A GIFTED TIME SHARE VS. ALL INCLUSIVE??? PLEASE ADVISE! ;)

bridetobekatieb

Hello Everyone!
My Aunt has graciousely offered up her week long time share as a wedding gift to my Fiance and I (wedding is June 29, 2013). To be honest I haven't even started thinking about the Honeymoon since my wedding is a tad over a year away...Basically the time share is good for a number of places that have hotels owned by the Marriott. Obv. we would still have to foot the bill for food, drink, activities, etc  etc. I am trying to still figure out what the best option would be though. I don't want to accept her gift, pick a place, and then realize that an all inclusive would have been a less expensive option for us...Can anyone help me on this??

Thanks so much!!!

Katie

mbody

I'd suggest looking into all the potential places you can go using the timeshare. My parents have a couple time shares and they get a HUGE book with all the locations/resorts/hotels that they can trade for. Once you have a few top locations, look into pricing for airfare to the locations, food/entertainment, ect. Can you afford it?

I'd cross check that with pricing for air fare/AIs packages off some websites, such as, Apple, Travelocity, Expedia, ect.

You can probably find some packaged deals for cheaper, however it will depend on location and what you want for your HM. Keep in mind, AIs aren't found everywhere. For example, Hawaii doesn't have any. Or if you want a European HM, you probably won't want to stay at an AI (although, you'd probably have a hard time finding one) because you'll want to get out and enjoy the local culture- not be tied down to a resort the entire time. Now, if you want to go to a location where AIs aren't found, then staying in the Timeshare will probably make the overall vaca cheaper.

Does all that make sense?

EDIT: My parents' timeshares are in Cancun, MX. They are not at an AI. We like this because it gives us freedom to eat at many other great restaurants Cancun has to offer. However, Cancun, (as well as other places in MX) is a destination that has many AIs, so it could be cheaper to travel to Cancun and stay at an AI.

bridetobekatieb

Yes Thanks!!

krizzo17

My Fi's parents gave us a similar wedding present. We found out that we could swap the time share for the room value at an AI, then just pay the difference (which they generously offered to do) to get the AI package.

lls31

FI's parents offered us their timeshare, which we could use anywhere in the world.  We wanted a Caribbean HM, so we looked into various islands, checked out costs of flights, and fees to upgrade to AI at those resorts that were eligible.  We also considered a resort without AI and estimated cost of food and drinks for a week based on previous experience.  

It turned out that additional costs involved in the timeshare weren't worth it for us, so we politely declined.  We were able to book a HM for much less that we would've had to shell out for the timeshare and we also saved FI's parents the timeshare fees that they would've been paying for us to use it.

alithebride

you can probably upgrade to an AI using the timeshare exchange-it's just that you have to pay an upgrade fee. that's what we've done with ours. Ask what options you have as far as which hotels. i know tha tsome marriotts do offer an all inclusive option as well.