Over the years, in my timeshare owners’ Facebook groups, I’ve seen posts from unhappy timeshare owners. Many of these people bought a timeshare for a specific travel hack or certain travel destinations.
Unfortunately, after their purchase, they learned that their plan is either not possible or very difficult. Their assumptions about timeshares often fall into one of three categories.
1. A Way to Travel to Every Destination in the World
If you are buying a timeshare to travel to Iceland, Alaska, or to have a place to stay in Dayton, Ohio, to visit your grandkids, you’re going to be disappointed.
That’s because those places don’t have timeshare resorts. If you have specific cities you want to travel to in the next ten years, take some time to make sure timesharing is a match for your bucket list.
One of the easiest ways to see timeshares worldwide is to look at the Resort Directories for the two largest timeshare exchange companies in the world.
Combined, the RCI resort directory and the Interval International resort directory will give you a sense of what destinations timesharing can take you to.
2. Guaranteed Exchange Availability at the Most In-Demand Resorts
Access to an exchange program is an exciting part of owning a timeshare. We take some of our weeks at our Catskills timeshare and deposit them with RCI to secure room reservations at other resorts.
For example, in May, we reserved a room at a gorgeous Barbados resort by completing an RCI timeshare exchange.But if I had my heart set on using my ownership to stay only at The Crane Barbados and only during my birthday week, with only a month’s notice, I’d be frustrated with timesharing.