The term "timeshare" was coined in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s, expanding on a vacation system that became popular after World War II.[4] Vacation home sharing, also known as holiday home sharing, involved four European families that would purchase a vacation cottage jointly, each having exclusive use of the property for one of the four seasons.
They rotated seasons each year, so each family enjoyed the prime seasons equally. This concept was mostly used by related families because joint ownership requires trust and no property manager was involved. However, not many families vacation for an entire season at a time; so the vacation home sharing properties were often vacant for long periods.
British businesses decided to go one step further and divide a resort room into 1/50th ownership, have two weeks each year for repairs and upgrades, and charge a maintenance fee to each owner. It took almost a decade for timeshares in Europe to evolve into a smoothly run, successful business venture.
The first timeshare in the United States was started in 1974 by Caribbean International Corporation (CIC), based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It offered what it called a 25-year vacation license rather than ownership. The company owned two resorts the vacation license holder could alternate their vacation weeks with: one in St. Croix and one in St. Thomas; both in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands properties began their timeshare sales in 1973.
The primary draw of timeshares is that they offer access to exclusive areas at a fraction of the cost of renting a home. You only pay for the rights to use the property a few weeks or months of the year.
Timeshares can offer a guaranteed vacation experience, often at a lower cost than traditional hotel stays, especially for those who vacation annually. They provide more space and amenities than standard hotel rooms, potentially including fully equipped kitchens and living areas. Additionally, timeshares often come with access to resort amenities and the possibility of exchanging your week or points for stays at other locations within a network.
Reasons to consider a timeshare:
Ask the Timeshare Crusader / July, 2011
I have been a timeshare owner for the past 12 years and have been reading with increased dismay the media articles bashing timeshare. With this type of coverage, it's no wonder the timeshare industry has a bad reputation. Is there anything that can be done to combat this rash of negative media attention?
Anyone even remotely familiar with my name and my work over the past six years knows that I have a LOT to say about timeshare. Some of what I have to say (OK, a good deal of what I have to say) focuses on the need for the industry to institute long overdue positive changes in the areas of marketing & sales
I've also said from the start that timeshare is a great vacation alternative to millions of people: those who already own and those who could really benefit from timeshare ownership.
Article after article talks about timeshare being a "bad investment", but never quite getting around to the fact that hotel expenses are an even worse "investment".
Writers who are not familiar with the benefits of timeshare bemoan the fact that timeshare owners are "tied to the same week of the year at the same resort forever", and of course the ever popular and incorrect "you can never get rid of a timeshare". But the recent articles go even one step further in talking about timeshares as a "vacation scam" and lumping it into the same category as fake taxi drivers or pickpockets. What is the public to make of these stories?
I believe that the legitimate parties involved in the timeshare industry - and that is about 99% of the industry - along with timeshare owners, need to band together and do something.
I urge everyone involved in the timeshare industry and the millions of owners to start to work together on the 85% of things that we all agree on, and worry about the other 15% at a later date. Action must be taken and taken quickly.
Kawhia, New Zealand
Don't confuse unscrupulous marketing as necessarily representing timeshare in general. We own 3 weeks in timeshare- 2 in Taupo NZ & 1 in Tuncurry/foster Australia
The Australian timeshare was bought under high pressure sales tactics. Thats the sellers of timeshare but the resort is okay! The other 2 we bought at a fraction of the price as resales directly from the resort on behalf of the owners.
We have been timesharing now every year since 1996.
We have had fabulous holidays throughout Australia, Fiji, NZ, Mexico and this year , a month in Thailand and Bali- We combine timeshare with hotel stays and save thousands on accommodation.
Last year the 3 weeks in Mexico was all timeshare at absolutely fabulous resorts.
Don't knock something you haven't tried- Timeshare is a great way for families and friends to holiday. Undoubtedly timeshare literally changed our lives by making travel and holidays more affordable
rubbydinger Bali📷5
Of course, I've been on presentations both here and in back home- I would not ask a question relating to the subject if i didn't have at least a little first-hand knowledge on the subject.
There is too much of a generalization about timeshare, there are thousands of owners in Bali, maybe evens tens of thousands, and I don't see them parading outside resorts telling people not to buy.
The Majority own in good quality resorts and enjoy coming back year after year or exchanging. Don't knock the product it's just the marketing methods may be a little lacking.
We have owned timeshare for 11 years now. We bought in Bali. Not high pressure selling. BUT I was very concerned for weeks after (have I done the right thing etc) If you make use of the bonus weeks etc. it is very worthwhile.
I worked out we saved the amount we paid in 5 years. I even added in the amount of interest I lost by not having the money in the bank. Bali is a good place to buy because the maintenance is so low.
We used our timeshare in Las Vegas and also for an Alaskan cruise. I have stayed in a 5-star resort for $99 (for the week through bonus weeks) Amazing!!!
What's so bad about Timeshare that everybody is scared to go and find out more about it???? I own 2 weeks in 2 different resorts and have enjoyed both for a number of years.
They don't hold a gun to your head, and you can say NO and they will let you go.
My timeshare is managed by Marriott and so there is no danger of unscrupulous crooks and is not so much a vacation timeshare as it is inside London. But it works very well.
They key is to get one with identifiable ownership and managers, who have a long and impeccable reputation & a members management committee.
I've owned a timeshare in Bali since 2001. So far, we have not regretted it. What sold my wife and I on the proposition was a vacation where we spent the first half in a well-regarded hotel and the second half in my parent's timeshare. We were new parents at the time, and the comfort of the full kitchen, laundry and the informality of the environment completely sold us. I can't stress enough the importance of an in-room laundry for young families.
In that last week, we took up a timeshare promotional tour and bought at the developer's top-dollar price before I learned about timeshare resales. I canceled the developer contract and bought an even better deed from an original owner for much less.
We have stayed at our home resort and traded into other nice resorts over the years. We love returning to the familiarity and comfort of our home resort, though, of course, the last few years have been horrible for the hotel industry and bargains seem to abound.
The bargain rooms, however, will not have laundry, kitchen, or any open floor space. The beds will be wall-to-wall and the mini-fridge will be filled to the brim with overpriced, trip-wired snacks.
Joined-Sep 2022 Owned Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort; Wyndham Bonnet Creek; Wyndham Bali Hai; Wyndham Canterbury; Wyndham Grand Desert; Marriott Grand Chateau
Purchasing Wyndham points was a fantastic decision for my family. We got multiple low maintenance fee contracts for pennies on the dollar. We travel to Walt Disney World multiple times per year and used to spend $4,000ish per week for a week in a hotel room. Now we spend $900-$1,700ish in maintenance fees for a two-bedroom condo in a gorgeous resort (Bonnet Creek) on WDW grounds.
It has enabled us to travel more frequently, and to have a much better time having our own room and giving our children their own room, along with having a washer/dryer so we don’t have to pack as much and a kitchen, so we don’t have to eat every meal out.
This year we are branching out and using our timeshare points to stay a week in California in a 2 bedroom on the beach for around $1900 in annual fees when the same trip last year in kind of crappy hotel rooms cost us closer to $3,000. We are also using the points to stay beachfront in Myrtle Beach in the summer, again for an incredible price.
I have absolutely zero regrets and am confident I will continue loving these timeshare purchases for years to come.
Joined Mar 24, 2006 - Florida
I was speaking with an old friend earlier this week and we were discussing how far more folks complain about Timeshares online, or at least the perception is that most of the online references slant towards the negative!
Well low and behold someone started one of the best posts we have ever seen on the TUG Facebook page talking about how they love their timeshare, and it caused more owners to follow suit!
This really is a great read, even if you don't have Facebook!
I feel like I should let folks know here, I am actually one of the MANY happy timeshare owners . . . with absolutely ZERO regrets! I bought my first timeshare more than 40 years ago.
In 1988 we bought into The Royal Resorts in Cancun - after having vacationed in Cancun since the mid 1970’s. We bought week #16 in unit E916…so fixed week, fixed unit. Then as we had more flexibility, we acquired 3 abutting weeks from owners getting out (divorce, death, lifestyle changes, whatever). Last year was the last of our 30-year deal. Which was technically a ‘lease’.
The developer and management closed the facility and are converting it to some other form of Resort—probably a point system with all-inclusive requirements.
Here’s the kicker: the deal was that we’d have residual value at the end of the 30 yrs. It wasn’t 100% of the sales price for each unit-week, but about 60%. We deposited the checks a few days ago.
Joined May 11, 2002
Resorts Owned Sheraton Vistana, HGVC Carlsbad, HHV-Lagoon Tower
Love my timeshares, bought another one last year. Great family vacations which i could not have afforded any other way. Waikiki, Disney, Carlsbad, I enjoy them all and will continue to do so until I can no longer travel. 2bed/bath makes it so comfortable, now if I could get them moving before noon….
Joined Apr 2, 2015 -
Location -Wheaton, IL
Having timeshares has made a qualitative difference in our lives. We have an autistic son, and it was always difficult staying together in a hotel room whenever we went on vacation. There were times, 25 years ago, when a vacation (especially in Orlando) didn’t relieve our stress, but actually added to it. We all need our space.
We’ve bought several timeshares over the past 17 years. Some from the developer, some on the aftermarket. We use them regularly, we take extended family members or close friends with us occasionally, we’ve even donated a few weeks here and there to be auctioned off at charitable events. On those trips where our son joins us, we get a 2-bedroom unit, so he gets his own bedroom, bathroom and TV.
By experimenting, we’ve found the areas and specific resorts that best meet our needs. Our favorites are in Palm Beach Shores, Door County, WI, as well as Kauai. I might add that we had originally tried owning a private condo in Florida. For fours years we’d rent it out to snowbirds in the winter to cover some of our costs. It was a good arrangement for the first few years, but it really limited our options.
Joined Jul 17, 2003
After more than twenty years of owning, we continue having amazing trips with our timeshares!
We did a similar trip to @klpca’s in Dec/Jan and did it all by trading smaller units into 2BR timeshares for five consecutive weeks. We love hiking, so we were thrilled with 1 week in Santa Fe, 2 weeks in Sedona, 1 week in St George to hike Zion and Bryce, and 1 week in Moab. It was absolutely magical!
And we just got home from three weeks in Cabo - one week with my sister and her husband, the next week with all our kids and grands, and the last week to relax and unwind! We used three of our timeshares, plus a couple of exchanges into bigger units at the resort for everyone. I couldn’t imagine hosting 16 people in hotel rooms (cost and comfort wise). The timeshares were perfect!
The perfect vacation! For some it means lying on a tropical beach. For others, it’s family time at a thrilling theme park destination. For a couple looking for a romantic escape, a peaceful respite in the mountains might be in store.
No matter where you go, it’s all about quality vacation time with family, frien
The perfect vacation! For some it means lying on a tropical beach. For others, it’s family time at a thrilling theme park destination. For a couple looking for a romantic escape, a peaceful respite in the mountains might be in store.
No matter where you go, it’s all about quality vacation time with family, friends, and loved ones. And there’s no better way to experience the perfect vacation year after year than through vacation ownership and membership with Interval International®.
·
Since 1976, Interval International has been making it easy for members to spend vacation time
at a vast network of quality resorts. And with over 3,200 resorts in 90 countries and territories from which to choose, members truly have the world at their disposal. Interval membership offers so much more than vacation exchange.
You’ll also have access to a suite
of benefits such as Getaways — weeklong stays in the world’s most desirable destinations at an exclusive price.
At IntervalWorld.com, you can book travel as well as peruse vacation ideas, travel inspiration, book a cruise, search for Getaways, and more. And travel advice is always just a mouse-click and tips for maximizing your membership.
In 1974, Jon and Christel DeHaan changed everything. By letting owners exchange time at their home resorts for a stay at affiliated properties, members got better value, flexibility, and adventures to share. And the travel industry would never be the same – but that was just the start.
Today, RCI isn’t just the leader of vacation exchange
In 1974, Jon and Christel DeHaan changed everything. By letting owners exchange time at their home resorts for a stay at affiliated properties, members got better value, flexibility, and adventures to share. And the travel industry would never be the same – but that was just the start.
Today, RCI isn’t just the leader of vacation exchange. It’s an entire global travel network. One place to dream it, plan it, and book it all.
Score a hotel stay in paradise. Get road-trip ready with a rental car. Find passes to must-see attractions. Or even pick a cross-country flight. With RCI you get it all while enjoying exclusive savings, perks, and services every step of the way.
This is The New Shape of Travel. Say hello to 4,000+ resorts, 600,000+ hotels, 345,000 activities, 30+ popular cruise lines, and access to major car rental brands. Take your pick of the perks that come with RCI Weeks® and RCI Points® membership options, plus elevated travels with the RCI Platinum® tier.
It’s all here. All in one spot. All for you. So, where to next?
7Across is a global leader in direct-to-consumer timeshare exchange, offering owners a FREE membership to exchange their timeshare for new travel experiences. We offer a simple 1:1 exchange model so you can Get Your Travel On by minimizing the fees and fine print standing in your way.
With 7Across it is easy to go more
7Across is a global leader in direct-to-consumer timeshare exchange, offering owners a FREE membership to exchange their timeshare for new travel experiences. We offer a simple 1:1 exchange model so you can Get Your Travel On by minimizing the fees and fine print standing in your way.
With 7Across it is easy to go more places, see more faces and cover more spaces. We want to spark exploration across the 7 Wonders of the World and to every corner of the globe, while delivering you simple, great value, transparent travel options for your vacation club ownership.
At 7Across, we are all about getting you on vacation. To us that means minimizing the fees and fine print standing in your way.
So what are you waiting for? Don't get lost in the fine print, get lost in life's finer moments.
Holiday Inn Resort, Bali, Nusa Dua
Jl Pratama, No 86, Tanjung Benoa, Kuta Selatan, Badung, Bali