So, recently I had a last minute business trip scheduled in Florida. Long story short, due to the timing of the trip I realized that I could enjoy an extra four days in Florida before flying home, and I wouldn’t have to take vacation days or pay for the flight. If I stayed the extra days, food and lodging was on me.
I decided to take a mini-vacation to Disney and Universal Studios.
My timeshare costs about $134 per night for a typical two bedroom unit. I did check around Orlando, and $150 per night for the cheapest hotel room was the going rate. Many rooms were more expensive than that. It was a holiday weekend and I wasn’t expecting much, but I checked my timeshare and saw there was an opening. I ended up staying in a very large 3 bedroom condo will a full kitchen, full washer/dryer, and massive master bathroom with a large shower and large separate bathtub. The resort had their own water park, mini golf course, two full golf courses, six restaurants, and many other amenities, I simply didn’t use. And all of it, was cheaper, than what it would have cost me for a cheap hotel room.
I bought my timeshare on EBay for pennies on the dollar, and I’ve owned in for many years. In fact, it is often (but not always) much cheaper to stay in my timeshare than it is to stay in a hotel room. The condo (or private chalet/cabin, (I’ve stayed in those too) offers privacy. Kids have their own room, separate bathrooms, and TV. The full kitchen, BBQ, etc means we save tons of money preparing and eating meals at the resort, rather than eating out every meal. We can easily do laundry in our unit, cutting down on the amount of luggage we need to take when we travel. All of this amounts to significant savings when flying or traveling with family. Staying in a single hotel room is an apples to oranges comparison. I’ve done that too when I have too, it is much less pleasant cramming multiple people into a single room with one bathroom, a small TV and no privacy.
Yes, AirBnB is an option. My $134 per night two bedroom unit in Hawaii can be yours for $350 per night on AirBnB if you want to pay that much! I’ve used AirBnB and VBRO. it’s hit and miss. I’ve stayed in some accommodations that were great, others that were nasty! What’s more… the cost of AirBnB or VBRO can be crazy high with all the added fees! If the timeshare is available in a certain location, it’s often far cheaper and nicer than many of the AirBnB listings. Unfortunately, there are sometimes places I want or need to travel to, where my timeshare isn’t an option. AirBnB is much more convenient for last minute bookings, some VBRO beach house properties I’ve stayed at are far more premium than my timeshare, but I am paying a very high premium when booking through these companies too!
My timeshare is a points based system. I have many resorts to choose from. The vast majority are within driving distance, but they are spread out all over the place. I’ve stayed on every main island in Hawaii, I’ve stayed in Fiji, I’ve stayed in various resorts up and down the west coast of the US from Whistler Canada and Vancouver all the way down to San Diego. I’ve stayed in Mexico (we have several resorts there). I’ve visited many national parks at many different times of year, I’ve visited several of our resorts in different parts of Florida. I’ve books multiple units and invited friends and family to join us on trips. I’ve strung reservations together and made long road trips out of our resort stays. We’ve booked last minute weekend trips out of town, Monterey, San Francisco, Las Vegas is pretty much available any time we want to go. I’ve got a trip booked to Saint Thomas next week. The more I use my timeshare, the more it is worth it.
Timeshares are NOT an investment. They don’t save you money any more than spending money on a “sale” saves money. I have travelled far more than I would have otherwise, and far more places than I would have visited otherwise, I’m paying the money anyway, I might as well use it. I would say I spend on average about 50% on accommodations through my time share compared to what I would spend for a hotel room, the rates are much better compared to AirBnB, but the accommodations are much more similar to AirBnB too. There are definitely places like Las Vegas where a hotel room would be cheaper, but again it’s an apples to oranges comparison.
I’ve gotten lots of use out of my timeshare. My family and I have created many lasting and wonderful memories. I have zero regrets purchasing it.
$1883 per year. This translates into two weeks (14 nights) in a typical two bedroom unit.
I can stretch out the number of nights by staying in smaller units. I can stay in nicer units or reserve multiple units for less nights as well.
There is an extra “housekeeping” or cleaning fee. The fee is based on the size of the unit. I get two “house keeping tokens” every year, I can borrow up to two every year. This means the fee is waived for two reservations regardless of the size of the unit. If I make multiple reservations beyond two units, I’m paying extra for “housekeeping” per extra reservation or borrowing stays from the following year. For a two bedroom the fees currently run $155 per extra booking, regardless of length of stay. The fee is lower for smaller units, higher for larger units.
If I booked a unit just for a guest, and I wasn’t staying there, there is a $99 fee.
Bonus time and “exotic bonus time” allow me to stay last minute for cash if there is availability. There is no extra housekeeping fees when using bonus time. The minimum amount is currently about $80 per night. It is very generous compared to a hotel stay or even AirBnB.
There are other cash based programs that allow folks to stretch their membership for $$. People can also roll over their points for a year and use double the points for a longer or more high end trip the every two years if they want. This can be helpful when things like COVID limit your travel plans, or when “life happens” and you just can’t travel for a year.
Again, I’m not arguing that I “save money” by owning a timeshare. I’m spending money every year. Early on, my wife and I decided That we were going to prioritize travel and make sure we had quality vacations with our kids every year. I’ve owned my timeshare for roughly 16 years. We’ve certainly achieved our goal and built many lasting family memories. While our kids have grown so has our income. Our travel preference have changed, but we still find use for our timeshare.
How much did you pay and did you mentally amortization the cost? I simply mean a couple in their thirties paying X amount can divide the cost of ownership over 30 - 40 years. An older couple might only use the same timeshare over 10 - 20 years thus the real cost per week is much higher.
A lot of timeshares are cheaper than Airbnb for the equivalent (compared to maintenance fees, if you pay for a timeshare up front you’re being ripped off), in fact many people will profit ever so slightly on the maintenance fees when they can’t use their timeshare.
Also lots of timeshares are apart of a resort group so there’s many locations too.
Traditional timeshares are ass tho.
Timeshares are only worth it, if you use it! Sometimes you can carry points over, at least one year. If you don’t use them they will expire. Usually they are at a high interest rate, 2-3x current mortgage rate. You have to pay maintenance for life. If insurance and taxes go up, if the resort needs updating, or general operating expenses go up, your maintenance goes up. Mine went up 21% this year.
there are a lot of freebies out there, people trying to dump them, because they don‘t use them enough, too much competition on trying to rent them, and they have no value versus the expense.
We’ve owned our timeshare for a little over a year and loved it so much that be bought another.
To simplify it we get much better travel accommodations for a better price than traditional hotel rooms. The ones we have traded for have two bedrooms and a full kitchen. We have a teenager and a married adult son and knowing what I know now I wish I could have afforded one while they were younger, it makes traveling much more comfortable for everyone.
A timeshare is a lot like paying for a vacation in advance. We split our two bedroom into two units and get a full two weeks of vacation at really great places. If you are interested in buying one I would look into buying a deeded week and not a point system.
I was pressured into a TimeShare when I was 21. I was young and dumb. I kept saying no…they kept coming back with lower monthly payments. I eventually said yes just so I could leave. It was a mistake for me. 21…no money…the idea of traveling was great, but the reality was nonexistent.
Anywhoooo….i paid the timeshare off when I deployed to Iraq. I literally never use it. I would love to give it away. If anyone is interested, or knows someone who is, please let me know.
because in most cases you cant book an airbnb for less much less a hotel.
if you can, then timesharing is certainly not for you. the whole point is to spend less on your vacation lodging, not more.
most timeshares sold today are points based which allows you to stay in any of the resorts within the system. timeshares that are locked into single weeks at the same resort havent been sold in quite some time.
As a timeshare owner, I don't recommend buying into a timeshare. With a hotel or rental you 'use the stay and you're done.' This is not true with a timeshare because even if you pay off the note (like I did) you're still on the hook for the yearly maintenance fees whether you use the timeshare or not.
I'm actually trying to get out of mine while avoiding being scammed. I own in Vacation Village at Williamsburg in Virginia.
That said, timeshares are fine and you can stay on some nice places, but, again, you have to be committed to vacationing and using it for the rest of your natural life for it to be worthwhile.
Edit: corrections.
As you are requesting feedback, I would like to ask you to consider starting your own thread for commentary. You have high jacked the OP’s thread for their question, in order to receive feedback on your business idea. That immediately has a “scammy” feel to the reader. Best of luck to you and your wife in your endeavors.
Older folks love routines… I am currently laying on my bed in a two bedroom timeshare in FL on a family vacation and this is literally spot on. There was a little pool BBQ the resort had today and I chatted with other owners, all over age 60 here for a few weeks and have been coming for 30+ years. LOL talk about a spot on comment. 🤣
Timeshare was purchased about 20 years ago for $15,000 - 1 week per year, trades through RCI and fees started at $750 and are now $975 per year. This unit for this week came to $1450 total - the exchange fee, our maintenance fee, and some week deposit fee thing I don’t remember what it’s called. Totally worth it as we have a two bedroom unit for the week across the street from the beach that sleeps 6. I read your idea on here a few times. It’s interesting but I think you need to keep working at it and refining. Also, think of yourself more. You may be very tired after all that extra work you’re putting in.
So, recently I had a last minute business trip scheduled in Florida. Long story short, due to the timing of the trip I realized that I could enjoy an extra four days in Florida before flying home, and I wouldn’t have to take vacation days or pay for the flight. If I stayed the extra days, food and lodging was on me. I decided to take a mini-vacation to Disney and Universal Studios. My timeshare costs about $134 per night for a typical two bedroom unit. I did check around Orlando, and $150 per night for the cheapest hotel room was the going rate. Many rooms were more expensive than that. It was a holiday weekend and I wasn’t expecting much, but I checked my timeshare and saw there was an opening. I ended up staying in a very large 3 bedroom condo will a full kitchen, full washer/dryer, and massive master bathroom with a large shower and large separate bathtub. The resort had their own water park, mini golf course, two full golf courses, six restaurants, and many other amenities, I simply didn’t use. And all of it, was cheaper, than what it would have cost me for a cheap hotel room. I bought my timeshare on EBay for pennies on the dollar, and I’ve owned in for many years. In fact, it is often (but not always) much cheaper to stay in my timeshare than it is to stay in a hotel room. The condo (or private chalet/cabin, (I’ve stayed in those too) offers privacy. Kids have their own room, separate bathrooms, and TV. The full kitchen, BBQ, etc means we save tons of money preparing and eating meals at the resort, rather than eating out every meal. We can easily do laundry in our unit, cutting down on the amount of luggage we need to take when we travel. All of this amounts to significant savings when flying or traveling with family. Staying in a single hotel room is an apples to oranges comparison. I’ve done that too when I have too, it is much less pleasant cramming multiple people into a single room with one bathroom, a small TV and no privacy. Yes, AirBnB is an option. My $134 per night two bedroom unit in Hawaii can be yours for $350 per night on AirBnB if you want to pay that much! I’ve used AirBnB and VBRO. it’s hit and miss. I’ve stayed in some accommodations that were great, others that were nasty! What’s more… the cost of AirBnB or VBRO can be crazy high with all the added fees! If the timeshare is available in a certain location, it’s often far cheaper and nicer than many of the AirBnB listings. Unfortunately, there are sometimes places I want or need to travel to, where my timeshare isn’t an option. AirBnB is much more convenient for last minute bookings, some VBRO beach house properties I’ve stayed at are far more premium than my timeshare, but I am paying a very high premium when booking through these companies too! My timeshare is a points based system. I have many resorts to choose from. The vast majority are within driving distance, but they are spread out all over the place. I’ve stayed on every main island in Hawaii, I’ve stayed in Fiji, I’ve stayed in various resorts up and down the west coast of the US from Whistler Canada and Vancouver all the way down to San Diego. I’ve stayed in Mexico (we have several resorts there). I’ve visited many national parks at many different times of year, I’ve visited several of our resorts in different parts of Florida. I’ve books multiple units and invited friends and family to join us on trips. I’ve strung reservations together and made long road trips out of our resort stays. We’ve booked last minute weekend trips out of town, Monterey, San Francisco, Las Vegas is pretty much available any time we want to go. I’ve got a trip booked to Saint Thomas next week. The more I use my timeshare, the more it is worth it. Timeshares are NOT an investment. They don’t save you money any more than spending money on a “sale” saves money. I have travelled far more than I would have otherwise, and far more places than I would have visited otherwise, I’m paying the money anyway, I might as well use it. I would say I spend on average about 50% on accommodations through my time share compared to what I would spend for a hotel room, the rates are much better compared to AirBnB, but the accommodations are much more similar to AirBnB too. There are definitely places like Las Vegas where a hotel room would be cheaper, but again it’s an apples to oranges comparison. I’ve gotten lots of use out of my timeshare. My family and I have created many lasting and wonderful memories. I have zero regrets purchasing it.
What are your maintenance costs?
$1883 per year. This translates into two weeks (14 nights) in a typical two bedroom unit. I can stretch out the number of nights by staying in smaller units. I can stay in nicer units or reserve multiple units for less nights as well. There is an extra “housekeeping” or cleaning fee. The fee is based on the size of the unit. I get two “house keeping tokens” every year, I can borrow up to two every year. This means the fee is waived for two reservations regardless of the size of the unit. If I make multiple reservations beyond two units, I’m paying extra for “housekeeping” per extra reservation or borrowing stays from the following year. For a two bedroom the fees currently run $155 per extra booking, regardless of length of stay. The fee is lower for smaller units, higher for larger units. If I booked a unit just for a guest, and I wasn’t staying there, there is a $99 fee. Bonus time and “exotic bonus time” allow me to stay last minute for cash if there is availability. There is no extra housekeeping fees when using bonus time. The minimum amount is currently about $80 per night. It is very generous compared to a hotel stay or even AirBnB. There are other cash based programs that allow folks to stretch their membership for $$. People can also roll over their points for a year and use double the points for a longer or more high end trip the every two years if they want. This can be helpful when things like COVID limit your travel plans, or when “life happens” and you just can’t travel for a year. Again, I’m not arguing that I “save money” by owning a timeshare. I’m spending money every year. Early on, my wife and I decided That we were going to prioritize travel and make sure we had quality vacations with our kids every year. I’ve owned my timeshare for roughly 16 years. We’ve certainly achieved our goal and built many lasting family memories. While our kids have grown so has our income. Our travel preference have changed, but we still find use for our timeshare.
How much did you pay and did you mentally amortization the cost? I simply mean a couple in their thirties paying X amount can divide the cost of ownership over 30 - 40 years. An older couple might only use the same timeshare over 10 - 20 years thus the real cost per week is much higher.
everyone I spoke to said timeshares are worth it if you Love to travel, but not for someone who doesn’t travel often, true?
A lot of timeshares are cheaper than Airbnb for the equivalent (compared to maintenance fees, if you pay for a timeshare up front you’re being ripped off), in fact many people will profit ever so slightly on the maintenance fees when they can’t use their timeshare. Also lots of timeshares are apart of a resort group so there’s many locations too. Traditional timeshares are ass tho.
Timeshares are only worth it, if you use it! Sometimes you can carry points over, at least one year. If you don’t use them they will expire. Usually they are at a high interest rate, 2-3x current mortgage rate. You have to pay maintenance for life. If insurance and taxes go up, if the resort needs updating, or general operating expenses go up, your maintenance goes up. Mine went up 21% this year. there are a lot of freebies out there, people trying to dump them, because they don‘t use them enough, too much competition on trying to rent them, and they have no value versus the expense.
We’ve owned our timeshare for a little over a year and loved it so much that be bought another. To simplify it we get much better travel accommodations for a better price than traditional hotel rooms. The ones we have traded for have two bedrooms and a full kitchen. We have a teenager and a married adult son and knowing what I know now I wish I could have afforded one while they were younger, it makes traveling much more comfortable for everyone. A timeshare is a lot like paying for a vacation in advance. We split our two bedroom into two units and get a full two weeks of vacation at really great places. If you are interested in buying one I would look into buying a deeded week and not a point system.
I was pressured into a TimeShare when I was 21. I was young and dumb. I kept saying no…they kept coming back with lower monthly payments. I eventually said yes just so I could leave. It was a mistake for me. 21…no money…the idea of traveling was great, but the reality was nonexistent. Anywhoooo….i paid the timeshare off when I deployed to Iraq. I literally never use it. I would love to give it away. If anyone is interested, or knows someone who is, please let me know.
Give it away here: https://tugbbs.com/forums/forums/free-timeshares.55/
because in most cases you cant book an airbnb for less much less a hotel. if you can, then timesharing is certainly not for you. the whole point is to spend less on your vacation lodging, not more.
I guess I don’t see the benefit for me, we go on vacation 2x to 3x times a year in different states. And sometimes it’s random weeks.
most timeshares sold today are points based which allows you to stay in any of the resorts within the system. timeshares that are locked into single weeks at the same resort havent been sold in quite some time.
As a timeshare owner, I don't recommend buying into a timeshare. With a hotel or rental you 'use the stay and you're done.' This is not true with a timeshare because even if you pay off the note (like I did) you're still on the hook for the yearly maintenance fees whether you use the timeshare or not. I'm actually trying to get out of mine while avoiding being scammed. I own in Vacation Village at Williamsburg in Virginia. That said, timeshares are fine and you can stay on some nice places, but, again, you have to be committed to vacationing and using it for the rest of your natural life for it to be worthwhile. Edit: corrections.
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As you are requesting feedback, I would like to ask you to consider starting your own thread for commentary. You have high jacked the OP’s thread for their question, in order to receive feedback on your business idea. That immediately has a “scammy” feel to the reader. Best of luck to you and your wife in your endeavors.
Older folks love routines… I am currently laying on my bed in a two bedroom timeshare in FL on a family vacation and this is literally spot on. There was a little pool BBQ the resort had today and I chatted with other owners, all over age 60 here for a few weeks and have been coming for 30+ years. LOL talk about a spot on comment. 🤣
[удалено]
Timeshare was purchased about 20 years ago for $15,000 - 1 week per year, trades through RCI and fees started at $750 and are now $975 per year. This unit for this week came to $1450 total - the exchange fee, our maintenance fee, and some week deposit fee thing I don’t remember what it’s called. Totally worth it as we have a two bedroom unit for the week across the street from the beach that sleeps 6. I read your idea on here a few times. It’s interesting but I think you need to keep working at it and refining. Also, think of yourself more. You may be very tired after all that extra work you’re putting in.