lose. You can't use last year's points for this year's home week reservations.

If you don't want to lose this year's points, you pay a transaction fee to have them converted to Holiday Inn Club points. You cannot convert last year's points to Holiday Inn Club points so you lose them.

But you don't get your maintenance fees back -- and you lose the points you paid the maintenance fees on, in effect. So you are getting nothing for something.

I am having no trouble using my points. I own a 3BR3BA unit and switched to points the first time it was offered for a $1700 charge only. No upgrade. I have traded 3 times with points successfully and in fact use an RCI week from my Mayan Palace unit, switch it into points to add to my GA/HI points to allow me to trade into spring weeks which have higher pt value. My most recent request was for 5 nights in the WV in a 2BR next April ,my first nonfull week request. No problem there either. I have requested my pts to be carried over to the next year, again, no problem. Do I like this system, not really, but I am moving thru the learning curve pretty well. Do I think that pts should automatically carry over? Yes. Now I am one to plan way in advance, at least 12 months out. Next year I will go twice, April and Oct. I have never been assessed a housekeeping fee and I can't remember a $99 annual fee either.

Well, you are obviously luckier than many others. Firstly, according to anyone I've spoken to at HI (Holiday Inn Club, formerly Global Access) you indeed pay a membership fee of $89.00-99.00 to HI who in turn pays your membership fee to RCI. You stated you own another timeshare week unrelated to HI correct? We do as well, previous to being a points member and buying into the points program changing our former HI property (Orange Lake) weeks to points "because it was going to offer us so much flexibility and advantages that only points members enjoy blah,blah,blah..." well now INDEED one must pay a yearly membership fee of $89.00 to HI (Orange Lake) on top of our yearly maintenance and taxes. Previously, all we needed was to pay 1 membership fee to RCI and all of our timeshare properties were covered under the one fee. If and when one signs up to convert to points the first year membership to RCI is paid for you generously by Orange Lake, after year one is over you start paying an additional $89.00 to be affiliated with RCI. This is absolutely factual. We were never made aware of this at our "pressure cooker conversion experience". Some additional interesting facts many once weeks owners who paid between $999.99-1999.99 to convert to points via joining Global Access then to the morphed HI club which was not an option as Global Access no longer exists may find interesting are: 1. The greatest disappointment for us has been the news that we CANNOT combine our points for HI (Orange Lake) with our points properties to take a longer stay at another property. I am convinced we were NEVER told that! We now have approximately 3/4 of our 2008 points left which will expire Dec. 2009, we thought we'd use them for a hotel stay spring of 2010 but it will be too late. It is also to late to use them for hotel stays period as they must be used in the 2008 calendar year. So yes, we have paid our maintenance fees and taxes and our 89-99 fee to RCI via HI but will be forced to LOSE 55,000 rci points because we are unable to travel sooner. In effect one looses a full year of usage compared to RCI banking rules and remember one has only 1 year to use HI points for HI affiliated hotels. Also check out the no. of required for 1 night stay in Holiday Inn express level hotel. Ridiculously high. Contrary to the sales pitch the no. of points allocated for my beautiful 2br'/2 ba at Orange Lake with all the fabulous amenities isn't equal to a run of the mill Holiday Inn express in basically an industrial area in Toronto?????? Wow that was exhilarating information.

2. Points can be carried over only 1 year once you become a HI club member as opposed to RCI allowing 2 years banked points.

3. Old (apparently stagnant) points from a previous year cannot be used for Hotel, car rentals etc. Priority Club is "completely different and separate from HI and Priority Club will only accept "new" or "current" year points.

4.Yes, you must pay a $40.00 fee with each reservation. We have not been back to Orange Lake since converting from weeks owners to points owners so I can not comment on the housekeeping fees. I cannot believe there is yet another disadvantage to having converted to points!!

5. I have been told more than one version as to what happens to your points if one chooses to sell privately (at present Orange Lake no longer operated a secondary market for members wishing to sell there week/points)

1st Version: an owner is "unable" to sell points, only the originally purchased deeded week may be sold unless the purchaser is already an HI points member.

2nd Version: Points may be sold if sold to a family member.

3rd Version: Only underlying deeded week may be sold because points cannot be deeded???

I'm just documenting what I have been told over many calls to HI club.

The previous post states you switched over your points from Mayan property through RCI and added a partial week. I am unclear as to what you mean, is your Mayan property not a points property ? If so, you would be dealing with RCI not the "Special" HI club RCI division. If so, you would not be dealing with the HI division of RCI but with RCI proper and of course you would not have a problem. The problem arises if one attempts to combine a non HI property points with an HI points property.

In closing I was informed that one can "dropout" of HI club after 3 years with no penalty and no money back. Interestingly, cost almost 2,000 to convert to points, the new system is in fact vastly MORE expensive than the previous weeks system and vastly restrictive in use compared to previous "weeks" membership ( 1 year less to utilize points, must book home week 12 months in advance?? have kids??? not always possible and the economy has stricken seniors' disposable incomes substantially. I really feel duped. Orange Lake now has "tiers" of membership which I personally resent. I appreciate that new purchasers are paying a hefty fee for River Island property. However, at the time many of the original owners joined we paid a substantial fee as well. Let's also take into consideration the contribution made by the first wave of purchasers who helped build OL in the first place! They all play a very real role in giving OL the reputation it enjoys today. Many of us brought family and friends to OL to have them purchase timeshares as well. It is not just the amenities that one enjoys at OL it is the wonderful owners and extended families we have enjoyed over the years. We personally have made many wonderful friendships with other owners over the years. This wonderful group of members have made OL what it is together with the shareholders.

This new paradigm Orange Lake (the flag ship)and other properties in the HI family have adopted is not one I am pleased with. In the end HI will be entitled to keep the money (almost $2,000 in our case) of those who decide to opt out of the program! No doubt a sales division will be ramped up to entice the next group of visiting owners to a prestigious breakfast or lunch meeting at the "Founder's Club" to discuss "new developments" at Orange Lake and other properties. This will follow with many others like us converting to points only to be disappointed with the results. Atleast at this time there exists an actual handbook explaining the HI Club. When we signed up it did not exist and has gone through the changes from Global Access to HI Club and the rules have seemingly changed along the way. I believe if things stay as they are more former happy owners will only feel duped and information will be "misinterpreted". It is the fine print which in our case was never gone over that holds up in the end. It is not a lot of handshakes, "you'll never regret this decision", "we are only offering this opportunity for a short period of time and the "trust me", without the points system you just won't have any options in the future" etc.etc. My understanding is that a salesperson can say anything they wish to make a sale as has been pointed out to me by HI. So buyer beware...

I really wish we had the option of reverting to our weeks with a full refund of our inital investment. They can keep the 89-99 dollar membership fee for the 2009 and 2010 as a goodwill gesture on our part.

I would appreciate any information or corrections on what I have written. I have greatly appreciated Jay and a number of other contributors including a gentleman who is a lawyer who often comments on this site. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated. I am a Canadian citizen and imagine only one with a knowledge of Florida state law would be able to advise us. This has been a nightmare, would love my money back and just return to the weeks deed!!! Thank-you very much, I truly appreciate the insight members provide!

I did not have to pay a 1700 charge, so I guess that I was lucky there.

But the carryover of the points to next year -- yes, that can be done -- but there are limitations on how you can use them.

Also, I was told that Global Access points were worth twice what RCI points were worth -- but when I contacted RCI to use the points, the amount of points I could use was limited and the Global Access points were worth only 1/2 of RCI points.

As for the other fees I mentioned, they are also noted in the membership book sent out by Holiday Inn Club.

Hello: I read most of the stories about global access thru orange lake, just about all the hour stories i read about also hapened to me and are true.The moral of the story is you can't beat some one at there own game. It is a money racket, the only thing you can do is to put up with them and get the best out of it you can, they didn't get wealthy for been honest or been good christian people.

They may be in the book but I have not been charged. I have also not had any trouble using my points from a previous year and have had no restrictions. In fact, my April 2010 trip is using left over points from 2009 and some of my points from 2010. My October trip will use the rest of 2010 points and borrow from 2011. Again, not that I was pleased with the changes, but I have not had an issue with using points or with extra charges. In fact, the RCI transaction charges are higher. Our salesperson told us OLCC pts were 1/2 of RCI.

I am going to call them tomorrow and ask them why they charge some people and not others.

Also, there are restrictions on how you use your points. You can use last year's points for this year's trips, but you cannot use last year's points for this year's home week. If you choose not to use your home week as your home week, but rather choose to use last year's points for the week that was your home week, they charge a fee.

I can't speak to the ownership issues, but I will say that I was a guest at Orange Lake and the unit we were in was beautiful with full amenities. Nice bathrooms, beautiful window treatments and furnishings, washer/dryer etc. The lazy river pool was nice too. It's not just a Holiday Inn- it is a very nice condo. I hope this info helps....

We bought additional time/points 2 years ago (and had previous week converted to points for free) and again last year and have had wonderful success using them. This past Monday we completed an 11-day stay in a 3-BR unit in the East village and used less than 280K points (normally close to 375K points), because we got a free upgrade based on our HIVC Premier level status (which also got us a 4 hour early check-in). We are returning on 8/08 for 9 days and had no problem getting a 2-BR unit in the North village. The whole HIVC points system isn't for everybody - some like it (us), others may not. I've used my points for rental cars and airplane tickets in the last two years with no hassle. I've carried over points with no hassle. I've been an owner there for 15 years and never paid a housekeeping fee, so I don't know what that's about. In fact, we got a free mid-week cleaning last week while we were there. When we were on the weeks system, we still paid a fee to go there outside of our week, and it was higher than the $40 they charge now, as you had to go through RCI even though you owned there. This is a much better system, in my opinion. My family really enjoys OLCC, and I am very sorry that you are not comfortable with the changes being made. I will say that I agree that there may be some down sides to it, but I've been able to utilize the new system pretty well and am happy with it overall. There is one heckuva lot more flexibility with this system than with RCI, and I oftentimes had trouble getting in when I wanted to through RCI. I know others reading this may not agree, and I respect that. Some people like Fords and others would not drive one if you gave it to them for free. As to the levels of ownership, some might view it as mostly a sales ploy, but if you are going to own more time there, why not get some perks for it? The airlines and rental car companies do this all of the time, as do some hotel chains. I think they wanted to offer perks like others do, as research shows people like that.

My husband and I have owned a 2BR golf villa at Orange Lake in Kissimmee (OL) since 1991 plus another 2 weeks in Branson, MO. We have enjoyed our visits immensely and have seen no reason to convert to points. On this visit to OL we were again presented with the sales pitch to purchase an additional unit ($13,800 for a bi-annual week in VT for points only) and convert our current OL week into points. When it appeared that we would starve to death before we were allowed to leave (12:45 pm to 5:20 pm) we signed the agreement, knowing that federal regulations give us 3 days to change our minds.

As retired educators, we do travel more than before and the idea of using points for airline tickets and hotel rooms sounds very enticing. However, how do we know if the points are worth the value for which we paid? We book airline tickets several months in advance and usually find reasonable prices. We stay in many hotels over several days and thus get reduced rates. Additionally, my husband is retired military, thus affording us other discounted vacation options which includes weeks at RCI resorts.

Does anyone have any information that would shed light on our decision making?

Is Orange Lake an "RCI Points Resort"? If not, I don't see why anyone would expect to be able to combine Orange Lake points with RCI points. One can't combine Wyndham points with "RCI Points" and Wyndham Owns RCI! They are just not the same thing. Of course you can deposit weeks secured by your resort's point system into RCI for an exchange rather than letting them expire. In some cases, depending on the resort, there may be an extra cleaning fee for stays shorter than a week. Dealing with the possibility of losing points (or weeks) beyond pre-determined dates is standard for most if not all timeshares. You just need to know your options and plan ahead. WAY ahead! MD

bettyc100 wrote:

...the idea of using points for airline tickets and hotel rooms sounds very enticing. However, how do we know if the points are worth the value for which we paid? We book airline tickets several months in advance and usually find reasonable prices.

Does anyone have any information that would shed light on our decision making?

I looked into just that after one of the upgrade pitches. The points cost for airline travel was so expensive, it was comical. I don't remember the exact number, but it was _multiple years worth of points_ to exchange for a couple of airline tickets. The system works best when exchanging room for room or points for rooms as the system was intended, in my opinion.

We almost bought an extra year worth of points our first year, but backed out before the paperwork was signed.

The second year, the sales rep sensed we weren't really going to buy, asked us if this was so (we said "No" we won't be buying) and spent the next 20 minutes or so chatting about Orange Lake and Global Access. I can't understand why they would have wasted their time as much as yours holding you for 4.5 hours.

We have enjoyed the $50.00 coupon for watching the sales pitch, though. ;)

adahiscout wrote:

Is Orange Lake an "RCI Points Resort"? If not, I don't see why anyone would expect to be able to combine Orange Lake points with RCI points. One can't combine Wyndham points with "RCI Points" and Wyndham Owns RCI! They are just not the same thing.

Orange Lake is not owned by Wyndham. It was founded by Kemmons Wilson, the man that also founded the Holiday Inn Hotel chain. It is now part of the Holiday Inn Vacation Club, which is part of the Holiday Inn corporation. For more info see this...

http://tinyurl.com/23uovv

You can exchange Orange Lake points in RCI, but you go thru the Holiday Inn Vacation Club "reps" to access RCI. Also, Orange Lake points are worth half of their point value thru RCI, but I believe it still ends up being an even exchange, more or less, to exchange an Orange Lake 2 bedroom for an RCI 2 Bedroom of the same value. Also, Orange Lake is highly rated in RCI, so the rooms exchange well.

Finally, Orange Lake is so big that technically, it is listed as, I believe, 4 resorts in RCI (and Red Week dot Com)...

-West Village - the oldest section, comprised of mainly golf villas with private entrances. -East Village -North Village -River Island - This is the newest section. It is the smallest and is all high rises. All of the rooms are close to the pool area.

Even though the resort is separated into these sections, as a guest or owner, you can consider it one resort and can use the pools, amenities and golf courses of any "village".

Wow that long? You can walk out after the 90 minutes. The worst that could happen is you dont receive the gift. I own a 1 bed room since 2000 in north village. When I went to that presentation I was offered $40 to use within the resort.

I was told many things but after the 90 minutes I told them that was enough and I'm leaving. Just be warned they'll probably tell you that you need to sign your rights away but thats is just to scare you. As when I told them I had no problem signing as long as a get a copy (it's only legal binding if you sign something and get a copy of it) they quickly changed the topic and sent me to gifting.

BTW I advise you to exercise your 3 days right to get out of the deal.

Also note I've have been to the Orange Lake Presentation several times. Each time (seperated by a year) they fine tune their presentation as arguments I brought up in earlier years against the Global Access they have trained their sales people with canned responses.

bettyc100 wrote:

My husband and I have owned a 2BR golf villa at Orange Lake in Kissimmee (OL) since 1991 plus another 2 weeks in Branson, MO. We have enjoyed our visits immensely and have seen no reason to convert to points. On this visit to OL we were again presented with the sales pitch to purchase an additional unit ($13,800 for a bi-annual week in VT for points only) and convert our current OL week into points. When it appeared that we would starve to death before we were allowed to leave (12:45 pm to 5:20 pm) we signed the agreement, knowing that federal regulations give us 3 days to change our minds.

As retired educators, we do travel more than before and the idea of using points for airline tickets and hotel rooms sounds very enticing. However, how do we know if the points are worth the value for which we paid? We book airline tickets several months in advance and usually find reasonable prices. We stay in many hotels over several days and thus get reduced rates. Additionally, my husband is retired military, thus affording us other discounted vacation options which includes weeks at RCI resorts.

Does anyone have any information that would shed light on our decision making?

You misunderstood me, billc. I did not say Wyndham owned Orange Lake. I said Wyndham owned RCI, which they do. My question was whether Orange Lake was an "RCI Points" resort as compared with RCI Weeks. An RCI Points resort can exchange into other RCI Points resorts for any length of stay in the same way points owners in most other companies can within their own company. However, since these RCI Points exchanges ARE RCI exchanges, they can't be rented out to 3rd parties. Same rule as for RCI Weeks. Perhaps the owners home week can be rented. I'm not sure about that. MD

You are right adahiscout, I misread your post.

And yes you can exchange Orange Lake thru RCI with points. But it is a little complicated. Orange Lake is part of the Holiday Inn Vacation Club (HIVC), which used to be called Global Access. If your week is a points week (and many older Orange lake owners have not converted to points), you call the HIVC exchange desk to transfer within Orange Lake and for transfer thru RCI. The HIVC people handle the transaction with RCI.

Also, my 2 bedroom in the River Island section (week 7) is worth 200,000 points for use within HIVC. BUT, if I exchange thru RCI, it only gets 100,000 points. My understanding is that the average 2 bedroom exchange in RCI for my week in an Orange Lake level resort is also worth about 100,00 points, so it would be an even exchange.

We have owned for about two years an have used our home week on both visits, so we have yet to exchange, so this information comes from OL sales reps, HIVC reps on the phone and a relative who has owned multiple weeks at Orange Lake for many years and has only recently converted to points. They have about 1,000,000 points. He is still skeptical of the whole points system, but succumbed to the sales pitch to convert when he and his wife bought an extra week.