Which timeshare club would be best for me?

[TravelTime]

Still, looking forward to my Marriott presentation tomorrow, as well as my vacation deal with Holiday Inn next month. Curious what they have to offer and how their systems work, without spending long hours on analyzing and understanding it.

At the Marriott Vacation Club presentation, you are going to learn about the Destination Points program. I do not believe the DP program will be a fit in your budget. It is expensive to buy into even resale and the MFs will be too high for you. The advantage is they have the most diversity of locations of all the systems. You will love that part of the presentation.

You could consider buying a week from Marriott and you can get some of those with cheap upfront costs. However, once again, the MFs on a week will be well above your budget and to go to other locations you will be stuck exchanging with Interval International.

It seems to me that Hilton is you best bet if you are okay with all the caveats others have mentioned. I do not hear much about Holiday Inn on TUG but I assume it will be lower quality than Hilton, which may be okay with you since you said you usually travel in that level of accommodation.

 

[bogey21]

I have a timeshare presentation with MVC scheduled for tomorrow so I'll ask them about some internal things to get an initial grasp of MVC, then learn the reality from TUG.

Don't succumb and buy. You will be tempted. Resist or you will be back here asking how to rescind...

George

 

[Ty1on]

Still, looking forward to my Marriott presentation tomorrow, as well as my vacation deal with Holiday Inn next month. Curious what they have to offer and how their systems work, without spending long hours on analyzing and understanding it.

Long hours analyzing and understanding is how you find out what they have to offer and how their systems work, and the salesmen absolutely depend on you not doing that before they give you information that wavers between exaggerated and outright false.

 

[sue1947]

Still, looking forward to my Marriott presentation tomorrow, as well as my vacation deal with Holiday Inn next month. Curious what they have to offer and how their systems work, without spending long hours on analyzing and understanding it

Reality check:
If you aren't a planner; i.e. somebody who spends "long hours on analyzing and understanding it", then timeshares aren't for you. Any system requires a commitment to learn and understand the rules, especially if you want to travel during school holidays. There are more people who want what you want than there is space available. You must learn and understand all the rules and the exceptions and the workarounds etc. You need to be able to plan well in advance, before the majority are even thinking about it so you can be first in line. You need to have options if you don't get what you want.

JMO
Sue

 

[rickandcindy23]

Worldmark would work destination wise. These don't really loose much if any value when they are bought resale. WM trades well with RCI, II and SFX.

Bill

I don't recommend SFX. I feel like everything with SFX is way too much work to get what I can get with RCI or II without waiting and waiting and waiting.

 

[Passepartout]

Exchange companies have various fees (membership fees, exchange fees, upgrade fees, etc).
For HGVC, your membership is simply part of our annual club dues. You’ll have access via a corporate RCI account that doesn’t stay with you when you leave HGVC
Good point. I think I'll do just that. Finalize this HGVC Flamingo deal and taste what HGVC and RCI are really about. Is RCI membership really free of charge with Hilton?

And who knows - maybe I end up loving and valuing the accommodations at Hilton to the point I will no longer look at it solely as from a ROI perspective but also the experience

Good plan. Just to clarify, if you choose to get an RCI membership on your own for the Last Calls and Extra Vacays, you can't keep the corporate membership that is included with HGVC membership. That said, while you own the HGVC, you'll be able to sample them to your heart's content and see if they fit your needs.

Jim

 

[rickandcindy23]

Long hours analyzing and understanding is how you find out what they have to offer and how their systems work, and the salesmen absolutely depend on you not doing that before they give you information that wavers between exaggerated and outright false.

This is so true!

 

[easyrider]

I don't recommend SFX. I feel like everything with SFX is way too much work to get what I can get with RCI or II without waiting and waiting and waiting.

I had thought this from experience but then I joined the Diamond level and received a very good exchange to Mexico. What exchanges are you not getting ? Is it Hawaii ?

Bill

 

[Nowaker]

In reality, families aren’t told about the competition for high demand weeks or travel periods

Exactly. But thanks to the almighty @alwysonvac who looked up various dates and locations for me, I got the real taste of HGVC. Thank you for that, again.

Come back to TUG and do your research before you buy anything (resale or via the developer).

Absolutely! The presentation I ended and here I come

Don't succumb and buy. You will be tempted

That's not me. I don't have a problem taking my time during the presentation and run the numbers as we speak. That's what I did on the HGVC presentation. The numbers made no sense. That's what I just did now with Marriott. Numbers made no sense.

I'm never tempted to throw big money on anything here and now, without doing any research. I'm honestly not sure why most people get so easily baited like this. Doesn't work on me. Never did.

Long hours analyzing and understanding is how you find out what they have to offer and how their systems work

You must learn and understand all the rules and the exceptions and the workarounds etc

I think you guys misunderstood me, or I wasn't clear. I don't want to spend long hours on understanding each and every timeshare system. That's why I'm asking for recommendations so I can limit the scope of my research. Then, analyzing a new system (e.g. Marriott) I have zero knowledge about is tough. TUG materials is precise but somewhat chaotic, and you need to know what you're looking at to get a sense of it.

I liked the way I did it with HGVC. I attended the timeshare presentation to understand the basics. I did my calculations on spot, didn't make sense, declined. And yet, I got paid with discounted vacations. Then joined TUG to learn more and now I have the big picture of HGVC, works well for me, and I'm in a process of buying HGVC Las Vegas Flamingo 7,000 pts for ~$5.5k (incl. closing).

I just attended an online Marriott presentation today. The presenter was great. Unlike a HGVC presenter, MVC guy wasn't pushy whatsoever, didn't hype things up, didn't talk offtopic for long minutes about his family and kids (why would I care). Rather, he explained the DC points system, told me the MF-per-point, explained the structure (deed in a trust, not a particular property), we looked up point costs in certain locations, went through any extra monetary costs (there isn't many, MF is per point, and club fee is $215/year, and there's no booking fee). We created Year 1 and Year 2 vacation plan, and I specifically made it match what 7,000 HGVC points from my Flamingo will buy me. Around 4,000 MVC points was the result. The offer was 4,000 pts/year + 10,000 bonus points incentive for $49,920, or 5,000 pts/year + 12,500 bonus points incentive for $62,400. So $12.48pp. They also mentioned they could go as down as to $9pp but we didn't evaluate because that didn't work for me either.

Armed with the knowledge from the presentation, which I was paid $100 to attend, I've crunched the numbers to I came to my conclusions. Given I'm looking more towards ordinary destinations like Las Vegas, Orlando, Palm Desert, Phoenix, Carlsbad, and not premiere destinations like ski resorts or oceanfront properties, Marriott doesn't look any good to me in "what 1 points buys me" and "MF-per-point" departments. For example, a studio room at HGVC Elara or Blvd costs 1,600/wk in Gold season. A guestroom (not even studio!) at MVC Grand Chateau costs 1,450/wk in low season. MF-per-point from my Flamingo 7k pts: $0.163. MF-per-points with MVC: $0.628. That's all I needed to know.

Now, here's a side by side comparison of booking Grand Chateau 1 BR Nov 22-29 with hotels.com or MVC points:

- hotels.com: $1,888. Effectively $1,888 * 0.88 = $1661.44 with their rewards program and credit card (which I both have)
- MVC pts: 2,225 pts * 0.628 $/p = $1,413, yearly club fee of $219 not included

It is expensive to buy into even resale and the MFs will be too high for you.

Precisely! MVC has a very high cost of acquisition (even resale, looking at http://rofr.net/), and offers little savings compared to booking with cash long term for my destinations.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I had thought this from experience but then I joined the Diamond level and received a very good exchange to Mexico. What exchanges are you not getting ? Is it Hawaii ?

Bill

I have deposits from 2017 and before.

I request Hawaii, Orlando, Southern CA, Wisconsin, I get nothing. I request online, but my requests are basically ignored. I even emailed Liza today to see if she can offer me anything near Disneyland, even in Carlsbad would be okay, since we have annual passes. I asked for late August-early September of 2022. I still have 8 deposits that will expire with my membership in 8/2023. I did get a 1 bedroom at Kings'land for July because Nathan helped with that one. I was told I cannot get another again for four years. That would take me past my expiration date.

I think the best way to handle SFX is by calling and asking what they have, and I should be calling often. It's just that II and RCI are so easy. SFX requires nagging and guessing what they have.

Their excuse for not giving me much for my trades is lack of trading power. I deposited weeks for peak season when I deposited them. Only a few were pink weeks. I ask for pink weeks. We don't travel during school holidays as retired old folks.

Rick has no desire to go to Mexico. It's hotter than hot, and we just have not been able to see our way to go. We may do it January of 2023, if our kids don't want to go to Disney World. Maybe I can get something in Disney World for us, but they have very little inventory in Orlando, and of course RCI has Disney exchanges, which is far more desirable to our bunch of Disney fans.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Sheraton Broadway Plantation has fees of about $1,330 for a 2 bed lockoff, which locks off into two one bedrooms, deposit them with II and you get two exchanges for $154 exchange fee X 2 + $1,330. It's a good deal for most anyone.

 

[easyrider]

I have deposits from 2017 and before.

I request Hawaii, Orlando, Southern CA, Wisconsin, I get nothing. I request online, but my requests are basically ignored. I even emailed Liza today to see if she can offer me anything near Disneyland, even in Carlsbad would be okay, since we have annual passes. I asked for late August-early September of 2022. I still have 8 deposits that will expire with my membership in 8/2023. I did get a 1 bedroom at Kings'land for July because Nathan helped with that one. I was told I cannot get another again for four years. That would take me past my expiration date.

I think the best way to handle SFX is by calling and asking what they have, and I should be calling often. It's just that II and RCI are so easy. SFX requires nagging and guessing what they have.

Their excuse for not giving me much for my trades is lack of trading power. I deposited weeks for peak season when I deposited them. Only a few were pink weeks. I ask for pink weeks. We don't travel during school holidays as retired old folks.

Rick has no desire to go to Mexico. It's hotter than hot, and we just have not been able to see our way to go. We may do it January of 2023, if our kids don't want to go to Disney World. Maybe I can get something in Disney World for us, but they have very little inventory in Orlando, and of course RCI has Disney exchanges, which is far more desirable to our bunch of Disney fans.

I know what you mean about calling versus waiting. The only exchanges I have made with SFX were from phone calls and not the online request form.

Bill

 

[TravelTime]

Exactly. But thanks to the almighty @alwysonvac who looked up various dates and locations for me, I got the real taste of HGVC. Thank you for that, again.



Absolutely! The presentation I ended and here I come



That's not me. I don't have a problem taking my time during the presentation and run the numbers as we speak. That's what I did on the HGVC presentation. The numbers made no sense. That's what I just did now with Marriott. Numbers made no sense.

I'm never tempted to throw big money on anything here and now, without doing any research. I'm honestly not sure why most people get so easily baited like this. Doesn't work on me. Never did.





I think you guys misunderstood me, or I wasn't clear. I don't want to spend long hours on understanding each and every timeshare system. That's why I'm asking for recommendations so I can limit the scope of my research. Then, analyzing a new system (e.g. Marriott) I have zero knowledge about is tough. TUG materials is precise but somewhat chaotic, and you need to know what you're looking at to get a sense of it.

I liked the way I did it with HGVC. I attended the timeshare presentation to understand the basics. I did my calculations on spot, didn't make sense, declined. And yet, I got paid with discounted vacations. Then joined TUG to learn more and now I have the big picture of HGVC, works well for me, and I'm in a process of buying HGVC Las Vegas Flamingo 7,000 pts for ~$5.5k (incl. closing).

I just attended an online Marriott presentation today. The presenter was great. Unlike a HGVC presenter, MVC guy wasn't pushy whatsoever, didn't hype things up, didn't talk offtopic for long minutes about his family and kids (why would I care). Rather, he explained the DC points system, told me the MF-per-point, explained the structure (deed in a trust, not a particular property), we looked up point costs in certain locations, went through any extra monetary costs (there isn't many, MF is per point, and club fee is $215/year, and there's no booking fee). We created Year 1 and Year 2 vacation plan, and I specifically made it match what 7,000 HGVC points from my Flamingo will buy me. Around 4,000 MVC points was the result. The offer was 4,000 pts/year + 10,000 bonus points incentive for $49,920, or 5,000 pts/year + 12,500 bonus points incentive for $62,400. So $12.48pp. They also mentioned they could go as down as to $9pp but we didn't evaluate because that didn't work for me either.

Armed with the knowledge from the presentation, which I was paid $100 to attend, I've crunched the numbers to I came to my conclusions. Given I'm looking more towards ordinary destinations like Las Vegas, Orlando, Palm Desert, Phoenix, Carlsbad, and not premiere destinations like ski resorts or oceanfront properties, Marriott doesn't look any good to me in "what 1 points buys me" and "MF-per-point" departments. For example, a studio room at HGVC Elara or Blvd costs 1,600/wk in Gold season. A guestroom (not even studio!) at MVC Grand Chateau costs 1,450/wk in low season. MF-per-point from my Flamingo 7k pts: $0.163. MF-per-points with MVC: $0.628. That's all I needed to know.

Now, here's a side by side comparison of booking Grand Chateau 1 BR Nov 22-29 with hotels.com or MVC points:

- hotels.com: $1,888. Effectively $1,888 * 0.88 = $1661.44 with their rewards program and credit card (which I both have)
- MVC pts: 2,225 pts * 0.628 $/p = $1,413, yearly club fee of $219 not included



Precisely! MVC has a very high cost of acquisition (even resale, looking at http://rofr.net/), and offers little savings compared to booking with cash long term for my destinations.

Also, in reality, you do not get more than 14 days at most with 4000 points. Most weeks cost over 3000 points even for smaller units. Some places in 2BR cost over 5000 points. Also you generally need to book at 13 months For best locations. I have over 11,000 points. I have not calculated how many days it gets me but it not huge.