# So how do you schedule/plan all of your timeshare stays?



## Denise L (Aug 2, 2007)

I'm calling on all the experts to share your secrets on how you schedule and plan all of your timeshare stays  !  How do you do it when you own multiple weeks, rent some weeks that you don't own, coordinate with school breaks, book frequent flier tickets or fare sales, and dabble in exchanging?!

I'll have to admit, it is fun to think about all the great places to go, but it is starting to get complicated to manage it all. Do you have a software program, spreadsheet, large whiteboard, or some other method that makes it easy to remember things like when to call/go online to book? Do you have three years of giant calendars sprawled out around the house?

When we owned one week, it was easy. Call 12 months out at 5AM for the week, 331 days out at 12:30 AM for the airfare :zzz: .

With our second week, it was straightforward. Call 11 months out, day by day if necessary. Find cheap fares and buy them  .

I would fill in the weeks that I didn't own with owner rentals or promo stays. Pick a week, find it, pay for it.

With our next week coming in, I have the option to plan up to 18 months out, but possibly not match until 6 months out.

And lately I've been trying to learn II and toying with the idea of some day getting a trader or WM points....

So before I overwhelm myself even more, can anyone share how you manage it all with multiple weeks?


----------



## Dollie (Aug 2, 2007)

*Our Approach*

We are part of the Sunterra points system.  We only own one resort but we have two weeks.  Since it's in Hawaii, it’s a lot of points.  We have set up a spreadsheet that has two sections.  The upper section tracks our points with entries for:  Points Paid; Unpaid Points; Rolled Over Points; Total Available; Points Committed; Points Proposed; Rollover; Points Remaining.  This is done on a yearly basis and currently displays from 2005 to 2010.  The lower section is a graphic where we list destinations (both timeshare and non-timeshare trips), color-coding/highlighting the Sunterra and II locations.  Then across a monthly calendar (one cell per month which currently runs from 2005 to 2010), using colors again for: committed; scheduled; proposed; we fill in the cells at the approximate dates.

There is a second spreadsheet that just tracks points that have been used on a yearly basis.  This one is simpler and only refers to timeshare trips.  It has entries and points for:  Year's Points; each destination and their point values that were actually used; Rolled over; Remaining points.

We use Outlook's calendar to track dates and remind us when things need to be done.  I have entered recurring occurrences that will notify us a day or two before important dates such as: the various dates when points have to be rolled over to the next year.  I also schedule notification for reservations that need to be made for the timeshares, planes, car rentals, etc.  The notification for timeshare reservations are set at the earliest date we are allowed to make reservations.  If we intend to use frequent flyer miles for free tickets, I will also enter a reminder at the 330 day point.

If you would like to see the spreadsheets, send me a message and I'll make them available.  I am also interested in what other people use.

PS - being a retired software architect and wanting to keep my hands in programming, I started to design and implement my own program to track all this.  However, all the traveling we've been doing especially since we bought our first timeshare in 2005, has kept me too busy and I have not been able to finish it.  Someday I will have this super duper program that will do it all for me!


----------



## EAM (Aug 2, 2007)

*There's software for DVC planning*

There is software available for planning DVC, but I don't know of anything similar for RCI weeks, FSP, etc.

http://web.nalu.net/~wneth/dvcplanner.htm


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 2, 2007)

Bob Sehlinger of the Unofficial Guide to Disney has a website, www.touringplans.com, and he provides a vacation planner on the site for those of us who love to organize.  I found it very useful.  

One thing I do to really plan is check airfares constantly, using www.sidestep.com and www.southwest.com, trying different days of the week.  This is how I decide what day of the week I want to travel.  Marriott's Cypress Harbour is one of our favorite resorts in Orlando and I can get great airfare on a Monday from Denver, and Cypress Harbour has Monday check-in days.  That is such a huge help with costs, believe me!  

Rental cars are another part of the planning that requires a lot of time.  I just checked Alamo with Costco codes (and a $20 coupon code) for travel dates of 9/15-9/22 and came up with a mid-size car for only $108 for the week with taxes and fees.   If I call and pay for the car in advance, I can save another 10%.  Our daughter is flying in for that week, so the car is actually for her, hubby and baby.  We are flying into Tampa and are staying for two weeks.  The best deal I can find on a midsize car rental is $293 for two weeks.  That is high for me.


----------



## Judy (Aug 2, 2007)

There is software available for tracking Worldmark credits.  It's called the Worldmark Credit Manager and it's free download at http://www.wmowners.com/


----------



## short (Aug 2, 2007)

*Last min planning.*

I admit to being a last min planner.  Some value money and some value time.  I am one who values my time more than money thus I wait until I have a handle on my work flow to book airfare.  I just booked our flights to Oslo in Oct just a few days ago and will book our flights to Hawaii for Nov. in about a month.

I only have one timeshare week booked at the present time even though I own 5.  I will be picking up a week in Dec for a conference and one in Jan for skiing(hopefully).

I own HGVC for 1 and 1/2 weeks so booking early is not as critical.

We just became empty nesters last year so this helps my preference to plan last min and not travel during school holidays a lot.

This year we have a trip to China, a cruise, a fishing trip to Canada, a road trip to Minnesota, and a trip to Norway/Sweden that are all none timeshare related.  This has really messed up getting my 5 weeks used up. 

Short


----------



## JLB (Aug 2, 2007)

When we owned 6 weeks, we combined four of them with business--Weeks 1, 2, 23 and 30.  We knew where we wanted to be and when we wanted to be there.  

Of the remaining two, we rented one out and used the other for a Spring family getaway to a Missouri or Arkansas lake/golf resort area.

When we _retired_   and moved to the lake all that changed.

We sold and gave away three weeks.  Since they were all Wastegate weeks, that made us much better off right there.   

Of the three we have left we still use Weeks 1 and 2 to go to Florida, like we used to for business, only we don't have to pull a trailer any more and load and unload two or three times.  The third one Jenny uses for a Girls Week out for her family.

So, we still know what we want and where we want it, and book exchanges two years in advance, or thereabouts.  Everything is in separate intinerary folders right up there in that cubbyhole in front of me, next one (Grand Cayman) on top.


Talking about juggling schedules, Ray and Darlene Harper timeshared 26 consecutive weeks every year, and it got to where he couldn't keep it all straight, so we've heard.

Ask CZBruce how he keeps it all straight, but don't expect to be able to follow his answer.   

When it all goes to heck in a handbasket, we will quit.


----------



## travelguy (Aug 2, 2007)

We travel 15-16 weeks a year with High Country Club, Hilton Grand Vacation Club, RCI and SFX.  They all have different booking time frames combined with Frequent Flier booking dates and rental car booking.  I also track HCC days, HGVC points, RCI & SFX weeks and FF miles on a real time basis.  I continue to refine a MS Excel spreadsheet and linked MS Outlook reminders along with a link to MS Money for tracking FF miles.  I'm working on linking a summarized version of the spreadsheet to a private website that will allow our family and friends to log in and determine where we are at any point in time.


----------



## caribbean (Aug 2, 2007)

We have  RCI Points, weeks, & Royal Holiday Club. Deposits in RCI and SFX. SO yes I keep track on Excel with about 12-15 worksheet tabs. One sheet to track expenditures of points, kind of like a checking account balance. Another that tracks where and when we made exchanges and what we used to do so. One sheet to track our monetary expenditures. One to plan when & where we would like to go in the future. One to document costs of our points. One to track FF miles and what I plan on using them for. One to track SFX deposits and bonus weeks and their usage. One to track when MFs are due and how much we have paid historically. And several other that record some old information that I no longer track. I also keep several copies of the spreadsheet, heaven forbid if it got corrupted, I wouldn't know what to do wthout it.

As another poster said, I post reminders on Outlook to key me to start looking for trades, book FF tickets, pay MFs, ets. Got to stay organized to make this all happen. It does take time an effort, but at about $75 a night to stay in the nice places we do, it is worth the effort.


----------



## John Cummings (Aug 4, 2007)

We get 6 weeks a year, soon to go to 3 as I just sold one of my timeshares. We have 14 weeks banked at SFX. We don't plan our travels based upon our timeshares. The majority of our travels are not timeshare related by choice.

I just reserve the best trading prime summer weeks and then deposit them with SFX. I don't even think how we will use them. We can travel anywhere at any time. The weather is great where we live all year around so we never travel to escape from anything. Instead we travel to places that we think may interest us. Weather comes into play at the travel destination. We would only travel to Canada, and other cold weather places during the summer and travel to Mexico in the spring. First we select our destination and then see if there would be a suitable timeshare at that location. If so, then I will make a request with SFX. If not then I will find a suitable hotel/resort, preferably an upscale one. Non-timeshare travels are much easier to plan because of greater flexibility with the accommodations. I never consider frequent flier or other airline issues. My biggest concern with the airlines is finding a schedule that suits me.

Having said this, we are off to Canada next week for a 2 week trip. It is non timeshare and includes the Rocky Mountaineer Gold Leaf Service Classic circle train tour, 4 nights in Vancouver at the Fairmont Waterfront, 3 nights in Victoria at the Marriott Inner Harbor and 2 nights at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle. It took me a little planning to coordinate everything.

I have already started planning our big trip for next summer. It will be a 4 week trip to Chicago, New York City, Boston, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Montreal, and Quebec City. At this point the only concrete thing I have done is request any summer 2008 week at the Manhattan Club in NYC from SFX. Our plan is to go to baseball games in Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium, and Fenway Park so our stays in Chicago, NYC, and Boston have to be coordinated with the respective team's schedule. I can't do that until their schedules are published. If our timeshare week in NYC does not coordinate with the Yankee's schedule then we will just add the additional nights required at a hotel there. The rest of the trip will fall into place after that. We plan to travel on the Amtrak/Via 30 day pass. In summary I pick the first things that have to be planned such as the timeshare week and baseball schedule and then fill in the rest. I use the Internet extensively but other than that, I don't use any other tools.


----------



## pointsjunkie (Aug 4, 2007)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Bob Sehlinger of the Unofficial Guide to Disney has a website, www.touringplans.com, and he provides a vacation planner on the site for those of us who love to organize.  I found it very useful.
> 
> One thing I do to really plan is check airfares constantly, using www.sidestep.com and www.southwest.com, trying different days of the week.  This is how I decide what day of the week I want to travel.  Marriott's Cypress Harbour is one of our favorite resorts in Orlando and I can get great airfare on a Monday from Denver, and Cypress Harbour has Monday check-in days.  That is such a huge help with costs, believe me!
> 
> Rental cars are another part of the planning that requires a lot of time.  I just checked Alamo with Costco codes (and a $20 coupon code) for travel dates of 9/15-9/22 and came up with a mid-size car for only $108 for the week with taxes and fees.   If I call and pay for the car in advance, I can save another 10%.  Our daughter is flying in for that week, so the car is actually for her, hubby and baby.  We are flying into Tampa and are staying for two weeks.  The best deal I can find on a midsize car rental is $293 for two weeks.  That is high for me.



if you rent a car using costco can you still put a frequent flyer code so you can miles for your purchase?
saving mone and double dipping is always fun.


----------



## susan1738 (Aug 4, 2007)

*5-year planner*

Not being incredibly technological, I have a "hard-copy" 5-year planner.  It is a notebook-type binder (not a notebook-type computer) and I write in timeshare exchanges as I get them and then plan around them.  

Since we do have to vacation according to the school calendar, I check the sightings board frequently for good units in the summer and spring break. 

We rarely vacation without a timeshare.  Actually, I guess we just don't call them "vacations" if they don't last a week.  When we escape to San Antonio for the weekend, it is just that . . . an escape, and we just get a hotel for that on Priceline.  Oh, and this football season, we are going to fly to Denver to see my DH's beloved Broncos school the Steelers, but again, we will use Priceline for that.  :whoopie:


----------



## John Cummings (Aug 4, 2007)

Many of our non-timeshare trips involve staying a week or more at one place. In June we stayed for 2 weeks at the Hilton's Homewood suites. We stayed a week in Calgary at the Hyatt Regency, etc., etc.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 4, 2007)

pointsjunkie said:


> if you rent a car using costco can you still put a frequent flyer code so you can miles for your purchase?
> saving mone and double dipping is always fun.



I haven't done that.  I almost always rent from Alamo, which is the cheapest I can usually find, and none of our FF mile programs take Alamo.


----------



## Timeshare Von (Aug 4, 2007)

I must admit that being in transition with my job situation really is putting a cramp on my personal style in scheduling vacations and t/s exchanges. 

Ordinarily I book out about 12-18 months utilizing bulk spacebank deposits (like in Hawaii) or other finds that ordinarily you might not see closer in time.  Right now I've got my eyes on a week or two in Greece in the fall of 2008 but not knowing what association I'll be managing at the time, I can't really plan anything because of the inherent nature of that business given that the time(s) of the year when annual meetings, conferences and expos take place varies by organization.  With my luck, I'll plan my dream trip to Greece only to find out that is the same time as the annual meeting for my association and a time that I simply cannot take off . . . period!

When you book more than a year out, you are also in the best position to book your airline via frequent flier miles/free tickets.  I typically have enough miles at any given time to do that, but again, with my business travel cut signficantly this past year my World Perks account with NWA has dwindled below 100k miles.

With the number of weeks we own and have available for exchange w/ RCI, I too have used some trades for business related accommodations, especially in Orlando, which is a popular association and conference destination


----------



## Mimi (Aug 8, 2007)

We have 13 timeshare weeks. We have developed 2 charts listing our units, which we store on Microsoft Word. We print a hard copy and update it as needed. One chart keeps track of maintenance fee payments (from 2007 through 2012). The other chart keeps track of booking status from 2007 through 2012. We list confirmation #s and dates of use, deposits, bonus weeks and expiration dates, etc. We highlight information that needs attention. We search timeshare availability online with II, RCI and TPI several times a week to get the trades we want. We will be in Barbados the week of Oct. 6th and in Aruba the week of Oct. 12th. Our 4 Florida weeks are fixed time which we use in November or trade. We have 3 consecutive weeks booked this fall after we return from the Caribbean. We have 3 spring Las Vegas weeks booked in March/April 2008. Kona Coast summer weeks can be booked 2 years in advance (we already have confirmations for July 2008 and July 2009). Our floating Maui weeks can be confirmed 18 months in advance (we are set for next July) and our Kauai weeks can be confirmed 12 months in advance (also set for late June 2008). We line up Maui with Kona and then add Kauai prior to booking our frequent flyer miles 330 days in advance. And our friends wondered what we would do when we retired?  :hysterical:


----------



## ArthurN (Feb 24, 2008)

TravelGuy -
Sent you a PM regarding your travel spreadsheet.


----------



## lprstn (Feb 24, 2008)

*I use Excell SpreadSheet...*

I use an Excel spreadsheet, my 5 year calender and usually book my vacations 1.5 years in advance.  I own with Wyndam, Sheraton, Presidential.  I book all unchangeable/high demand vacations 

1st - I bank weeks from my points account and conduct ongoing searches for : Spring Break, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas.  Sometimes throw in another July week for 2nd vacation in summer.  

 - I log my searches on my spread sheet, call daily to check and as I book I update my calender and my spreadsheet.

2nd - I book my secondary vacations (MLK Day, Presidents weekend, Halloween weekend) at various nearby ski resorts using my points with Wyndam - updating spreadsheet and calender as booked

3rd - I book my adhoc monthly weekend trips - these I book in a 60day window and is based upon what's available at my 35% points discounts with Wyndam - This allows us to go somewhere every month of the year and in the summer we go somewhere ever other weekend, using our points discounts for weekend travel.

Whew...I am kinda obsessive about it, and when I plan each trip, I research it and create a trip itenarary and folder on my computer for each location.  I also have a part-time travel business that came out of all these Trip plans I created.  

As of now I am booked for 2008   and 2009   (2009 - I still have my 3rd step to do)

My husband and I both work full-time, have part-time business and 4 kids, so I don't know what we are going to do when we retire...we were thinking that we would rent for 3 months in Bermuda, Timeshare 3 months, and work near our kids for 6 months to save for our travels of 6 months ... hee hee


----------



## UWSurfer (Feb 24, 2008)

Fortunately I have only 3-1/2 weeks to deal with (ONLY HE SAYS  ), and with 2 of them HGVC weeks, it's more about using points than booking solid weeks there.

Still, I'm now thinking 12 - 18 months ahead these days and drive my co-workers a little nuts determining dates of events, conferences and other annual things so I can book our destinations right at the 9 - 12 months point out depending on the week owned.  

Fortunately I have senority in our department when it comes to scheduling vacation time...but it's still a reach after years of barely thinking about vacation plans 3 months in advance.


----------



## Talent312 (Feb 24, 2008)

I use a spreadsheet on which I post the annual TS-week calendars, using one year per tab.  After setting up the calendar, to the right, I use one column for each resort where I may go and notate the season or circumstances corresponding to each week.  I highlight holidays, no-go dates and special occasions.

The column headings look something like this:
Wk# - Mnth - Fri - Sat - Sun ... Sun - Resort1 - Resort2 - Resort3...


----------



## ownsherown (Feb 25, 2008)

I own 8 total.
The 3 AZ I reserve all for the same week, the one I dont use I rent out to friends. 20 of us go to Bike week every year.
The 3 ski weeks are fixed which makes it real easy to bank and trade as needed.
The RCI points I use only for last calls.
The Va. Beach either we use or my son uses for deep sea fishing trips.
Being I have no small kids and am self employed its easy for me to do last min. decisions. 

My Alaska Air miles are really great, last min. reservations are easy to do and cheap. I used 10,000 K just last week for a last min. same day one way trip I needed to make for business to Dallas from Seattle.


----------



## dchilds (Feb 26, 2008)

We currently own 10 1/3 weeks, after just selling 2.  We had 5 fixed weeks in St Maarten at Pelican, and just sold a week 1, with one left to sell.  We have 2 1/3 fixed ski weeks in Colorado (the 1/3 is a Christmas week in Dillon shared by 3 owners, the other 2 are Christmas in Avon, and New Years in Vail), and had 3 floating ski weeks in Vail, just sold 1, with 1 left to sell, 1 floating summer week in Avon, and 1 Trade Winds Cruise Club week.

We reserve floating weeks we think we can use or rent, and if necessary use them for a 3 day weekend if we can't use the whole week or rent.  Trade Winds is the only one that takes effort, because we have to pick a location and week out of available weeks, and then find plane tickets.

When we reserve a floating week, we put it on the calendar.


----------



## ArthurN (Feb 27, 2008)

*Anyone willing to share their spreadsheet?*

If there's anyone willing to share a "scrubbed" version of their spreadsheet please send me a PM.
Thanks
Arthur


----------



## otis8756 (Feb 27, 2008)

*spreadsheet*

count me in for one of those "scrubbed" spreadhseets too!  thanks in advance


----------



## In The Pink (Feb 27, 2008)

Me three, please!


----------



## teepeeca (Feb 27, 2008)

Being mostly computer illiterate, I would also like the spreadsheet.

Tony


----------



## Mydogs2big (Feb 27, 2008)

I'm raising my hand and jumping up and down too!


----------



## John Cummings (Feb 28, 2008)

I basically don't do any planning. I reserve my week and deposit it to SFX every year. When we feel like going somewhere that involves a timeshare, we just call SFX and make our request.


----------



## Judy (Mar 3, 2008)

Me four, please  Or should I say, "Me six"?


----------

