All-inclusive fees

[awkfleabag]

We have never done an exchange at a resort that has mandatory all-inclusive fees. I have called the resort and asked about the cost, and am usually told that the charge is about $125 per person per day. That comes to about $1750 for the week. For me, that negates the benefit of having a timeshare. I'm interested in hearing about others' experiences with all-inclusive exchanges. Thanks.

 

[tschwa2]

Most timeshare owners purchased to save on meals and use their kitchens. They also often use their week as a base to explore the areas and taste the local specialties and may not want to be tied to the resort for meals they have already paid for.

Others like the $3000-$6000 per week AI experience without having to worry about what this drink or appetizer costs and are happy with the variety offered at the resort. Using a timeshare as a deposit and then paying an exchange fee and AI often isn't any less and is sometimes more than purchasing an AI week direct. You have to decide if that is the experience you want (many love AI's - just usually not timeshare owners) and if using your TS as an exchange is a good deal. It is the same as exchanging your TS for a discount on a cruise. Sometimes if you do the math you aren't even getting a discount at all.

 

[dioxide45]

Many times you will find that it is a rather poor value to do a timeshare exchange in to a property with mandatory AI. This is why we avoid them as much as possible. Unfortunately they are becoming more scarce in places like Cancun and the Riveria Maya where we tend to travel. I agree that the mandatory AI does negate the value of timeshare travel and why we avoid them. If you are really interested in AI, search for AI deals online. You will often find that you can book something similar for the same cost as your annual maintenance fees. Thus it would not be a good deal to exchange your timeshare AND pay exorbitant AI fees to use your timeshare to go to AI.

I have seen some decent deals on Groupon for AI. Just booked a single night in Tulum after confirming that there was no minimum number of nights for $200 in May. Good for two people. If you did that for 7 nights, it would only be $1,400. Not much more and sometimes less than most MFs. There are many AI options out there and if you find a good company or travel agent to work with, they can often find deals that beat the mandatory fees of the exchange companies.

We wouldn't use timeshare for AI because that is why we have timeshare. To have a kitchen and avoid high food prices while traveling. With a timeshare you really don't need AI. With a hotel room, you need some way to eat and AI is sometimes a good deal.

 

[classiclincoln]

Personally, we don't like AI resorts. Think about how much you'd need to eat and drink to use up the $125 per person per day you pay. Also, the resorts we stayed at (we did 2 AI exchanges in the 13 years we've owned) only give you well brands and house wine. If you want anything else, you need to pay. We had just checked into one of the Karisma resorts and saw a guy coming back to his room with a couple of bottles of Dewar's and Jack Daniel's. We couldn't figure it out until we went to get something to drink....

 

[laura1957]

We use timeshare stays 3-5 times per year, very happily cooking usually 2 meals a day. But we also love our Hard Rock all inclusive membership, where we don't cook or clean

 

[MOXJO7282]

Not for us either but many love them. And they can be very affordable. One of my good friends and his family love them but they are big drinkers and they don't have high food standards so it's perfect for them.

They have a family of 6 all adults of drinking age except one that they allow to drink at 19. The place they rent in the DR for 5 days seems actually fairly nice itself. It's a private 6 BD villa with a big private pool and absolutely huge pool deck just for them that is part of this huge complex. Beyond the villa to me everything else seems marginal at best. He tells me there are armed guards all over as if that is a good thing.

For my buddy he raves about a few things. Again it's the booze, each adult is given one bottle of booze to start and apparently they will stack your fridge with low budget beer to your heart's content, so he and his family pound beers for 5 days.

As part of the deal they also have someone come every morning and cook them breakfast in their villa. They rave about this as well. This does sound like something I can can see many people liking who just don't cook but not for us. Otherwise the full meals he says are hit or miss, mostly miss and this guy is not a foodie so for him to say it the food must be awful.

So they love the privacy of their unit, the booze and the cooked breakfast but it's obvious otherwise it's marginal at best.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I would never use an RCI exchange for an AI resort that would come with mandatory added fees. You're right, it negates the value of TS ownership.

Back about 12 years ago, I picked up an AI TS resort on Hotels.com for about $110/night for 9 nights. That was for two of us, and included the AI amenities! We couldn't have stayed that that inexpensively any other way. It was a nice resort, not top of the line, in Cancun . . . and not affiliated with the large developers like Palace. It was very good though, and the restaurants & buffet plus bars were better than average.

I'd suggest trying to find an alternative way to do and AI resort . . . maybe such deals like we had can still be found.

 

[PamMo]

Exchanging into an all-inclusive resort makes no sense to me, when you can buy an RCI Extra Vacation or Interval Getaway for just a little more than normal exchange fees. A friend just bought an All-Inclusive Getaway to the Royal Haciendas in Playa del Carmen. Three of her friends from across the country are meeting her down there, and will pay a total of $765/pp for a week in a 2BR (AI fees + cost of Getaway). They didn't want to plan meals, shop for groceries, cook, or clean up after meals. They want to eat out in restaurants and enjoy fancy tropical drinks (with alcohol and healthier alternatives) by the pool. They'll use the "free" snorkel gear, kayaks, and other amenities. I'm curious to see how they like it.

 

[geekette]

usually cheaper to book a bigger unit than you normally need and bring your own chef.

 

[Ty1on]

We've found that timeshare+all inclusive is generally wasteful--You can rent an all inclusive vacation at the same resort from a discount travel site for less than the cost of your unit exchanged in + exxchange fee + AI fee, and sometimes less than just the exchange fee + AI fee. We took on a Velas Vallarta, but only because it is AI optional for owners and there were only two use years left on teh contract. We did the math, and if we wanted AI on our June trip, the total cost would be maybe $300 less than if we rented the same unit with AI included. That's at $115 per adult AI owner's rate. If you exchange through RCI, there is MANDATORY AI. It was $170 last year, I'm sure it's higher this year. That's $2,400 for adults + $600 for a child (I think it's $90 a day rack rate for kids). $3,000 + $239 exchange + the cost of what you exchanged in. We found a nicer AI resort in Punta Mita, $2200 for two adults and a kid AIRFARE INCLUDED.

 

[dioxide45]

Exchanging into an all-inclusive resort makes no sense to me, when you can buy an RCI Extra Vacation or Interval Getaway for just a little more than normal exchange fees. A friend just bought an All-Inclusive Getaway to the Royal Haciendas in Playa del Carmen. Three of her friends from across the country are meeting her down there, and will pay a total of $765/pp for a week in a 2BR (AI fees + cost of Getaway). They didn't want to plan meals, shop for groceries, cook, or clean up after meals. They want to eat out in restaurants and enjoy fancy tropical drinks (with alcohol and healthier alternatives) by the pool. They'll use the "free" snorkel gear, kayaks, and other amenities. I'm curious to see how they like it.

I think this is where the cheap getaways make a difference, along with more people splitting the costs of the getaway. It looks like Royal Haciendas AI fees are not all that bad, $99 per person per day. For two people, with a $300 getaway, it works out to only $1500 for a week. If you instead use a $1000 MF exchange, you are looking at a $2200 week. I had a friend at work just book an AI seven night vacation that only cost them $2100 including air. I compare this to my 13 night non AI stay in Cancun which only costs me $1300. $100 a night for 13 nights. $500 air for two people. So I get twice as much time in Cancun for less than the cost of their seven night AI. I just have to eat which recently is rather cheap with the value of the Peso. We don't drink. For drinkers, I can see where AI can be an easy and cheaper option.