• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $23,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $23 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

I'm letting everything I have just die on the vine and shifting over to Armed Forces Vacation Club.

bshanebowl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
170
Reaction score
108
Location
Miamisburg Ohio
Resorts Owned
Grandview Las Vegas, Innseason at Ogunquit Maine.
I sold my Grandview Las Vegas and that cancelled my RCI. I still have a timeshare in Maine which I'll keep to use unless someone wants me to give it to them. I let my II membership expire with them. I joined a vacation club (Club Newport) which has good cruise rates and appears to be a good aggregator of other travel resources at competitive prices but it was pretty pricey unless you traveled a lot so I may elect to stop paying my renewal fee. I am looking at Armed Forces Vacation Club as my go to now. Seems to have everything everyone else has with no maintenance fees and it's very affordable. Just booked a resort in Orlando for about $400 for a week. And that's over spring break. Magic Tree I think it's called. Anyhow, I did a lot of research before starting with timeshares and things worked out great with them but maybe if I did a deep dive I might have just decided to deal exclusively with AFVC had I been aware, at least for land travel. Highly recommend so far.
 

bshanebowl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
170
Reaction score
108
Location
Miamisburg Ohio
Resorts Owned
Grandview Las Vegas, Innseason at Ogunquit Maine.
No assessments either. Costs just a tad more but I think even if you don't upgrade your membership it's only like $20 extra a stay.
 

AwayWeGo

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
15,802
Reaction score
1,738
Location
McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
Resorts Owned
Grandview At Las Vegas

[triennial - points]
For unexplained reasons, Armed Forces Vacation Club never offers reservations for Vacation Village At Parkway (Kissimmee FL). That is, I've never seen any Vacation Village At Parkway availability through Armed Forces Vacation Club even though I check semi-frequently.

Plus, in the fine print that comes with RCI reservations for Vacation Village At Parkway, it says that any & all Vacation Village At Parkway reservations from Armed Forces Club are null & void & will not be honored. That's mox nix since Armed Forces Vacation Club doesn't even offer Vacation Village At Parkway reservations in the 1st place.

It's not a major matter, but it is curious.

Anybody here know what's up with the bad blood between Armed Forces Vacation Club & Vacation Village At Parkway ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

chapjim

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
6,651
Reaction score
4,238
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia
Resorts Owned
Wyndham VIPF & PresRes, HVC/DRI (Gold), Quarter House (4), Resort on Cocoa Beach (2), HGVC Tuscany Village, HGVC South Beach-McAlpin, HGVC Parc Soleil
Curious that AFVC's street address, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, is the same as Travel & Leisure and Wyndham Destinations. It's a big building so it doesn't have to mean anything.
 

clifffaith

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2016
Messages
6,283
Reaction score
8,382
Location
San Juan Capistrano, CA
Resorts Owned
Worldmark
Curious that AFVC's street address, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, is the same as Travel & Leisure and Wyndham Destinations. It's a big building so it doesn't have to mean anything.
“Armed Forces Vacation Club is a part of Wyndham Worldwide, one the world's largest hospitality companies. This makes it possible to offer a vast collection of condominium-style timeshare resorts.”
 

chapjim

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
6,651
Reaction score
4,238
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia
Resorts Owned
Wyndham VIPF & PresRes, HVC/DRI (Gold), Quarter House (4), Resort on Cocoa Beach (2), HGVC Tuscany Village, HGVC South Beach-McAlpin, HGVC Parc Soleil
“Armed Forces Vacation Club is a part of Wyndham Worldwide, one the world's largest hospitality companies. This makes it possible to offer a vast collection of condominium-style timeshare resorts.”
So, it DID mean something!
 

bizaro86

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
Messages
3,892
Reaction score
2,764
Location
Calgary, AB, Canada
For unexplained reasons, Armed Forces Vacation Club never offers reservations for Vacation Village At Parkway (Kissimmee FL). That is, I've never seen any Vacation Village At Parkway availability through Armed Forces Vacation Club even though I check semi-frequently.

Plus, in the fine print that comes with RCI reservations for Vacation Village At Parkway, it says that any & all Vacation Village At Parkway reservations from Armed Forces Club are null & void & will not be honored. That's mox nix since Armed Forces Vacation Club doesn't even offer Vacation Village At Parkway reservations in the 1st place.

It's not a major matter, but it is curious.

Anybody here know what's up with the bad blood between Armed Forces Vacation Club & Vacation Village At Parkway ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

I think it's very likely that enough AFVC types went to presentations at Vacation Village and said something like "we aren't buying because we can always get an AFVC deal". Since buyers are the purpose of timeshares from a developer point of view, if AFVC guests aren't buying then they won't want them.

In my experience AFVC inventory overlaps quite a bit with RCI extra vacations.
 

susieq

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
1,307
Reaction score
376
Location
Massachusetts
Resorts Owned
Bay Voyage, Jamestown, RI
I want to thank bshanebowl for pointing me in this direction. I've bookmarked this site and will definitely check into it. Thanks again!!

 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
50,763
Reaction score
22,263
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
By the looks of the outside, Magic Tree isn't so Magic. It is an old resort with low low maintenance fees. I don't know what the units are like. Most people buy it to trade cheap through II or RCI.
 

TheHolleys87

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
May 7, 2015
Messages
2,372
Reaction score
1,788
Location
Texas
Resorts Owned
DVC Boardwalk Villas, Kona Coast II
By the looks of the outside, Magic Tree isn't so Magic. It is an old resort with low low maintenance fees. I don't know what the units are like. Most people buy it to trade cheap through II or RCI.
We stayed there once. It was comfortable enough, but the ceilings were low. That was the trip where we learned we really, really don’t like having to use a laundry room instead of having washer/dryer in our room.
 

GoodTimes

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
59
Reaction score
29
Location
Arlington, VA
I sold my Grandview Las Vegas and that cancelled my RCI. I still have a timeshare in Maine which I'll keep to use unless someone wants me to give it to them. I let my II membership expire with them. I joined a vacation club (Club Newport) which has good cruise rates and appears to be a good aggregator of other travel resources at competitive prices but it was pretty pricey unless you traveled a lot so I may elect to stop paying my renewal fee. I am looking at Armed Forces Vacation Club as my go to now. Seems to have everything everyone else has with no maintenance fees and it's very affordable. Just booked a resort in Orlando for about $400 for a week. And that's over spring break. Magic Tree I think it's called. Anyhow, I did a lot of research before starting with timeshares and things worked out great with them but maybe if I did a deep dive I might have just decided to deal exclusively with AFVC had I been aware, at least for land travel. Highly recommend so far.
This is exactly what we do (AFVC). We also rent on redweek/ebay/go-koala/skyauction/tugbbs and it works great for us.

Cash is King - we don't have to worry about points expiring, renting out units, trying to use weeks when we don't want to go, staying in an obscure location and disposing of the timeshare one day. Also we usually don't plan vacations a year in advance. These alternatives are great for under 3 months and last minute vacations. I am trying to figure out a good way to access to Interval International Getaways...especially as the kids get older and our schedules are more flexible.
 
Last edited:

bshanebowl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
170
Reaction score
108
Location
Miamisburg Ohio
Resorts Owned
Grandview Las Vegas, Innseason at Ogunquit Maine.
I think the speculation about not having Marriot properties is correct due to corporate ownership by Wyndham. Not sure if dvc ever shows up. The only solution to the Marriot question, if any, would be to deep dive into what companies the owners of II own and see if one of them is the AFVC of that corporate tree. It may not even involve vets. But maybe... I, like everyone else, would like to stay at a Four Seasons every time but we have been doing this for several years now and never been disappointed, maybe just occasionally a little underwhelmed. Mostly we check a few review sites before booking. Anyhow my whole point originally was that I, who does weeks of research before "buying" things like timeshares was pleasantly surprised to find a site that appears to offer a lot of the benefits without the commitment.
 

wmgjr

Guest
Joined
Oct 7, 2023
Messages
110
Reaction score
30
“Armed Forces Vacation Club is a part of Wyndham Worldwide, one the world's largest hospitality companies. This makes it possible to offer a vast collection of condominium-style timeshare resorts.”
When you think you've left RCI and deep dived timeshare research only to find out....
Nevermind
 

Hindsite

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2023
Messages
1,144
Reaction score
847
I am trying to figure out a good way to access to Interval International Getaways...especially as the kids get older and our schedules are more flexible.
The answer is to obtain an ownership that is being given away on TUG for free that exchanges via II, and then get your account set up and then give the timeshare away so you aren't hooked on the maint fees for eternity.

I have read that there are some Mexican vacation clubs that have no maint fees and it works as pay for use and they are affiliated with II, but do a lot of research before going that route to avoid a large transfer fee or an ongoing commitment of some kind. These can (apparently) be picked up for next to nothing resale.
 

pedro47

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
23,042
Reaction score
9,213
Location
East Coast
To the OP suggestion only., I would research the resorts that you are interesting into exchanging into in future.
You have as an example the TUG Reviews Section.
 

bnoble

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
12,081
Reaction score
5,861
Location
The People's Republic of Ann Arbor
When you think you've left RCI and deep dived timeshare research only to find out....
Nevermind
This.

AFVC is generally a subset of the RCI extra vacations—usually those on the cheaper end of things. In other words, mostly the leftovers in RCI. Some are possibly at a slightly deeper discount, but the few I looked at were identically priced. That’s great and can work for some people, but it is not some totally new outlet. It’s just another way to move relatively low-demand RCI inventory.
 

bshanebowl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
170
Reaction score
108
Location
Miamisburg Ohio
Resorts Owned
Grandview Las Vegas, Innseason at Ogunquit Maine.
I have written a few of those tug reviews along with some brief videos and posted them for Facebook user groups. The more data you collect the more satisfied your stay will be. I can't think of a bad stay yet but some are better than others. And they're all better than some of the Motel 6's I stayed at previously.
 

bshanebowl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
170
Reaction score
108
Location
Miamisburg Ohio
Resorts Owned
Grandview Las Vegas, Innseason at Ogunquit Maine.
This.

AFVC is generally a subset of the RCI extra vacations—usually those on the cheaper end of things. In other words, mostly the leftovers in RCI. Some are possibly at a slightly deeper discount, but the few I looked at were identically priced. That’s great and can work for some people, but it is not some totally new outlet. It’s just another way to move relatively low-demand RCI inventory.
 

bshanebowl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
170
Reaction score
108
Location
Miamisburg Ohio
Resorts Owned
Grandview Las Vegas, Innseason at Ogunquit Maine.
True. But you do get to do it without having to get a time share given to you, join an exchange program, and possibly be on the hook for a random $6000 assessment or whatever. So I think the reward is worth the risk with AFVC.
 

TheTimeTraveler

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
6,200
Reaction score
3,045
Location
Florida
I have written a few of those tug reviews along with some brief videos and posted them for Facebook user groups. The more data you collect the more satisfied your stay will be. I can't think of a bad stay yet but some are better than others. And they're all better than some of the Motel 6's I stayed at previously.


Anything would be better than a Motel 6.........








.
 

4TimeAway

TUG Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2023
Messages
617
Reaction score
457
Location
Woodland Hills, CA
Resorts Owned
Marbrisa, Kohala
There's also a Realtor industry group like this and other independent exchanged like SFX. For Europe Hapimag that almost like a TS but can pause after a couple of years.

I can see both sides of this coin. Some people like TS, but it can be capital intensive. The last minute deals on RCI can be compelling and work for many people.

We own 2 TS for access to higher demand locations and then fill in with RCI/AFVC, SFX, Redweek, etc. I'm calling this the "AND" approach. So far it seems to be working well and has delayed my "need" to buy another week.

We've use GPX last minute deals and was blown away by the value, next month we will use RCI exchange that streched our points abit (not a huge savings, but better selection lower than retail rental) and in Spring we will use an SFX week in Hawaii. The savings is somthing like 60%+for GPX/RCI last minute, 40% for RCI and maube 25% for SFX.

Overall we have optimized for flexiblity and lower fixed costs, while still having the ability to take trips as desired. YMMV.

PS- Pass on Motel 6, we'd just camp. :)
 

jp10558

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2022
Messages
1,579
Reaction score
1,080
Location
Southern Tier NY
Resorts Owned
HGVC Seaworld
Wyndham Smoky Mountains
Foxrun Lake Lure
There's also a Realtor industry group like this and other independent exchanged like SFX. For Europe Hapimag that almost like a TS but can pause after a couple of years.

I can see both sides of this coin. Some people like TS, but it can be capital intensive. The last minute deals on RCI can be compelling and work for many people.

We own 2 TS for access to higher demand locations and then fill in with RCI/AFVC, SFX, Redweek, etc. I'm calling this the "AND" approach. So far it seems to be working well and has delayed my "need" to buy another week.

We've use GPX last minute deals and was blown away by the value, next month we will use RCI exchange that streched our points abit (not a huge savings, but better selection lower than retail rental) and in Spring we will use an SFX week in Hawaii. The savings is somthing like 60%+for GPX/RCI last minute, 40% for RCI and maube 25% for SFX.

Overall we have optimized for flexiblity and lower fixed costs, while still having the ability to take trips as desired. YMMV.

PS- Pass on Motel 6, we'd just camp. :)
So, I'm not a Veteran so I assume I couldn't use AFVC anyway, but TBH, yea, I like the owned TSs for "the fancy / location / date specific" stuff, and I then try and fill in with RCI Extra Vacations and Last Calls and II Getaways.
 
Top