As I have mentioned before, timeshares definitely have a bad reputation. This is the result of pushing sales practices, scams, hidden or non-explained fees and a general misunderstanding of the general complexities of timeshare ownership. However, with some practice, insight and knowledge, timeshare ownership is very good way to vacation at very nice resorts around the world. The key is to understand the intricacies of the programs, planning ahead and being flexible.
Timeshare ownership is definitely not for everyone but a large portion of the population would immensely benefit from owning a timeshare. I think the following non-exclusive list gives my personal opinion on who should own a timeshare: 1. Couples who enjoy traveling and make it a primary objective to take one or two week long vacations per years. 2. Families who travel at least once per year for a week and want or need to have extra space. 3. Couples and/or families who like to have the comforts of home on vacation and enjoy making meals while on vacation instead of eating out all the time. 4. Couples and/or families who travel extensively for multiple weeks per year and want to have full kitchens at their disposal. 5. Budget conscious travelers who enjoy luxury accommodations but don't necessarily want to pay hundreds of dollars per night for a hotel room. 6. Families with children who want space for children to sleep separate from the parents. 7. Families who travel with extended family members and want to avoid having to have multiple hotel rooms. 8. Couples and/or families who travel in and out of the United States by plane. These are some general parameters where I think timeshare ownership can make sense. Conversely, I think the following are general characteristics where timeshare ownership will not make sense and renting can be more advantageous. 1. Vacations are not done annually. 2. Vacations are usually done for long weekends or only for a few nights away from home. 3. Vacations are usually done within driving distance of your home. I came across an interesting article put out by the American Resort Development Association that put out an updated overview of the demographics of a timeshare owner. My initial thought of the demographics of timeshare ownership usually consisted of retirees in their golden years who had purchased a timeshare decades ago. However, it appears that the demographics have significantly changed from my initial perception. According to ARDA, the demographics of timeshare owners are as follows: New owners are nearly 10 years younger 39% are Gen Xers 30% are Millennials Median age is 39 42% are African American or Hispanic 72% are college graduates 23% also have graduate degrees And this new owner has plenty of disposable income: Median household income is $94,800 47% made just a single payment to cover their timeshare purchase 57% spent $10,000 or more on their timeshare They are savvy consumers: 75% had some form of interaction with a timeshare resort before purchasing 44% initially stayed at the resort where they bought as a guest of another owner 42% experienced timeshare vacations through renting first 35% attended multiple sales presentations before buying In my opinion, this information is fascinating as timeshare owners are not being duped into purchasing timeshares with the lure of reasonable priced vacations. Rather, they are wealthy, educated and savvy consumers. I personally fit right into the demographics above and think that they accurately portray may unofficial assessment of timeshare owners that we have met throughout our travels. Here is the great depictions of the new demographics of timeshare owners. I highly encourage you to subscribe and to follow me on facebook at The Timeshare Guru and follow me on Twitter @thetsguru for more information. The timeshare industry tends to have a bad reputation because the fees and financial responsibilities of the owners are generally not highly discussed during the purchase period. Only afterwards, when the owner begins getting bills do they fully understand the financial commitment of a timeshare. As a timeshare owner, you will be responsible for annual fees to your home resort each and every year, regardless if you use the timeshare or not. This basic understanding seems to be a surprise for a lot of people as all timeshares are not a pay as you use system. Each year, the owner will be billed for maintenance fees regardless of use. The maintenance fees generally include the owners pro-rata portion of all operating expenses of the resort as well as reserves for future upgrades and maintenance. Operating expenses include property taxes, furniture, management fees, landscaping, advertising, and basically any other expenses that the resort incurs. The resort passes through all expenses to the owners. In addition, resorts reserve the ability to access its owners special assessments. These are non-budgeted or unplanned expenses that are incurred by the resort and need to be paid for. These can include damage from storms, flooding, roof replacements, pool refinishes, or any other large scale expenditure that was simply not in budget. These special assessments are usually an unwelcome surprise to timeshare owner since it is an unexpected expense. Most timeshare companies recognize that this is not a popular way to build trust with its owners so they generally only do special assessments in those truly unforeseen circumstances that warrant immediate expenditures. Maintenance fees can vary widely and will depend on the size of the unit, resort location, operating expenses of the resort, age of the resort and other factors. Since maintenance fees are a recurring expense that will almost always increase over time, it is extremely important to understand the financial commitment before going forward with a purchase. Maintenance fees almost always increase year by year so do not assume that the expense will remain the same at the time of purchase. Maintenance fees and special assessments are definitely not the best thing about timeshares but you need to understand them and understand the ongoing financial commitment. Timeshare ownership is not for everyone. However, for those people who do travel every year and know that they will travel, timeshare ownership can make real financial sense and save you money over time on accommodations. Exchanging for prime weeks or for highly sought after timeshare resorts or destinations can easily exceed the maintenance fees as compared to nightly rental rates. Make sure to subscribe to the Guru Deals to keep informed of valuable exchange opportunities and other travel deals to show you how to maximize timeshare ownership and take advantage of the various systems and exchange opportunities. One fantastic perk of owning a timeshare is the ability to reserve additional weeks through the various exchange programs. RCI and Interval International both have programs where you can reserve a week with cash instead of exchanging your timeshare. You have to be a member of RCI or Interval International to be able to reserve a week but it is well worth it. Today, I want to review the Interval Getaways. Interval Getaways allows you to reserve a week in a studio, 1, 2, 3 or more bedroom units at timeshare resorts throughout the world. The inventory that they make available is different that if you exchanged your timeshare. The pricing for these getaways can be absolutely fantastic. They have some weeks that you can reserve for as little as $277 a week. Yes, $277 PER WEEK, ONLY $40 PER NIGHT. I challenge anyone to find a better deal that this for a hotel room. Interval Getaways have recently changed so that you can reserve a week up to 18 months in advance. Inventory constantly changes so it pays to constantly check. In order to be able to reserve a getaway week, you need to be a member but it does not take any points from your account. Here are some current deals that I can locate at the moment. Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino Apr 07 2017 - Apr 14 2017 0 2 2 $399.00 $374.00 $349.00 Marriott Grand Chateux in Las Vegas Mar 25 2017 - Apr 01 2017 1 4 4 $857.00 $832.00 $807.00 The Grand Bliss in Riveria Maya, Mexico Aug 28 2016 - Sep 04 2016 0 2 2 $329.00 $304.00 $279.00 There are tons of other opportunities available at 5 star resorts throughout the world. Many times a week vacation will cost as much as one night in a 5 star hotel. Interval Getaways offer fantastic opportunities to stay in great resorts around the world and could offer better opportunities than exchanging your timeshare. It is definitely worth it to check out Getaway options before exchanging your unit to see if you can save money by using a Getaway instead of exchange options. Exchanging into any timeshare during Christmas vacation is difficult since it is the most popular week to travel. While it is difficult, it can be possible with enough planning and flexibility.
We were just informed that I was able to exchange one of my timeshares into a one bedroom unit at the Westgate Park City - a ski-in / ski-out timeshare during Christmas Week. We have stayed at this timeshare before and it is located on the base of the mountain. The facilities are top notch. Due to the construction, the property is quite a maze and it takes a few days to orient yourself but it is a vice nice property with all the amenities you would expect from a 5 stay hotel. I was able to trade my timeshare using the request first option which I will cover in more detail in later posts. In reviewing the applicable prices on Priceline, the same accommodations would have cost over $7400!!! Summary of Charges Room Cost (details)$926.14 Rooms1Nights7Room Subtotal$6,482.98 Taxes & Fees$758.52 Total Priceline Charges$7,241.50 Resort Fee*$174.65 Total Cost$7,416.15 For the particular timeshare that I traded, I pay maintenance fees of approximately $1200 for a 2 bedroom unit. I only had to trade enough points for a one bedroom unit so I still have enough points to reserve a full week in a studio. Basically, in doing the math, the portion of my maintenance fees was about $800 for this week plus interval international's exchange fee of $239. For basically $1000, I was able to reserve a unit where the going rate is over $7400 resulting in over $6000 in savings for this week. This is just one of many examples of a successful exchange and an example of how timeshare ownership can really save you tons of money. Please reach out at theofficialtiemshareguru@gmail.com to share your exchange successes. Planning vacations can be a very difficult endeavor. Finding flights, costs, routings, destinations, availability, etc. can be daunting. Luckily, there are some fantastic tools out there that make the process much easier. I will go through others over time but one of the best tools for locating flights is Google Flights. Google Flights allows you to put in an origin and destination and will show you the lowest priced flights month per month and day by day. This way, you can choose flights that work for your schedule but can also decide whether moving a vacation from one week to the next or changing a few days could save you thousands. Google flights make it very easy to see the costs allowing you to make these decisions.
Another fabulous feature of Google Flights to the ability to explore destinations. You provide the dates and Google will provide you with a map and you can click on any city in the world and they will tell you the cost of the flights. This is a great tool so that you explore the costs of flights throughout the world and make an educated decision on where you want to travel. I highly encourage you to review Google Flights and see the capabilities. The one downside to Google Flights is that it does not allow you to book the flights but instead directs you to the specific airlines website to complete the transaction. I tend to find the flights and dates that I want and head to Priceline to complete the booking. The 24 hour cancellation policy is very flexible and will allow you to solidify the timeshare or other accommodations. Timeshares are extremely complicated. It is a topic that comes up over and over. In order to try to make things as simple as possible, I want to include some basic understanding of various flavors of timeshares and the overall way to fully maximize ownership and plan fantastic trips.
Generally, a timeshare gives the owner the ability to use a specific week at a resort. This general concept as changed overtime and various mutations of this general concept has emerged. There are now fixed weeks, floating weeks, rotating weeks, fractional ownerships, points based systems, vacation memberships, travel clubs, and others. In order to uncomplicate things, lets briefly review each type. Fixed weeks: Fixed weeks are just that. The right to use a specific week at a resort. Floating weeks: The owner has the ability to reserve one week out of many weeks. These floating weeks are usually tied to a certain season. Rotating weeks: The owner can use one week one year and another week another year. These generally rotate annually. Fractional ownerships: Fractional ownerships generally allow the owner to use a specific unit for a certain amount of time per year. This can be monthly or based on a specific amount of days. Many times, a fractional ownership will allow an owner to use a specific week along with a certain number of additional nights. Points systems: Instead of owning a specific unit, you are giving points which act as a currency to reserve units. The amount of points will vary for different weeks, resorts, and size of units. Vacation Memberships: Generally, you would pay an initial fee or membership fee for the ability to use a certain amount of time a resort. You could also obtain a vacation membership which would allow owners to receive discounted accommodations. Travel clubs: Travel clubs are similar if not identical to vacation memberships. Each program is different so it could just be a difference in marketing terms. Overall, each type of "timeshare" allows an owner to use or reserve a unit at resorts during specific times during the year or based on availability. Each program is different and we will go through various programs and highlight the benefits and issues with each one along the way. Timeshares have a bad reputation. However, timeshares can be a terrific way for people to explore the world on a reasonable budget in accommodations that generally far surpass that of a general hotel.
I believe that timeshares have a bad reputation because they are extremely complicated. Most people will generally own a timeshare and travel to their owned week for a few years. Once they become tired of that destination, they want to find other timeshares to exchange into using their week. T his can be done through an internal exchange ( Hyatt to Hyatt, Marriott to Marriott, etc.) or through an exchange company. When they attempt to exchange their week, an owner generally is surprised that they cannot exchange to the destination they wanted, the desired time frame or their size of unit. I believe this occurs most often because most people don't plan ahead. There are over 5 million people who own timeshares and most people want to travel over holiday weeks or the summer. This creates an immense demand for the popular resorts. Most people want to exchange for a week in a Hawaii or a ski week in Aspen. These types of trades are not impossible but there are numerous things that must be considered before a timeshare owner can potentially get these weeks. What generally ends up happening is that the timeshare owner seeks an exchange a few months beforet he desired date of travel and gets frustrated at the lack of options or the fact that they cannot go to the Caribbean during Christmas week when they attempt to make these plans in September. As a result, many timeshare owners will let their week go unused while still paying the maintenance fees. This in turn creates anger and frustration with their timeshare ownership and perpetuates the bad reputation. My goal is to explain how these programs work and how to maximize their value. I want to fully explain each of the most popular programs and how they work as well as the certain sweet spots that you can use to maximize your travel. I want to explain how you can exchange your week in order to get your desired week or how you can use your one week and turn it into multiple vacations. My maintenance fee for one of my timeshares is about $1100 per year. I can turn that one week into at least three weeks of vacation at resorts around the world that would normally cost over $2000 per week. This blog is meant to provide education on how you can do this yourself as well as provide you with alerts for exchange opportunities, amazing flight deals and other travel tips and ideas so that you can maximize your timeshare ownership. I also want to explain the use of frequent flyer miles, hotel points, credit card opportunities and other tricks and tips that can help you travel the world without breaking the bank. The other goal of this blog is to answer questions. I want to be a resource for timeshare owners to ask questions concerning their timeshare. The timeshare model is generally simple (purchase a week and travel to the destination for that week) but the complexity occurs during exchanging for other weeks, units and programs. E-mail me at theguru@thetimeshareguru.com for specific questions that you may have. Also, please subscribe to my newsletter so that you can be alerted first to great travel opportunities. |
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