Timeshare Honeymoon or Travel Agent?

Knottie75858484 · February 2015

I am planning my honeymoon that will be late September of this year. Originally, I had planned on booking through a well-known travel agency that it local to me. But recently a friend of mine has offered to give us some points from her timeshare to use to book our honeymoon. Basically our stay in an all-inclusive resort in Mexico or the Caribbean would be free, which is awesome! And there are a ton of resorts we can choose from. We would have to pay for airfare and any excursions we wanted to go on, but that's basically it. However, we would have to book airfare ourselves, travel from the airport to the resort, and excursions all on our own. With a travel agent I know they would do all of that for you, which would be great. Of course my fiancé is leaning toward the timeshare because it will save a lot of money, and he says that we are smart enough to figure out booking all of the other stuff. I just don't want something to go wrong and have to figure it out ourselves. And I like that the travel agent would book EVERYTHING for us. Neither of us have travelled much at all, and neither of us have been to the Caribbean/Mexico so we don't know what we're doing. Do you think we should go with the timeshare and save a bunch of money and plan the other stuff ourselves, or go through the travel agent with piece of mind that things will be taken care of? Any opinions GREATLY appreciated!

lyndausvi · February 2015

You can use a TA to book your flights and transfers to the timeshare place.

Best of both worlds.

That said, I've never used a TA and I've traveled the world. I've never found it hard to book a flight or figured out transfers to our accommodations. You can always call the timeshare property for their recommendations on transfers. I've stayed in TS in St John and you have the option of using their transfers or using the public one. In that case you have to take a ferry from STT. NBD

JoanE2012 · February 2015

Agree w/ lyndausvi....a Travel Agent can book your flights and help you with excursions. You can even use Expedia or Travelocity (they're travel agents, just online versions) to book flights and when you get to the resort, book your excursions. For transfers, the resort's webpage may provide insight into what's available. Most places, DH and I will just grab a cab outside the airport. Do whatever is most comfortable for you.

mlg78 · February 2015

I also agree with Lynda & Joan. How far is the timeshare from the airport? Grab a cab if it isn't far. Or the resort might provide info on that info as well. I've never used a TA and I've been to a dozen and a half countries.

CMGragain · February 2015

Many travel agents do not book airfare anymore, but you can certainly ask. You might also ask the resort about local transportation to and from the airport. Many provide it.

Going through a travel agent does not insure that "everything will be taken care of". Shit happens, even on honeymoons! Get travel insurance to cover your costs and to help out if you have problems. Your medical insurance will not cover hospitalization in most Caribbean countries or Mexico! You need travel insurance, just in case.

On our vacation last month we had a series of four flights taking us from Colorado to Singapore. Well, the first flight was an hour late in arriving. Imagine the mess of re-booking all those international flights! Yikes! Fortunately, we made our connection with the help of the local airport personnel, but if we hadn't our insurance would have covered the extra hotel stays and any extra cost. The airlines WOULDN'T!

katiekessler123 · February 2015

I would suggest going to TripAdvisor and checking out the forum on whatever island/Mexican location you plan on traveling to. The forums are VERY helpful in sharing information on how to travel from the airport to your resort, and any other questions you have. Many of the AL that I've been to, have agents right on site that help you book excursions, if you so desire to do that. However, like lyndausvi, I've traveled very extensively as well, and have never had a problem with transportation, or any other issues. Also, check out a travel book from your library. My husband and I have planned MANY vacations just with the help of travel books. I like Rick Steves books the best.

OliveOilsMom · February 2015

I am a timeshare owner. I don't know what kind of timeshare your friend has, but I have Wyndham. In order for us to stay at an AI, it requires like 500k points or its 200k points and we need to pay out of pocket for the food and beverage package. So be aware that you may need to also pay either a daily stipend for food & beverages, I have met very few owners over the years that have that many points.

As for the resorts, most of the timeshare resorts we have stayed at have a concerige desk. They can help you book your adventures for you when you arrive. For Wyndham, they also offer discounted adventures with certain vendors. Also, go on the timeshare presentation, its usually only a couple hours and you will get a Visa gift card. There is no obligation to say yes!

kvruns · February 2015

book the flights yourself, and then use trip advisor to research transportation and excursions and book those yourself. I'd also double check that the timeshare points include the AI package. We used timeshare points in January at a place with an AI option but you have to pay extra for that

klk111415 · February 2015

I was going to say make sure your food and beverage will be included. Booking a flight and airport transportation is soooo simple to do on your own. And if you are staying at a resort, someone will want to sell you an excursion and you can sometimes pay less than you would with a travel agent. They have everything set up for you. We booked our entire trip through cheapCaribbean.com and when we got to the resort, we decided we wanted to go jet skiing so we booked at the resort for a great price- and this option wasn't even offered through the website we used. And the most recent time we went to Mexico, we booked our hotel shuttle through a company which was separate from our flight. The shuttle was waiting for us when we got there. I've never used a travel agent before so I can't tell you whether they are worth it or not, but we get great deals by going online and it's very simple. We are planning our whole honeymoon to Hawaii visiting multiple islands and the process has been easy so far!

Knottie75858484 · February 2015

Thank you for all of the helpful comments! OliveOilsMom, the timeshare our friends work through is Diamond Resorts International. I've heard terrible things about the company itself, but we do not plan on becoming members. Just using the points. Our friends said they have never had issues with showing up to their resort and not having their reservation on file, so hopefully that won't be an issue! Our friends said they should have plenty of points to book one of the resorts we have been looking at. I think that we will have to pay a fee for booking AI, I did notice that on the timeshare website. Still may save lots of money though. I've been looking at reviews on TripAdvisor and, points allowing, I have it narrowed down to El Dorado Royale and El Dorado Seaside Suites both in Cancun/Riviera Maya. They got really good reviews. Anybody been here or heard of these? Again thanks for all the advice ladies!

kvruns · February 2015

I've heard good things about Royale but haven't heard of Seaside before. I looked on the map and Seaside is much further south so take that into consideration, although if you plan on going toTulum or things like that you might be ok with it. If u plan on going to Playa or a Cancun excursion the Royale might be better.

Timeshare Honeymoon or Travel Agent?

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