I started this blog because I really enjoy using our timeshare. I find that I get tremendous value out of the systems and can travel the world for a fraction of the cost of staying in hotels and with more space and with the conveniences of having more space and a full kitchen. As I researched advertising for the site, I was googling timeshares, timeshare information, timeshare blog, etc. and 99% of the results came back with how to sell your timeshare, how to get out of your timeshare contract and advertising from attorneys who claim to be able to help you get out of your timeshare. Based on my google research, I was apparently the minority who actually enjoyed our timeshare. In starting this blog, I am either completely on the wrong track or there is a need to understand the pros and cons of timeshares and figure out how to maximize their use so that you can get more value out of them than the initial cost and maintenance fees. In searching through the various complaints, the common theme that came up was that timeshare owners could not exchange into the desired weeks and were surprised by the constant stream of fees that you need to pay in order to make reservations, exchange, upgrade sizes, etc. These are all valid complaints and will complain with the rest of them. Like most businesses, timeshares have become fee happy along with airlines and hotels. My family and I have enjoyed many great vacations with our timeshare but definitely understand why timeshares have such a bad reputation. Exchanges are difficult, you need to be flexible on your travel plans and destinations, you need to constantly search, you need to always calculate whether the timeshare exchange makes financial sense and you need to learn complicated systems and multiple sets of rules. Timeshare developers generally do not disclose any of these issues which can quickly create buyer’s remorse. They make it seem that you can travel around the world in nice resorts at any time without issue. My goal is to explain how to actually do this. It is not easy but I have had many great trips and you can too. Each timeshare system is different and each has the own unique sets of rules, points systems, valuations and sweet spots. Timeshares are really complicated. If you are not well versed in the particular program or the rules of the various exchange programs, you quickly can become disenchanted. Also, the biggest secret in the timeshare world is that it is very difficult to sell your timeshare and if you actually can, the price is materially less than the original purchase price. Timeshares are like cars, they quickly depreciate and will ultimately become worthless. With the secret out, you must be asking yourself why anyone would purchase a timeshare. As I explained in other posts, a timeshare is not a financial investment. I would argue that it is a lifestyle investment. Some things that may not have monetary value may have a different type of value. I value being able to travel around the world in nice accommodations with my friends and family. I also argue that the actual cost of using the timeshare is far cheaper and superior than hotel accommodations even when factoring in the purchase price and maintenance fees provided that the initial purchase price is not astronomical. I know that I will be taking 2-4 weeks of vacation every year. I know that I will be paying my maintenance fees each and every year and I know that like everything, they will increase. Every year, my maintenance fees go up about 10%. It is a lot! I am not happy about it but the average price per hotel room has gone up even more. Add resort fees, taxes, upgrade fees, fees to use the fitness room, fees for rollaways, fees for fridges, etc. While I will continue to complain about my maintenance fees, I find the hotel fees to be even more obnoxious. Resort fees are the worst where they want to charge me $40 a night for a resort fee on top of my $300 nightly rate so I can use the pool??? Come on! Even with the purchase price and annual maintenance fees, I still think that a timeshare is worthwhile. I can stay in nicer accommodations for a fraction of the cost of a hotel. I can use exchanges to get at least three weeks out of my one timeshare week and stay in resorts where one week would cost more than my annual maintenance fee! I have provided multiple examples of this and will continue to do so to show you how to truly leverage your ownership. The word “timeshare” has definitely become a four letter word. All the major “timeshare” developers no longer use the word timeshare but now market under the terms “vacation clubs”, “residence clubs”, “membership”, “fractional ownerships”, etc. At the end of the day, they are timeshares with new fancy terms. There is nothing wrong with that provided that you understand this and recognize the limitations. Timeshares or whatever you want to call them have increased in popularity. In addition, as the ARDA report detailed here, the demographics of the timeshare owners have changed. Timeshare owners are not purchasing a timeshare on a whim but timeshare owners are smart, diligent, financially savvy and educated. Most will not purchase at the first meeting but will review and do their research. It is essential to do your research before purchasing! The marketplace is changing as the previous system of a specific deeded week is waning and flexibility is becoming more pronounced. Instead of weeks, developers are selling points that can be used at different resorts for stays of one night or more. However, the systems are still complicated and still requires a lot of patience and flexibility to get what you want and to maximize the system for your own benefit. I have personally succeeded in navigating these systems and hope that you can too. My goal is to show you how. If you change your thinking about timeshares and recognize their issues, it is possible to use them and exchange into great vacations. Timeshares are not for everyone but if you know you are going to travel each and every year, a timeshare can actually make financial sense. I do not get compensated from any timeshare developer or property so I have no ulterior motive in posting this information. Transparency is important as I do not want to be viewed as another timeshare salesperson looking to make a quick buck. That is not me. Make sure to subscribe below and ask any questions you may have. I will be very happy to answer them! The Timeshare Guru theguru@thetimeshareguru.com
Traveling is definitely difficult. Things have drastically changed and traveling now requires a lot of effort. Going through security is a major challenge and delays, connections and travel issues constantly come up.
Food in airports can be awful, tolerable or actually pleasant. However, landing in a non-familiar airport, you are generally going to eat at whatever establishment is closest to your gate. I have found that this is not the best option as you will more often than not be disappointed. I have found Gate Guru to be an indispensable tool when traveling. Gate Guru provides reviews on the various restaurants and eateries in airports around the world. When I land somewhere, I pull up Gate Guru and it tells me what restaurants are located nearby and which ones get highly rated. Gate Guru has saved me from making bad choices on where to eat. Airport food can be awful but I have had a lot of success in using this app. Instead of guessing on what eatery to visit, I rely on the ratings of Gate Guru. It definitely has pointed me to some great finds in airports for places that I would have never found before. It is a free app and I think it is very beneficial to download. Check it out!
One of the perks of vacationing in timeshares is that the accommodations usually have a full kitchen with all the tools and necessities to be able to cook. Instead of being stuck in a resort and paying for $20 hamburgers, you can save a lot of money by cooking within the timeshare.
We have all been to resorts where the food and drinks are outrageously priced but you have no choice but to pay the prices. Food and drinks can easily make up a significant portion of the budget. While being able to cook in the timeshare is one important draw of timeshares, the downside is the inevitable supermarket run that you need to do. The supermarket run can take hours away from your precious vacation time. In addition, almost always, there are leftovers that simply go in the trash. Even with the leftovers, cooking some meals on vacation can literally save you hundreds of dollars. However, my family has been using a service called Hello Fresh which sends you, via UPS, a box of food with the specific amount of ingredients and portion size to cook excellent meals. Hello Fresh provides everything you need to cook the meals with the exception of perhaps oil or salt and pepper. It gives you detailed instructions with pictures on how to prepare and cook the meal. Most meals will take between 30-45 minutes to prepare and the food has been terrific. We have been very happy with Hello Fresh. Although we do not use it every week, we have been happy with the food and quality of the meals. After getting these boxes for a few weeks, it occurred to me that this is absolutely perfect for timesharing! Instead of going to the supermarket and spending you precious vacation time planning for various meals, you can arrive at the resort with a box of food ready for your use. The box comes with freezer packs and stays good for at least a couple of days in not more. The package the food very well. You can schedule the delivery on the certain days so you can have it arrive on the day of check-in. You can also pick the specific meals that you want to cook. This will avoid overbuying of groceries, planning for various meals and will save you hundreds of dollars so you can avoid having to eat out for all your meals. Before going forward with this, I would make sure to call the resort and see their policy on accepting packages. Most will do so without issue but some might have an issue so it is best to call ahead. In addition, I would try it out at home first to make sure that you like it so there is no disappointment on vacation. There is no obligation to continue and you can skip as many weeks as you like. This is only for the continuous US so this program will not work internationally. Another perk of signing up is that you will receive $40 off your first delivery using this code: YEUGRS With $40 off your first box, the first delivery for 3 meals for 2 people would only cost $30, less than the cost of one person's meal in a nice resort. I think this is a great program and think that this can be highly beneficial for timeshare vacations. Let me know what you think! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook and subscribe below!
As us timeshare owners know, planning for a vacation using a timeshare can be difficult as exchanges to prime resorts and weeks can be difficult. While request first, deposit first and ongoing searches can help with getting the desired week, the issue then becomes airfare. Airfare can make or break a reasonable vacation. There have been plenty of times that I was able to exchange into a very desirable resort only to find out that the airfares for the particular week were astronomical and quickly derailed that plan.
Southwest Airlines is the last airline that still has consumer friendly policies. Southwest actually allows you to cancel, change or revise your reservation for no change fees. This is drastically different that the other major carriers who charge significant penalties per ticket to make these changes. If you book with cash, Southwest will allow you to change or cancel your flight for any reason and you will receive a refund for the full amount of your flight in travel funds. Travel funds are essentially vouchers where you can use the value of the travel funds to book trips for a year from the initial date of the reservation. For timeshare planning, this is very helpful since you can make reservations before a the timeshare week is confirmed and if the week does not get confirmed or you end up booking a timeshare in a completely different destination, you can simply cancel the airfare and use the travel funds for another destination. This flexibility is why Southwest is essential when dealing with timeshare planning. An even better method is to use Southwest Rapid Reward points. Rapid Reward points are Southwest's frequent flyer program. You can reserve flights using Rapid Reward points and you are still given the same flexibility as with cash. However, when you use Rapid Reward points for flights, first, they are free, and second, in the event you need to cancel, the points gets redeposited immediately so you do not need to worry about travel funds. Travel funds can be difficult to keep track of since they are tied to confirmation numbers. By using Rapid Reward Points, you can book speculative airfare for multiple trips for the same time period and see if and when a certain timeshare week becomes available. You have the ability to book flights in advance without worrying about a confirmed week knowing that you can cancel it at any time for a full refund of points. Southwest has recently expanded its operations to various international destinations and these consumer friendly policies still apply. One issue is whether Southwest services your area. If so, you are in luck. These policies and their free bag policies make Southwest a clear winner. The other issue becomes on how to acquire the Rapid Reward Points. The fastest and easiest way is to apply for a Chase Southwest Credit Card. They currently are offering a sign up bonus of 50,000 points! Depending on where you travel and if wanna get away fares are available, this can get you 3-4 round trip flights. I recently used points for my family of four to travel to Montego Bay, Jamaica for about 15,000 points round trip per passenger. That is an absolute steal!
In other posts, we can explore more about how frequent flyer points and hotel points are essential to acquire in order to make timeshare vacationing easier and more affordable. In addition, free flights are great and can save you thousands of dollars. Everything is better when its free!
Make sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Also, subscribe below! I just received notification of contest being run by Westgate Resorts for a chance to win a 5 night / 4 day vacation package. We routinely stay at the Westgate Park City during ski season which is a very nice property.
I figure that it cannot hurt to enter for a chance to win. No timeshare presentation required! Here is the entry form. Here are the rules and regulations. Contest runs through October 5th. Good luck!
Hilton Grand Vacations have some very nice properties and their Hilton Grand Vacation club is very popular. I have my guide to the Hilton Grand Vacations here.
I just received the following promotion to purchase directly ClubPoints directly from Hilton Grand Vacation. "For a limited time, you’ll also earn 600,000 Hilton HHonors™ Bonus Points when you purchase a minimum of 7,000 annual ClubPoints through the Hilton Grand Vacations Direct Department – the easiest, most convenient way to become a Hilton Grand Vacations owner. Use points toward resort stays, cruises and more!" More details of this promotion are found here: Here are the Details of Participation. A couple of things regarding this promotion. If you purchase 7,000 annual ClubPoints, you are given 600,000 Hilton Hhonors Bonus Points. Hilton states that the "Prices range from $8,940 - $377,300. Prices subject to change." I am a big fan of hotel points and frequently flyer miles as you can use them in luxurious resorts around the world to give you free vacations. 600,000 Hhonors points is a decent amount of points so this offer got my attention. According to Hilton, they value 600,000 Hhonors points as worth $6,000. From their details of participation: "Retail value of 600,000 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points is $6,000. Hilton HHonors Bonus Points do not count toward tier qualification." One of my favorite blogs about how to use and maximize points is the The Points Guy. Another good one is Upgraded Points. Although The Point's Guy values are just estimates, he values Hilton Hhonors points at .5 cents per point providing a value of $3,000. Based on my prior use, I would generally be able to use 600,000 Hilton Hhonors points for about a 2 week vacation at a very nice resort. You could also stretch these points for multiple weeks at lower end properties. I used points at the Grand Wailea in Maui and have plans to use points at the Hilton Los Cabos. Depending on the season, 600,000 points would get you a week at each resort during high season or even more during lower seasons and would value that around $4,000 depending on the season. I do not receive any compensation from Hilton or any other timeshare company so my intent on posting this is just to provide the information. If you do not already own a timeshare or are interested in purchasing one, you need to do some significant research. These types of promotions are definitely worthwhile if you were about to make a purchase but I would not jump into a timeshare purchase specifically based on this or any promotion. I believe that timeshares are very worthwhile if you know how to maximize their use but they are definitely not for everyone! Do you research before you buy! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook and subscribe below!
The Marriott Vacation Club is a very popular program since most of the Marriott properties are in prime locations and are very nice. The popularity of Marriott's hotels have definitely assisted with the growth of the Marriott Vacation Club.
I have personally traveled to many of Marriott's Vacation Club properties and I have found most, if not all, to be of very high quality. A significant perk of a lot of their properties is that they are generally included on the same grounds as a Marriott hotel so timeshare owners can benefit from the best of both worlds - luxury and spacious accommodations along with the typical amenities of the hotel (restaurants, spas, bars, events, etc.). As detailed in the guide to the Marriott Vacation Club, Marriott has instituted various levels of Marriott ownership. Generally, these levels of ownership provide different benefit packages. The benefits are as follows:
The above list is a the various perks that will come with the various levels of ownership. The status levels are based on the amount of Vacation Club Points owned. The five tiers are “Owners”, “Select”, “Executive”, “Presidential” and “Chairman’s Club.
OWNER LEVEL: As an "Owner", you are in the lowest tier of their Vacation Club ownership. While there are various benefits that are not included, they may not be of relevance to a lot of owners. The key items of being a Owner are as follows: 1. Reservation Window: You can reserve a week 13 months in advance of the reservation date but you need to pay a point premium. Otherwise, you can reserve a week 12 months in advance but this will only be for stays of 7 nights or more. You can only reserve stays of 1 or more nights 10 months in advance. While this may seem like trivial time periods, the key to enjoy your timeshare is to be able to book the weeks and resorts you want. In order to do this, you need to plan in advance, usually being the as far out as possible in order to get the prime week or prime resort. As explained below, the "Owner" level will essentially be in last place to make these reservations. 2. Luxury Property: As per the above, if you want to reserve a stay at a luxury property, you can only make reservations 6 months in advance. The Luxury resorts include the following resorts:
SELECT OWNER: 1. Reservation Window: You can reserve a week 13 months in advance of the reservation date without a point premium. You can only reserve stays of 1 or more nights 10 months in advance. 2. Luxury Properties: Similar to the Owner level, if you want to reserve a stay at a luxury property, you can only make reservations 6 months in advance. EXECUTIVE OWNER: 1. Reservation Window: You can reserve 1 or more nights 13 months in advance of the reservation date. 2. Luxury Properties: You can reserve 1 or more nights 13 months in advance of the reservation date. A key difference in reaching Executive Level is that you now have 13 months to book at any of the Marriott properties within the vacation club for stays of one night or more including those at Luxury properties. This is definitely a material difference to the Owner or Select level since you now have priority of the other members to get the prime resorts and weeks. 3. Last-Minute Reservation Point Discounts: An additional perk that is provided to Executive Owners is now the ability to make reservations for Vacation Club properties 30 days prior arrival for a 25% discount in points. Depending on your travel style, this may or may not be a worthwhile perk. PRESIDENTIAL OWNER: Presidential Owners get the same perks as Executive Owners but are able to make Last-Minute Reservation Point Discounts 60 days prior arrival for a 30% discount in points. Again, depending on your travel style, this may or may not be a worthwhile perk. CHAIRMAN'S CLUB Chairman's Club Owners get the same perks as Presidential Owners but the biggest difference is that Chairman's Club Owners are able to bank their points for 2 years. Basically, a Chairman Club Owner who will not use the points for the current year can bank that and use them for the following two years. CONCLUSION: This is a short overview of the material differences between the various Marriott ownership levels. There are more benefits that are provided between levels but the above is just meant to show the general differences between what I view as the most important characteristics. As discussed, getting the desired week and resort require a lot of advanced planning so the ability to be able reserve time before other members becomes critical to get your desired vacation. A lot of owners do not recognize the importance of planning far ahead and could get disgruntled but you need to change your vacation planning style to get the vacation you want. There are out there but it requires diligence and planning. That is what I intend to help with! Make sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook and subscribe below!
Mountain time is one of the seasons that is included in the Hyatt Residence Club program. Mountain time is the lowest season possible in their system. This means that those weeks included in this system are in the lowest demand weeks.
There are currently five properties that have weeks that are included in Mountain time. These are: 1. Hyatt Escala Lodge at Park City in Park City, Utah 2. Residences at Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek, Colorado 3. Hyatt Mountain Lodge in Beaver Creek, Colorado 4. Hyatt Main Street Station in Breckenridge, Colorado 5. Hyatt Grand Aspen in Aspen Colorado As indicated in the Hyatt Residence Club Resorts Points Chart, these Mountain weeks generally occur during week 16-20 and week 40-46. There are a few other weeks included that can be found on the chart above. These weeks generally correspond to weeks in April through May and for the end of September through November. These are definitely not peak weeks and is considered low season. The reason that these weeks are important is that the amount of required points needed to exchange into these week drop materially. For example, during these weeks, you can reserve a 2 bedroom condo for a week for 200 points! A studio unit costs 70 points for the week and a one bedroom is only 130 points for the week. In my previous examples, I discussed how owning a fairly low demand week might be advantageous provided that the week provided at least 1300 points. If you had a 1300 point week, you can exchange into these weeks and stay five weeks in a 2 bedroom unit at one of the properties listed above for only 1200 points! As I explained earlier, my maintenance fees for my Hyatt property costs approximately $1200 per year so I can convert my maintenance fee into five weeks at a 5 star property in a 2 bedroom unit. Basically, you can stay in a five star property for less than $35 per night!!! I personally find these weeks to be tremendously valuable due to their low point requirements. As many people will likely point out, these weeks are definitely low season and there is not much demand to go to the mountains during this time. However, low season can be great time to explore a destination without crowds and simply get away for the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The mountains are beautiful year round and these destinations still have plenty of activities. Skiing or other snow sports will not be one of them but the mountains do have plenty to offer even in those low seasons. Additionally, I have been tempted to simply stay in a five star hotel for these available weeks and live in a hotel for a couple months. There are worse things than having five star amenities at your disposable 24/7. Make sure to subscribe below and follow me on Twitter and Facebook below!
Parking at the airport can generally be a pain but more importantly can be very expensive. You are generally at the mercy of whatever the airports will charge to park your car.
I recently came across About Airport Parking which provides you the ability to review the rates at various airport parking lots and provides you the ability to reserve a spot. Many times the offered rates through About Airport parking will be less than the rates when you just show up. In addition, About Airport Parking will show all available options as well as various services that are offered including self park or valet as well as whether the particular lots offer additional services such as oil changes or car washes. It is definitely worthwhile to check the rates with About Airport Parking before you show up at the airport so you can compare and potentially save money by reserving ahead. |
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