Why did you buy, and is it worth it?

[cayman01]

#5 DVC




However, without the conference, we are finding DVC to be the "least loved" of our timeshares. While it did secure my 'Holy Grail' of timesharing (The Manhattan Club over Thanksgiving for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!!!), it is too expensive to trade out in general. We love DVC's Animal Kingdom Villas but .... don't find ourselves traveling to Orlando for 'vacation' purposes except every few (several?) years. There simply are not enough destinations w/in the system to keep it 'sold' in my mind. Maybe things will change if better DVC-point options are introduced around the Pacific Rim?

Bah. I expect we'll sell or part of this one sometime down the road.

You actually might be one of the few to have bought from the developer and be able to sell at a PROFIT when you do part with it. BWV is now selling at around $100/pt. Congrats.

 

[rhonda]

You actually might be one of the few to have bought from the developer and be able to sell at a PROFIT when you do part with it. BWV is now selling at around $100/pt. Congrats.

I figure we'll take a loss when we sell. Range on SSR is currently $70-$105pp. Mid $70s is more likely -- and that is a smidge below our original investment.

Story #6, the most recent 'purchase': Wyndham via WinPointVIP.

Having an exit strategy has become increasingly more important as time passes. We have toyed, for many years, with adding Wyndham points but simply never found the right deal. That Worldmark gave us access to about a dozen Wyndham properties as "WM Affiliates" satisfied our hunger for a long while until WM took away the Wyndham Affiliates in favor of "Club Pass" (fee based internal exchange program). As a move against Club Pass, we selected WinPointVIP to give us access to the 'missing' Wyndham properties we had enjoyed.

Was it worth it? Yes
What do we like about WinPointVIP?

• Reasonable upfront cost. (Not "free" or even "cheap" but an acceptable "market value.")
• No risk. No ongoing Maintenance Fees! Use it or not. No big deal.
• Easy "pay to play" rental model; basically I've got a trusted relationship with a mega-renter.
• Offers Wyndham VIP benefits for a fraction of the buy-in.
  We bought the smallest point package offered yet still enjoyed unit upgrades via rebooking. These haven't been as common lately but I believe it is due to changes on the Wyndham side that impact all Wyndham owners?
• All the flexibility of the underlying Wyndham product: Lots of destinations, any size unit, any season, etc. Most importantly: there are destinations in this collection that I am actively using! It isn't so much as "Look at all the places we might go!" as "Yep, we activity use a core set of these destinations. Need it."
• Someone else does the booking for me ... no hassles over web/phone interfaces.
• No concerns for housekeeping tokens, guest certs, etc. These are included.
• Simply 'works.' I'm pleased with the reservations we've made and completed thus far.

FWIW, we are back to using Timeshare for Convention purposes again. This will be our 5th consecutive year attending an Equestrian event in southern Colorado while staying at a Wyndham timeshare property. While we might take a break for a bit, I'm sure there will be many other ways to use my small WinPointVIP contract.

Wrap-up, take-aways ...
Now you know the nuts-and-bolts of our timeshare history. Things we've learned:

• No single timeshare is 'best.'
• We like having little chunks in multiple systems: some WM points; an every-other-year fixed week; some Wyndham points; some DVC points.
• Exchanging through RCI/II is a fun hobby. It satisfies the 'gambling itch' or the 'thrill of the hunt.' I enjoy booking via RCI/II when I know exactly what I'm looking for but don't generally cast a wide net when searching. I target specific resorts and/or travel windows and then work inside those frameworks. These greatly reduce my chances of snagging an exchange -- but I'd rather miss out entirely than to book something that becomes a disappointment.
  • TUG reviews help minimize disappointments when exchanging.
  • Sometimes unknowns can be good! (We had two great back-to-back exchange weeks to South Africa a few years back. Neither were in the TUG reviews. We had a blast and would do it again in a heart beat!)
• Some timeshares offer interesting side-benefits: exchange priority in RCI/II for related properties; an in-house exchange company; bonus time; etc.
• We like a 1BR unit even when traveling as a couple. While there are a few studio configurations that provide an adequate kitchen, a laundry, space and privacy -- we've found we generally prefer a 1BR over a Studio, if available. The larger unit will cost us more points -- and we've factored that into our budgeting.
• Use waitlists! We've been quite successful using both WM and DVC waitlists if trying to book a unit that is currently unavailable. We've had similar success using RCI's Ongoing Search.
• If inviting family and friends, a pattern we greatly enjoy, book sufficient rooms so that each 'household' has their own bathroom. Plan sleeping arrangements beforehand -- to make sure the units have an appropriate configuration of king/queen/twin beds, etc.
• Know your program's cancellation policies. If the program offers a generous cancellation policy get adventurous and book 'speculative' reservations. If you see an attractive getaway, BOOK IT and then figure out if it fits your calendar, if you can get reasonable airfare, if your friends might join you, etc. FWIW, I find WM's cancellation policy to be very generous and DVC's to be quite workable for advance planning/toying.
• Explore many avenues for booking: direct reservation through the programs you own; RCI/II/other-exchange-company exchange weeks; RCI/II/other-exchange-company rental weeks; TUG Last-minute Rentals; Bonus Time; etc.
• Some timeshares are all about the area/location; some are about the specific resort; some are 'consistent' where others are 'flexible.' All good -- just learn how to make the most of each.
• Day use can be cool! Some properties offer golf-benefits, swimming pool or water-park access, onsite activities, etc.

I'm sure there are more things we've learned ... but these are the things that sprang to mind.

 

[rhonda]

I was unable to edit my earlier post -- but how could I forget the following things we love about Worldmark??

• Many ways to book: Using Credits (points), Cash Bonus Time, Cash Inventory Specials, Cash Monday Madness, etc. (Only a third of our reservations on our credits -- we use the various cash reservation avenues extensively.)
• Free guest certificates. (I can book a reservation for friends/family w/out paying an extra fee to put the reservation in their name.)
• Great online reservation website! I can save and re-use favorite searches, have dependable access to real-time inventory, etc.
• Generous cancellation policy!
• Banking and borrowing across account years.
• Renting credits from others ... (although this undergoing changes).

Fun question! I look forward to reading the stories that are to come in response!

Our first timeshare purchase was in 2000, four years following our first-ever "timeshare tour." We chose Worldmark the Club with the following dewey-eyed reasons:

• Forced vacation time. ("Gotta use it -- we've already paid for it!" ... every year.)
• We live in prime Worldmark territory (Western States). We liked having plenty of drive-to locations.
• We liked the tagline of the flexible points system: "any size unit, any season, any length-of-stay"
• We liked the promise: "like new, every time." (Yes, we've found this largely true.)
• We liked the idea of bonus-time (booking last-minute stays on cash rather than points).

Yes, Worldmark was an excellent choice for us! In 16 years of ownership, we've had ~125 stays at 40+ Worldmark properties and many exchanges through RCI/II. We studied all available resources (owner education workshops, printed guides, etc), learned the system well and make great use of our Worldmark.

Key benefits of ownership and our usage pattern, looking back:

• Kitchens! We love cooking together on vacation. We didn't have time to cook together at home -- but developed this as a hobby while on vacations. Yeah! for having fully equipped kitchens while on vacation!
• Separate bedroom from living room. Yeah! The night owl can enjoy longer morning sleep while the early bird putters about in the kitchen/living room.
• In-room laundry. Yeah! We can pack less and feel great.
• Familiarity. It is strangely comforting to know a place before you've ever been there. We are confident of the resort/unit quality, the unit amenities, etc. This familiarity made it easy to book road-trips up/down the Pacific Coastline or across Western States ... hopping from one WM to the next.
• LARGE units. We really enjoy booking 3BR or 4BR units, or even multiple units, for large family gatherings. Seriously: these gatherings would NOT happen if we had to use hotel rooms. Timeshare gives us sufficient space and comfort for all to enjoy themselves. We can be "together" and "apart" in just the right proportion.

Well, that is our first timeshare ... but each timeshare purchase had its own purpose, allure, justification. I might jump back in on the conversation later with reasons behind our follow-on purchases.

 

[rhonda]

Adding more benefits from this purchase:

• Bonus time, cash rentals at the property.
• Owners's pricing in ResorTime, a form of "Bonus Time" across a wide group of properties.
• Owner access to Grand Pacific Exchange (GPX) for exchange and bonus weeks (cash).

Returning to add our stories on timeshare purchases #2 and #3:

#2. Purchased in 2001, a fixed summer week at a coastal resort.
Purchase reasons/justification:

• High value trader in RCI. Depositing the high value summer week would allow me to perform online searches of RCI's inventory -- something I was not able to do using Worldmark's Confirm First exchange feature.
• Day Use of resort amenities. As we lived nearby, we did visit often, at first, to use the pool, fitness center, sauna, hot tubs and various activities.
• Got around 1-in-4 rules. A good chunk of SoCal resorts are owned/managed by this property's developer. Inbound exchange guests are restricted to 1 exchange w/in the resort group every 4 years. Owning w/in the resort group provided a workaround to the restriction.
• EOY. Buying an every-other-year interval was a perfect frequency complement to our existing Worldmark.

Was it worth it? Yes, for the first several years. More recently, changes in the systems (both the resort property's policies and RCI's exchange characteristics) have tarnished the gleam. Long term, this purchase was a mistake.

 

[onenotesamba]

I just want to echo the earlier comments about how wonderful it is to read the stories, here, of other people's journey through timesharing. I'm not posting, because I've only been bitten by the bug within the last year, but reading all of these posts--well, I'm super excited about being able to have my own stories, years from now.

Very grateful for the thread. Thanks, all.

 

[bjones9942]

I hated Mexico

When I was about 7 my parents took my sister and I on a trip to Santa Monica. Our vacations usually lasted two weeks, so they decided to drive us down to Tijuana one day. This was back in the mid-sixties, and Tijuana wasn't the sparkly shiny wonderous town it now is (lol). I hated ever moment we were there. Dust. Dirt. Strange people coming right up to us to try to get us to buy cheap touristy stuff. More dust. More dirt. Someone eating a popcicle they'd dropped in the dirt. Never ever had a desire to go back.

Fast forward to 2010. My late Aunt was turning 97 and a friend of hers had organized a 'Mexican Riviera' cruise for her birthday. I'd never been on a cruise, and we would only really be in Mexico for three shore leave days ... so I took some of my never-used vacation time and joined them.

Cabo wasn't Tijuana. It was clean, touristy crap still for sale - but in booths and the couple of people that did come up to me didn't make me feel uneasy at all.

Mazatlan wasn't Tijuana. Not exactly as clean as Cabo, but the beaches were great and there was actually a city there that wasn't full of touristy crap! Food was amazing, even at the Sr. Frogs!

Puerto Vallarta wasn't Tijuana. Puerto Vallarta was everything I'd hoped Maui was going to be and wasn't (not to dump on Maui - just not my cup of tea). Tropical. Beautiful. Fantastic food (my recurring theme). Beach vendors were fun to talk to.

The whole experience was eye-opening and when I got home I started thinking that maybe I should vacation a little more. I'm an ebay-a-holic, so when I typed 'Cabo San Lucas' in the search box (I liked that Cabo was clean), I was presented with a LOT of timeshares for sale - many at $1. Unfortunately, most of the maintenance fees were more than I wanted to pay. So, I typed in Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. Up pops a fixed summer week in Mazatlan, on the beach, at a resort that several days worth of googling would only result in bad things about it being that it was a little tired and in need of updating. *I'm* a little tired and in need of updating, so that didn't bother me. Maintenance fees were $360 (2010), and it was an RTU deal, so if I hated it there would be a light at the end of the tunnel in only 12 years. If I remember correctly I think I paid $1 for the week. Seller paid closing and transfer costs. I actually did a *lot* of research on timesharing and on the resort I was buying before I pulled the trigger.

I loved my week in Mazatlan so much that a few years later I decided to add something else. More googling and I saw a resort in Puerto Vallarta that it seemed everyone, owner and guest, loved. I sat on ebay and waited. It took about 8 months for a floating week to appear, and I snatched it up! I paid a little more ... I think $60, seller paying transfer and closing costs. This week is NOT a RTU week, so I'll have it forever - which is fine with me! Maintenance fees are higher than Mazatlan, but I could sell it to a current owner in a heartbeat (they have resale blinders on, and think the weeks are still worth thousands).

Then I decided that something I could drive to might be nice. First I looked at the Oregon Coast. There's not much there, and most of the inventory isn't well reviewed. I like Lake Tahoe - what about that? Found a nice lake-front biennial and now eat far too much at Harrah's buffet every other year!

Since buying the original property in Mazatlan I keep wondering what it's like other times than summer (summer is HOT and mugggy - but I like it that way). Ebay to the rescue! Got an April week. Paid them $19.95 and they paid the closing and transfer costs. AND, they gave me a $200 visa gift card at closing! Woo! Same RTU expiration date, so .....

I decided that retirement is coming up in a few years and I'd like to be somewhere warm. Seattle is beautiful, but warm it isn't (for much of the year). I found a small apartment in the middle of downtown Mazatlan for a price I couldn't pass up. If I don't like it, I'll use it to stay at while I find something else. And if I retire before the RTU timeshare weeks expire, then I'll let friends/family use it to come visit me. I'll vacation in Puerto Vallarta and save a bundle by taking the bus, and every other year I'll still have a nice relaxing week in South Lake Tahoe.

The moral of my story is: Timeshare's give you incentive to take a vacation. Buy where you want to go, or buy something with good trading potential if you want to trade. Buy resale! There is only one Tijuana, and even that one may not be the same as a 7 year old's memories. When you find your land of milk and honey, buy a place and retire there!

 

[mash84121]

I have loved reading everybody's stories, what a great thread.

My own story started in 2007 when my wife got a deal to stay in Park City if we went to a sales presentation at the Westgate Park City. I was not happy to say the least. I had always viewed timeshares as a scam and I did not want to be stuck in a sales presentation. The sales person was luckily very friendly and not high pressure and did a good job showing the benefits of timeshares. He piqued my interest, but I was not willing to buy from a company I wasn't familiar without more research. Fortunately we did not buy from Westgate.

About a year later we ended up buying our first timeshare, a resale week from Marriott on Hilton Head. We have traded the week every year through II and have never had any issues getting what we wanted. It has taken us to Newport Coast three years, Hawaii, Florida twice, Lake Tahoe and Park City. We love the large villas and resorts.

Two years ago I was looking to supplement our Marriott week with something that would provide more flexibility for short stays and had more locations within driving distance. After extensive research we bought 12,000 Worldmark points. The resorts aren't as nice as Marriott's, but we have still been very happy with the quality and it has provided us with exactly what we were looking for, shorter stays and many resorts close to home.

For us the Marriott/Worldmark combination has been great. We use the Marriott for a longer trip every year and the Worldmark for long weekend trips.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The only states I had ever traveled by the age of 19 were Nebraska, where my grandparents and aunt/uncle lived, and Kansas once because my mom drove into Kansas by mistake.

My parents never stayed in a motel or hotel, so I was 19 before I even slept in a motel with Rick, and it was a year after we married. We were pretty poor as newlyweds.

We received an invitation to attend a timeshare presentation in Fraser, CO, a little over an hour from home. We bought on the spot, then had buyers' remorse, tried to rescind but couldn't. The company said we had no rights of rescission. Not sure to this day whether we could have rescinded. The internet was not around in 1981. We crazily bought another week in Frisco, CO, near Breck, a few years later. I don't know how the woman talked us into that purchase, I honestly don't.

We rarely went anywhere, and we drove when we went, so Twin Rivers and Val Chatelle were our vacation destinations, right here in our home state.

The kiddos were 4, 6 and 8 the first time we went to Disneyland in 1985. We traveled by plane. It was so exciting, even the plane trip, and we stayed in a very nice hotel.

We had been visiting our home resort every year, and in 1987, I wanted to try trading instead. We wanted to take a driving trip to Disneyland and San Diego, and somewhere else along the coast. Rick called II and RCI and booked two back-to-back weeks in San Diego (two bed Welk) and Point Brown Washington. This was early June of 1987. We never went back to our home resort after that. I have no desire to stay in the mountains anymore.

We still own at our first resorts, but we own better weeks now.

We took the kids on a lot of trips: Yellowstone, Disneyland, and Disneyworld, mostly. But we mostly drove because it was cheaper, and I like road trips.

The kids are all married now, and we have grandkids, too. They all stay in timeshares and don't really like hotels. We own all of the timeshares, and we literally give them weeks to use each year. This year, we all go to Anaheim, Dolphin's Cove, 8/6-8/13, and I have four units, one for each family. We are flying. So excited! Next year, we all go to Whistler, BC, in July. I got four units at Club Intrawest Whistler. The grandkids will see whales for the first time.

We have a timeshare rental business now, which is pretty small but profitable, and our daughter rents them for us to make a little bit, so she can stay home with the grandkids.

All timeshares work for trading, but buying specific units and weeks can be very important, if you want to have something special to use yourself.

We love Maui but decided we had to own oceanfront, and we wanted West Maui. Our friends bought a specific unit # at a floating week resort, just to get oceanfront each year. We copied them and bought, and not just one, but three weeks at the same resort, oceanfront. Our lanai is only 50 feet from the ocean. Sure, I can exchange into Marriott and Westin much cheaper with our exchange preference into those resorts, but not during whale season, and not oceanfront guaranteed. It's worth it to me.

We sit on the lanai all day at Hono Koa, at least until the sun starts beating into the unit at about 3 PM, then we leave to enjoy an early dinner somewhere. I think we spend $1,675 in fees per week with taxes. Sigh.

What would an oceanfront hotel room cost on Maui? I have no idea. But we have a full kitchen (very equipped), and a second bedroom/ bathroom, plus a washer/dryer and living room. It's incredible for the price we pay! I look most forward to our Maui trips.

 

[RLS50]

What a great thread. Thanks to all for sharing their stories. All of your comments are interesting, sometimes humorous, educational, and encouraging.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I've owned several timeshares, starting in the early 1980's. As Denise aptly noted, everyone's needs and interests are different. I will add, they will also change over time. Here is my history . . .

1981 - single gal bought a 20 year RTU (right-to-use) contract at the newly developed (pre construction) of Split Rock in the Poconos. RCI came with it for the first couple of years and back then, if nobody wanted your exchange, you got your traded week back about 10-14 days out from the travel dates. For me, this worked great since I lived only hours from the resort and I used it many times. In the mid to late 1990's, the resort partnered with a nice place near Ft. Myers Beach so I could stay there as an owner. My "week" was a white floating, giving a lot of flexibility, outside of the summer season.

2000 - since married and divorced, and the RTU was going to expire after 2002, so I started looking at buying something else. I had moved to Wisconsin, but still traveled home to VA frequently and had stayed many times at the Wyndham resorts in Williamsburg (Kingsgate & Patriot's Place). I looked at Governors Green as they were building it, signed a contract to buy something like 126k points for around $12k. Rescinded a couple of days later because I found out about the local resale office in town. Bought a fixed week, 3 BR lock-off unit at Kingsgate for about $5,000. MF's at the time were under $500/year. We used this timeshare ownership a lot . . . stayed there in one side and used RCI to trade the other. Because of the RCI/Wyndham "internal" preference, we often got 2 BR Hawaii units for the 1 BR side of the lock-off! That too went away around 2011 or so. There was a three year special assessment (due to the under funding through MF's) that was later followed by a steep increase in MF's. We ended up giving this timeshare ownership away here on TUG around 2013.

2003 - I was working for a large association. My professional society's annual conference & trade show was in Honolulu and I knew my employer wouldn't be willing to pay all of the travel costs, so I figured I would see about timesharing for my lodging. I couldn't find an acceptable exchange, so I bought a floating (1-52) week at Lifetime in Hawaii. The week cost me around $2,500 and at the time the MF's were under $300 for a studio/1 BR unit. I still own this timeshare . . . love it as a trader at RCI (HUGE TPE value!) or to barter or rent to friends. MF's are now around $530.

2004 - I found a distressed fixed week at Wyndham Flagstaff. The gal who owned it had bought it as a single lady (sounded familiar) but now had a family, with school aged kids. Their week #12 (late March) was no longer convenient for them to use and they weren't into the RCI exchange thing, so they hadn't used their ownership in something like 3 or 4 years. She was willing to just give it away, along with 2 weeks banked at RCI for the price of that year's MF's ($450-ish). We loved this timeshare as well; travelling to Flagstaff several time between 2005 and 2011. We also used it to get to Hawaii through RCI several times. But as our travel interests changed and the "Wyndham internal preference" with RCI went away, we felt we didn't need this one any more. The resort offered a deed-back program to anyone current in their fees, so we gladly let them have it back around 2012.

2007 - My sister owned a small 77k Wyndham points contract at Myrtle Beach. They had used it frequently, but had found cruising to be more their style as they aged. She gave us the contract and we use it every year. More often than not, I've used it for work trips as Wyndham seems to have resorts in many of the places I need to go for 5-7 days. In 2017 we'll use it for Nashville, this year it was used for Hawaii and last year San Antonio . . . all for my work with my employer reimbursing me my MF expense.

So this is a very, VERY long story of how timeshare has worked for me. Today we just own the Lifetime in Hawaii and the 77K points with Wyndham. The Hawaii timeshare has been used 6 of the last 8 years for bartering with a family in Alaska for use of their 29' motor home (a trip we are doing again later this month).

If I were to be thinking about buying again, or more, I would advise to look into Lifetime in Hawaii. The POA has several weeks (again, they are all 1-52 floating weeks and only studio units) . . . that you can pick up now for around $1,500 to $2,000/week. They trade very well with RCI and the MF's are still the lowest I've seen for Hawaii. PLUS, the resort has FREE parking for owners! This is the best value of all in my opinion, since many of the Waikiki resorts get upwards of $30/day for parking.

Are you still with me here? LOL

Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, etc. that you may have. I'm always willing to help a fellow traveler!

TS Von

p.s. Through timeshare ownership & exchanging with RCI over the decades, I have been to Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. I have also been to Hawaii more than 10 times. All were outstanding experiences made (financially) possible through timeshare ownership!

 

[tmm]

I was going to do a grand write-up of everything we love about our timeshares, but VegasBella (and others) have done great write-ups, so I'm jumping-in to concur with them. We love planning our next vacation spot (knowing we need to use our weeks), and we love the additional space provided by a timeshare.

We spent 2 weeks in Orlando last summer at the Sheraton Vistana Resort and can't imagine being in Orlando any other way. Hotel rooms are too small, no kitchen, and don't provide the comfort of being able to relax in our room.

Don't buy a timeshare to rent it (don't let those sales people tell you all about the "investment" opportunities), buy a timeshare to use it and enjoy it. We love ours!

 

[rickandcindy23]

If I were to be thinking about buying again, or more, I would advise to look into Lifetime in Hawaii. The POA has several weeks (again, they are all 1-52 floating weeks and only studio units) . . . that you can pick up now for around $1,500 to $2,000/week. They trade very well with RCI and the MF's are still the lowest I've seen for Hawaii. PLUS, the resort has FREE parking for owners! This is the best value of all in my opinion, since many of the Waikiki resorts get upwards of $30/day for parking.

Are you still with me here? LOL

I was with you the entire post.:rofl: That is great advice, by the way, for a newbie, especially, but is Lifetime in Hawaii a nice place to stay? That would be my question. I am a bit spoiled by the Hawaii resort we own (on Maui), and our great trades to Kauai and Shearwater.

We also bought our first TS in 1981. It was a crazy decision back then because we were broke and had three very small children, all under 5.

People who don't learn to use their timeshares, and cannot get over their bitterness toward the developers, are stupid to pay someone to help them out of the deal. I don't understand!!!! Use what you bought. It appealed to you during the sales pitch, so what changed? Ah, you found a bargain price on the same thing? Oh, well. You should have investigated resale BEFORE you let your rescission period end.

 

[LarryMFookes]

30 years of exchanging

Was it worth it? Absolutely! I have had a unit at the Windjammer Resort for the entire time. I was on the Board for a period of time also. A well run resort at Ocean Shores, WA where they get 2.5 million visitors a year. My wife and I bought another one and now enjoy trading everywhere to include the South Pacific, San Diego, Florida Keys, Miami Beach and Maui on a regular basis. I used to use RCI and II in the old days, but with their emphasis on filling their own pockets became paramount when the accountants took over, I did not renew and now use the exchange companies that do not require a fee to join. (I do use Hawaii Time Share Exchange that does require joining) And to think, all of this with a unit you can even buy today for under $500 and a maintenance fee of around $350.

A few years ago we found a seller at the Maui Kahana Falls Resort in the under $500 section and purchased it for zero dollars with the previous owner paying 2 years maintenance fees. The transfer went smoothly and we love it.

Timeshare is a game and learning how to play the game will reward you to the extent you delve into it. It is a strategy game with great rewards.

 

[PStreet1]

17 years ago we booked a reservation in Santa Fe that turned out to be a timeshare property. We sat through the presentation, but didn't buy. Once I was at home, I started researching. I bought the first one at Powhattan, and never stayed there, but traded it for years. By the time I got rid of it, we had tired of timesharing and really wanted to get rid of them; by that time, we had 7. I was lucky; the resort took it back from me. They charged me $1000, but 2 years of not owning it more than paid that back, and we just weren't using timeshares as much by that time.

Shortly after the Powhattan purchase, I discovered South African timeshares. I bought one for us, one for each child--and said I'd pay the fees each year for them (each came with 10 years of paid up RCI membership). We all used them, singly and together for several years, until owning in South Africa became less than the wonderful deal it had been. We sold them all for very little less than we had paid for them, which was practically nothing.

I'd also accumulated Worldmark, a Colorado ski timeshare, and an Australian one--and two more. I managed to get rid of all but the Worldmark and Colorado ski timeshare. I'd love to give away the Colorado one, but haven't found anyone to take it. Worldmark still has some value to us, but I tend to really scramble every two years to book something or bank some points in order not to lose them.

Obviously, over the years, our desires changed. We do own a second home in Mexico; we cruise a lot; we do other traveling, and we've found we like visiting the world's great cities, and timeshares aren't much help there. We stayed in a timeshare just outside Rome--but that's not the same as being in Rome. We stayed at a timeshare just outside Assisi, but that's not the same as being in Assisi (and I'm not counting Assisi as one of the world's great cities). We stayed at a timeshare just outside Dublin, but that's not the same as staying in Dublin. We stayed at a timeshare just outside Glasgow, but that's not the same as staying in Glasgow. We stayed three times at a timeshare in London--and that was great--but it's not there any longer and there are more cities for us to explore, and we've learned to use Priceline, etc. to our advantage. We also stayed 3 or 4 times at a timeshare in New York, and that was great, but on the whole, timeshares aren't in cities.

I think the advice to pay as little as possible for them and watch the maintenance fees is the most important advice you'll get: your vacation habits will probably change over the years, and it will be easier to change if you don't have a lot of money invested that you can't get back. If they don't change, you can always accumulate more timeshares; getting them is easy.

We enjoyed our timeshares, all 7 of them, for a while, and it was worth it. But we changed, and then it wasn't worth it anymore.

 

[Kaelyn]

Lots of Research!

I first got turned on to timeshares when I went to Australia with a friend of mine on their timeshare. The resort was not five star, it was about three-and-a-half star, which is plenty for me. But the ability to cook what I wanted when I wanted was incredible. While I'm willing to try new foods, I do have some food allergies, so knowing that I can cook for myself and have safe food is important. It also means that when we go out restaurant, we can actually bring home our leftovers. (breakfast anyone?)

I was interested then, but I had heard a lot of horror stories about timeshares, especially timeshare sales pitches.

Fast forward 5 years, I did Hawaii on another friend's timeshare, and had an even better experience. But in no way could I afford $15,000 plus yearly maintenance fees. So I started doing research. My friend's friend (whose timeshare we used in HI) was willing to let hers go for about ten thousand. Still wasn't in my budget.

Fast forward three more years and the economy Tanked, HARD. My life got a little bit better, and I had a small inheritance. I like the timeshare concept, but didn't want to just go one place. Both timeshare trips I done had been through RCI. So my new goal was to get a highly desirable timeshare in a place where I would like to go sometimes, but that had high enough trade value, that I could go just about anywhere else I wanted. I did a solid year's worth of research, and I found TUG! *happy dance!* Finding TUG was the best part of my timeshare research. The "What to look for" in buying and selling sections are more than worth the price of membership, and they're free! That information, and all the comments in the forums, made me a lot more comfortable actually buying a timeshare in a place I have never been.

I settled on Grand Cayman, it's pretty, it's warm, and if you like snorkeling and diving, it's right up your alley. Another factor in choosing the Caribbean, is that I now live on the east coast, instead of the West. If I had still been living in California, I would have gone for Hawaii. But a 10-plus hour plane flight every year is not my idea of a good time. In looking for a Caribbean Resort, I wanted one on a primarily English-speaking island, with a good health care system. A lot of people don't have extra money to travel until they are older, at which point health care is something people can be concerned count. Imagine having a heart attack, ruptured appendix, or kidney stone on an island where you don't speak the primary language, and trying to get good Healthcare. While it's true that health professionals in much of the Caribbean speak pretty good English, in an emergency situation, do you want to risk your health on it? So, for me, an English speaking country was a big factor to ensure a high trade value.

I bought my timeshare on Grand Cayman from a fellow Tugger. No joke, I paid $1. I did have $610 worth of closing and transfer fees. All of my friends were envious as hell. I showed them how they could do the same thing, doesn't mean they did it. I'm in the older section of my Resort, but I still have a 2 bed 2 bath, pool side, top floor, with about 1250 square feet, a full kitchen, and a sleeper sofa in the living room. My maintenance fees are currently running $1100 a year, and that's it. Comparably sized villas with a kitchen run $600/night. How can you lose?

I don't regret it for a second. I usually go to the tropics with a girlfriend or two, (my man cannot handle heat, at all) I cover the lodging, they divvy up the food expenses and the rental car. Sharing the expenses makes all the stuff we want to do more affordable. We take turns with cooking /dishes. Every other year, I trade, and my man and I go to some place cooler, like Yellowstone. Next year we are doing a "bucket list" trip to New Zealand for 2 weeks! *more happy dancing*

Does it mean I have to plan my vacations in advance? Yes, but it's so worth it. No worries about where I'm going to eat, or what is safe. We hit the grocery store, grab some basics, and we're good to go. I hate having to be up, awake, and presentable, in order to find a place for breakfast. Yuck. With the timeshare, I get the breakfast that I want, at my own pace. Then I pack myself a lunch, and we go off and do whatever we want. We don't have to worry about what food might or might not be available wherever we're heading, it's already packed. We also don't have to worry about what time restaurants close. We might do dinner out, we might do dinner in. It's just much, much, easier. Getting a timeshare is one of the best decisions I've made.

LONG LIVE TIMESHARES!

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Just about the only thing my husband and I used to argue about was how to spend vacations. He grew up camping, and that's what he wanted to do. We live in rainy Washington and the idea of tent camping for an extended amount of time with (then) small children was not appealing.

I started investigating timeshares about 15 years ago after spending what I thought was a small fortune for three days in a condo at the Washington coast during spring vacation.

I found TUG, did some research and bought a summer week in Colorado for $1000.00. I also bought a South African timeshare when the prices were low (a couple of hundred $$ if I recall) and the trading was hot !

My husband quickly became sold on the idea of a planned vacation in a nice condo for a week at a time. We never stayed at either timeshare we owned, but traded for Hawaii, New York City, Sedona, Vancouver Island and the Oregon Coast among others, all during school holidays to accommodate our kid's school schedules. Without a timeshare we could not have been able to afford a week in New York during spring vacation with a family of four or two weeks in Hawaii at Christmas.

When our girls went to college, we got rid of both of these properties as we were traveling less and working more to pay for two kids in college at the same time.

As their graduations approached, I started researching Worldmark and ended up buying a small account on the resale market. I am very happy with this purchase. I think Rhonda's post was spot on for all my reasons also.

And I want coffee as soon as I get up, dang it ! All the more reason to have a kitchen. And cocktail hour on your own lanai in Hawaii ? Love it.

I am now in the process of acquiring a free week through a TUG member that I will use as a trader in II and save my WM points for more local properties.

I do not regret any of my purchases. I am a planner and love the "thrill of the chase". We have made many wonderful family memories on our vacations, and are continuing to do so with our Worldmark.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I was with you the entire post.:rofl: That is great advice, by the way, for a newbie, especially, but is Lifetime in Hawaii a nice place to stay? That would be my question. I am a bit spoiled by the Hawaii resort we own (on Maui), and our great trades to Kauai and Shearwater.

We also bought our first TS in 1981. It was a crazy decision back then because we were broke and had three very small children, all under 5.

People who don't learn to use their timeshares, and cannot get over their bitterness toward the developers, are stupid to pay someone to help them out of the deal. I don't understand!!!! Use what you bought. It appealed to you during the sales pitch, so what changed? Ah, you found a bargain price on the same thing? Oh, well. You should have investigated resale BEFORE you let your rescission period end.

We have stayed at LTIH several times (three I believe, maybe four). We like it a lot, and if you plan far enough out, it is possible to reserve one of the full 1BR units (vs. the studio that you actually own).

The units were updated about five years ago and are in a mixed use (some timeshares, some individual condo owners) high rise building right on Kuhio Ave., about 3-4 blocks from the beach.

It is a "city" resort, which for some may be a negative. For us, we focus on "it's Hawaii" and affordable . . . and with the no parking fees, renting a car to get out of the city is what we typically do.

All of that said, we've found that others have really enjoyed it too, as a base for Oahu. The family we barter with for the RV in Alaska will be doing their third two-week visit this holiday season . . . a couple with 2 kids (13 and 11 I think they are now).

 

[lilliand]

Our reasons we love timesharing

We have sat through many timeshare presentations starting maybe 30 years ago. We didn't acutally buy until 2004 in Vegas. We didn't buy Vegas to go there as we don't even like to gamble but were convinced by the developer of its trading power. The resort wasn't even built yet when we bought. In 2011 we traded the week to go to Branson and went to a presentation there. We loved it there and it was in driving distance (6 1/2 hours) and closer to our daughter and grandson who we don't see often. So they took the Vegas week on "trade-in" and now we are owners in Branson. We didn't discover TUG until 2014 after we had upgraded two more times and spent much more money than we should have.

My advice would be to buy somewhere where you want to go and not just so you can trade.

We love our timeshare (even though we spent too much). We have traveled many places we wouldn't have without purchasing it. We often travel with our kids and grandkids. We just returned yesterday from a week in Lake Tahoe (with daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter) and made awesome memories. It forces us to take vacations. We went to Aruba two months ago. Other people where I work haven't taken any vacation yet this year. I always take all of my vacation time (it's paid for!). And I just received an extra Resort Accomodation Certiicate from Interval this week while I was still in Lake Tahoe so I need to start planning the next one!

We are Platinum with Interval and I have purchased getaways with guest certificates for my sisters, our children, our pastor, friends, etc. I love being able to help others make memories as well.

 

[rboesl]

One of my Timeshare Stories

I am finding this discussion thread fascinating. So, here's my experience.

Our first timeshare purchase was about 7 years ago. But the one I think is of more interest was our purchase in Aruba. My wife and I had traded into the RIU Palace on Aruba. We fell in love with the island right away and were really enjoying the resort as well. Plus, it satisfied a bucket list item of mine. They had a swim up bar! How cool is that?!

Well, the RIU Palace had one glaring issue. No washer/dryer in the unit. In fact it turned out they had no guest laundry services either. When we asked about a laundromat they concierge provided directions to one within "a 20 minute walk." Well, a 20 minute walk in 90 degree heat dragging a suitcase of dirty laundry is not my idea of a fun time.

Turns out when we found the laundromat, it was out of business. So we were pretty much resigned to doing some laundry in the bathtub.

The next day we were looking for a dinner cruise while walking around Oranjestad and stopped at a kiosk. The woman at the kiosk suggested attending a Divi presentation and they would pay for the dinner cruise. Since, we had been talking about buying there (we liked the island so much) we decided to see what they had to offer first hand and then look at the secondary market later.

We loved the resort, Divi Village Beach & Golf Resort. And my wife mentioned to the salesman about the washer/dryer in the unit. He asked and we told him the story. Well the salesman made us a very interesting offer. By his own admission buying direct by them involved quite a bit of money up front. But even if we didn't buy there now, and he understood why that might not happen, they would order a cab (and pay for it) to take us back to the RIU Palace so we could get our dirty laundry. We could use the washer/dryer in the unit we toured to do our laundry. They would then pay for the cab back to the RIU.

After a bit of haggling we ended up buying at Divi Village. Yes, directly from the developer. But, it was for a week in February. Very hard to get. And, that week covers when my wife & both have our birthdays. The joke we made was this was probably the most expensive washer/dryer we would ever buy. :hysterical:

But, we've never regretted the purchase. We've returned to Aruba 3 more times. Been to Divi Baby Bay Resort on St. Marteen and to Divi Heritage on Barbados both with points left over and no exchange fee. And getting away from Buffalo winters for a week is a great bonus.

 

[bizaro86]

I bought a floating (1-52) week at Lifetime in Hawaii. The week cost me around $2,500 and at the time the MF's were under $300 for a studio/1 BR unit. I still own this timeshare . . . love it as a trader at RCI (HUGE TPE value!) or to barter or rent to friends. MF's are now around $530

If I were to be thinking about buying again, or more, I would advise to look into Lifetime in Hawaii. The POA has several weeks (again, they are all 1-52 floating weeks and only studio units) . . . that you can pick up now for around $1,500 to $2,000/week. They trade very well with RCI and the MF's are still the lowest I've seen for Hawaii. PLUS, the resort has FREE parking for owners! This is the best value of all in my opinion, since many of the Waikiki resorts get upwards of $30/day for parking.

Are you still with me here? LOL

Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, etc. that you may have. I'm always willing to help a fellow traveler!

TS Von

p.s. Through timeshare ownership & exchanging with RCI over the decades, I have been to Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. I have also been to Hawaii more than 10 times. All were outstanding experiences made (financially) possible through timeshare ownership!

Lifetime in Hawaii is probably the best RCI weeks trader out there, imo. I think it is more sustainable than some of the other ones, since Hawaii at Christmas is probably always going to be valuable, and it would rent for well over MF if you couldn't use it. That cost for units from the HOA seems a bit high to me, I have a lead on one for less than that if anyone is interested, and I paid less than that for mine. Of course, the value is there at a higher price, but may as well get a discount if you can.

I also like that its RTU, so has an end date.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Our story.

We have four kids, all of them now adults. But when they were younger vacations was a struggle for me, mostly due to cost. DW has no interest in camping. Did it once, when we had two kids, and afterward I knew that was not a feasible option. So any travel involved either mooching or motels. Also drivable was big, because air fare for six was generally prohibitive. So most of our vacationing was short two to four day trips we could reach from home, and an occasional longer air travel trip when I could cash in some frequent flyer miles to make the price tolerable.

For New Years 1999 I took three of the kids on a ski trip in eastern British Columbia, staying at Motel 6 type venues - room with two queens or kings, 3 males and one female. She got one bed. I slept on the floor along with one of the boys. Breakfast was milk, cereal, and pop-tarts. Lunch was at the resort. Dinner was takeout Chinese or pizza. When we got home and I reviewed the costs, I was stunned that even with all of that, food was by far the biggest expense on the trip.

Seven months later, DW and I are in Hawaii at the Marriott in Lihu'e for a 25th anniversary trip to Hawaii. We've talked about doing it sometime, we get a fantastic deal (non-timeshare), and figure this is a good time to do it, and we'll probably not be back again. While we're there we figure we may as well do the timeshare tour to get the freebies being offered.

******

We do the tour and I am totally sold. I do the math, and I figure that for what I spent on that New Year's ski trip, we could have stayed in a two-bedroom condo with a kitchen, prepared our own food, and had space to relax. Marriott Lihue only has mini-kitchens, so I ask DW could she feed us with what they have there, and she says "Yes". So we buy two one-bedroom units for something like $35k.

After doing the paperwork, and knowing that we could rescind, I do some research before leaving the island, find TUG, and learn about the resale market. So we make plans to rescind, and research some other timeshare options on the island. We quickly narrow down to Kauai Beach Villas, Lawai Beach Resort, and Embassy Poipu (now Diamond Resorts Pointe at Poipu) as the most realistic options for us.

We do a quick tour of each (non-sales presentation) and immediately decide that Pointe at Poipu is the place for us. We love the location. We love the residential feel of the resort and the area. We envision this as a locale that could be like owning an ocean front condo in Kauai that we come back to regularly. I start to fantasize about having our children and grandchildren there with us.

So we execute our rescind at Marriott Lihue, and venture into the resale market to buy a Poipu unit. Which we complete about five months later.

In the meantime, while I'm staying on top of eBay timeshare listings looking for our unit, I come across a fixed week 52 unit at Winners Circle in Solana Beach, CA. On a whim I put in a bid of $900, never expecting to win. I don't win the auction, but the winning bidder flakes out, and the seller asks me if am still willing to buy at $900. I say yes, so in the space we've gone from knowing nothing about timeshare to owning two units.

*****

Things generally work out better than we had planned. The Winners Circle turns out to be an awesome buy. We get about 12 years of use of it as an awesome trader in RCI, SFX, TPI, VRI*ety, and HTSE. Then DW and SIL move to Encinitas, and decide they want to take over hosting family Christmas. So now we use the unit every year instead of trading, to provide added accommodations for family Christmas.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii we start adding to our ownership and converting the DRI Club. When DW gets married on St Maarten, we use our DRI to host about half of the wedding party at DRI resorts there.

Now three of our four kids have decided they also like to go to Kauai, and they like Pointe at Poipu as well. So now we reserve two units, score a free upgrade because we are gold members, and have an extended, multi-generational family on Kauai almost every year.

We also added a Raintree Vacation Club membership along the way as well, which we have used to go to Whistler for skiing, but now use almost every year for a February trip to Puerto Vallarta.

Life is good. The water intrusion assessment at Poipu was painful, but those are the risks that one takes. From my vantage point now, in 2016, I feel that we have received everything we dreamed for in 1999, and more besides.

 

[Timeshare Von]

More Info on Lifetime in Hawaii

Lifetime in Hawaii is probably the best RCI weeks trader out there, imo. I think it is more sustainable than some of the other ones, since Hawaii at Christmas is probably always going to be valuable, and it would rent for well over MF if you couldn't use it. That cost for units from the HOA seems a bit high to me, I have a lead on one for less than that if anyone is interested, and I paid less than that for mine. Of course, the value is there at a higher price, but may as well get a discount if you can.

I also like that its RTU, so has an end date.

Great points for sure!

I didn't pull out my most recent newsletter from the resort so I was quoting their pricing based on the last time I paid attention to the POA's sales offer. So I dug up the Spring 2016 newsletter and here's the current pricing . . . $1,000 per week and if you guy two, you get a third for free. They state "You, your family members, and/or your friends can purchase more vacation time." so this offer is open to others, not existing owners.

In 2016 the MF is $510; the board will know what the 2017 MF will be once their negotiation with the Royal Kuhio management company has been completed on their lease for the units that make up LTIH's block of timeshare units.

As for the reference to the RTU, I had forgotten about it . . . probably because I'll be in my 80's and no longer TS traveling by then (if I'm still on this side of the dirt). The RTU ends on 12/31/2041, so from this year, another 25 years!

Yes, the Christmas season is "PRIMO Prime Time" for RCI exchange value. When we booked and exchanged ours several years ago, we received enough point value to get a really nice exchange in Ireland PLUS enough points for another two exchanges here in the USA.

There are other weeks that are almost as desirable too! The RCI TPU estimator is a valuable tool in evaluating a potential purchase.

 

[Timeshare Von]

. . . since Hawaii at Christmas is probably always going to be valuable, and it would rent for well over MF if you couldn't use it . . .

Just be careful as units obtained through an RCI exchange should not be rented, per the RCI agreement.

If you OWN there and want to rent, that is totally acceptable and I've done it a lot. However, if you are banking with RCI, you will need to back out at the maximum time window to obtain the maximum exchange value (TPUs).

 

[dpete]

I have not read all the replies so this may already be stated but as a new owner I have come to these conclusions:
For those who want to travel with school age children it is really hard to 'trade' into heavy use weeks. (Even 13 months out with my Ritz/Marriott it is a impossibility for the high use spots)
For a couple who have lots of flexibility it probably wouldn't be the hassle we have found it to be.
For someone who wants to return to the same place, same time every year the deeded property is the way to go.
If I had it to do over, I would just go to a rental site (like Redweek) and find the unit and time I wanted and rent. We did this in Hawaii this year for spring break-got a fabulous penthouse unit for the time frame we wanted. I tried but could not trade my property for anything close to what we rented.
Traveling as a family or group of friends we have found it essential to have a kitchen/living/laundry anywhere we stay. That is called spoiled!


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[rhonda]

...they would order a cab (and pay for it) to take us back to the RIU Palace so we could get our dirty laundry. We could use the washer/dryer in the unit we toured to do our laundry. They would then pay for the cab back to the RIU.

Cute story. Amazing how motivating laundry can be!