SOFTBALLDAD3 said:
I do not understand unless most of you owners are rich retired folks how you can own many timeshares! We own one and just rec MF bill for $766.00 for 2007 up from $718.00.
How can someone first pay out all that money at the first of the year and also find time and money to go to these places.
We got involved in timeshares after I took three of my kids (one son in college, one daughter in high schiool, one son in middle school) on a 4-day ski vacation in Jan of 1999. We stayed in an el cheapo budget motel room - 2 double beds. My daughter got one bed, the two boys got the other, I slept on the floor. We had breakfast in the room - cold cereal and milk in plastic bowls. Lunches were hamburgers and pizza. Dinner was at Denny's and similar.
When I got back home and tallied the costs, I was struck by how much money we had spent on food.
Later that year, my wife and I went to Kaua`i for our 25th. While we were there we did a timeshare presentation at the Mariott for the freebies. When we looked at the economics, I realized that if we had a kitchen and prepared our meals instead of eating out all of the time, for the same money we spent on that ski vacation staying in a cheapo crowded motel room, we could stay in a place where we could have more room and that was a lot nicer.
We were sold. After that I learned about resales, and the rationale looked even better.
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Last summer my brother and SIL joined us for a week on Moloka`i. They arrived in Hawai`i four days before, and spent the time on O`ahu, at a 3* level hotel in Wa`ikiki. Then we went to Moloka`i, where we stayed in a 2-bedroom condo.
When we divvied up the costs at the end of the week (maintenance fee, exchange fee, groceries), my brother looked at me and said they spent the same amount of money for that week in Moloka`i as they spent in one day in O`ahu in a hotel room.
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My wife is not a camper. Zero interest in that. When she travels, she wants a place to hang her clothes, a place to shower, a room where she can relax, and a comfortable bed. Especially a comfortable bed. Before we found timeshares, that meant we didn't take many vacations because we just couldn't afford it.
Now, staying in timeshare condos, we can afford to travel much more. We usually spend two weeks in Hawai`i each summer. We get enough frequent flyer miles that we can get free tickets there. We often spend a spring week somewhere else - Mexico in April seems to be a pattern there. Sometimes I'm able to get away for a week of skiing in the winter.
