Airline Employee Seeking Advice

[shaner0505]

I'm new to the whole time share scene but am interested in purchasing a re-sale. Working for an airline my family (5 of us. kids are 5,4,2) and I can fly for very minimal cost (standby) and usually book 2 week long vacations/year (Warm destinations like Hawaii or Mexico) and maybe 2 or 3 smaller vacays (Vegas, NYC, AZ, etc) . We usually prefer to avoid the busyness of high season and have no issues going Mon-Thurs. Quite often our smaller trips are very last minute. Hoping to get some insight as to which TS would be the most flexible and best bang for our buck. Thanks in Advance

 

[Grammarhero]

I'm new to the whole time share scene but am interested in purchasing a re-sale. Working for an airline my family (5 of us. kids are 5,4,2) and I can fly for very minimal cost (standby) and usually book 2 week long vacations/year (Warm destinations like Hawaii or Mexico) and maybe 2 or 3 smaller vacays (Vegas, NYC, AZ, etc) . We usually prefer to avoid the busyness of high season and have no issues going Mon-Thurs. Quite often our smaller trips are very last minute. Hoping to get some insight as to which TS would be the most flexible and best bang for our buck. Thanks in Advance

I’m thinking RCI pts or Wyndham. Having that gives you access to Last Calls, which would be $200 for three days and $250 for five days.

 

[pedro47]

First Welcome to the TUG BBS. “Where Knowledge is Power” by Bacon.

 

[shaner0505]

I’m thinking RCI pts or Wyndham. Having that gives you access to Last Calls, which would be $200 for three days and $250 for five days.

That definitely sounds appealing!!! Would having something like HGVC that can be converted to RCI pts be worth it in this scenario or would the hassle or cost to do this make it better to just get RCI or Wyndham instead? I have been looking at HGVC which seem pricier but they do seem to have some very nice resorts.

 

[CPNY]

I'm new to the whole time share scene but am interested in purchasing a re-sale. Working for an airline my family (5 of us. kids are 5,4,2) and I can fly for very minimal cost (standby) and usually book 2 week long vacations/year (Warm destinations like Hawaii or Mexico) and maybe 2 or 3 smaller vacays (Vegas, NYC, AZ, etc) . We usually prefer to avoid the busyness of high season and have no issues going Mon-Thurs. Quite often our smaller trips are very last minute. Hoping to get some insight as to which TS would be the most flexible and best bang for our buck. Thanks in Advance

Maybe vistana or Marriott. They have plenty of great warm weather destinations as long as you can book in advance. You can def get last minute smaller trips with star options or DC points. If you’re ok with mediocre resorts RCI points may work well for you as Grammarhero mentioned.

 

[Grammarhero]

That definitely sounds appealing!!! Would having something like HGVC that can be converted to RCI pts be worth it in this scenario or would the hassle or cost to do this make it better to just get RCI or Wyndham instead? I have been looking at HGVC which seem pricier but they do seem to have some very nice resorts.

Hilton, I believe, gives you access to RCI last falls. Hilton generally has four star units. I don’t know about their resale prices but it’s probably $3k or above.

I read too much into the “bang for your buck” comment. wyndham generally has three star units, except Bonnett Creek, which is their four star resort.

RCI generally has two or three star units. II generally has three or four star units. Maybe II might be a better exchange program. II also has getaway sales.

 

[CPNY]

I prefer the II resorts to the RCI resorts. Although RCI points will allow for better last minute trips. II only offers exchanges or getaways for full weeks unless you’re a platinum member and then you can do short stay exchange which just splits your one week into a 3 day and 4 day stay.

look for a points based system

 

[chapjim]

S

I'm new to the whole time share scene but am interested in purchasing a re-sale. Working for an airline my family (5 of us. kids are 5,4,2) and I can fly for very minimal cost (standby) and usually book 2 week long vacations/year (Warm destinations like Hawaii or Mexico) and maybe 2 or 3 smaller vacays (Vegas, NYC, AZ, etc) . We usually prefer to avoid the busyness of high season and have no issues going Mon-Thurs. Quite often our smaller trips are very last minute. Hoping to get some insight as to which TS would be the most flexible and best bang for our buck. Thanks in Advance

Sounds like you should be hanging out in TUG's Last Minute Rentals.

 

[Synergy]

We have similar ability to take last minute midweek trips. I have had very little luck finding 3-5 night availability - in fact, the only <7 night trips we've booked have been points, at full price. That said, the 7 night last call prices are only a little bit higher, and are often still well worth it for us even if we only use three of the seven nights.

Unrelated : I've been trying to get in with an airline for quite some time now. I don't think it feels like I'm going to get that chance anytime in the near future =/

 

[shaner0505]

We have similar ability to take last minute midweek trips. I have had very little luck finding 3-5 night availability - in fact, the only <7 night trips we've booked have been points, at full price. That said, the 7 night last call prices are only a little bit higher, and are often still well worth it for us even if we only use three of the seven nights.

Unrelated : I've been trying to get in with an airline for quite some time now. I don't think it feels like I'm going to get that chance anytime in the near future =/

Thanks for the reply. Which TS company do you guys book with? Do you look to book last minute deals from here on TUG?

Yea our airline is doing everything it can to slash costs and prevent the inevitable layoffs. Fortunate to have lots of seniority in this scary time. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about working for an airline. I’m sure once this is all over it will be back to hiring and business as usual.

 

[Synergy]

We have RCI points, they work pretty well for us. I haven't booked last minute TUG deals because one hasn't worked out quite right for us, but I definitely check and occasionally request a match.

I appreciate that! I'm not exactly a stranger to the industry, but I don't have a long enough list of employee references for the airline I'm determined to sign on with. It's all good, I expect to be very busy through all this. I'll get back in line when life gets back to normal.

 

[2rebecca]

We usually prefer to avoid the busyness of high season and have no issues going Mon-Thurs.

As someone who bought their timeshare pre-kids, prefers avoiding high season and had some wonderful shoulder season vacations...I would advise you to think about whether you'll be tethered to a school schedule in the near future and, if so, purchase your timeshare based on those needs instead of today's needs. We owned our timeshare for about 12-years before our oldest started school. It took a while to adjust to all the planning required to trade our timeshare around the school schedule! Fortunately, we purchased in a location that doesn't have a low or shoulder season. Had we bought in an area with a true low/shoulder season with the intention of vacationing in the shoulder season, we would be SOL because the only time we can travel now is summer or fall break. Our school doesn't even have spring break! If you decide to buy something, buy something that gives you flexibility in the future!

 

[shaner0505]

As someone who bought their timeshare pre-kids, prefers avoiding high season and had some wonderful shoulder season vacations...I would advise you to think about whether you'll be tethered to a school schedule in the near future and, if so, purchase your timeshare based on those needs instead of today's needs. We owned our timeshare for about 12-years before our oldest started school. It took a while to adjust to all the planning required to trade our timeshare around the school schedule! Fortunately, we purchased in a location that doesn't have a low or shoulder season. Had we bought in an area with a true low/shoulder season with the intention of vacationing in the shoulder season, we would be SOL because the only time we can travel now is summer or fall break. Our school doesn't even have spring break! If you decide to buy something, buy something that gives you flexibility in the future!

Great advice! We have our oldest in kindergarten. I hate to think about being pinned down to summer and spring break like so many others but it could quite easily become our reality. . I guess this is the appeal of owning designated weeks at a specific resort each year?

 

[gresmi]

I would agree with this.

(And my actual Joined date is 1998. Don't know why this never got fixed. Only the old timers would remember this 2005 date error).

S


Sounds like you should be hanging out in TUG's Last Minute Rentals.

 

[GetawaysRus]

Several of the major timeshare companies offer "previews." That is, you can book a stay at a low cost. The "price" is that you have to agree to attend a sales presentation. If you know you wish to buy resale, you'd just have to have the gumption to say no to the sales people. That would allow you a try-out.

Of course, whether you'd want to travel, and whether you'd want to fly with your family, is an issue right now. So the preview idea might not be all that tempting right now.

During the last recession, prices for resale timeshare weeks fell, and they never did really recover much. So with the current or impending recession, I'd suspect that there may be good opportunities to purchase resale weeks.

You already have an idea of what locations interest you. That should allow you to restrict your search and focus on timeshare chains that have resorts in your areas of interest.

 

[ronreid1954]

Hi,
I am retired United (coming up on a year now) and have been into time sharing for quite a while. I own various different timeshares, but in the situation you present I would strongly recommend WorldMark and buy resale. The overall cost per night is less than Wyndham and a little more expensive initially, but the flexibility is similar in both systems. You will need to be the type of traveler who can plan ahead for longer stays, but working for an airline you bid your vacations a year ahead, so that should not be an issue. A lot more availability for the Monday-Thursday type short notice trips, especially in shoulder or off season. Let me know if you want more info. You can go to the website Worldmark the Club to see the resort locations without needing to log in.

 

[shaner0505]

Hi,
I am retired United (coming up on a year now) and have been into time sharing for quite a while. I own various different timeshares, but in the situation you present I would strongly recommend WorldMark and buy resale. The overall cost per night is less than Wyndham and a little more expensive initially, but the flexibility is similar in both systems. You will need to be the type of traveler who can plan ahead for longer stays, but working for an airline you bid your vacations a year ahead, so that should not be an issue. A lot more availability for the Monday-Thursday type short notice trips, especially in shoulder or off season. Let me know if you want more info. You can go to the website Worldmark the Club to see the resort locations without needing to log in.

Thanks so much for the info! I will definitely check out WorldMark. Looks like you chose a good time to retire!

 

[bendadin]

RCI is typically weekend to weekend so not typically the best days for NRSA.