Current state of timesharing---opinions /poll

[SenorBlanco]

Good morning! Spent a lot of time over the last few days going through the incredible information contained here trying to educate myself in the timesharing vernacular. Quite honestly, from what I'm gathering there appears to be a sense of uncertainty around a few items in the industry which honestly has me a little leery about moving forward at this moment in time. Curious on perspectives, even creating a poll, and would love some perspectives from those of you whom have seen changes over the years as I'm not sure if this is the norm or a blip.

Level set - my wife and I generally prefer resort-style settings and amenities so the HGVC, MVC/Vistana models seem most appealing, which coincidentally is where there appears to be the most flux.

Consolidations:
- Seems to be a ton of this going on and I've seen professionally that mergers/acquisitions may not be a good thing.
- What will happen with HGVC? I'm a Hilton Honors member and generally love the Hilton brand and frankly, thus far in my research HGVC would be our "front runner", but a lot going on here.
- MVC is actively acquiring but that seems to be leading to pretty subtantial bumps in MF---is that common? Looking at the stickies the norm over the last year or so seems to be 4-5%. Will that expand to their acquisitions of Vistana/ILG?

I know there are separate topics around this, however those are from the perspectives of owners whom are already bought into programs. I'm looking at this more from someone like myself who is considering timesharing.

 

[Panina]

Good morning! Spent a lot of time over the last few days going through the incredible information contained here trying to educate myself in the timesharing vernacular. Quite honestly, from what I'm gathering there appears to be a sense of uncertainty around a few items in the industry which honestly has me a little leery about moving forward at this moment in time. Curious on perspectives, even creating a poll, and would love some perspectives from those of you whom have seen changes over the years as I'm not sure if this is the norm or a blip.

Level set - my wife and I generally prefer resort-style settings and amenities so the HGVC, MVC/Vistana models seem most appealing, which coincidentally is where there appears to be the most flux.

Consolidations:
- Seems to be a ton of this going on and I've seen professionally that mergers/acquisitions may not be a good thing.
- What will happen with HGVC? I'm a Hilton Honors member and generally love the Hilton brand and frankly, thus far in my research HGVC would be our "front runner", but a lot going on here.
- MVC is actively acquiring but that seems to be leading to pretty subtantial bumps in MF---is that common? Looking at the stickies the norm over the last year or so seems to be 4-5%. Will that expand to their acquisitions of Vistana/ILG?

I know there are separate topics around this, however those are from the perspectives of owners whom are already bought into programs. I'm looking at this more from someone like myself who is considering timesharing.

Without hesitation I would do it again. Timesharing has given me the opportunity to travel affordably and more frequently. The key to to being a happy timeshare owner is doing it right, right place and right price plus being able to find a new home for it if you no longer want it.

To reduce my risk in HGVC most of my weeks are affiliates in resorts that I love. I also then have the choice whether to be/stay a member.

For example one of the weeks I own is at Eagles Nest on Marco Island Fl. I have lots of flexibility in my choices.
1)Being it is an affiliate I can join HGVC if I want to but I do not have to. At any times if I don’t want to stay in HGVC I do not have to.

2) I can buy a fixed week or a flex week. If fixed I am guaranteed that week each year. If flex I submit my requests one year prior to the resort. Either fixed or flex can be deposited in HGVC for points.

3)Or I can trade within Interval International ( must be a member and pay trade fee) where it gets very good trading power.

 

[Passepartout]

I think you should add another option- For now, I'd rent and keep my options open.

And that's my suggestion for you. I say this because you are relatively young, only get one week's vacation a year, plus all the same 3-day long weekends every other working stiff gets, and competing with all those TSing families can get really tedious, and cash is king.

That's not to say that at some point, you won't find the 'perfect' buy-in where you want to go over and over again, but for now, rent and 'play the field'.

Jim

 

[Iggyearl]

My life has been quite "circumstantial." I owned my own business for 24 years, and never had the ability to plan far ahead. However, my wife and daughter got to go to Disney World 32 times during that period. I don't believe in taking on contractual obligations - especially lifetime ones. The retail timeshare market is full of charlatans, and professional liars. (what other industry bribes their prospects in to listening to their sales pitch?) And the resale market requires much study, planning and versatility. I will leave "ownership" to those who want to own, and I will continue to use hotel rooms, and timeshare rentals to accomplish my travel goals.

 

[SenorBlanco]

I think you should add another option- For now, I'd rent and keep my options open.

And that's my suggestion for you. I say this because you are relatively young, only get one week's vacation a year, plus all the same 3-day long weekends every other working stiff gets, and competing with all those TSing families can get really tedious, and cash is king.

That's not to say that at some point, you won't find the 'perfect' buy-in where you want to go over and over again, but for now, rent and 'play the field'.

Jim

Great input and I actually added that to the poll. I also changed the option to where people can change their votes.

 

[rhonda]

My vote: "Yes, but ONLY if it was a great deal"
I confess to flirting with two new additions in the recent weeks. There were great deals (in my eyes) and quite tempting.
We'll celebrate 20 years with our initial timeshare purchase this summer. Overall, it has been a great ride.

 

[SenorBlanco]

Great feedback and interesting results! Thanks, all!

 

[needvaca]

I equate “ONLY if it’s a great deal” to mean “buy RESALE only” and only after doing research about it on TUG.
Big yes for me. I bought a couple off EBAY and TUG last year.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

IMO...this survey will naturally be biased toward the "if a great deal" for two reasons:

1) Tuggers are a sophisticated resale community compared to the general timeshare population. Think - stamp collectors and traders community vs. people who buy and use stamps.
2) Many Tuggers already own several deeds/points so only would consider a "great deal." This is our situation because it is diminishing returns. If we were starting out with no timeshares, the bar would be lower because we would want to get our vacations set (resale of course).

 

[aandmrun]

It is because of buying into timeshares that we even started traveling. It seemed that vacations were not a big priority until we knew that we had to use our weeks every year. I love having the opportunity to have a nice unit with balcony and or patio anywhere in the world. I believe that once you have become spoiled by staying in timeshares, you are never really satisfied with just a hotel room. This has saved us lots of money and given us the opportunity to enjoy many vacations with our grandchildren.

 

[Gypsy65]

Yes
I mirror some of the above posts
1- it sorta forces you to vacation

2- Staying in timeshares give us a little piece of mind as in the units are usually very similar no mater where we stay

I do think that timeshares are beginning to change for the better
Too many people know or have heard horror stories, don’t know how to use what they bought etc
I think a change that gives more “ how to use” information and one that allows original owners a better resale value will drastically change the entire ownership
And I do think that is slowly starting to be the focus

You can only rip off so many people ( and not all feel ripped off ) before you need to make adjustments

 

[pedro47]

Is a great deal, when you can buy a timeshare resale?

 

[Sugarcubesea]

I voted, "Yes, but ONLY if it was a great deal", and I would buy my timeshares again. It has actually allowed me to save money on vacations... Previously we only stayed in hotel rooms and that meant 3 meals a day at restaurants. Plus, from my budget spreadsheet, I have actually spent less on my MF's vs the hotel rates I was paying for the same locations.

I have always purchased TS's in locations where it was more costly to rent vs purchasing. I have purchased all of my TS's resale.

I still love everthing that I have purchased, yes the MF's continue to go up each year and when it outpaces being a value is when I will sell or give away.

 

[SteelerGal]

I still consider a Newbie since I have only been involved in TS the last 4yrs but have owned the last 2.5. Because we are now a family of 7, it’s the only way to travel comfortably and cheaply.
TS forces us to vacation as well. We have 5 trips planned in 2020 to cover my children’s school schedule. And currently waiting for reservation windows to open up.
My suggestion is to rent until you find the System that will work for you. Although we own MVC family, I have stayed in HGVC, Wyndham, Holiday Inn and Worldmark locations.

 

[justinr983]

I'm new to the game and late to this thread (my apologies for necro'ing it. haha)... We have a resort we really love. We've rented there twice now. It's three hours from home

Under the "old system" in which these units were sold with upfront costs of ownership under high pressure sales tactics, I believe we would have experienced a great deal of buyer's remorse and animosity at the whole process. However, we are acquiring it through TS with no upfront costs, a free 2021 week, and taking over maintenance fees starting in 2022. We are absolutely ecstatic to have the opportunity, not to mention the incentive, to take a weeklong vacation every year at a resort we adore.

 

[pedro47]

No! I would now only purchase a timeshare resale.

 

[bogey21]

We have a resort we really love. We've rented there twice now. It's three hours from home

How does the cost of renting compare to the Resort's MF? How hard is it to rent the week you want?

George

 

[AndySamuels]

I have thought about owning a resale for many years now.

But ultimately there are some hangups that for me personally do not make even a resale appealing.

1: Maintenance fees are ever increasing and cannot be skipped: life long commitment unless you can offload the timeshare.
2: Exchange and/or network membership fees add to the cost.
3: The cost savings are minimal although admittedly you can get more bang for the buck.
4: I already happen to live in Miami metro so I already live the tropical lifestyle daily.
5: Timeshare reservations usually need to be very long term out: very hard with my line of work / family stuff.
6: Playing the fees credit card game for extra credit and exchange reservation bonus weeks is a bit of a hassle.
7: I simply do not have enough PTO to really get the benefit from bonus weeks for example.
8: Even with kitchens in the units flights, food, attractions, car rental and incidentals add up fast for a family of four.
9: Assessments are another unavoidable and significant financial risk IMO.

So it is very lifestyle dependent I think.

 

[DannyTS]

1 and 2 are interchangable, everybody wants a good deal!
Resale of course, retail does not make sense. In this environment it may make more sense than ever especially if you believe that Covid will end eventually and that the money printed by the governments will bring some inflation. Are the hotels going to be as cheap as before? Are the restaurants going to charge the same prices after being closed for so long? Yes, the maintenece fees have gone up and it is in part greed but it is also because their costs have gone up. I like being an owner. I have rented from others and it worked for us but I prefer the maximum flexibility of changing the number of days, size, cancelling and rebooking all on my own without depending on a third party. Yes, there is no shortage of units one can rent from owners at a price equal if not lower than the maintence fees. However, those are not the places we typically want to visit! A good resort in Hawaii is expensive even from an owner, Lagunamar Cancun where we like to go is way over MF in prime season, try to rent a Marriott in Aruba during the winter, a Marriott in Spain or a HGVC in Portugal for MF during the summer!

To me the hotels work best if you are a couple. If you are a family of 4 or 5, they become very expensive espeecially if you want a certain standard. We do not want to stay in a hotel room all 4, a second room means double the price. The hotels generally do not have kitchens and it can be expensive for 4 people to eat 3 meals a day at the restaurant.

Edited to add: We got the timeshare bug about 3 years ago and we now own several Vistana weeks plus an RCI points trader. We have already shuffled our portfolio several times to suit our needs. Possibly those that are not happy with their timeshares are those that bought retail, paid a lot of money and they may have also been pushed by the sales people to buy something that was not necessarily to their best interest and was the best option. If you on the other hand do your due dilligence and compare all possible options in advance, plus you get it at a good price, you can certainly maximize the chances of beeing a happy owner.

 

[AndySamuels]

Thank you. Your summary aligns with the supply / demand dynamics of Aruba and some other places where prime season demand way outweighs inventory. Where we like to travel there is no such disbalance. So for us it does not really make sense to do the TS thing. Especially the 7 day stays plus related flights / car rental and so on would run up the tab insanely. Plus when you already live in FL there is not much point going to Aruba, the Bahamas and so on. Well at least IMO. Also: flying from FL to HI would be a) very expensive and b) long / very tiring (time difference: more of a once in a lifetime trip rather than a regular annual occurrence. Same with the EU. I travel to the EU already once or twice annually but as I am from a NW EU country there is not much fun to it (e.g. sun) and it is more a family / friends reunion trip.

 

[justinr983]

How does the cost of renting compare to the Resort's MF? How hard is it to rent the week you want?

George

MF is about 900 per year which will average to about 128 per night. Rent fluctuates pretty wildly. I've seen it as low as 87 per night and upwards of 150, with some weeks not available at all. Our last stay was right about 146 per night after taxes and fees.

My timeshare is in prime week. As of now I'm not sure how easy it will be to get the week I want, but I'll be happy to update once the transfer process finishes and I gain my owner's portal access.

 

[LisaH]

After timesharing for 30 some years, I am about to let my RCI membership go. Will still keep my II for extra vacations and occasional deposits of my Marriott week/WorldMark points. It’s just gotten too expensive to maintain both and there are more options that we didn’t have 30 years ago. At one time I owned more than 10 weeks. Now, just Marriott and a small point package of WM.

 

[VegasBella]

Hubs and I were just talking about this with my sis and her hubs. They don't own any timeshares. We own 4 and might be owning a 5th soon.
Hubs explained that there are plenty of good deals but you need to know what you want, what to look for, and not to rush things. He said he thinks a good deal comes along our paths about once a year.

The thing is that though, for them, they likely won't ever be able to invest the time and energy into a getting a good deal. I know them well enough to know that. On top of that, they aren't really timeshare kind of people - like the ones who can be ok with planning something a year out and sticking to it. But I think if they had something awesome like Christmas in the mountains they would be ok.

 

[easyrider]

I have a bunch of timeshare contracts that will be expiring in the next few years. I did find a couple of weeks on the Tug bargain bin to help replace these expiring weeks. These weeks are what I like and getting them for the transfer cost was what I consider a pretty good deal.

If the right deals show up I don't have a problem adding more rtu weeks. I am a bit fickle regarding what timeshares I like so even if the right one shows up I might pass.

This is the current state on my timesharing. It could change at any time.

Bill

 

[Sicnarf]

I own 15 Vistana weeks, 1 MVC week, 3 HRC weeks and 2 HGVC weeks. I bought my 1st in Maui in 2004 from Starwood. Since then I bought primarily resale or gifted to me except a few re-trades with Vistana to attain 5* Elite status. The primary benefit to my family is luxurious villas 3x the size of hotel room at < half the price. And since I rent at least half of my units, I usually get 6+ weeks free vacation a year!