• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Timeshare Rentals and Never Say Never

SueDonJ

Moderator
Joined
Jul 26, 2006
Messages
16,612
Reaction score
5,778
Points
1,249
Location
Massachusetts and Hilton Head Island
Resorts Owned
Marriott Barony Beach and SurfWatch
Years ago, long before TUG, my sister and I rented a Disney Old Key West reservation from a DVC owner through the disboards. That and reading TUG religiously are the sum total of my experience with timeshare rentals and I've been quite vocal about not wanting to use my timeshares to generate income.

Well, about a month ago I read a Last Minute Rental ad here and for reasons that I still can't explain, I checked to see if there was availability using Marriott Points I had which were scheduled to expire 12/31. There was. On top of that it was eligible for a last minute Points discount in Marriott's system that resulted in a small profit for me based on the TUG Last Minute Rentals board fee, and it didn't undercut the going rates on the established rental sites for Marriott Points.

After that all I could think about was the time we spent waiting and hoping for a DVC owner to respond to our ad all those years ago, and I kept going back to the TUG ad to see if it had any responses. My thinking process was, "someone helped us out, why shouldn't I do the same thing?" So the first thing I did after days of watching the ad was ask a well-respected renter on TUG to take a look and tell me if anything looked obviously wrong with the ad. No, so the next step was an email to the renter and from there we spoke to each other on the phone. It seemed a comfortable fit and we continued. I'll admit we didn't use a formal written agreement but we did agree to terms in email - I asked for a Money Order rather than Paypal or a personal check, and payment in full before putting the reservation in my renter's name. We were both a bit nervous but she agreed and I did my best to answer all her questions and get her the rental confirmation as soon as her payment cleared.

My renter and her family checked in a few days ago and are hopefully enjoying their stay. I haven't heard anything so I'm guessing things are going along as expected. :)

Anyway, that's my story about never saying never. I still have no plans to get into the timeshare rental business but I'm happy to have been able to do it and will consider it again when/if the universe aligns again to make it a mutually-advantageous deal. Thanks to TUG for the continuing education I'm getting and to the Marriott TUGgers who have been telling me for years how easy Marriott makes rentals. Special thanks to the TUGger who helped me out with this specific ad, and to my renter. :wave:
 
Last edited:

MuranoJo

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
4,946
Reaction score
186
Points
448
Location
Idaho
What a neat 'pay it forward' story, Sue. I'm sure you'll get good karma from this.
 

Iggyearl

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2014
Messages
808
Reaction score
990
Points
203
Location
Ballston Lake, NY
Same here - sort of....

About 3 years ago, the business that I owned came on hard economic times. I had to sell the equipment and drift into retirement early - at age 63. With time on my hands, I went to googling timeshare terms and timeshare companies. I looked down on the industry - partly because of the lack of pleasure that 2 of my friends had derived from their experiences. Money not well spent.

I came to TUG to get an "inside view" as to how successful people navigated a relatively complex system, in each of the corporate worlds. I vowed to never get involved with "the business." Since 1985 I have been "invited" to dozens of presentations, but always declined. Then, I started looking at the "last minute rentals" section of TUG. WOW! Nice accommodations and not huge prices.

In June, my daughter and family moved from Virginia Beach to Williamsburg. (Talk about timeshare cities!). I decided to take a flier and attempt a rental for 3 days. A very pleasant experience. "Just pay me cash when you get here." We did something similar in August.

From TUG, I have realized that renting is certainly an option to owning. People may have accommodations that they can't use. Or some choose to be in "the business of renting." I will be joining TUG today because I realize it is an industry resource - for owners and non-owners. My vacations have been trips like Route 66, the Grand Canyon, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. In the future, TUG will help me do HHI, MB, and HI. Thank you TUG. And thank you Sue.
 
Top