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Author
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Topic: Advice on what to buy; not 2nd mortgage!
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twilb
TUG MemberPosts: 15
From: Little Rock, AR
Registered: May 2004
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posted 05-29-2005 07:30
    
I've been reading this board for quite a while now, and have learned a ton! thanks so much. Here's the problem. The best advice, of course, comes from those of you who've been doing this a while and have LOTS of timeshares (or pts). And, of course, you get to use lots of off season, and lots of weeks. (just finished reading one w/13 weeks last year or so!). I'm a working stiff w/a family (school age kids). I can't spend weeks traveling...I'm lucky to get 2 wks a year, and most of that is broken up into bits.I believe that buying the right timeshare will offer us cheaper/better accomodations for our vacations than renting. (We love to travel). And, I don't plan to stay in same resort every year - plan to trade. I want to get enough of something to allow 1 wk 2bd at beach/ski or whatever once a year, and maybe a 1bd for a few days another time that year. I don't have a problem planning, and I don't have a problem being spontaneous. However, (here's the rub), I don't want to spend more than 3K up front and I want annual costs to be below $500-600. I've found some RCI points opportunities that seem to do this 60k pts or so - but the closing costs are insane. Lots of people on this board LOVE Worldmark, but I think upfront is too expensive and the resorts don't fit w/our travel areas (we're central us - beach is Redneck Rivera; skiing is CA, CO or Canada). Am I nuts....should I just move on. My head is spinning! IP: Logged |
BocaBum99
TUG MemberPosts: 1599
From:
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted 05-29-2005 09:10
Why don't you check out Fairfield or Bluegreen?IP: Logged |
Judy
TUG MemberPosts: 1960
From: Melbourne Beach, FL & Steamboat Springs CO. owner: Celebrity Resort World of Orlando; The Ridge Tahoe; Hatteras High; Worldmark. member:II,RCI,DAE,SFX
Registered: Dec 2000
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posted 05-29-2005 10:23
What you want are possibly the most difficult timeshare vacations to get through an exchange: beach and skiing during school holiday times. Been there. Done that.
Buy what you want to use: A two-bedroom at your favorite beach with a fixed summer week or a floating prime summer week (careful...with some floating resorts it's hard to reserve what you want to use; others spacebank only their off-season weeks and you don't get to choose a good trader) In my experience, beach trades for mountains a little better than mountain trades for beach. (But a ski week 52 can be a really tough trade). If you own a highly demanded week in a highly demanded location, it's easier to exchange for the same.
As for the short vacation, Worldmark has resorts in 9 ski areas, including Steamboat Springs, CO and Heavenly. But there are restrictions on booking less than a week.
I'm not familiar with any of the other points systems. Other TUGgers will let you know about those. IP: Logged |
Judy900
Non MemberPosts: 22
From: Marriott Ocean Pointe
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 05-29-2005 11:30
I too have a family and a demanding job that only allows me to vacation only about 3 wks a year with the kids with no exceptions.However, we purchased a Marriott Platinum location that we like and always reserve for either Spring break and/or Xmas. We've owned for about 3 years. So far, we have not been disappointed as we've been able to exchange for highly desirable locations during prime season such as: Spring break in Marco Island and one of the Royals in Mexico and Xmas at Marriott Kauai. I find that I spend more time reading about travels and message boards (but that is by choice and that is how I learn the do's and don'ts rather than stumble on them)  Hope you find a good location at the right price. Happy Travels. IP: Logged |
Hatrack79
TUG MemberPosts: 1942
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted 06-03-2005 10:29
Twilb,As a Worldmark owner, I can see that you arent' very close to many of the resorts....and probably are better off looking at Fairfield. What you may not know, however, is that Fairfield and Trendwest (Worldmark's developer) are "sister" companies. They are constantly looking for "synergies" between WM and FF. FF points owners have access to two condos each in 9 of our Worldmark resorts, including Whistler and Steamboat...so you could conceivably access some WM inventory via the cheaper (& nearer to you) Fairfield. See my related post on WM/FF here:
http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum20/HTML/002557.html IP: Logged |
geekette
Non MemberPosts: 290
From:
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 06-03-2005 10:49
I second the Bluegreen idea, being a BG owner ; )It's points, going for roughly 50 cents per. Annual costs should be below your threshold, but to get where you want/when you want, your upfront budget may be too low. BUT, you can offset points deficit with Bonus Time, which is pretty decent, I think starts at $35/night. Some of their resorts do require full week stays (the resorts not managed by BG, but in which BG does have some inventory). Only caveat - an owner must be in residence for Bonus Time, and if you supplement a points reservation with Bonus Time, you may have to change rooms. By paying close attention to the reservation window, you can get what you want, they have plenty of beach units and they keep adding resorts, and inventory in resorts they don't own. You can ski in Big Sky or Wisconsin Dells. A recommended BG reseller runs an eBay ad constantly - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15897&item=4383129041&rd=1 and there is a Bluegreen group on Yahoo you can join to learn more. Whatever you do, be patient, do your research, and get a good fit for your family now, and where your family will want to be in 5 years. IP: Logged | |
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