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what are the financial benefits of buying a timeshare?

WinniWoman

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Well put, just be ready for the occasional unpleasant surprise with VRBO and AirBNB if you have mobility issues...


I think another thing about timeshares is the resort atmosphere. We have rented individual homes and condos- all very nice. But the one thing missing was the resort amenities- like the social ones- guided tours, social gatherings, other guests you might see every year at your home resort. Heated pools and hot tubs and saunas. (I know- some homes have them). People you can go out to dinner with or go out for a drink or just chat with by the pool or wherever.

My husband and I already live in a nice house in the woods in a rural area. When we go away, we like to see other people and like the social interaction and activities and so forth. It is way too quiet and lonely-kind of- just the two of us renting a house, though we generally keep busy doing things and sightseeing.

I prefer being at a resort for the most part, but if not possible, we rent a home or condo.
 

bruceskis

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The factor that most of us forget about when considering a timeshare is the "currency" used in these point-based timeshare systems.
It is "points". Go through all your documentation and look for a definition of "points".
Can HGVC 'print' more points? Is HGVC still selling "points" to new customers? Is there any limit on the eventual number of "points"?
In my point based system (un-named for a reason), the answer is Yes, Yes, NO!
Remind you of inflation? Is the value (purchasing power) of a dollar the same today as it was 20 years ago? So it will be for "point" based systems.
The number of points required to reserve any particular unit has no limit over time.
The salesperson response to this is that they are always buying or building new units. Do they guarantee in writing that the increase in beds is proportional to the number of "points" being sold?
If you bought a fixed-week/fixed-unit deeded unit with no intent to ever trade for another location, you only have to worry about inflation of the maintenance fee (MF). The operators have every incentive to keep those low - makes sales easier. But, if the Reserve Account is not adequately funded to keep up with normal wear and tear, you will face either a facility with declining appointments and/or a special assessment. It doesn't even require an act-of-God. Just sloppy management. Been there. Seen it in action.
And, as was pointed out earlier, even if the current management company is doing all the right things at the moment, there are sharks out there looking to buy and plunder a well run resort for short term profit.
 

dagger1

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I think another thing about timeshares is the resort atmosphere. We have rented individual homes and condos- all very nice. But the one thing missing was the resort amenities- like the social ones- guided tours, social gatherings, other guests you might see every year at your home resort. Heated pools and hot tubs and saunas. (I know- some homes have them). People you can go out to dinner with or go out for a drink or just chat with by the pool or wherever.

My husband and I already live in a nice house in the woods in a rural area. When we go away, we like to see other people and like the social interaction and activities and so forth. It is way too quiet and lonely-kind of- just the two of us renting a house, though we generally keep busy doing things and sightseeing.

I prefer being at a resort for the most part, but if not possible, we rent a home or condo.
This is so true!! There are even big differences in TS's. There is absolutely no comparison between the two Wyndham properties in San Antonio and the Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch, the latter being a fantastic resort for families with kids. The Wyndham properties, La Cascada and Riverside Suites cater more to adults and/or folks who want to be on the Riverwalk.
 

Jan M.

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For us, it is quite the opposite. Of course, this is based on our personal tastes and circumstances and I know many TUGgers feel the opposite that I do but... I do not like the idea of a "forced" vacation. Don't get me wrong. We love to vacation and we try to plan in advance to do so. But many things come up. Finances can change on a dime (no pun intended).

If we cannot afford to vacation for some reason, being "forced" to do so is counter-productive. If I were "forced" to go on a vacation when we really have more pressing matters to spend our money on, I would have a very difficult time enjoying the vacation because I would be constantly worrying about:
1) How we're going to pay for this and
2) Cutting costs and severely restricting spending during the "vacation".

I agree with OP that it is entirely possible to have a wonderful vacation on a very restricted budget. The ideal back up plan would be to find a resort that has a lot to offer within driving distance of where you live.

We are currently staying at Vacation Village at Parkway in Orlando for 2 weeks. We can drive to Orlando in just a little over 3 hours. From June 2016 to May 2017 we've spent 8 weeks in Orlando with our granddaughter. She starts school this Fall so we've been trying to make the most of our time with her while we can. I booked our stay through RCI sale weeks for $200 plus tax per week with no points used. The sale weeks typically run from $199-$249 plus tax. We are fine with a one bedroom unit as we just bring a twin air mattress for her and put it in the bedroom with us so we don't have to use the sofa bed. We've also stayed at Wyndham Star Island with those sale weeks and I know at least one of the weeks we spent at Star Island we had a 2 bedroom lock off unit which functions great as a three bedroom unit and paid around $235 for those stays. We also stayed at Wyndham Cypress Palms with a sale week.

More than any other resort we've stayed at we see the people staying here at Vacation Village at Parkway using the grills and picnic tables which are conveniently located in various spots around the pool and playground area just outside the doors of the buildings in our section. We see many of the same families enjoying their lunches and dinners; often bringing down the various dishes they prepared in their kitchens to go with what they are cooking on the grill. Our granddaughter loves when I bring our lunch down to the pool so we can have a picnic like those families.

Some people are going to the Disney parks but some are just staying here and enjoying all the resort has to offer. Our 5 year old granddaughter particularly enjoys the free sno-cones, free face painting, games at the pool and the movie nights. There are several pools here and we have had fun trying them out. The playground here in our section is very nice. We stayed in this section on a previous trip so I knew to call ahead of time to request it again this trip.

I learned from another couple I sat next to at the pool to bring an empty cup(s) when we get sno-cones. You take a couple extra sno-cones, dump them in the cup(s) and run them upstairs to the freezer. I ask them add a little extra syrup so it isn't too diluted when I make our slushies on the days they don't offer sno-cones. The units have blenders so when you are ready to enjoy your slushies you mix the now totally frozen sno-cones, a few ice cubes and a very little bit of water and you have slushies.

We have a couple of water toys that I only bring out to take with us on vacation so they are a big deal when she gets to play with them on "her vacations". I bought one of those bubble guns that light up and a big bottle of bubbles at the Dollar store to refill it. Our bubble gun looks like a fish and I paid about $6 for it.

At the movie nights they offer cans of soft drinks and bags of freshly popped popcorn for $1 each but people bring their own stuff too. We bring our own drinks and a box of movie candy to share that we bought at Walmart or the Dollar store but we buy their popcorn sometimes. We save the popcorn bags and use them for the popcorn we make to have our own movie nights. We buy a recently released DVD for our vacation. This time it was Sing which I totally enjoyed! Our granddaughter loves when we do our own movie nights where we all snuggle together on the sofa. And like most kids is completely happy to watch the same DVD more than once. The second time for the same movie my husband wants to read on his Nook and she wants the lights out to make it like "a real movie" so he sits with us for a while then goes into the bedroom to read.

Last year in May right around this time Legoland here in Florida had a sale that anyone could get, buy one get one free deal on the Awesomer level annual passes. After the tax it made them just a few cents under $80 a piece for an entire year. The Awesomer level passes include unlimited admission with no black out dates to Legoland and the waterpark which is not open all year round so have to check the waterpark schedule, the parking, and the Orlando Eye, the SeaLife Aquarium and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Those last three things are on International Drive here in Orlando in the same complex. Legoland has sales on their different levels of passes several different times throughout the year so it is a good idea to sign up on their website for the emails. We also have an annual pass for the granddaughter and I to the Crayola Experience at the Florida Mall here in Orlando. It was $31 for the year and that was for the two of us.

Most parks and attractions, even in areas other than Orlando have annual passes. If like us you make that area your vacation destination for the coming year to make the most of those passes, find a resort or resorts that you can get stays at for what comes out to around $30 per night, restrict your eating out and take your own drinks, sandwiches, snacks so you are NEVER buying stuff in the Parks you can have wonderful vacations on a limited budget.

I know I sound like a Scrooge when I say NEVER buy stuff in the Parks but with little ones if you start buying the snacks and toys they don't understand why you won't do it the next time, and the next and the time after that. It never ends and it saves a lot of aggravation on your part and tears on theirs if you just never start it. We always have a styrofoam cooler or insulated cooler bag in the car and when we leave Legoland will frequently stop at the Walmart or Aldi's we passed on the way in to buy something we need for supper or for the next day. I pick up some frozen treat like ice cream bars or frozen fruit bars and we all enjoy a treat on the ride back to the resort. A little delayed gratification never hurt anyone.

upload_2017-5-7_14-59-32.jpeg
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dagger1

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I agree with OP that it is entirely possible to have a wonderful vacation on a very restricted budget. The ideal back up plan would be to find a resort that has a lot to offer within driving distance of where you live.

We are currently staying at Vacation Village at Parkway in Orlando for 2 weeks. We can drive to Orlando in just a little over 3 hours. From June 2016 to May 2017 we've spent 8 weeks in Orlando with our granddaughter. She starts school this Fall so we've been trying to make the most of our time with her while we can. I booked our stay through RCI sale weeks for $200 plus tax per week with no points used. The sale weeks typically run from $199-$249 plus tax. We are fine with a one bedroom unit as we just bring a twin air mattress for her and put it in the bedroom with us so we don't have to use the sofa bed. We've also stayed at Wyndham Star Island with those sale weeks and I know at least one of the weeks we spent at Star Island we had a 2 bedroom lock off unit which functions great as a three bedroom unit and paid around $235 for those stays. We also stayed at Wyndham Cypress Palms with a sale week.

More than any other resort we've stayed at we see the people staying here at Vacation Village at Parkway using the grills and picnic tables which are conveniently located in various spots around the pool and playground area just outside the doors of the buildings in our section. We see many of the same families enjoying their lunches and dinners; often bringing down the various dishes they prepared in their kitchens to go with what they are cooking on the grill. Our granddaughter loves when I bring our lunch down to the pool so we can have a picnic like those families.

Some people are going to the Disney parks but some are just staying here and enjoying all the resort has to offer. Our 5 year old granddaughter particularly enjoys the free sno-cones, free face painting, games at the pool and the movie nights. There are several pools here and we have had fun trying them out. The playground here in our section is very nice. We stayed in this section on a previous trip so I knew to call ahead of time to request it again this trip.

I learned from another couple I sat next to at the pool to bring an empty cup(s) when we get sno-cones. You take a couple extra sno-cones, dump them in the cup(s) and run them upstairs to the freezer. I ask them add a little extra syrup so it isn't too diluted when I make our slushies on the days they don't offer sno-cones. The units have blenders so when you are ready to enjoy your slushies you mix the now totally frozen sno-cones, a few ice cubes and a very little bit of water and you have slushies.

We have a couple of water toys that I only bring out to take with us on vacation so they are a big deal when she gets to play with them on "her vacations". I bought one of those bubble guns that light up and a big bottle of bubbles at the Dollar store to refill it. Our bubble gun looks like a fish and I paid about $6 for it.

At the movie nights they offer cans of soft drinks and bags of freshly popped popcorn for $1 each but people bring their own stuff too. We bring our own drinks and a box of movie candy to share that we bought at Walmart or the Dollar store but we buy their popcorn some of the times. We save the popcorn bags and use them for the popcorn we make to have our own movie nights. We buy a recently released DVD for our vacation. This time it was Sing which I totally enjoyed! Our granddaughter loves when we do our own movie nights where we all snuggle together on the sofa. And like most kids is completely happy to watch the same DVD more than once. The second time for the same movie my husband wants to read on his Nook and she wants the lights out to make it like "a real movie" so he sits with us for a while then goes into the bedroom to read.

Last year in May right around this time Legoland here in Florida had a sale that anyone could get, buy one get one free deal on the Awesomer level annual passes. After the tax it made them just a few cents under $80 a piece for an entire year. The Awesomer level passes include unlimited admission with no black out dates to Legoland and the waterpark which is not open all year round so have to check the waterpark schedule, the parking, and the Orlando Eye, the SeaLife Aquarium and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Those last three things are on International Drive here in Orlando in the same complex. Legoland has sales on their different levels of passes several different times throughout the year so it is a good idea to sign up on their website for the emails. We also have an annual pass for the granddaughter and I to the Crayola Experience at the Florida Mall here in Orlando. It was $31 for the year and that was for the two of us.

Most parks and attractions, even in areas other than Orlando have annual passes. If like us you make that area your vacation destination for the coming year to make the most of those passes, find a resort or resorts that you can get stays at for what comes out to around $30 per night, restrict your eating out and take your own drinks, sandwiches, snacks so you are NEVER buying stuff in the Parks you can have wonderful vacations on a limited budget.

I know I sound like a Scrooge when I say NEVER buy stuff in the Parks but with little ones if you start buying the snacks and toys they don't understand why you won't do it the next time, and the next and the time after that. It never ends and it saves a lot of aggravation on your part and tears on their if you just never start it. We always have a styrofoam cooler or insulated cooler bag in the car and when we leave Legoland will frequently stop at the Walmart or Aldi's we passed on the way in to buy something we need for supper or for the next day. I pick up some frozen treat like ice cream bars or frozen fruit bars and we all enjoy a treat on the ride back to the resort. A little delayed gratification never hurt anyone.

View attachment 3818.
Fantastic!! Grand kids, like kids, grow up TOO fast!!!
 

VegasBella

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Well put, just be ready for the occasional unpleasant surprise with VRBO and AirBNB if you have mobility issues...

Haha not only if you have mobility issues. I stayed in a VRBO last year and the a/c broke and flooded the kitchen!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Jan M.

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Fantastic!! Grand kids, like kids, grow up TOO fast!!!

We have to wait about 1.5 years until her sister is old enough to go on "her vacations" with Grandma and Papa. My husband sometimes takes a whole week but at least takes a day or two of vacation for long weekends to join us here in Orlando. He is retiring later this year so the next one will have both of us on "her vacations". It is so much easier and more fun as grandparents. When she goes home we really miss her and all the fun things we do with her.

Keeping up with one child is fine but I probably couldn't handle more than one by myself. Lucky for us there is almost 5 years age difference between the girls so we won't have two toddlers or preschoolers to keep up with at the same time. Plus my husband will be retired soon and he is great with kids so I won't be on my own when we have both at once. We had friends who live in Charlotte visit us and they were so jealous of how much we get to do with our granddaughter. Their daughter-in-law won't let them take one child at a time. The DIL and their son have 4 young kids all under the age of 8 with the youngest just 2. My friend would love to have them one at a time for a whole day or overnight and be able to do special things with them individually but is pooped after just a couple of hours watching all 4 at once. I got a chuckle out of her saying that maybe if like some grandparents she was in her 40's or early to mid 50's she could handle baking chocolate chip cookies or do outings with four kids, 8, 6, 4 and 2 years old, but not in her mid 60's.
 

dagger1

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We have to wait about 1.5 years until her sister is old enough to go on "her vacations" with Grandma and Papa. My husband sometimes takes a whole week but at least takes a day or two of vacation for long weekends to join us here in Orlando. He is retiring later this year so the next one will have both of us on "her vacations". It is so much easier and more fun as grandparents. When she goes home we really miss her and all the fun things we do with her.

Keeping up with one child is fine but I probably couldn't handle more than one by myself. Lucky for us there is almost 5 years age difference between the girls so we won't have two toddlers or preschoolers to keep up with at the same time. Plus my husband will be retired soon and he is great with kids so I won't be on my own when we have both at once. We had friends who live in Charlotte visit us and they were so jealous of how much we get to do with our granddaughter. Their daughter-in-law won't let them take one child at a time. The DIL and their son have 4 young kids all under the age of 8 with the youngest just 2. My friend would love to have them one at a time for a whole day or overnight and be able to do special things with them individually but is pooped after just a couple of hours watching all 4 at once. I got a chuckle out of her saying that maybe if like some grandparents she was in her 40's or early to mid 50's she could handle baking chocolate chip cookies or do outings with four kids, 8, 6, 4 and 2 years old, but not in her mid 60's.
We have three granddaughters here in Houston (5,4 and 2) and my daughter is having twins in June, so soon to be five! My son in Philadelphia has two boys (2 and 5 months). We now plan most of our vacations around them, since we can travel anytime (retired!). The enjoyment of being with everybody in a 2 or 3 BR, vs being in "bedrooms" is worth MF's. Rather than try to go to dinner with 7-10 people, find parking, wait in line, and then pay $200 to eat, I grill with the family, have a glass of wine or Glenlivet, and enjoy each other (while spending $75 or less). Dinner and breakfast are an enjoyable hour rather than a noisy, expensive two plus hours..
 

Jan M.

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We have three granddaughters here in Houston (5,4 and 2) and my daughter is having twins in June, so soon to be five! My son in Philadelphia has two boys (2 and 5 months). We now plan most of our vacations around them, since we can travel anytime (retired!). The enjoyment of being with everybody in a 2 or 3 BR, vs being in "bedrooms" is worth MF's. Rather than try to go to dinner with 7-10 people, find parking, wait in line, and then pay $200 to eat, I grill with the family, have a glass of wine or Glenlivet, and enjoy each other (while spending $75 or less). Dinner and breakfast are an enjoyable hour rather than a noisy, expensive two plus hours..

It is a much more pleasant to eat in than to take a large group with little ones to a restaurant. The noise, the wait to be seated, order and for the food to arrive, and keeping little ones entertained the whole time, both my husband and I would rather cook and clean up than put up with that!

My husband still talks about a stay at Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach about 7 years ago. Every day we would see this large family group come and go from the beach. They had a very elderly, very slow moving probably great grandfather and every age in between down to small children. They would show up en masse at the beach about 10:00 each morning, presumably when they returned from breakfast and got their swimsuits on. By 11-11:15 they would be packing everyone up to go back to their unit(s) to get cleaned up to go to lunch. After they returned from lunch it was the same thing, no more than 90 minutes tops and they were packing up all their stuff to go back up to get ready to go to dinner. The great grandfather had to be exhausted from his treks back and forth to the beach, the unit and the restaurants! I was impressed by how considerate of him the whole family group was. The teens and grade school age kids were wonderful about about it with only the occasional complaint and were quickly shushed if they did complain. I joked that the great grandfather was probably picking up the check for all the meals. My husband's big thing is that he doesn't wear a watch when he is on vacation and he joked that he didn't need one as he could tell the time by their comings and goings. He was horrified that anybody would think that was a fun way to spend a vacation. We both said at least for lunch couldn't somebody make some sandwiches; come on how hard it that! And just bring the great grandfather a sandwich and a cold drink and let him sit under the umbrella and relax for awhile instead of making the old guy keep shuffling back and forth to the beach!

We know women, and men too, who refuse to cook when they are on vacation. My husband used to have to travel a great deal for work and really hates eating all his meals in restaurants. After we had to live out of a motel for a month during a move I quickly came to feel the same way. All our meals were on a very generous expense account but after the second week all I wanted was to be able to cook my own meals. Las Vegas is the only place we go on our timeshare travels that we eat dinner out almost every night. We have some favorite places we like to eat every trip and I get deals on Groupon, Living Social, Travelzoo and the Vegas4Locals eBay auctions to try new places.
 
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dagger1

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It is a much more pleasant to eat in than to take a large group with little ones to a restaurant. The noise, the wait to be seated, order and for the food to arrive, and keeping little ones entertained the whole time, both my husband and I would rather cook and clean up than put up with that!

My husband still talks about a stay at Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach about 7 years ago. Every day we would see this large family group come and go from the beach. They had a very elderly, very slow moving probably great grandfather and every age in between down to small children. They would show up en masse at the beach about 10:00 each morning, presumably when they returned from breakfast and got their swimsuits on. By 11-11:15 they would be packing everyone up to go back to their unit(s) to get cleaned up to go to lunch. After they returned from lunch it was the same thing, no more than 90 minutes tops and they were packing up all their stuff to go back up to get ready to go to dinner. The great grandfather had to be exhausted from his treks back and forth to the beach, the unit and the restaurants! I was impressed by how considerate of him the whole family group was. The teens and grade school age kids were wonderful about about it with only the occasional complaint and were quickly shushed if they complain. I joked that the great grandfather was probably picking up the check for all the meals. My husband's big thing is that he doesn't wear a watch when he is on vacation and he joked that he didn't need one as he could tell the time by their comings and goings. He was horrified that anybody would think that was a fun way to spend a vacation. We both said at least for lunch couldn't somebody make some sandwiches; come on how hard it that! And just bring the great grandfather a sandwich and a cold drink and let him sit under the umbrella and relax for awhile instead of making the old guy keep shuffling back and forth to the beach!

We know women, and men too, who refuse to cook when they are on vacation. My husband used to have to travel a great deal for work and really hates eating all his meals in restaurants. After we had to live out of a motel for a month during a move I quickly came to feel the same way. All our meals were on a very generous expense account but after the second week all I wanted was to be able to cook my own meals. Las Vegas is the only place we go on our timeshare travels that we eat dinner out almost every night. We have some favorite places we like to eat every trip and I get deals on Groupon, Living Social, Travelzoo and the Vegas4Locals eBay auctions to try new places.
This, IMHO, is exactly right! My left knee has me "shuffling" now too, I hadn't considered that!!
 

TM42

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Timeshares don't make sense. But then neither do BMWs. Hyundai will get you there just as nicely. Depends on how you define nice. With Timeshare and BMW, you pay for value as only you can define it.

As I write this I am sitting in a beautiful 2 bdrm house just out of Bend OR rented for $175/nt from VRBO. Golf trip. None of the timeshares in this area (and there aren't many) were available. Lots of folks seem to note cooking as a timeshare advantage. This place has a kitchen. Never needed motivation to take a vacation. Paying too much for something doesn't motivate me. Some timeshare advantage is more theoretical then real. Good luck booking NYC or D.C. unless you own there or have a completely flexible schedule, even in Gold season. We have rented many time from VRBO, even repeats, and the owners treat us like family. Home away from home, as it were.

Timeshare DOES come with a relatively consistent product and often with resort amenities but plan on paying too much per night (compared to like alternatives), occational booking frustration, the odd bad unit and be sure to budget cost (as in time, hassle and maybe $) of getting out of your timeshare contract when you are done with it.

I own 2 timeshares. Have enjoyed them but doing the accounting over 15 years, would have had just as much fun and been many $1000 richer had I gone the rental route.


TOTALLY agree with you fernow... when I bought mine, airbnb and vrbo didnt exist- but now that they do, I feel somewhat 'shackled' by my HGVC , based on availability
 

dagger1

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TOTALLY agree with you fernow... when I bought mine, airbnb and vrbo didnt exist- but now that they do, I feel somewhat 'shackled' by my HGVC , based on availability
"Shackled" by Hilton Grand Vacations....? Wow, I always thought HGVC was in the upper tier of TS's with many locations and great availability....??
 

hekela1206

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Travelling is my hobby! This is what I live for and I truly enjoy the idea of a condo while travelling. We have two small boys and having the kitchen and mostly eating in has made our extravagant vacations possible. I bought resale in Hawaii and I have an EOY week and pay approximately $850 EOY and with how I am able to use RCI I get a vacation a year. I think how you utilize and make the most of what you have is the key! I love a deal. Ultimately I am paying the exchange fee and $425 a year for each vacation, so maybe $700 for the week, not a bad deal. Most of them have been a 2 bedroom. I do not have experience with points. I love my timeshare, I mostly use it for trading though and am actually looking to upgrade soon.
 

PigsDad

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"Shackled" by Hilton Grand Vacations....? Wow, I always thought HGVC was in the upper tier of TS's with many locations and great availability....??
To each their own, I guess, but I have never felt "shackled" by my HGVC ownership and I have gotten some great value from it.

For example, I recently booked two prime Fri-Mon 3-day ski weekend stays at Valdoro (Breckenridge, CO) -- MLK and President's Day weekends in a 2BR. My total cost, figuring in MFs, is about $700 for each stay. Those are two of the most popular ski weekend dates for the year, and I guarantee that you could not find similar accommodations on VRBO, etc. for anywhere near that price.

Kurt
 

dagger1

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To each their own, I guess, but I have never felt "shackled" by my HGVC ownership and I have gotten some great value from it.

For example, I recently booked two prime Fri-Mon 3-day ski weekend stays at Valdoro (Breckenridge, CO) -- MLK and President's Day weekends in a 2BR. My total cost, figuring in MFs, is about $700 for each stay. Those are two of the most popular ski weekend dates for the year, and I guarantee that you could not find similar accommodations on VRBO, etc. for anywhere near that price.

Kurt
Yes, Hilton Grand Vacations have a great reputation, at least I thought so. We don't own HGVC, but have stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and it was fantastic!!
 

TM42

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To each their own, I guess, but I have never felt "shackled" by my HGVC ownership and I have gotten some great value from it.

For example, I recently booked two prime Fri-Mon 3-day ski weekend stays at Valdoro (Breckenridge, CO) -- MLK and President's Day weekends in a 2BR. My total cost, figuring in MFs, is about $700 for each stay. Those are two of the most popular ski weekend dates for the year, and I guarantee that you could not find similar accommodations on VRBO, etc. for anywhere near that price.

Kurt

Ever try booking a week there? Nearly impossible during ski season if you dont own there. For you living there, 3 day weekend is fine, but travelling from the east, it's hardly worth the travel.
 

WalnutBaron

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We own 9600 points in HGVC. We've used the points for vacations in Hawaii at Bay Club Waikoloa, Hilton Hawaiian Village twice, San Diego, and Valdoro Mountain Lodge. In addition, we've given vacations to Hawaii to a friend, to our son and DIL for their honeymoon in Florida, and we even managed to work a trade through RCI for a week in a beautiful Tuscan village about 30 miles east of Florence. We've loved our HGVC ownership and feel fortunate to have it. By the way, our initial purchase was made for about $5000 up front during the Great Recession, and our ongoing MF's are running a little over $2,000. It's a great system--not only for the quality of the resorts, but also because resale owners get treated as well as retail owners.
 

PigsDad

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Ever try booking a week there? Nearly impossible during ski season if you dont own there. For you living there, 3 day weekend is fine, but travelling from the east, it's hardly worth the travel.
Just last year I had a full-week reservation (Sat-Sat) in a 2BR at Valdoro for President's Day week. 3 years ago I had a full week during Spring Break at Sunrise Lodge in Park City. So yes, it can definitely be done.

Kurt
 

Jason245

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Ever try booking a week there? Nearly impossible during ski season if you dont own there. For you living there, 3 day weekend is fine, but travelling from the east, it's hardly worth the travel.
I have found if you book right at the 9 month window you can get almost anything you want.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 

TM42

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Yea, thanks, but that's exactly what I did and nothing was available whatsoever- not even 1 BR
 

Jason245

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Yea, thanks, but that's exactly what I did and nothing was available whatsoever- not even 1 BR
I just looked, there is a lot of availability in December and some avilability in Feb. Jan is already passed the 9 month window.

Similar to hawaii, you need to do rolling bookings at the 9 month window (reserve 3 days, and then keep adding days to your reservation) exactly at the mark.
 

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I have really enjoyed reading the comments in this thread. It is both interesting and educational (for me) to read so many different perspectives and experiences.

I agree with most of the comments, and I also would not normally describe a timeshare as an investment with a financial benefit. Although I do believe that there can be a financial benefit to some timeshares. It just depends on where they are located, what the season is, what the upfront cost to the buyer is, and how a family or extended family plans on using them. It also can depend on timing. For example, did the family purchase their timeshare when their kids were 4 or 14?

For example, my extended family wants to vacation in a specific location every year during prime summer weeks where trying to find multiple 2BR/2BA units during the same week is very difficult. Even if we could find multiple units (at least 3 units, if not 4 or 5 units some years) we would have to jump on them immediately and not quibble over price. For a unit where the annual MF is about $1,100, we would have to pay a rental fee of $2,500 to $3,300 per week for a prime summer rental. In the past I have missed rentals that went up on Redweek just 24 hours earlier because someone was renting a 2BR/2BA oceanfront unit for $2,500 and it rented almost immediately and I didn't see the ad until the next morning. Forget about renting directly from the resort online because the weekly fees are even higher.

So if one can buy these units on the resale market for between $8,000 and $12,000, I think it makes sense financially with a 5 year ROI assuming your family continues to use it. In addition to the financial aspect, you also know what you have locked in each year and don't have to worry about scrambling trying to even find units available, let alone a specific unit / view type you might be looking for. If time is money, that is time and money saved each year trying to book and arrange vacations. Once you own it, you pay the annual MF in Jan and you are done and don't have to worry about it until your use week comes up.

So for specific family situations, and in specific high demand areas during prime vacation time periods, purchasing a timeshare not only makes sense for all the quality of life (while on vacation) and multiple options they provide (and guaranteed view types or locations within a resort) mentioned by everyone already, but can also make sense financially as well (in certain instances).

If it is not obvious already, my comments above apply only to resale purchases. The math almost never works buying directly from a developer as any type of ROI whatsoever gets stretched out to 15 or 20 years or more.
 

alwysonvac

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-- I love the idea of having a very nice place in NYC and DC that's 'all mine' - that I can return to as years go by and and can view as "my place." VRBO or AirBnB might be cheaper, but I'd never be sure what I was getting and it would lack the familiarity of home-away-from-home

OTOH: If I often travel in the off-season and use studios, my seven thousand points and 1400 yearly dollars could stretch far beyond seven days, to more like 18 to 28 days. (Seven thousand points would actually get me a total of 21 nights in NYC at the W 57th property, provided I stayed in a studio and confined myself to quick visits from Mon-Thurs night during the gold season - which suits my schedule and travel style nicely.) So that's pretty great, actually. 1400 dollars for 21 nights in NYC is 67 dollars per night!!!!
...

Just a heads up...
HGVC members can only exchange into NYC and DC resorts 44 days before check-out. The likelihood of booking multiple weeks might be very slim unless you go during Jan & Feb. Expect high owner occupancy and the lower point level rooms to be booked by owners.
Also the Hilton Club points charts for NYC and DC are higher than the standard HGVC studio rates. There is also no HGVC open season rates at the Hilton Club NYC and DC resorts for non-owners.

HGVC 2017 Club Member Guide - https://d1m2ucn09z2f8d.cloudfront.n...708e2b594f7/2017-HGV-Club-Reference-Guide.PDF
DC Point Chart - https://club.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/resort/washington-dc/the-district-by-hilton-club/
West 57th Point Chart - https://club.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/resort/new-york/west-57th-street-by-hilton-club/
 
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