Timeshare Evangelists

[lifeisshort123]

I have met many people in my office and family friends who are what I would call “timeshare evangelists”.  They insist they are getting a “great deal” and getting to have many amazing vacations of a lifetime for a fraction of the cost by buying into timeshares.  Many have been members for years and continue to just be thrilled about these products.

I struggle to wrap my head around these purchases.  I’m not opposed to vacations, but they don’t seem to be the most efficient vehicle.  Here are my reasons why:

- In most instances now, you buy points rather than specific dates - and then a given time before you have to “confirm” or “bid” for your resort to be available.  They say this lets you go anywhere, but I often hear the timeshare evangelists lamenting they couldn’t get into this Hawaiian resort this year, or that new Disney property. 
- The cost per point is HUGE.  A week or two of vacation per year might cost you $30-50k in up front costs. 
- You lose tremendous flexibility - yes, they let you move points forward or backwards, but you are hostage to a closed system, and will feel “obligated” to spend your points in that family or related families of resorts.  Your travel experience will always also be somewhat similar.
- In addition to your upfront costs, you have to pay maintenance fees - which go up every year, to care for the unit.  These maintenance fees are often about 100-200 dollars per night of your visit.  You have to pay these before you can book for the year entirely up front. 
- While they claim you “own” something, the developers can play around with the terms pretty easily, reduce amenities, etc. with little to no say from you as an individual owner.
- If you purchase with Disney, you aren’t really even “purchasing”, you are in essence leasing your timeshare - they have expiration dates after which your “contract” concludes.

Is there something I’m missing? Is there a deal to be had here with the Hyatt, Marriott, Disney Timeshares of the world? For the life of me I cannot figure out why so many people I know have timeshares or, as the country club set likes to call them “fractional ownership interests”.

[NorthernIkigai]

The only benefit I know of timeshares is the free gifts you get from going to one of those presentations they give on them. My parents used to do this for fun: go to a presentation, know that they weren’t going to buy (they already have a summer house and like to travel to different places very year, without being stuck with a particular company), and just collect the gift.

Someone must be buying these, since the presentations exist, but I don’t actually know anyone who does (whereas I know many, many people who own a second home, and some who rent the same place every year). Maybe they’ve gone out of fashion? Actually, now I’m wondering why we’ve never been invited to one of these presentations. Are we too obviously Mustachian?

[lifeisshort123]

I have been invited to these presentations, but you usually have to pay “something” for the trip as well.  I also don’t envision giving up half a day of my 3 day vacation to listen to high-pressure sales tactics.

[Villanelle]

My parents bought a timeshare 20+ years ago, and have upgraded it several times. I generally think timeshares are a horrible idea, but in this case, they have waaaay gotten their money's worth.  They don't buy into RCI, or any of the other collectives that let you convert to points and use your "ownership" in other systems.  So they must stay in only the properties owned under their brand.  I'd estimate that is 2-3 dozen.

They get 1 week a year in a 3 bedroom unit, or can get 3 regular rooms instead.  (This was one of the upgrades.  I think originally it was a 2 bedroom unit.)  But they can also advance weeks, so if they want to travel twice in one year, which they often do, they just shave a year of the length of total ownership, and pay 2x the annual fee.)  They also have the ability to add days or get more rooms using "bonus time" which is much cheaper than rack rate.  In the prime of our family travels, they'd basically invite all friends (and sometimes my sibling and I would invite friends).  One year, I believe we had 22 people, all of whom got a really cheap vacation (properties are all-inclusive so that's food and hotel, and most activities). 

They like going back to the same handful of places over and over.  Never has a year gone by that the didn't use their week (except one Covid year, and I believe the annual fee was waived that year), and many years they've used more than 1.  (IDK the total number as it changed or reset for several of the upgrades.)  They love bringing a few friends, and occasionally it works out that we can swing a family vacation with them, my sibling and me, and the 2 sons-in-law.)

They never seem to have a problem booking when they want to go.  In addition to the buy-in and annual fee, they do pay a small daily fee, but we priced it all out and it was so much cheaper than paying for a comparable trip, even when prorating the buy-in.  I think the key is that they actually use it--and deeply enjoy doing so--every single year. 

It certainly wouldn't be a good option for me (though I do enjoy occasionally tagging along!).  I like to go to different places, where as they like the familiarity of know exactly what to expect, where the nearest bathroom to the pool bar is, etc., and even knowing much of the staff.  They generally rotate between about 5 locations, occasionally trying a new one instead.    So for them, it is ideal.  I was skeptical when they bought, but it has been great for them.  Unlike for most people who end up not using it and either walking away from that initial buy-in, or paying annual fees for something they don't use. 

[NorthernIkigai]

I have been invited to these presentations, but you usually have to pay “something” for the trip as well.  I also don’t envision giving up half a day of my 3 day vacation to listen to high-pressure sales tactics.

Almost always, these presentations have been in their home country, not at the actual site. So you only give up a few hours of your time.

Oh, and I forgot about what a hassle it apparently is when the owners of these timeshares die! The heirs are then on the hook for the yearly fees since it’s hard to get rid of the actual timeshare.

[BlueMR2]

Personally, I'm not interested in one, but it's not bad for people that regularly do vacations.  I've known a number of people with them.  Some of course are crazy expensive to buy into, but most are reasonable.  Maintenance fees tend to be around the same as staying in local hotel, but the time shares tend to be nicer.  If you don't go you can let them rent it out instead which will cover the maintenance fees too.  Seems most are contracts that run out eventually too (30 years appears to be common).  Inheriting one would be annoying, but with all of the above it's not exactly a disaster.

[geekette]

My parents (now just my Mom) have owned one for...decades.  They enjoyed the heck out of it when they were younger, going all over the country and having friends along.  Once Dad died she started taking her "kids" along for a week once a year.  We stayed at nice time shares in AZ and NM, but now she's just been staying at the place she "owns", which is a beachfront a few hours from home, dragging one or more of her us along.

This one never goes away. I will refuse to have anything to do with it once she passes, but I think one of my sisters might be interested. If not, I think we can all refuse and it reverts back to the resort. 

[Villanelle]

I have been invited to these presentations, but you usually have to pay “something” for the trip as well.  I also don’t envision giving up half a day of my 3 day vacation to listen to high-pressure sales tactics.

Almost always, these presentations have been in their home country, not at the actual site. So you only give up a few hours of your time.

Oh, and I forgot about what a hassle it apparently is when the owners of these timeshares die! The heirs are then on the hook for the yearly fees since it’s hard to get rid of the actual timeshare.

There is a means for declining an inheritance (in the US, at least).  The timeshare company may try to claim otherwise, but as long as the person doesn't initially accept or start paying, you can't be forced to take it.

[NorthernIkigai]

I have been invited to these presentations, but you usually have to pay “something” for the trip as well.  I also don’t envision giving up half a day of my 3 day vacation to listen to high-pressure sales tactics.

Almost always, these presentations have been in their home country, not at the actual site. So you only give up a few hours of your time.

Oh, and I forgot about what a hassle it apparently is when the owners of these timeshares die! The heirs are then on the hook for the yearly fees since it’s hard to get rid of the actual timeshare.

There is a means for declining an inheritance (in the US, at least).  The timeshare company may try to claim otherwise, but as long as the person doesn't initially accept or start paying, you can't be forced to take it.

Yup, this is not in the US :-) I think here you have to either decline the entire inheritance or accept all of (your part of) it, you can’t pick and choose.

[Dee18]

My parents purchased a townhouse timeshare at the ocean in S. Carolina in the 1970s.  We finally got the timeshare company to accept it back last month. We celebrated.  My parents did enjoy it for many years, but the "maintenance" fee was about the same as it would have been to rent a place. 

[MayDay]

I generally hate them, a lot.

That said my in-laws have one and it works for them. They are the kind of people who like their home and never travel anywhere. Literally. So when they go on vacation they like to go to the exact same place. The only vacation they've gone on in 30+ years is to their time share. They don't do the exchange and they don't change weeks. The maintenance fee is about a third of the cost to rent a condo in the building. They bought a second unit since us "kids" now have kids and wouldn't go with them since there wasn't space.

It's 100% not my thing and I think it's a terrible idea in 99% of use cases. But there are some specific scenarios where it might make sense. Most of the people who claim *their* situation makes sense just haven't done the actual math.

[rosarugosa]

I'm kind of surprised they are even legal.  When an entire industry exists for getting rid of these things, that should tell you right there that something is wrong.
I do know some people who have, use and love them though.

[Askel]

The only benefit I know of timeshares is the free gifts you get from going to one of those presentations they give on them. My parents used to do this for fun: go to a presentation, know that they weren’t going to buy (they already have a summer house and like to travel to different places very year, without being stuck with a particular company), and just collect the gift.

Ha! My parents did that too, but I think they enjoyed watching the high pressure sales shenanigans even more than the freebies. 

But then, maybe 15 years ago... they bought a timeshare! Evidently you can just walk into the local real estate office after sitting through the sales pitch and buy these things for pennies on the dollar from people desperate to get out. I'm not sure how it's working out for them economically, but my Dad is the type who really enjoys something if he thinks he's getting a deal so I'm sure they're paying significantly less than list price, but hard to say whether it's worth it or not.  It's in South Africa. They've never been to it. It just trades well with those points systems. 

A couple years ago we were on a business trip and due to variety of factors, ended up stuck at an applebees for dinner. Right in the midst of a bunch of the sleaziest salesmen you ever saw pushing timeshares on older couples lured in by a free dinner.  We spent the entire night getting bombed on "brewtus" sized beers and reciting lines from "Glengary Glen Ross" with increasing volume until getting some really dirty looks from the sleazy salesmen.   

[MayDay]

The only benefit I know of timeshares is the free gifts you get from going to one of those presentations they give on them. My parents used to do this for fun: go to a presentation, know that they weren’t going to buy (they already have a summer house and like to travel to different places very year, without being stuck with a particular company), and just collect the gift.

Ha! My parents did that too, but I think they enjoyed watching the high pressure sales shenanigans even more than the freebies. 

But then, maybe 15 years ago... they bought a timeshare! Evidently you can just walk into the local real estate office after sitting through the sales pitch and buy these things for pennies on the dollar from people desperate to get out. I'm not sure how it's working out for them economically, but my Dad is the type who really enjoys something if he thinks he's getting a deal so I'm sure they're paying significantly less than list price, but hard to say whether it's worth it or not.  It's in South Africa. They've never been to it. It just trades well with those points systems. 

A couple years ago we were on a business trip and due to variety of factors, ended up stuck at an applebees for dinner. Right in the midst of a bunch of the sleaziest salesmen you ever saw pushing timeshares on older couples lured in by a free dinner.  We spent the entire night getting bombed on "brewtus" sized beers and reciting lines from "Glengary Glen Ross" with increasing volume until getting some really dirty looks from the sleazy salesmen.

My in-laws place has units for sale posted. The peak summer ones still have value, but not a ton. I can't remember the price, maybe 15k for a 2 bedroom condo on myrtle beach, with a weekly fee of like 800$.  But the winter weeks are literally free. If you buy a summer unit, they'll give you a winter week for free, but of course you have to pay that weekly fee, and odds are you can't rent put your unit to cover the fee.

[clarkfan1979]

I'm not surprised that they exist. There is market demand for expensive vacations that are also convenient. I agree that I would have a hard time listening to someone talk about the money they saved by purchasing a timeshare.

[LiveLean]

I know a woman in Orlando who specializes in getting people out of Disney timeshares....and then resells them. She inherited the business from her late mother. What a license to print money. As someone who has lived in Central Florida for 25 years but never been to a Disney property, I admire this woman's business model.

[Villanelle]

I know a woman in Orlando who specializes in getting people out of Disney timeshares....and then resells them. She inherited the business from her late mother. What a license to print money. As someone who has lived in Central Florida for 25 years but never been to a Disney property, I admire this woman's business model.

Until you posted this, I forgot that my sister owns a Disney timeshare (which Disney calls "vacation club", not "timeshare").  They are pretty frequent Disney visitors and she swears it saves them money.  (Over what they'd pay for the same trips w/o the timeshare.  I will ignore whether they go more frequently because of it.)  She's fairly financially savvy, so I'm inclined to believe her.   She did say it very much depends on how you use the point.  I don't recall details, but I think she mentioned as one example that using points for a Disney cruise was a money loser and it was cheaper to just book regularly, but certain resorts are much cheaper via the club.

One thing I found very interesting is that at one point they were considering upgrading so their membership includes more points.  This wasn't so they could visit more or at higher levels.  It was because there is a booming market for "renting out" one's points.  Basically, this means someone else travels on your points and pays you for them.  She said they could upgrade and then rent their points for more than the cost of the upgrade, meaning it would have made them money.  She told me how much the upgrade costs and how much the points tend to rent for, and it definitely seemed on the surface that yes, she could have made money buying more points and reselling them.  (Though I suppose Covid was a risk not included in that calculation, so maybe she's glad they didn't upgrade, although it is possible that with the parks closed, the annual fees were waived, perhaps?)

[StarBright]

My parents (now just my Mom) have owned one for...decades.  They enjoyed the heck out of it when they were younger, going all over the country and having friends along.  Once Dad died she started taking her "kids" along for a week once a year.  We stayed at nice time shares in AZ and NM, but now she's just been staying at the place she "owns", which is a beachfront a few hours from home, dragging one or more of her us along.

This one never goes away. I will refuse to have anything to do with it once she passes, but I think one of my sisters might be interested. If not, I think we can all refuse and it reverts back to the resort.

This is what my parents have done as well. They have a points style timeshare and have been using it since 1995 or so. They gift/rent us points when we want to use them, and my sibling has expressed interest in taking over the contract when my parents pass. Their contract runs until 2050 or round abouts.  It feels like a win-win for us.

We stayed in a very nice resort in Hawaii last year for about $70 a night - rack rate was $550 a night.

[zolotiyeruki]

DW and I went to a timeshare presentation several years ago (2017).  When it came to numbers, a purchase price of $26k was enough to get you one week per year in their Orlando resort, and maintenance fees were $1,000-$1,500/year.  The people there were not happy when I pointed out that we had recently stayed for a week at a timeshare resort in Orlando and had paid less than $1,500, and we hadn't even had to buy in.  They also didn't appreciate it when I pointed out the opportunity cost of $26k invested in the stock market, earning 7%/year.

What it boiled down to was this: the type of timeshare we might want would cost us roughly double what we had recently paid without being an owner.  Since I'm a numbers guy, their hard sale tactics and pot sweeteners didn't work

[StarBright]

I know a woman in Orlando who specializes in getting people out of Disney timeshares....and then resells them. She inherited the business from her late mother. What a license to print money. As someone who has lived in Central Florida for 25 years but never been to a Disney property, I admire this woman's business model.

Until you posted this, I forgot that my sister owns a Disney timeshare (which Disney calls "vacation club", not "timeshare").  They are pretty frequent Disney visitors and she swears it saves them money.  (Over what they'd pay for the same trips w/o the timeshare.  I will ignore whether they go more frequently because of it.)  She's fairly financially savvy, so I'm inclined to believe her.   She did say it very much depends on how you use the point.  I don't recall details, but I think she mentioned as one example that using points for a Disney cruise was a money loser and it was cheaper to just book regularly, but certain resorts are much cheaper via the club.

One thing I found very interesting is that at one point they were considering upgrading so their membership includes more points.  This wasn't so they could visit more or at higher levels.  It was because there is a booming market for "renting out" one's points.  Basically, this means someone else travels on your points and pays you for them.  She said they could upgrade and then rent their points for more than the cost of the upgrade, meaning it would have made them money.  She told me how much the upgrade costs and how much the points tend to rent for, and it definitely seemed on the surface that yes, she could have made money buying more points and reselling them.  (Though I suppose Covid was a risk not included in that calculation, so maybe she's glad they didn't upgrade, although it is possible that with the parks closed, the annual fees were waived, perhaps?)

My parents have Disney and what your sister says tracks with my parent's experience too (including never use your points for a Disney Cruise).  But also, stay at the cheaper resorts (because they are still totally nice) and avoid Fridays and Saturdays. Also back in the day, anytime you stayed it included your entrance to the parks. So we took a lot of trips to Disney in the 90s, but we were kids and thought it was awesome :)

They've been members a long time so their maintenance fee per point is really low and their "home" resort is the oldest and cheapest one - but you can use the points at the more expensive resorts if you really want, hence our trip to Hawaii. I think they pay like $1200 a year in maintenance, but they way they book they somehow manage to get 4-6 weeks of hotel rooms, or they can make triple their fees renting their points out for a few weeks, and then still book a week or two of vacation. *

They also gift a week at a time to family members and friends who couldn't otherwise afford a nice trip for big celebrations like graduations, honeymoons, and baby moons. It makes them really happy to do so!  I wouldn't buy a contract, certainly not new! But it has worked well for my parents.

*DVC did just redo their point system a couple of years ago so it isn't as easy to game as it used to be, but my parents more than broke even before they did that.

[patchyfacialhair]

We vacation too much and I've never seen the appeal of buying into timeshares. The finances never pencil out.

We went to Disney tons of times before and during the pandemic. We were always targeted by the timeshare salespeople. I never went to a meeting but penciled out buying points and whatnot. Pretty quickly, the maintenance fees raise to very high levels, not to mention the insanely high buy in prices. It's a good thing we didn't buy either, cause we're basically not planning on many more Disney trips. The nickel and diming and poor service we received on our last couple trips were not ideal. This I think is the core issue with timeshares. I don't need to legally connect my vacations with a corporation. I want to preserve my flexibility.

We just look for deals for when and where we want to go. Always seems to work out fine finding deals unless you're looking at Aspen Christmas week or something.

[zolotiyeruki]

We went to Disney tons of times before and during the pandemic. We were always targeted by the timeshare salespeople. I never went to a meeting but penciled out buying points and whatnot. Pretty quickly, the maintenance fees raise to very high levels, not to mention the insanely high buy in prices. It's a good thing we didn't buy either, cause we're basically not planning on many more Disney trips. The nickel and diming and poor service we received on our last couple trips were not ideal. This I think is the core issue with timeshares. I don't need to legally connect my vacations with a corporation. I want to preserve my flexibility.

Our family has been to WDW four times in the last 12 years, most recently about a year ago.  The quality of the experience has steadily declined over that time, even as the price has inexorably ratcheted skyward.  With each visit, we've had to work harder and harder to optimize the trip, just to get on the same number (or even fewer) rides each day, and there's less serendipitous "magic" due to a long pattern of budget cuts and nickel-and-diming.

[patchyfacialhair]

We went to Disney tons of times before and during the pandemic. We were always targeted by the timeshare salespeople. I never went to a meeting but penciled out buying points and whatnot. Pretty quickly, the maintenance fees raise to very high levels, not to mention the insanely high buy in prices. It's a good thing we didn't buy either, cause we're basically not planning on many more Disney trips. The nickel and diming and poor service we received on our last couple trips were not ideal. This I think is the core issue with timeshares. I don't need to legally connect my vacations with a corporation. I want to preserve my flexibility.

Our family has been to WDW four times in the last 12 years, most recently about a year ago.  The quality of the experience has steadily declined over that time, even as the price has inexorably ratcheted skyward.  With each visit, we've had to work harder and harder to optimize the trip, just to get on the same number (or even fewer) rides each day, and there's less serendipitous "magic" due to a long pattern of budget cuts and nickel-and-diming.

Yep. We have one last Disney tripped booked...basically as part of a family reunion thing next month. After that we're pretty much done with it. We didn't really want to book this trip but we figure we'll see some family that we haven't seen in a while...and we'll give our 1 year old the opportunity to meet Pooh bear...take some pictures, and take it for what it is.

Plus now that our oldest kid is 5, we feel more comfortable looking at snow sports for the winter. We live in Colorado and my wife snowboarded growing up and in her 20s, and loved it...we've just been waiting until it made more sense to make that a priority. But wow. A super expensive activity...we'll need to sub out Disney money for that lol.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Timeshare companies, regardless of whether they're selling weeks, points, shares, or whatever the fuck, are not really in the business of selling *vacations*. They're in the business of selling *mortgages at a ridiculously high rate of interest*. In this respect they're not much different from the car sales industry.

Never look at a timeshare as an "investment". It is consumption spending, 100%. The points (or whatever) purchase is consumption. The annual maintenance fee is consumption. If you're living a low-consumption lifestyle because you're working toward being FIRE, or if your goal is to pay down student debt, or if you want to go off-grid, then anything that increases your consumption and your annual burn rate will set back your retirement date. If a person is OK with that, and if they want the specific kind of vacation the timeshare deal provides, it can make sense.

Timeshare works for a specific category of people: young professionals who want a specific kind of experience, in a specific type of area, who can plan their vacations a year or so in advance, who are willing to purchase a lifetime's worth of vacations in advance, and who don't have to borrow money to do it. This is a much narrower demographic than the people timeshare sales people pitch to. When planning vacations with friends and family, I've noticed that most people *cannot* plan a vacation a year in advance and follow through with the plan. Some aspect of life gets in the way. A person who values spontaneity, flexibility, or the ability to take advantage of short-notice offers is going to be miserable with a timeshare, because the pickings will be very slim or even nonexistent in the more desirable areas.

Anything you might be told about renting a timeshare out on AirBnB or Vrbo as an "investment" is often false, or it exists only at the whim of the timeshare management. What's visible on those sites is frequently a unit or two put out there to lure unsuspecting people into a sales pitch. Renting out your timeshare to third parties is often a violation of the timeshare contract, or permissible only at the whim of management, which changes its executives at the same rate many people change credit card service providers. But the fact that a unit appears on AirBnB or Vrbo doesn't mean that an individual timeshare interest holder is going to be able to book that property. Even if they have the points and credits, the units frequently aren't available because the most elite tier gets dibs.

When considering a timeshare purchase, ask yourself:
- Is this the way I like to vacation? (Planned more than a year in advance, and the kind of villa/condo/resort experience my family wants?)
- Is this style of vacation something I plan to do every year for the next thirty years or more?
- Is it in a location that's easy to get to, that I will want to return to repeatedly?
- Am I going to be able to successfully book the vacation I want?
- Are there other perks or benefits I can take advantage of?
- Is the amortized per-vacation price worth it compared to other options with a similar experience?
- Can I do it without taking on long-term debt?
- How many vacations must be taken before the initial cost of the timeshare is paid for, compared to a similar value of accommodations elsewhere?
- Do I have an intelligent exit strategy?

[Dee18]

Also be aware that your timeshare contract may require you to pay special assessments for needed repairs.  My mother was charged $2000 a couple years ago for one of those. So glad that timeshare is out of the family!

[Villanelle]

Timeshare companies, regardless of whether they're selling weeks, points, shares, or whatever the fuck, are not really in the business of selling *vacations*. They're in the business of selling *mortgages at a ridiculously high rate of interest*. In this respect they're not much different from the car sales industry.

Never look at a timeshare as an "investment". It is consumption spending, 100%. The points (or whatever) purchase is consumption. The annual maintenance fee is consumption. If you're living a low-consumption lifestyle because you're working toward being FIRE, or if your goal is to pay down student debt, or if you want to go off-grid, then anything that increases your consumption and your annual burn rate will set back your retirement date. If a person is OK with that, and if they want the specific kind of vacation the timeshare deal provides, it can make sense.

Timeshare works for a specific category of people: young professionals who want a specific kind of experience, in a specific type of area, who can plan their vacations a year or so in advance, who are willing to purchase a lifetime's worth of vacations in advance, and who don't have to borrow money to do it. This is a much narrower demographic than the people timeshare sales people pitch to. When planning vacations with friends and family, I've noticed that most people *cannot* plan a vacation a year in advance and follow through with the plan. Some aspect of life gets in the way. A person who values spontaneity, flexibility, or the ability to take advantage of short-notice offers is going to be miserable with a timeshare, because the pickings will be very slim or even nonexistent in the more desirable areas.

Anything you might be told about renting a timeshare out on AirBnB or Vrbo as an "investment" is often false, or it exists only at the whim of the timeshare management. What's visible on those sites is frequently a unit or two put out there to lure unsuspecting people into a sales pitch. Renting out your timeshare to third parties is often a violation of the timeshare contract, or permissible only at the whim of management, which changes its executives at the same rate many people change credit card service providers. But the fact that a unit appears on AirBnB or Vrbo doesn't mean that an individual timeshare interest holder is going to be able to book that property. Even if they have the points and credits, the units frequently aren't available because the most elite tier gets dibs.

When considering a timeshare purchase, ask yourself:
- Is this the way I like to vacation? (Planned more than a year in advance, and the kind of villa/condo/resort experience my family wants?)
- Is this style of vacation something I plan to do every year for the next thirty years or more?
- Is it in a location that's easy to get to, that I will want to return to repeatedly?
- Am I going to be able to successfully book the vacation I want?
- Are there other perks or benefits I can take advantage of?
- Is the amortized per-vacation price worth it compared to other options with a similar experience?
- Can I do it without taking on long-term debt?
- How many vacations must be taken before the initial cost of the timeshare is paid for, compared to a similar value of accommodations elsewhere?
- Do I have an intelligent exit strategy?

I feel like my responses on this thread are making me seem pro-timeshare, and I'm not really.  But I'm curious about why you think one need be a young professional in order to benefit?  My parents bought theirs in their 50s.  To me, that demo probably makes more sense as careers may be more stable (potentially easier to get time off) and at that age and stage of life (which may involve kids), people are generally less likely to want extreme adventure type trips.

Also, I don't know about other timeshares, but my parents' most definitely doesn't require planning a year in advance.  There have been times where they have planned 6+ months out, but also times that it was only a couple months.  I don't think it has ever been more than a year out.

~~~

I think for most people, timeshares are a terrible idea.  And I think that for the remaining people, most timeshares are still a bad idea.  It's so important to research (beyond what they tell you in that sleazy pitch presentation) what exactly you are getting, how easy it actually is to book what you want, how easy--or not--it is to do the things they claim you can do like visit other locations or transfer points to something else, and what it would cost to just do the trip without the timeshare, as well as ascertaining whether there are special assessments possible.  If you actually own a share of a specific building, the answers are a lot different than something like the Disney version where I don't think you own anything specific, really. 

I certainly won't be buying one, ever.   They aren't right for the way DH and I like to travel, which includes going to different places, and often places off the beaten tourist path.  If/when my sibling and I inherit my parents', there likely will only be <10 years left on it.  If she wants to split it so we both travel on it every other year for ~5 years, it may be worth it to take the inheritance, but that's going to be a tough decision. 

[zolotiyeruki]

From a pure numbers standpoint, from what I've seen, timeshares are *never* a net win.  Perhaps the timeshare company we saw is an aberration, but they're part of national hotel chain, so I don't think they are.  Once you count the maintenance fees plus the initial purchase price, it's way more expensive than simply renting an equivalent hotel room in the desired location.

Now, I *do* know some people who did buy a timeshare a couple decades ago with money from a windfall, and who later upgraded it.  For them, it was more about ensuring they took vacations, which they otherwise wouldn't do.  In other words, it was a way to mitigate an emotional barrier.  Expensive, sure, but effective.

[saguaro]

I have been invited to these presentations, but you usually have to pay “something” for the trip as well.  I also don’t envision giving up half a day of my 3 day vacation to listen to high-pressure sales tactics.

Almost always, these presentations have been in their home country, not at the actual site. So you only give up a few hours of your time.

Oh, and I forgot about what a hassle it apparently is when the owners of these timeshares die! The heirs are then on the hook for the yearly fees since it’s hard to get rid of the actual timeshare.

There is a means for declining an inheritance (in the US, at least).  The timeshare company may try to claim otherwise, but as long as the person doesn't initially accept or start paying, you can't be forced to take it.

My parents purchased a timeshare in the 90s instead of purchasing a vacation cabin.   They got a lot of years out of it, did sell off one of their "weeks" (they got 3 weeks/year) but once my mom died and my dad was not going to use his time, the concerns over what would happen once my dad passed arose.  My sister was wringing her hands over that we would be stuck with the fees but I told her exactly the above: that we could all decline it.    Might be a fight with the timeshare company over that but so long as none of us agreed or paid the fee, the company was stuck with it.   We did manage to get the company to take it back (after nearly a year of wrangling) and Dad signed the papers 2 weeks before he died. 

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I feel like my responses on this thread are making me seem pro-timeshare, and I'm not really.  But I'm curious about why you think one need be a young professional in order to benefit?  My parents bought theirs in their 50s.  To me, that demo probably makes more sense as careers may be more stable (potentially easier to get time off) and at that age and stage of life (which may involve kids), people are generally less likely to want extreme adventure type trips.

Also, I don't know about other timeshares, but my parents' most definitely doesn't require planning a year in advance.  There have been times where they have planned 6+ months out, but also times that it was only a couple months.  I don't think it has ever been more than a year out.

~~~

I think for most people, timeshares are a terrible idea.  And I think that for the remaining people, most timeshares are still a bad idea.  It's so important to research (beyond what they tell you in that sleazy pitch presentation) what exactly you are getting, how easy it actually is to book what you want, how easy--or not--it is to do the things they claim you can do like visit other locations or transfer points to something else, and what it would cost to just do the trip without the timeshare, as well as ascertaining whether there are special assessments possible.  If you actually own a share of a specific building, the answers are a lot different than something like the Disney version where I don't think you own anything specific, really. 

I certainly won't be buying one, ever.   They aren't right for the way DH and I like to travel, which includes going to different places, and often places off the beaten tourist path.  If/when my sibling and I inherit my parents', there likely will only be <10 years left on it.  If she wants to split it so we both travel on it every other year for ~5 years, it may be worth it to take the inheritance, but that's going to be a tough decision.

To answer your question, it boils down to years of effective use of the luxury item, before the individual gets too old to enjoy the travel. A 50-year-old who is in good shape and who expects to travel well into his or her 80s may get 30 years of good times. Most 50-year-olds have twenty years of travel or fewer. The same purchase, made at age 40, can usually be amortized over thirty years instead of twenty. A person who tries to amortize, say, $10k over ten years has to spend $1k a year on vacation accommodations, in addition to the maintenance fees. That's really hard to do. If a person has only twenty years of travel left, he or she is better off with an AirBnB or similar travel.

Disclosure: I own timeshare points myself. No, I didn't pay full price. The math works and I am getting what I paid for, although I'm not interested in stepping on the treadmill and acquiring more. My preferred style of travel is to get a villa somewhere, stay for a week, and use it as a base of operations in the area. Most of the time I'm traveling solo with my service dog (to compensate for my hearing loss so that I don't sleep through any more hotel fire alarms; two is enough). Sometimes I bring friends or family or meet up with someone I haven't seen in a while. I've had my points several years (I'm 48) and expect to get full value out of the purchase. I have an exit strategy. But I don't recommend my approach to people who aren't going to be able to get their money's worth, who would be paying full price, or who would have to borrow money to do it.

[Villanelle]

I feel like my responses on this thread are making me seem pro-timeshare, and I'm not really.  But I'm curious about why you think one need be a young professional in order to benefit?  My parents bought theirs in their 50s.  To me, that demo probably makes more sense as careers may be more stable (potentially easier to get time off) and at that age and stage of life (which may involve kids), people are generally less likely to want extreme adventure type trips.

Also, I don't know about other timeshares, but my parents' most definitely doesn't require planning a year in advance.  There have been times where they have planned 6+ months out, but also times that it was only a couple months.  I don't think it has ever been more than a year out.

~~~

I think for most people, timeshares are a terrible idea.  And I think that for the remaining people, most timeshares are still a bad idea.  It's so important to research (beyond what they tell you in that sleazy pitch presentation) what exactly you are getting, how easy it actually is to book what you want, how easy--or not--it is to do the things they claim you can do like visit other locations or transfer points to something else, and what it would cost to just do the trip without the timeshare, as well as ascertaining whether there are special assessments possible.  If you actually own a share of a specific building, the answers are a lot different than something like the Disney version where I don't think you own anything specific, really. 

I certainly won't be buying one, ever.   They aren't right for the way DH and I like to travel, which includes going to different places, and often places off the beaten tourist path.  If/when my sibling and I inherit my parents', there likely will only be <10 years left on it.  If she wants to split it so we both travel on it every other year for ~5 years, it may be worth it to take the inheritance, but that's going to be a tough decision.

To answer your question, it boils down to years of effective use of the luxury item, before the individual gets too old to enjoy the travel. A 50-year-old who is in good shape and who expects to travel well into his or her 80s may get 30 years of good times. Most 50-year-olds have twenty years of travel or fewer. The same purchase, made at age 40, can usually be amortized over thirty years instead of twenty. A person who tries to amortize, say, $10k over ten years has to spend $1k a year on vacation accommodations, in addition to the maintenance fees. That's really hard to do. If a person has only twenty years of travel left, he or she is better off with an AirBnB or similar travel.

Disclosure: I own timeshare points myself. No, I didn't pay full price. The math works and I am getting what I paid for, although I'm not interested in stepping on the treadmill and acquiring more. My preferred style of travel is to get a villa somewhere, stay for a week, and use it as a base of operations in the area. Most of the time I'm traveling solo with my service dog (to compensate for my hearing loss so that I don't sleep through any more hotel fire alarms; two is enough). Sometimes I bring friends or family or meet up with someone I haven't seen in a while. I've had my points several years (I'm 48) and expect to get full value out of the purchase. I have an exit strategy. But I don't recommend my approach to people who aren't going to be able to get their money's worth, who would be paying full price, or who would have to borrow money to do it.

Interesting.  I suppose it's possible that my parents (turning 80 next year) and many of their friends who often travel with them (some of whom are well into their 80s) are outliers.  they are traveling more now than they ever did in their 40s and 50s, when they had kids and work to schedule around.  Now, they just decide, "hey, let's go back to the Dominican Republic this fall, and invite Bob and Sue and Fred and Mary", and they go whenever they darn well please.  They go on international trips 2-3x year, occasionally 4. 

[redhead84]

My in-laws are heavy into a large timeshare chain. I shudder to think how much they've spent on their points/maintenance, but financially, they can more than afford it. My biggest pet-peeve about the process is that they want you to sit through the sales pitch EVERY SINGLE TIME you visit a property. It doesn't matter if you sat through a presentation yesterday at a different property, they still push hard for you to attend again. I feel like you should only get to ask people to attend the presentation 1X per year if you already own.

[Reynold]

My Dad lived near Disney World in FL, and bought their timeshare back when they first offered it.  He certainly got his money out of it, he and his friends went around the same time frame every year for decades, and early on they would have 15 or more people in 2 units, so a lot cheaper than hotels, plus for the first 10 years you got Disney tickets, which were by themselves worth what you paid per year.  It helped that they booked off dates at least 6 months in advance, if not more. 

When he became unable to go there any more, and we were winding up his affairs, we found there is quite an active market to resell those, so I think we sold it for about what he originally paid or more.  I will say if you love going to Disney every year, those properties are convenient, they are part of the internal Disney World transport system, and cheaper than staying in their resort properties.  Outside hotels are cheaper still, but much less convenient if you want to take a break during the day or something since you have to get in and out of parking lots and the Magic Kingdom road network.  My siblings and I prefer much more interesting vacations, so didn't want to keep it. 

[lifeisshort123]

Yes, I have noticed that there is a variety of levels of timeshares.  Some like Westgate (side note - check out the movie the Queen of Versailles all about the owner… a great film!) should be entirely avoided in my opinion given their alleged hard-nosed tactics, and in the eyes of some, less than enjoyable resorts.

I had a bad experience attending a presentation for the Marriott Vacation Club, which turned me off to their entire line.

The “resale” timeshares are definitely something to consider - they do end up saving you money if you like to travel in a specific way over time.

The Disney ones do seem to be the best, but they are also the most expensive.  Disney in general is very expensive though.  But, their utility is limited unless you stay at Disney year after year after year.