Why is it that every person i know who owns a timeshare thinks it was a great decision?

[Anonymous]

We have one, and I hate it and tell everyone I know how much I hate it. Including on DCUM several times.

[Anonymous]

We use our marriott "fractional ownership" plan all the time.

[Anonymous]

it's part of the brainwashing when you go for the "free" weekend sales pitch...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

+1 LOL

Timeshares are for suckers. Or people who are not financially savvy.

[Anonymous]

they are trying to sucker you into buying their share?

[Anonymous]

We own a timeshare through the marriott vacation club. We have been extremely pleased with it so far. We have taken amazing trips and stayed in fully stocked two bedroom villas in amazing resorts.the MVC resorts have awesome amenities. It has worked well for us!

[Anonymous]

So why isn't it a good idea?

[Anonymous]

Love ours, but we have a point system that has locations all around the US and a few outside. We also trade into RCI frequently for overseas trips. We have taken so many more vacations than we would ever have taken otherwise. Forces my husband to take time off from work and we're building great memories with DC. Just this year we've been to Florida, Arizona, Hershey, PA and Williamsburg, VA all on the timeshare. We have two more trips planned and are still deciding on Christmas time. I dread staying in hotels now. We always get 2 bedroom condos with full kitchens, and a lot of the locations are full resorts with several pools, etc.

The key is never finance a timeshare (if you don't have the money to buy it outright, you don't have the money to buy a timeshare). Try and buy it on the secondary market - much cheaper. I would never buy a fixed timeshare as we like to go to new places and revisit only a few, so personally, I would buy into a point system. Finally, you must be able to plan ahead to get the places you want and the high demand times - i.e. school vacation time. If you can't plan ahead, you will never get want you want. Those that our happiest with timeshares research it before buying and know how to use the system. Finally, most timeshares will not return any money if sold (a few exceptions), so you need to calculate that into the price you pay. Most of the time these days you can buy points for pennies on the dollar, so just calculate that into your costs for how long you plan to keep it and don't expect to sell it for anything. If you do, its just bonus money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it's part of the brainwashing when you go for the "free" weekend sales pitch...

No brainwashing needed. I did my research. I knew whatni wanted. I knew I wanted one which traded well. I knew I wanted my base home to be in driving distance to use for short getaways. And I purchased at a fraction of the developer's cost. I purchased on eBay. And my family uses it all the time The only difficulty I have found is trying to transfer into the international timeshares, domestic is easy. I will eventually get around to looking into DAE transfers to remedy that problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love ours, but we have a point system that has locations all around the US and a few outside. We also trade into RCI frequently for overseas trips. We have taken so many more vacations than we would ever have taken otherwise. Forces my husband to take time off from work and we're building great memories with DC. Just this year we've been to Florida, Arizona, Hershey, PA and Williamsburg, VA all on the timeshare. We have two more trips planned and are still deciding on Christmas time. I dread staying in hotels now. We always get 2 bedroom condos with full kitchens, and a lot of the locations are full resorts with several pools, etc.

The key is never finance a timeshare (if you don't have the money to buy it outright, you don't have the money to buy a timeshare). Try and buy it on the secondary market - much cheaper. I would never buy a fixed timeshare as we like to go to new places and revisit only a few, so personally, I would buy into a point system. Finally, you must be able to plan ahead to get the places you want and the high demand times - i.e. school vacation time. If you can't plan ahead, you will never get want you want. Those that our happiest with timeshares research it before buying and know how to use the system. Finally, most timeshares will not return any money if sold (a few exceptions), so you need to calculate that into the price you pay. Most of the time these days you can buy points for pennies on the dollar, so just calculate that into your costs for how long you plan to keep it and don't expect to sell it for anything. If you do, its just bonus money.

This

[Anonymous]

Check out resale websites. There are many people trying to sell timeshares for $1 just to get out from under the fees.

[Anonymous]

I guess I don't get how this saves money. My inlaws own one, and between the upfront cost of the purchase and the annual fees, I can't see how they're really vacationing for "free". Or even for significantly less than the cost of booking with one of these

[Anonymous]

... One of these places directly. Saving on rack rates, sure. Saving on well- publicized sale rates? I just don't see it. What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Because they don't want you to know the truth and you will buy it from them.

[Anonymous]

I have one in whistler and it's amazing.