Timeshare holiday - which company is the best?

budgetflyer

Hi end timeshares are not like package holiday hotel rooms so there is no point comparing. Many people dont understand it so slate it without any expeirience or knowledge of its many benefits

BUYING
A 3 bed apartment at CLC California Suites or Marriot Marbella/ Disney Resorts easily cost £400 a night rental high season, so £1000 per year per week owned, management fees is pretty decent value if you like high end accom and can only holiday in high season.
Of course, the buy in cost needs to be taken into account. From the developer, this rarely is good value but via as previously mentioned , resale , Timeshare Hypermarket you can often buy for as little as 10p in the £.
I have both bought and sold via them so can confirm they are legit.
Ebay too

EXCHANGING
Dial an Exchange is the cheapest way to exchange, however if you are putting a 5 star resort in, you are not guaranteed to get one back. They do offer double credits for 2 bed + high season properties though. Best value would be to drop a low value, low cost maintenance, low season in there. (Loch Rannoch Highland Club?)
High end stuff I would either use or put into II or RCI as you will get a better match back.
There are exchange fees too

RENTING
There are various companies who rent out unsold weeks. Lots on usa ebay.com
We have also had some nice stays via https://www.apartments4you.com. As a rule, there will be a service charge/resort fee on top of the rental price so be sure to get all the info before you commit.

PROMO WEEKS
The reason you get promo weeks is BECAUSE THEY WORK The company gets a small fee for a constant stream of starry eyed victims. Theres no point going a cheap/free week if you are going to sign up for a £20K package after a 3 hour presentation and light lunch for something you can get for a fraction of the price resale.
If you are willing to do the presentation then its a cheap weeks holiday.
CLC let you do this every 3 years :-)

photome

Don't do it!!!

That's the best advice IMO

Roop

budgetflyer wrote: »

Hi end timeshares are not like package holiday hotel rooms so there is no point comparing. Many people dont understand it so slate it without any expeirience or knowledge of its many benefits

BUYING
From the developer, this rarely is good value but via as previously mentioned , resale , Timeshare Hypermarket you can often buy for as little as 10p in the £.
I have both bought and sold via them so can confirm they are legit.
Ebay too

EXCHANGING
Dial an Exchange is the cheapest way to exchange, however if you are putting a 5 star resort in, you are not guaranteed to get one back. They do offer double credits for 2 bed + high season properties though. Best value would be to drop a low value, low cost maintenance, low season in there. (Loch Rannoch Highland Club?)
High end stuff I would either use or put into II or RCI as you will get a better match back.
There are exchange fees too

RENTING
There are various companies who rent out unsold weeks. Lots on usa ebay.com
We have also had some nice stays via https://www.apartments4you.com. As a rule, there will be a service charge/resort fee on top of the rental price so be sure to get all the info before you commit.
:-)

Hi budgetflyer,

Thank you for your detailed response and answering so many of my queries. I'm now more inclined to buy a resale rather than a new membership. Would you advise whether CLC, Marriot, Diamond, Disney or some other company will be good to buy resell for if I'll be targeting long haul family holidays in North & South America and Europe? Or if it doesn't matter which company to buy resale for?
Other than Worldwide Timeshare Hypermarket, will you recommend any other good legit and commendable website for resale?

Renting also seems like a good option to start with and to get more feel about times hating! Any suggestions for good websites with nice availability for renting 1-2 weeks in Orlando and Mexico?

Thanks again

Roop

blindman wrote: »

Am I being skeptical here but how would a newbie to Time share know to push this untruth?

I smell a rat

If you are genuine;) then follow the advice DO NOT DO THIS.

Hi blindman, I'm genuinely looking for a reliable advice here on resale and renting now as per my other response just now.

Roop

Raymondo111 wrote: »

If you really are interested in buying a Timeshare then buy at the cheapest possible price but be aware that annual maintenance fees can and do rise over the years, some sellers expect to recoup some of their initial outlay which could be thousands of pounds but in reality people are giving them away and all they want is to just get shot of them. Be aware that in the last couple of years there have been major Court cases in Spain and its Islands where developers have illegally sold Timeshare in perpetuity which means once you own they think that you will be responsible for the maintenance for ever. This is not the case but you must be prepared for all sorts of skullduggery from the developers who will tell lies and bully you if you ever want to exit your Timeshare.
I originally had 2 separate Timeshares in the Canary Islands, both bought on eBay years ago, 1was being constantly updated, the other one was very poorly run which resulted in me asking to hand back my weeks owned but they didn't want them back so I gave up paying maintenance 4 years ago and told them to whistle. They tried all sorts of threats but eventually gave up so please be aware of what can happen and take this into account before committing yourself. I still have the other Timeshare which I can use and enjoy if we want just a chill out now and then, I tend to bank my weeks internally so rather than have my fixed weeks can use them anytime subject to availability which normally is pretty good.

One of the best and cheapest exchange Companies are Dialanexchange who do not apply the rule of if you own a 1 bed apartment then you would get a 1 bed apartment in exchange, we had a 3 bed apartment in Kissimmee Florida a few years ago that slept 8 but I had only deposited a 1 bed apartment.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of the good and bad of the Timeshare World, sometimes the annual maintenance fees are more than you would pay for renting in your own Timeshare so do a lot of research before you make your mind up.

Hi Ramando111,

Thank you for detailed info you have provided. Resale and renting look like good options for me. For resale I'm looking for the company where there is more flexibility and choices in peak times/ school holidays!

tamiami

The key word is "subject to availability" - There never is any availability.

Read the timeshare complaint forums first.

budgetflyer

If you buy fixed weeks you do not have availability issues
.
Heres some interesting high end bargain resales

http://www.timeshare-hypermarket.com/marriott-marbella-beach-resort.aspx

http://www.timeshare-hypermarket.com/anfi-beach-club.aspx

http://www.timeshare-hypermarket.com/four-seasons-vilamoura.aspx

BarryBlue

We have friends who bought a timeshare in Tenerife about 20 years ago. We had even warned them about timeshare sellers before they went but they still got roped in by the smooth patter. Since then they have truly found out the meaning of "Buy in haste, repent at leisure."

The annual costs creep up every year and the cost of their November week is ludicrous when you take into account charges, membership, maintenance, exchange fees should they wish to swap resorts and so on. Flights are always top price as they are restricted by the day they have to go. They tried to sell it but were struggling to give it away so hung on to it.

Timeshare is a money pit. As for the quality, we have actually stayed there with them and it's nice but certainly not the luxury apartment they claimed. They could actually stay at the same place on a casual deal for less than half of their total cost. Avoid timeshare at any cost is my advice.

Archergirl

Although it worked well for us I wouldn't recommend it for a family tied to school holidays. Check the purchase price the maintenance and exchange fees then find a similar apartment and price it up.......

Fuzzy39

IMO Timeshare and points based clubs are simply not worth it. Don't do it! You will end up with a never ending contract for a timeshare you may not be able to use and with yearly maintenance charges that constantly rise.