Possible to live in Timeshares for less than $60/night

[Bxian]

Here is a link to a blog maintained by Mike and Edie who sometimes post on TUG: http://www.fulltimetimeshare.com// They are not timeshare traveling as much these days, but they made very good use of Extra Vacations and other methods to travel in a frugal way. Mike broke down their accommodation expenses for several years-look under the Itinerary and Cost tabs.

 

[JudyS]

I think $60 a night would be very feasible, although there would be some added start-up costs. In fact, I think it would be possible to stay in a nice resort (often a Marriott or a Sheraton) for $60/night for most of the year, if one were willing to change cities every few months.

Remember, no matter what time of year it is, it is almost always off-season *somewhere*. Vail and Park City are off-season in the summer (if you can take high altitudes.) Palm Spring is also off-season in the summer (if you can take the heat.) Orlando has a ton of availability most of the year. Branson or Myrtle Beach might be good for spring.

And, there are some timeshare weeks (not Marriotts!) with MFs in the under $300 range. Colorado allows off-season weeks to have lower MFs than peak season weeks, so that is a good place to look. You might not want to stay in Colorado during the worst of "mud season," but off-season often includes some pleasant spring or fall weeks. Or, you could trade those Colorado weeks for other resorts during times when the exchange companies don't have many rentals.

I own an unusual type of ownership called a Christmas Mountain Village UDI. It allows me to book multiple weeks each year. It is not as good a deal as it once was, but I can book about 8 weeks a year for about $2100 total ($262 per week.) These weeks are two-bedroom cottages in Wisconsin, and they trade very well through II.

I have often fantasized about giving up my home and spending most of the year in nice resorts in Orlando. If I didn't want to move each week, I'd set myself down at the original Sheraton Vistana. They have a ton of suites (like, maybe 1800? I forget) and are good at keeping people in the same room if requested in advance. (Also, you need the same check-in day of the week, exact same unit size, etc.) I recently rented a September week there, 2-bedroom, for less than $250 including tax. I rented through II with a platinum membership.

To timeshare full-time, I would need several things:
1) Cheap Timeshares: I'd probably want 10 or so weeks that trade well and have low fees. I could probably find these for free, with MFs of maybe $500 each, or $5000 total in MFs.
2) Exchange Company Memberships: I'd get an RCI membership, although I'd probably rent more weeks from II than from RCI. I'd get an II Platinum membership. I also might get a couple more II memberships in the hopes of picking up some more accommodation certificates. Also, any free exchange memberships I can find: DAE, Trading Places, SFX (if I qualify) and anything else out there. I'd probably pay about $500 total in membership fees.
3) Exchange fees: I'd maybe stay in some of my timeshares, but mostly I'd exchange them for something nicer. Figure $1500 in exchange fees for the timeshares I own.

The above items total $7000 and provide 10 weeks of timeshare, during high or fairly high seasons.

$420/week times 52 weeks/year equals $21,840. So, I would have $14840 left for my other 42 weeks of the year. This provides $353 per week for cheap II/RCI rentals for the remaining 42 weeks. Although that is a bit low, I should have plenty II 2-for-1 deals and accommodation certificates to help me out. I think it would work.

Thanks for the response. One idea that I thought of would be to have a small RV, 22 ft or less (which means it can park where any large pickup can park). Use this during your down weeks. I feel like there are some areas in Mexico, or Florida where it may be possible to string together multiple weeks in the same general area, so you might spend 1-2 months in Mexico or Florida. As for travel, credit card churning can help subsided the cost. I do this already and have a stash of 3 million airline and hotel loyalty points.

OK, I'm impressed by your credit card churning! Do you also do MS?

I think if you can get 3 million points/miles, figuring out timesharing should be right up your alley.

These are general questions for the TUG membership:
About RVs -- do most timeshares allow 22 ft RVs?

Also, I suspect the main reason I won't timeshare full time is because I'll want cats. Could an RV be climate-controlled well enough to leave a cat in it?