# Somebody needs to pinch me because I must be in a long dream-like state or euphoria



## rickandcindy23 (Jan 16, 2019)

Someone pinch me because here I am, staying in this gorgeous unit at Marriott's Ocean Pointe, about to head to Marriott's Crystal Shores for a second week. 

Our success is the combination of lucky timeshare purchases (resale) and airline miles, mostly built with Chase and American Express credit cards.  Our old SPG Amex now sits in a drawer, unused for months because of the changes to Starwood with Marriott's takeover.  The Chase Sapphire Reserve is now my go-to card for everything.  I get 3X points on travel (including timeshare maintenance fees), restaurants and gas.  

Rick and I were poor as kids.  We grew up in North Denver, before it's heyday of today (an average house now rivals the prices in some of the most expensive areas of the country).  Rick was at more of a disadvantage, living with a single mom who cleaned houses to make a living.  My dad was an upholsterer and barely made ends meet, and he had three little girls and our mom to support.  

Neither one of us had even been to a motel when we married in 1973.  I went to Nebraska as a kid to visit my grandparents' farm, which is an experience I wish my kids and grandkids could have.  That was the only state I ever visited. Rick had only been to Wyoming to camp once at Yellowstone, before his parents divorced.  Camping was his only vacation experience.  

Our first vacation together was in 1976, when Rick decided we needed to drive to Disneyland and see it for our first time.  It was June and magical, just as we always thought it would be.  We drove different routes going to/ from California and saw several states along the route.  We had a brand new 1975 Dodge Charger Special Edition, plus we already bought our first house.  We had just turned 21.  Rick had been on the fire department for one year, and I was working in customer service at World of Sleep.  Life was becoming great.  

We didn't vacation again until we bought timeshares in 1981.  We bought near Winter Park, CO, Twin Rivers, and we stayed there every year for five years.  In 1985, when Rick said, "Hey, let's take the kids to Disneyland!"  There was a deal at the credit union for a stay at The Grand Hotel, car rental, and airfare for four, so we booked it and had a wonderful time.  

Two years later, we wanted to do Disneyland again.  We wanted to try for an exchange.  We now owned two timeshares, having purchased a gorgeous unit at Val Chatelle in Frisco, CO, so we traded to Lawrence Welk Vacation Villas for one week, then a second week in Washington state on the ocean (Point Brown).  It was a drive to Disneyland from Escondido, but we enjoyed the drive each day, anyway. 

After those two trips, we were hooked on timeshare exchanges and didn't really stay in our units again.  We bought more to use for exchange, we even got a ski week for free, when owners defaulted on fees.   

When we went to Hawaii for the first time in 2000, we were sure we would never get to Hawaii again.  We thought it was a one-time deal.  We were celebrating our son's graduation from School of Mines.  Now we go twice a year and own a timeshare literally less than 40 feet from the ocean in West Maui, and we now own three weeks.  

I used to envy the girls at school after their summer and school breaks to exotic places like Florida and Hawaii.  Now Rick and I are living it up with our airline miles and our timeshares.  We haven't paid for airfare in at least four years now, and we traveled first class to Fort Lauderdale.  Timeshare maintenance fees and some manufactured spending have built our points to a high level.  I remember reading Million Mile Secrets years ago and wondering if I could pull that off, and I have done incredibly well with the tips shared liberally on that site.  

We have made some great decisions for timeshare purchases since our first few, and we honestly do not even own the same weeks we owned before at Val Chatelle and Twin Rivers.  We bought off-season weeks from the developer, at ridiculous prices, too.  

Now we own a lot of timeshares, and a lot of them our daughter rents to make a little income for herself and for us.  We had some good fortune with cheap conversions of weeks we owned in Hawaii to get us status with Wyndham.  That was a total fluke the first time, then a second purchase was purposefully engineered by yours truly.  I then bought some weeks at Sheraton Broadway Plantation to use ourselves, and for our daughter to rent.  I bought Marriott for trading purposes only (for trips like this one).  You cannot beat the value of a Marriott exchange through II (cheap exchange fees).

What is a girl like me doing in a place like this?  I must be dreaming.  Pinch me, but not too hard because I bruise easily.  

I wish I had known all of this sooner, but with good health we should be good for at least another 20 years of travel.  Sure, things can change, we don't know what the future holds for us, but for now, we feel so incredibly blessed and fortunate.   

Please share your story, TUGgers!


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## TUGBrian (Jan 16, 2019)

timeshare success stories are few and far between, but they are always fantastic to read!


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## Panina (Jan 16, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Someone pinch me because here I am, staying in this gorgeous unit at Marriott's Ocean Pointe, about to head to Marriott's Crystal Shores for a second week.
> 
> Our success is the combination of lucky timeshare purchases (resale) and airline miles, mostly built with Chase and American Express credit cards.  Our old SPG Amex now sits in a drawer, unused for months because of the changes to Starwood with Marriott's takeover.  The Chase Sapphire Reserve is now my go-to card for everything.  I get 3X points on travel (including timeshare maintenance fees), restaurants and gas.
> 
> ...


So much of your youth parallels with mine.  All my friends and their families traveled and if I got to go to upstate NY to a relatives home that was considered a grand vacation.  I didn’t start traveling until after I was married.

For all that complain about the negatives of Timesharing I am living in a parallel dream like yours.   Timesharing has allowed me to live the travel life of the wealthy which I am not yet everyone thinks I am.  Timesharing done right makes dreams come true at an affordable price.  

I hope to have 20 years  of fabulous timeshare travel left like you my friend.  One day hopefully we will go to the  same place, same time, and share the real dream that we created for ourselves.  I love Timesharing!


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## Luanne (Jan 16, 2019)

We did take family vacations when I was growing up.  My dad sat behind a desk 50 weeks of the year so he wanted to be on the move the two weeks of our summer vacations.  We took a lot of road trips.  I also wished that we could rent a house at the beach and just stay put for a week or two.  So, after dh and I got married and bought our timeshare on Maui, that is just what we've done.  I was finally able to live out MY childhood vacation dream.


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## Luvtoride (Jan 16, 2019)

Cindy and all, your stories all ring very true with me and my memories of growing up with "vacations" that were basically driving to Texas or Florida to visit my grandparents (my dad's parents) during the first 2 weeks of July when the textile mill my father worked in closed for vacation. My wife's family, although more financially able, just didn't vacation at all, other than to visit relatives in Philadelphia, Delaware and Maryland.  

I'm sure that these humble beginnings is what gave my wife and I the drive to experience vacations in different ways then we did as kids.  Over the years we have built up our timeshare and points ownership (Chairman's Club) with Marriott and experienced many vacations of all types. This year our timeshare ownership will be taking us to Paris (using MR points for hotel and airfare), Aruba Surf Club (annual family trip), Orlando (our first timeshare ownership) and Israel on a Collette Tour using Points.  We have raised our kids taking these types of vacations and now bring them, their spouses and our grandchildren with us on many of our travels.  Yes, we do feel fortunate as well to have discovered this great way to travel and do things that we could not have imagined when we were growing up.  

BTW Cindy, enjoy Ocean Pointe...our favorite US timeshare where we own a 3 bedroom week, purchased for exactly the reason to "some day travel with our kids and grandkids" a dream that has come true!


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## rapmarks (Jan 16, 2019)

I enjoyed your story Cindy.  I too never went on a vacation.  Once after I started teaching we went overnight and stayed with my father’s friends in their cottage.  My first real trip was my honeymoon, and that was to the Boundary Waters Canoe area and around Lake Superior.
You will be near us when you go to Marco, but I imagine you are taking alligator alley.


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## bbodb1 (Jan 16, 2019)

It should be noted what a fine ride Rick and Cindy had in the day: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/...f-the-day-1975-dodge-charger-special-edition/

Great story, Cindy!


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## JIMinNC (Jan 16, 2019)

It's funny, after reading the OP, my first reaction was that I didn't travel much growing up either. But as I reflected, I realized that we really traveled quite a bit, it just seems less when looked at through today's lens.

As a very young child, I recall annual summer trips to Myrtle Beach, my first plane flight to visit relatives in Houston in 1964, and my mom and I tagging along on one of my dad's business trips to New York to see the city and go to the 1965 New York World's Fair. I remember driving to Florida a few times, including 1969 to see the launch of Apollo 11 and again in 1971 for the launch of Apollo 15. Washington, DC in 1972; Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the big airshow in 1974; and San Juan, tagging along on another of my dad's business trips in 1978 when I was in college. Once I graduated and got a job for a large bank, I traveled extensively on business myself, and started accumulating frequent flyer miles. I met my future wife, and we were able to enjoy traveling to the Bahamas, San Juan/St. Thomas, and several Space Shuttle launches.

I first discovered Hawaii in 1987, when a long-time friend from college and I went with my then recently-retired parents to the islands. My wife and I returned to Hawaii for our honeymoon in 1992, thus beginning our own love affair with the islands. We would wind up returning to Hawaii again and again, and that was the impetus for our first timeshare purchase, a 2BR at Kaanapali Beach Club in 1999. Thanks to that first timeshare, our kids were able to grow up going to Hawaii every 2-3 years and to Orlando for Disney/Universal almost every year until they got old enough to be a little bored with family trips. We also found time for non-timeshare trips - a Disney Caribbean cruise and almost annual summer trips to Litchfield-By-the-Sea on the S.C. coast. Once the kids outgrew the Mouse and wanted to go on trips where they could take their friends, we sold the Kaanapali Beach Club in 2014 and bought into the Marriott Vacation Club because of their great, high quality resorts in Hilton Head, Hawaii, Florida, and the Caribbean (and elsewhere).

Within the last year, with our own retirement not far away, we bought a week in HGVC and added an EOY week at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club (that we'll be using for the first time in just 45 days!). We've also just recently re-discovered cruising with our September small-ship Azamara Quest Mediterranean cruise and will be cruising again in June in French Polynesia, this time on the even smaller M/S Paul Gauguin. But even though not all of our travel will now be timeshare-based, it was our timeshare ownership that really allowed us to bring our kids up traveling, and they now love travel as much as we do. They've both studied abroad in Europe during the summer while in college, and our son spent a month traveling around Europe after his college graduation before starting into his first full-time job. Hopefully we all have a lot of travel adventures yet to enjoy!


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## Fredflintstone (Jan 16, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Someone pinch me because here I am, staying in this gorgeous unit at Marriott's Ocean Pointe, about to head to Marriott's Crystal Shores for a second week.
> 
> Our success is the combination of lucky timeshare purchases (resale) and airline miles, mostly built with Chase and American Express credit cards.  Our old SPG Amex now sits in a drawer, unused for months because of the changes to Starwood with Marriott's takeover.  The Chase Sapphire Reserve is now my go-to card for everything.  I get 3X points on travel (including timeshare maintenance fees), restaurants and gas.
> 
> ...



All I can say is what a lovely story. I too hope you have many more healthy, wonderful vacations!  It’s always nice to see someone appreciate and feel blessed. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## slip (Jan 16, 2019)

Growing up in the sixty’s and seventy’s my mother and father always took us on an annual two week trip to Wisconsin. We lived in Chicago and always went to the same place but we loved it. I remember talking to my mother when we were older and she said looking back she don’t know how they did it. It was a lot of work with four kids. 

We stayed in cottages, no A/C and had to walk about a mile and a half to get to a lake that we stayed at all day. We all have great memories from all those trips. Then in 1973, my parents bought what turned out to be their retirement home in the city close to the cottages we always went to. They stayed in that house, my father until his death and my mother until she had to move to assisted living. 

As I grew up and had a Family, we only went on a few vacations, Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. When our kids grew up and moved out. We all had more income and we started to really travel. After our first trip to Hawaii, I started to look into timeshares. I found TUG and the resale market and then our vacations really took a step up with great accommodations. 

We just bought our retirement condo on Molokai. We will still keep some timeshare weeks on Maui and Kauai. Like Cindy I do look back and see how blessed we are to be able to travel at these beautiful places in great condos. Timeshares made it possible for us and I do wish we would have found them sooner.


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## DaveNV (Jan 16, 2019)

Cindy, you've been a great source of knowledge and inspiration to me since I found Tug over a dozen years ago.  I always read your posts, because the tips and tricks you mention are invaluable for a newbie trying to figure out how this whole timeshare shell game works. I sincerely appreciate your input.

As to your amazement at where you're staying, and how you got there, be honest - you can't really be THAT surprised.  You've worked your tail off to make the most of what you own, and how to leverage that into something better. You've done one heck of a great job. If anything, you should give yourselves a great pat on the back for the hard work and a job very well done.  Enjoy your vacations. You absolutely rock.  

Dave


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## BJRSanDiego (Jan 18, 2019)

My own background is similar to Rick and Cindy.  My Dad was a "blue collar worker" (who wore a white cook's uniform}.  My Mom cleaned houses and baby sat.  I guess that I was the beneficiary of white privilege (a sarcastic joke) because my Dad got me a job working with him washing pots and pans and thousands of dishes in the summers and every Saturday during the school season.  In the summer I typically worked 48 hours a week and enjoyed the time-and-a-half for the last 8 hours.  Occasionally I would be asked to work a double shift.  I didn't complain because that meant that those extra hours were at double time.  The only negative aspect was getting home around midnight and having to get up at 5 am.   

An aside:  In the summers when I was dishwashing, the temperature at my workstation would peak around 110 F. and was close to 100 percent humidity.  My employer bought us salt pills so that we wouldn't badly screw up our electrolytes due to perspiration.  But I enjoyed working for my Dad and found that most of the co-workers were "salt-of-the-earth" type of hard working people.  Also, that work provided me with make the money that I needed to pay for my college tuition and books. 

As a family we didn't do very much vacationing.  The trips that I remember included two one-week trips to Lake Kandiyohi (Minnesota) in a 15 x 15 cabin, a trip to Mille Lacs Lake, one trip to Ely, Mn. and a day-trip to the Wisconsin Dells.  We also took a lot of one-day fishing trips that I fondly remember.  That was about all my folks could afford.  And I felt that I was lucky to have gone on those trips.  They were, in my mind, great trips. 

About ten years ago, when I retired I bought the first of four timeshares (resale).  Now we take 8 to 10 one-week vacations a year.   A common conversation that my wife and I have when vacationing is how we could not have imagined in our wildest dreams (when we were growing up and still with our parents) staying in the high-end timeshares that we enjoy today.  Like Rick and Cindy, we feel that someone should pinch us to make sure that all of this is real and part of our life.


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## Steve Fatula (Jan 18, 2019)

Sounds a lot like us, we grew up quite poor, though never lacking. And we have had incredible success with our ownerships. The negative timeshare crowd drowns out those with success stories, so, always good to read. if we could go back 21 years and do things over, we certainly would have bought the same unit from the developer at the same price, have gotten nothing but success and enjoyment from that purchase, and all later ones as well.

We said the same thing, our trip in 2001 to Australia I thought we'd never do again, we've gone 3 times now and going again in May along with Fiji and Thailand.

I agree with the pinch me thing, though, to some degree, I would say it was planned as well. But there was some luck too, i.e. accidental success! I think we have about 15 more years, and then we'll likely get rid of most (if not all) of it. We'll see, as you say, no one can predict. Thanks for the stories.


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## Panina (Jan 18, 2019)

Steve Fatula said:


> Sounds a lot like us, we grew up quite poor, though never lacking. And we have had incredible success with our ownerships. The negative timeshare crowd drowns out those with success stories, so, always good to read. if we could go back 21 years and do things over, we certainly would have bought the same unit from the developer at the same price, have gotten nothing but success and enjoyment from that purchase, and all later ones as well.
> 
> We said the same thing, our trip in 2001 to Australia I thought we'd never do again, we've gone 3 times now and going again in May along with Fiji and Thailand.
> 
> I agree with the pinch me thing, though, to some degree, I would say it was planned as well. But there was some luck too, i.e. accidental success! I think we have about 15 more years, and then we'll likely get rid of most (if not all) of it. We'll see, as you say, no one can predict. Thanks for the stories.


It always makes me sad when I hear the negativity on timeshares.  Like anything else an educated timeshare consumer gets the best use of timeshares and great they can be. 

One has to understand how they work to get what works and to use them best in order to appreciate them. I would also do it all again, knowing I purchased my first from a developer.   Never could I travel the way I do, for the cost I do, without owning timeshares.


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## Icc5 (Jan 18, 2019)

As a kid we too didn't vacation much.  We didn't vacation for a few different reasons.  My Dad worked 2 jobs to make ends meet in raising 5 kids.  He had a full time job and then a part time.  Between the two it was about 70 hours a week.  My Mother was at home which was common in the 50's and 60's.
Luckily for me I was a fairly good athlete and usually made all stars during summer baseball so that too limited our vacation time.
We did do 2 major trips though.  When there were 4 kids we took a train trip from California to Illinois and stayed 2 weeks visiting relatives.  My parents were from Chicago.  The other trip a few years later was to Los Angeles from Santa Clara and again we visited relatives and went to Disney and Knox Berry Farm.  I grew up a happy kid since I was able to spend my time playing sports so didn't miss going on vacations.
Things changed when I married at age 38 and we had 2 kids.  We started cruising and then added timeshares.  Since that time my kids (now adults) both have been on a few cruises, been to Hawaii 3-4 times each and have stayed in about 35 states.  I enjoy the travel and now it's on my retired schedule as we go several times a year and now adding Europe to our travels.


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## heathpack (Jan 18, 2019)

Cindy, I get that feeling sometimes too, when I’m staying at the Grand Californian and I think how much it costs and how I’d never pay that if I were paying cash.

We mostly visited my grandparents and cousins in upstate NY.  Otherwise we took exactly three trips in my childhood: cabin rental in Vermont, road trip to Niagra Falls, and the blowout “once-in-a-lifetime” trip to Disney World.  We went over Thanksgiving and stayed at the Polynesian.  I still remember it vividly- Thanksgiving dinner at what is now Ohana, renting mini speed boats, fun day at River Country, watching the Electrical water pageant from the beach, going to Circus World where I got my picture taken with a parrot.  It was a great trip.

Now timeshares are my greatest travel hack.  We’ve settled into a pattern that includes locales where I can either road or mountain bike: Carmel CA, Tahoe, Park City, Sedona.  People who don’t travel with timeshares imagine I spend a fortune annually on travel, when in reality I probably spend annually what they spend on a single trip.  It’s awesome.

Timeshares are not for everyone but they work great for us.  Love em.


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## geist1223 (Jan 18, 2019)

Without timeshares I know that Patti and I would not have traveled to Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Normandy, Paris, Fiji, New Zealand (twice), Australia (twice to include Tasmania), Cancun, Cabo (many times), Hawaii (many times and 5 Islands), etc. We have 2020 plans for Ireland and Tasmania (3 weeks this time instead of 1).


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## DaveNV (Jan 18, 2019)

My childhood was pretty much hand-to-mouth, as well. The only memories of traveling for vacation I have was a trip to Disneyland when I was five. The rest of the traveling we did was moving from one house, town, or state to another, because of my Dad’s military career. Vacations were something other families took. As an adult, I’ve tried to change that. 

Dave


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## WinniWoman (Jan 18, 2019)

Great thread! I can relate. When I was a kid we rarely went anywhere. My dad owned a business and actually went through a few bankruptcies. He and my mom were hard workers. Once we went on a road trip upstate NY and another time my mom and me (and my girlfriend)went to Puerto Rico for a week and attended a wedding there, staying in a friend's home- first time for us on a plane. I was 17 years old at the time. Dad stayed home to work. Another time we went to the Jersey Shore for a few days in a cottage rental with my mom and  aunts (her sisters) and cousins. The men all stayed home because they had to work.

Other than that, no vacations when I was young. I worked all the time from age 16- full time on all school breaks and all summer. So did my brother. Everyone else was doing trips to Florida and so forth

BUT- when my grandma died- she left my mom some money. Amazing since she was essentially dirt poor living above a bodega in the Bronx with my alcoholic grandpa who barely worked sometimes as a painter. She was a seamstress. My mom immediately used it to buy a timeshare in Connecticut just 2 hours from home. On the Long Island Sound. She and dad were in heaven and thus our introduction to timeshares. We spent many summers there- I was already married.

Mom and dad did take some non timeshare vacations in their 50's and early 60's- but we were, of course, out of the house then. My mom's sister was a travel agent and always helped arrange these- as she did for our honeymoon.

Although we married young (21), we had a big Italian wedding of 300 people that my parents amazingly paid for and we used the gift proceeds to pay for a 2 week honeymoon to San Francisco, Hawaii and Las Vegas. And- even though we had purchased a handyman special home to live in which required a lot of money and sweat to renovate, we still were able to carve out some money and time to take a cruise, a vacation to WDW, and some  staycations with day trips. Also a week long vacation to a resort in PA that we could drive to once.

We used my parent's timeshare once to trade into St. Lucia. The vacation bug was deep inside me at that point. (not so much in my husband).

At 40 years old my dream was always to go to Alaska and I had been diligently saving for it for years and we went with our son that same year on a safari tour.  Then we got a postcard from Smugglers Notch with a nice deal to stay there for a week. We loved it and the rest is history. We have exchanged all over the country and I, too, always pinch myself and thank God for our blessings when we are in these amazing places- even at our home resorts.

Our 31 year old single son has had it made. I always tell him how lucky he has been to travel with us everywhere (and he still visits with us when we are in Vermont as he can drive there). We cut him off starting in 2017 with our trip to Colorado- though he did mention how he would have liked to go. I told him- if you have money for airfare- fine. Never heard from him about it. LOL!


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## JIMinNC (Jan 18, 2019)

mpumilia said:


> Our 31 year old single son has had it made. I always tell him how lucky he has been to travel with us everywhere (and he still visits with us when we are in Vermont as he can drive there). We cut him off starting in 2017 with our trip to Colorado- though he did mention how he would have liked to go. I told him- if you have money for airfare- fine. Never heard from him about it. LOL!



It's wonderful when one of your kids finally says THEY are willing to pay for their plane ticket! A year ago we made plans for our first trip to Hawaii since 2011, and set it up so that one of our 3+ weeks would be over our daughter's spring break from college, the first week of March (we'll be at our home resort at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club). As a poor college student still living on our buck, we knew we would be paying for her travel, so we expected our 24-yr-old son to probably expect the same (because that's what we had always done, of course, as they were growing up.) Since he now has a great-paying job as a software engineer, we were wondering how we were going to break the news that Mom and Dad can't be the "payor" forever. Boy, were we pleasantly surprised when he pre-empted us and said he was going to buy his own plane ticket and own rental car for he and his sister to be mobile on their own in Maui. He'll be flying from Atlanta and our daughter from Orlando (closest major airport to University of Florida), but we set it all up where they both connect in Phoenix to the same flight to meet us in Maui, so they get there at the same time. As long as both incoming flights are on time (and they don't miss their flights!), all should work great.


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## Luvtoride (Jan 19, 2019)

JIMinNC said:


> It's wonderful when one of your kids finally says THEY are willing to pay for their plane ticket! .



Wow, I can’t imagine that happening with us.  I guess because we’ve always paid for the tickets and continue to “invite” our kids, their spouses and our grandkids who now also require plane tickets, it never even enters their mind to offer.  

In fairness though, as young families with a lot of expenses raising their kids (gymnastics, dance, college savings etc) paying for plane tickets is a relatively low price to pay to be able to spend a relaxing  week with our family without all of the pressures of school, gymnastics etc.  
As I’ve said in another thread about measuring the “break even cost of our timeshare ownership” the experiences we create with these trips is priceless!  


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## klpca (Jan 19, 2019)

We also grew up poor - as in really poor, food stamps etc - so obviously we never went on a vacation. I don't remember friends or neighbors taking vacations either, but I was probably just blissfully unaware. I read about families who went on vacation, but I thought that was just made up, not reality.

Prior to timesharing, we took one week of vacation a year - almost always camping with the kids - and had a great time. This was due to school schedules and the cost of getting two hotel rooms. We took the occasional non-camping vacation (usually Hawaii), but still just one week per year.  Our other vacation week was usually spent at home, working on some project in the house. Timesharing has changed the way we travel because the cost is lower than renting, especially if you throw an AC week in there. I agree with the "just pinch me" description, we have stayed in some very nice locations, in some very nice accommodations. I have read this before on this site - people assume that we are "rich" because of the trips that we take. If they only knew! I have friends who spend as much on a one week cruise as we spend on four weeks of vacationing using timeshares. Another friend will stay a week at some fancy resort in the Caribbean, again spending nearly the same as our annual travel budget. (In both cases, their husbands have shared the amount spent. I don't ask and I don't tell, but in both cases I had to pick my jaw up from the floor.)

I am also glad to read this thread. There are a lot of negative opinions about timesharing out there, but when it works for you, it's one of the best way to travel.


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## LannyPC (Jan 19, 2019)

Panina said:


> It always makes me sad when I hear the negativity on timeshares.  Like anything else an educated timeshare consumer gets the best use of timeshares and great they can be.
> 
> One has to understand how they work to get what works and to use them best in order to appreciate them.



Definitely.  It is quite sad when people go on social media and other platforms totally lambasting the TS industry just because they had bad experiences with TSs.  Unfortunately, the sales people and certain TS companies give the industry a black eye.

I, for one, have had both negative experiences (buying a mud week at a sales presentation) and positive ones such as staying there a couple of times, exchanging a few times, and renting a few times after we sold ours.


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## DeeCee (Jan 19, 2019)

Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s as well, vacations weren’t really part of our lifestyle. My dad was an electrician and mom worked part time in a bank so she could be home for us kids after school. 

The extent of fancy vacations for us was a two week trip to Montana, with a visit to Glacier National Park and the state of Washington, where my dad had an old war buddy. We flew to Montana and drove all over the place. I was 13. It was amazing and I remember it fondly. 

The rest of our “vacations” were a long weekend away once a year to cabins upstate NY or PA. Those trips were with 16 other families and their kids. AWESOME! We are all still friends today. 

So not much travel experience for this guy and gal. Until.....married, husband who didn’t want to fly anywhere ever. Then twins, driving trips up and down the East Coast. And then Disney in 95. We were all hooked. The kids were little the first time we took them. It was for their 6th birthday. I wanted DVC from that second. We went back 2 more times before my husband would buy in 2000. And that was it....we did and still do Disney and Disney cruises. My grandbabe was with us last year. Next year both grandbabies and our children will be joining us. We’ve traded out for Aruba, Hilton Head, Sedona. We took a couple of days and went to the Grand Canyon in that trip....a lifelong dream of mine. It was unbelievable. Charleston, Cape Cod, and more to come. Now we also own a legacy week with Marriott in Hilton Heads Surfwatch and OMG what a resort. We have hopes of going to St. Thomas, Vegas, San Diego, Newport Coast, and back to Aruba. Maybe Paris one day, although I’m a close to home kind of person. 

We would NEVER be able to take our family and ourselves to any of these places, let alone as often as we have, without our awesome timeshares. I have ZERO regrets and love every trip I plan. I use the credit cards that get me the points I can use towards our maintenance fees and fly with points sometimes as well. Timesharing enriched our lives and have given us the opportunity to give our kids more experiences than our parents were able to give us. What could be bad? Keeping on timesharing!


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## DaveNV (Jan 19, 2019)

People tend to post about negative experiences more than positive ones.  It's not just timeshares - they do it with everything.  If they have a problem they're trying to solve, or have had a bad experience, they want the world to know.  But if things are great, if they had a fantastic experience, or if there is no problem, you rarely hear about it.  So public perception of timesharing is skewed to the negative. I think that's just how it works.

For me, in my "BT" years (that's "Before Tug"), timesharing was always a negative thing.  They were too expensive, you couldn't get out of them, yada yada.  You went to sales presentations only to garner the free gift.  I had no ownership experience because I thought people who bought timeshares were foolish, and I wasn't about to be one of those suckers. So even though I'd only had peripheral experience with the industry, it didn't stop me from having a negative opinion about them.

Then my brother and his (now-ex) wife got suckered by a gifted free bottle of tequila for touring a timeshare in Cabo San Lucas.  They bought full freight.  The first time they used it, we were invited to join them.  We went, and had a marvelous time.  It was a great place, (Hacienda Del Mar), and we had a great vacation.  I was able to set aside the negative things that happened that trip (e.g., highly insulting treatment of me by the sales weasel over and over during the "Owner's Update", who kept harassing me for being a cheap American jerk if I wouldn't buy my own unit.  After about an hour of his treatment, I finally told him to stop [I used MUCH stronger words] or I'd report him.  He did, but it proved some of the sales stories I'd heard over the years were true.) But at the end of our week there, I figured maybe there was some truth to the positive side of the whole timesharing thing, and I decided I wanted to find out.

After we came home, I started exploring the marketplace.  I figured there had to be a better way to enjoy timesharing.  Enter Tug, guns blazing, to teach me that Yes, you CAN buy a timeshare without getting ripped off, and here's how to make the most of that ownership. I soaked up everything I could read here, and elsewhere online.  I learned what I could, discovered the $1 resale market, and I have never looked back.

I've bought and sold about a dozen timeshares since then, independents, mini-systems, and affiliated resorts with awesome internal trading options.  I've exchanged in and out of RCI, a few of the lesser exchange companies, and most recently, with Interval.  My ownerships started as Weeks, and has now settled into only a WorldMark points-based ownership, which best suits how we travel these days.  It's been a progression, based on a "learning by owning" concept, where I found the very best way to experience things was from the inside, as an owner.

I've thoroughly enjoyed myself, and have learned plenty.  I am by no means an expert, compared with a lot of Tuggers, but overall, it's been a great ride.  I have enjoyed a lot of fine vacations, including a visit with my brother back to the Hacienda Del Mar in Cabo.  But that trip we went as Exchangers through SFX, and had our own unit.  We got a bigger, better unit than my brother and his (very, very angry now-ex) wife, who complained long and loud all week about how unfair it was that we, as Exchangers, got a better unit than she received, as an Owner.  Knowing what I do about timeshares, it proves her anger was based on ignorance of how the whole system works.  (Not to mention there was a certain poetic justice to it, and my brother's divorce soon after wasn't a terrible thing at all. 

I will always have Tug to thank for my timeshare education. I often think back to how we never took vacations as a family when I was a kid, and of all the traveling I did around the world during my Navy career.  I've thoroughly enjoyed the last ~15 years I've been around Tug, because this experience has changed my attitude completely.  Timeshares are not the ominous, scary things they used to be.  Education about the industry is critical, optional, and vital, to having a positive timeshare experience.

Dave


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## lockewong (Jan 19, 2019)

I enjoyed reading everyone's stories.  It amazes me what a community of strong, resilient, smart individuals TUG attracts.  The common denominator seems to be hard working people who are curious and persistent.  DaveNW's bad experience with his brother's timeshare did not daunt him.  He learned the system.  Panina bought from a developer as did I but, decided to become an expert.  I love her suggestions and laser-focused pursuit of tweaking her portfolio.  It is very entertaining.  Moreover, everyone is kind and helpful to one another.  It is as if we are just one big cheerleading team for each other.  So, with that group-hug...my story is similar.  We grew up lower to middle class.   Most of the summers, we did painting projects or house repairs.  Once, we  drove to Yosemite  and once, we drove/went to Yellowstone.  We stayed in motels.  One time, when relatives visited, we went to Disneyland.  We were crammed into one room with my brother sleeping on the floor.  When I was ten, we made one trip to New York for a cousin's wedding.  That was the only time we spent a significant amount of money.   Then when my father changed jobs, he decided to take us to Hawaii.  My brother and sister were out of the house.  That was where the vacation bug bit me.  Growing up, many of my friends had North Coast/Mendocino/Sea Ranch cabins.  They would ski at Squaw Valley.  The Hawaii thing was eye-opening.  So, twenty two years later, I talked my husband into going to Maui with our five year old at the Maui Marriott/Maui Ocean Club.  That was it.  Since then, my children have benefitted from my insane desire to watch the whales every February.  They all have the travel bug as does JiminNC 's children.  They do not pay for their flights.  I now take the boyfriend and daughter.  LOL.  I haven't done what mpumilia did to her.  I, too, am grateful to the timeshare industry for the family vacations and for TUG for the education.


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## Panina (Jan 19, 2019)

I just want to add there has been some references to paying for children’s flights.  Whereas many are in a great financial situation to pay for their children expenses, others may not be and their children have the financial means much better then their parents.  

I personally have no problem paying vacation expenses for my stepdaughter or niece with their boyfriend or friend as long as they show responsibility with money and don’t overspend because it is my money, not theirs.  

My step daughter brought her boyfriend on vacation once and in a restaurant he started ordering the most expensive stuff and said “ this is a treat, my parent can’t afford this”. His parents have more then us, just bad money managers.   That was the last nice place we took him. I thought to myself, I hope she doesn’t end up with him.  She has since broke up with him and they remain friends.  She asked if he can come with us on vacation as a friend.  I told her only if he pays for all his own expenses and told her why.  She told me I was right.


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## klpca (Jan 19, 2019)

You can also do drive-to locations for family trips in lieu of paying everyone's airfare to say, Hawaii. For us, Tahoe fits that bill nicely. That way the kids don't have to commit to a full week, either.


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## JoJo12 (Jan 19, 2019)

We do a hybrid in paying for the kid's airfare to MOC.  We pay for the grandkids airfare (mostly with miles) and the adults buy their own using Alaska companion fare tickets or their own miles.  And for food, every adult puts in $100, we buy a Safeway gift card with the money, and then anyone who wants to buy communal groceries (not alcohol) can use the gift card.  That way the adults (in their 40s) are not getting a completely free ride.  We are "old school" and do not believe in free rides for adult children. We do pay for the timeshare, extra groceries and the van rental.

So for $200 and about $1000 in airfare, they get a week in Maui.  No complaints from them!


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## WinniWoman (Jan 19, 2019)

klpca said:


> We also grew up poor - as in really poor, food stamps etc - so obviously we never went on a vacation. I don't remember friends or neighbors taking vacations either, but I was probably just blissfully unaware. I read about families who went on vacation, but I thought that was just made up, not reality.
> 
> Prior to timesharing, we took one week of vacation a year - almost always camping with the kids - and had a great time. This was due to school schedules and the cost of getting two hotel rooms. We took the occasional non-camping vacation (usually Hawaii), but still just one week per year.  Our other vacation week was usually spent at home, working on some project in the house. Timesharing has changed the way we travel because the cost is lower than renting, especially if you throw an AC week in there. I agree with the "just pinch me" description, we have stayed in some very nice locations, in some very nice accommodations. I have read this before on this site - people assume that we are "rich" because of the trips that we take. If they only knew! I have friends who spend as much on a one week cruise as we spend on four weeks of vacationing using timeshares. Another friend will stay a week at some fancy resort in the Caribbean, again spending nearly the same as our annual travel budget. (In both cases, their husbands have shared the amount spent. I don't ask and I don't tell, but in both cases I had to pick my jaw up from the floor.)
> 
> I am also glad to read this thread. There are a lot of negative opinions about timesharing out there, but when it works for you, it's one of the best way to travel.




You just reminded me of all the working vacations we took before our son was born- renovating our handyman special 1st home.


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## JulieAB (Jan 20, 2019)

I agree!  Many of the places we've stayed are nicer than our own home!  It's still shocking to me where we've managed to stay at a fraction of the cost, especially with trading!  Four Seasons Aviara, Disney's Grand Californian, Hilton Kingsland, Hilton Lagoon Tower penthouse, Disney Boardwalk, Disney Saratoga Springs!  Most of these weeks were traded for less than what could be paid for a hotel.  We've also timeshared for a month in socal in the summer and a month in hawaii last summer.  My daughter had only stayed in timeshares until she was 7 years old when we ended up in a hotel for 1 night.  She was so confused and wondering "where's the rest of the room?" because it was just the 1 room with the bed and a bathroom!  She didn't understand why there was no kitchen or living room!  I also love my credit card points -- paid for my family's 4 airline tickets to Hawaii and Orlando twice each!  

I do worry about spoiling my kids though.  They're 8 and 14 and we've been timesharing their entire lives, hawaii twice, disneyworld twice, countless disneyland trips, beaches, etc.  This past year they didn't seem to appreciate our vacations (lots of complaining).  I'm not sure how to fix that.


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## Panina (Jan 20, 2019)

JulieAB said:


> I agree!  Many of the places we've stayed are nicer than our own home!  It's still shocking to me where we've managed to stay at a fraction of the cost, especially with trading!  Four Seasons Aviara, Disney's Grand Californian, Hilton Kingsland, Hilton Lagoon Tower penthouse, Disney Boardwalk, Disney Saratoga Springs!  Most of these weeks were traded for less than what could be paid for a hotel.  We've also timeshared for a month in socal in the summer and a month in hawaii last summer.  My daughter had only stayed in timeshares until she was 7 years old when we ended up in a hotel for 1 night.  She was so confused and wondering "where's the rest of the room?" because it was just the 1 room with the bed and a bathroom!  She didn't understand why there was no kitchen or living room!  I also love my credit card points -- paid for my family's 4 airline tickets to Hawaii and Orlando twice each!
> 
> I do worry about spoiling my kids though.  They're 8 and 14 and we've been timesharing their entire lives, hawaii twice, disneyworld twice, countless disneyland trips, beaches, etc.  This past year they didn't seem to appreciate our vacations (lots of complaining).  I'm not sure how to fix that.


Wow, impressive, you are a pro at using timeshare.

As far as the kids tell them you are taking them on a special vacation.   Just make it one night.  As you are driving, make it close to home, tell them they didn’t seem happy with the last few vacations so you donated the nice place to a family, go to a motel room for a night, go out to eat at their least favorite place  and as they are complaining, tell them but you were complaining last time too.  They will tell you they prefer the nicer place.  Next time they won’t complain as much.  I have experience, it will work. It just might not be a great day for you.


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## Sugarcubesea (Jan 20, 2019)

I told my kids that the year of 2019 is the year that if our kids want to come on vacation with us they have to pay for their plane tickets and we would pay for everything else.


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## lockewong (Jan 29, 2019)

Sugarcubesea said:


> I told my kids that the year of 2019 is the year that if our kids want to come on vacation with us they have to pay for their plane tickets and we would pay for everything else.


I agree.  Unfortunately, my daughter works for a start-up that will not start.  So, she is looking to change jobs.  She decided to pay for her own vacation and fly to San Diego with her boyfriend for a long weekend.  I agree with Panina, I cannot afford to fly her every time, but  I know she is struggling with San Francisco rental and cost-of-living issues.  They do not order the most expensive item on the menu or it would be the last expensive dinner splurge.  We cook a lot in the condo/timeshare.  Thankfully.


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## JIMinNC (Jan 30, 2019)

It's been interesting reading everyone's different thoughts on how to handle family vacation expenses for adult children. Every situation is certainly different. As I noted above, our original indecision on what to do for our upcoming Hawaii trip was sorta solved when our son somewhat preemptively offered to fund his own air fare/separate rental car, since we would be providing a free place to stay and most meals. But his situation is unique in that he's been in his first full-time job for only 12 months, but is already making pretty close to six figures at age 24. When you're single, living in a reasonable cost of living city, and earning almost six figures as a software engineer, you can afford to pay your own way - even if your parents could afford it also. I'm pleased he was mature enough to see that on his on. I was also pleased that for the last two paychecks of 2018, he cut his salary to almost $0 in order to max-out his 401K contributions for the year. If he continues with that kind of discipline, it will serve him well in the years ahead. Now, if we could just get our daughter to live within _*her*_ means in college!


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## bizaro86 (Jan 30, 2019)

I find the discussions around adult children interesting.  My wife and I are in our early thirties with 2 young children. I manage the vacations.

I had a 4 bedroom at the Grand Luxxe Riviera Maya awhile back. We only have 2 children, so I invited my parents to come and use the 4th bedroom. They subsequently decided there was lots of space and invited my siblings to come. So I ended up paying resort fees (charged per person) and groceries for my entire extended family. That won't be happening again, and my parents have been informed that if they want to come with us again they will be getting their own unit paid for by themselves (at my cost).

When that was made clear suddenly none of my siblings were available for our recent trip to Hawaii...

Tl;Dr I will probably pay for my kids vacations until they are old enough to be done school and be working established professionals  (maybe early to mid twenties?) - but won't be funding any more vacations for my siblings.


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## winger (Jan 31, 2019)

JIMinNC said:


> ... If he continues with that kind of discipline, it will serve him well in the years ahead. Now, if we could just get our daughter to live within _*her*_ means in college!


NOT gonna happen, if you just have two b/c kids are always opposites, right?


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## WinniWoman (Jan 31, 2019)

Two years ago when we scheduled a vacation to Colorado, our then 29 year old son commented that he would like to go to Colorado. I told him if he can pay the airfare he was welcome to come with us. Never heard about it again from him. (I knew he couldn't afford it.) I felt kind of sad as we were always a 3- some on vacations. But I felt it was time.

He does still visit with us for a few days at our home resort in Vermont since he grew up going there. It is only 2.5 hours from where he lives, so he can drive. We do always pay for a couple of meals out when he comes.

Last year while we were staying at our other home resort in New Hampshire, where he lives,  he told us he wanted to take us out to this Italian restaurant he found in Concord. We couldn't believe it! Turns out he had a $100 American Express gift card my brother had sent him for his birthday or XMAS or something and he had forgotten about it and decided to use it for this dinner. Aahhh- so that was it!

At first we told him to keep the card for something he needs and we would pay but he kept insisting and I realized it would make him very happy if he could use it to pay for our meals, so I told my husband to let him pay. Of course, the tab came out for more than the $100 so we ended up paying the balance. LOL!

Now at 31 he still is struggling- working 6-7 days per week- 3 jobs- one is full time- and making in the lower 5 figures. This is his life now and he makes his own choices. At least he is very happy with one of his part-time jobs- does it for the fun of it and the extra money is a bonus.

One thing I would like to do someday- though I am not sure if it will ever happen- is for all of us to go to Italy on a tour. My dad always wanted to take our son to Italy to see where he was born and meet his family there (my dad had been there twice), but was too ill to do so after a while. My husband and I have never been either. 

If we ever do, I still will ask our son to at least pay the airfare.


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## Luvtoride (Jan 31, 2019)

mpumilia said:


> One thing I would like to do someday- though I am not sure if it will ever happen- is for all of us to go to Italy on a tour. My dad always wanted to take our son to Italy to see where he was born and meet his family there (my dad had been there twice), but was too ill to do so after a while. My husband and I have never been either.
> 
> If we ever do, I still will ask our son to at least pay the airfare.



Very well put Mary Ann.  Our attitude about taking our kids on vacation with us at our expense is exactly your sentiment.  Why regret not spending the time with and having the experiences with our family to travel to places we want them to experience together with us?  For us, somehow having the availability of a 2 or 3 bedroom timeshare Villa that we have already "paid for" makes the invitation to vacation with us a no brainer.  Yes, we still do pay the airfare and most meals, but we shop for the best airfares months ahead of our trip and use points whenever we can to reduce the additional out of pocket cost.  We feel very fortunate to be able to vacation with our grown kids, their spouses and our grandchildren.  I would hate the feeling of not having them with us on a trip we invited them to come with us (and its not every trip we take) because they couldn't afford (or had other priorities for) the airfare.  
I think the emotional part of our travel experiences in this thread resonates with so many of us and really is the point of our ownership of timeshare weeks, points, etc. not the dollars that it cost to acquire and maintain these.


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## dgalati (Aug 8, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Someone pinch me because here I am, staying in this gorgeous unit at Marriott's Ocean Pointe, about to head to Marriott's Crystal Shores for a second week.
> 
> Our success is the combination of lucky timeshare purchases (resale) and airline miles, mostly built with Chase and American Express credit cards.  Our old SPG Amex now sits in a drawer, unused for months because of the changes to Starwood with Marriott's takeover.  The Chase Sapphire Reserve is now my go-to card for everything.  I get 3X points on travel (including timeshare maintenance fees), restaurants and gas.
> 
> ...


Congrats on you learning to make it work for you. Timeshares have allowed me to travel to places I would of never of gone to. I also have used airline miles to travel for free. Nothing better then first class seating without the cost of one penny. Airlines offer free travel as away to sign up new members and I have used all the major airlines to travel for free. Key to traveling at no cost using airline miles is to pay all balances of on a monthly basis.


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## dgalati (Aug 8, 2019)

mpumilia said:


> Two years ago when we scheduled a vacation to Colorado, our then 29 year old son commented that he would like to go to Colorado. I told him if he can pay the airfare he was welcome to come with us. Never heard about it again from him. (I knew he couldn't afford it.) I felt kind of sad as we were always a 3- some on vacations. But I felt it was time.
> 
> He does still visit with us for a few days at our home resort in Vermont since he grew up going there. It is only 2.5 hours from where he lives, so he can drive. We do always pay for a couple of meals out when he comes.
> 
> ...


The best thing my dad instilled in me was work ethic. He always said if you want it earn it and pay for it. This way you will appreciate it more then if it was given to you. I thank him for this advice always.


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## Beach57 (Aug 9, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Someone pinch me because here I am, staying in this gorgeous unit at Marriott's Ocean Pointe, about to head to Marriott's Crystal Shores for a second week.
> 
> Our success is the combination of lucky timeshare purchases (resale) and airline miles, mostly built with Chase and American Express credit cards.  Our old SPG Amex now sits in a drawer, unused for months because of the changes to Starwood with Marriott's takeover.  The Chase Sapphire Reserve is now my go-to card for everything.  I get 3X points on travel (including timeshare maintenance fees), restaurants and gas.
> 
> ...


So nice to hear that you and Rick have made a good life for yourselves. It certainly sounds like you deserve all the perks that have come your way.


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## rickandcindy23 (Aug 16, 2019)

I have loved reading every story here on this thread.  I am so excited to be leaving for Maui again this morning.  We fly into San Francisco first, stay in a hotel near the airport, then we fly to Maui tomorrow.  We will be staying at Hono Koa for one week in our owned unit, and then we lucked into a great trade at Westin Nanea for a second week.  

Then yesterday, a TUG member, jjking42, aka Jim, let me know that he was letting go of a week at Shearwater, so I entered a search for those dates, which happen to be next June, and I got the match.  Then last night, I checked for a week with RCI points, and I got the second week.  Not even an overlap of a day.  I am so excited to be going to Shearwater next year.  We haven't been for a couple of years.


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## MULTIZ321 (Aug 16, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I have loved reading every story here on this thread.  I am so excited to be leaving for Maui again this morning.  We fly into San Francisco first, stay in a hotel near the airport, then we fly to Maui tomorrow.  We will be staying at Hono Koa for one week in our owned unit, and then we lucked into a great trade at Westin Nanea for a second week.
> 
> Then yesterday, a TUG member, jjking42, aka Jim, let me know that he was letting go of a week at Shearwater, so I entered a search for those dates, which happen to be next June, and I got the match.  Then last night, I checked for a week with RCI points, and I got the second week.  Not even an overlap of a day.  I am so excited to be going to Shearwater next year.  We haven't been for a couple of years.


Have a great trip!

Best Regards.

Richard


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