Timesharing . . . Has It's Run It's Course?

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

I sure hope it's DONE !!! It is a crooks playground!

I would love to have back all the money I threw down that deep dark hole.
I relive over and over the day that crook suckered me into a " wonderful vacation plan " back in '82.

I dumped it, the best day of my life.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

I guess the answer you are looking for now that you have purchased a home in the part of the country that you found and fell in love with thru timesharing is - yes, it has run its' course.

Is that the answer you are looking for?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I guess the answer you are looking for now that you have purchased a home in the part of the country that you found and fell in love with thru timesharing is - yes, it has run its' course.

Is that the answer you are looking for?

Always someone here carrying a grudge, making it personal.

Even after the previous copious post, and comments from others, showing it is widespread. There are of plenty of people besides Steve and me making similar observations.

Sad, but consistent.

I guess I missed where buying a house ends your right to have opinions about timesharing, or requires that you never want to go someplace else again. We have as much experience as anyone else here, we still own six weeks and I have as much right to have my say as anyone else, unless you, personally, intend to be the opinion cop on TS4Ms. Well, you & Mr. Bum.

&, if it is the case that it has run the course for us, then we are in the same fix as thousands of others bitching on the internet, obligated to pay ongoing fees for something that is worthless, and that information belongs on a timeshare forum.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

It depends what you mean by "Timesharing...Has it run it's course?". From a usage point, it hasn't changed at all for us over the past 24 years except we now take a lot more non-timeshare vacations. We still get the same great exchanges we always have. Cost has gone up but so has the cost of everything else. We did sell one of our timeshares because we couldn't use all the weeks we had banked.

Having said that, I would not buy a timeshare now regardless of how cheap it was. As I have said many times, we have never been timeshare fanatics. I view timesharing as just another vacation option that we use if it fits what we want to do. Most of our vacations are non-timeshare. There are so many vacation options available including renting a timeshare. Our biggest objection to typical timeshares is they don't offer the vacation experience we are looking for. We are not interested in staying in some condo with very limited services. We want all the amenities and services offered by luxury resorts. We do like the Grand Mayans that do offer that level of service as do other resorts in Mexico. However we are no longer interested in visiting Mexico.

Unfortunately the timeshare model is in jeopardy due to people bailing out which causes the M/F to rise which in turn causes more people to bail out. It is a downward spiral. This issue has been discussed over and over.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

It depends what you mean by "Timesharing...Has it run it's course?".

What I meant is pretty much what you covered in the rest of your post?

Not only longtime owners, but is the concept itself, a dinosaur?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Cost has gone up but so has the cost of everything else.

With the internet, competition, overbuilding, the recession, and beaucoup TS and nightly rental invetment owners struggling to recoup some of their expenses, rental prices have gone down . . . to bargain basement prices . . . for those willing to click.

I was just helping someone on the Branson forum sort through VRBO listings and I was shocked to see 2-bedroom luxury condos in an elite gated community, in peak season, for $85 a night. I thought I was the only one happy to get $300 a week.

You can rent a pool home near the beach in SW FL in Snowbird season for less than a maintenance fee.

I have regularly booked $60/night condos (some at timeshares) through Hotwire.

If the timeshare industry survives, it surely must rely on the gullible to do so. (Something someone else said)

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

With the internet, competition, overbuilding, the recession, and beaucoup TS and nightly rental invetment owners struggling to recoup some of their expenses, rental prices have gone down . . . to bargain basement prices . . . for those willing to click.

I was just helping someone on the Branson forum sort through VRBO listings and I was shocked to see 2-bedroom luxury condos in an elite gated community, in peak season, for $85 a night. I thought I was the only one happy to get $300 a week.

You can rent a pool home near the beach in SW FL in Snowbird season for less than a maintenance fee.

If the timeshare industry survives, it surely must rely on the gullible to do so. (Soemthing someone else said)

You have just reinforced what I said about there being many vacation options, often much cheaper than owning a timeshare and without any obligations.

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

I kinda think that those here on the forums have a much different take on timesharing. For the average Joe it is still what it always was...a guaranteed week at a favorite place to vacation. It is only the gamers like us that have seen a real change. The biggest change was when the big name brands got into the picture. The goal for them is simply profit. The old idea of multiple owners sharing the expense of a vacation condo has been morphed into a corporate package of high end resorts at multiple locations for ever increasing fees. The sweetheart deals with the exchange companies made timeshare ownership a crap shoot for exchanging. The recession made their move less profitable than they had anticipated.

I still love our small timeshares run by owner elected boards that cater to our needs not corporate profit and mass market appeal. They will endure long after the Marriotts and Starwoods have moved on to some other money making scheme. Timesharing as it started will continue but the big business of timeshare for profit may be dying.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

For the average Joe it is still what it always was...a guaranteed week at a favorite place to vacation.

For the average Joe, it is what it always was, a shady concept they would never get involved in.

Oh, you meant the average Joe who is already involved.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Always someone here carrying a grudge, making it personal.

Even after the previous copious post, and comments from others, showing it is widespread. There are of plenty of people besides Steve and me making similar observations.

Sad, but consistent.

I guess I missed where buying a house ends your right to have opinions about timesharing, or requires that you never want to go someplace else again. We have as much experience as anyone else here, we still own six weeks and I have as much right to have my say as anyone else, unless you, personally, intend to be the opinion cop on TS4Ms. Well, you & Mr. Bum.

&, if it is the case that it has run the course for us, then we are in the same fix as thousands of others bitching on the internet, obligated to pay ongoing fees for something that is worthless, and that information belongs on a timeshare forum.

A grudge?
grudge (grj)
tr.v. grudged, grudge·ing, grudg·es
1. To be reluctant to give or admit: even grudged the tuition money.
2. To resent for having; begrudge: grudged him his good ways with the children.
n.
A deep-seated feeling of resentment or rancor: bears a grudge about the accident.

I do like your comment about the "opinion cop" - I will have to use that one.

And making it personal - yes, I did because it is personal - what else is it?

If the resort/weeks you own still got you the time you wanted in Southwest FL(?) you would not have posted this thread or even asked the question - you would be happy with TSing.

It no longer works for you, it is okay to admit it and move on - but when you continually post the same questions/opinions/topics, it gets a bit 'tiring" for most of us.

Sad, but predictable.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

If the resort/weeks you own still got you the time you wanted in Southwest FL(?) you would not have posted this thread or even asked the question - you would be happy with TSing.

It no longer works for you, it is okay to admit it and move on - but when you continually post the same questions/opinions/topics, it gets a bit 'tiring" for most of us.
Sad, but predictable.

Well said. Just another "predictable" post/thread by the decreasingly-relevant JLB.

[csavargo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close csavargo]

Can't we just play it nice.... guys?

When I bought my Wyndham points, resale.
I though, I did my home work, thinking the internal exchange system will work for me.... I was happy! Until I started using it and getting real education here on the forum.
Guess what. Now I know, I had made a mistake.
Bought EOY use in Florida....bad, bad, bad.

Do I badmouth the TS industry? NO, simple as that,
I made an undereducated decision, expensive on the long run.

It was my own stupidity, Nobody helped me with it...

So lets just admit, we made, make mistakes and play it nice here.

I love this site.

STOP BICKERING,PLEASE.

Thank you.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

I thnk you are right about the small owner-controlled timeshares being the most stable for the long haul. They are the ones with more owners actually committed to the resort. The higher percentage of a resort's owners who exchange, the more vulnerable the resort is going to be. But even the smaller member-run resorts need to comprehend how the changes in exchanging will impact them and have a well thought out game plan to deal with it. Even if only ~30% are exchangers, a rapid loss of that 30% without replacement can cause financial problems.

I kinda think that those here on the forums have a much different take on timesharing. For the average Joe it is still what it always was...a guaranteed week at a favorite place to vacation. It is only the gamers like us that have seen a real change. The biggest change was when the big name brands got into the picture. The goal for them is simply profit. The old idea of multiple owners sharing the expense of a vacation condo has been morphed into a corporate package of high end resorts at multiple locations for ever increasing fees. The sweetheart deals with the exchange companies made timeshare ownership a crap shoot for exchanging. The recession made their move less profitable than they had anticipated.

I still love our small timeshares run by owner elected boards that cater to our needs not corporate profit and mass market appeal. They will endure long after the Marriotts and Starwoods have moved on to some other money making scheme. Timesharing as it started will continue but the big business of timeshare for profit may be dying.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

The lack of stability in the system is a major threat to timesharing. This comes from two directions, first in resorts hounding existing owners to pay lots of extra money to buy what they already own and change to a different style of ownership, and second in exchange companies trying to reinvent the wheel in order to squeeze some more money out of members for themselves. Both of these threats impact primarily those who own to exchange. Those who own to use at their home resort really don't care what the exchange companies do and they generally have no interest in switching to a different style of ownership.

Timeshare exchanging was relatively predictable, and now there have been so many changes coming down the pike that it is hard to tell what is around the next corner.

For some, yes it's over. For others who adapt, it's still a viable way to travel.

It's the constant adaptation and keeping ahead of the curve that grows old. There always seems to be another catch where someone is asking for more money, either to maintain or upgrade. Over time, that gets old and the dream ends.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

The lack of stability in the system is a major threat to timesharing. This comes from two directions, first in resorts hounding existing owners to pay lots of extra money to buy what they already own and change to a different style of ownership, and second in exchange companies trying to reinvent the wheel in order to squeeze some more money out of members for themselves. Both of these threats impact primarily those who own to exchange. Those who own to use at their home resort really don't care what the exchange companies do and they generally have no interest in switching to a different style of ownership.

Timeshare exchanging was relatively predictable, and now there have been so many changes coming down the pike that it is hard to tell what is around the next corner.

To me, this is the crux of the problem with the industry - changing the ownership model AND exchanging "rules".
People getting into TSing now are generally not aware of what we had in the past and the reason people are bitter, resentful and disillusioned with the system.

TSing still represents a good value for me as the places/resorts I tend to travel to are much more expensive renting directly from the resort/other owners then it costs me to use as a TS owner.
And I have been able to change my exchanging "style" to better fit the current realities of the "big 2" and use smaller, customer/owner friendly companies instead.