What should i buy

[vitorjose]

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

Travel primarily in Europe,


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?

I would not require a home base, but if one is needed las vegas or nyc


3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

Places in Europe with a focus on portugal or uk


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

Wife and i

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

After next April we schedule limitations, we will both be retired

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?

4 or 5 stars

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

10 to 20 k

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?

Up to 4k, assuming I am able to travel to my desired locations

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

 

[sponger76]

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

Travel primarily in Europe,


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?

I would not require a home base, but if one is needed las vegas or nyc


3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

Places in Europe with a focus on portugal or uk


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

Wife and i

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

After next April we schedule limitations, we will both be retired

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?

4 or 5 stars

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

10 to 20 k

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?

Up to 4k, assuming I am able to travel to my desired locations

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

While some of the big systems have a couple of European properties, they aren't impressive if you are looking for lots of European destinations all there within one system, and most of those are NOT in the major European cities that most Americans want to visit. European timeshares tend to be out in the countryside or in beach or ski destinations that Europeans primarily want to vacation in. The exception would be Hapimag, which you may want to look into If your focus is primarily Europe. Just keep in mind that they only have properties in Europe, and don't exchange in either of the two biggest exchange systems, II and RCI.

 

[Hindsite]

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

4 or 5 stars

Very few timeshares truly get to 4 or 5*, and much less so in Europe. Have a browse through the Interval International and RCI resort directories, links below. To see what might suit. The former Diamond properties, now part of Hilton, do have a decent number of properties in Europe, but tend to be 3*
II: https://www.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=1500
RCI: https://www.rci.com/pre-rci/gb/en/resort-directory/landing
Try renting a few from TUG or redweek to get a feel for what they are like and how that site with your expectations.
All the best.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Welcome to TUG.

Hilton Grand Vacations has locations in Scotland countryside; Italy - Tuscany countryside; and Portugal - Algarve. For Portugal you need to own there as trading competition is fierce. The other option is to trade in RCI - we are trading next year into a highly rated RCI resort in Algarve.

Check out HIlton Grand locations to see if those suit you. Another options is to buy a resale by Hilton Club (bHC) District (in DC) which converts 32:1 to Hilton Honor points. There is an Facebook group leader based in Ireland who pursues this conversion method for his bHC points to stay at Hiltons in Europe and is quite happy with his European travels and lounge access.

Marriott Vacation Club has coastal Spain and France (by Disneyland France outside of Paris) but you would be limited to those resorts or trading for weekly stays in in Interval International as resales do not trade in Bonvoy.

Lastly, there is a European timeshare company that offers many European Cities. I cannot remember the name. Perhaps another Tugger can supply this. or search the International Forum.

 

[Hindsite]

Lastly, there is a European timeshare company that offers many European Cities. I cannot remember the name. Perhaps another Tugger can supply this. or search the International Forum.

Hapimag, is possibly what you mean, @ScoopKona may be able to provide personal experience on using it.

https://www.hapimag.com/en-gb/

 

[Passepartout]

@vitorjose you have been lurking around TUG for some time, so probably have heard that European timeshare resorts are not like American/Mexican and Caribbean resorts. It is true. In Europe, people live in the cities, so when they vacation, they go to the countryside or mountains, not where most Americans want to visit.

As suggested, put in requests for locales where you want to visit, but don't overlook VRBOs and AirBnBs.

There are a couple of TUGgers who own with Hapimag so use that as a search keyword, then PM those owners for a primer if that interests you.

Based on your questionnaire I'm not sure that timeshare, as most North American owners use them, will satisfy your desires.

Good Luck!

Jim

 

[vitorjose]

Thank you all for the info

 

[ScoopKona]

Hapimag, is possibly what you mean, @ScoopKona may be able to provide personal experience on using it.

https://www.hapimag.com/en-gb/

@mpizza is the resident Hapimag expert. I just looked into it and said, "Looks great. But I'm happy with what I already have."

 

[ScoopKona]

3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

Places in Europe with a focus on portugal or uk

Don't listen to the naysayers. You can ABSOLUTELY see Europe with the right timeshare. I've been at it for more than 20 years. You don't even have to buy into Hapimag to do it. (But I highly recommend looking into that system and contacting @mpizza for further advice once you have done your homework.)

My timeshare trades through Interval. And although there isn't an enormous number of timeshares available, the places I trade into have been great. The big cities aren't typically represented -- but that's fine. The places Europeans like to vacation are absolutely worth visiting. So we use a mix of hotels, airbnb and timeshares -- weeks at a time.

Some of our favorite vacations ever have been European timeshares -- converted castles, abbeys and similar.

Google Palazzo Catalani, Knocktopher Abbey and Rhinefield House. With some work (and choosing a timeshare which trades well), you could stay at these places. Interval Getaways can take care of about a third of the big cultural powerhouse cities you probably want to see. Tack on some hotels on either side of the timeshare and that's a trip.