Strongly considering buying a timeshare

[Vacationer18]

I was offered a Hawaii HGVC by hgv in Hawaii to make a new purchase. I informed them I need to think about it. The offer was 6500 points every other year for $16k with hg max and bonus points of $20k. Maintenance fees of $1200. HGV max was included

It would be 6500 points every other year. Includes new Hilton purchases of diamond etc. I want to make sure I can get places I like in summer season and have enough points to vacation on those places in a 1 but preferably a 2 bedroom. is this a good deal or will I be able to find this for resale. I hate the maintenance fees..Here are my answers to survey questions Thank you all.

thread.

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where? Hawaii and Europe. Orlando

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time? Maybe once every 2 years

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations? Europe and Asia and parts of Africa

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself? 3

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule? Locked in, oldest is in middle school

6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance? 8 months in advance

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time? In the summer only. Yes.

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars? 4 to 5 stars

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing? $5k

10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year? $500

11) Are you a detail oriented planner? Yes

12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away Yes

 

[vacationtime1]

If you can afford only $5,000 upfront and $500 in annual fees, why are you considering purchasing a $16,000 timeshare with $1,200 of annual maintenance fees? Timeshares are luxury purchases; don't put yourself in debt for future vacations.

(Yes, you can probably buy the identical timeshare -- we don't know exactly what timeshare they are trying to sell you -- for a fraction of their retail price. Also, if you cannot make vacation plans 12 months in advance, you may lose some of the advantages of ownership, perhaps including getting the units you want.)

 

[Vacationer18]

If you can afford only $5,000 upfront and $500 in annual fees, why are you considering purchasing a $16,000 timeshare with $1,200 of annual maintenance fees? Timeshares are luxury purchases; don't put yourself in debt for future vacations.

(Yes, you can probably buy the identical timeshare -- we don't know exactly what timeshare they are trying to sell you -- for a fraction of their retail price. Also, if you cannot make vacation plans 12 months in advance, you may lose some of the advantages of ownership, perhaps including getting the units you want.)

I guess to be clear that’s how much I would rather pay. I can afford $1200 maintenance fees but does it make sense is my question. And no I don’t want to pay a whooping $16 k up front. If you can buy timeshare 12 months in advance I assume it is easier to get your account premium nights?

 

[CalGalTraveler]

You budget is still low at $1200 as there are fees for exchanging and this will increase with inflation. Depending on the hotel brand, you can pick up a resale timeshare for less than $8 - $10k all in but you will not get all locations trading. Do not take a free timeshare as those do not trade well for your destinations and will be hard to sell.

The challenge is that you want Europe. If you are looking at cities in Europe there is only one brand and they are exclusively Europe. The other timeshares in Europe are in the country. AFAIK I am not aware of any timeshares in Africa.

 

[rickandcindy23]

$500 maintenance fee doesn't really provide much of a timeshare experience. My cheapest maintenance fee is now $657, and it's not a great trader because it's a small one bedroom unit. $1,200 is going to get a generic timeshare somewhere in Massanutten or Williamsburg.

Europe is not easily available for any timeshare, there aren't that many nice ones in Europe. We gave up on that idea long ago. Sure, there are a few in Scotland, France, Spain, etc., worthy of a visit, but don't count on Europe.

Africa, same as Europe. Not much there, but there is some Asia, but also very limited in numbers, and few that are quality experiences (Marriott).

 

[Tuggernaut]

According to the Interval International Resort Directory, there are two dozen in Africa. I know nothing about them. As stated by others, a maintenance fee of only $1200 is not likely to get you a 4-star resort experience during a desirable time of year to be there.

 

[jp10558]

I think based on your preferences and information, timeshares are not going to work for you. 8 month planning for limited locations that may not be where you want and likely are 3* won't work. I think only Orlando would work, and that's still not going to be 4* for $1,200 a year. One thing to keep in mind is that most people and references of maintenance fees(MF) are ONLY MFs - do not include club dues or exchange company fees or the like. If HGV offered 6500 pts that's HGV / Diamond, so not 4* in itself. They probably showed you HGVC, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be 6500pts, it'd be something like 7200pts or 38xx something points. I'm guessing they were offering a 1BR or Studio too.

With 3 people, you probably are flexible on 2BR and only need 1BR. However, I feel like you should just keep with hotels and VRBOs - yes they'll blow your budget out of the water for a week usually, but you could make hotels more palatable with the points credit card free night games, and they will actually work with 8 months of planning and in Europe etc.

 

[jeffox]

According to the Interval International Resort Directory, there are two dozen in Africa.

And just because they are listed, doesn't mean there is any availability.

 

[easyrider]

I guess to be clear that’s how much I would rather pay. I can afford $1200 maintenance fees but does it make sense is my question. And no I don’t want to pay a whooping $16 k up front. If you can buy timeshare 12 months in advance I assume it is easier to get your account premium nights?

Find a vacation club that you can drive to and buy a membership with a maintenance fee of what you can afford. We live in Washington State and there are many Worldmark resorts that we can drive to is why we like Worldmark. A 10,000 credit membership has a maintenance fee of under $1,200 a year and will get you a two bed unit in most of the Worldmark system. You could also get a smaller membership with less of a maintenance fee. We started out with 6,000 credits years ago.

You could get a Worldmark membership for nothing as in free. Once you have a timeshare you could join an exchange. SFX ( San Francisco Exchange) has a free membership option that would give you access to other resorts with a exchange fee. They also have last minute deals for cash. RCI does cost you to join but they have many cash deals available.

If you live on the East Coast a vacation club like Wyndham might be better. Worldmark does have many Florida resorts but not so many north of Florida.

Bill

 

[rickandcindy23]

I re-watched the movie Blended yesterday, and I can guarantee that the "timeshare" on Blended doesn't exist. My son would love to go, if it existed, so I wish it did.

 

[ondeadlin]

The numbers just do not work. This would be a bad financial decision. Generally, I would only buy Hawaii if I intended to use it every time (whether annual or every other year) because the fees are so high compared to mainland options.

 

[geist1223]

I could be wrong (it does happen) but it sounds like you are actually buying into HVC (formerly DRI Hawaiian Collection). Not a good deal. When you break it out on an annual basis you are paying over $5 per Point. Also HVC/DRI is extremely hard to dispose of in the future. There are severe restrictions on using HVC/DRI Points upon resell. Also they lose MAX Status upon resell.

You can not do much (probably not a week anywhere) with 6,500 HCV/DRI Points every other year. Also remember MAX is not a Timeshare but a mere possibility of trying to reserve in another System (HGVC) on a very short fuse.

 

[geist1223]

If you are possibly interested in a Worldmark checkout www.wmowners.com/forum. There are 10K and up Accounts basically for free - pay the transfer fees. A resell Worldmark Account has full access to the 100+ Worldmark Resorts (Fiji, Hawaii [several], Mexico [several], Canada [several but all in Western Canada], Orlando, Daytona Beach, etc; Bonus Time; Monday Madness; Inventory Specials (these last 3 are cash options); 4 Wait Lists; etc. Also you can make purchases of one time use Credits from other Owners at twice as many Credits that you own. Credits are good for about 25 months. So Credits Issued on July 1, 2026 do not have to be placed into a Booking until July 31, 2028 and because they can be Booked out 13 months the Booking does not have to start until August 20, 2029. There is a lot more but I just want to give the basics.

 

[StarSailer]

I would suggest a HGV resale. 4-star resorts, locations in Orlando, Hawaii, and Europe. Maybe look for deeds at Boulevard in Las Vegas? 1BR Platinum weeks will give you 7,680 points a year and cost just under $1200/year including membership and a reservation fee. A 1BR Plus week or an Elera Studio Grand Premier would be even better if you find one of those for sale in your budget.

Honorable mention for 10,000 Worldmark credits if you can stretch your budget to $1250/year.

At the low end $500/year for EOY use is just barely possible for an RCI trader. $1000 total per use year, less 2x$110/year RCI membership fee, less $280 exchange fee, leaves $500/per-use-year for resort maintenance fees. That is just enough to pick up an EOY GrandView at Vegas. Maybe Magic Tree at Kissimmee (Orlando) if they have any EOY options.

5-star accomidations (Interal International Elite recognition) are not in your budget.
$500/year for annual travel isn't realistic at any star rating unless you only use your home resort every year and never pay exchange fees.

 

[easyrider]

Probably one of my main considerations when acquiring a timeshare is the exit. Worldmark has an exit program that occasionally is on and off. The thing to do for a beginner might be what we did in our beginning. We actually bought resale a 6000 credit membership in Worldmark decades ago and used it for bonus time and a reservation every other year. Then we joined RCI and used the getaways.

Bill