Does anyone else own a vacation club membership through Westgate resorts that is not a timeshare?

[Cathy Rosen]

I have a vacation club membership through Westgate resorts and its not a timeshare. I've never heard of anything like it anywhere else. I have a hunch they don't sell them anymore either.

I bought it on an impulse in Vegas. It was presented as something like a Costco for travel. I paid $5,000.00 and after that, there is a $200.00 annual membership and renewal is not mandatory. You can let it lapse and renew when you want to use it again.

For my membership, I get 2 Westgate rentals when I renew subject to availability. They are $500.00 per week whether its a 1, 2, or 3 br and they send email specials where you can get maybe a 2 bedroom for $300.00 for the week. I also get up to 5 weekend getaways. Those are specials at various resorts other than at Westgate. They range between $50 to $100/week.

They also give out certificates from DreamVacation which are timeshares through interval from all over the world where you can rent for between $250 for a studio to $400 for 2 or more bedrooms. The choices are limited compared to interval, but there's still plenty to choose from. There is an expiration date on those certificates, but they can still be used even if your vacation club membership lapses.

I also have access to the Leisuretime website, where I can book resorts subject to availability as well.

I've been to some of the Westgate resorts and I am going to Casa Dorada Dreams in Baja California in May with a certificate they gave.

I've had the membership for 3 years now, and I feel I've gotten my money's worth. I love it and it's everything the salesman said it would be.

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this through other timeshare companies, or have this through Westgate? I'm also curious how this compares to the timeshare ownerships. I know they have Westgate Events with amazing deals, and you can get the interval membership. I'd like to know more about all the special deals and advantages you have from owning a timeshare, as opposed to what I have. Also, from what I understand, you can't get the interval membership and all those other special deals if you buy a used timeshare.

Timeshares are not very transparent, and I had to ask a lot of questions to figure out my own membership. When I talk to timeshare salespeople, I walk away dazzled, but not knowing or understanding anything.

 

[LannyPC]

I'm also curious how this compares to the timeshare ownerships.

With travel clubs, like what you have, you don't own any deeded property. It's usually just a membership that allows you to purchase or rent weeks for a little bit of a discount. And like you mentioned, you can let it lapse and be released. When you own a deeded TS, you have to pay MFs until you find another owner for it.

All that being said however, your post (newcomer, first post) seems more like an ad for this vacation club and not a genuine question.

 

[Cathy Rosen]

With travel clubs, like what you have, you don't own any deeded property. It's usually just a membership that allows you to purchase or rent weeks for a little bit of a discount. And like you mentioned, you can let it lapse and be released. When you own a deeded TS, you have to pay MFs until you find another owner for it.

All that being said however, your post (newcomer, first post) seems more like an ad for this vacation club and not a genuine question.

I know all that, and owning a deed is a disadvantage IMO. What I want to know is if there are any other companies who offer something like this because I've never heard of it before and when I Google vacation club, I just get results about Timeshares.

I believe you get more perks when you are a timeshare owner as opposed to what I have, and thats what I'm interested in. For one thing, I cannot get an interval membership while timeshare owners can. I'd like to know if you can purchase weeks outright at resorts through interval without having to do an exchange, and if the price is comparable to the discounted price I pay through Dream Vacation. I've also read on the internet that when you buy a timeshare from a private owner as opposed to buying directly from the company itself, you can't get the Interval membership. Is that true? Do any of the timeshare perks transfer with the ownership?

Westgate owners can buy tickets to their special events and I can't. There are all kinds of concerts and cruises at great prices per couple that include a stay at one of the resorts, a welcome party with food and drinks, and they provide transportation to the event or cruise ship.

They also advertise about the extra points you can get for booking cruises, flights, and car rentals. Those don't do me a bit of good, but I think they may actually be worth something if you own a timeshare. I get 600 points when I renew my membership. When I booked a river cruise through Westgate at the sale price from Gate 1, I got an additional $100.00 off and so did everyone in my party, but I don't think my points had much to do with it, because even if I had more than 600 points, they still wouldn't give me more of a discount than that. I think timeshare owners can actually use their points to pay for flights whereas I can't. But I'm not sure how that works.

Sometimes I get tempted to upgrade to a timeshare, but then again, what I have now is probably all I need. It's not the timeshare itself I'm interested in, its all the other stuff that comes with it that I want. If I were to upgrade, I would want the cheapest timeshare I could get through the company with the most minimal of Maintenance fees, just so I could get the perks.

I nearly did buy a timeshare through WG but managed to get out of it. When I bought it, I asked the sales lady if I could rent an additional timeshare if I had a group going and she told me yes, and that it would only cost $50.00 extra. I'm wondering if that's true or not, because they told me quite a few lies, and they were truly a shady bunch. As happy as I turned out to be with my vacation club, I still know what I'm dealing with when it comes to timeshare sales people.

 

[theo]

>> I'd like to know if you can purchase weeks outright at resorts through interval without having to do an exchange, and if the price is comparable to the discounted price I pay through Dream Vacation.<<

Not at all sure what you mean by "purchase weeks outright at resorts through Interval". II is just an exchange company; II doesn't SELL timeshares. In order to purchase a membership in Interval International you must first own at a II-affiliated resort. With II membership, you can RENT weeks (called "Getaways" by II), but said rentals are conducted directly with II (not with the resort) --- and only for those intervals which are specifically advertised and offered by II to II members. Resorts may also conduct their own direct rentals of course, but such "in house" rentals have nothing whatsoever to do with II (and will always be considerably more expensive than any II "Getaway").

>> I've also read on the internet that when you buy a timeshare from a private owner as opposed to buying directly from the company itself, you can't get the Interval membership. Is that true? Do any of the timeshare perks transfer with the ownership? <<

II membership can be purchased by any OWNER at any II-affiliated resort. It does not matter at all whether ownership at a II-affiliated resort was acquired developer-direct or via resale. I have no clue what you might perceive to be "timeshare perks", but in my opinion any and all alleged "perks" of timeshare ownership are mostly just meaningless developer marketing razzamatazz. The "perk" of timeshare ownership is the actual use and enjoyment (or exchange, maybe an occasional rental) of the interval --- and precious little else.

>> Westgate owners can buy tickets to their special events and I can't. There are all kinds of concerts and cruises at great prices per couple that include a stay at one of the resorts, a welcome party with food and drinks, and they provide transportation to the event or cruise ship.<<

There is no "perk" on Planet Earth that could ever possibly be worth (or could ever justify) buying into Westgate Resorts IMO, whether purchased developer-direct or resale -- or even if received FOR FREE.
The Westgate properties themseleves are certainly nice enough, but anything and everything else about the company and it's slimy, greedy, deceitful practices just stinks to high heaven --- including that Westgate devalues all WG resales, by willful and deliberate design, essentially rendering them almost worthless.

>> It's not the timeshare itself I'm interested in, its all the other stuff that comes with it that I want. <<

No idea what "all the other stuff that comes with it" that you "want" might possibly be. The benefits of timeshare ownership extend little (if at all) beyond the actual use and enjoyment of the interval itself (and maybe its' occasional "exchange", which has its' own separate costs and fees). With no personal offense intended, it seems clear that you are focused exclusively on "getting deals and bargains and discounts". Timeshare ownership is not a likely route to success in your pursuit of that narrow and limited objective.

 

[Desirae]

I feel into the upgrade scam! They explained to me that the travel club members rarely get the nice condos they are promised. They end up booked into the hotel rooms which are much smaller than most hotel rooms I’ve stayed in. I cancelled my timeshare contract within the legal time period and am now trying to research what happens if I don’t pay for the travel club I was conned into and have used 0 benefits from.