9000 Point instant exchanges...

[xynz]

Alright, I'll be the first to admit to being a bit of a TS newbie.

I've been lurking around the forums for a couple of months after our first timeshare presentation, at which we basically laughed when they gave us their asking prices - unless we vacationed for another 100 years it wasn't going to make financial sense.

My parents own a relatively inexpensive orlando timeshare Vacation Village - Fantasyworld or something similar to that (nothing great quality wise, however I have stayed in it twice and was reasonably satisfied). So I knew that there were less expensive option available and decided to join this site hoping to learn a little more before entering into my first TS purchase.

Two potential relatively low cost resale entry TS opportunities have attracted most of my(our) attention.

Points - for just under 50,000 points per year with mf ~400/yr and purch ~3500
Weeks - Orange Lake Country Club with mf ~550/yr and purch ~3000

For the most part we would be using the points exclusively for trading and OLCC if we bought we would likely visit every 3rd year or so...

As our schedules from May-Dec are relatively open (no kids, fairly flexible jobs) the 9000 point instant exchanges really interest us. However, we are wondering what type of units we can expect to see in the 9000 point range. We would like to travel all over and high demand season really isn't that big a deal to us.

Also, if we were to purchase a 2Br/2Ba unit in OLCC - which part and what week(s) are in good demand other than 52 & summer when kids are out?
With the OLCC, what locations unit sizes could we expect to pull as potential trades?

One area that we are definately interested in visiting (likely one time only) would be Hawaii.
Others that we would likely visit more often are Orlando, Boston, Las Vegas, others as we see what is available!

If it helps, we can take ~3 weeks or more in vacation per year (which is why the 9000 point exchanges appeal to us as we can get more vacations in one year).

Basically, I'm looking for a little advice/help.
Thanks in advance,
Scott

 

[AwayWeGo]

Work On The Parents

My parents own a relatively inexpensive orlando timeshare Vacation Village - Fantasyworld or something similar to that (nothing great quality wise, however I have stayed in it twice and was reasonably satisfied). So I knew that there were less expensive option available and decided to join this site hoping to learn a little more before entering into my first TS purchase.

Well, shucks, your parents already have a nice Orlando timeshare, so if you work it right you ought to be able to do some nice timesharing based on that.

I suggest that only because our son & daughter-in-law -- wonderful people, parents of our grandson -- do at least as much timeshare vacationing as we do even though we own all the timeshares in the family. (Well, officially speaking, they own'm too because their names are on the deeds along with ours, JTWROS. But we pay all the fees, including exchange fees.)

A fringe benefit of our joining the RCI points-based exchange system last year is that we got to add 5 family members to our points membership as official Additional Users. That lets us get Guest Certificates for them at no cost above the exchange fee we have to pay anyhow. Our Additional Users are our 2 sons, my brother, The Chief Of Staff's sister, & our nephew.

Right after we got into points, our 1st 9,000-point Instant Exchange -- 7,500 points, actually, but who's counting? -- was for our son's & daughter-in-law's 2005 pre-Christmas vacation in Orlando FL in an outstanding Gold Crown 2BR luxury timeshare condo with wi-fi & big-screen TV & I don't know what-all.

So maybe before you pony up any money to buy timeshares, you might advantageously explore with the parental units the possibility of getting on the deed with them & seeing how that goes.

Meanwhile, The Wisdom Of TUG that I have absorbed, more or less, over the past few years is...

• Buy resale.
• Buy at a resort you actually like going to every year.
• If you buy to trade, buy a 2BR red-season unit for optimum exchange power.
• Watch those annual fees -- over the years they can add up to lots more than your initial cost.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

 

[cclendinen]

Leverage you parent’s timeshare and Exchange Company.

I agree with Alan that if your parents would agree, then try to make use of their timeshare or the last calls and rentals available with the exchange company. I have a total of 7 individuals on my RCI points account( my children and brothers). They can search online using my account and although they have to get a guest certificate there is no cost because they are on the account. But even if they were not on the account, the guest certificate is only $49.00.

1. Find out what your parents own. You mentioned ‘Vacation Village’. There is a Vacation Village at Parkway that is in the RCI Points Program.
2. Are they in RCI weeks or Points program? Either one of these allows them to get last calls or cheap rentals.

You asked about the 7500 exchanges in the 45-day window for Orlando. Orlando has lots available in late spring/early summer and after school is in session to week 50 December. But, I usually find it cheaper to use the last call than the exchange in the 45-window. (Except for 3br). I think the 45-day window exchanges in RCI points are great, but this is probably because I live in Central Florida and the majority of timeshares are a few hours drive away. I have gotten summer 2br and 3br in Sanibel Island with both last calls and 7500 points and in Orlando I will only use 2 or 3 days of a week’s exchange and it is still cheaper than a 2 or 3 day stay in a nice hotel. I can’t even tell you how many times I have put exchanges on hold in either last call or a 7500 points exchange that I wished I could have used but did not have the time and friends or family could not use it either.

 

[xynz]

Thanks for the replies...

For clarification, my parents own at the Vacation Villas at Fantasy World which trades through II.

cclendinen thanks for the info on 45 day exchanges into Orlando.

Can anyone provide a listing of 'good' units/areas that come up regularly on the 45 day exchange window. I'm not just looking for Orlando, but various locations that show up that people would recommend visiting.

Normally it would be just myself and my fiancee travelling, but sometimes I imagine we will invite some friends along, so it would also be helpful to know the size of units that come up in these instant exchanges.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Scott

 

[sfwilshire]

You mentioned Boston. The only resort there is the Marriott Custom House which is an II resort. It is pretty readily available in the off-season, so your parent's timeshare should get you there with no problem.

Sheila