What should I buy?

[CamiB]

I think my husband and I would really benefit from a timeshare for our vacations at least for 1 week every year, and several 4 day short vacations. There are so many options, I'm not sure which program is best, or how many points or what location we should be looking for. Our short vacations are often in some of the same destinations: Las Vegas, Big Bear, Monterey Bay, Seattle. Our 1-2 weeks we like to experience somewhere new. We often bring along family and friends, so at minimum a 1 bedroom, prefer 2-3 option. We would like to pass it on to our daughters as well.

My survey answers:

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?
Las Vegas. I live in San Diego County so day use would be cool too.

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?
Trade more

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?
Europe
Carribean
Italy
Australia
Florida

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?
5

5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?
Anytime

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

7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?
yes

8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?
3-5

9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?
I can make it work if I see the value.

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?
I prefer lower maintenance fees. I can make it work if the value is there.

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, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
yes

 

[Shankilicious]

Welk has their main resort in San Diego and they trade better than almost any other through both Interval and RCI.
Welk is entirely points based so no concern with owning a specific season or view etc.
If you're interested pm me or search for my posting about Welks details.

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[CamiB]

Thank you so much for your info! I read your very thorough Welk post, You explained everything really well. Is day use available to resale? How does the RCI exchange work with Welk? Is that one week equivalent to more time elsewhere? My sister-in-law owns Welk and she has an insanely hard time booking, I've heard it has to do with how many points you need. My friend got his resale and said he loves it, I'll have to ask him how many points he has and how he utilizes it.

Welk has their main resort in San Diego and they trade better than almost any other through both Interval and RCI.
Welk is entirely points based so no concern with owning a specific season or view etc.
If you're interested pm me or search for my posting about Welks details.

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[Shankilicious]

Yes, day use is available to resale owners.
If you book a week in RCI, you get a bonus week but they're nothing special.
But 240k points with Welk will get you a two bedroom at Welk resorts besides Tahoe and Breck and almost any resort in RCI except for registry collection resorts.
The only problem Ive ever heard of anyone having booking with Welk is every other year owners, trying to book in their off year. That's Welks biggest downside.


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[CalGalTraveler]

Hello @CamiB Welcome to TUG and good to see that you are researching before you buy resale.

Suggest that you check out Hilton Grand Vacations. With 5 - 7k Vegas points at Blvd, Paradise (convention center), Flamingo or Elara. You can use those points in Vegas or use them throughout the system. They have properties in Carlsbad so if you buy at one of those properties e.g. Marbrisa you might get day use but may pay slightly higher MF. Do your due diligence to ensure your deed specifies that benefit and it is available to resale owners. Alternatively, you can use Vegas points for short staycations in Carlsbad (but not day use). HGVC has limited Europe (Scotland, Tuscany, Portugal), Barbados and no Australia.

The other one to check out is Worldmark because they have many of the destinations you identified.

 

[rboesl]

You may want to look at a 2BR at The Grandview in Las Vegas. You may be able to find one resale that would give you 86,000 pts (I think) or more in RCI (some as high as 122,000 pts). That many points could give you options for your other choices for Europe, etc.

Grandview is a Vacation Village affiliate that has 6 affiliated resorts in California and 4 others in Las Vegas. You can do internal exchanges at a discount through RCI. Some contracts with Grandview also carry extra weeks with booking windows as short as 45 days out or as far out as 180 days. With those it's just an exchange fee (no points). I usually get about 3 weeks out of the points and 1-2 weeks from the extra weeks each year.

 

[5finny]

Check the 1 bedroom Aquamarine Villas week that was just listed for free
I have 2 1 bedroom units there
My units seem to generate a reasonable amount of RCI TPU's (Trading Power Units) at a reasonable cost
I believe it has day use
You can reserve 2 years in advance and can change your reservation
If the seller has not made reservations for 2021 and 2022 the prime weeks may be gone which would be a negative
( I have no interest in the listed unit)

 

[CPNY]

You may want to look at a 2BR at The Grandview in Las Vegas. You may be able to find one resale that would give you 145,000 pts or more in RCI (some as high as 191,000 pts). That many points could give you options for your other choices for Europe, etc.

Grandview is a Vacation Village affiliate that has 6 affiliated resorts in California and 4 others in Las Vegas. You can do internal exchanges at a discount through RCI. Some contracts with Grandview also carry extra weeks with booking windows as short as 45 days out or as far out as 180 days. With those it's just an exchange fee (no points). I usually get about 3 weeks out of the points and 1-2 weeks from the extra weeks each year.

Highest Grandview point ownership is 122K 2 bedroom.

 

[rboesl]

Highest Grandview point ownership is 122K 2 bedroom.

You are correct. My apologies. I have edited the original post to correct it. I had combined points with another VV resort in my personal notes.

 

[CPNY]

You are correct. My apologies. I have edited the original post to correct it. I had combined points with another VV resort in my personal notes.

No problem. Many have been confused and someone said they had a 2 bedroom worth 196K and that’s not accurate. The highest vacation village RCI contract is a 4 bedroom regal vista at 178K points

 

[rboesl]

Just saw a newly listed 2BR Grandview here on TUG: 98,000 pt Grandview for Free

 

[Limace]

Is there somewhere I can be pointed to to research how much RCI exchanges cost-so how far that 98k grand view would go? I access RCI via my DVC contract but it shows trades in DVC point values-which I don’t do, of course.


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[Limace]

Oops-didn’t mean to hijack this thread-meant to post the above on the grand view thread.


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[CamiB]

Oops-didn’t mean to hijack this thread-meant to post the above on the grand view thread.


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It’s ok, I’m interested in all info

 

[CamiB]

A little update, I really appreciate everybody's responses, the Welk was a serious consideration for me, I'm just not sure how the RCI conversion works. After reading up on it, I think a San Diego area home resort would be best. I'm really liking reviews of HGVC, and the Grand Pacific Resorts in Carlsbad, I believe are connected to HGVC...

 

[Shankilicious]

Welk through RCI: book using your points straight through a special portal, RCI Platinum membership included in Welk VOA fees (even for resale owners).
So 240k Welk points gets you a two bedroom in almost any RCI resort, any time of year.
You will get a "bonus week" after booking with RCI or II but those have somewhat limited access. Any other questions, let me know.

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[jules54]

Gold Crown resort with lowest yearly fees possible. Take your time and unless your looking for a Marriott or Hyatt try yo find something that is very very cheap. My favorite is free. Research research x 5.
Ask questions and study your program. Wyndham Vacation Club Resorts might work for you. Point based and you can get short stays. The program has a learning curve as it is more complicated because some many resorts are involved. You don’t have to exchange always as Wyndham has locations tons of places. An RCI membership comes with Wyndham points so you do have use of RCI to exchange if you want.
When did Welk go to point based only? I used to own there when they sold fixed weeks. I had week 46 for Thanksgiving holiday. It traded great through Interval International.

 

[Shankilicious]

@jules54 Welk hasn't sold weeks since before 2010 I believe. I bought in '15 and there was no option for fixed weeks

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[Tacoma]

Every time you exchange your resort you have to pay exchange fees and belong to at least one exchange company which normally have costs associated just to belong. These are usually at least $200 per exchange. If you don't need fancy resorts I suggest worldmark. It is a points based system with around 90 resorts you can choose from. You can book form one to 30 days at any of the resorts. Some are tricky to book like Monterey Bay and others are easier to get. You can rent in more points if you need them and rent out points if you can't take a vacation one year. I will only pay exchange fees to get an area worldmark doesn't have or if the resort really is that special.

 

[CamiB]

I understand that. My sis-in-law owns at Grand Pacific Palisades and her MF includes RCI, II, GPX, & HGVC memberships. She can bank her points to HGVC and use them without any fees at other resorts. This would be perfect for us, but I need to make sure all of that is included with the resale.

Every time you exchange your resort you have to pay exchange fees and belong to at least one exchange company which normally have costs associated just to belong. These are usually at least $200 per exchange. If you don't need fancy resorts I suggest worldmark. It is a points based system with around 90 resorts you can choose from. You can book form one to 30 days at any of the resorts. Some are tricky to book like Monterey Bay and others are easier to get. You can rent in more points if you need them and rent out points if you can't take a vacation one year. I will only pay exchange fees to get an area worldmark doesn't have or if the resort really is that special.

 

[Shankilicious]

Just remember with exchange companies, even those that include the membership, there is still a fee to exchange the unit you own/book for the unit you want at a different resort.

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[NOLA47]

Am I the only one who has not heard of WELK? With such favorable comments, I will have to google it and get up to speed. I'm learning so much on this site. Thank you!!

 

[Shankilicious]

Am I the only one who has not heard of WELK? With such favorable comments, I will have to google it and get up to speed. I'm learning so much on this site. Thank you!!

Search "Welk" on here. I made a decently informative post about it in the other timeshares forum.

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[dayooper]

I understand that. My sis-in-law owns at Grand Pacific Palisades and her MF includes RCI, II, GPX, & HGVC memberships. She can bank her points to HGVC and use them without any fees at other resorts. This would be perfect for us, but I need to make sure all of that is included with the resale.

I may be wrong here, but I believe the only California resort that can be enrolled into HGVC is MarBrisa. GP Palisades and Seapointe don’t have that option anymore. Just be careful and do your research before you buy.

 

[CamiB]

I may be wrong here, but I believe the only California resort that can be enrolled into HGVC is MarBrisa. GP Palisades and Seapointe don’t have that option anymore. Just be careful and do your research before you buy.

Thank you! I have been asking, some do not, it appears some do. HGVC still has them listed as affiliated resorts. Do you know how I could verify that I will be able to join after resale?