How have your timeshare needs changed

[silentg]

Well, we started timeshare vacationing when our son was 18 months old. We took a weekend vacation to Vermont which turned into a timeshare presentation. I was against buying a timeshare but my husband was intrigued by the idea of having a week. So we bought a week 27 at the timeshare resort. Borrowed money from my parents to buy. Was not expensive but we were not making much money then.
I really enjoyed our first timeshare vacation it was just the three of us and we explored Vermont that year and the following year too. The third year we exchanged for the first time. Went to Daytona Beach and visited Disney with our son, still just the three of us.
The next year we went to Loon Mountain with family and had banked our timeshare week because we were expecting our second child that November.
We returned to Vermont the next July and had fun with our two kids son and daughter.
The following year we exchanged to the Pocconnos . Was very fun.
Our timeshare needs changed in 1987 we moved to Florida so we used the timeshare to visit our home resort during trips in the summer to visit family in New England.
We took family vacation every year and only had the one timeshare for at least 15 years. Then I found TUG and learned of resales. We bought a South Africa timeshare, used it for trades, was very good Trader. So, then I bought a studio at Orange Lake, and acquired another week at Orange Lake from a tug member. So now we had a week in Vermont, two weeks in Florida and a week in South Africa.
Stayed this way for another decade. Kids are now grown and on their own.
We ended our Vermont week, it was RTU, gave back the South Africa week, gave away the week we got free at OL and upgraded the studio to points in HIVC.
Then we acquired Summer Bay EOY we gave that away. Bought and sold Holly Tree in Yarmouth. Same with Calini Beach in Siesta Key, ownership is transferred in 2020.
We bought a week in Ireland from a Tug Member. Love that one!
A cheap week in Baysie VA we use for exchanges
Last one Oyster Bay In Sebastian, FL first use this November.
So if you are still reading my post, thank you, we love timeshare vacations, buying selling exchanging.
But we are at a manageable 4 resorts now. We have had excellent exchanges with TUG members also.
Not planning on anymore than what we have.
Safe travels,
Silentg

 

[Bucky]

We have scaled back drastically due to my medical condition. We use to travel extensively. Now we have given our Wyndham points account to my daughter and her family and have sold our RCI points account and the underlying week. We really only travel to our MOW property and rent our SBP unit to our neighbors and friends. But, although my medical problems are the ultimate reason we have stopped traveling, we probably would have scaled back anyway due to air travel being such a PIA!

 

[WinniWoman]

Well, we started timeshare vacationing when our son was 18 months old. We took a weekend vacation to Vermont which turned into a timeshare presentation. I was against buying a timeshare but my husband was intrigued by the idea of having a week. So we bought a week 27 at the timeshare resort. Borrowed money from my parents to buy. Was not expensive but we were not making much money then.
I really enjoyed our first timeshare vacation it was just the three of us and we explored Vermont that year and the following year too. The third year we exchanged for the first time. Went to Daytona Beach and visited Disney with our son, still just the three of us.
The next year we went to Loon Mountain with family and had banked our timeshare week because we were expecting our second child that November.
We returned to Vermont the next July and had fun with our two kids son and daughter.
The following year we exchanged to the Pocconnos . Was very fun.
Our timeshare needs changed in 1987 we moved to Florida so we used the timeshare to visit our home resort during trips in the summer to visit family in New England.
We took family vacation every year and only had the one timeshare for at least 15 years. Then I found TUG and learned of resales. We bought a South Africa timeshare, used it for trades, was very good Trader. So, then I bought a studio at Orange Lake, and acquired another week at Orange Lake from a tug member. So now we had a week in Vermont, two weeks in Florida and a week in South Africa.
Stayed this way for another decade. Kids are now grown and on their own.
We ended our Vermont week, it was RTU, gave back the South Africa week, gave away the week we got free at OL and upgraded the studio to points in HIVC.
Then we acquired Summer Bay EOY we gave that away. Bought and sold Holly Tree in Yarmouth. Same with Calini Beach in Siesta Key, ownership is transferred in 2020.
We bought a week in Ireland from a Tug Member. Love that one!
A cheap week in Baysie VA we use for exchanges
Last one Oyster Bay In Sebastian, FL first use this November.
So if you are still reading my post, thank you, we love timeshare vacations, buying selling exchanging.
But we are at a manageable 4 resorts now. We have had excellent exchanges with TUG members also.
Not planning on anymore than what we have.
Safe travels,
Silentg

I never realized you had that many over the years! My head was spinning reading about all of them! LOL! Looks like you really enjoyed and continue to enjoy what you have!

 

[OldGuy]

Went from needing them to actually use, normally six times a year, to needing them for year-round amenities rights, and to get condos for others.

We have been downsizing since 2008. It has taken us that long to get rid of 6 weeks. We will be left with two, both that we will keep for year-round day-use of the amenities.

 

[jjking42]

Well, we started timeshare vacationing when our son was 18 months old. We took a weekend vacation to Vermont which turned into a timeshare presentation. I was against buying a timeshare but my husband was intrigued by the idea of having a week. So we bought a week 27 at the timeshare resort. Borrowed money from my parents to buy. Was not expensive but we were not making much money then.
I really enjoyed our first timeshare vacation it was just the three of us and we explored Vermont that year and the following year too. The third year we exchanged for the first time. Went to Daytona Beach and visited Disney with our son, still just the three of us.
The next year we went to Loon Mountain with family and had banked our timeshare week because we were expecting our second child that November.
We returned to Vermont the next July and had fun with our two kids son and daughter.
The following year we exchanged to the Pocconnos . Was very fun.
Our timeshare needs changed in 1987 we moved to Florida so we used the timeshare to visit our home resort during trips in the summer to visit family in New England.
We took family vacation every year and only had the one timeshare for at least 15 years. Then I found TUG and learned of resales. We bought a South Africa timeshare, used it for trades, was very good Trader. So, then I bought a studio at Orange Lake, and acquired another week at Orange Lake from a tug member. So now we had a week in Vermont, two weeks in Florida and a week in South Africa.
Stayed this way for another decade. Kids are now grown and on their own.
We ended our Vermont week, it was RTU, gave back the South Africa week, gave away the week we got free at OL and upgraded the studio to points in HIVC.
Then we acquired Summer Bay EOY we gave that away. Bought and sold Holly Tree in Yarmouth. Same with Calini Beach in Siesta Key, ownership is transferred in 2020.
We bought a week in Ireland from a Tug Member. Love that one!
A cheap week in Baysie VA we use for exchanges
Last one Oyster Bay In Sebastian, FL first use this November.
So if you are still reading my post, thank you, we love timeshare vacations, buying selling exchanging.
But we are at a manageable 4 resorts now. We have had excellent exchanges with TUG members also.
Not planning on anymore than what we have.
Safe travels,
Silentg

Very interested in Calini beach club ?
Stayed there once and really liked it because of the great beach. Why did you get rid of that one ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bluehende]

This thead is pretty much what I expected. A lot of us aging out of timeshare. I own two areas where active vacations are the norm. We are starting to slow down too and anticipate changing needs in the coming few years. What floors me is the fact that timeshare sales are doing well with it's reputation and largest customer base aging out of the product.

 

[Big Matt]

This thead is pretty much what I expected. A lot of us aging out of timeshare. I own two areas where active vacations are the norm. We are starting to slow down too and anticipate changing needs in the coming few years. What floors me is the fact that timeshare sales are doing well with it's reputation and largest customer base aging out of the product.

Just remember that companies like Marriott will buy them back from people trying to get out. They can sell them over and over again. Sounds very profitable to me.

 

[silentg]

Very interested in Calini beach club ?
Stayed there once and really liked it because of the great beach. Why did you get rid of that one ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We liked Calini very much, we exchanged there first, then bought a resale from a TUG member. Our week is in October and we did an exchange for Fort Myers Beach in February. Another TuG marketplace exchange. DH is retiring soon and we decided to slim down our timeshares, too many maintenance fees.
A couple (TUG members) were interested in our week. They will get first use in 2020 after my Marketplace exchanger uses the 2019 week. They have family with a week at the same resort same time, so I know it’s going to a good owner who will make good use of it. Same for our Holly Tree Resort. We will keep the 4 weeks we have for now and still enjoy timeshare travel.
Silentg

 

[Linda74]

My first purchase was resale Wyndham points. I had little kids and we wanted to go to Florida Panhandle in the summer and I liked the points flexibility. I purchased two fixed converted weeks in AZ because the MF was cheaper and points are points I was told.

Well the prime summer weeks were hard to come by in the panhandle because the owners used them or rented them. So I started purchasing HGVC affiliates on Macro island Florida. I could trade them for anything in RCI and they also traded with SFX and II. When I did not use them they rented pretty easy. I also used HGVC points to book in the HGVC system. I traded my Wyndham points in both RCI and SFX. We went everywhere with timeshares including Hawaii. I wanted a cheaper trader for RCI because the HGVC was too expensive to deposit and I could rent them. I ended up buying several weeks at IPV and at the time they were getting a lot of trade power in both II and RCI so I sold one of the Wyndham weeks. . The MF went up on Marco island and the rents went down so I sold off all those Marco island HGVC weeks.

I wanted to try the Marriott system so I purchased Legends Edge. Its not on the beach but its in the Florida club so good internal exchange for a beach bum like me. I could always reserve a week in Ft Lauderdale and rent it out if I did not use it. Legends Edge did not pull the II trades I hoped for probably because I never did an OGS. Marriott announced the points program and the really did not value Legends Edge very much and I hated the Skim they were taking on fixed weeks so I sold the week back to Marriott rather than join the points program.

RCI changed the trade values on my IPV weeks and came out with out with RCI points. By now my kids are busy band kids and so we cant take vacations anymore except Spring break. So I reduced my timeshare to two.

Now my 3 kids are in three different colleges so vacation are tough but we are empty nesters and no longer need two bedroom prime summer weeks. We are taking 3 day weekends and taking vacations with just the wife and I. So studio or one bedroom is no problem and the points system will work better for us now.


The bottom line is timeshares are a good value if you by resale, adapt to the changes in the market, exchange systems, and your lifestyle. I know lots of people that own time shares they bought 20 years ago and never use them anymore.

Our first purchase was week #27 at Vistana near Disney in 1992. ( We have only been there once). We bought resale, exactly what a friend had purchased. At the time, we wished we’d learned about timesharing earlier. With two kids, how nice it was to have space and a kitchen. When RCI offered the opportunity to switch to points, we jumped on it. This enabled us to take the kids to Spain, Scotland, Italy and The UK. Following the late, great Fern’s advice, we then purchased a unit (3 bedroom) in Australia which offered a good amount of points and at a ridiculous price as the Australian dollar was half the value of the US dollar. Many years later, nearing retirement, and enjoying trips to Mexico, we purchased a 2 BR Mayan Palace unit resale, in 2007, because it was one of the few non AI resorts in Mexico and to avoid their restrictive trade rules thru RCI. The plan was to split the unit and do one week in the 1 BR suite and the second in a studio, and enjoy 2 weeks in Mexico during winter. This worked for one year, until my
dear, healthy husband was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in September of 2008. Life changes in an instant. After his death, I did use a week and some points for vacations with my newly married kids and aging mother. But It was no fun traveling alone and my kids work lives and other issues meant that I was paying maintenance fees and not using my time up. I was able to give the Australian timeshare back to the resort. I was also able to sell the Mayan Palace unit for half of what I paid. I have kept Vistana and do use the points to trade for Mexico in winter. I have met a man who loves to travel as I do. That said, we are now in our 70’s and find that escorted tours, European river cruises, and Rental homes seem to fit our needs better. My children are now tied to their children’s school schedules, and quite frankly enjoy all inclusive travel, which timeshare is not a deal on. So, I am seriously considering getting rid of Vistana as well. I’ve also found that despite always booking Gold Crown resorts, many resorts are aging and testimony to delayed maintenance. By the time I pay the RCI fees, maintenance, etc., there is no saving money wise, as was recently the case on a trip to PV last month. I am so glad we owned and traveled in the golden era of timeshare. We visited places we could never have afforded to take the family and friends. But, I think those days are waning. I am enormously grateful to TUG and all it has taught me over the years. We stretched those points and scored some unbelievable trades due to the knowledge gained here... agreed, aged out of timeshare.

 

[WinniWoman]

I will say if I was just purchasing timeshares now, I would probably get 2 early Fall (late Sept) weeks in VT/NH instead of two summer weeks. Again at Smuggs and Pollard Brook.

I love to swim in the pools and in summer the pools can be crowded somewhat and with kids. Plus, the weather is my favorite- not hot. The Scottish Highland games are going on in Sept in NH, which I love to attend, so that would be one week and then the following would be in Vermont.

September is a great month to vacation in New England. And maybe the first 2 weeks of October. Then again, it is really great at home in NY also.

 

[elaine]

I would probably get 2 early Fall (late Sept) weeks in VT/NH instead of two summer weeks. Again at Smuggs and Pollard Brook.

If you wanted to join RCI, Sept is a very easy trade for less points than summer for both resorts. Right now, there are 20 units in Sept available at Smuggs RCI #0300 vs. zero for July/Aug. You might also inquire at the resorts (esp. if they have an online facbook group, or old fashioned bulletin board at the resort) or even here on TUG to check for a permanent swap?

 

[JohnPaul]

We bought our very first timeshare with a minimum every other year points purchase from Vacation Internationale in 1987.

We have just bought more and more in a variety of systems (never sold anything) til we owned:

500 VI Points
25,000 WM Points
17,000 Shell Points
12,450 HGVC Points (NYC)
88,000 EOY Vistana Points
144,500 RCI points through 2 inexpensive MF independent properties

We have no children so school schedules was never a factor. Having everything in points has given us maximum flexibility and half of my fun is in the planning and booking.

The last 10 years of work, I had 6 weeks of vacation and I've now been retired for 4 years. Travel has always been a huge thing in our lives. It's the last 10 - 15 years where we have really ramped up our ownership.

I think the main changes to our travels are the following:

Visiting a greater variety of properties in our systems now that we are retired.
Finding some new favorites like the VI 2 bedroom cabins at The Pines in Sunriver, OR.
Using more WM and VI cash options to avoid hotels (short stays).
Having to decide what to do with our RCI points now that we have stopped skiing. We always used them for ski vacations.
Needing to consciously plan time at home so we aren't always on the road.
Spending more of our vacation time just hanging out rather than running around doing things.

 

[WinniWoman]

If you wanted to join RCI, Sept is a very easy trade for less points than summer for both resorts. Right now, there are 20 units in Sept available at Smuggs RCI #0300 vs. zero for July/Aug. You might also inquire at the resorts (esp. if they have an online facbook group, or old fashioned bulletin board at the resort) or even here on TUG to check for a permanent swap?

Yes I know. Thanks. Trading Places has Pollard Brook a lot also.

I have a Smuggs float week that is off season- though preassigned and different every year. But no way will I pay exchange fees every year and so on. We like having the same unit and in West Hill every year as well.

Once in a while I have traded the float for Pollard Brook in Sept (through Trading Places) and this past Sept. for Cape Cod, but usually the float falls in the Fall or Spring at Smuggs and we just use it there.

 

[donnaval]

We were always interested in timeshares but never felt we had the money to buy. Then we found resale! Our plan was to acquire enough timeshare time to spend winters in warmer climates once we retired. Fairfield seemed like the best fit and we bought a lot of resale contracts that had been converted to points, and at that time there were really great deals to be had with exchanges and we used those for our personal travels. We also acquired a number of free or very inexpensive weeks on Ebay, with the plan of renting out those weeks until retirement. Every unit we acquired had a very reasonable MF, and most were prime weeks although there were a couple of dogs. Well that all worked great for a few years and we actually made money on our rentals. And then Wyndham acquired Fairfield which killed the super-cheap exchanges (remember those 28k "blue" weeks?), and on our other weeks the MFs shot up way faster than we expected making our rentals less profitable. Horrible companies like Festiva and Diamond acquired some of our best units and MFs became intolerable, and with the advent of Airbnb etc. the units were difficult to impossible to rent even at break-even points.

To top it all off, my husband lost interest in traveling and decided he didn't want to spend entire winters away. We began divesting. We were able to deed back some to the resorts. We offloaded a lot of the points to Wyndham through Ovation and the points we still own are in affiliate resorts that will expire in a couple of years. We gave away almost everything else but still have two weeks units that give us a lot of trading power. I think we could find new homes for those when we are ready to let them go. We are stuck with one unit that has been converted to RCI points that has a horrible dollar-to-point ratio but I make it work by trading only for the under 10K weeks at the last minute. I don't know if we'll ever be able to get rid of that one. I still love to travel but my husband does so only reluctantly, so I travel alone a lot or with friends. When my husband does agree to go on a trip, he prefers cruises or AI vacations. He's older than me, and as I get older, those "easy" vacations sound more appealing to me, too.

 

[bobmnu]

About 35 years ago we bought our first time share. It was a blue week and we quickly came to realize we could not choose a location and try to book there so we changed and looked at what was available when when we had time and were using our 1 bedroom to book three bedrooms units 45 days out. This worked great as we got some great locations and always found things to do in the area. Later we bought more through Shell Vacation Club and Bluegreen Vacations. Both were points and we have been using those points for shorter or premium locations. We also started giving a week to nieces and nephews for wedding gifts. Some use it right away and others plan a trip and all have enjoyed the "free vacation" in a luxury resort. Now that I have retired I am using them for vacations and weekend get aways. I have also used them as a donation to charities with people paying above market price for a vacation which gives me the tax break and the charity a nice cash donation. Timeshares can be great if you learn how to use them and use them.

 

[Larry M]

We inherited a fixed-week winter unit in the original Fairfield Bay, Arkansas timeshare complex. Never went there. Exchanged for Williamsburg sometimes. Then I was widowed. Did an exchange or two for Edisto Beach, SC. Much closer and very uncrowded in the winter.

Fairfield, and then Wyndham made it harder and more expensive each year to get exchanges and eventually cancelled the "FAX" program completely, so I surrendered the unit to the HOA. There's a whole thread on that.

Edisto has the Wyndham property, but on the property are some small, independent HOAs with their own units. I was able to snag a wonderful unit in Week 33 (!) for $1500 in 2010. Had some wonderful weeks with various friends. Week 33 is a great week. The South Carolina schools have opened but the North Carolina schools have not, so the island is not crowded. No waits for chairs at the pools or beach or restaurants. No traffic.

In 2012 I met a widowed lady and we began keeping company. Our tastes drifted from Edisto to a theme resort (where we now have a trailer and spend many weeks and weekends), and to theme cruises. My son and his family love Edisto and I now let them use the unit every year. My plan is to continue this practice until 2026 when the timeshare dissolves.

 

[klpca]

I had always been intrigued by timesharing because our neighbors had bought one at Marriott Desert Springs back in the late 80's (I think) but we never had the money. I only worked part time and we were house poor. Plus we had three kids doing sports, marching band, and dance, who also needed braces, then ultimately went on to college, so we never seriously considered owning. Once our financial obligations to our kids were done, I discovered that the resale market had some real bargains. So we bought our first unit (DSV) in 2011 with hopes of spending time with our in-laws who won't fly (turns out that they won't leave their house either, so that never happened, lolol).

We are now down to 5 units (four EOY and one annual) and for now I am sitting tight. Since 2011, I sold 8 others that for one reason or another weren't working for us, including all but one that I bought in that first year. The main changes have been selling the expensive units (usually Marriotts) since we prefer smaller resorts and the Marriott resorts are large. We usually trade and it doesn't make sense to trade a Marriott into a non-Marriott. I also sold some annuals and replaced them with EOY's because we were having a tough time using all of our weeks. I used to always try to trade into a 2 bedroom, but we are finding that our kids have a hard time getting enough vacation time to join us now that they are starting their careers, and we don't want to have friends along for every trip. Once in awhile is good enough for us, so one bedrooms are fine. I don't think that I will ever be able to give up having a kitchen, so studios still don't work that well for us.

I am sure that there will be more changes going forward but I am taking time off from buying/selling and just enjoying trips for now.

 

[Liz42]

We purchased at Westgate Vacation Villas in 1996. Over the years we have enjoyed many Orlando vacations with the family and my husband and I have exchanged at some very nice places when we travelled on our own. We do not regret going the timeshare route as it exposed us to the concept of a home away from home, rather than one motel room after another. Over the past few winters, we began to stay in Florida for 1-2 months, and sometimes we would use our week prior to going to our long-stay rental. Two years ago, my husband's health changed and we can no longer travel to the States. Our exchange weeks are not getting used and the maintenance fees are now something we don't need. I have taken advantage of the Westgate Legacy program and am in the process of signing a quit claim deed, which will absolve us of any future costs. It cost approximately the same as a year's maintenance, but it will be the last! Worth it to feel relief!

 

[phyllispsu]

I purchased a timeshare with my sister n law in Orlando it's a 2 br floating week and we get to stay every other year (odd) . I purchased it when my son was 9 years old and her two son's was 7 and 8 years old. . We never had a problem exchanging into our timeshare during the summer while the kids was out of school . At first both of our families traveled together but eventually split and took separate vacations. We alternate using the timeshare during our odd exchange year. We use our free get aways during our even years . We both paid half of our note until it was paid in full and now pay half of our fees each year when it's due. Her and my husband are brothers but best friends so it worked out great for us . We live in different states but now that our children are grown we still get together for vacations.

 

[byeloe]

Bought my 1st(HGVC Flamingo) while on vacation in Vegas, fortunately I was able to get out of it as I was young and dazzled by the lights of the strip. Then I found out my brother had a TS in Orlando that he got "roped" in tot. So I figured a TS was a TS so I bought his 1BD Westgate for $5000, I used it and traded a couple of times. Then family situation changed and could use a larger unit, had my first experience with the owner's update, signed an upgrade for Westgate towers 2BD, got home and rescinded again. I found TUG and got educated. I got lucky and was able to sell my Westgate on the old BidShare site for $2000. I stumbled into the South Africa section on TUG and couldn't believe what was happening, I bought a Falcon Glen week for with like 10 years of RCi for what seemed like peanuts $1000 Canadian. I was pleasantly surprised and shocked when I was able to make great RCI trades( Manhattan Club, Orange Lake, Royal Mayan) I was hooked so I bought 2 or 3 more SA weeks. Many trades and exchange fluctuations later I sold all my SA pre World Cup. Then I found the SA sales site that would sell banked RCI weeks for $200 so that worked very well until they closed that loophole. By chance we ended up at VCI in Cancun right after Wilma and loved it. After South Africa I could not justify thousands upfront on a timeshare purchase, even renting was hard to justify, we were just so spoiled by SA. We rented our one week of spring vacation for many years, mostly at the Royals with a couple of years in Aruba. Then the non AI options in Cancun looked like they were going to slip away after the Mayan was sold off, so last year I bit the bullet and started my retirement strategy. Purchased two eoy Lagunamar 2BD lockoff units and 2 Vistana Villas mandatory 81000 SO. So far so good cause I am closing on another 2 more Lagunamar units, one EY and one EOY. Hoping to spend 8 to 10 weeks of winter in Cancun. It has been a great ride so far. Many thanks to TUG for all the advice, couldn't have done it without you

 

[Beach57]

Well, we started timeshare vacationing when our son was 18 months old. We took a weekend vacation to Vermont which turned into a timeshare presentation. I was against buying a timeshare but my husband was intrigued by the idea of having a week. So we bought a week 27 at the timeshare resort. Borrowed money from my parents to buy. Was not expensive but we were not making much money then.
I really enjoyed our first timeshare vacation it was just the three of us and we explored Vermont that year and the following year too. The third year we exchanged for the first time. Went to Daytona Beach and visited Disney with our son, still just the three of us.
The next year we went to Loon Mountain with family and had banked our timeshare week because we were expecting our second child that November.
We returned to Vermont the next July and had fun with our two kids son and daughter.
The following year we exchanged to the Pocconnos . Was very fun.
Our timeshare needs changed in 1987 we moved to Florida so we used the timeshare to visit our home resort during trips in the summer to visit family in New England.
We took family vacation every year and only had the one timeshare for at least 15 years. Then I found TUG and learned of resales. We bought a South Africa timeshare, used it for trades, was very good Trader. So, then I bought a studio at Orange Lake, and acquired another week at Orange Lake from a tug member. So now we had a week in Vermont, two weeks in Florida and a week in South Africa.
Stayed this way for another decade. Kids are now grown and on their own.
We ended our Vermont week, it was RTU, gave back the South Africa week, gave away the week we got free at OL and upgraded the studio to points in HIVC.
Then we acquired Summer Bay EOY we gave that away. Bought and sold Holly Tree in Yarmouth. Same with Calini Beach in Siesta Key, ownership is transferred in 2020.
We bought a week in Ireland from a Tug Member. Love that one!
A cheap week in Baysie VA we use for exchanges
Last one Oyster Bay In Sebastian, FL first use this November.
So if you are still reading my post, thank you, we love timeshare vacations, buying selling exchanging.
But we are at a manageable 4 resorts now. We have had excellent exchanges with TUG members also.
Not planning on anymore than what we have.
Safe travels,
Silentg

 

[DeeCee]

Our first timeshare purchase was DVC. My parents owned two weeks up in Villa Roma in NY. One year they gave us a week to use, our kids were around 9 at the time. We used it to trade into a supposedly 5 star timeshare resort (don't remember which one) on 192 outside Disney. I was very unhappy with the accommodation and the traffic. The resort had no balconies, no activities and a green indoor pool.

It was at then I had suggested to hubby that we take a serious look at DVC. This was our third trip there with our kids. The first two times we stayed on property (1996 & 1998) and I had wanted DVC from the beginning. I think the experience of being outside of the property, knowing we would go back for years to come and just loving the Disney resorts was what made him take a look. This was now February of 99. We looked into it (I looked into it), found message boards that I basically stalked, joined and asked many questions.

We purchased (direct) our first contract based on the kids school vacations, specifically the Northeast's February school break. By then it was May of 1999 and we purchased an October UY, so we received 1999 points, which we banked, adding them to October 2000's points and started our vacationing with a Disney half land/half sea cruise on all points in Feb. 2000. We added on small contracts throughout the next 11 years.

Our timeshare needs only increased as the kids grew and I started using DVC 1 to 2 times a year with cousins and friends!

Our children are adults now, we have grandchildren and we still use our DVC multiple times a year. We used points through RCI a few times.....Sedona, AZ, Aruba, Charleston, another DVC cruise, and a short stay in AC. Future trips are already planned.

Then.....our vacation needs changed again! We both work in schools so we have some nice time off. Albeit, it's high travel times, but we work with that. We had stayed at Disney's Hilton Head Resort and fell in love with the Island. The only downer was we weren't on the beach (major beach bum here), so.....I again did my research, called MVC to see if they were offering any promotional stays (with attendance at a presentation) for Easter/Passover break. This was April 2017. They put us up in an Oceanfront Westin in HH. We did the presentation. Did not buy the 2200 points for around $28,000 but it sparked my interest further.

We knew our priority was Spring and Fall seasons, we knew we wanted Hilton Head and we knew TUG, well I know TUG

That set me online and reading, etc. We wound up purchasing resale a "legacy gold week" at Marriott's Surfwatch. This timeshare is for US. Of course, kids and grandkids will eventually get there and will love it, but for now it's for us. We just got back from our second trip with another couple and we are more in love with the resort and our decision to buy here. We do not belong to II and have no plans to join or to trade out anytime in the foreseeable future. We can use DVC points for that.

Thank you TUG, thank you Marriott, and thank you ME for making the right decisions along our timeshare journey. Timesharing isn't for everyone, but it's most certainly a perfect fit for us

Have a great day everyone!

Dee