[2006] Best Bang For Your BUCK

Which point system gives you the best value for your money?

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

Depends on many factors, such as where you prefer to vacation, and the level of accommodations, your level for accepting risk, etc. etc.

There are a ton of posts on the various point systems. You might want to use the search feature and then narrow your question down.

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

I agree with Dustijam. It's too broad a question and personal circumstances will apply. But seeing as you are new here, and probably just starting on this adventure, I will share my thoughts from when I was in your shoes.

I wanted to be able to visit different resorts each year without having to trade, therefore a system with multiple destinations to choose from at no extra charge was indicated.

I wanted reasonably good trading power, in case I did want to trade, so a system with a good reputation and resorts in good locations was indicated.

I wanted to be able to travel to most destinations by car from TN, therefore a system with a number of resorts in the eastern half of the US was desirable.

I wanted good maintenance fees and low initial cost as well. Remember...the initial cost is one time only, but maintenance fees continue FOREVER.

After doing A LOT of reading on TUG, including the member's only sections, (and about two dozen or more other websites) I narrowed in on Fairfield and found Angel, a recommended resale agent who assisted with our purchase. We have been VERY happy with our decision and have enjoyed some great vacations since becoming FF owners.

FWIW, I also considered Marriott...fees and initial cost were troublesome, though not a complete deal-breaker. Not so many resorts to choose from, however. Same with DVC...high costs and not much variety.

I really liked Worldmark. However, at the time most Worldmark resorts were located in the western half of the country, so that went against them for me.

Bluegreen was ok, as was Sunterra, but I think I remember at the time neither was looking particularly stable so I opted away from them. If I were seeking info now they would be higher on my list of possibilities.

RCI Points was not an option at that time so didn't figure in my research or decision


Your task...read, read, read and read some more. Define your vacation goals and see how the different options compare against each other with those goals in mind. Main thing is don't get in a hurry. Take a couple of months to do your research and at least a couple more to verify and look for what you want. Timeshares are easy to purchase, but not always so easy to sell, and like I said--maintenance fees are forever, so you want to be sure before you decide. The more you are going to spend...the more time you should take to make the decision.

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

I would definitly put emphasis on the learn as much as you can before you commit phrase. I studied timeshares for 2 years before choosing Worldmark. We live in Utah and vacation mostly in the west coast and south west.

Make sure there are resorts where you really want to vacation, and if you have a family, make sure the resorts have fun things for kids to do. Nothing worse than a bored group of kids, or adults for that matter.

Make a list of the things that are important to you when you travel and things that are not, including cost of maintainance fees, and extra costs. Use that list as a comparison for all the resort groups you check out. It is a lot of work but very worth it.

Sonya

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

Don,

And while you're doing your research on those other point systems already mentioned, don't forget to check out

the Hyatt Point system
Hilton Grand Vacation Club Point System
and the Royal Holiday Club Point System

Good luck in your search,

Richard

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

THANK YOU ALL. The learning curve Iam at the bottom of is a steep "son of gun"

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

Yes it can be a steep learning curve, but a little research now, can save you so much time and money in the future.

Buying a TS is often very easy, selling one that doesn't work out for you can be very troublesome. So this research you're doing now, can pay off in time, money and frustration.

Good Luck

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

Try this link to Timeshareforums.com:

http://www.timeshareforums.com/index.php?f=55

I find the forums a little harder to navigate, but the information on Bluegreen is wonderful. I have only read about Bluegreen to any great extent, the others do not interest me as much. That is just a great system.

Worldmark is another that looks interesting, but there are no special forums for that one. You can ask PA- and some others about Worldmark. I think PerryM owns it as well. CaliDave likes Sunterra.

Fairfield points are good too, but watch out for high maintenance fees. Shell Vacation Club has resorts mostly in the West, but the price is right on ebay. DVC is another great system. We will be buying points as a Christmas gift to ourselves.

Good luck with your search, Don, and thanks again!

The correct answer...

One size does not fit all vacation needs – a portfolio approach is much superior than to picking one solution and placing all your eggs (funds) in it.

We have 4 types of timeshares in our portfolio:

1) WorldMark –usage and exchanging

2) Marriott - exchanging

3) Timeshares we actually want to stay at each year

4) South African resorts to be deposited into RCI Points

You need a balanced mix of point and week timeshares to maximize your vacation needs.

If starting from scratch I’d recommend:

1) WorldMark credits – 12,000 at 70¢ each = $8,400 (MF=$480)

2) Marriott 2BR lock off at the Gold or Silver season for about $5,000 (MF=$800)

So for about $15,000 you can start your balanced portfolio with a MF of $1,300 per year and you should be able to get 2 – 3 vacations out of this. Each vacation therefore costs about $650 or less in MFs and the “Lost opportunity cost” for tying up that $15,000 is $750 per year (5% in a bank CD) or a total cost per year of about $2,000 per year or $1,000 - $700 per vacation at a 5-star resort – much cheaper than renting the same villas.

In my above portfolio you could actually get 3 II exchanges to just about any Marriott with the WM credits and 2 more with the Marriott for a total of 5 per year if you are flexible and have that much vacation time.

The key is to deciding what kinds of vacations your family would like to go on and when and how flexible you are willing to get.

Re: The correct answer...

PerryM said:

One size does not fit all vacation needs – a portfolio approach is much superior than to picking one solution and placing all your eggs (funds) in it.

We have 4 types of timeshares in our portfolio:

1) WorldMark –usage and exchanging

2) Marriott - exchanging

3) Timeshares we actually want to stay at each year

4) South African resorts to be deposited into RCI Points

You need a balanced mix of point and week timeshares to maximize your vacation needs.

If starting from scratch I’d recommend:

1) WorldMark credits – 12,000 at 70¢ each = $8,400 (MF=$480)

2) Marriott 2BR lock off at the Gold or Silver season for about $5,000 (MF=$800)

So for about $15,000 you can start your balanced portfolio with a MF of $1,300 per year and you should be able to get 2 – 3 vacations out of this. Each vacation therefore costs about $650 or less in MFs and the “Lost opportunity cost” for tying up that $15,000 is $750 per year (5% in a bank CD) or a total cost per year of about $2,000 per year or $1,000 - $700 per vacation at a 5-star resort – much cheaper than renting the same villas.

In my above portfolio you could actually get 3 II exchanges to just about any Marriott with the WM credits and 2 more with the Marriott for a total of 5 per year if you are flexible and have that much vacation time.

The key is to deciding what kinds of vacations your family would like to go on and when and how flexible you are willing to get.

Click to expand...

VERY INTERESTING

The amazing flexible timeshare

The other consideration is “Flexibility” which I briefly mentioned. The more flexible you are the cheaper the cost per vacation. Here’s an example:

Say you MUST have week 52 in a 2BR at the Marriott Maui Ocean Club Ocean Front and have the Marriott Reward Points option too. That choice will cost you $75,000+ to buy and $1,500+ per year for MF. (Lost opportunity of 5% is $3,750 or $5,250 per vacation)

Or you will settle for ANY week and ANY size at the Maui Marriott – that will cost you about $5,000 (a 2BR Gold, Silver Marriott) to buy and then you lock it off and get 2 II certificates and perhaps even an AC. The MF is $800 per year. You could get 3 vacations per year out of this and stay at 3 Marriotts in various sizes at various times of the year. (One of which could be the Maui)

So how flexible are you?

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

Very flexible with the exception of weeks 51-52 when we want to be Home.

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

I'm in Bluegreen and like it a lot. It's kind of the best of both worlds - points and fixed weeks. Once you've bought in, you pay your maint every year and every reservation you make with your points is free, even to give to Mom or Uncle Bob or that nice librarian. You can stretch your points with bonus time (owners only) or book a week to deposit to any exchange company to play the Weeks game.

The points are tied to deeded weeks and you have priority at 12 months to book your deeded week. Generally, tho, I don't care about what's deeded; to me Points are Points, I'm never going to the same place twice, or at least not the same week. I look for the deals.

We don't have to have high luxury and we are far from wealthy, so don't plan to buy anything else, just keep upping our stake in Bluegreen. They keep building and remodelling, they treat us well, the resorts are plenty nice, and they don't nickel and dime us. I don't need anything else, I don't want anything else.

They are mostly SE US. bluegreenonline.com

consider HGVC

don1947 said:

Which point system gives you the best value for your money?

Click to expand...

I'm elated with my HGVC points (7,000). Inside the system, they are upscale properties, but not as many as the Marriott system. Under Hilton, points are points and many TUG people say it's the most flexible of the point systems. I can’t really confirm that ‘cause it’s the only system I know.

Also my two weeks trade for about three weeks within the RCI system. And, the scuttlebutt is that HGVC is at the top of the pecking order for any RCI trade. Again I can’t confirm that, but I’ve always been super happy with my trades.

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

I believe the best bang for the buck is Bluegreen for the East Coast and WorldMark for the West Coast. I have looked closely at all of them.

I say that from purely an economic point of view. That's because the maintenance fee structure is the best for long term ownership.

Since I am a value hound, I own both and both are Universal traders that allow you to trade with any exchange company. And, direct exchanges abound for virtually any timeshare in the World, high end Marriott's included. In addition, if you own enough of each, you can rent out the extra units and have them pay for the rest of your maintenance fees.

Just because I have proven to myself quantitatively that these systems are the best bang for the buck, it doesn't mean that they are the best system for you.

I would pick a system first based on the resort group system that has the locations and resort quality you would like most to own and use. Then, supplement your portfolio with others that can cost effectively get you anywhere else you want to go. For that, I would choose WorldMark or Bluegreen.

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

One item I didn't see mentioned is buying ENOUGH of whatever point system to get you into the resort, season and size you want in an exchange. I owned a Gold Crown 2 bedroom Silver that wouldn't get me a studio in several of the group's resorts. I ended up upgrading my unit so I can get into all the resorts. I just can't bring friends all the time. Also consider lock-outs as a means of doubling your weeks without doubling your money. In effect that halves the MF cost of each week.

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

Although RCI Points has just increased its fees, it continues to be a great value.

Up to last year our cost was about $40.00/night (standard resorts - all fees included). Our per night average is now about $60.00/night This is due to two factors.

1. RCI increased some of its fees and created a new one (charge for PFD).
2. We now book strictly Gold Crowns. This is not because there was anything wrong with standard resorts, it's just that we have so many points that we decided to splurge a bit.

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

All good points to consider. However remember that, in most cases, people tend to recommend what they own becuase that is what they are most familiar and comfortable with. Very few own a broad enough portfolio to be really objective and even then your personal situation is probably still the most important variable.

Re: Best Bang For Your BUCK

You might consider Fairfield in the bang-for-buck competition.

I recently met someone with 1,000,000 Fairfield points and VIP status who converts them to nearly 50 weeks of RCI weeks deposits. That brings his maintenance cost to about $100 per week, plus $149/$189 per week for exchange fees, or about $35 per night (not counting amortization of the price he paid to buy the points).

At a more modest scale, 140,000 Fairfield points cost about $700 in maintenance and can be exchanged including exchange fees for 1 week ($120/night), 2 weeks ($72/night), 4 weeks ($46/night) or 5 weeks ($41/night) in RCI Weeks exchanges. (Again not counting amortization of the cost to buy the points, about $2,800 or $280/year over 10 years if you buy resale.)

Is anyone posting on these threads anymore? It would be nice to read a thread where someone has posted since 2007.

easterntraveler said:

Is anyone posting on these threads anymore? It would be nice to read a thread where someone has posted since 2007.

Click to expand...

Is there a question there somewhere? Or are you trying to increase your # of posts so if you have a legitimate comment the scam police will not be so fast to scream SHILL. In an attempt to drive their own post count higher.

Big Bux For 1,000,000 Wyndham FairShare Plus Points.

rklein001 said:

I recently met someone with 1,000,000 Fairfield points and VIP status who converts them to nearly 50 weeks of RCI weeks deposits.

Click to expand...

I met a retired Iowa farmer in January 2009 who had 1,000,000 Wyndham FairShare Plus points for which he had just completed a (full freight) "equity consolidation" at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando FL.

I held my tongue & didn't say a word about buying resale for pennies on the full-freight dollar.

No sense in raining on anyone's parade.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

easterntraveler said:

Is anyone posting on these threads anymore? It would be nice to read a thread where someone has posted since 2007.

Click to expand...

You have apparently used the search function to dig up an old thread from 2006. TUG is an open discussion forum - not an encyclopedia. When a thread ends, it's because interest in that topic has ended, at least temporarily. Since 2005, there have been nearly 80,000 threads started on TUG - only a tiny fraction of those threads are still current today.