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What should I buy?

deanster

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We currently have an EOYO 4000 points at Elara with HGVC (bought from the developer), but I think it won't be enough for our long-term needs. We would appreciate advice on what we should buy to replace it (or add to it). We've had it for about 3 years and have used it and the 10,000 bonus points we received quite well. Unless the answers below strongly point to a different system, we would probably want to stick with HGVC now that we understand how it works and our happiness level with it so far.

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?
Doesn't matter, as we don't like going the same place too often.

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?
Trade almost all the time.

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
We like going to a variety of places, but the places we plan to go over the next 5 years are (using a timeshare or not):
Hawaii
Orlando
San Francisco (already have this one booked)
British Columbia (probably Vancouver)
Europe (haven't decided where)

Places we've been in the last 3 years with our timeshare (using Club Points or bonus points):
Parc Soleil (when we bought our current timeshare)
near Toronto, Canada
Carlsbad, CA
Marco Island, FL
Sedona, AZ
Mont Tremblant, Canada


4) How many people do you usually travel with?
3-10 (with 3 people, we would still prefer a 2 bedroom unit, though)


5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Locked into school schedule long-term, however we still have flexibility for the next few years...

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?
Yes

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
Yes, but we've done a lot of 4 night trips with our current timeshare, mostly due to our limited points.

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
3-5 stars

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
$8000, but flexible if we take some time to save.

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
$1000 (that's our current yearly fee, including the HGVC membership fees).

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Yes

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
Yes
 

presley

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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I wouldn't buy more until you know for sure that you need more. You can often rent for less than the cost of owning if you don't need something every year.

I was going to suggest Shell, but the MFs are higher than what you want to pay. They have good stuff in San Fran and Hawaii and you could easily trade in II to the other places.

HGVC and Worldmark are the other 2 I would suggest. You could combine points in HGVC since you already have some there. It's a great system, but the fees for everything really add up.

In Worldmark, you have a huge amount of resorts and you can also trade in both RCI and II if you buy memberships to those. You get a lot of bang for your buck in Worldmark and don't have fees for everything like HGVC does.
 
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