Where to buy... ???

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions... New to TS world and am glad to have found TUG. We travel a lot domestic and international (6-8 wks/yr), have very flexible schedules & 2 teenage daughters who generally travel with us. We do Vegas a lot of biz, but don't take kids there.

We live in the Midwest and enjoy it all - beaches to mountains. Will be spending 3 weeks in Europe in fall. LOTS of Marriott and Hilton points... but really like to relax and spread out with a condo/kitchen versus hotels and have rented in past and done a lot of the TS sales presentations to get cheap weeks, always saying "no".

We recently acquired 2 wks of Marriott 2 BR lockoffs in Orlando for free (friends who just wanted out of MFs) which gives us access to the II inventory... and MFs seem reasonable compared to renting similar unit of staying in hotels.

Questions... should we add an HGVC or Wyndham Points to the mix to get into RCI? What are benefits and drawbacks to each? Am I better off buying something at a "high-end" location for trading power... or look for losest MF's? What am I not asking that I should be...??? Thank you so much!!!
Craig

Here are some questions you can answer to focus your wants/needs. If you click on QUOTE at the end of my post, the questions will open up in a new window for you to answer:

1) Where do you want your home resort to be?

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?

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

4) How many people do you usually travel with?

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

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

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?

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

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

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?

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

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?

You may want to spend a bit of time reading TUG and see what other owners (or former owners) are doing. Many people here suggest renting TS instead of ownership. That way you can get your pick of resorts and weeks without the continued cost of ownership.

Also as an example of a way that you can expand your weeks, SFX Resorts gives bonus weeks with some highly valued deposits for exchange. There is no cost to join, unless you want an upgraded membership. They have rentals available for last minute availability as does RCI. I am not familiar with II but I assume they do the same thing. Those are ways to get more weeks for a little more money than you are spending for your maintenance fees. Of course there will be exchange fees, or other fees, but you may find that works out better for your situation.

Good luck and welcome to TUG.

Sue

IMHO you should explore your exchange options before committing to another Maintenance Fee.

The only significant limitations to not having RCI is the exclusion from DVC and limited opportunities to visit Manhattan (I used Hilton Honors Points to access the Times Square Hilton as well as the Waldorf Astoria)

The Wyndham branded inventory is almost exclusively RCI, but it can be rented cheaper than exchanging

Timeshares are easy to acquire, but you must find someone willing to assume the Maintenance fee contract to transfer the ownership

For your first purchase, conventional advice is to buy where you intend to visit, and to buy close to home (air fare can be a bitch and in a tough year may be the difference between a vacation and staying home.)

Buy a fixed week if you want to know for sure that get the week you want, where you want it every year, buy a floating week for flexibility regarding the date of travel. And buy into a points system for the ultimate in flexibility. Different locations, different dates and for some the ability to do less than a weeks stay

I chose Wyndham because they have a bunch of resorts that I can drive to in a day, and because they have the only timeshares near Washington DC where my wife and I both grew up and where we still have family, and in San Francisco where my daughter and grandkids live

You will have different needs and wants. Figure out what they are and buy accordingly

By the way the included RCI account is not a very good reason to choose Wyndham...its nice, but only saves you about $100 a year

why?

If I was in your shoes, id be asking why do I need another timeshare.

ronparise said:

For your first purchase, conventional advice is to buy where you intend to visit, and to buy close to home (air fare can be a bitch and in a tough year may be the difference between a vacation anstaying home.

Click to expand...

These are newbies considering a third to trade .....

We recently acquired 2 wks of Marriott 2 BR lockoffs in Orlando for free (friends who just wanted out of MFs) which gives us access to the II inventory... and MFs seem reasonable compared to renting similar unit of staying in hotels.

Questions... should we add an HGVC or Wyndham Points to the mix to get into RCI?

Click to expand...

Rent_Share said:

These are newbies considering a third to trade .....

Click to expand...

The op has two timeshares but they are still new and inexperienced. My advice for them is the same as it would be as for someone making their first purchase..ie stay local

I should have added a (s) to purchase....or said "if you are new to timeshares stay local"


I actually like the idea of drive to destinations for all my timeshares..and in the case of mini systems, I think trading outside the system should always be a secondary consideration

The timeshare mistakes Ive made all happened when I violated my own rule and bought for some purpose, other than for my primary goals

Don't buy anything.

craigtug said:

We recently acquired 2 wks of Marriott 2 BR lockoffs in Orlando for free (friends who just wanted out of MFs) which gives us access to the II inventory... and MFs seem reasonable compared to renting similar unit of staying in hotels.

Click to expand...

Take your time and research on TUG. I won't buy anything until you master the use of your new Marriott weeks.

Use your existing Marriott weeks for a couple of years and learn about the PROs and CONs of timesharing and exchanging.

Whatever you decide, don't put all of your future vacation dollars into timesharing. This will give you the flexibility in the future to choose the best way to visit your desired destinations. There might not be a timeshare at the location that you want to visit or if there is a timeshare it may be very hard to get an exchange. You may also want to visit a destination in an entirely different way via a cruise, hotel/resort stay, special discounted travel package, tour company, beach house rental, etc.

Good Luck and Welcome to TUG

Rent_Share said:

IMHO you should explore your exchange options before committing to another Maintenance Fee....

Click to expand...

Even though I'm a timeshare addict, I agree with David here. The Original Poster says he recently acquired two Marriott lock-offs. That's four weeks of timeshare (if he locks them off) and $2000 or so annually in MFs. I would suggest using these timeshares for a while before getting any more.

Craig, few of the American timeshare systems will get you a stay in Europe, particularly not in European cities. And, you may be able to get a whole month of two-bedroom timeshare stays in North America each year with what you already own. I would wait and see if you really need any more timeshares.

Great advice everyone... thank you! Am thinking we get accustomed to the TS world with the 2 weeks we own now... and rent in interim as needed before making a commitment to more. So... what are some great sites to find rentals?

Also... any value in getting into RCI cheap (small purchase of Wyndham points maybe?) to get access to their last minute deals? We travel a lot and have quite a bit of flexibility so don't need to book months/years in advance.

Again, thank you... this site has already been worth it.

Craig

JudyS said:

Even though I'm a timeshare addict, I agree with David here. The Original Poster says he recently acquired two Marriott lock-offs. That's four weeks of timeshare (if he locks them off) and $2000 or so annually in MFs. I would suggest using these timeshares for a while before getting any more.

Craig, few of the American timeshare systems will get you a stay in Europe, particularly not in European cities. And, you may be able to get a whole month of two-bedroom timeshare stays in North America each year with what you already own. I would wait and see if you really need any more timeshares.

Click to expand...

JudyS... good advice. How do we get a month's worth of 2 BRs with what we own now? I LOVE that idea if I can make it work. Also.. regarding Europe.. any suggestions on where to find TS rentals if trades won't be avail?

Thanks.
Craig

craigtug said:

JudyS... good advice. How do we get a month's worth of 2 BRs with what we own now? I LOVE that idea if I can make it work. Also.. regarding Europe.. any suggestions on where to find TS rentals if trades won't be avail?

Thanks.
Craig

Click to expand...

Try the TUG Classifieds - linked as MARKETPLACE on the red bar at the top of the page.

craigtug said:

JudyS... good advice. How do we get a month's worth of 2 BRs with what we own now? I LOVE that idea if I can make it work. Also.. regarding Europe.. any suggestions on where to find TS rentals if trades won't be avail?

Thanks.
Craig

Click to expand...

You would lockoff your 2 br and use them as 1 br and studios to create 4 weeks or use them to trade in interval international and try to upgrade via trade to
2 br units. It involvee flexibility, checking in interval frequently and checking the sightings forum

craigtug said:

Great advice everyone... thank you! Am thinking we get accustomed to the TS world with the 2 weeks we own now... and rent in interim as needed before making a commitment to more. So... what are some great sites to find rentals?

Also... any value in getting into RCI cheap (small purchase of Wyndham points maybe?) to get access to their last minute deals? We travel a lot and have quite a bit of flexibility so don't need to book months/years in advance.

Again, thank you... this site has already been worth it.

Craig

Click to expand...

When you join Interval International (II) to exchange your Marriott weeks, you'll have access to II cash getaways.

Here's a link to the most frequently mentioned rental site - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17673

craigtug said:

Great advice everyone... thank you! Am thinking we get accustomed to the TS world with the 2 weeks we own now... and rent in interim as needed before making a commitment to more. So... what are some great sites to find rentals?

Also... any value in getting into RCI cheap (small purchase of Wyndham points maybe?) to get access to their last minute deals? We travel a lot and have quite a bit of flexibility so don't need to book months/years in advance.

Again, thank you... this site has already been worth it.

Craig

Click to expand...

Check out this thread on buying tiny contract to get RCI benefits. Also, have to add another $30.00 as must have 77K points to get free RT.


http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188563

go high end

I must disagree with a lot of the posters. While I agree that perhaps you should wait and see if you really need another timeshare, I would recommend if you do buy one, buy high end in a location with lots of trading power, such as Hawaii, Hilton Head SC or where we are, Resort on Cocoa Beach or Florida Keys in Florida. We have been with the Resort on Cocoa Beach and trade through RCI. I don't have points... I have the old style 2 BR ocean front flexible red (able to request any time in the year). But when I deposit it into RCI it becomes points anyway and I can trade into almost anywhere. Yes, RCI does not have some resorts that II has, but I can do II if I want also. I find that in RCI with the points I get with my one week, I have more than enough to use and book several weeks a year depending on location. Lots of locations (such as midwest where I am from) trade for very low points if not peak season summer so I can get these for next to nothing and still have points left to trade into a high demand location if I work the RCI system effectively. RCI weeks has a deposit calculator you can check for your timeshare and see what week will give you the highest trading power. I do this whenever I want to deposit and request the highest value week to deposit. This gives me lots of points to use, which we have traded into the Costa del Sol in Spain, Hawaii, Mexico, Bahamas, other Florida locations, etc. However this same system would work poorly for timeshare locations that are low trading power in RCI, such as the midwest if not summer, etc. So just buying anything local may not work for you if you like to get extra weeks from your deposit and trade into high demand areas. If you can manage to get into RCI and look at how many points things trade for, you can get a good indicator of which are good locations to buy if you decide to. The higher it is to trade into the better the place to buy. If i had to do it over again I would go with Hawaii on a beach... but nonetheless I am very happy with the trading power of the Resort on Cocoa Beach.

craigtug said:

JudyS... good advice. How do we get a month's worth of 2 BRs with what we own now? I LOVE that idea if I can make it work. Also.. regarding Europe.. any suggestions on where to find TS rentals if trades won't be avail?

Thanks.
Craig

Click to expand...

I was thinking of using your two-bedrooms to trade in II, and then using various II promos (XYZ promotion or Accommodation Certificates) to get another two-weeks. But, other people here have mentioned additional ways to get four weeks (or more) from your ownerships, such as using Getaways or depositing your lock-off as two weeks and then trying to trade into a larger unit. There are many ways to get extra stays out of II, especially in locations that have a lot of timeshares and/or during lower demand times of year.

I'm not sure there are a lot of timeshare rentals in Europe -- there just aren't that many timeshares in Europe, period (except in Spain and Portugal.) Royal Holiday Club has some timeshares in Europe but they are a pain to deal with. Hapimag has quite a few, but I don't know how easy it is for an American to rent from a Hapimag owner, since they are almost all in Europe. Dial-an-Exchange gets some European weeks, but there is no way I would give Dial-an-Exchange a Marriott. You could contact San Francisco Exchange -- they might have something.

asaw1 said:

I must disagree with a lot of the posters. While I agree that perhaps you should wait and see if you really need another timeshare, I would recommend if you do buy one, buy high end in a location with lots of trading power, such as Hawaii, Hilton Head SC or where we are, Resort on Cocoa Beach or Florida Keys in Florida.....

Click to expand...

Hawaii and the Florida keys are way too expensive to use as traders. I wouldn't consider anything in Cocoa Beach to be an especially strong trader. I checked RCI's deposit calculator, and the highest any two-bedroom on Cocoa Beach receives is 33 TPUs. (Weeks in RCI receive from 8 to 60 TPUs.) I own a one-bedroom in California that will get me 57 TPUs.

If I were looking for advice, I'd go with the posters who have years of experience here on TUG and thousands of posts, not with someone who has three weeks on TUG and three posts.

Lots of Timeshare Renters out There

craigtug said:

Great advice everyone... thank you! Am thinking we get accustomed to the TS world with the 2 weeks we own now... and rent in interim as needed before making a commitment to more. So... what are some great sites to find rentals?

Also... any value in getting into RCI cheap (small purchase of Wyndham points maybe?) to get access to their last minute deals? We travel a lot and have quite a bit of flexibility so don't need to book months/years in advance.

Again, thank you... this site has already been worth it.

Craig

Click to expand...

There are rental possibilities all over the place, TUG classifieds are good as suggested already, Redweek, we use Craigslist a lot to advertise our own rentals from our excess Wyndham points but be very careful of Craigslist there are a lot of scammers out there!! Make sure they take payments via Paypal and are a verified Paypal business, then you are guaranteed to get your money back if you don't get what you pay for. Tripadvisor is another good site to evaluate the different resorts, lots of reviews from travelers that have stayed in the resorts.

We are very heavy Wyndham points owners with some developer purchases and a bunch of resale purchases and we really enjoy our timesharing travels. We have really been spoiled by Wyndham as Presidential Reserve owners. they have really raised the bar for us in what we expect from our vacation accommodations. So in that regard we are NOT big users of RCI since most of their resorts, at least the ones you can find availability in are not up to par with what we want in a resort.

Good luck and Happy Timesharing!!

unnecessary

JudyS said:

Hawaii and the Florida keys are way too expensive to use as traders. I wouldn't consider anything in Cocoa Beach to be an especially strong trader. I checked RCI's deposit calculator, and the highest any two-bedroom on Cocoa Beach receives is 33 TPUs. (Weeks in RCI receive from 8 to 60 TPUs.) I own a one-bedroom in California that will get me 57 TPUs.

If I were looking for advice, I'd go with the posters who have years of experience here on TUG and thousands of posts, not with someone who has three weeks on TUG and three posts.

Click to expand...

I found your post somewhat condescending. The fact that I have been participating in TUG for a short time is irrelevant.
While I would agree that your California timeshare seems like a great trader, I trade my RCB unit almost every year in RCI Weeks with great success (and I have been doing it for 15 years). The reality is that RCB gets trading power ranging from 28-52 depending on time of year and I am familiar enough with the system to get maximum results. Not too bad for somebody with "three weeks on TUG and three posts." There are obviously different philosophies regarding the question and that does not mean other points of view are not valid or not relevant because of the apparent experience of the poster.

Asaw, I should have been more polite. It just seems to me that no matter how much experience I have in something, no one ever feels my knowledge and experience counts for anything. I have become extremely frustrated by this, but I should not have taken it out on you.

no problem

I think we all sometimes can remember to be a bit more polite when on line. Don't worry about it.