-
The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!
Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day! -
TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!
Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG! -
TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!
Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!
Visit TUG on Youtube! -
TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!
Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars -
Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!
60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners! -
Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!
All T-shirt options here!
Velas Vallartas AI
- Thread starter Ty1on
- Start date
I found a very old and obscure post that explained that if the contract was around 2006-7 or older, it's optional, and beginning at some time in that year range, all new contracts were mandatory.
i love all-inclusives, but at 100 dollars a day for a non-drinker and a 1- or 2-drinker, and $30 for a kid, I can't find the value. Maybe I could cast my diabetes aside and become a born again beer drinker for the week.
Now to see if the seller can tell me when the contract was originally sold......
i love all-inclusives, but at 100 dollars a day for a non-drinker and a 1- or 2-drinker, and $30 for a kid, I can't find the value. Maybe I could cast my diabetes aside and become a born again beer drinker for the week.
Now to see if the seller can tell me when the contract was originally sold......
Anyone? Bueller?
I'm not a fan of being unhelpful by answering a question with another question, but in this particular instance I just have to ask --- why on earth do you even want to consider buying into a RTU contract in Mexico at all in the first place --- and as your first timeshare, to boot? 
Mexican rentals and / or exchanges are a dime a dozen, contract transfer fees are often outright punitive --- and willing recipients are usually few and far between.
The issue of "all inclusive fees" completely aside, I'd encourage you think long and hard before hanging this kind of malodorous albatross around your neck.
Mexican RTU contracts have expiration dates (i.e., a built in exit strategy), but that's not nearly enough "benefit" to draw my interest, even for free.
Just my own personal viewpoint and opinion, of course. YMMV.
Mexican rentals and / or exchanges are a dime a dozen, contract transfer fees are often outright punitive --- and willing recipients are usually few and far between.
The issue of "all inclusive fees" completely aside, I'd encourage you think long and hard before hanging this kind of malodorous albatross around your neck.
Mexican RTU contracts have expiration dates (i.e., a built in exit strategy), but that's not nearly enough "benefit" to draw my interest, even for free.
Just my own personal viewpoint and opinion, of course. YMMV.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2007
- Messages
- 28,510
- Reaction score
- 17,281
- Points
- 1,299
- Location
- Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
I'm with Theo on this. There is NO reason to buy into ANY Mexican resort. You don't own anything. AI fees are astro-freakin'-nomical, unless you drink like a fish, and I've found the drinks so watered down that a tea-totaler will get along fine. And rentals into GREAT Mexican resorts are flat-out easy and cheap.
Pass.
I'm not a fan of being unhelpful by answering a question with another question, but in this particular instance I just have to ask --- why on earth do you even want to consider buying into a RTU contract in Mexico at all in the first place --- and as your first timeshare, to boot?
Mexican rentals and / or exchanges are a dime a dozen, contract transfer fees are often outright punitive --- and willing recipients are usually few and far between.
The issue of "all inclusive fees" completely aside, I'd encourage you think long and hard before hanging this kind of malodorous albatross around your neck.
Mexican RTU contracts have expiration dates (i.e., a built in exit strategy), but that's not nearly enough "benefit" to draw my interest, even for free.
Just my own personal viewpoint and opinion, of course. YMMV.
I would be taking over a contract with no consideration except MF. This is why I want to assure myself that a contract is AI optional before taking it on.
I am not interested in the supposed deeded equity of timeshares, which is illiquid and never, ever collectible.
So, in short, we are interested in taking on a contract at this particular resort because we like the resort, we would use it, and the MF are within a fair range.
"Seller" pays the contract transfer fees.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2007
- Messages
- 28,510
- Reaction score
- 17,281
- Points
- 1,299
- Location
- Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
"Seller" pays the contract transfer fees.
As will you when the time comes to dispose of it.
Advantage B, it is EOY, and expires in 2028-2030 depending on which contract.
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2007
- Messages
- 17,503
- Reaction score
- 7,312
- Points
- 948
- Resorts Owned
- HGVC & GTS
To get your money's worth at an AI, you need to eat+drink (alcohol) more than your compatriots so that part of your AI fee does not go to subsidize their intake of food and alcohol. If you manage to outdo your neighbors, then a portion of their AI fee goes toward your consumption. <jus' saying>
The important factor here is that I will only commit myself to a contract in which AI is optional. That way, I can opt out of AI and avoid $1500 in AI cost for the week.
I have rented (via Orbitz or whatever) an AI resort where the total cost was about the same as the AI fees. I can't imagine a situation where buying into a timeshare that forced mandatory AI fees in addition to MF would be a good investment.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2008
- Messages
- 16,018
- Reaction score
- 4,680
- Points
- 748
- Location
- Maryland
- Resorts Owned
- A few in S and VA, a single resort in NC, MD, PA, and UT, plus Jamaica and the Bahamas
Another annoying thing I have seen with Mexican RTU is not only MF's but also AI fees (be they mandatory or optional) where the AI fee is based on the date of the contract.
I also heard about one, that I believe is in Aruba, that sold optional AI until a certain date and then started selling mandatory only. The Optional contracts are worth more on resale but the kicker is the resort has been taking optional AI's back with ROFR and are claiming that there are different inventory pools and it is much harder to book an optional AI week even when reserving on the first day reservations open up while a mandatory AI contract can book the same week with less than a 6 month lead time.
Basically non deeded RTU's in other countries can have a different contract every time they sell a membership. You need to get your hands on the original contract (which isn't always easy or even possible) and then go over it with a fine tooth comb because benefits that the original buyer enjoyed may or may not transfer to the next member.
I also heard about one, that I believe is in Aruba, that sold optional AI until a certain date and then started selling mandatory only. The Optional contracts are worth more on resale but the kicker is the resort has been taking optional AI's back with ROFR and are claiming that there are different inventory pools and it is much harder to book an optional AI week even when reserving on the first day reservations open up while a mandatory AI contract can book the same week with less than a 6 month lead time.
Basically non deeded RTU's in other countries can have a different contract every time they sell a membership. You need to get your hands on the original contract (which isn't always easy or even possible) and then go over it with a fine tooth comb because benefits that the original buyer enjoyed may or may not transfer to the next member.
That is precisely what happened at Velas, as far as switching from Optional to Mandatory on a date. I don't know if they are ROFRing, but I have seen comments that indicate that the Optionals don't have the same issues getting reservations as the scenario you describe. That is definitely something I'll take under consideration here.
As an update, I actually found an EOY that expires in 2019, giving us two use years (AI Optional as it was a 1995 contract). It seems like that restricts our risk to two years of MF, also begging the question why the original owner would pay a reseller to unload a TS that only has $1,500 in MF remaining on contract......
Of course, I won't get to use it until 2017, but that gives me plenty of time to get the right dates we need. No ROFR was exercised on a free to me transfer.
Of course, I won't get to use it until 2017, but that gives me plenty of time to get the right dates we need. No ROFR was exercised on a free to me transfer.