Timeshare...To Do Or Not To Do...

My husband and I have 2 timeshares. They are a bit different than you describe as we own one week at each. We have one in Orlando right by the gates of Disney and one on the beach at Daytona Beach. We bought them after many vacations of discount hotels! Once we went on a tour of one, we decided that we deserved to vacation in luxury rather than in scum! When we bought the first one, we paid it off with our taxes, so that only fee we have yearly is the maintance fee. It is around $650 and we figure we could never go to a 5 star resort with all the amenities of this timeshare for $650 a week. Then we decided that we wanted one on the Ocean too. We bought the second on when we had the money saved up also. Again, this left us with only the maintance fee. Now we use one for our family for vacation every year and uually rent out the other one~ making a small profit on it. There are times we think we should try to sell one of them, but then I am always able to rentit out or we use it. There is nothing more important to me than being able to take my children, and some day grandchildren, on a nice vacation.

I'm sure it is far cheaper to just buy a lovely condo and rent it out when you don't need the use of it, but I for one do not want anyone else's germs in my apartment. So for my vacation use, I just waited until there was a recession and bought in at the bottom of the market and then kept my vacation condo for my own use, leaving it empty the rest of the year. Of course, it has to be a gated community for that to work. No matter, I like gated communities. I wouldn't touch a time share under any condition, not even on the Freedom Ship if it ever sets sail.

We're going on a tour of one this summer - one of those 90-minute, no pressure tours to get a free weekend stay. We're not going to sign up, and I'm good at saying "NO" so we wont be hassled too much. It's close enough for us to drive to so we wont be spending too much money to get there, but it'll be nice to get away for a bit. Our friends have a time-share and they can swap out their week for any other location in the world. That is nice because then you aren't stuck having to go to the same place every year. I like variety and going new places is cool for me!

To be honest- I'd love to be able to afford one of these--- I mean yes you do pay an annual fee and sometimes it is steep-- but it is the monthly maintainence fees that get you! My friend just bought into one- it's only every 2 years--- she gets 1 week- every 2 years- but only pays the annual fee every 2 years. She can also rent the house to someone else- (through the timeshare people- and not go one year) this makes up the annual fee and almost all the other fees for the year. I guess it's where you go- depends on how much you pay- What I love is that you don't have to go to the same state each time -- you can switch

Well, in my opinion timeshares are a waste of money and I still prefer to stay in hotels everytime I travel. I went to a timeshare conference one time and I left as soon as I found out about why I was invited to attend the conference.

I have ever considered a timeshare package many years ago, but I've decided that it is not suitable for me. Timeshare may have its attractions, but it is certainly not for everyone. It really depends on one's pattern of traveling and holidaying. For me I like to plan my own holiday, and drive around and see places. I seldom like to park myself in one place for more than two or three days. I like to drive around the country I visit and see different cities and towns, and whatever attractions there are along the route, and so I will stay in different places along my holiday route. At times, I also like to stay in cities where I can be near to shopping and restaurants. For this kind of traveling, timeshare is not very appropriate unless the lodging is near say Gold Coast in Australia. I mention Gold Coast because you can stay there for a whole week and venture on your own around the whole area sightseeing, lazing on the beach, take part in watersports, visit a wildlife park, drive around the national park, visiting the weekend markets and doing shopping, and still come back to your lodging at the end of the day. Timeshare requires you to come out with an upfront investment to purchase the package for a specified number of years, but if you use it well, it can help save you money traveling. Normally, timeshare requires you to take say a week at a location, and most of these are out of the main cities in some resorts. If you want to visit certain countries, there may only be one timeshare location to choose from. If that location is popular, you will have to reserve it early and once you secure it, making changes is not easy. Sometimes, if you can only travel during the high season, flights may not be available, so which do you book first? The flights or reserve the timeshare, and what happens if you can get one but not the other? So for busy people who cannot make early enough decisions, getting a timeshare location of your choice can be tricky. Usually if you cannot consume your quota for the year, you are allowed to snowball for another year or sell it away, but if time is up and you still have not used the quota, you will have to forgo it. Overall I'd say timeshare is good if you have all the time in the world to plan early and secure your vacation locations and flights, and you are the kind of traveler who enjoy spending at least several days to a week in one location, and not the kind of traveler who likes to move around and travel all over the country. Once you buy a timeshare, you will have to stick to this mode of traveling, so as to use up your entitlement for the duration of the timeshare you have paid for.

no, i never actually do that before... i don't have extra money to spend on that at the moment anyway... me and my hubby are concentrating to pay off our debts first... we also hardly have any vacations... it sounds like fun... in the future when we have extra money, we might do it...

It don't think I would because of the expense and the contract that pretty much locks you in. What happens when you lose your job, or you can't go on vacation yet you still have to pay monthly fees. Also you never really own it because it is not yours exclusively. I know some people say when they go for vacation the former occupants do not always leave the place clean and they have to clean up just to live in it and then do a cleaning before they leave to make it nice for the next family. Also I would not want to be locked into one place, I would want to try different vacation spots, there are so many places I would like to see.

We got into one years ago in Tenn it was a camping place where ya camped out . all woodsy and every thing wel after talking about it for awhile we took it neverdid use it and never made a payment on it we just wrote cancel on the contract and sent it back. a very much waste of money when ya know you might not ever use it even if I had money to burn I wouldnt get itn to one of these timeshares.

No, I would not get into a time-share. They are nothing more than a Rental Contract that you are locked into just about until you die. Just about the only way out is if you can get the other party to allow you to sell your contract to someone else... which isn't likely. I have known a few people who have gotten into these things and they are really a waste of money. A long time ago someone said "Theres a sucker born every minute"... I don't remember if it was W.C. Fields or P.T. Barnum... whoever it was they were right. Anyone who gets tangled up in these timeshare schemes are just another example of the statement.

Hey my pal twoey68, how are you doing? Well my brother and his wife has a time share. We went to Disney World with them via the time share and also to Hershey, PA. I actually felt very good staying in the places, almost as if I were royalty, really! They are so nice and they have everything just like a house. The bad thing? You are SO right, they get you to pay thousands of USD to begin the contract, and then ever month you have to pay a little (like few hundred dollars). Twoey68, you said that it's hard to transfer them. I really don't know the specifics on them, but I know you can sell your timeshare on eBay and many people actually sell their whole timeshare or vacations that they can't go on. It would be an option, but I agree with what you say. You have to spend a lot of money up front, and it can be costly trying to get out of the contract. So, I think it's worth it for people like my brother and his wife who travel at least 3 to 5 times a year. They have so much fun, and they like their time share a lot. Pablo

A timeshare would be great for maybe a retired couple who sells their property and buys an motorhome to live out their days traveling stopping every now and then to enjoy a house for a week or two. Not us, thou. We don't travel...period! Would be shelling out money with nothing to show for it.

i've never had one,but i suppose i might if it was a place i travel to frequently-probably would still be cheaper than a hotel. we have some of those here,i think fees are 5K a year,roughly and you get a couple of weeks during the year.

I don't think I would want that kind of arrangement. I like a place all to myself or with my family and not having to worry about another person occupying my place after get out of it.

I have only been on the tour of looking at a couple of them and that is as far as it went, just look. They make it seem so nice and luxurious and they are fast talkers. If I had the money to put towards that I wouldn't, I would rather use that money and go travel to different places. I would not recommend timeshare to anyone and I feel it is a waste of time and money.