Should I Buy a Timeshare?

"To many people holidays are not voyages of discovery, but a ritual of reassurance."
Philip Andrew Adams

We own a timeshare.  We bought it over 20 years ago while on vacation in Mexico.  You have probably all seen the vendors who try to talk you into getting a free dinner or tour, you just have to go to a presentation.  Well, what can I say, we got suckered in.  But was it a bad deal?

I guess that depends on how you look at it.  We have gotten some pretty good use out of our timeshare.  We have only gone back to our home resort once.  Since then we always use it for a trade, which means that we have to bank our week and then trade it with whatever is available in the timeshare pool.  And we have to pay a fee to exchange.  But we have gotten some pretty nice places doing this.  A few times we got some not so nice places also.

Timeshare we stayed in on the island of Crete, Greece
We were on 2nd floor and our friends on the 3rd

There have been years when we haven't used the timeshare.  You can only bank it for 3 years and then you lose it, so there have been times when we realize we are about to lose our week.  We then have offerred it to friends or family to use.  So sometimes others have been able to get a good deal.  We gave our daughter a week in Orlando for her honeymoon, since they wanted to go to Disney World.  And one year my mother used it for a week in Coronado when she was down visiting us.  But most of the time we have used it ourselves.

Timeshare in Smugglers Notch, Vermont

When they sell you the timeshare they tell you how much money you save by having your vacations basically paid for.  However, I'm not at all convinced that we have really saved that much money with the timeshare.  We had to pay for it when we originally bought it, a large sum which we paid monthly over several years.  Then every year we also have to pay a maintenance fee, which has steadily gone up in cost.  And then the exchange fee when we do the actual exchange, and when you are at the resort there is usually resort fees. If you give the week to friends or family, there is also a guest fee. So in the long run, I think the cost is about the same or maybe even more, then if we had just gone on vacation on our own.  And trying to exchange for a property or area you want is not always easy.

Living Room of condo in Kauai

Another draw back for me is that very few of the properties are pet-friendly, and I enjoy taking my dogs on vacations with us.  I miss them when we leave them home, plus it costs for a pet sitter.  If we are going someplace where we can drive, I prefer to take them along.

The nice thing about a timeshare is that it is always more than just a hotel room.  There are some studio rooms which still has a small kitchen, but most of the time we have a one bedroom unit, which has a separate kitchen and living room.  Quite often there are dishwashers and washer and dryers right in your unit.  And we also have been able to get 2 bedroom units, so when we travel with our friends we can all stay together in one unit, our home away from home. 

Palm Springs Timeshare

There is not usually daily maid service at a timeshare, but to me that is a plus, I don't necessarily want someone coming in everyday, and you can always get more towels or linens if you need them. The resorts sometimes have restaurants and entertainment on the grounds.  We were in a timeshare in Crete, Greece and several nights durng our week there were specialty dinners with Greek dancers.  In Tahiti the timeshare provided a Tahitian dance show, and one night we went to the crab races, which were amusing.  There is always a pool, and you are usually in a tourist area with lots of things nearby to do and see.

Timeshare in Tahiti

So, should you buy a timeshare?  If you find one that you would love to go back to over and over, then by all means, buy it.  It will probably be a good deal, because you won't have the expense of the fee for trading, and you won't have any problem getting to stay there, because owners get preference at their own resort.  If you plan on using it strickly as a trade to travel all over the world, I would give it some serious thought, because we have found that it is possible to get the trade, but not always easy.  You will have to be flexible about when you travel and open to lots of possiblities to where you are going.  And you might not actually be saving any money.