What I've Learned about Timeshares: Part 3

I don't doubt that some of the things I know about timeshares are wrong. I believe learning is an ongoing process and I look forward to correcting any of my errors. I'm grateful that you'll indulge me and read through this. These are just the ramblings of what I've read and what I've experienced. I learned a lot from reading the forums at http://www.tug2.net.

All timeshares have some kind of yearly maintenance fees. Marriott charges me several hundred, somewhere close to the $1000 mark, but not quite. Disney charges me on a per point basis. So what are these fees? Generally, these are supposed to go to maintaining the resort, regular upgrades and funding for an emergency fund. You will get a yearly statement from the management company indicating how your maintenance fees were spent and how they plan to spend the next year’s maintenance fees. So they keep the grounds looking nice. They pay the staff to check you in. Every few years they’ll upgrade the TV. Put in new carpet. Whatever they have left over goes into a savings fund. In a perfect world, that would be all you’re paying for.

However, Mother Nature does strike, and sometimes she strikes hard. You might remember the Tsunami that hit Thailand a few years ago. Imagine if your timeshare occupied that picturesque stretch of beach and some of the devastation in the region also impacted your timeshares. Guess who’s on the hook for repairing those structures? That’s right. When something like that happens, the management company will assess a special fee and charge the owners whatever is necessary to reopen the resort. This is one of the things that those salespeople tend to gloss over in their flashy demonstrations.

Anyways, congratulations, you are now current on all your yearly fees. You now have the privilege of using the room that you own. One of the regular complaints from timeshare owners is the fees that you have to pay to use the timeshare. Keeping things simple, if I used my week at the Marriott Vacation Club at the resort I owned at during my season, I don’t have to pay a fee. Same goes for Disney’s Vacation Club. I can use my points at any DVC property without paying a fee. It’s not always that simple. Marriott offers a few different ways to use my timeshare week. In addition to reserving the whole week, I can split it into a 3 day vacation and a 4 day vacation at different times of the year. Some resorts also have what are called lock-off rooms where they can turn a 1 bedroom condo into a 1 bedroom condo and a studio, so again, you can take multiple vacations. Any of those uses will incur a fee. Points systems don’t have to deal with this kind of issue because they already let you choose the length of stay and the size of the room.

You can also bank or borrow your timeshare. Banking simply means that you’re giving up the use of your points or timeshare week for the current year. Say you wanted to take a big two week vacation next year or you’ve run out of vacation days at work this year. You can bank this year’s week and use it with next year’s week to create a 2 week long vacation. Or book both weeks at the same time so that you can invite all your family and friends to come along for a nice week-long vacation. Borrowing is a similar idea, but instead of grabbing the current year, you are using a future year’s week to use in the current year.

Each timeshare system will have a method of adding flexibility to using the timeshare. More often than not, they will incur some kind of fee. The ultimate flexibility comes from the ability to exchange your timeshare. This deserves its own article, but to suffice to say, this is where a lot of the fees come from. Most owners go on autopilot when dealing with this feature. Which may be good, might be bad, but it really comes down to how much work you want to put into finding the best use of your timeshare.

Are you looking for a way to save money when you trade your timeshare? How about looking for a vacation home to rent? Take a look at http://www.reservnstay.com. All listings are free.