Escape Timeshare

An excellent alternative timeshares and vacation clubs is offered to military service personnel and their families.  It’s called the Armed Forces Vacation Club and costs absolutely nothing to join.

One need merely be 21 or older, and a:

• Member of the United States Uniformed Services (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, NOAA, USPHS; active duty, and both active and inactive Reserve, Auxiliarist, and National Guard) or an adult dependent
• Retired Member of the United States Uniformed Services (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, NOAA, USPHS, Reserve, Auxiliarist and National Guard)
• Spouse or child (21 or older) of an active or retired member of the United States Uniformed Services (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, NOAA, USPHS, Reserve, Auxiliarist and National Guard) AND have a current DD Form 1173, United States Uniformed Services Identification and Privilege Card.
• Civilian employee of the DoD or a United States Uniformed Service (appropriated, non-appropriated, or retired).
• Foreign exchange service member on permanent duty with the DoD
• American Red Cross personnel serving overseas with the U.S. military
• DoD Dependent School teacher
• Disabled American Veteran rated @ 100% with a valid United States Uniformed Services Identification Card.
• Contractor working on a military installation and in possession of an ID card issued by the installation.

Membership includes such perks as being able to rent a condo for far less than most timeshares charge OWNERS to stay at there own.  We’re talking less than $300 a week.  Compare this to timeshares that charge $500+/year in maintenance fees alone and this club starts to make good sense.

More info can be found here.

Lately, there has been a surge of companies offering ‘vacation club’ discounts in the hopes of convincing the timeshare market to purchase pricey club membership access with various perks.

As these ‘clubs’ are not technically timeshares, they sometimes skirt or avoid laws put in place to protect consumers from being scammed.

For example, CNN is reporting that one vacation club would offer new members a discount coupon to Red Lobster and encourage them to use it.   Once used, they’d void their right to a refund on their $7500 membership purchase.

This illustrates yet again why buyers should fully research things prior to spending thousands on anything.

We mentioned Toyshare a while ago, and have received info from several sources claiming that Toyshare is not only in financial trouble, it is now been taken over by ClubRec.

This must be nervous news for those owning shares in the ‘club’, as your share becomes fairly worthless if your timeshare company goes bankrupt.

There may be an out for current members however, as your contract is likely with the old firm and may not be enforceable with the new owners.  If they attempt to change terms at all, you can refuse and walk.

Best of luck to those owning in Toyshare Utah or Las Vegas.

In addition to the countless other reasons not to purchase a timeshare at a presentation, we’ve been alerted to something new.  Apparently, purchasing a timeshare at a presentation completely negates your ownership right to whatever gift you’re to be given for attending.

If you decide to cancel the timeshare purchase during your right of rescission (generally within 5 days), you must pay the resort back for the retail cost of the freebie.  If you get the freebie and do not buy however, you will be held to no such provision.

In plain English, the main reason for attending the presentation is given up if you decide to purchase.  Of course in the excitement of the happy salesman bringing out the champagne the buyer rarely reads contractual fine print, but this may serve as a good excuse not to buy in the first place.  Tell the salesman you’re concerned about the provision that obligates you to pay for the freebie if you cancel, and say you’d prefer to take your gift now, and may consider buying at a later time.

Of course, if you’ve already bought - the cost of the freebie should not stop you from cancelling your purchase.  $100 is a lot less than a wasted $4,000+.

We’ve been told of the following offer:

Mystic Dunes™ Resort & Golf Club (2 Nights ) + plus 2 Tickets = $139.00

2 FREE Theme Park Tickets
Get 2 FREE theme park tickets when you stay 2 nights at our award-winning Mystic Dunes™ Resort & Golf Club. Your choice of Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot® Disney’s Hollywood Studios™, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park, Universal Studios Florida®, Universal’s Islands of Adventure®, or Sea World® Orlando tickets.

This exclusive Preview Rate* saves you over $600:

• 2 Nights plus 2 Tickets Just $139

But when I talked to customer service, the price he told me is $99.00 for 2 nights + 2 tickets for SeaWorld in Orlando.

You’ll often find that salesmen are happy to reduce the price on the phone to close the sale, as the only reason you’re paying anything generally is to assure that you come.

Keep in mind that these vacation deals often result in a not so enjoyable vacation as you’re expose to high pressure sales.  You’ll either spend the vacation regretting spending too much on the timeshare, or feeling bad because of the constant attacks and insults thrown at you for not purchasing.

You’ve been offered a highly reduced rate at some resort in Orlando, Hawaii, or Vegas.  Sounds great doesn’t it?

One thing to realize regarding free/reduced cost vacation offers is that failure to attend the timeshare presentation can result in them charging you the FULL rack rate on the resort, which is often several hundred dollars a day.  Many resorts have been known to threaten to do so to customers that walk out on or refuse to buy a unit during their presentation.

Always always ALWAYS read the fine print and ask upfront EXACTLY what will be required of you before attending a presentation.  It will make things easier and cheaper for you.

We’ve been hearing some good things about Disney Vacation Club, a service that allows members to travel around and stay at various resorts worldwide.

While the resort itself may not be the best deal, the tours are supposedly less high pressure than most timeshare presentations, so it can make for an easy free gift.

It’s worth pointing out that the gifts tend to be of a lower value than some other resorts will offer.  On the bright side, you’ll be less likely to get forced into buying.

A visit to their website will put you in contact with a representative happy to take your personal information.  Here’s what the rep said to us:

“Let me go over the basics with you and then I will be able to get a vacation guide to customize a complimentary package for you including pricing and points charts and send it in the mail. Also they will be able contact you to assist you further with your questions. Does that sound ok?”

One of biggest reasons that Timeshares are not regarded as true ripoffs results from the owner problem.  Many thousands are duped into buying overpriced timeshares each year, and in order to justify their tremendous waste of money they loudly laud the ‘advantages of owning a timeshare’ to friends and family.

No one likes to admit they were ripped off, especially when it involves an albatross that most people are unable to get rid of.  For this reason, generally the only people that will claim timeshares work for some people are those that own or sell timeshares.

Always carefully consider the WEEK and LOCATION on the timeshare you plan to buy.  Whether buying new or used, you must be on the watch that you don’t get misled into purchasing at the wrong resort.  One common issue arises when non-locals purchase a timeshare only to find it’s either very far from where they thought it was or worse yet, on an off week.

It can be quite frustrating to buy a week at a resort you plan to ski at only to later learn that ski season ends before your week arrives.

While Mexico does offer some timeshare protection for buyers, laws are lacking in regards to consumer protection.  That means that you might be promised a wonderful gift only to find the organization refuses to deliver if you don’t buy their timeshare.

We know many of you are traveling to Latin America this summer, and hope you avoid unnecessary harassment from pushy timeshare salesmen.  It can often be an unscrupulous industry.