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Maybe not a timeshare but...

forreal14

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After doing alot of research, not sure timeshares are for me and my husband. However we love the idea of them. I think mostly they aren't appealing because we rarely stay in the same place more than once.
What we would be interested in is some sort of discount travel club. Does this even exist??
We travel semi often. To the Caribbean twice a year. And then several closer to home long weekend or day into night trips.
Trading weeks just seems to much hassle for me.
Is there anything that exists that you pay example: a membership fee and get deep discounts on lodging that offers several locations in the US and Caribbean.
We usually stay at Westins in the US if available so their vacation exchange does sound appealing but pricey and still not sure if we'd get our money worth from it. But I'll take any advice.
TIA
 

Passepartout

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It appears that you like the timeshare idea of full apartments at lower than hotel cost. Duh! But what you don't like is being committed to one (home resort) or a few locations, planning ahead, and taking week-long vacations. Sorry, but without losing the things you like- low cost-, you can't skip the bits you don't like. Exchanging ALWAYS has higher costs than staying within a single system, and short stays ALWAYS result in extra housekeeping costs, PLUS except for leftovers in off seasons, last minute reservations result in a lot of 'no vacancies'.

You might be right that time-sharing is not for you right now. Get comfortable with week long vacays, and planning further ahead, and you could fit in.

One thing is sure. timeharing won't change to fit your schedule- at least at low cost.

Jim
 

tschwa2

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A few in S and VA, a single resort in NC, MD, PA, and UT, plus Jamaica and the Bahamas
The only one that might work for you is something like winpoint. Wyndham points managers rent out points that get the VIP discounts and upgrades. Take a look at the locations and see if they work for you. If your flexible for your short stays they may work without so much advance planning but you will need to plan for the longer stays in most cases.

Other options would be just to look at the last minute rentals sections here and on craigslists and rent as you like.
 

forreal14

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It appears that you like the timeshare idea of full apartments at lower than hotel cost. Duh! But what you don't like is being committed to one (home resort) or a few locations, planning ahead, and taking week-long vacations. Sorry, but without losing the things you like- low cost-, you can't skip the bits you don't like. Exchanging ALWAYS has higher costs than staying within a single system, and short stays ALWAYS result in extra housekeeping costs, PLUS except for leftovers in off seasons, last minute reservations result in a lot of 'no vacancies'.

You might be right that time-sharing is not for you right now. Get comfortable with week long vacays, and planning further ahead, and you could fit in.

One thing is sure. timeharing won't change to fit your schedule- at least at low cost.


Jim

Well this not at all true. Not sure how you got that out of what I said but ok...we book our Caribbean trips almost a year in advance and are always at LEAST a week in length of stay. As far as apt type rooms, not once have we ever stayed in a room that looked like an apartment. Usually just a bed and bathroom. So if that's what apartments look like in your area...alrighty. Um our weekend trips are usually about 2-3 months in advance as well since we have to schedule custody agreement around that. We also take our stays in off seasons as much as we can just to avoid crowds. I asked for advice and if such things existed...not an opinion of my lifestyle - based on a paragraph. But thanks anyway.
 
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Passepartout

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Gosh, one or the other of us was confused. Most timeshares are full apartments or condos with 1 or 2 or more bedrooms, full kitchens, and multiple baths. Not to be confused with typical hotel rooms w/bath. And if you are happy booking 9-13 months ahead, that's about average for booking a timeshare stay.

You might look into Wyndham points. They have lots of locations, nice units, available resale at low cost, and throw in access to RCI for Last Calls ( cash paid within 45 days of move in).

I certainly do not judge your lifestyle. You are the one who suggested that timeshare might not work for you. I pointed out how it DOES work best.

Take care.

Jim
 

falmouth3

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Tia, you said you'd take any advice and Jim gave you some good advice. You replied in a snippy tone. People here, and especially Jim, are willing to help. TUG is a community of happy timeshare owners, but time sharing is not for everyone.

If you ask for advice, please read what people share and decide if it applies to your situation but please don't be rude to people who are trying to help you.
 

WinniWoman

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You might want to think about just renting timeshares from owners as you decide each year where you want to go. Plenty of rental out there. Listed right here on TUG and Redweek.com
 

forreal14

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Tia, you said you'd take any advice and Jim gave you some good advice. You replied in a snippy tone. People here, and especially Jim, are willing to help. TUG is a community of happy timeshare owners, but time sharing is not for everyone.

If you ask for advice, please read what people share and decide if it applies to your situation but please don't be rude to people who are trying to help you.

I actually thought he was pretty rude and still think that. (You know that DUH! comment) so yeah when someone gets snippy with me, I get snippy back. Internet or not. I sure wouldn't allow anyone to talk to me like that IRL and not on here either.
Have a great day.
 
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forreal14

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Thanks for all your advice. Just wondered if anything existed that I wasn't already aware of that was membership fee only based in exchange for discounts.
Appreciate most of the feedback.
 

WinniWoman

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Thanks for all your advice. Just wondered if anything existed that I wasn't already aware of that was membership fee only based in exchange for discounts.
Appreciate most of the feedback.

You know- there are vacation clubs out there, but I am not familiar with them. When I was in NH this past summer, there was a couple staying at our resort that said they belonged to a vacation club and that is how they came to be there. They said they were not timeshare owners, but they have traveled all over through this vacation club, which enables them to get big discounts. I am sorry I never asked for the name of it, as I was curious about it as well.
 

LannyPC

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What we would be interested in is some sort of discount travel club. Does this even exist??
We travel semi often. To the Caribbean twice a year. And then several closer to home long weekend or day into night trips.

Travel clubs generally are not recommended here on TUG, depending on how much you pay for initiation and annual club fees. Unless it's free initiation and no annual fees, I would suggest staying away from at least 99% of the travel clubs out there.

Most of the "discounts" they offer can be found elsewhere for free such as on Travelocity, Expedia, etc. Some suggested TUG. Have you checked out TUG's Last Minute Rental Forum? If you can wait until 45 or fewer days before travel, you can post an ad for free of what, where, and when you want. Some owners who have points packages (such as with Wyndham) and are not going to use them all before expiry date might be able to offer you a great discount deal. And points packages are flexible with the amount of days you can book. Last year I scored a great deal using TUG's LMR forum. If you want the details, send me a PM.
 

Here There

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look into exchange company "getaways" or buy Worldmark for shortstays

... not sure timeshares are for me and my husband. However we love the idea of them. I think mostly they aren't appealing because we rarely stay in the same place more than once.
What we would be interested in is some sort of discount travel club. Does this even exist??
I think you're asking the best of all worlds and it might not exist. [I am a 20+ year TS "veteran" and now own minimally at 7 TS resorts/systems for booking/trading advantage, travel 15-18 weeks annually, half of those weeks are exchange company cash rental "getaways.] Will share with you below what has worked for me.
We travel semi often. To the Caribbean twice a year. And then several closer to home long weekend or day into night trips.
Depending one where you're located, Worldmark might work due to their frequent cash promos and booking flexibility. They even have 1 resort in the Virgin Islands. I own the minimum of 5,000 credits which serve well as booking placeholders but because the cash promos are cheaper than my MF rate I seem to have a hard time using up my annual credit allotment.
Is there anything that exists that you pay example: a membership fee and get deep discounts on lodging that offers several locations in the US and Caribbean.
Look into RTX.travel: http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1722382#post1722382

There's lots of weekly inventory in the SE USA and Carribean. Their last minute deals are so marked down that it might make it worthwhile just staying the long weekend. Free membership and you don't need to own a TS to join. A premium plus upgrade (for $300) will get you a $200-$300 discount from their basic weekly rental. What's great is their upgraded membership covers the one-year booking period, which means you can book a discounted vacation months after your valid membership ends. [In my case I ended up booking 5 weeks -- to Charleston, Palm Springs, Vancouver, Santa Fe, and Oceanside -- all cheaper than the actual owners MF, before PP expired. Now taking a break from rtx.]

We usually stay at Westins in the US if available so their vacation exchange does sound appealing but pricey and still not sure if we'd get our money worth from it. But I'll take any advice.
TIA
Unless you want to play the exchange game, the best way to stay at a Westin (or Marriott) is to own a home resort or buy into that brand for the internal exchange advantage. Most of the resorts I mentioned are 3+ stars and don't quite compare to the 4-5 star of a W or M.
 
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