Newbie questions - Thoughts??

[Slwags]

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?

We would rather use points to travel different places but Vegas, Arizona, Florida, California asnhome resorts would work.

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?

Probably 1/4 of the time

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

California. Hawaii. Caribbean Florida. Atlantic states

4) How many people do you usually travel with? 1-3

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

Anytime

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? Yes

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time? Yes I would like to take 3-4 vacations per year.

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?

3-5 but home resort not important as I would rather exchange points and travel around.

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?<20,000

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
About $1500

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?
Wife is

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do? Yes

 

[Passepartout]

Looks like you have a grip on the points bit. So to maximize use, and minimize cost, I think you should look for (resale, of course) a Wyndham contract with a 'home' resort somewhere within a day's drive of home. They are not the fanciest, but are pretty nice. They have LOTS of locations. There is a learning curve, but many people have mastered it. Just buy as many points as it takes to cover the amount/type of vacations you NEED. For instance, if you need a one bedroom and plan on Sun-Thurs stays and shoulder season is OK, a small (105K) bundle of points will not cost much, RCI membership is an included freebie and has access -like ALL RCI memberships to those Last Call cheap cash rentals. Or if you need 2-or 3 bedrooms in prime season in Hawaii for 2 weeks, you will need perhaps a half million or more points. The point is, you can 'scale up-or down' your ownership to fit your needs and the monthly (they bill MF monthly) obligation you want to pay.

If you lived on the West Coast, my advice would be similar, but the system would be WorldMark (a division of Wyndham).

Full disclosure: I DO NOT own Wyndham myself, so all I know I've picked up secondhand on TUG.

Jim