Best way to get into II

[cmkallen]

Hello,

I own BWV and SSR and love them. I was interested in dabbling in II. So I started looking at other timeshares that were affiliated with II. Can anybody reccomend a good starter timeshare that is inexpensive and trades good with II.

Craig K

 

[Dean]

Wow, that's an easy request, LOL. Truthfully one size does not fit all. It really depends on your family size, flexibility, when you travel, how far in advance you can plan, your budget, etc. I'd direct most newcomers interested in trading to something they might use part of the time and trade at others. Something such as a mid level type Marriott at least in terms of price or another points system like Bluegreen or Worldmark. Overall I'd suggest the Timeshare Users Group at tug2.net and that anyone interested spend a good 6 months to ascend the learning curve to figure out what is best for them. IF you want to give me specifics I'll try to make a few suggestions that you might consider but ultimately the decision must be yours.

 

[cmkallen]

Well, I have a family of 4. Kids are 6 and 4. I can pretty much travel when I want and I could book trips with short notice if need be. Budget is somewhat important.

I have been looking into a minimal Worldmark purchase(6000 points) to play around with II.

I do like the Marriott resorts alot better, but what would be a good trader to Purchase.

I will continue my DVC alot. I own 345 at the BWV(250,45,45) and 50 at SSR.


Thanks for any advice,

Craig K.

P.S. I joined TUG a few days ago. ALOT OF INFO!

 

[tomandrobin]

Listen to Dean, he's a pretty knowlodgeable person when it comes to the world of timeshares. Joining TUG is an excellent source of information for timeshares in general and the members there are outstanding! Good luck in your research!

 

[Dean]

Well, I have a family of 4. Kids are 6 and 4. I can pretty much travel when I want and I could book trips with short notice if need be. Budget is somewhat important.

I have been looking into a minimal Worldmark purchase(6000 points) to play around with II.

I do like the Marriott resorts alot better, but what would be a good trader to Purchase.

I will continue my DVC alot. I own 345 at the BWV(250,45,45) and 50 at SSR.


Thanks for any advice,

Craig K.

P.S. I joined TUG a few days ago. ALOT OF INFO!

You didn't say where you are or what type of travel you like to do so I'll go with what you have given so far. I think WM is a great choice if you are out west, less so for the Eastern US. It is pretty pricey compared to Bluegreen and Fairfield but likely less so than some of the other points systems like Hilton, Hyatt, Westin and the like. I really like Marriott in this situation even with the full weeks limitation. Personally I'd look at somewhere like Williamsburg or Branson or say Utah, AZ or CA desert. A lockoff will be a great choice for this situation and an Every other year would work you just fine. If you can buy something you'd use a significant portion of the time you'd be better off.

If you can truly travel off season including during school time like Jan, May and Sept likely anything will work well for you and you could make out like a bandit with many systems. Cheapest options would include one of the cheaper points systems like BG (FF is almost totally RCI) which works with RCI and II. A cheap week anywhere might work well including shoulder seasons in FL, TN/NC mountains and the like. But in the long run I think the Marriott or Worldmark might be a better choice for a beginner/novice. BG will be mostly Southeast if that matters. You can look at the Marriott locations on their website at vacationclub.com.

I'd again recommend TUG and spending time figuring out what's best for YOU.

 

[squidmo]

If you are interested in WM, they have an owners forum that is very informative, and have LOTS of info about exchanging through II. Here's a link to one post that they've put as a "sticky" on their exchange forum:

http://www.wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6720&sid=3ab961d728c4f55de8ed0109bf03d3f0

 

[littlestar]

I second an EOY (every other year) timeshare. Preferably a lock off. That way you would have a studio/one bedroom combination and be able to get two weeks out of your ownership. If you need to travel during school holidays, try to buy something platinum (preferably) or maybe gold. We own a silver Marriott Horizons EOY week in Branson and it works for us because we can travel off season. But for someone with kids in school, silver would not work very well. We wanted another timeshare that we could possibly drive to easily in a day's journey. So Branson made sense for us. We also own another EOY week in North Carolina (easy day's drive). So if airfares go crazy, we own two resorts that we can drive to easily. We would still want to fly to our DVC home, though.

Take your time and do your research. Good luck.

 

[cmkallen]

You didn't say where you are or what type of travel you like to do so I'll go with what you have given so far. I think WM is a great choice if you are out west, less so for the Eastern US.

.

Dean

I actually live in Michigan. I do own my own company so I can travel off seasons if need be. My kids are young so pulling them from school is not a big deal yet. My wife does like warm places with beaches if that helps any.

Craig K

 

[Dean]

Dean

I actually live in Michigan. I do own my own company so I can travel off seasons if need be. My kids are young so pulling them from school is not a big deal yet. My wife does like warm places with beaches if that helps any.

Craig K

I'll concentrate on II for sake of simplicity. BG has a resort at Wisconsin Dells and one at Boyne as well as Hershey plus they have, or will soon Williamsburg and Vegas with a good beach presence in Myrtle Beach and FL. There are a number of individual resorts as well at a group of resorts in and around Mich as well. Marriott has Williamsburg and Branson as well as a couple in CO. There are a smattering of individual resorts in surrounding areas of Ohio, Indiana, KY, South Dakota and the like.

One thing you said bothers me about your situation. You talked about pulling your kids out of school right now suggesting as they got older you might not want to do that. Once my kids reached middle school we didn't pull them out at all but did prior. If that's your time frame you need to buy NOW accordingly or at least something that gives you options for the higher demand times.

What I'd not do is buy something high end with the idea of trading it a significant portion of the time. Even if you don't get what you want part of the time better to own middle of the road than to be losing on every trade.