I recently purchased our first timeshare at Branson Yacht Club; it's a weeks week, 2BR/2BA and we'll have an RCI membership....it's drivable for us and we do head to Branson at least once a year. The week is within the range of dates we have available to vacation, so it's one of those resorts we'll use if we don't trade and the maintenance fees are low.
Since I have to travel to both coasts to see our families, we're thinking about buying some more timeshares to be able to keep our expenses down for lodging when I travel with our son. Right now it looks like we have some very specific needs for weeks and also need some flexibility. I actually sat down this weekend and lined up our upcoming year to be able to sort out what types of weeks/points we might use.
1. Colorado (Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek areas) sometime between mid-January to mid-March each year.
2. October conference each year (every fourth year it's early November) that moves around the country to different locations (ie. San Diego, Orlando, etc.) Not all years in the future work out to be in locations where a TS is conveniently located (ie. in 2012 it's in Boston).....so we'd need something very flexible to be able to utilize a week for this conference each year since it's not a static location or week.
3. Vacation with the grandparents late September/early October that will probably be in Orlando for at least the next five years. With this one I'm pretty comfortable with going with a fixed week to avoid the 1-in-4/5 rules in some places - I just don't know how many Orlando TS's have such rules, so not sure if it's really an issue or not since I've read on other threads that getting into Orlando isn't really a problem....especially during a period that is historically "low" season for Orlando?
4. Family obligations on east coast a few weeks a year; so New York City, Alexandria, VA are both good locations - but maintenance fees for those TS are higher than I'd like to pay, but I'm not sure of which types of weeks trade well into those locations?
Given the above minimum requirements for our timeshare needs, what type of weeks or points would any of you advise?
Since I'm new to this (other than renting previously), do I need weeks/points for each of the above, or are odds good that I'll find something to meet needs in the last calls, extra weeks, etc.?
What locations are considered "good traders" in RCI? I keep reading Orlando isn't a good location to buy to use as a trader since the area has so many timeshares - but where is a good location with low(er) maintenance fees to consider for trading power?
Thanks for any and all input!
Since I have to travel to both coasts to see our families, we're thinking about buying some more timeshares to be able to keep our expenses down for lodging when I travel with our son. Right now it looks like we have some very specific needs for weeks and also need some flexibility. I actually sat down this weekend and lined up our upcoming year to be able to sort out what types of weeks/points we might use.
1. Colorado (Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek areas) sometime between mid-January to mid-March each year.
2. October conference each year (every fourth year it's early November) that moves around the country to different locations (ie. San Diego, Orlando, etc.) Not all years in the future work out to be in locations where a TS is conveniently located (ie. in 2012 it's in Boston).....so we'd need something very flexible to be able to utilize a week for this conference each year since it's not a static location or week.
3. Vacation with the grandparents late September/early October that will probably be in Orlando for at least the next five years. With this one I'm pretty comfortable with going with a fixed week to avoid the 1-in-4/5 rules in some places - I just don't know how many Orlando TS's have such rules, so not sure if it's really an issue or not since I've read on other threads that getting into Orlando isn't really a problem....especially during a period that is historically "low" season for Orlando?
4. Family obligations on east coast a few weeks a year; so New York City, Alexandria, VA are both good locations - but maintenance fees for those TS are higher than I'd like to pay, but I'm not sure of which types of weeks trade well into those locations?
Given the above minimum requirements for our timeshare needs, what type of weeks or points would any of you advise?
Since I'm new to this (other than renting previously), do I need weeks/points for each of the above, or are odds good that I'll find something to meet needs in the last calls, extra weeks, etc.?
What locations are considered "good traders" in RCI? I keep reading Orlando isn't a good location to buy to use as a trader since the area has so many timeshares - but where is a good location with low(er) maintenance fees to consider for trading power?
Thanks for any and all input!