My parents bought one years ago and we all really enjoy using it though it can be very frustrating when there's some place you reallt want to go but it's always booked.

My wife's parents just had to pay a company 5K to get rid of their Hilton Head timeshare. They paid like 11K for it almost 15 years ago, and I'll even stipulate that it's a beautiful place, upscale, close to the beach, etc., and even sweeter for my wife and I to meet them down there every October with our two kids in tow at no cost to us. But then company harrassed them every year to try to convince them to trade their unit in for points, but they refused because no one would guarantee availability at the resort in future years. Then two bedrooms started getting a little crowded once we had kids. And then one year we got confused about which week we had and bought nonrefundable plane tickets before we figured it out. The resort had no flexibility for us to switch weeks, so we had to shop elsewhere. This revealed two things -- one, we were not going to get much help from the resort if we ever had to change weeks, which was definitely going to happen once the kids got too old to miss school. And two, we quickly found a bigger house for rent by year-round owners at a better resort next door for the week we needed for only $800. What really opened my wife's eyes was that this was less than the annual maintenance fee on the timeshare.

I think timeshares might have made sense at one time for the reassurance of knowing you could stay at a nice place without all the effort of planning, and might even make sense today if you've got the time to research all the ins and outs of trading points (although that sounds like a Faustian bargain at best to me). But there's no denying that now, with online rentals including ones available directly from individual owners that include photos, reviews, and more, it's too easy to do discounted trips ala carte, with no need to sacrifice thousands of dollars upfront and accept an annual fee obligation on the gamble that you'll actually want to or be able to use a place or trade points for the next 20 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where can I buy points for pennies on the dollar? Thanks!
BTW, the helpful time share website is www.tug2.net

Wow, people on that site are literally giving timeshares away.

Like this townhouse in the mountains of VA about 120 miles from DC: http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214143

Maintenance fees are $695/year per that post. Doesn't that make it $100 per night for that one week they have in summer? You can stay at a hotel for $65/night in that section of VA (plus not that much to do in Bayse). I'd hate to have that commitment for the maintenance fees.

Anonymous wrote:Where can I buy points for pennies on the dollar? Thanks!
BTW, the helpful time share website is www.tug2.net

Wow, people on that site are literally giving timeshares away.

Like this townhouse in the mountains of VA about 120 miles from DC: http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214143

Where can I buy points for pennies on the dollar? Thanks!
BTW, the helpful time share website is www.tug2.net

Anonymous wrote: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

I also don't get it. My friends are paying $400/month for the FINANCED time share and maintenance fees. They're using two years worth of disney points to get a fancier suite or whatever for a week. So I'm like, ok, you are paying nearly $10,000 on a week at Disney World??!@# Insanity.

Anonymous wrote:I just priced out a week at OKW in a two-bedroom in September. It goes for about 3 grand. And that's low season. In peak, it's closer to $5,000. I only paid 10 grand for the whole 50-year timeshare in 1996.

This is us too. We bought in 2002, and even with maintenance fees we're way ahead of the game.

But if you rent points, like through David's DVC rentals, (vs paying the Disney rack rate) you can stay at Old Key West for much less.

On our honeymoon in Cabo we got roped into a timeshare presentation and were really close to buying one. We are sooooo glad we didn't. After the presentation we googled the resort and there are countless websites on the timeshare plan being a complete scam. (Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach). If you do buy one, make sure you research it thoroughly and buy only from a reputable US company!

Anonymous wrote:Who wants all the headaches of the cost, maintenance fee's, figuring out dates, figuring out points, trading this and that to go to another property, etc etc etc. I would much prefer to pick a destination, pick a date, make one phone call, and stay at the hotel or rental property....

+1000000

Who wants all the headaches of the cost, maintenance fee's, figuring out dates, figuring out points, trading this and that to go to another property, etc etc etc. I would much prefer to pick a destination, pick a date, make one phone call, and stay at the hotel or rental property....

Anonymous wrote:I just priced out a week at OKW in a two-bedroom in September. It goes for about 3 grand. And that's low season. In peak, it's closer to $5,000. I only paid 10 grand for the whole 50-year timeshare in 1996.

This is us too. We bought in 2002, and even with maintenance fees we're way ahead of the game.

This works only if there's a cap on maintenance fees, which there isn't and guarantee upgrades to the property, which they don't. If you factor in maintenance fee for a property purchased in 1996, you still paid roughly 28k year to date.

Ok so at today's rate it would cost about $500 per day just for a family to get into each park. That's $3,500 for a week of parks plus the cost of the time share and flights to get there. Just what I would want to do year after year after year....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the Disney ones in particular that I don't get. How many times can you go to Disney? I've been 3 times and have no desire to go again. Plus the cost of the parks are rediculous. No other real reason to go to Orlando. Last time we went, we split the cost of a beautiful 5 bedroom house with pool for about $800 each for a week.

I have been to Disney about 75 times. Looking to hit 100!

Its never too late to have a happy childhood!

Anonymous wrote:For the resale posters, how much do these typically go for?

It depends on the brand and the number of points desired. Disney, Hilton and Marriott cost more than Bluegreen, Wyndham and others. However, Wyndham has a larger portfolio to trade into other properties without depositing into RCI or Interval. If you are interested, I would suggest taking some time to investigate. Start with Tug.com. Just remember, never buy retail.

For the resale posters, how much do these typically go for?