Planning to Maximize Your Timeshare Weeks Each Year

Our timeshare weeks are a source of great enjoyment for us and our family. But maximizing that enjoyment takes some planning. This post will discuss how we, Dave and Suz, plan our weeks each year. Don’t procrastinate on this; as the saying goes – if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there.

You’ll need to schedule some of this as long as a year in advance. Seem too far in the future? Well, not every timeshare aspect needs to be planned this far ahead. But some do. That’s OK for us; it forces us to make the necessary arrangements. It also allows to schedule other events around those future timeshare dates to eliminate potential conflicts.

We own four weeks; three are gold weeks (spring and fall) at resorts on Hilton Head Island. One of those is a fixed week at Harbour Point purchased through a timeshare reseller. Here is how we plan our weeks:

• We automatically deposit the Harbour Point week with Interval International for later exchanges to other resorts. I recently suggested to Suz that we consider occupying Harbour Point once because we have never stayed there. But she likes the other resorts better. So far it’s worked because that fixed gold week trades very well.



• That leaves two other weeks on Hilton Head, at Harbour Club and Barony Beach Club to be planned out. Each year, we turn one of those weeks in for reward points which can be redeemed for airfare miles and hotel lodging at Marriott. Generally, two years worth of reward points from our deposited timeshare weeks allow us to take a major trip – at no cost for airfare and lodging. It is a fabulous benefit – more in a future message on that. This past February, for example, we spent a week on the Big island at Marriott’s Waikaloa resort and a week on Maui (see picture below). Wow.



• We generally occupy the third week at either Harbour Club or Barony Beach Club on Hilton Head, whichever is not deposited for Reward points. Our season in the Marriott system is gold. So, we can pick weeks in the spring and fall. Our preference is May – with pleasant weather and slower pace than the busy summer months. This year we stayed at Harbour Club in early June so our daughter, son-in-law and three grandkids could join us.



• That leaves our platinum week at Ocean Pointe in Palm Beach area. We often deposit that with Interval International because of its strong trading power for exchanges to prime destinations. It also has the lock -off feature, meaning that the second bedroom referred to as a guest suite since it has a limited kitchen) can be separated, or “locked off” from the master suite. Use the lock off feature and voila’ - you get two units for the price of one. This year we decided to occupy the master suite for a week next February and deposit the guest suite with Interval International. Palm Beach in mid-February... I can't wait.
  

Everyone will have different interest, approaches, and priorities. The main thing is to “Just Do It” – It being whatever is necessary to make sure you maximize your use and enjoyment of your timeshare units – whether you own one week or ten. Share your ideas with us!

Gotta go. Talk later. Dave and Suz