Help, Help Please

[djs]

Ok ask thanks for the advice. For cancellation do i need to go to their office as well and hand them the letter as well? Or just mail?

You need to follow what's in the contract to a T. FedEx is not better than Certified Mail (or walking in) if that's what the contract calls for. Your "today only" deal will be available tomorrow, the next day and suprise, the day after that.

 

[CPNY]

Hello All,

Based on all your quick responses and really re-enforcing my doubt on this purchase I sent the recind letter to Sapphire Time Shares this morning via certified mail with it dated for today (2 days after purchase).

All that said, does the idea that they sold to me actually exist? Can I buy a timeshare that allows me access to RCI and I would get what I want (within reason.. no New Year NYC) cheaper than Expedia?

Also how is RCI compared to Interval? I find my interval membership basically crap. I rarely get what I want for the week I want and have to go through Expedia or the like anyway. Their availability is weak.

Finally where should I start if I wanted to better understand what a good timeshare is (if there really is)?

Essentially you can get into RCI via points. There is a Grandview 122K RCI point unit on eBay now. Another option is Wyndham points. it all really depends on where you want to go. It’s hard to figure out if the prices will be better than Expedia until you run a search in both for same resort and date.

 

[GTLINZ]

Congratulations on rescinding! As Karen said, you are one of the fortunate few. IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT YOU RESCIND FIRST then you have time to research and see what you would work best for you.

I bought my first timeshare AFTER finding TUG and rescinding a sampler package (not the worst thing - I just applied it towards a purchase later).

You will find with any ownership that your happiness will be tied to planning and reserving way ahead of time.

I think when considering your first timeshare you need to consider if you want to be tied to a week or if you prefer to break it up. For example you can buy Marriott resale weeks (not the points system) and it happens to have internal trading priority in Interval for other Marriotts. But that (or any other weekly ownership) restricts you to a full week per vacation.

If you want flexibility I would consider a system with internal exchanges (points system) - which i think is more reliable than II or RCI. IMHO HGVC, Marriott and Hyatt are the upper tier ones but many owners like their Diamond and Wyndham ownerships too - and there are others. Look thru the locations for each and read thru their forums to see how owners feel. And you usually only want to buy the highest season - which usually means you get more points for the same maintenance fee.

You will also need to determine for any system how resale works. For example, both Marriott and Hyatt only sell points but you can still buy deeded weeks resale. HGVC only ever sold points.

If you are a west coast guy, you also may want to check out Grand Pacific resorts (weekly).

If you love Vegas, it is NOT usually hard to get into.

 

[Laurie]

Based on all your quick responses and really re-enforcing my doubt on this purchase I sent the recind letter to Sapphire Time Shares this morning via certified mail with it dated for today (2 days after purchase).

Also how is RCI compared to Interval? I find my interval membership basically crap. I rarely get what I want for the week I want and have to go through Expedia or the like anyway. Their availability is weak.

Excellent decision to rescind - congrats! We rescinded our first TS developer purchase which was Wyndham - Fairfield at the time - back in 1997, thank heavens (even before finding TUG!) and have been enjoying timesharing ever since, with low-cost resales, and now you can get so many just-as-good ones free. We've taken more "trips of a lifetime" than I can count.

For many years we were RCI members only, and it often but not always served our purposes. For one thing, lots of our travel was to Europe, where RCI had more availability. Now we have dual membership, each has its better and worse points, and it really depends on where and when you want to go, and potentially how often you end up needing to change plans. RCI has deteriorated over the years in many ways, and I somewhat prefer II at this point. If you dislike II so much, you may fare no better with RCI. But definitely try it out with a free timeshare first.

 

[sfwilshire]

@sfwilshire yes that’s my experience with II as well, can’t find what i wanted when i want it. I get like 2 free certificates a year that go unused because nothing good for me. I trade in my week as well, same. Ive gotten lucky with a2 room suite in Vegas, but it’s the first time in 2 years since i found something.

I’m trying to take my kids in June to Hershey, Gettysburg, then Niagara and II has nothing at all.
Wondering if i could save by finding a time share to rent for 3 days in Hershey and Expedia for the Buffalo hotel.

I've been timesharing since the 90s and specifically look for Hershey in June most years. Never found one. Don't know that Gettysburg or Niagara even have timeshares. That's looking in RCI and II. Timesharing is great if you go to places with lots of timeshares. I've exchanged into a few gems through the years in places with less availability: Boston, Nantucket, a great England/Scotland/Wales trip, a couple of multi-week stays in Hawaii. We still travel to a few places where hotels are the best option. Luckily I have a couple of million hotel points to use, but haven't added any during COVID. I'm going to have to get back out on the road to keep my points balances up.

Sheila

 

[Msturg29]

Thanks all for the feedback and suggestions, I have looked and haven't found any timeshare rentals for Hershey. Ill just have to utilize my chase miles to find something.

That being said, I have started my research and seems in order to get a timeshare you have to pick a location you want to go back to year after year.
I think this would be Vegas or Cancun as we travel to each yearly. I would like to find a timeshare in these locations and then be flexible enough to allow us to do the extra trips like London (2022) or Hershey (June).

The recent post for the Grandview Vegas seemed to be a good deal for the points you get (120K), as the timeshare I luckily recinded only had 11K/yr.

 

[Passepartout]

That being said, I have started my research and seems in order to get a timeshare you have to pick a location you want to go back to year after year.
I think this would be Vegas or Cancun as we travel to each yearly. I would like to find a timeshare in these locations and then be flexible enough to allow us to do the extra trips like London (2022) or Hershey (June).

RELAX! You've only been exploring the world of TS for a week. There's REALLY no hurry. If you buy into one of the point systems, you don't necessarily have to ever go to the 'home' resort. But it's nice if you can- like if you suffer a change of fortune and can't afford airfare for the family and still want to get away- or maybe another quarantine raises it's ugly head. I own a week that I've never seen the 'home' unit. That said, one of my 'keepers' is a week I drive to and use every year.

Vegas is good, because there are ALWAYS inexpensive flights there. I would NEVER buy in Mexico, because of relatively low trading power and that you never actually OWN anything. OTOH, without a deed, you aren't tied to it. Stop paying whenever you want and walk away from it.

At least keep studying at the TUG University until your refund from the one you bought earlier gets back into your hands.

Good Luck and happy hunting

Jim