mianmike
TUG Member
First post on TUG. Wow! What a resource. I’m blow away by the knowledge base and the willingness of members to share their expertise.
Sorry if my post seems disjointed, I have a million questions, but will start with a few. I am beginning to make some assumptions and would like some feedback from some experienced Tuggers. My wife and I are looking to buy our first timeshare. We really weren’t planning on buying a timeshare, but given the depressed market it seems like we can’t afford not to.
We love to travel. We are not wealthy by any means, so we look for the best bang for our buck. Anyway, we currently live in Arizona. We plan to move to Florida in 7 years. We’re looking to buy a timeshare in Orlando. It would be nice to have a base to stay at when we are vacationing in Florida and later when we are building our house. I read somewhere that Orlando was overbuilt and thus the trading value was not as valuable as other places. It seems to me that points level the playing field vs. week exchanges and thus the location is not as important to the exchange value?
Given the recent events, i.e. DVC leaving II and RCI “improving” their point system, it seems relying on an exchange to enhance your TS value is not what it once was. So, would I be correct in assuming that a good option would be to buy a Hilton Grand Vacations Club resale or some Wyndham Bonnet Creek points and thus would not have to so heavily rely on exchanges by also exchanging through HGVC or Wyndham? Is this a valuable perk? I ask as I’m not really sure if resale point owners are treated the same when booking through HGVC or Wyndham.
Looking on Ebay, Wyndham points seem to be a better value (lower upfront cost) than Hilton properties. Am I missing something? I realize MF's are critical to the cost and we are looking at those. I know Wyndham has no ROFR and thus the $ value is definitely not an investment. Is Hilton worth the extra money? On the other hand, am I completely off base thinking Hilton and Wyndham are good buys?
Anyone have experience with Hilton and/or Wyndham? (I’ve purposely left off Marriott as we are Disney fans and the possibility of trading into DVC will surely sucker us into an RCI affiliated resort)
Sorry if my post seems disjointed, I have a million questions, but will start with a few. I am beginning to make some assumptions and would like some feedback from some experienced Tuggers. My wife and I are looking to buy our first timeshare. We really weren’t planning on buying a timeshare, but given the depressed market it seems like we can’t afford not to.
We love to travel. We are not wealthy by any means, so we look for the best bang for our buck. Anyway, we currently live in Arizona. We plan to move to Florida in 7 years. We’re looking to buy a timeshare in Orlando. It would be nice to have a base to stay at when we are vacationing in Florida and later when we are building our house. I read somewhere that Orlando was overbuilt and thus the trading value was not as valuable as other places. It seems to me that points level the playing field vs. week exchanges and thus the location is not as important to the exchange value?
Given the recent events, i.e. DVC leaving II and RCI “improving” their point system, it seems relying on an exchange to enhance your TS value is not what it once was. So, would I be correct in assuming that a good option would be to buy a Hilton Grand Vacations Club resale or some Wyndham Bonnet Creek points and thus would not have to so heavily rely on exchanges by also exchanging through HGVC or Wyndham? Is this a valuable perk? I ask as I’m not really sure if resale point owners are treated the same when booking through HGVC or Wyndham.
Looking on Ebay, Wyndham points seem to be a better value (lower upfront cost) than Hilton properties. Am I missing something? I realize MF's are critical to the cost and we are looking at those. I know Wyndham has no ROFR and thus the $ value is definitely not an investment. Is Hilton worth the extra money? On the other hand, am I completely off base thinking Hilton and Wyndham are good buys?
Anyone have experience with Hilton and/or Wyndham? (I’ve purposely left off Marriott as we are Disney fans and the possibility of trading into DVC will surely sucker us into an RCI affiliated resort)