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[ 2012 ] How much are you paying a Night?

DeniseM

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K2Quick

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So you locked off your Starwood TS and got a 2BR Aviara and 2BR Ka'anapali? Wow, did you pull that off during flexchange?

As Denise pointed out, Starwood preference works wonders on getting into some very nice Starwood units (as long as you are willing to travel off-season). With Four Seasons, they do one or two mini bulk-bankings each year. That's where the sightings board here comes in very handy. You have to be willing to pull the trigger the minute you see something that might work out, because those go fast.
 

Ken555

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Interesting thread, and good for perspective review of expectations using timeshares and timeshare membership options. I've included my experience over the last six years of SVN, II trades and II Getaways. Hope it's helpful to the rest of you.

Starwood

Since 2005 I've visited SVN properties a total of 114 nights at an average nightly cost of $68.34. This does not include deed costs or other incidentals (such as the Maui nightly tax), but does include MFs, SVN membership fees, and property taxes. Even if I sold my Platinum SVN week now I would likely recoup all but ~$6,000 of my initial cost, thus increasing nightly rates by an additional $52.63 (not including lost opportunity costs, which I believe - as others do - is incidental). If true, then my actual cost was $120.94 per night for the 114 nights, which is the "right" price for me.

This includes 34 nights in Maui, 23 nights at Harborside, 17 nights at Kierland, 13 nights in Cancun, 13 nights at Desert Willow, 7 nights in Priceville and 7 nights at Mission Hills.


II Trades

Since 2005 I've reserved 154 nights via II at an average nightly cost of $90.34. This also does not include deed costs but does include MFs, II exchange fees and property taxes. (Note I haven't included II membership, and should add this to my spreadsheet, though it's an incidental cost). Of my non-SVN club weeks my total cost was ~$4,000 plus the special assessment for SVN which I don't believe I've included in my calculations (anyone remember what the second year cost was for SVR Falls?) but IIRC was about $600 per unit for the second year, totaling ~$5,200 cost, adding $33.77 per night. If true, then my actual cost was $124.11, which is good for me (note it's only slightly more expensive than my SVN week). I think it's feasible to make as good exchanges as I've done with less expensive weeks, as well.

This includes two weeks in a studio, three weeks in a 1-bed, four weeks in a premium 1-bed, 10 weeks in a 2-bed, and two weeks in a 3-bed unit. An additional week from 2011 is already paid for and deposited waiting for trade (plus two weeks from 2013, not included here). Most of the resorts traded to are in SVN and Marriott along with a a few others (such as the 3-bed ski weeks at Grand Timber Lodge). For reference, the "worst" timeshare was in January at The Villas at Polo Tower in Las Vegas, but I had two XYZ weeks there with an average nightly cost of just $24.14 per unit for that stay.


II Getaways

I've reserved nine weeks (63 nights) using II Getaways at an average cost of $66.17 per night. This includes three weeks at Westin Mission Hills, two weeks at Marriott Grand Chateau, and weeks at Marriott Desert Springs II, Marriott Timber Lodge (ski week!), Four Seasons Scottsdale (for only $227) and even Harborside at Atlantis.

I paid for II's Platinum membership for this year and hope to use at least one or two Getaways, for $50 discount each, plus a Platinum Escape week (which are ridiculously inexpensive). However, since the average cost per week has increased over the last six years, this isn't going to reduce my average Getaway weekly cost in any significant manner.
 
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dioxide45

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I've kept track of our timeshare costs since we started timesharing and bought in 2007. I price it out per night based on if I were to stop timesharing today and give away the weeks for $0. I have broken it down where I even include the $15 membership for for TUG. If I didn't timeshare, I wouldn't probably be a member here.

Our total cost is $218.17 per night. We didn't pay $1 for our units and we bought the first at the peak of the market. So that is a huge hit on the per night cost.

$218 isn't cheap, though that is only over 5 years of use. So as the years go by, that number will go down. We won't be be paying exchange fees now that we enrolled in Marriott's DC program. Though we will still have the $165 annual fee that covers those.
 
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rrlongwell

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I've kept track of our timeshare costs since we started timesharing and bought in 2007. I price it out per night based on if I were to stop timesharing today and give away the weeks for $0. I have broken it down where I even include the $15 membership for for TUG. If I didn't timeshare, I wouldn't probably be a member here.

Our total cost is $218.17 per night. We didn't pay $1 for our units and we bought the first at the peak of the market. So that is a huge hit on the per night cost.

$218 isn't cheap, though that is only over 5 years of use. So as the years go by, that number will go down. We won't be be paying exchange fees now that we enrolled in Marriott's DC program. Though we will still have the 4165 annual fee that covers those.

I would call a foul under what I understand the Accountant's rule number one. That is past costs do not count on the future math. Therefore, I think a more realistic formula would be $4165 divided by the number of days used. I would also disallow the TUG fee. If you redo the math, you may have a plesant surprise.

P.S. Out of idol interest, do you know what that figure is?
 

dioxide45

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I would call a foul under what I understand the Accountant's rule number one. That is past costs do not count on the future math. Therefore, I think a more realistic formula would be $4165 divided by the number of days used. I would also disallow the TUG fee. If you redo the math, you may have a plesant surprise.

P.S. Out of idol interest, do you know what that figure is?

See my correction. I put in a 4 instead of a $.
 

bdmauk

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Good thread. I just calculated our vacations. Bought our first timeshare last July. I used 2 year totals since we own a biennial.

RCI dues $140 ($70*2) I bought the 5 year membership = $69.80/yr
TUG dues $30 (Tug annual dues are best $15 ever spent)
Purchase/closing = $265
Maint. Fee = $345 (Grandview 1br eoy)
-VV@P $199 Extra vacation
-Woodstone $189 exchange fee
-Bonnet Creek $189 exchange fee
-10 TPUs remaining = 1 week - $189 exchange fee

Total (4 weeks/28 days) = $1,546 ($55.21/nt)

Granted, not 5 star resorts but still a bargain. Plus, we would not have taken this many family vacations otherwise. That alone makes timesharing worth it.
 

Ridewithme38

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Plus, we would not have taken this many family vacations otherwise. That alone makes timesharing worth it.

This is soo true, before timesharing i literally forgot to vacation, now that i'm prepaying it sort of forces me to...its been amazing, i remember 5 vacations from my youth, my parents are workaholics....in the last 2yrs i've vacationed more then i did in the last almost 30 years
 

andex

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I am a new owner since August 2011. Managed 3 weeks so far all prime weeks.
Week 50 Orlando 1 bedroom,
week 51 was on disney site paid full freight with all the frills,bells and whistles! ouch!!
week 52 Orlando 3 bedroom.
2 bedrooms at ski resort during Carnival of Quebec week.
Calculation including all points used and borrowed. Resort fees, and exchange company memberships and fees. 88$ per night! I recently booked a 1 bedroom for dec 2012 through RCI extra vacation 2 weeks in Florida for $658 all in!! If I throw this in it would lower it to about 71$per night. I bought resale no loss of opportunity. If anything I saved money compared to the regular Caribbean all inclusive vacations I was taking for a family of 4.
So far it has proven to be an excellent investment, in our family. And I assume it will save us money every year or it will give us aaaloooootttt more vacation bang for are dollar!! 5 star decision.
 

andex

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week 51 was on Disney site and Is obviously not part of this calculation I wasn’t timesharing I was paying a lot of money for a basic hotel room!!
 

chriskre

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Jesus 9-12 weeks? I thought I had it good with 8. What the hell do you do? :)

I'm a nurse. We have flexible scheduling where I can take two days off and get a full week off so it's just a matter of creative scheduling. ;)
Officially I only get 280 hours of paid time off so that equals about 7 weeks, but I'm good at stretching what they give me to about one vacation a month. I gotta use all those TS weeks that I own. :D

On the weeks when I can't get the full week off, I use my TS's as if I owned a vacation home. I often book 5-6 weeks of beach vacations within driving distance so I can commute for the 1 or 2 days that I'd have to work during the week and the rest of the time I'm a beach bum. :cool:

I work hard so I can play hard. Life's short. :p
 

heathpack

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Pretty much my motto as well. :)

Although, racing takes up about 1/3 of my vacation, so I only have 2/3 to get away on 'vacations'. :D

What do you race? Mastiffs?

;)

H
 

heathpack

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TravelMamma

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This is soo true, before timesharing i literally forgot to vacation, now that i'm prepaying it sort of forces me to...its been amazing, i remember 5 vacations from my youth, my parents are workaholics....in the last 2yrs i've vacationed more then i did in the last almost 30 years

Hi ridewithme38,
I think we own a similiar timeshare (posted you on another thread about it), but we have owned since 2000 and have exchanged to Sheraton Vistana Resort Orlando, Sheraton Vistana Villages Orlando, Marriott Grande Vista Orlando, Marriott's Aruba Surf Club and Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club. Some of these have been multiple times. We also have bought many getaways including: Williamsburg Plantation VA, Willowbrook at Lake Harmony, Inn Seasons Lincoln NH, Smugglers Notch Resort VT, Alexandra Resort Turks&Caicos, and have purchased getaway weeks into the resorts that we have also exchanged into. Those are the ones I can think of of the top of my head. But I also have seen many other great resorts that I could have exchanged into if I wanted.

Sometimes it's great too to see how much money it would have costed you for a week somewhere if you didn't have timeshare. For example, one time the week I exchanged into the Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club was going for $4700 (for the same unit type and exact dates) online through other travel reservations sites. Getaways are great too, the same week and unit type for Turks&Caicos right now that we purchased for a future getaway is going for $2700 vs. the $1074 we paid. Not as much a savings as the Aruba week, but still over 50% off. Happy traveling to ya!
 
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chapjim

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You seem to have forgotten opportunity costs...the $ you could have been earning from investing (instead) the $ you spent on purchasing your vacation ownerships.

Dog!! How did an economist get in the timeshare business?

But, at this point, he has no next best alternative. He's gotta pay the maintance fees (as do we all!). No next best alternatives = no opportunity cost.
 
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chapjim

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Dec 30-Jan 6: Wyndham La Belle Maison (1BR Pres), $531
Jan 6-7: Wyndham Panama City Beach (2BR Pres), $107
Jan 7-14: Wyndham Santa Barbara (1 BR), $874
Jan 14-15: Wyndham Lake Marion (3BR), $119.42
Feb 17-21: Wyndham Governor's Green (3BR): $149

Averaging cost/night makes no sense with different size units and presidential units mixed in. For all of these, it was just my wife and me. We like space but if we don't have it, we get along.
 

Ridewithme38

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So i was playing around with math a couple of days ago and figured my costs for vacations this year was around $2,094 for 24 nights...or about $87.25 a night

RCI 1yr = $89
2br Massanutten = $375 (7 nights)
2br Hershey = $566 (3 nights)
1br Patriots place = $465 (7 nights)(May deposit with RCI or Rent)
3br Governors Green = $599($189+$410)(7 Nights)

How much are you paying a Night this year for Vacationing?

OK so i screwed up my plans for this year...$92.62 a night

RCI 1yr = $89
RCI Platinum = $55
2br Massanutten = $375 (7 Nights)
2br Hershey = $566 (3 Nights) (i might end up regretting paying this much)
2br Ski Side Village = $539 ($169+$89+$285)(7 Nights)
3br Governors Green = $599 ($189+$410)(7 Nights)

If i didn't get the "Vacation Protection" on the Ski Side village it would have been $89.08 a night, i'm aiming for $80 a night next year, but i don't know if that's going to be possible, because of my MF
 
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dmharris

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This is soo true, before timesharing i literally forgot to vacation, now that i'm prepaying it sort of forces me to...its been amazing, i remember 5 vacations from my youth, my parents are workaholics....in the last 2yrs i've vacationed more then i did in the last almost 30 years

Me too; I have no idea what we pay and I don't care; we've had 3 vacations since November and prior to owning a timeshare we didn't take any for years. Now we've taken at least 14 weeks vacation since the end of 2006. That's +2/year!
 

dmharris

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Nico, where do you race? Before I met my darling husband, I dated a guy who did road racing with a BMW in the midwest. I learned to love the sport; I'm a big ballet fan and to me it was ballet on a bike.
 

hypnotiq

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Nico, where do you race? Before I met my darling husband, I dated a guy who did road racing with a BMW in the midwest. I learned to love the sport; I'm a big ballet fan and to me it was ballet on a bike.

I race primarly on the West Coast, primarly in OR/WA. I also own a race instruction school as well. I had plans to do AMA last year but I decided to hold off till my daughter is a little bit older. :)
 

winger

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I would call a foul under what I understand the Accountant's rule number one. That is past costs do not count on the future math. Therefore, I think a more realistic formula would be $4165 divided by the number of days used. I would also disallow the TUG fee. If you redo the math, you may have a plesant surprise.

P.S. Out of idol interest, do you know what that figure is?

Where does the amount $4165 come from?

Also, by the Accountant's rule, are you saying exclude the purchase cost from the per-night math?
 

Ken555

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Since 2005 I've visited SVN properties a total of 114 nights at an average nightly cost of $68.34. This does not include deed costs or other incidentals (such as the Maui nightly tax), but does include MFs, SVN membership fees, and property taxes. Even if I sold my Platinum SVN week now I would likely recoup all but ~$6,000 of my initial cost, thus increasing nightly rates by an additional $52.63 (not including lost opportunity costs, which I believe - as others do - is incidental). If true, then my actual cost was $120.94 per night for the 114 nights, which is the "right" price for me.

This includes 34 nights in Maui, 23 nights at Harborside, 17 nights at Kierland, 13 nights in Cancun, 13 nights at Desert Willow, 7 nights in Princeville and 7 nights at Mission Hills.

For the curious...

Update including planned 2017 SVN reservations totals:

# of nights: 238
Ave cost per night: $74.38
* includes MFs, SVN fees, property taxes and any extra housekeeping charges (but not Maui nightly taxes)

If I sold WKV Plat 2-bed for $17,000, my average cost per night increases to $91.16.

For 2017 my nightly cost is $82.04 (22 nights; 13 in Maui and 9 in Rancho Mirage)

This includes 95 nights in Maui, 23 nights at Harborside, 17 nights at Kierland, 13 nights in Cancun, 68 nights at Desert Willow, 14 nights in Princeville, seven nights at Mission Hills, and one night at Vistana Villages.
 
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