How many Timeshare Tours U go on a Year?

[lprstn]

I like going on TS tours. Not just for the free stuff but also to find out what's going on in the Timeshare industry or areas I visit. Who else does this? I say I go on about 4 tours a year to different developers to make sure that I got the best product for my family, and still get stunned into shock at some of the prices charged for some TS. I am also a working mom who vacations somewhere every month (long weekends and school breaks) so how many on average do you do a year?

[marinersfan]

We usually do one a year. WorldMark seems to like us. When we go on vacations I usually try to get to at least one. I pick the one giving the best prize. If I'm on a business trip I might try to find one. The past two years though I've only been on two. I like seeing what's out there and also looking for possible areas to trade into.

[travelbug]

Question - I will be spending a week in Hawaii without my DH. Can I take a timeshare tour without him?

Marilyn

[lprstn]

Originally Posted by travelbug

Question - I will be spending a week in Hawaii without my DH. Can I take a timeshare tour without him?

Marilyn

You don't have to tell them you are married do you? If he is not on the reservation, and you don't mention him ....they will never know

[Blues]

None. Not worth my time.

A long time ago the industry used to have good incentives to go on a tour. I remember having The Ridge Tahoe put us up for two nights for free, plus dinner at a very nice restaurant, for a two hour tour. Now days you're lucky to get something worth $100 (actual worth, not inflated cost). Considering what we all pay to get to vacation in the first place, plus the limited time off work to enjoy myself, I'm just not going to bite at that rate.

[johnmfaeth]

I have to second Blues. I find that they are bad for the digestion in general. And the few non-working vacations I ever get, I want to excape the ugly side of this mess known as timesharing.

It's bad enough that I sit in the pool and see some timeshare weasal with a phony smile leading some young couple around who are about to enter the world of being a victim of overpriced developer sales. I know they will pay two to nine times the price of an equivalent resale but can do nothing about it.

Thus I post here and elsewhere. I will occasional drink their cheap wine and eat their cheese at a group owner's party if other owner/friends are going. That's as bad as it gets.

But my hat's off to those who can tolerate them and have the time for tours and goodies while vacationing. I supppose it beats dentistry for a pasttime.

[Mydogs2big]

We just got back from a two week vacation in the Riviera Maya, where we own several weeks already.

While there, we were approached by the timeshare street guy and when we told him we were hungry and on our way to eat, he had a cab ready for us and promised $200 cash for checking it out.

We got to see a new place that we may eventually trade into or possibly buy on E-bay, we had an excellent lunch (Italian, all we could eat) and we got $200 all for about 90 minutes or less of our time.

I usually don't go, because I'd feel guilty to take a gift if I already know I won't buy. However, this time it was my stomach that won out.

[AwayWeGo]

Originally Posted by Mydogs2big

I usually don't go, because I'd feel guilty to take a gift if I already know I won't buy.

Professional timeshare sellers experience no guilt over selling overpriced timeshares to the people they bring in for those high-pressure sales pitches, & so there is no reason for anybody taking timeshare sales tours to feel any guilt over absorbing the freebies & not buying.

Although we once arranged compound freebies & have also done back-to-back timeshare tours, we max out at 3 timeshare tours in a week & typically don't do more than 1 or 2.

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

[bookworm]

Originally Posted by johnmfaeth

I have to second Blues. I find that they are bad for the digestion in general. And the few non-working vacations I ever get, I want to excape the ugly side of this mess known as timesharing.

It's bad enough that I sit in the pool and see some timeshare weasal with a phony smile leading some young couple around who are about to enter the world of being a victim of overpriced developer sales. I know they will pay two to nine times the price of an equivalent resale but can do nothing about it..

I'm with John. We have only been to two timeshare presentations, the first one wasn't great but we did learn a few things so we thought we'd try again. The second really put a bad taste in our mouths. In fact, at the sales office of the second presentation, my DH saw some kind of altercation and an elderly woman leaving in tears. He was livid at what he observed. He wonders now, from an ethical perspective, how he can sit in a hottub enjoying himself knowing that an elderly person is being treated so poorly in the next building over by the industry we are supporting. John's comments reminded me of this. It is so unfortunate that part of timesharing can be wonderful and part of it can be crooked, mean and deceitful (I will only speak of Wyndham here since that is what I know best.) One thing I know for sure, my DH will NEVER go to another presentation.

[BevL]

We just did a presentation at the Kona Coast resort, did it to get the discounts. We were in and out in an hour, so that wasn't too bad.

Friends of ours who joined us (and got advantage of the discounts) did the Wyndham presentation for $150 cash. We could have gone but just didn't bother - one in a holiday is enough.

[Dori]

I love to do the tours and get the freebies ( I consider it working while on vacation), but DH won't go, so that's the end of that story! (Sniff. Sniff.)

Dori

[SDKath]

Originally Posted by Dori

I love to do the tours and get the freebies ( I consider it working while on vacation), but DH won't go, so that's the end of that story! (Sniff. Sniff.)

Dori

I don't think you have to tell them that you are married but you do need to meet the minimum income requirement (usually $100,000 for the larger developers). For that, you can get 3-5 nights at a lovely location for a few hundred dollars.

Last year I went with some girlfriends to Westin Mission Hills and did the TS by myself. 60 minutes later, I was back having a nice time with my friends. We split the cost of the weekend so we paid about $70 each for a lovely 3 nights in the Desert! Soooo worth it. (DH stayed home with my 2 kids )

Kath

[Detailor]

I'm with Blues, John and bookworm.
Zero! Zero tours!
And our lifetime total, much to my family's dismay, is one tour.
Not worth the time, we didn't buy and I can't imagine that wanting to know what new and innovative tales any timeshare salesperson can come up with would make the experience any better. When we want to know about a timeshare in an area that we're visiting we go on property to look around without a tour - the 'guards' at the gates are uncommonly accommodating.
They can keep the incentives, I'm busy being on vacation and making the most of my time with my family and friends.

Dick Taylor

[applegirl]

I would love to do more for the free stuff and find out about other resorts we might want to stay at, but with litte kids it's tough. Maybe they'd be an asset though to ensure a short tour? Ha!

[cancun dish]

We do zero tours as we know we will not buy. Many of you are right in that the developor or more likely the marketing company is offering the "bribes" to get you in the door.

I just hate the fact that me not buying will potentially affect the income of the sales person that we just can't do it.

Also I can spend 5 minutes on ebay and save thousands why would I spend 2 hours for $100.

just my thoughts

[John Cummings]

We never do timeshare presentations. Our time is far more valuable than anything they can offer not to mention the hassle.

[silvib]

We've done about 3 tours in about 8 years, although 2 of them in the past 12 months. We were spending a couple of days at St Augustine and I signed up for a tour which we went on a few months later. I clearly told the person who kept calling me that I already owned a week and probably wasn't in the market for another but was told it wasn't a problem, only a small percentage of tour people ever buy anyway! Come and enjoy a couple of nights on us!! So we did.
The last one we did, the units were so unbelievably expensive, $40K+, Regal Palms at Davenport, FL., which they advertise as Orlando (?) that I can't imagine anyone in their right mind spending that sort of money. In the same resort, where many of them are still privately owned, they can be purchased outright from $180K.

[Icc5]

Originally Posted by Blues

None. Not worth my time.

A long time ago the industry used to have good incentives to go on a tour. I remember having The Ridge Tahoe put us up for two nights for free, plus dinner at a very nice restaurant, for a two hour tour. Now days you're lucky to get something worth $100 (actual worth, not inflated cost). Considering what we all pay to get to vacation in the first place, plus the limited time off work to enjoy myself, I'm just not going to bite at that rate.

We also did the Ridge Tour years ago. We still do some of the tours but over the years we have found that we know more than they do and they lie so much it makes you just want to walk out. We end up arguing about the lies and usually get out early once they decide we are not biting. Many times we do updates which last 30-40 minutes and gets us a free show or meal or something similiar. Not great but we do stay in the loop.
One thing is most of what we have learned over the years has either been from past experience or from TUG. We also talk to other people on tour and let them know about TUG.
Bart

[janapur]

Originally Posted by applegirl

I would love to do more for the free stuff and find out about other resorts we might want to stay at, but with litte kids it's tough. Maybe they'd be an asset though to ensure a short tour? Ha!

In Mexico the incentives are better, the kids are welcome and it's nice to check out a different pool/beach/play area. We visited the Melia Azul in Ixtapa and spent most of the day because their pool was much more kid oriented. In Riviera Maya, the beach at the Grand Mayan was a big bummer, so we visited the new El Cid in Puerto Moreles and the kids didn't want to leave. The $250 and buffet breakfast didn't hurt either. Outside of Mexico, we find it's just not worth it. Although at the Grandview in Vegas they saw the kids, gave us our gift, and said the tours were full. Lucky us.

[beatja]

While touring the beautiful Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, we got suckered into doing a time share presentation. It was the worst presentation and the sales people were awful. We told them our plane was leaving in a hour and a half and really didn't have the time for the tour but they insisted we would be out of there in 20 minutes with $175 cash for taking the time to see the units. After looking at the units we decided it was not for us and told the salesperson we had to leave to catch our flight - they said we could not leave until we saw the supervisor, the supervisor came over and started trying to sell us on it. When we said no we have to catch a flight they came up with someone else we had to speak with before we could leave. By the time the next person came over all 3 of the sales people were getting rude and developed attitudes. We finally got out of there with our voucher and then were told we could only use the voucher to purchased clothing at their store. Lucky for us a sales person in the store told us to go to the casino and they would cash the voucher - we did and made our plane on time.

[DeniseM]

If I ever sign us up for another TS tour, my husband will divorce me!

[AwayWeGo]

Originally Posted by DeniseM

If I ever sign us up for another TS tour, my husband will divorce me!

For a long time The Chief Of Staff's old man felt the same about that as your old man -- never threatening divorce but being mucho unpleasant about the whole thing (then later feeling bad about treating my own little sweetie such with such an undeserved lack of cooperation).

As I confessed in my on-line timeshare story, trying to make up for that is 1 of the reasons I've taken a latter-day swing so far in the other direction -- signing up for those timeshare tours & absorbing those freebies all over the place just as politely & cooperatively as you please.

What I have discovered in the process -- other than hearing lots of timeshare sales pitches, I mean -- is that it is not possible to improve the past.

So it goes.

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

[silvib]

Originally Posted by DeniseM

If I ever sign us up for another TS tour, my husband will divorce me!

That about sums up our household!

[vacationguy]

My wife and I really need to go on a vacation even a few days short on money what is the best tour in lake tahoe or napa valley to go on.
THANKS for any one who responds.

[Carl D]

Punctuation....???