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Need Advice

Hi @New2TimeShareVacation,

If you are not sure if you are ready to purchase a timeshare, try renting first. Listed below are some sites that offer timeshare units for rent. These units are what you might see offered by the exchange company RCI (because TripBeat, the Armed Forces Vacation Club and Heroes Vacation Club are run by RCI). I’m guessing but can’t confirm that CondoDirect is affiliated with Interval International. This is how I started out with Timesharing when I was with the DoD - I used the Armed Forces Vacation Club.

Condo Direct

Trip Beat

Tripbeat

Our members enjoy exclusive travel benefits, including discounts on Hotels, Resorts, Car Rentals, Air and More. Tripbeat Travel Club lets you travel however and wherever you want, all at a discounted rate.
www.tripbeat.com

Endless Vacation Rentals

Endless Vacation Rentals

Endless Vacation Rentals offers over 200,000 vacation rental accommodations in the Florida, US, Europe, Mexico, Caribbean and more.
www.endlessvacationrentals.com

TripBeat and Condo Direct and Endless Vacation Rentals are available to anyone

Armed Forces Vacation Club
www.afvclub.com

Armed Forces Vacation Club - Official AFVC Website

AFVC offers active and retired military exclusive travel savings on resorts, car rentals & more. Free membership is one small way we thank you for your service.
www.afvclub.com
A membership with Armed Forces Vacation Club is free to all current, veterans, and retired members of the United States military, National Guard, Reserves (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard); including Gold Star families and Civilian employees of the DoD (appropriated, non-appropriated, or retired), Association of the US Army (AUSA) members and the immediate families of all the above (spouses, parents, and/or children).

Heroes Vacation Club

Heroes Vacation Club - Official Website

Exclusive travel savings for current and former medical professionals, police officers, firefighters, teachers, government employees, and their spouses.
www.heroesvacationclub.com www.heroesvacationclub.com
A membership with Heroes Vacation Club is free to first responders including Police, EMT and Firefighters.
 
I think you’ve gotten some good advice and different perspectives in this thread.

The reality is that a timeshare won’t really save you money. You’ll probably end up spending the same amount you would have anyways. What timeshares do allow you to do is take way better vacations than what you normally would do. A two bedroom unit is superior to a hotel room when you have kids along and will save on food costs by having a kitchen.

The trade-off is that you need to be able to plan well in advance - particularly if you are wanting to trade elsewhere. Probably not one-year out if you want Florida (you could probably do this four months out or less depending on the resort).

If you are willing to put in a bit of legwork, being tied to the school calendar may help structure your vacations (you can always reserve a unit well in advance since the school vacation dates are usually published well in advance. )

Renting during peak season does mean you will be paying a premium to rent during those times, not to mention more expensive airfare, car rental etc. We rarely rent accommodations because we need peak times - and ownership is much more cost effective for us. If you can go offseason or cannot commit to dates well in advance, then renting will be superior to owning.
 
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