If you are staying home this winter and dealing with ice and snow, probably about now you’re ready to insure that NEXT winter you can travel somewhere nice and warm, or at least someplace not freezing.  If your circumstances allow and you want to do it, NOW is the time to start planning for a nice 2, 3, 4 or more week getaway.

“Yikes!  Isn’t that kind of complicated?” you say.  Actually, it’s not, but it does take a little bit of work, and it takes a good understanding of your timeshare systems.   We’ll be using our recent Florida trip to illustrate what we did to plan a timeshare vacation.

First, you need to block out your time parameters.  Decide when and for how long you can be gone, keeping in mind how long you would LIKE to be gone.  Our max is usually 3 weeks at a time, and 2 is probably more average for us.  Those are just our preferences—we’d rather go more often, but not stay as long as some people might.  Be sure you take into account your mode of transportation, as driving might add extra days to your itinerary.

Now you are ready to decide where to travel—or maybe you already know.  Sometimes choosing a general area is good, because then you can research in your timeshare books and on the internet to narrow things down.  We’ve often used Las Vegas as a hub, spending some time there and then driving to other places like San Diego, Sedona, Phoenix, and the National Parks in Utah.  If this is a longer trip, you might want to leave some of the time open until you can find out what’s available.

One you decide on an area, it’s generally best to book the “hardest to get” week first.  When we decided on Florida, we knew that we wanted a week on Sanibel or Marco Island, and we knew that both places are tough to get.  So we relied on our Hilton timeshare, called at the exact time 9 months out, and managed to snag the Charter Club.  Nothing was available on Sanibel.

We were pretty happy about that, and began searching RCI for the Sarasota area the week before and after Marco.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t pop up very often, and we were getting discouraged.Then one day we noticed a spacebanking for the Wyndham resorts in Panama City Beach and Destin.  We had had to cancel a trip there back in 2004 when a hurricane came through, and had always wanted to go there.  Yes, it would be cooler, but not as cool as Michigan—and it’s an 8.5 hour drive from PCB to Marco, but we decided to book it!

A week or so later we were searching RCI Points online when Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas came up.  We’d been looking for a week after Marco, and it seemed like Orlando was about the only area coming up anyway.  It took us about 2 minutes to decide that, yes, we would love to stay at a Disney Resort, especially if we could have a savannah view!

Bingo!!   Florida vacation planned!  EXCEPT for a few details.  Having just flown in November (one of us is really not fond of flying), we decided to drive. Because of this, we had to book motels for 2 nights on the road—one going and one coming back.  We also had a night between Marco and the Animal Kingdom where we would have to sleep on the beach or the savannah.  So we needed 3 nights of what some timeshare people call “tweeners,” meaning you are in-between residences.

If you travel frequently, you might want to consider The Hilton Honors program.  When we charge on their American Express card we accumulate points that can be used for Hilton family hotel stays.  Usually we choose Hamptons, because they offer free breakfast and require the least number of points.  Marriott has a similar program and there may be others.   We have not paid for a hotel room in a very long time. 

So two of our ‘tweeners were spent at Hamptons, and we didn’t really sleep on the beach or the savannah!  That night was spent at Bonnet Creek, using Wyndham points.  Watch for trip reports on this trip and other timeshare vacations!

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