# Timeshare if you have school age kids?



## nomadio (Apr 25, 2013)

We are interested in going the timeshare route mainly because of the possibility of having 1 or 2 bedrooms and a kitchen, as opposed to a hotel room.  However, our 2 kids are almost school age, so for the next 12 – 15 years our vacation time will more or less be dictated by school holidays.  It would likely be rare for us to vacation at Christmas.  We are thinking of purchasing a resale unit in the Phoenix area as it’s fairly easy for us to get to from Calgary.  Although we’ve been to Phoenix and like it, we would probably also want to exchange into Mexico fairly frequently.  We love Mexico and considered a timeshare in the PV area but everything I’ve read on TUG seems to suggest buying in Mexico is not a great plan.  My main question is, in general, if one buys a floating week, how difficult is it to book spring break weeks?  Should we forget about buying a timeshare and just rent?  I will add that I am a bit of a holiday planner junkie so I don’t mind spending the time online if it’s necessary to get what I need.  Thank you for any thoughts you might have.


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## vacationhopeful (Apr 25, 2013)

Shell Vacation club points. Arizona Club for priority (for AZ priortiy booking).

Point system. 
Western US based mainly.
PHX timeshare (and 2 others in AZ).
Cheap or better yet, gift cards for buying.
Trades in II.
Club membership - so don't pay your dues?


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## Passepartout (Apr 25, 2013)

Be sure you buy into a system that gives you some priority on booking ahead of the general public. Then be prepared to book your school holiday vacations the very minute you can- even if it takes setting an alarm and using multiple phones on speed-dial to book them. It's a pain, but everyone with families does it to assure getting in where they want to go. On going to Mexico, perhaps you will be able to just rent- as you can frequently do that more economically than buying or exchanging there.

Best wishes and Welcome to TUG!

Jim


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## winnipiseogee (Apr 25, 2013)

We have young kids and love TS for the kitchen, private bedrooms, laundry etc.  We've just started thinking about school schedules and so far it hasn't been too bad getting stuff booked.  I think the Christmas holiday is impossible but we don't want to travel then and it doesn't sound like you would either.  As long as we have been flexible and booked in advance we have been able to get great spots through both RCI points and Wyndham.  II not so much.

Best of luck!


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## VegasBella (Apr 25, 2013)

It depends on your interests and goals. Do you want THE BEST DEAL? If so, renting (from owners) probably makes more sense. Do you want less time spent planning and haggling? Then buying makes more sense.

As far as floating weeks go, it depends on the resort and the owner (you). If you reserve early you're unlikely to have much trouble getting the week you want (from what I hear, I'm learning so I'm not entirely sure). you may want to do a search here on TUG for the resort(s) you like and  PM any Tuggers who are owners and ask them specifically about reserving a high demand week. You can also call the resort and ask the staff the same question.

My son is young and we plan for another so we're in a similar boat as far as travel dates are concerned. We chose to buy because consistency is very important to me. My values/priorities were: location, kitchen, pool, low (relatively) MF, season. It will work out to be about half to 2/3rds the cost we have been paying for hotels. However, we are now "locked in" and may not be able to sell easily. So that's a factor for many people: how much financial cushion do you have? Can you afford this committment?


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## Twinkstarr (Apr 25, 2013)

2 school age kids(5th/10th grade) own Disney(Saratoga Springs at WDW and Vero Beach), Wyndham points and a fixed August week in N. Michigan.

We have had no problem booking for spring break and summer with both Wyndham and Disney. 2 for 2 in booking one of the very cool Beach Cottages at DVC Vero(there are only 6 of them) for Easter week. Thanksgiving is always easy. No problem booking what we want with Wyndham either. But I am booking right when my booking window opens. So yes I am booking anywhere from 12-10 months ahead of time. 

To be honest one that is kind of a pain, is the fixed week. Weddings pop up that weekend, sometimes school registration gets in the way(not a big deal for elementary, but Jr High/High School they pick up schedules, get locker assignments etc). 

I put together a 17 day trip to Hawaii, with 2 exchanges and some Wyndham points. Started in Nov 2008 came together in Jan 2010 for July 2010. 

So yes you can timeshare with school age kids! Now ask me in a couple year what to do with one in college and on a different schedule.


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## davidvel (Apr 25, 2013)

Lots of people take trips while kids are in school, especially elementary school. Airfare, rental car, etc. are all a lot cheaper. For those with no or under school age kids, you will see lots of school-age children at all the resorts during school. 

Kids get independent study and usually do more than when in class, as they get extra assignments above and beyond.  Growing up we took a week long vacation during school almost every year and these memories are priceless. Our schoolwork and grades never suffered. 

Many will have an issue with this, but to each his/her own.


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## akp (Apr 25, 2013)

davidvel said:


> Lots of people take trips while kids are in school, especially elementary school. Airfare, rental car, etc. are all a lot cheaper. For those with no or under school age kids, you will see lots of school-age children at all the resorts during school.
> 
> Kids get independent study and usually do more than when in class, as they get extra assignments above and beyond.  Growing up we took a week long vacation during school almost every year and these memories are priceless. Our schoolwork and grades never suffered.
> 
> Many will have an issue with this, but to each his/her own.



I wish I'd taken my kids out of school to travel in the early school years, say K-5th.  I pulled them once or twice starting when the oldest was in 3rd grade.  By 6th grade, he asked us to not pull him anymore for trips as it had gotten too hard to get caught up on homework.

Back to the OP's question:  my kids are 14, 12 and 9.  We own a points system which makes it very easy to travel on long weekends when the kids have breaks from school.  I also deposit weeks into the exchange systems for weeklong stays.  

If you want to travel to Mexico frequently, i would guess you'll have good luck because there always seems to be a lot of availability in Mexico in II and in SFX.  I haven't looked much using RCI.  

Anita


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## gnorth16 (Apr 25, 2013)

When my son was in grade 4, his teacher actually encouraged trips.  She said the little amount of new knowledge is easily trumped by new experiences in a different environment.  New culture, food, environment, nature etc....  Get the kids to bring some homework along (we had to do some tonight on our trip) and get the kids to keep a journal.  The teachers ask us to make a slide show with some pics of the trip.  When the kids get back they can do a presentation of what they did and saw.  

We pull the kids out for 2-3 weeks per year, however one week is usually around two inservice days.  Look at the week in February with only 2.5 days of school.  When we lived in Alberta, we would travel that week.  I have no issues with pulling kids out in Elementary, Junior high is iffy and not a chance in high school.

All in my opinion and personal experiences, however, a certain moderator who is also a teacher may have a different take!!!


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## timeos2 (Apr 25, 2013)

With just a bit of planning (as in use the first available opportunity you get & any preference / early reservations offered) and we found almost any date, resort /location is easy to get.  What doesn't work are fixed weeks as they truly are fixed - you have to take that week / unit or go the risky, costly and often unsuccessful exchange route to get something / someplace different. 

Find a good system that you can get into at a resale price (Wyndham, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt and others) and you should find it will accomplish what yu want to do quite easily. Also consider renting - especially to try things out -as that too makes it easy to get the resorts / dated you want but, in prime seasons, you'll pay the annual fee or more (sometimes much more) if renting rather than owning. If you could use the less demand times then all rentals may actually be cheaper than owning. Not the case when you need the same Holidays and school breaks as everyone else does. 

Enjoy the hunt!


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## nomadio (Apr 26, 2013)

Thank you for all of your suggestions.  It looks like I should probably spend some more time learning about the various points systems.  I have kind of avoided points systems up to now because most of the resale points I see are associated with resorts I have no desire to visit.  I'm worried I'll get stuck having to reserve somewhere I don't want to go, even though most of what I've read says you can use the points in a multitude of resorts.  Just having trouble getting my head around that.

We have friends who routinely pull their elementary school aged kids out of school to go on vacation.  I suppose we'll consider doing this too, as long as our kids are reasonably good students.

Again, thanks for the responses.


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## PassionForTravel (Apr 26, 2013)

Point based systems are great. I'm in two (worldmark and HGVC) and my GF is a teacher so we are restricted to school holidays and I have never had an issue getting any of the WM locations 13 months out, HGVC is newer for me but from what I've seen if I book at 9 months out i should be fine. I've just recently gotten into trading through II and RCI and in 8 months I've gotten 6 exchanges for the next 18 months including 4 to Hawaii all at school holidays.

Ian


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## Twinkstarr (Apr 26, 2013)

Our district gives election day off in November, so we just call the kids in sick on Monday(per a few school secretaries, it's very common, we've run into a few of my sons classmates that weekend at Disneyworld). 

Last November, was able to get 4 25k tickets on Delta to LA and being right online at 8am when the system opened was able to book a 2br at Villas at Grand Californian at Disneyland. Only requested a high floor, and ended up with a great view of the park and the World of Color show.

This is a hard resort to book in the Disney system because it is small. But I was online and ready to enter the system right at 8am.


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## e.bram (Apr 26, 2013)

One must aware some point schemes(ie. RCI, Innseason, Festiva, some Wyndham  etc.)are the result of converted fixed week units in TSes that were sold as fixed weeks.  Generally the prime fixed week owners did not convert, leaving the points holders with a choice of dog(converted) weeks.


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## momeason (Apr 26, 2013)

In Wyndham, points are points.


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## timeos2 (Apr 26, 2013)

momeason said:


> In Wyndham, points are points.



Of course they are. e.Bram hates points systems almost as much as Carolinian does. Pay no attention to that.


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## e.bram (Apr 26, 2013)

"In Wyndham, points are points."
I never meant to imply that they weren't, BUT, in those TSes where those points come from converted fixed weeks the Wyndham points are only good for the inventory of units which were converted. Most of Wyndham's inventory is not prime and of little use for "school calendar" requirements. 
I am not sure about the whole world, but this is the case in Newport, RI and Cape Cod , areas where I have some familiarity. 
Ask Timeos2 about the Cove at Yarmouth and it's Wyndham inventory. Being on the BOD he should know. "Where's the Beef"?


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## Tacoma (Apr 26, 2013)

I'm in Calgary as well and I love the worldmark system.  60 resorts that you can book at 13 months out and trades well in both II and RCI.  Great waitlist system that works and you can book a week in more than one resort if you want.  If the resorts work for you (they are not 5 * quality) it is great.  We always book twin beds in the second bedroom so our kids will share the room.  As a teacher I only book summer, weeks 51/52, and spring break.  I travel every holiday.

Joan


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## bjones9942 (Apr 26, 2013)

As someone who owns in Mexico, and also has a fixed week during summer break , I'll just say that you should buy where you want to vacation.  Many of the Mexican timeshares are right-to-use, and the contracts expire after a certain number of years.  Resales are plentiful on eBay as well.  Keep in mind that it's HOT in Mexico during the summer.  Not that it wouldn't be hot in Phoenix either   You *can* get good deals on trading into Mexican timeshares, but most of those are last minute bookings.

Buying close to a Disney location is also iffy.  As a kid, my sister LOVED Disneyland.  I threw up on most of the rides, so I was less than thrilled.  Every family is different - you have to think about what drives your passion, and then imagine if it still will in 15 - 20 years.

I think you're on the right track ... think, ask questions, think, ask questions ... 

Good luck - and don't buy at developer prices!


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## sfwilshire (May 2, 2013)

We have used timeshares for our vacations since the mid 90s with four kids that are now 27, 25, 19, and 14. We always managed to find availability by planning ahead, but not always in some of the most desired locations where timeshares were scarce. The hardest part was when they were teens too young to leave home alone, but had lots of things that would conflict with the dates we chose months in advance. We had to cancel a few times because of schedule conflicts. Overall, though, I wouldn't have done it any other way.

Now that they are older, we try to book units big enough if any of them want to come along, but they have their own very busy lives and seldom do. 

We adjusted our timeshare holdings through the years to best meet our needs. We bought on Nantucket because it is hard to trade into there. We go there every year. The rest of our weeks we typically trade. We have a combination of fixed weeks, floating weeks, and points.

Sheila


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## VivianLynne (May 2, 2013)

nomadio said:


> .....  We are thinking of purchasing a resale unit in the Phoenix area as it’s fairly easy for us to get to from Calgary.  Although we’ve been to Phoenix and like it, we would probably also want to exchange into Mexico fairly frequently.  We love Mexico and considered a timeshare in the PV area but everything ...



Another vote for Shell Vacation Club  ..... they are being given away on eBay including a years worth of FREE maintenance fees, free closing, etc for $1 or $5. The 27 resorts are centered on the West Coast of US with some Hawaii resorts, a Canadian resort, 4 San Francisco resorts, 3 Arzonia resorts ,etc. Well run and kept better than Wyndham - althought Wyndham did just buy the management contract - with lower MFs than Wyndham.


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## Former Cruiser (May 2, 2013)

I would suggest you rent a timeshare in the different places you're thinking of purchasing.  Redweek is a good place to check out rentals, along with Ebay but I'd trust Redweek over Ebay.  Can't really say why except we bought our Mexico timeshare, Royal Sands - Cancun, from a seller on Redweek and everything went well.  In addition, you can use TUG's "Resorts, Ratings and Reviews" to check them out before renting.


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## nomadio (Oct 18, 2013)

Just want to thank all those who provided input re my original post.  I purchased a small Worldmark account on ebay and the transaction closed last week.  Having a lot of fun learning the ins and outs of the system, and today I booked my first stay – a 3 bedroom at Worldmark Indio for next April.  Hoping that the kids will love the pools, and another plus is that the unit is big enough that the grandparents can come along if they wish.  Thanks again everyone!


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## PassionForTravel (Oct 18, 2013)

Congratulations I'm sure you will be very happy with WM I know we are. We had a small account that my GF bought from the developer back in 2002. Last fall we discovered the resale market and bought a bunch more. Even through all the ones we bought came fully loaded we seem to have burned through most of our credits don't know where they all went.

As a plus you also have a bunch of locations within driving distance from you. Watch for the Inventory Specials and Bonus time you can travel for $.054 cents per credit without needing a HK at the last minute.

cotravellers web site has lots of good info on how to use your account. http://www.wmtsinfo.com/ and of course wmowners.com is filled with people who will answer any of your questions.

You and the kids will love Indio. We go there probably twice a year for long weekends, very relaxing and the kids we see are having fun in the lazy river, pools, etc. The first hour of the day the lazy river is adults only and during that hour they allow you in without an inner tube so we walk against the current for exercise.

Ian


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## SMHarman (Oct 18, 2013)

VegasBella said:


> It depends on your interests and goals. Do you want THE BEST DEAL? If so, renting (from owners) probably makes more sense. Do you want less time spent planning and haggling? Then buying makes more sense.
> 
> My son is young and we plan for another so we're in a similar boat as far as travel dates are concerned. We chose to buy because consistency is very important to me. My values/priorities were: location, kitchen, pool, low (relatively) MF, season. It will work out to be about half to 2/3rds the cost we have been paying for hotels. However, we are now "locked in" and may not be able to sell easily. So that's a factor for many people: how much financial cushion do you have? Can you afford this committment?


I think the renting from owners is rarely the best deal in the Summer holiday weeks and even less so in the Winter / Spring Break weeks.

Traveling outside those weeks for MX generally gets a better deal renting from an owner.


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## Phill12 (Oct 18, 2013)

We have had great vacations with our daughter as she grew up and timesharing was great for us in Lake Tahoe.
The first thing you need to know when buying into a resort is to buy some place you like going every year and exchange is second option.

 You want to buy in a nice resort that has good trade value and make sure you buy high rated season in the area. This way you can trade to other nice area's and resorts in summer months. 
 Last but most important is you need to understand  when school is out the most booked time and you need to make your plans way in advance to get what you want.

 We loved our Lake Tahoe resort and went there most years. We also traded into Orlando and Hawaii with one of our first three choices with II  because of booking early. Also with II we only booked our reservations on the request first so if II didn't get what we wanted we kept our unit. We only had to keep our unit one year and within few days II some how come up with our first choice. We turned it down because we had already made our plans.

 PHILL12


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## Tacoma (Oct 18, 2013)

Nomadio if you ever need help with the worldmark system I am in Calgary.  Just don't  tell me you're pulling the kids out of school as I am a HS teacher and it drives me crazy.

Joan


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## Rent_Share (Oct 18, 2013)

I still schedule around school Calendars - Mine are in college, can't get them to stay home   Although I just booked two stays for the oldest two without the "rents"

Their Calendars don't line up - One is in that schedule I hate Mid August to Memorial Day the other is Labor day to 3rd Week of June which basically limits me to less than two full months, and I avoid the fourth of July week due to a neurotic dog and cats . . . .

It's all about planning and getting up early on the booking window day, fortunately my system allows for 7 day check ins so somethimes it's 7 days starting on a Tuesday . . .


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## ladycody (Oct 19, 2013)

Canmore would be a nice little weekend getaway for bonus time for you...and you have a few that are drivable as well.  Enjoy the club!


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## Phill12 (Oct 19, 2013)

nomadio said:


> Thank you for all of your suggestions.  It looks like I should probably spend some more time learning about the various points systems.  I have kind of avoided points systems up to now because most of the resale points I see are associated with resorts I have no desire to visit.  I'm worried I'll get stuck having to reserve somewhere I don't want to go, even though most of what I've read says you can use the points in a multitude of resorts.  Just having trouble getting my head around that.
> 
> We have friends who routinely pull their elementary school aged kids out of school to go on vacation.  I suppose we'll consider doing this too, as long as our kids are reasonably good students.
> 
> Again, thanks for the responses.



First thing is the idea of pulling your kids out of school for a vacation always bad idea! Puts them behind everyone else in class and most never catch up.
I don't like points either and we sold all three of our Lake Tahoe units last two years and all three buyers wanted deeded which helped us as our resort like many now only selling points.
Problem with points are they cost more and you own a week in the resort but if your resort has different buildings like ours did then you don't own into one building and are stuck with what ever they give you. Our resort had nine buildings and we owned in the  top two buildings so every year our reservations were in those two buildings. If resort location not important then don't worry about it. This was another reason we sold without trying.

 We owned for more than twenty years in Lake Tahoe because we love the Lake and what made it easy for vacations and short bonus time trips was the resort was only 31/2 drive from our home. When possible this is nice as cost never stopped us from going like if you needed to load up the kids and fly or long drive. We figured our long vacations to Orlando or Hawaii cost enough without also having to do this with home resort.


 PHILL12


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## LLW (Oct 21, 2013)

nomadio said:


> Just want to thank all those who provided input re my original post.  I purchased a small Worldmark account on ebay and the transaction closed last week.  Having a lot of fun learning the ins and outs of the system, and today I booked my first stay – a 3 bedroom at Worldmark Indio for next April.  Hoping that the kids will love the pools, and another plus is that the unit is big enough that the grandparents can come along if they wish.  Thanks again everyone!



Welcome to Worldmark! 

A few pointers to get you started:
1. It is a long time between now and April. You may think it's too late to book anything before April, but WM has a liberal cancellation policy (people can cancel up to 30 days before check-in without penalty) and a great waitlist system. Read on http://www.wmowners.com/forum/index.php (WMO), the Timeshare Tips & Tricks sub-forum, how to make best use of the waitlist system. With luck you could get some holiday use and long weekends, before April, out of your WM.

2. Exchanges can get you a lot of great vacations at less than full credits, e.g. Flexchange in II and last minute rentals in RCI (Last Calls) both provide great values.

3. The more you read on WMO, the better informed you will be in using a small account with rental credits, cash rentals from the Club, and other opportunities where you will have the liberty to use Club properties without using credits. 

4. WMO is a community of helpful fellow owners who will answer questions and clarify confusions for you. Make use of it.

Again, welcome!


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## Rent_Share (Oct 21, 2013)

Welcome to Worldmark =  {Wyndham not so much}

Now you can book {Wait list} less than 7 days in the 4 -9 month window - IMHO you need to stay more tham two night to make the house keeping fees cost effective effective.

Monday Madness rates are actually better than credits and purchased housekeeping tokens


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