My first experience with timeshare rentals was for my honeymoon a little over 7 years ago. Like most couples, we were lucky enough if we could come up with enough money to pay for our wedding ourselves, let alone our honeymoon. We weren’t sure what we were going to do, we couldn’t afford travel and a weeks hotel stay, and then add all of those activities and eating out. Honeymoons, or any vacation can be expensive! We were young, new to the vacationing world and had no idea how to pay for it all. We were pretty sure we were going to postpone the honeymoon until one day when we could afford it, and deep down we knew life and our future kids would take hold and we’d never get that dream honeymoon we wanted.
Then my sister approached me and told me her gift to us was use of their timeshare for our honeymoon. We were flabbergasted and really didn’t know what that meant financially. Wow were we in for a big surprise. She covered the costs of the timeshare, so we didn’t pay a penny for our lodging. What about activities? Remember, we’re new to the whole vacation planning thing. When we got to the condo, we found out there was a concierge who gave us suggestions and told us which activities offered discounts for timeshare members (which we were considered since we were using my sisters timeshare). It was awesome! It didn’t make our honeymoon free, but it did discount it enough that we were able to have a lot of fun on our budget.
This mountain view may not mean much to you, but it was made possible thanks to the timeshare my sister rented to me for free. Oh, and this picture was taken from a hot air balloon. Something I never would have been able to afford without that wonderful gift.
So, I know what you must be thinking. How does this story help you with timeshares. You don’t have a relative who owns a timeshare, or at least one who is willing to share it for free. The reason I’m telling you this is because it opened my eyes to the world of timeshares that I didn’t know existed. Thanks to my sister’s generous gift, I now know a little more about how timeshares work. I also know that instead of spending a lot of money on a timeshare I might not be able to use every year, I can rent one from someone who does own one and can’t use it that year. I reviewed the RedWeek website for more information on timeshare rentals to help my family plan our next vacation. While I’m not sure when that will be, it’s always good to stay on top of the prices and locations.
Above is a screenshot from the RedWeek.com main page. I love that they show you the top timeshare rental destinations, and you can’t beat those prices! They are so much better than staying at a hotel. As I was browsing for timeshare rentals, I noticed that I could click on Find a Timeshare on the green navigation bar at the top and specifically choose to find rentals. On that page, at the bottom, there was an entire section of specific features I could search by, such as kid-friendly and pet-friendly, both of which are important to me.
One thing that hasn’t changed in the past seven years since I got married, is we don’t vacation much, so although I’m better versed in timeshares thanks to my sister, my honeymoon and the few vacations I’ve taken with them to their timeshare, I still have reservations about vacationing places I’m not familiar with. I’ve pretty much stayed in my homestate for the majority of my life and I get a bit anxious thinking about traveling much further than 12 hours away. With this extra caution I’m prone to, I love that RedWeek offers a great resource page that includes a FAQ, how to’s and my favorite, how to avoid scams page. We don’t have a lot of extra money, so knowing I can learn all about what to do and what to avoid when renting a timeshare makes me breathe a bit easier when it comes to planning my next vacation.
With all of that said, why would I want to look at timeshare rentals over getting hotel? Here’s a list of advantages to timeshare rentals:
- Often they are much cheaper than renting a hotel room, often up to 50% cheaper, especially when renting directly from the owner.
- You are usually helping a timeshare owner out by taking advantage of timeshare rentals they can’t use that season, so you can get great deals at luxury resorts.
- A hotel is usually a one room space cramped with all the furniture. A timeshare is spacious and usually has multiple rooms. Think about that, separate bedrooms for the entire family, a living room, sometimes a game room!
- Eating out can be expensive on vacation but many timeshare rentals have a full sized kitchen included. This means you don’t have to spend big bucks on meals three times a day, reducing the cost of vacation even more.
- With a timeshare you usually get more accommodations than a hotel would have to offer, such as swimming pools, hot tubs, game rooms, mini golf, playgrounds, ice cream socials and more.
- Depending on where you rent your timeshare you’ll also have practically front door access to beaches, mountains, hike/bike trails, oceans, skiing and theme parks.
With all of these great advantages to timeshare rentals, you might as well jump on board for this great giveaway! A 2-year free membership to RedWeek.com to have all access to timeshare rentals. What do you have to lose, except more money on a vacation you don’t have to spend! Rent a timeshare and have more vacation money left over to do the things you really want to do on vacation. Enter now, this contest runs from March 7, 2013 to March 14, 2013 11:59pm EST.
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I am going to look into timeshare rentals for my November trip to the Falls!
That sounds like a great idea! I hope I can make it up to the Falls in November sometime to see you. Light it up White!!!
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You can rent timeshares on RedWeek or you can buy one.