Who pays for the room and meals? [Posts moved.]

[NYFLTRAVELER]

Yes this was a big reason we did TS. Having relatively set access to 2-3bd units with livings rooms and kitchens makes traveling with other friends and family far more comfortable, and the fact that it's owned makes it a lot less awkward than if we didn't own. Saying, "come join us at our timeshare" is 180 degrees apart from saying, "come travel with us and we'll pay for your lodging" on the awkwardness scale, even if there's really not much difference!

Would you expect the non-family guest to reimburse you if they stayed with you? What is the protocol?

Personally, I like my privacy and would not want another family staying with us in our unit. On the other hand, if somebody wanted to travel with us and I could arrange a unit for them, I'd have no issue doing that so long as they, at a minimum, covered the value of the points used for that period (number of points multiplied by maintenance fee).

 

[taffy19]

We have never asked our family or friends to share the lodging costs. They were paid already by the time we went on vacation and it made our vacations more enjoyable. They came several times to Hawaii to different Islands but loved CA too. I wished we could still do it but we lost most of our good old friends.

Our family and friends would take us out for nice dinners several times and insisted to pay for us and we accepted their nice gestures. One couple offered to pay the rental car but we had already taken care of it but they rented the car anyway as they wanted to do sightseeing every day because it was their first visit to the Islands. This is a couple from here and own timeshares too. We have been their timeshare guests without paying them either.

If you want to invite friends but want them to share the costs then that should be discussed before you go, IMO.

 

[JIMinNC]

Would you expect the non-family guest to reimburse you if they stayed with you? What is the protocol?

Personally, I like my privacy and would not want another family staying with us in our unit. On the other hand, if somebody wanted to travel with us and I could arrange a unit for them, I'd have no issue doing that so long as they, at a minimum, covered the value of the points used for that period (number of points multiplied by maintenance fee).

I'll chime in on how I would view this. I think it depends on the situation...Did we invite the other couple/family, or was the trip jointly planned?

If it were my wife and I traveling to, let's say Hilton Head or Newport Coast, or somewhere else with only 2BR units, and if we invited another couple to go along, I would not accept any money for use of the second bedroom. That room would go unused anyway, so why make them pay. I would view it similarly if we were on a traditional weeks-based trade and what we got was a 2BR or 3BR and we weren't going to use the other bedroom(s). I would view those situations just like if we owned our own condo or beach house and invited friends to visit for a week or a weekend. I certainly wouldn't expect them to pay for that. They are our guests. If we were using points, and were going somewhere we could book a 1BR instead of a 2BR, we would maybe have to spend an extra 2000 points to secure a 2BR vs. a 1BR. In that situation, if we extended the invitation to them to join us, I probably wouldn't ask for any reimbursement either. But in the points situation, if the other couple understood how points worked and that we had spent more points than we needed ourselves just to accommodate them, I might accept if they offered payment. I wouldn't want them to feel awkward that we were paying extra to accommodate them.

On the other hand, in a situation where we jointly planned the trip with another couple/family, and we made the joint decision to use a Marriott timeshare, then I would think a split of the maintenance fee would be a fair ask. That would be just like splitting the cost of a cash hotel booking.

I don't have an issue with sharing a condo/timeshare unit with friends. I recall 12 years ago when our kids were much smaller, we rented a 3BR condo at Litchfield By The Sea in Pawleys Island, SC for three nights or so over Labor Day weekend and another family joined us. We had four adults, two ten-year olds and a six year old. It worked out great. In this case, it was a jointly planned trip, so we split the cost of the condo rental. And what just struck me was, "Wow. That was 12 years ago. It doesn't seem that long." Our kids are now 22 and 18. Time flies.

 

[bazzap]

When we invite friends to stay with us, we never have any expectations of them contributing towards the MFs or making any other payment towards the stay.
I guess if they were also MVC Owners some quid pro quo would be a reasonable outcome for all.
For non Owners though, typically they kindly offer to rent a car, pay for a meal or two or something similar as a welcome gesture of appreciation.

 

[davidvel]

Ev

When we invite friends to stay with us, we never have any expectations of them contributing towards the MFs or making any other payment towards the stay.
I guess if they were also MVC Owners some quid pro quo would be a reasonable outcome for all.
For non Owners though, typically they kindly offer to rent a car, pay for a meal or two or something similar as a welcome gesture of appreciation.

Every time we have invited friends to join us in a shared (2BR) unit, they have offered to pay half the cost and also contributed toward groceries, etc., without us having to ask them.

 

[SueDonJ]

We don't split the MF's/exchange costs when sharing with family but usually they'll cover the food shopping (we prefer cooking onsite to restaurants.) We do ask that they charge onsite bar/grille and activities fees to the room and let us collect the MRP's for it, although they cover their share of whatever is charged. We invite only enough people to stay in our unit so that the pull-out couch in the living room doesn't have to be used. Giving them bedrooms works for us, overcrowding the unit doesn't. We did it once for two nights and will never do it again.

 

[NYFLTRAVELER]

I do not think I would have friends share the room with us.... If they wanted to travel with us (or vice-versa) I would consider using DC points to book a room for them and then expect to be reimbursed fair market value. I guess its just a privacy thing as I do not like staying in other people's homes either. As for family, that is a bit different.

 

[davidvel]

I do not think I would have friends share the room with us.... If they wanted to travel with us (or vice-versa) I would consider using DC points to book a room for them and then expect to be reimbursed fair market value. I guess its just a privacy thing as I do not like staying in other people's homes either. As for family, that is a bit different.

Sometimes friends are preferred over family.

 

[GoldenVIKE]

I view this similarly to having friends stay at your house. Whether it's our home or our timeshare, we wouldn't be inviting you if we didn't believe that your being there would be enjoyable for us too. And just like we'd never ask you to pay the pro-rated portion of our mortgage and property taxes while you're staying at our home, we wouldn't ask you to pay for the unit if we're sharing our time share. But I can see how there are a zillion twists that could make sense to do this differently depending on the circumstances.

 

[taffy19]

I view this similarly to having friends stay at your house. Whether it's our home or our timeshare, we wouldn't be inviting you if we didn't believe that your being there would be enjoyable for us too. And just like we'd never ask you to pay the pro-rated portion of our mortgage and property taxes while you're staying at our home, we wouldn't ask you to pay for the unit if we're sharing our time share. But I can see how there are a zillion twists that could make sense to do this differently depending on the circumstances.

Exactly! Who would invite friends or even family if you didn't enjoy their company?

Our Californian friends, who we shared time sharing with, also were avid skiers and they would rent condos or homes at Mammoth Mountain and it was understood right from the start that we would share the costs. I will never forget these great ski vacations.

One day you will agree with me when you lose these good old friends but you'll still have these memories. These are the memories that many timeshare owners cherish so much. Not everything in life is about dollars, spreadsheets or return on your money!

 

[geist1223]

We travel with family and friends all the time. We do not expect them to reimburse us for MF'S or TOT. They always share the grocery bills. At least once every trip our guests will insist on taking us out for a nice dinner. If we travel for more than 1 week we will arrange to have one week to ourselves. One of our traveling companions does own in a timeshare company. So for example February 2018 the 3 of us are going to Los Cabos together. We will spent one week at one of our timeshares, then a week at her timeshare, then she will go home, and we will spend a 3rd week at one of our timeshares. We also treat family and friends to free lodging for vacations ie, our pets Vet to Cabo, House/Pet Sitter to a Honeymoon on Maui, Nephew for 5th Wedding Anniversary to Maui (where they got married), etc.

 

[davidvel]

We also treat family and friends to free lodging for vacations ie, our pets Vet to Cabo, House/Pet Sitter to a Honeymoon on Maui, Nephew for 5th Wedding Anniversary to Maui (where they got married), etc.

Can we be friends?

 

[A.Win]

In my opinion, who pays more generally boils down to wealth. If you are a millionaire, and you invite poor friends to join you, it would be terrible to ask them to pay half.
On the other hand, if you invited a decamillionaire to join you, you expect them to contribute the same or more somehow. (Perhaps in the form of excursions, 5 star dining, or high end home-cooked meals). Let's be honest, if the richer person doesn't reciprocate somehow, it is human nature to be upset about it. And the relationship will generally fail. This is why lottery winners usually have relationship problems after winning.

 

[Jason245]

In my opinion, who pays more generally boils down to wealth. If you are a millionaire, and you invite poor friends to join you, it would be terrible to ask them to pay half.
On the other hand, if you invited a decamillionaire to join you, you expect them to contribute the same or more somehow. (Perhaps in the form of excursions, 5 star dining, or high end home-cooked meals). Let's be honest, if the richer person doesn't reciprocate somehow, it is human nature to be upset about it. And the relationship will generally fail. This is why lottery winners usually have relationship problems after winning.

They get into trouble and go bk because of people with expectations like this.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[A.Win]

[Posts above have been moved from the unrelated thread mentioned by OP.]

When sharing a timeshare with others, who pays? This topic has been brought up before. There are generally 3 types of answers, all valid:
1. I pay for everything.
2. I split the costs up-front.
3. I pay for the room and the guest insists on covering other costs such as transportation or meals.

The real answer is that it depends on the person invited and circumstances around the vacation planning process. I suggested that another key factor is wealth. In general, the richer person pays more. I noticed that when I was younger, those older and richer than me often pay. Now that I'm older and richer, nobody pays for me anymore. In most situations, wealth is about the same so each person pays their portion. This might also be a function of age and culture too.

I read an interesting story about Tiger Woods in ESPN Magazine. It reported that a bunch of Seals thought Tiger was a weirdo because he did NOT pay for a shared meal. They felt that they spent the day showing him things and letting him use their weapons and ammo. They ended up asking for separate checks. I mostly agree with their viewpoint.

But looking at it from Tiger's perspective, he probably didn't want to feel that they invite him only because he is rich. So he wanted to make a point that he should be treated as an equal rather than as a rich celebrity.

In this case, do you agree with the Seals or Tiger? Who should have paid? The article implied that they are no longer friends. Or maybe Tiger did something really nice for them later and they are buddies? By the way, the point of the article was actually that Tiger is lacking basic social skills, not that he is a cheapskate.

 

[DaveNV]

I think it has a lot to do with how the stay is planned, and the relationship I have with the people.

I've invited others to join me at a timeshare I've already booked, by saying, "Please join me and share my condo..." In that case, since the room is already booked, the cost is on me. Those I've invited have helped by paying for meals out, or even offering to pay for a rental car. It was less about the money, and more about sharing the experience.

I've invited others to create a shared vacation with me by saying, "How about we plan a trip together? We can share the cost and have more fun for less money." Expenses are split along some agreed lines, and we both leave happy. Those trips tend to work well, since everyone knows what to expect.

And then, I've had situations where people have gone with me somewhere, but they haven't lifted a finger (or opened a wallet) to help with anything. I paid for it all, they acted as if they were only there as my invited guest, they expected me to provide all the entertainment, and they never even offered a dime. Those are the people who didn't get invited a second time. I'm still friends with them, but I won't travel with them or invite them to come along on another trip.

Lately the best trips have been just my spouse and myself. No excuses, no complaints, and we know what it takes for us both to have a nice time.

Dave

 

[Timeshare Von]

You've received some great input on how others do it.

Like them, I too have taken friends and family on TS based vacations . . . and each case has been uniquely different . . . but never had I expected anyone else to pay, reimburse or split the MF or costs related to using the TS.

I have have friends travel to TS in Hawaii with me and they picked up the rental car for the week. Meals were sorta all over the place as we shared the cost for the groceries in the unit and then picked up meals out . . . one day picked up, the next one of my girlfriends did (there were 3 of us on that particular trip). Nothing really needed to be said, as we were all pretty reasonable and fair in our financial expectations.

I have also taken family on TS vacations that I know just the flight was a financial hardship for them, so I/we picked up all costs once there. Such was the case will all of the trips we've taken my retired MIL on. For her, we have also used my FF miles to get her a free ticket along with ours so that she wasn't out of pocket that money either.

I will say that if I had any issue with "cheap" friends who I felt might take advantage of me or our hospitality, they would never be invited to go on vacation with me/us. That is the case, whether for a timeshare trip or just a weekend away somewhere. Truth is, while I have been blessed with great travel mates, I am pretty particular and won't risk ruining a great trip with people I have no business being with for any extended length of time (as in 24/7 travel).

 

[presley]

And then, I've had situations where people have gone with me somewhere, but they haven't lifted a finger (or opened a wallet) to help with anything. I paid for it all, they acted as if they were only there as my invited guest, they expected me to provide all the entertainment, and they never even offered a dime. Those are the people who didn't get invited a second time. I'm still friends with them, but I won't travel with them or invite them to come along on another trip.

This has been my primary experience. I don't mind when I take my adult children, but extended family, friends and aquaintances don't get another invite. I have had some ask to be invited again and when I tell them what it costs and they are welcomed to pay for it, they never bring it up again.

 

[vacationhopeful]

I have taken my 3 nephews under the age of 18 with me for Florida on solo trips. I have paid. Parents gave them some cash to buy gifts for themselves & family. One nephew, as a reward in school attendance, got a week with me at WDW (AKV).

And their mom and dad took me on an Alaskan 7 night cruise (their 25 wedding anniversity family trip) plus 3 nights sightseeing around Washington state .. I paid my airfare and trinkets. But my cabin mate was the nephew who is difficult and who I spent 98% of my trip time with him. He and I have spent many weeks together in prior years.

 

[Ty1on]

We are going with friends to Mexico on two RCI exchange units. I only asked the exchange fee of them. If they knew about the money that went into the RCI deposit, they would probably at least buy us a dinner or something, but I'm not going to explain it to them.

 

[Glynda]

Our best timeshare trips were with another couple who also owned timeshares. We lived in different states and rarely saw or talked to each other except on our trips. That made for plenty of conversation as we caught up.
By their traveling with us to timeshares we had booked through our points and a RCI trade, and we with them to one of their fixed timeshare weeks, usually Aruba, we all got an extra vacation a year we would not have had. When we did this, the cost of the timeshare week itself was not shared. All other expenses were. Traveling with friends who have like interests and who are willing and able to spend the same amount of money while traveling as you are is less stressful than possibly feeling resentful when the costs all fall on you. Our lives have taken different turns now and we don't travel together anymore but I have very fond memories of all the timeshare trips and cruises we took together.

 

[PGtime]

It looks like we have similar attitudes as others on this... The answer is it depends...

We have had friends join us and stay in the 2nd or 3rd BR, where it would have gone unused. We also own a condo on HHI and friends (other couples or golfing buddies) use the 2nd bedroom. In those cases, we do not ask for a contribution. Like others, we have had friends pick up a dinner tab or two as an appreciative gesture. But if they hadn't or don't, we would not have been offended; we invited them to join us and we value their friendship and time with them far more than the money in question.

We also have planned trips with friends and relatives and assisted them with getting an additional timeshare. In those case, I explain upfront what the costs will be and then there are no surprises or hurt feelings. If they can afford it and agree, then we're all set.

 

[jehb2]

We have never asked nor expected anything. Because we shop at Costco we always end up with a lot of food so it's not like we have to pay extra. That's the way I see it. However, family and friends always make great contributions such as doing all the cooking, paying for all or part of the rental car, covering food cost.

I told my sister I was in heaven if all she did was comb my kids hair and make their lunch. One time my husband asked if she could also make him a sandwich. I gave my husband a look. My sister said "the man takes me to Hawaii for 2 weeks, the least I can do is make him a sandwich .

 

[DaveNV]

^^^ There is great value in someone else making me a sandwich, especially if I wasn't expecting it.

Dave

 

[BellaWyn]

Count me in on the "it depends" group. Our rule of thumb is "when we invite, we host and hosting is at our expense." HOWEVER.....

i have a HUGE family (pushing past the 70+ now with neices & nephews & next generation) that would strip us dry of "free holidays" if given the option. Some I have a greater affinity for than others. We have traveled with neices and nephews, at our expense, many many times and have no issue with paying for everything. When parents want to jump in on the action, then it's a different story.

A.Win's well made point of the perspective of personal wealth may come in to play. For us, it becomes a delicate mix of when to be generous and when to hold the line and encourage people to "give a little" for what they get.

Currently have a brother queued up for a trip for his birthday so he gets that for the price of the guest fee. He is taking guests and we are not traveling with him. Happy birthday bro! Had a sister recently that needed a family trip for a specific date window last fall at a specific location. I hooked her up with a trusted mega-renter that got her exactly what she wanted and she had no problem paying out of pocket for that trip.

Another sister is wanting me to host her extended family of now adult children and granchildren (7families and 30+ people) for this summer with a really short notice (got asked to do that last month). If that happens, she will get it for the cost of the GC's and MF's knowing I can flip those same reservations for triple that in rentals.

Sometimes we invite and host for free, sometimes it's for the cost of the Guest fee, other situations I straight up have them pay us at discounted rental pricing (family rate). And there are some that just get told "NO" because history already tells me they are going to change their minds 10 times and then cancel everything at the last minute.

Sadly, none of them understand or get the effort, planning and constant monitoring of availability it takes to get people where they want to go. There is zero appreciation for the process because none of them are owners.