Cheap Holidays for Life (Time-Share Holiday Brokers in general)

Member Name: Grimsbygal

Product:	Time-Share Holiday Brokers in general
Date:	01/02/02 (2487 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap holidays, for life

Disadvantages: have to pay maintenance, transfer costs

Please note: This opinion is based on Interval International and not timeshares in general.

My family got persuaded into buying a timeshare back in 1998. We were on holiday in Tenerife and we were stopped to scratch off one of those scratch cards. Of course we won and because it was £100 of duty free my dad wanted to go and claim it. We got whisked off into a taxi to have a look at these apartments. My mum and dad promised themselves they wouldn?t buy anything and even began using me as an excuse. After looking around the first apartment they told the rep they would soon have to leave as I had forgot my asthma medication. An hour and a half later they were still there but drinking champagne.

The company goes by the name of Interval International and they kept claiming that they were not classed as timeshares. They didn?t get my mum and dad to sign their life away they just got them to sign a three year deal. This allowed us one year?s holiday completely free and then two years just paying for the flights. The price sounded really good and it was for six people so they decided to go ahead. After all they would just go for the three years and not be persuaded into anymore.

A year later we stepped off the plane in Tenerife and was greeted by this lady with our name on a piece of card. We were whisked away in a taxi to our apartments and we checked in. At first we were a bit worried that the rooms would be a mess and we had been conned but after opening the door we realised the rooms were fantastic. We had a two-bedroom apartment with three bathrooms, a kitchen and Sky TV. We had a roof complete with six sun loungers and we had two balconies facing the beach that was literally a 30 second walk away.

The next day our rep came to greet us and gave us more champagne and as many free soft drinks that we could drink. She also gave us free tickets to two excursions and a date to go for a free meal at a big American restaurant on the isla
nd. Throughout the two weeks she was really nice and till this day we are still in touch. However my mum and dad broke their promise. Before the end of the holiday they were signing their lives away and agreeing to holidays for the rest of their lives. My dad was out of work at the time so they only committed themselves to one week at the cheapest time of year.

This was two years ago and although they have only been on holiday three times since they are really happy with the deal and do not regret it at all. Last year they changed the deal to two weeks with one bedroom instead of a week with two bedrooms. There are both advantages and disadvantages to buying into one of these deals. I will try and explain some of them below.

Advantages
§ You do not have to go to the place your apartment is situated. My mum and dad have never actually been to their actual apartment. They have looked around it and yes it does look fantastic complete with its own jacuzzi although it is quite far away from the beach. You can exchange your weeks to any destination in the world for just £80 per week. If you go to your actual apartment you will just have to pay for the flights and transfers.
§ Number of locations ? There are literally thousands of places to choose from all around the world. It enables you to travel the world at a good price.
§ Quality of apartments ? You can always guarantee your apartment will be clean and up to standards. When we went away in 2000 we were warned that the quality of the apartments were not brilliant. This was only because they had not been redecorated for a couple of years but it were still far better than normal package holiday apartments. Many are complete with their own Jacuzzi on the roof and a private swimming pool in a small back garden.
§ Holiday for life ? After paying for the apartment in full the only cost you have to pay each year is maintenance. If something should happen to the owners say for example they
were in a plane crash, the holiday would be passed down to their next of kin.
§ You can also book holidays for your friends using Getaway deals. You can book as many as you want so for example if it was your birthday you could all go and celebrate it abroad.

Disadvantages

§ Maintenance ? Each year you have to pay a maintenance fee, which is in the region of £200. This fee is payable even if you are not going on holiday that year.
§ Availability ? Often if you require to exchange your weeks the availability is not at its best until 60 days before travel. This is because the owners of the apartment have up to 60 days before to let the company know if they are going and if they are not that is when their room becomes vacant.
§ Reps can be a bit persuasive. My mum and dad were persuaded and luckily they don?t regret it. Many people regret buying timeshares afterwards and feel as if they have been wrongly persuaded into doing so.
§ If you are going on a getaway booking is only available in single weeks. This means having to book the two weeks separately and it could also mean that for the second week you have to change apartments. They try and prevent this from happening and if it does they make sure you are moved to a room close by rather than one at the other side of the complex.
§ Unfortunately you have to pay for your transfers from the airport. This is not a problem if you are in Tenerife and less than 20 miles away as taxis are really cheap anyway. If you are over 50 miles away from the airport though it can get expensive.

Each timeshare company is different. Interval International is heavily into golf breaks and offers a wide range of golfing holidays around the world. They also have luxurious health spas around the globe and also places in England such as Regency Villas in Kent. They are constantly building new places so the choice increases. I would recommend Interval International to most people especially
people like my mum and dad who are now at the age where their kids are leaving them and they want to travel to places they have never been before and live in luxury.
This year I am going on holiday with my mum and dad, fiancé and my future mother in law. We are in the process of looking into places to go. You can browse online at the different places available and even book up and exchange your current weeks. Some resorts are a lot cheaper than others. At the minute they are offering a week in Fuerteventura for just £162. This 1 bedroom apartment sleeps up to four people so therefore it is only just over £40 each. You can always shop around for the cheapest flights available which will make your holiday even cheaper. Remember these prices are only incurred if you are booking a late getaway. If you are using you owned weeks and going to your apartment you only pay for flights and if you are exchanging your weeks for anywhere in the world you only pay £80 per week. The prices are given per room per week rather than per person. Some prices are unbelievable for example you can spend a week in Cape Cod for just £124 for up to four people.

I know I will be using this company in the future and hope to visit many different places from the Seychelles to New Caledonia and from Malaysia to St Lucia.

Really I could go on about this forever although I don't want to send you all to sleep. If you want to ask me something do so and I will try and answer for you or at least give you an address where you can find out.

Thanks for Reading

Grimsbygal

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