Hawaii time share options

[gstepic]

Right now my plan A is to get another FF property on the resale market to give me the points I need for Hawaii. So instead of having 154000 even year points and 168000 odd year points, I would have 308000 and 322000 respectively. We are at a point when two bedrooms are desirable because we are knowing more and more people that want to vacation with us, so the extra points would be very useful, not to mention what we have now may not even get us into a one bedroom for a week.

I am confident if I book as soon as allowed, at the 10 month mark, I would have little problem getting into properties in Oahu (mainly Waikiki Beach Walk which we really liked) and the Big Island (my wife did call the Royal Sea Cliff a poop hole but not exactly using those words!), not so confident when it comes to Kauai and especially Maui as Fairflied only has one listed in the 2007-2008 Directory. I have a week booked with RCI but cannot find anything on Maui or Kaui for next fall so I am on a waiting list. The RCI rep said if I booked farther in advance, and I can book two years in advance, I should have no problem, so RCI could work very well for Hawaii if this is true. So my thinking right now is if I plan far enough in advance I do not need to own in Hawaii.

Many of the Hawaii time share properties are on one island only, and of course I would consider buying a property on Hawaii if it works out better for our planned annual trips to the Islands. We would like to go to Oahu every other year and one of the three other islands for the years we don't go to Oahu. Down the road it would be nice to go for two weeks instead of one, staying at two islands for a week each.

So what time shares could work for me outside of Fairfield? I am looking into being able to exchange weeks and my understanding is I can do this with Fairlfied, but my thinking is exchanging a week in Bonnet Creek or the Grand Desert for week in Hawaii could be more difficult than exchanging a week already owned in Hawaii for a week on another island. My guess is a lot of Hawaii property owners enjoy going to the other islands so exhanging weeks may be a lot easier if the property is owned in Hawaii.

I was very interested in the Imperial vacation club, then became less interested when it seemed like getting another FF property made more sense. If getting a week on Maui or Kaui is pretty easy and not too costly by exchanging an Imperial week, then this could be appealing (I may keep bugging you for questions Tony!). Our second favorite island is Maui, so owning something there is appealing, especially if somehow it made it easier to also stay on Kauai.

So any suggestions welcome. I am almost done with my photos from our recent trip to the islands and will post those soon. I am debating about posting a summary of our trip or a more detailed island by island review, but I don't want to bore anyone to death.

What our trip did do was make us want to go back every year. So if anyone in Albuquerque sees some guy on a busy intersection holding up a sign that says "Will work for vacation money, God Bless", that will be me! Seriously, I will get a part time job or whatever it takes to come up with the bucks to vacation in Hawaii every year, we love the islands that much. I am sure you all would not understand! :rofl:

Gary

 

[Hawaiibarb]

Kauai timeshares

Fairfield properties are under the Wyndham umbrella now, as are the Pahio resorts on Kauai. So look in your book at the Pahio properties......mostly in Princeville, which is my favorite part of the island. Shearwater is my favorite, then Ka'eo Kai, then Bali Hai. Pahio Beach Villas is closer to Lihue, but I have never stayed there.

Kauai is my favorite island of all the neighbor islands.....you will love it! Maui is known to be harder to trade into.....perhaps others will have good tips for that.

Enjoy!

Barb

 

[gstepic]

Brought my book to work with me!

I am putting together a spreadsheet to plan the next several years of vacations! Pretty anal huh! Shearwater takes too many points but I do have a couple of the others you mentioned on my planning spreadsheet. My concern is getting booked with those properties as I did not see anything on-line. It could be that i have to call and not all available slots are listed on-line.

We really liked Maui and we hope to go back there next year at this time. If all else fails we can stay at a B&B that we totally loved. But I prefer not to pay for a room for a week if we can use a time share week. Still, the room would be about the same as a years maintenance fees. If it is true that it is harder to trade into Maui then this gives me a reason to look harder at Maui properties if I buy outside of FF. We loved the Lahiana area and the Whalers cove area. We never made it any further north than the Whaler's cove. We also liked the area just south of Kihei. There is probably more on Maui that we did not get to do then any of the other islands we visited so we are anxious to go back.

I am going to wait at leat one full year before buying anything for several reasons. It gives me more time to research, we will know more about a health condition my wife has, and we will have a better idea what we can do financially. Another important reason is we want to see if FF keeps expanding or if we start seeing more FF resales on the islands.

Gary

 

[jtridle]

Maui is very hard to exchange into. I tried to trade into it in Jan. 2006 using a FF resort and was put on an RCI search list for more than a year. they never came up with anything so we bought there. Probably a dumb move because my husband doesn't want to go to Hawaii, says it is too far and would rather go to the caribbean. We bought a 3 bedroom at One Napili Way on Maui and although it is a great place, it is expensive (cause you will never see it on resale, they have right of first refusal) to buy and we have been renting it out. Good news is that we net more than maintenance fees. I've heard you can have fairly good luck getting into Hawaii (and sometimes Maui) at last minute through RCI especially. I have seen Maui available last minute. If you really, really want to go to Maui, I would buy there, resale. Property taxes have gone up on Maui pretty substantially since we bought there. Just warning you.

 

[gstepic]

After more thought Imperial seems like best option

We enjoyed Maui but after really giving it some thought I am thinking when we do want to go to Maui we can simply use the B&B we used on our last trip (Wonderful World B&B in Kihie), it was a great experience.

I am very inclined to buy a one bedroom at the Imperial in Waikiki because I think it may be perfect for what we want to do. My wife loves Oahu, and so do I, and we can easily see ourselves going there on an annual basis. We love the location of the Imperial and their one bedroom units would work if we had guests vacation with us. We had family vacation with us on this last trip and it added to our experience so we want to do more of this in the future. My understanding is the murphy beds are not that bad to sleep on. The Shorebird that is very close to the Imperial is kind of special to us and as I said, we love the area and we are familiar with it.

One of my important vacation goals that I have yet to accomplish is to visit one place on a regular basis and have time to kick back and still have fun things to do and places to see. We don't always see eye to eye on what places would fit that goal (I enjoy seclusion and a "quiet" place from time to time but that would drive my wife crazy), Waikiki is one place we both agree would work (there are quiet places on the island!). We still want to go to different places for vacations (we plan on two to three per year) and we could use our FF points for those and since we usually travel during off season and our non-Hawaii vacations are usually about 5 days, our FF points we already have are enough.

So now I am thinking of trying to use the RCI week I have for the Imperial in Waikiki instead of Maui next fall. Then we will tack on four extra nights at the B&B in Maui we stayed at this past trip. It will be much easier to talk my wife into making a purchase there if she actually can see the place. In fact we would like to tack on days at other islands for most of our Oahu future trips since the major cost is the flight from the mainland (and rooms if we had to pay for them). I know for the Big Island we could use FF points without having to book a full week and maybe we could do the same for Kauai so we would not have any room costs. We would be happy to do the B&B thing for Maui though.

If we could not go to Oahu in any year I don't think we would have problems using our Imperial week for an exchange and I also don't think we would have a real hard time renting it. The maintenance fees and purchase cost would not be any more or at least much different than buying another FF property. Plugging the Imperial into my planning spreadsheet actually puts us in a position where we will have a hard time using the FF points we now have, and if that is the case we could sell points to cover some MFs.

If we were wealthy we probably could afford to be more spontaneous with vacations but we are not. I do think by doing some planning for the future we can have something very nice to look forward to and it will not be a burden financially. In fact projecting our vacations for the next several years and the thought of going to a place we truly love every year is giving me a lot of motivation to take care of myself better physically. We have been under a lot of stress and I think we both have had some bouts with depression (mainly because of a drug addict daughter) so I know from actual experience a relaxing vacation is great medicine!

I am probably sharing way more information than anyone cares to know so my apologies! I am hoping my thought process may help someone else that may be in a similar situation. These long posts actually help me sort things out. Again I want to thank all those who have helped me understand just what options I have.

Gary

 

[quiltergal]

Gary, we've been going to the islands for several years now. We have come to the conclusion that to justify the outrageous airfare costs our minimum stay is two weeks. We usually split it between two islands as we both find 2 weeks on one is a little too long.

As others have said exchanging into Maui is very difficult. I've been successful twice, but have only managed to get a one bedroom both times. I'm shooting for a two bedroom in 09, and have had my search going for nearly a year. I don't really expect any activity on that search until this January as I think most resorts only book a year out. If I were looking at buying I would buy the hardest one to get.....Maui. The area north of Ka'anapali beach is quite lovely. Kahana, Napili and Kapalua are all worth a look IMO. I think with FF points you wouldn't have any problem booking Beachwalk if you do it pronto.

Good luck with your quest! And you're right, we all need an annual attitude adjustment atl lease once a year.

 

[alanraycole]

I don't know what to think!

I only recently learned that Wyndham and RCI were part of the same company. When I learned that, I thought I was probably a second rate customer with RCI. I assumed that Wyndham owners probably got some kind of special treatment.

Now that I have read your comments, I can only assume that I was wrong. I had heard that Maui was hard to get into, so when Kahana Falls came up in a search tied to my Hilton timeshare, I grabbed it. But then it came up in a search with my points account. "Arghhhh," I thought... had I wasted my high trading power Hilton week? Then it came up again and again and again... I now KNOW I wasted my Hilton week on something that apparently is relatively easy to get. Kahana Falls and Maui Lea have come up in my searches repeatedly (Kahana Falls many more than Maui Lea). As far as Kauai... I almost always get a page full of available weeks.

So, that leads me to ask is your Wyndham week traded into RCI as "weeks" or "points." I have heard that points get high trading power no matter how you got them. Weeks, on the other hand, are dependent on location, time of year, unit size, etc. If you are having trouble getting into Hawaii, putting 2 and 2 together, my guess is that your Wyndham week trades into RCI as weeks rather than points. If this is true, that would indicate that maybe you should buy a points resort instead of more Wyndham points. If that is not true, then I am baffled because I am looking right now at a page full of available Hawaii weeks.

Now on to one of my favorite subjects, Kauai. It is by far my favorite island and Princeville is my favorite resort town. If you have not stayed there, you got to give it a chance! Looking from the cliffs of Princeville across Hanalei Bay to the mountains decked in waterfalls is what Hawaii is all about. It is the ideal and offers enough enchantment to keep you smiling till your next visit.

The Hanalei Bay Resort is the only timeshare resort where you can enjoy the incredible view I described above from your condo. It is affiliated with II, not RCI, but is available in the rental market. You can enjoy a front row seat. The Alii Kai is a cheap alternative to the Shearwater. They both sit right on the edge of the cliffs, although they face the open ocean instead of the bay/mountain/waterfall trifecta. The two easiest resorts to find availability in Princeville are the Makai Club and the Cliffs Club. I cannot recommend the Makai Club and can only give a qualified recommendation of the Cliffs. The Cliffs Club has some units that offer views of the open Pacific, but they mostly offer views of other condos, which is probably why they are an easy exchange. Nevertheless, renovations abound, including a new pool coming in 2008.

Just writing about Princeville brings joy and enchantment. Thanks for the opportunity.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I only recently learned that Wyndham and RCI were part of the same company. When I learned that, I thought I was probably a second rate customer with RCI. I assumed that Wyndham owners probably got some kind of special treatment.

Nope - we're all pretty much second rate customers with both companies.

The only thing "special" that Wyndham owners get is the "internal exchange" preference when trading one FF/Wyndham for another but I think that is probably the case with other companies with multiple resorts.

 

[gstepic]

What about Vacations Internationale or Royal Vacation Club

One of our forum members let me know about another option I have not heard of - Vacations Internationale. They have 10 properties on the islands including a couple in Maui. I saw a few listings on another site for under 2 grand and the properties were worth 70 points, and when I went to the VI site it seems like a lot of properties only took around 11 points for a week, which does not seem right to me. I think there may be some sort of point conversion or maybe I went to the wrong site. So anyone own at Vacations Internationale and what are your thoughts about the system.

I really liked what I saw of the HBR in Princeville. As far as an annual place to visit I am not sure how much my wife would like it. I am the type of person that could be very happy finding a beautiful spot and spending a ton of time there reading a book and napping! My wife always wants to do something so places like Waikiki and Old Lahiana appeal to her. After 27 years of marriage I am finding out "do" means shop! I never budget for shopping so after a bunch of trips you would think I would know better!

Two weeks will be our goal but 10 to 11 nights would be perfect for now. Kauai would be the next island I would want to go back to after Maui.

Gary

And it seems like there may be more options. The Royal Vacation Club has a a few properties and one in Maui, Kona, and Waikiki. The Waikiki property is a little farther away on Lewers but I don't think the walk to the beach is that far and maintenance fees seem very low.

 

[falmouth3]

Gary, I have to smile when I read your posts. You are so enthusiastic and have really caught the bug. I remember your first post, when you were hoping to sell your timeshare. I'm really happy that your wife is fine and that you're really enjoying this timeshare experience!

Sue

 

[gstepic]

Yep, I remember

We thought we might have to cancel our trip because the condition my wife has could be very serious. She is responding well to her medication and her skin (she has a form of psoriasis) looked so good when we got back her Doctors were amazed! It does go away and the first year is the worse. The worse thing is she can't have any alcohol while taking her medicine so those pina coladas she was so looking forward to having will have to wait to the next trip!

And how anyone not be enthused about vacationing in Hawaii!

Gary

 

[DaveNV]

Nope - we're all pretty much second rate customers with both companies.

The only thing "special" that Wyndham owners get is the "internal exchange" preference when trading one FF/Wyndham for another but I think that is probably the case with other companies with multiple resorts.

And as I understand things, not all Wyndham owners are treated equally. I own a PAHIO resort, now owned by Wyndham, and they say I don't qualify for the internal exchange system for other Wyndham resorts. I haven't tried it yet, but I believe the only internal exchanging I'm eligible for is going to other PAHIO resorts. And I'm not even sure about that.

It may be a points vs. weeks thing, or just that PAHIO is another "timeshare stepchild" in the Wyndham network. It sure makes me feel like a third-cousin from out of town...

Dave

 

[alanraycole]

I have been watching Maui timeshares on eBay...

There are many you can buy for under $5000 and at least one you may find for under $1000. I haven't been watching long enough to satisfy my desire to be thorough and feel completely confident that I will make the best purchase. But you said you liked Lahaina... Kahana Falls sold for $760. If you want to check it out yourself, search for item number 320180415132 on eBay. The auction is over, but it shows what is possible. I would ideally like to own a unit at Ka'anapali Beach Club, but I have not yet seen it for a price I am willing to pay.

 

[Mimi]

Buy resale! That's what I did! I got tired of trying to exchange into Hawaii with II and RCI. Except for our 1br Kona Coast II, bought in 1995 from Shell, all the rest of our Hawaii timeshares were purchased on eBay: 2 weeks at Pono Kai, 2 weeks at Maui Schooner, and a 2br to go with our 1br at KCR... I paid approximately $1400, $1600, $2400, $4000 and $5000 for them. I still believe weeks are better than points. Kona Coast can be booked 2 years in advance; Maui Schooner can be booked 18 months in advance; Pono Kai-one year ahead. I have no problem getting my weeks reserved back to back. As far as airfare goes, we charge everything (gas, food, utilities, clothes, insurance, taxes, MF's) and earn FF miles on American and Continental. Then we get bumped whenever possible for vouchers, and charge our outer island flights to rack up more miles. It's the best game in town...how to get to Hawaii for the least amount of money, year after year.

 

[gstepic]

I think I have found what we want

Mimi,

I agree, resale is the only way to go. Funny thing is I was wanting to sell one of our time shares that brought me to this site. Initially I was kind of depressed when I found out how little I would get for my FF property. Thank goodness my wife's health problem, which is why we thought we had to sell), is under control and the flip side of the poor resale value is the great value we get on the buying end.

I am seriously looking into buying a resale VI contract and from my research it may be just want we need for what we want to do and where we want to go. And yep, it is somewhat of a game in order to get good deals. I am playing around with flight days and I can see where I can save a hundred or so by being flexible with my days. VI works well with being able to play around with travel days because I can see just want days are free on their web-site and it does not matter if I start my week on a weekend or not. I think if I am trying to exhange weeks I don't have the same kind of flexibility, but I could be wrong.

So instead of getting caught up at work from our Hawaii trip just two weeks ago, I am busy planning our next vacation to the Islands!

Gary

 

[Bill4728]

And as I understand things, not all Wyndham owners are treated equally. I own a PAHIO resort, now owned by Wyndham, and they say I don't qualify for the internal exchange system for other Wyndham resorts. I haven't tried it yet, but I believe the only internal exchanging I'm eligible for is going to other PAHIO resorts. And I'm not even sure about that.

It may be a points vs. weeks thing, or just that PAHIO is another "timeshare stepchild" in the Wyndham network. It sure makes me feel like a third-cousin from out of town...

Dave

Please remember there are two kinds of people who own at resorts managed by Wyndham/FF

1. Owners at the resort who are members of the Fairshare Plus - FSP

2. Owners at the resort who are not members of FSP

Only members of FSP can use points to reserve at other Wnydham resorts. The owners not in FSP can only use their own resort. They are not members of Wyndham but simply have the resort managed by Wyndham.

Almost everyone who buys directly from Wyndham, is in FSP. And if you buy from someone in FSP (resale) most of the time you'll be in FSP also. But if you buy from someone (resale) who wasn't in FSP, you will not be in FSP.

Hope that helps

 

[DaveNV]

Please remember there are two kinds of people who own at resorts managed by Wyndham/FF

1. Owners at the resort who are members of the Fairshare Plus - FSP

2. Owners at the resort who are not members of FSP

Only members of FSP can use points to reserve at other Wnydham resorts. The owners not in FSP can only use their own resort. They are not members of Wyndham but simply have the resort managed by Wyndham.

Almost everyone who buys directly from Wyndham, is in FSP. And if you buy from someone in FSP (resale) most of the time you'll be in FSP also. But if you buy from someone (resale) who wasn't in FSP, you will not be in FSP.

Hope that helps

Thanks, Bill. You always know what to say.

So I guess I need to ask the seller of this oceanfront Kauai Beach Villas unit I just bought on eBay if he's a FSP owner. I may end up owning points after all.

Do points go with the unit, or with the owner? That is, if the unit has been converted to points, does that conversion translate to me, as new owner?

Dave

 

[Lee B]

I bought a resale VI contract and it looks good so far. I haven't traveled to them yet, but expect to next year. Some of their Maui properties just underwent major refurbishment, and are in good locations IMO.

They own a few properties that are not highly popular, so will usually be available. E.g. Sea Mountain, on B.I., which is nice but way out of the way of almost everything except the active volcano.

They have internal exchanges to lots of other resorts and locations where you don't need RCI or II, just them. You can deposit a non-VI interval with them for VI points to use in VI resorts.

Be patient and get a good VI points deal.

Lee

I am seriously looking into buying a resale VI contract and from my research it may be just want we need for what we want to do and where we want to go. And yep, it is somewhat of a game in order to get good deals. I am playing around with flight days and I can see where I can save a hundred or so by being flexible with my days. VI works well with being able to play around with travel days because I can see just want days are free on their web-site and it does not matter if I start my week on a weekend or not. I think if I am trying to exhange weeks I don't have the same kind of flexibility, but I could be wrong.

So instead of getting caught up at work from our Hawaii trip just two weeks ago, I am busy planning our next vacation to the Islands!

Gary

 

[jacknsara]

... So I guess I need to ask the seller of this oceanfront Kauai Beach Villas unit I just bought on eBay if he's a FSP owner. ... Do points go with the unit, or with the owner? That is, if the unit has been converted to points, does that conversion translate to me, as new owner?

Aloha,
I do not know anything for certain, but I suspect that the points will not transfer; the unit reverts to weeks. This has been discussed before. Here is one thread. http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14045 There may be others.
Jack

 

[alanraycole]

You can deposit a non-VI interval with them for VI points to use in VI resorts.
Lee

I looked on their website, but saw nothing about this. The prospect of doing this may be just what the doctor ordered. There are a couple of their resorts that I would love to stay in, but I never see them available on RCI. This could be perfect.

Please, tell me more about this possibility.