Versatile Points

I have too many points!

Having recently become addicted to cruising, we have not had as many timeshare holidays as before. So the points have added up and we suddenly find ourselves with approx. 300000 points and most of next year's holidays booked.

We have found the answer in short breaks - mini cruises. I phoned RCI cruise department and was told that the number of points we have could get us a £900 spend on cruises.

Perfect - a 3 night cruise across the English Channel for 2. It may not be the most cost effective way of paying for a cruise but it certainly uses up the points.

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What good value!

We didn't mean to book another holiday. We were just brwsing around the RCI website when we decided to go to Florida again next year.

And all of a sudden we found a resort to die for in Sarasota on Longboat Key in September 2010.

The second week soon clicked into place with a lovely resort on Marco Island.

A quick phone call to RCI Points and we're booked.

For 95000 points, we have 2 weeks of frontline accommodation. We are very choosy. Our unit must fully face the beach and those resorts are quite hard to find.

95000 is exactly the value of my week at Clowance. So for the annual maintenance fee of £515, we have 2 weeks of superb accommodation in Florida. The advertised prices for these 2 resorts are in excess of US$1000 per week which is approx. £700 per week.

What great value!

timetravellers

Dealing with those Touts!

There can be few people who can say that they haven't been caught by the scratchcard touts.

I don't know how they manage to guess our nationality although we have been asked if we are Scandinavian.

There is always a winning scratchcard and it is always a great surprise to the tout that you have won!

We are then persuaded to go with them to claim the fantastic prize which can range from a 'free' holiday or a bottle of alcohol or sometimes even cash.

We have tried lots of different things to avoid going to these presentations:-

I have denied that we are an item 'I only met him he other day'! The reply 'Just pretend you're a couple so I can earn my commission'!

The best thing to do is ask which resort they represent and then either say that you're staying there already or that you attended a presentation there a couple of days ago. Another good get out is to say that you own 4 weeks of timeshare already and don't need any more. ind out the names of a couple of timeshare resorts so that you are prepared.

If you decide that you would like the prize like we did (a bottle of whisky), then by all means go along. But the only one hour presentation will be more like 3 to 4 hours and, whatever you do, deny that you have your card and cash with you. I know an awful lot about timeshare and usually end up telling the sales person all about the Points system and how it works. Be prepared.

The concept of timeshare is brilliant but do plenty of research back home before deciding to buy. You will find a much better deal buying from a reputable resale Company back home.

timetraveller

A funny thing happened to us!

Our usual routine for our 'Independent Travel' is to pick up a rental car at the airport. When we went to Egypt though, we were advised not to do so!
Leave the airport, we were told, go to the taxi rank and get an official taxi.
First lesson, Egyptians do not appear to like haggling with women! Lesson number two, taxi rank drivers at the airport won't budge on price - or not for us anyway.
A hefty £25 charge for a 15 minute drive, our fare was handed to the 'minder' who told us that, if the driver was good, we should give him a good tip, our suitcases precariously balanced on the car roof and we were on our way.
We soon found out why we should not drive in Egypt! Fast and furious! Cars three abreast across two lanes! No lights.
Suddenly, he muttered something, pulled over at the side of the road and got out of the car. We sat here for ages thinking we had been abandoned.
It must have been about five minutes later when the driver came back, threw a piece of paper on the seat and complained bitterly that he had been pulled over by the police for speeding! £30 fine! He was not a happy man!
Needless to say, our tip was no bigger.
Our return trip to the airport was with the Hilton minibus - £8.
Moral of the story, contact the resort and see if they will collect you for a small fee.

timetraveller

Selling a timeshare

We are always told at a timeshare presentation that there are at least 7 different ways of using a timehare week. You can:-
1. Use it
2. Lend it
3. Let it
4. Swap/exchange it
5. Let it stand empty
6. Bequeath it in your Will
7. Sell it
The first 6 are relatively easy, but number 7 is somewhat more difficult.

If you bought your week from the resort, then do not expect to get back anywhere near what you paid for it. Timeshare values do not go up!

First of all, have a look at the OTE website to see a list of accredited timeshare resale companies.

Then go to those resale company websites and search for the same resort you want to sell. Phone the companies up and discuss the saleability of your week. Get an idea of what they believe your week is worth.

Members of OTE cannot make you pay to sell your timeshare. They will try to get you to pay to advertise but I prefer to register my week only as I believe that, if someone is a serious buyer, then they will call the resale company and ask what weeks are available.

Do not be tempted to react to any resale company who wants you to travel abroad to meet a prospective buyer or to sell your week and pay to join a points club to reduce your maintenance fees. Don't get caught by Companies who say they have a buyer but ask you for money so they can proceed with the sale. The buyer will soon disappear!

I have sold 2 of my weeks in recent years. I must admit I had little success with the resale agents. I sold both weeks through Ebay and was satisfied with the amount I received. Be very careful with your Ebay pricing though. I managed to buy 2 very valuable RCI points weeks on Ebay (together worth 90000 points) for just £77! I have had good value from them over the last couple of years but have now decided to sell them.

I am advised that they are worth about £1250 each. Watch out Ebay! Here I come!!

timetraveller

Buying a Timeshare

I bought my first timeshare at one of those awful 'You have won a Holiday' prize presentations. It was intentional. I had already been to a timeshare presentation (where we came away with a new bicycle for my son) and I had been convinced it was an excellent concept, but I had no money.

A small inheritance later, I was told I had won a timeshare for 3 years and at the presentation, I bought a week at Club Bena Vista on the Costa del Sol at the beginning of July. I came away believing I had got a bargain as I had negotiated 33% off. I still believe it was good value.

I bought my second week (October half term) from a resort in Orlando - Vistana. The resort was superb and just minutes from Disney. Once again, I bought a resale - the price? About right.

I gradually began to realise that the weeks I had bought couldn't always exchange for what I wanted and I decided to find a week with very strong trading power.

I ended up sourcing an August school holiday week at a top resort in Cornwall - Clowance Estate and Country Club. I bought it through a resale agent and the price was fine.

In retrospect, I think I was lucky with what I bought - it was definitely more by luck than judgement that I ended up with relatively good weeks.

This is what I would now suggest to anyone thinking of buying a timeshare:-
1. Find out as much as you can about timeshare and how it works
2. Attend a timeshare presentation but DO NOT BUY. Leave your cheque book and plastic cards at home. Don't believe everything they tell you but you can learn a lot about how timeshare works
3. Work out where you would like to buy. You may have stayed at a resort where part of it has been timeshare. I know that Club Casablanca in Tenerife certainly also has a package holiday section.
4. Remember the better the resort, the better the trading power via RCI or Interval International.
5. Also remember, the more popular the time of year, the better the trading power.
6. Check that the annual maintenance fee is both acceptable and affordable. Could you rent a week in similar accommodation at the same location for a better price? Is the timeshare worth the annual maintenance fee?
7. Have a hunt around on the internet for resale companies and see what they've got for sale at your chosen resort. Listen to their advice.

Only when you're completely happy with what you've chosen then go ahead.

timetraveller

The Advantages of Timeshare

I couldn't imagine going on a package tour now. I must say, I rather enjoy hunting around for the most convenient flights. We don't have to put up with middle of the night flights as we can choose what time we want to fly.

The quality of timeshare units is generally better than the average self catering apartment. You will always get the odd not so good resort and I have been to one or two but the same can happen on a package.

It's easy to get used to doing what you want when you want. Travelling independently gives us that freedom of taking each day as it comes at our own leisure.

On every exchange we've been to, we've hired a car (apart from Egypt) and it usually works out cheaper than getting a taxi to and from the airport even if you leave it parked all week. Car hire is another thing that can be booked online. I always make sure that I get a rental agreement with no excess, even if it costs a few pounds more, then there will be no additional charges negotiated at the airport.

Don't get me wrong, you don't have to hire a car. We've met many people who travel around on the bus, the most memorable being the couple who went on the bus to Pretty Beach in Malta. On their recommendation, we drove there the next day in our hire car. We stood on this beach with an ugly view of the industrial port and asked a local where Pretty Beach was. You're standing on it, he said!!

Cost wise, I find that timeshare generally works out on a par or cheaper than a package. It really depends on the cost of the maintenance of your timeshare. If there are a number of you in your party, then I believe it is very cost effective. Where else could you get a week of really beautiful accommodation on a luxury estate in Orlando for a family of 6 for just £400? That is possible if you exchange your week with that maintenance cost for a resort in Orlando.

For me, the advantages of timeshare are the freedom of independent travelling, the quality accommodation and the cost effectiveness.

timetraveller

Ways of using your Timeshare

There are quite a few ways of making your timeshare work for you.

First of all, you can use it. In actual fact, you can use that week in the unit you own however you want to (following the rules of the resort, of course!).

Also you can lend it to someone else or, better still, rent it out. I occasionally see specific weeks for rent on ebay at little more than the cost of the maintenance. Just make sure you notify the resort with the names of those who will
be using it.

Moving on from that, you can swap it for another place each year. There are several timeshare exchange companies and your resort will be affiliated to either RCI or Interval International (II) or both. There is another exchange company called Dial an Exchange (DAE) which is cheaper than the other and gets very good reports. You put your week into a 'Spacebank' and choose another to take out and use instead.

And last of all, you can cede your week into a points system. There are several different ones and some are linked to specific resorts. My weeks are ceded into RCI Points which works very well for me. Each of my weeks is given a Points value which sits in my Points Account. I book other weeks by spending my Points. Sometimes, the resorts I book are worth more than the weeks I put in and other times, they are worth fewer Points. But I get good value. I have put in 3 weeks and I generally get to book 5 weeks against these and frequently have Points over.

Last year, I actually booked a mini cruise to the Bahamas using my Points. It was great.

timetraveller

The Resort Directory

The first thing most people do when they receive their RCI Resort Directory is to go through it and choose which resort they want to stay at - just like you would with a normal holiday brochure.
I would say this is completely the wrong way to go about things as you will be quickly disappointed and, hence, disillusioned as you can virtually guarantee what you choose will not be available.
Availability of weeks depends very much on people depositing their weeks i.e. they put them up for exchange. Weeks can be put into the Spacebank up to 2 years before the start date.
The best way to go about things is to check availability by either going online to the website or phoning up. You will need to know potential travel dates and unit size.
Once you know what is available, then use your Resort Directory to compare the available resorts. I always type the resort names into a search engine to see what other information I can find out. I can even locate some of the resorts on Google Maps and see the view from above.
Just remember, that you can't usually book into a unit that is bigger than the one you own. If you bought a studio, then that is the only size you will get. Having said that, stranger things do happen, and I once received a 3 bed apartment in exchange for my 2 bedroom one.

timetraveller

How to get the most out of your Timeshare

I bought my first timeshare week at a presentation in Thurrock about 15 years ago. This first step on the timeshare ladder has given me the thrill of 'Independent travel'.

Since then, I have visited over 40 different timeshare resorts throughout Europe, the Canary Islands, Florida and even one in Egypt.

During my travels, I often talk to people who also own timeshare but really have no idea about how the system works or what they actually own.

The aim of my blog, therefore, is to explain, in a clear and straightforward way, how you can make your timeshare work for you.

Everyone is different and wants different things from their holidays. Let's see if we can make your timeshare work for you.

timetraveller