• 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!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

My Lucky Son.

jjking42

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
1,902
Reaction score
513
Points
474
Location
Nevada
Resorts Owned
WKV and SVV, Wyndham Canterbury, Wyndham Flagstaff
so interesting! money exchanging hands between family members. I don't even know where to start questioning/commenting.

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk
Ever heard of Venmo. Kids send and collect money all the time for sharing expenses etc. not a week goes by that we don’t Venmo one of our kids money for something, tuition , books, food , auto repairs , medical bill etc. I have three kids in college so the expenses never stop
 
Last edited:

chellej

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
2,530
Reaction score
1,261
Points
548
Location
Spokane, Wa
Congratulations Jim. I assume he is interning at Bell Helicopter in ARLINGTON? My DS interned at Parker Hannifin (Mechanical Engineer) and then went to work for them when he graduated from UTA. He changed jobs about 2 years ago and really debated working for Bell Helicopter or Lockheed Martin ( had offers at both). Ended up going with Lockheed. He's been happy with his choice. When he was deployed, Lockheed not only held his position but paid him almost his full salary as well.

He will have lots of choices in the DFW area if he decides to stay
 

Grammarhero

Official TUGBBS Rescission Master
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2019
Messages
3,086
Reaction score
2,486
Points
399
Location
Washington, DC Area
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Grand Desert 77k, VV Williamsburg 4L/4 & 2/2
Former: Wyndham 276k, HGVC South Bend 1/1
so interesting! money exchanging hands between family members. I don't even know where to start questioning/commenting.

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk
The more I think about to, it may be American culture. As reflected in the below image, Americans value self-reliance and individualism. By not charging even a little money for Ts vacations, we believe we are hindering our loved one’s self-reliance and individualism.

As reflected in the below image, Canadians value economic security and safety. By charging even a little money for TS, you may believe you are hindering loved one’s economic security and peace.

This is all interesting. I knew there were major differences between Americans and.Canadians, and this is one of them.
 

Attachments

  • 332BA26F-E4E9-4754-B4E2-2728F2094A4E.jpeg
    332BA26F-E4E9-4754-B4E2-2728F2094A4E.jpeg
    54.9 KB · Views: 24
  • F47B22A3-1761-44E0-A3A3-F9BC4208A087.jpeg
    F47B22A3-1761-44E0-A3A3-F9BC4208A087.jpeg
    30.7 KB · Views: 26

Bailey#1

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
662
Reaction score
556
Points
303
Location
Vermont
Resorts Owned
DVC SSR BWV, Avenue Plaza, Redington Ambassador
Jim, your son is very lucky!
 

jme

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Messages
4,818
Reaction score
3,121
Points
598
Location
Southeast,TUG since '98
Resorts Owned
Marriotts:
Grande Ocean x 6
Barony x 2
OceanWatch x 1
Manor Club x 1
.
Waterside by Spin x 2
Sheraton Bdw Pln x2
ChurchSt/Charleston x2
One of the greatest joys of our 21-year timeshare ownership has been our ability to give trips to our children.
They've been to Maui Ocean Club, Custom House, Aruba Ocean Club, Grande Vista, and Grande Ocean several times----
all quality trips given to them free.
We were just talking last night about other possibilities. Their work schedules are tight,
so now it's that problem which comes into play, but they are excited about what they know and understand
about timeshares, hotel trips using their own Rewards Points, and travel in general. They've been paying attention.

They learned by observation while growing up, and going on literally a hundred vacation trips to all sorts of locations
around the country and even several trips to Europe. They even branched out and went to Europe on their own.
Going is one thing, knowing how to do it economically is another.
 
Last edited:

jjking42

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
1,902
Reaction score
513
Points
474
Location
Nevada
Resorts Owned
WKV and SVV, Wyndham Canterbury, Wyndham Flagstaff
Congratulations Jim. I assume he is interning at Bell Helicopter in ARLINGTON? My DS interned at Parker Hannifin (Mechanical Engineer) and then went to work for them when he graduated from UTA. He changed jobs about 2 years ago and really debated working for Bell Helicopter or Lockheed Martin ( had offers at both). Ended up going with Lockheed. He's been happy with his choice. When he was deployed, Lockheed not only held his position but paid him almost his full salary as well.

He will have lots of choices in the DFW area if he decides to stay

He already got an offer from Bell and is waiting to see what other offers he gets. I am sure he would like to work for Blue Origin, Nasa, or a another space company. But there are lot of jobs in the defense industry.
 

goaliedave

Guest
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Messages
1,298
Reaction score
854
Points
123
Resorts Owned
Raintree, Diamond (bought by Hilton), Shell (bought by Wyndham), Sheraton (bought by Marriott), Palace Resorts, a few independants
To be fair he is 24 and has as much money in his checking account as I do. No I would not normally charge him but this trip took over 135,000 FF mile. Reservation fees from both vistana and Wyndham plus ticket fees from SW airlines not to mention maintenance fees. He has been getting a free ride for 24 years and made 10k this summer working for Bell. It’s not about the money it’s about adulting. Learning to save for a vacation and understanding that nothing in this world is free as a self sufficient adult.

He is still driving my car, my auto insurance, my health insurance, and on my cell phone plane. You have to start weaning them off sooner or later.

I told him that I would provide the free timeshare and he said that they would save up and pay for their own tickets. I offered to give them free tickets to Arizona for a friends wedding and they declined. His girlfriend did not feel good about using my miles when she could afford her own ticket. She saved up 300.00 for Hawaii but the tickets would have been over 1,000.00 each. He said he would pay more if her 300.00 was not enough. I did not tell them what the tickets would have really cost I just said the 300.00 you saved will cover it. I am a Christian too and give 10% of all my income to charity, I have given many people free vacations, honeymoon and money over the years.

This is what I have learned. When you give somebody help you expect nothing in return. This way you are never disappointed and relationships don’t get messed up. If someone wants to pay you back gladly accept it because it makes them feel better about themselves. It’s not really mine to give anyway. Whatever the lord decides to bless me with and gives me stewardship over I can use to help others. If I am not a good steward he can take all away because it was always his to begin with.
thanks for explaining ! so interesting. 24 is definitely past time to start weaning in my circle; I would say that's the issue. the USA posters here agree your approach is normal. it's always surprising to learn a new difference between the USA and other western democracies.

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk
 

bluehende

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
4,507
Reaction score
3,967
Points
598
To be fair he is 24 and has as much money in his checking account as I do. No I would not normally charge him but this trip took over 135,000 FF mile. Reservation fees from both vistana and Wyndham plus ticket fees from SW airlines not to mention maintenance fees. He has been getting a free ride for 24 years and made 10k this summer working for Bell. It’s not about the money it’s about adulting. Learning to save for a vacation and understanding that nothing in this world is free as a self sufficient adult.

He is still driving my car, my auto insurance, my health insurance, and on my cell phone plane. You have to start weaning them off sooner or later.

I told him that I would provide the free timeshare and he said that they would save up and pay for their own tickets. I offered to give them free tickets to Arizona for a friends wedding and they declined. His girlfriend did not feel good about using my miles when she could afford her own ticket. She saved up 300.00 for Hawaii but the tickets would have been over 1,000.00 each. He said he would pay more if her 300.00 was not enough. I did not tell them what the tickets would have really cost I just said the 300.00 you saved will cover it. I am a Christian too and give 10% of all my income to charity, I have given many people free vacations, honeymoon and money over the years.

This is what I have learned. When you give somebody help you expect nothing in return. This way you are never disappointed and relationships don’t get messed up. If someone wants to pay you back gladly accept it because it makes them feel better about themselves. It’s not really mine to give anyway. Whatever the lord decides to bless me with and gives me stewardship over I can use to help others. If I am not a good steward he can take all away because it was always his to begin with.

You owe no explanation of your decisions on whether or not you help your kids. The internet knows no bounds on what can be criticized.
 

am1

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
8,081
Reaction score
1,531
Points
448
Seems like more weaning needs to be done. But everyone does it their own way.
 

jjking42

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
1,902
Reaction score
513
Points
474
Location
Nevada
Resorts Owned
WKV and SVV, Wyndham Canterbury, Wyndham Flagstaff
thanks for explaining ! so interesting. 24 is definitely past time to start weaning in my circle; I would say that's the issue. the USA posters here agree your approach is normal. it's always surprising to learn a new difference between the USA and other western democracies.

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk

Note I removed some of my comments for privacy reasons. Sometimes I forget this is a public forum.

One of the biggest differences is the cost of education and healthcare in the USA. It cost 25k a year for a kid to go away to a state school and more for private. My wife and I are both working now and that's the only reason our kids can all go to college at the same time. I don't think we are rich by any measure but we make too much money to get any assistance or discount on college costs.

The University of Texas Austin has started a new program for incoming freshman in 2021 offering free or discounted tuition for all students based on income. The university has so many endowments they needed to do something with the money. It is too late to help us but I hope more schools follow this trend.

When I was young my dad said " you are never going to be the smartest guy in the room so you better work harder than everyone else." I have been working my ass off ever since. I am trying to teach that work ethic to my children but in a much kinder way.

As parents we want our kids to have better lives than we did and we hope they don't make the same mistakes that we did. I have tried to teach my kids the value of hard work, being self sufficient, and independent. At the same time being charitable and kind to those less fortunate than themselves. During the high schools years my kids just wanted wanted what all the other kids got and were probably a little frustrated with my lessons on financial responsibility and independence. Now that they have moved out and mingle with kids that grew up in different environments they are very grateful for what they had growing up.

I am far from a perfect person and have made lots of mistakes in my life. But the only thing that really matters is I try to be a good husband and father.
 
Last edited:

chellej

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
2,530
Reaction score
1,261
Points
548
Location
Spokane, Wa
just to be clear, no judgement cast on OP or anyone else. I'm only interested in whether it's common to use your points to book a vacation for a family member and then charge them a portion in cash.

I'm a Christian and we're taught that everything we have is from God, to be shared freely as an expression of love, certainly amongst family members. If I needed to stay at the house of my son or sister or mother they wouldn't charge me rent, so I can't imagine charging them when I use my points to give them a vacation

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk

I have often gotten my brother weeks..If he stays with me, he will pitch in for groceries. If he is going on his own, he reimburses me for my maintenance fee. I don't see anything unchristian or unfair about this. He is using my weeks without having to invest in a timeshare, he has no upfront cost or ongoing obligation. All it costs him is the maintenance fee. He is happy with this arrangement. I love my brother but over the years I have gotten him 10-12 weeks vacation, if he didn't reimburse me, he would be going on vacation and I would be staying home.

PS., I would never charge him to come stay with me at my house or cabin.
 

goaliedave

Guest
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Messages
1,298
Reaction score
854
Points
123
Resorts Owned
Raintree, Diamond (bought by Hilton), Shell (bought by Wyndham), Sheraton (bought by Marriott), Palace Resorts, a few independants
Note I removed some of my comments for privacy reasons. Sometimes I forget this is a public forum.

One of the biggest differences is the cost of education and healthcare in the USA. It cost 25k a year for a kid to go away to a state school and more for private. My wife and I are both working now and that's the only reason our kids can all go to college at the same time. I don't think we are rich by any measure but we make too much money to get any assistance or discount on college costs.

The University of Texas Austin has started a new program for incoming freshman in 2021 offering free or discounted tuition for all students based on income. The university has so many endowments they needed to do something with the money. It is too late to help us but I hope more schools follow this trend.

When I was young my dad said " you are never going to be the smartest guy in the room so you better work harder than everyone else." I have been working my ass off ever since. I am trying to teach that work ethic to my children but in a much kinder way.

As parents we want our kids to have better lives than we did and we hope they don't make the same mistakes that we did. I have tried to teach my kids the value of hard work, being self sufficient, and independent. At the same time being charitable and kind to those less fortunate than themselves. During the high schools years my kids just wanted wanted what all the other kids got and were probably a little frustrated with my lessons on financial responsibility and independence. Now that they have moved out and mingle with kids that grew up in different environments they are very grateful for what they had growing up.

I am far from a perfect person and have made lots of mistakes in my life. But the only thing that really matters is I try to be a good husband and father.
everyone has a rationale which is why I said it wasn't about you.

I asked whether others thought it was normal to charge a family member when they use points for a gift. 5 of 6 thought it was normal. Only one said family shares without money changing hands. So interesting!

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk
 

goaliedave

Guest
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Messages
1,298
Reaction score
854
Points
123
Resorts Owned
Raintree, Diamond (bought by Hilton), Shell (bought by Wyndham), Sheraton (bought by Marriott), Palace Resorts, a few independants
I have often gotten my brother weeks..If he stays with me, he will pitch in for groceries. If he is going on his own, he reimburses me for my maintenance fee. I don't see anything unchristian or unfair about this. He is using my weeks without having to invest in a timeshare, he has no upfront cost or ongoing obligation. All it costs him is the maintenance fee. He is happy with this arrangement. I love my brother but over the years I have gotten him 10-12 weeks vacation, if he didn't reimburse me, he would be going on vacation and I would be staying home.

PS., I would never charge him to come stay with me at my house or cabin.
thanks for chiming in! So votes are 7-2 for charging family when they use your ts or hotel points.

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk
 

geist1223

TUG Member
Joined
May 20, 2015
Messages
5,974
Reaction score
5,728
Points
499
Location
Salem Oregon
Resorts Owned
Worldmark 97,000 Credits
DRI Cabo Azul 50,500
Royal Solaris San Jose del Cabo
We allow each of the kids (3 of them) 1 free WMTC trip each year. They have a hard time planning 13 months in advance. About 75% of the time they end up cancelling. I double check with them about 40 days before check-in. 30 days is the deadline for free cancellation. With WMTC's GC instituted last year I leave the Reservation in my name until the very end.
 

DrQ

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
5,818
Reaction score
3,802
Points
648
Location
DFW
Resorts Owned
HICV, Westgate (second cousin, twice removed)
Congrats from a Purdue Aero/Astro Engineering grad. :thumbup:
 
Top