The timeshare struggle, spoiled and having a hard time finding balance within budget

[mdurette]

What do all you budget minded travelers do when outside of the timeshare system. I'm struggling with it.

We take off whenever we can, about 6 times a year which is a pretty good for a working middle class family tied to a school calendar, but we are able to do that much with the help of TS stays for resorts and car travel or points for flights. I have an good amount of travel points to use for hotels, but never do because I can't get away from the idea of a nice 2BR unit with a full kitchen for comfort and savings on cost of meals. We do cruise once a year, but that is pretty much it.

I find myself in the rut of traveling to the same places all the time (can anyone say Orlando) because it simply fits the budget (2BR Marriott for around $350 for the week is our next adventure)

What other options have you found that come close to TS travel?

 

[klpca]

Camping.

Timesharing has spoiled us. I just can't do hotels any more. And Airbnb's are pricey these days!

 

[moonstone]

We were campers long before we were timeshare owners. Then for many years we did both while our kids were growing up. Timeshares spoiled us but we kept camping up until 3 or 4 years ago since it was a different, more relaxing, type of vacation, especially after the kids stopped coming along. There were also many places where we could get a campsite easier and cheaper than a timeshare in the same vicinity (Boston for one). The few times when we wanted to visit a city where we couldn't book a timeshare, we stayed in an extended stay type hotel room so we had a kitchenette or full kitchen to make our own breakfast and often have groceries on hand for the odd lunch or dinner in our room.


~Diane

 

[dioxide45]

For us, the only other thing we have that offers the value for the dollar is cruising, but you have already found that. We book hotels for a night or two here and there, but for us it is mainly timeshare travel and cruise...

 

[missyrcrews]

I pretty much only do timeshares at this point in life. When we travel to and from Missouri, we do Residence Inn. I don't enjoy eating out, and so a kitchen is a must. I took my daughter to a bed and breakfast for Columbus Day weekend this year. BLECH. Having to talk to people before I even have my coffee.....and having to get out of my robe to do it. Not my idea of fun! I hope you'll figure out what works for you guys!

 

[DaveNV]

I'd suggest camping, or if that doesn't work, a progressive road trip thing. Plan a route from and back to your home, and stop at convenient locations along the way for a night or two. Use some of those hotel points to make it work.

One of the best road trips we've ever had was about five years ago. We flew to Denver, rented a car and started driving West. Saw a lot of western Colorado beauty (Glenwood Canyon, for example.) Jutted northwesterly to Vernal, Utah, (Dinosaur National Monument), then down to Moab, Utah (Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.) Further south, then a jog east back into Colorado to Cortes (Mesa Verde National Park.) Then Monument Valley, a drive through and overnight at Grand Canyon, a stop in Sedona, Arizona, then on to Phoenix and Tucson. We dropped off the car and flew home from Phoenix. We never spent too much time in the car on a given day, and we saw an awful lot of amazing things. I'd do that trip again anytime. It was great.

You could do something similar from your home, on a scale that fits your schedule. Driving your own car would save money, and if you stayed at a centralized location you could maximize the time for seeing things in that area.

Dave

 

[CO skier]

What other options have you found that come close to TS travel?

Nothing beats timesharing travel. -- if you know what you are doing. I recently joined RCI through my WorldMark Club. Very good selection of Last Call vacations within driving distance for $239/week (average KOA campground would be $350/week). Unbelievable, but usually only 1 BR units at resorts that I am familiar with.

 

[heathpack]

I’ve gotten into a mode of renting out my timeshares and using the proceeds to fund AirBnB stays.

I totally agree on enjoying the kitchen in AirBnBs or timeshares, plus the quiet of it compared to a hotel. I’m in rural Texas for a Dachshund Field Trial, staying at nice AirBnB. Way better than a hotel!

The thing about AirBnBs is that you can go anywhere and take all kinds of non resort trips.

Maybe try renting out something you own, and looking for an AirBnB in that budget.

 

[amycurl]

I’m so spoiled I used a bunch of Hyatt points to get a two bedroom suite at a Hyatt House hotel in upstate Ny for just one night this summer when we met Nana to drop off my daughter (we’ve always met her somewhere roughly halfway to do this swap.) it was so nice to be able to make dinner, have a swim, and not have to get back in a car to get food after traveling for 8+ hours. Would def do again


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[Snazzylass]

I pretty much only do timeshares at this point in life. When we travel to and from Missouri, we do Residence Inn. I don't enjoy eating out, and so a kitchen is a must. I took my daughter to a bed and breakfast for Columbus Day weekend this year. BLECH. Having to talk to people before I even have my coffee.....and having to get out of my robe to do it. Not my idea of fun! I hope you'll figure out what works for you guys!

You are my kinda girl! "Having to talk to people before I even have my coffee.....and having to get out of my robe to do it. Not my idea of fun!"

 

[alwysonvac]

See if you can use your travel points at extended stay brand hotels.

When we need more than a simple hotel room, I look for the following brands (see list below) but there are others. Definitely read the TripAdvisor/Yelp reviews.

• Homewood Suites
• Residence Inn
• Embassy Suites

The Best Extended Stay Hotel Brands (According To Stephen)

If you're planning a road trip & want to book a hotel with a kitchen in every suite, here are Stephen's recommendations for which are best.

frequentmiler.com

 

[Luvtoride]

Our Non-timeshare travel the last few years has been mostly for international trips to see places we’ve never been. We just got back from 2 weeks in Italy. We stayed in nice hotels (mainly using Marriott Bonvoy points) which wasn’t bad as we were out touring almost everyday. Hotels all included breakfast so not having a kitchen didn’t matter.
We moved around to different cities every few days so being in hotel rooms for a couple of nights each was not a big issue.

This may not be ideal for Md the OP due to having school age kids, but it makes for a nice change from our timeshare “relaxing” vacations.


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[dmharris]

Our Non-timeshare travel the last few years has been mostly for international trips to see places we’ve never been. We just got back from 2 weeks in Italy. We stayed in nice hotels (mainly using Marriott Bonvoy points) which wasn’t bad as we were out touring almost everyday. Hotels all included breakfast so not having a kitchen didn’t matter.
We moved around to different cities every few days so being in hotel rooms for a couple of nights each was not a big issue.

This may not be ideal for Md the OP due to having school age kids, but it makes for a nice change from our timeshare “relaxing” vacations.


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Brian, I've got a bunch of point banked with Marriott and thinking about Italy. How many points did you use up?

 

[rickandcindy23]

We go to Orlando often. I don't feel we are in a rut, but I get what you are saying, especially this last few weeks of realizing that we are going to Orlando alone in January. We love our trips with the kids and grandkids. That's been our reason for going to Orlando so much over the years. Our son recently flaked on a trip we'd planned for months as he has this lame (sarcasm) excuse he has to be in his store to work because some people just quit their jobs. He feels the store is a bit unstable right now, and it's his store, and his responsibility. He is working no less than 90 hours a week. He relied on his store manager who gave notice and left during the busy season, which is now, and he had one tech that quit while at an install of a gas fireplace.

I cannot say that we are on a budget for travel. We are spending our kids' inheritance. That's just what it is. We may have another 20 years of travel ahead of us, hopefully more, but I cannot imagine us going by ourselves when we are 87, especially to Disney. I can see us maybe still going to Maui until our 90's, if we are both healthy enough.

Keeping our annual passes seems wise for now, and I don't understand why Disney stopped selling them. It kind of forces us to do Disney or waste them. We renewed this past June, but two of our kids chose not to renew and are hoping they resume sales again in a year or two, when they want to go again. Their kids are 8 and 3, so they have lots of time.

We love road trips, especially where we can stop a few days and enjoy an area, then drive to the next adventure and not stay in hotels. Our car is reliable, so far, and knock on wood! I have hotel points for those places where timeshares don't work. Road trips are the best, especially if we only drive 400 miles in a day. Those are the ideal thing to do. We went to Anaheim and stayed in Wyndhams on the way there and back and extended a week-long stay into two weeks, and it was so relaxing. I would love to do a trip like that again soon. We are still considering a drive to Orlando, but we are concerned about weather along our route.

I want to get back to Myrtle Beach, Williamsburg, Cape Cod, Hilton Head Island, etc. But I want to drive. What do you do about yard work when taking a long road trip during spring, summer and fall? It's something we do not do. We have a big yard, and Rick always has projects he is doing to make it less work eventually.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

Hyatt has a lot of condo units now so we use their 1 or 2 bedrooms to extend our trips using our ultimate rewards points. I am using my 5 free nights with Marriott to stay in Residence Inn Wailea to tack on to a one month Maui trip. When in rural areas without these options we use an airbnb but that is rare

 

[Carolinian]

There are lots of places one can travel around in Europe fairly cheaply, and the LCC's (cost cost carriers) help one get around cheaply. When you have the time, train travel can be great, as well.

When I was working full time in eastern Europe, it was a breeze. Even doing a six month stint over there, I found it usually easy to get in three seperate weeks of leisure travel, one at the begining, the middle, and the end. When I was working full time in the US, I would look for cheap air fares in spring and fall, and uses miles in summer to do about five trips to Europe in a year, some for a week and some for a long weekend.

Rental cars are a great way to get around in Europe and let you get to some sights not so accessable by train. I did two week-long driving trips to Poland, one to Silesia and the other to Pomerania / Prussia, staying in a different castle every night at a cost of between US$35 and 60. If I have a choice between staying in a castle or a timeshare, I will take the castle every time (of course it was nice when you could get a timeshare in a castle, like Schloss Grubhof, where I traded in three times, but is now no longer a timeshare).

Driving around the old Saxon towns of Transylvania (Romania) with their marvelous medieval fortified churches is another place I have done two different circuits, a week at a time, and very inexpensive for both lodging and food. The Mihai Emanescu Foundation which promotes preservation and restoration of the old Saxon churches, houses, and other buildings rents restored old Saxon houses for very reasonable amounts. In one village, they have restored and own a restored palace of a Hungarian noble family, and one can rent the entire palace (they don't rent out separate rooms in it) for about $150 a night. They also have local people who will cook you meals for a very reasonable price.

 

[aandmrun]

When not staying at timeshares, we always book the Marriott Residence Inn or the Hilton Homewood Suites. These rooms have kitchens and plenty of space. If you use the Marriott BonVoy points, you can get 5 nights for the price of 4. That is always a great way for us to visit large cities and enjoy the "almost" comfort of a timeshare. We have done this in downtown Chicago, Nashville, Seattle and New York. The best part about this is that if you fly directly to those cities, you can enjoy 5 nights without renting a car.

 

[DonnaJ123]

We rent a house for a few months in Palm Springs thru a realtor.

 

[A.Win]

I have used the homeexchange website for many years with lots of success. But it does take a lot of effort to find a compatible host/exchange partner. More recently, I joined ThirdHome, which is basically a high end home exchange website. It includes some timeshare options as well.

I wish the TUG timeshare exchange section was more active because these types of exchanges are a great way to travel cheaply. They are also tax efficient.

 

[stmartinfan]

Unlike many of you, we only own 1 week of timeshare and use it for our annual visit to the Caribbean. For other trips, we love exploring new places, especially in Europe or large US cities, and recognize that our travel preferences don't fit well with timeshares. We use VRBO or rental agencies in European cities or suite type hotels because it's too hard to return to regular hotel rooms after a roomy timeshare! We probably take fewer trips because they are more expensive, but we're seeing the places on our bucket list

 

[Carolinian]

Unlike many of you, we only own 1 week of timeshare and use it for our annual visit to the Caribbean. For other trips, we love exploring new places, especially in Europe or large US cities, and recognize that our travel preferences don't fit well with timeshares. We use VRBO or rental agencies in European cities or suite type hotels because it's too hard to return to regular hotel rooms after a roomy timeshare! We probably take fewer trips because they are more expensive, but we're seeing the places on our bucket list

Timeshare has been a good way to travel in Europe but many of the best options seem to be vanishing. There are no more timeshare resorts in London except with Hapimag. Schloss Grubhof, a castle 45 minutes drive from Salzburg, is no longer a timeshare (I traded into that one three times). Golden Tulip Zandvoort, on the beach a half hour train ride from Ansterdam is gone.

There is still is one good option for timesharing in Europe, especially for the major cities, and that is Hapimag, which was the world's first timeshare developer but has never traded through RCI or II. It did for a time trade some of its resorts through DAE Europe.

Back in the day, I have done timeshare trades for London, Vienna, Venice, the French Riviera, and the Croatian coast (on the beach on the outskirts of Split), Greek islands Corfu and Rhodes, as well as many other places. The English canal boats have been great. The options available now, however, are not what they were.

 

[Luanne]

We do hotels, or condo rentals, when we have to.

 

[marmite]

Many years ago, I subscribed to a website that let you advertise for home swapping. You could post photos of your home and describe the type of swap you wanted, but didn't reveal your address. If someone approached you it was up to you if you took the swap or not. You could swap your primary home, apartments or guest cottages simultaneously or as an I.O.U. so that you could do the trades at different times.

I was new to the site and longly looking at some beautiful homes, including one built and owned by an architect on acreage in the Sonoma Valley. Wouldn't you know it I got an email from that family wanting to swap with us. We arrange a week long swap and even were brave enough to swap cars. At the time I lived in a waterfront townhome and loved trying a different lifestyle. They had deer in the backyard, apples and blackberries to pick, access to all these cute towns to explore as well as San Fran.

Oddly, we each broke one glass at each others house, so I always say I got that vacation for a price of a wineglass.

Some exchangers are even happy to pet-sit, so it can be a very economical depending what you're comfortable with. It was definitely a leap of faith, but a really good experience.

 

[vacationtime1]

Many years ago, I subscribed to a website that let you advertise for home swapping. You could post photos of your home and describe the type of swap you wanted, but didn't reveal your address. If someone approached you it was up to you if you took the swap or not. You could swap your primary home, apartments or guest cottages simultaneously or as an I.O.U. so that you could do the trades at different times.

I was new to the site and longly looking at some beautiful homes, including one built and owned by an architect on acreage in the Sonoma Valley. Wouldn't you know it I got an email from that family wanting to swap with us. We arrange a week long swap and even were brave enough to swap cars. At the time I lived in a waterfront townhome and loved trying a different lifestyle. They had deer in the backyard, apples and blackberries to pick, access to all these cute towns to explore as well as San Fran.

Oddly, we each broke one glass at each others house, so I always say I got that vacation for a price of a wineglass.

Some exchangers are even happy to pet-sit, so it can be a very economical depending what you're comfortable with. It was definitely a leap of faith, but a really good experience.

lol

We once did a home exchange to Greenwich, England. We swapped houses, cars, housekeepers (we both wanted to keep them fully employed), cats, and kids’ babysitters.

For a month.

 

[Lsfinn]

What do all you budget minded travelers do when outside of the timeshare system. I'm struggling with it.

We take off whenever we can, about 6 times a year which is a pretty good for a working middle class family tied to a school calendar, but we are able to do that much with the help of TS stays for resorts and car travel or points for flights. I have an good amount of travel points to use for hotels, but never do because I can't get away from the idea of a nice 2BR unit with a full kitchen for comfort and savings on cost of meals. We do cruise once a year, but that is pretty much it.

I find myself in the rut of traveling to the same places all the time (can anyone say Orlando) because it simply fits the budget (2BR Marriott for around $350 for the week is our next adventure)

What other options have you found that come close to TS travel?

Timeshare is a box. Some travel fits the box; other travel, not so much

Some of our travel fills a special niche: repeat, annual visits to special places for rest and relaxation. For this travel we find timeshare is ideal.

Other travel - especially travel to see new things or explore new areas - just doesn't fit with what timeshare has to offer. Sure, you can trade-out using and exchange company, if the exchange company has offerings where you'd like to go and availability when you'd like to travel. But, that often isn't the case. (Try traveling to a major European city.)

Even in system, when you look closely there may be many resorts, but they are concentrated in certain places or areas and are - quite often - not conveniently located for exploring or sight-seeing.

After you've amortized your initial investment timeshare can be a very efficient use of travel $$$ for certain kinds of travel. If, however, some or all of your travel interests or travel planning needs don't fit the timeshare profile then it is a very inefficient use of travel $$$s. In our case, post-retirement our travel interests have evolved and we are divesting of a good fraction of our timeshare points so that, with the saved maintenance, we can undertake other travel. Almost no regrets - except for the last points purchase our timeshare did for us exactly what we needed and wanted it to do - but our interests and wants have evolved and much of our timeshare only gives us access to things that are not of interest or value to us.