Let’s take a look at some of the issues that come to mind when we talk about timeshare weeks.
First let’s look at some of the history. When timesharing began, you bought a given week at a given resort in a given unit. You had to use that week at that resort every year. To many people, this got old real fast and did not provide much flexibility in vacationing, and so timeshare trading companies were born. Companies like RCI, Interval International and others were used to assist people to exchange a timeshare week for another week at a different resort or at a different time of the year.
This evolved into many resorts developing a point system, where you bought so many points to use each year. You used more points for resorts that were in higher demand, more points for a larger size unit, and more points for a high demand time of the year. You could also change from going for a full week, to using any number of days you wanted to for your vacation. Also, large timeshare companies came into being and expanded in the number of resorts they owned. This opened up lots of vacation locations and possibilities when you bought into their systems. These are companies like Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Wyndham and others.
It became necessary to set up a calendar so everyone in the timeshare world knew which week you were talking about. So, a calendar was developed showing weeks 1-52 and what dates those would be for the entire year. This changes from year to year, but keeps everybody on the same page about which dates you are talking about. A current sample of this calendar can be found at TUG a timeshare user group.
Several timeshare users groups developed on the internet to help people with timeshare issues. The largest and one of the most complete is TUG. Others, like Red Week, Timeshare Forums, Wyndham Resorts Forums and others are very active and provide excellent opportunities to discuss timeshare ideas, as well as areas for trading, selling, renting, and buying timeshares. Be sure to check some of these out.
Many people enjoyed timesharing so much that they ended up purchasing more than one week of timeshare. Some bought more weeks at the same resort or within the same timeshare system. Other bought into different systems completely. It seems like each system has some advantages and disadvantages, and by owning in the different timeshare systems, it gives you the ability to put together vacations all over the world. For example, it is hard to get into a timeshare on Sanibel Island without owning there. Hilton has several associate resorts on Sanibel, Captiva and Marco Island, and none of our other timeshare weeks will pull them, except Hilton. So when people ask us why we own timeshares in 5 different systems, we cite this example.
Because we own a number of timeshare weeks, we usually try to put together at least two or more weeks in a given area of the country. This saves on transportation costs of getting to and from the area. We learned this after returning from Gatlinburg one month, only to head out for Myrtle Beach 3 weeks later–Duh! Not good planning.
We hope that this information is helpful as you work with your timeshares to get the most out of your vacations. Enjoy!
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Very interesting. I know several people who have timeshares and do use them here on Sanibel Island each year. One of my friends recently sold a time share for 2 weeks at a condo here, and it sold in only two days. I’m sure you are right about the Hilton properties.