timeshare presentation limit

How to Survive a Timeshare Presentation: Tips you Need to Know

• Post author: Scott Fix
• Post published: February 11, 2021
• Post category: Couple Travel / Travel Tips

You are here because you want to know how to survive a timeshare presentation. How do I end the sales pitch? How do I resist timeshare sales tricks and just say “no”? After going through the process ourselves and chatting with a sales insider, we are here to share what we have learned. Read on for all you need to know to escape the formidable high-pressure timeshare pitch.

What’s the Deal with Timeshare Presentations? 

Everybody knows the classic “high-pressure timeshare sales pitch”.  You get offered 3 days and 2 nights at a fabulous resort for free, no obligations – you just have to attend a sales presentation.  They promise the pitch will be pretty short and that there’s no obligation to buy.  Sounds great, right?  But we all know the catch – it’s infamous.  The timeshare presentation is excruciatingly long.  Every time you think you’ve said “no” for the last time, they bring in a new salesperson or take you to a new room to start pitching you all over again.  It’s a high-pressure sales marathon.  To top it all off, if you don’t meet your obligated time at the presentation, you’re on the hook to pay for your accommodations.  So why do people still go to these things?  Well, because a free “3 days and 2 nights” at a resort is just too good of a deal to pass up sometimes! In fact, many travelers are trying to find out “How can I attend a timeshare presentation just for the free vacation?”   Well, we wanted to see what all the hype was about. When we got a call saying we’d “won” a vacation package, we shrugged and signed up.  Worst case scenario, we walk out and have to pay for the hotel stay.  

When we started asking around, so many of our close friends had either fallen for the timeshare pitch themselves, or knew a family member that had. We heard story, after story, of high-pressure pitches, salesmen that were insulting or rude, being led between rooms for hours upon hours, etc.  Hearing stories of people so close to us motivated us to write up everything we learned from our experience. 

The Initial Screening 

Cecilia signed up for a “contest” on Facebook that would enter you into a “drawing” for a free stay of 3 days and 2 nights at a resort and a $150 gift card.  We got a phone call saying we’d “won” while we were driving.  

We were asked some basic “info” questions (i.e., name, phone, address), followed by some “survey” questions.  The survey questions were things like:

When was the last vacation you took?

How much did you spend on accommodations?

How often do you travel?   

They also asked us if we only needed a reservation for 2, or if we’d like to bring anyone else up to 4 total.  Of course, we opted to take the 4-person reservation because the more the merrier, right?  

After all the identity information, survey questions, accommodation arrangements, and a spiel about our vacation/gift-card winnings, then came the hook – we’ll have to attend a timeshare presentation.  We were assured that we were only obligated for 90 minutes to 2 hours of the presentation; and with that, my wife and I looked at each other with a “do we believe that?” stare.  

But sure – in for a penny, in for a pound.  

Two things caught both of us off-guard towards the end of the phone call: 

One, we had to book the dates for our stay immediately.  We had to pull over from driving to frantically look at our calendars and figure out a weekend that worked in both of our schedules. The caller would just suggest a block of days from their availability, and we had to tell him if the range worked out for us.  

Two, we had to pay a $99 “refundable deposit” using a credit card.  When he asked for our credit card information, a giant alarm started going off in my head, yelling at me “this sounds like a scam!!”  I almost put the phone on hold to have a conversation with my wife about backing out of the whole thing.  I took a deep breath and reminded myself that our credit cards have fraud protection on them; and we’d just have to keep a closer eye on our credit card statements for awhile.  

Although we haven’t completely confirmed this, our strong-suspicions are that the initial phone call is really a screening. They want to see how susceptible you’re going to be to the timeshare sales pitch. It felt like a test to see if we were people that would make a fast decision, without much information, and commit money instantly for a “too good to be true” deal.  

Well, whatever we did “worked,” because as we later learned, they put us in the “prime candidate” group for the presentation.  More on that later.  

Arriving at Our Destination 

Because of the Covid-19 policy, only one person from our party was allowed into the lobby to check in to our room; our timeshare presentation was scheduled for the second day of our stay at 8 am. Only the person who checked-in signed any paperwork at all; and the other 3 members of our party didn’t sign anything or give any names. 

8am, bright and early, we drove over to the location for the timeshare talk and waited in a small line for a teller.  The person in front of us was having an unfriendly banter with the teller.  The only thing I picked up from my eavesdropping was that all the members of his party weren’t there so he wasn’t able to get signed in. We got called next and checking in only took a few seconds.  She asked if all members of our party were there, we said yes, and she said to wait in a corner for our “agent” to come and get us.

After a few minutes, our salesperson came out of a room, introduced himself, and walked us outside.  He said because of covid restrictions, he wouldn’t give us a tour of the entire facilities and grounds. Instead, we would drive separately over to a condo where he would give us a talk.  

We loaded up into our vehicle and were on our way without ever signing any official paperwork.  Also, we had been told over the phone, and on our “terms and conditions”, that we needed IDs and a credit card, but we didn’t need anything. I’m not sure if that is normal, or just because we showed up during covid restrictions.  

The TimeShare Pitch

We followed our salesperson’s car to a condo. On the ground floor, they had free continental breakfast and drinks set out on a table behind a rope, and someone with gloves handed us whatever we asked for.  We took an elevator up a few floors and our salesperson took the stairs to meet us at the top, then he showed us to a room and left so we could eat our breakfasts without our masks. We thought the room was stuffy, because we were all in our winter jackets, so we opened all the windows.  It was ~30 degrees outside.  When he came back, he sat in a chair across from our sofa.  I imagine he thought we were trying to freeze him out, but we were just hot.  

For the first 20 minutes, there was some minor small talk about nothing. It might have been to put us at ease?  Either way, we were pretty guarded with personal info.  He probably expected us to talk more about ourselves, and we were expecting him to ask us more direct, pointed questions.  

When he started to transition, I asked for an outline of what to expect for the meeting. How was our time going to be broken down?  What is our obligation?  How many people will we talk to?  Are we going on a tour? What is our time frame?  

He said we were there for a timeshare presentation – “yes, it’s a sales pitch.”  We had to be there for “an hour and a half, or 2 hours – whatever they told you.” Then when it was over, he’d take us back to the main building where we’d get our $150 gift certificate and a voucher that waived the cost of our stay.  

And then our “presentation” began.

He flew through a lot of “numbers” and acronyms. He talked so fast, to the point where none of us absorbed anything. To this day, I have no idea what he was even saying. Either way, as fast as he spat out numbers, the topic would always change.  I’m not sure if it was him, or us, or both; but we talked about movies, Pokemon, shoes, horses … just about everything except timeshares. 

After 40 minutes of struggling to sell us, he took us to a luxury apartment in the same complex. I think the intention was to give us a tour and really sell us, but other families walked in on us. Because of covid, only one group was allowed in at a time, so we left and let them see the rooms; but then we just kind of wandered off, back towards the door of the building.  I feel kind of bad for the salesperson, because trying to keep track of the four of us was like trying to wrangle cats.  He’d try to show us to a room, or tell us to wait for another family to get done, and we’d just wander back towards the exit.  He’d run to cut us off, and we’d just all meander around him, chatting about something else.  

We weren’t intending to be rude or purposefully being space-cadets or anything. There was just random downtime, so we’d do what any group of friends would do – we’d chat amongst ourselves. We also were never given any real clear instructions on what to do, so we’d just assume we were done and start walking back.  It wasn’t until we looked back on our experience that we realized we were probably sabotaging his sales pitch without meaning to.  

We went back to the “pitch room” and by now it’s about 1 hour and 10 minutes in.  Cecilia leaves the room to go to the restroom. (She was 3 months pregnant at the time, so bathroom breaks happened ALOT.) The salesperson looks at the 3 of us and says, “Okay, just be honest with me here. Why in the world are you guys at a timeshare talk?” There’s a pause while we all just stare at him, wondering what we should say and he fills the void with, “if you’re all so scared of covid that you’re even opening the window when it’s 30 degrees outside to get fresh air, why did you come here in the first place?”  I reply,

“… well, you want honesty?  My wife clicked a link on a Facebook contest that said we could win 3 days and 2 nights at a resort.  They called us while we were driving to say we’d won.  My wife was excited, and I wanted her to be happy, so I said sure, I’d go along with it.  The guy on the phone asked if we had 2 friends that would want to go, too, and we said we weren’t sure; so he said he’d put us down for 4, just in case. We asked our friends, they said they wanted to come, and here we all are.”  

He nodded along; looked at the 3 of us; pulled out his phone; and started playing Pokemon Go.  

Once Cecilia got out of the bathroom, he ran through his pitch at lightning speed.  He showed us a piece of paper with numbers on it that had a large down-payment. He rambled on and said, “but you don’t have that much in the bank, do you?”  After a pause, Scott said “no comment” – because the entire morning, none of us gave away any information about our financial situations.  He instantly flipped the paper over and showed us another price, the “only for today” offer with a lower price with financing; and asked if we wanted to buy at that price.  I said “no.” He said “alright then,” and texted his boss, then went back to playing Pokemon Go.  

Related Content: Traveling Alone or With a Companion: Which is Better?

Leisure Suit Larry 

After a few minutes of the party chatting about nothing again, in walks the boss – we’ll call him Larry.  Larry looks the part.  He’s wearing an olive-green suit that has the kind of texture that looks expensive; and a very high-maintenance hairstyle with a lot of gray speckles.  Larry’s entire presence is summed up by the uncertainty of whether his hair was naturally gray, or if it was purposefully dyed to look older.  

Larry has a calm, methodical delivery any time he speaks, like someone reciting a script that’s been rehearsed to perfection but then delivered so many times until it’s lost its meaning. He speaks without pauses, taking a big breath before each section of his ramble. He would emphasize words by deliberately stretching out the word, not by raising his voice.  Every point he made was framed as if the decision has already been made for you – you will lose money if you don’t make this choice because you are already spending money on vacations. 

Larry is what a used car salesman would be if used cars sold for more money.  

Larry ended his spiel with a piece of paper, which had a unit available for “today only.”  They’re always “only today.” 

He passed the piece of paper over to us, and the age of the paper suggested it wasn’t the first time he’s handed it to someone.  

The number on the paper was drastically less than any of the previous offers – it was less than half of the previous lowest offer.  I looked at the paper, folded it back in half, handed it back, and said no.  Larry was reluctant to take the paper, and asked “why?” 

We knew this moment was coming and prepared for it.  We reminded ourselves that we don’t have to justify any of our answers.  Socially, it’s polite to justify yourself; but you’re never under any obligation to justify yourself.  

We answered, “we don’t make large financial decisions that quickly. We talk through financial decisions together.”  Larry gave another ramble – this one I honestly didn’t listen to.  I just zoned out for a moment.  Then Cecilia answered him, “and we have a kid on the way, which makes it more important to spend time on big financial decisions, so the answer is still no.”  

Larry asked, “so … is there anything I can do or say that’s going to change that decision for you today?”  I said “no,” expecting to have to say that a lot at this point.  But then Larry abruptly said, “Okay, thank you for your time,” stood up, and walked out without a second look at us.  It was just an immediate withdrawal.  

The first salesperson, who had been sitting there quietly during Larry’s entire spiel, slapped his thighs, said “okay, I’ll take you back to the main center to claim your prizes” and visibly ripped up the piece of paper he’d shown us earlier.  He started to make some comments about wasting his time, but we were already walking out the door and didn’t really catch them.  

The Final Boss

We drove back to the main center and through a conference room that, in non-covid times, would have been the first room.  He took us close to a receptionist’s desk and asked us to stay put while he went to talk to someone.  We wandered up closer to them, trying to look out of a window to see a pool, which was just close enough to eavesdrop on the salesperson’s conversation.  He was giving her details about the conversation we’d had with him and Larry – that we “don’t make large financial decisions that quickly.”  He was giving her everything she needed so she would know the right angle to close the deal!  

It turns out, the woman he handed us off to was the Final Boss.  She asked us to go into another room, and Cecilia wandered off to the bathroom.   The three of us walked into the room, realized Cecilia wasn’t there, and wandered back out.  When she got out of the restroom, the four of us went in together to see the Final Boss.  She was sitting behind a small table with two chairs set up in front of it.  She said we could sit down, but we remained standing.  There were four of us and only two chairs.  You could tell that having 4 people there instead of 2 really threw their usual gameplans off.  

She asked us what the final price Larry quoted us was, and I told her; then she said “What if I could offer you that same unit at this price?”  She wrote a number on a piece of paper that was, again, exactly half of what Larry had offered.  

We repeated our line, “We don’t make large financial dec–” She interrupted, “Okay, take this slip into the next room and we’ll settle you up.”  

We hadn’t noticed, but there was a slip of paper already sitting on the desk in front of her.  With the paper in hand, we headed into the next room and handed it to an old man who was polite, friendly, jovial and looked like he was having the time of his life at work.  He slapped a stamp down on the paper, handed us a voucher, and we were out in no time.  We managed to survive the timeshare presentation.

Total time: 1 hour and 39 minutes.  

The Aftermath

After we left, we spent a lot of time talking with one another, trying to understand why we’d been let off so easily.  All of us had heard the nightmare stories about high-pressure timeshares – that people spent an entire day being shuffled from room-to-room, the aggressive salespeople, the insults, the good-cop bad-cop routines, etc.  We got none of that.  We were practically shoved out the door at one point.  

One theory we had was that we were a group of 4 that weren’t related to one another.  We were 2 couples, so they couldn’t pin one of us against the other.  They also couldn’t sell to all 4 of us, because we would never buy something together.  

Another theory was that we were just too chaotic for them.  We constantly changed the conversation – but not really on purpose.  We just filled the silent pauses with jokes or comments that became side-conversations.  

Timeshare Presentation Basics: Insight From an Industry Insider

We had to know why our experience was so different from the ones we’d heard about, so we called up a friend that used to be in the industry as a timeshare salesperson.  

Here’s what we found out:  

The reason some salespeople are pushier than others is because if they don’t sell for awhile, they’re suddenly given “one last chance” to sell, and if they don’t sell on that day, they’re fired.   If someone wants to keep their job, they have to sell; and that can lead to a very high-pressure sale.  

Sometimes they’ll get mad if you’re rude or just blatantly not interested from the start of the talk. They’ll toy with you and keep you longer on purpose out of spite. This can happen when you tell the salesperson from the start: “look, we’re just not interested in buying, we’re only here for the free stay.” 

Often, the salesperson lies about their background to identify with the “prospect”, like saying they have kids too; or they will lie about how long they have been selling; or that they have a dog, are also divorced, etc.  When our insider told us that, we all blinked. Had our salesperson lied about everything he told us the entire time?  At one point, he gave us his kids’ names – and now I’m not sure he even had kids.  

If a salesperson makes a sale on the previous day, then they get “first pick” in the morning; and the 8am timeslot is reserved for people they think are absolutely going to buy.  We were the 8am timeslot.  I have no idea why they put us in that group.  

If enough people are lined up that day for talks and they don’t have enough salespeople, they go on rotation.  As soon as a salesperson finishes their talk, they can go back and get another prospect.  The earlier they can pick a prospect, the higher the chances of getting a sell.  That’s why there’s more incentive for them to end a tour earlier if they know you aren’t going to buy and your tour is in the morning.  Tours in the afternoon aren’t so lucky.  

What if someone owns a timeshare and gets someone else to sign up for the timeshare talk? The timeshare owner gets a kickback – usually waived fees. 

But ultimately, why did our salesperson let go of us so fast?  Because Cecilia was pregnant.  At one point, our salesperson asked why Cecilia was going to the bathroom so much.  We told him she was pregnant, and when she came back in the room, he commented, “I didn’t even notice you were pregnant until you said that.”  That’s when he started flying through his presentation.  That was the change.  Apparently, people who are expecting a child don’t make sudden or “big” financial decisions. They’re too focused on what’s good for the baby.  

Tips on How to Survive a Timeshare Presentation

So here we are, everything we’ve learned boiled down to our top tips for surviving a timeshare talk.  

1. Go in prepared .

There is no reason to be mean or rude.  Just know your stance, be assertive, and remember that you don’t owe anyone anything.  It’s not impolite to say “no” without an excuse.  “No” is a complete answer that doesn’t need to be justified.  

2. Remember that you’re in a sales pitch .

For salespeople, ‘being nice’ is part of the sale. Similarly, ‘being relatable to you’ is more important than them telling you the truth. They butter you up in order to get information out of you, and they rely on the information you’ve volunteered for their pitch.  Things like your job, hobbies, or even your last vacation are used to determine your personal wealth and spending habits.  

3. Silence is your strength.

It’s really, really tempting to argue, or to call the salespeople out when you catch them in a ‘blunder’ or ‘ah-HA’ moment.  But just remember: if you argue, you just feed into their pitch and you’ll end up staying even longer.  They want you to argue so they can sell you harder.  Don’t get into a back-and-forth. 

4. Be on guard for the angle.

The salesperson is always fishing for an angle. If they don’t know what is important to you they cant sell you. They’ll try to get you emotionally invested.  They might try to insult you, or dig at your ego, with things like “you can’t afford this, right? This is too much for you.” Don’t defend yourself. Don’t justify yourself. Just say “no” and leave it at that.  

5. Decide on a secret reason against buying and never disclose it .

If they don’t know why you won’t buy, then they can’t give you a pitch or argue against it.  For us, we knew that a timeshare is just a bad financial decision.  The financing is really expensive, and you don’t “save money” in the end.  That was our secret reason; and when the numbers were explained to us, and we saw the paper showing that it was a bad decision, we didn’t go “ah-HA!”  We just nodded along and kept it inside.  They can’t sweet-talk their way around your roadblock if they don’t know it’s there.  

6. If you really want a timeshare, don’t buy at the pitch.

7. and, of course, if all else fails – be pregnant..

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This post has 15 comments.

I like the idea of timeshares—in fact, my inlaws own several—but I hate the high-pressure sales tactics they employ. It’s such a turn off.

That is such a good point. The concept of a timeshare isn’t all that bad, but the high-pressure talk and the difficulty of selling a timeshare should you ever change your mind are huge turn offs.

I love that the title includes SURVIVE, because that’s totally how it feels! We had to say “no” to like 10 different people before they would let us go!

We have heard so many horror stories like this. So glad we survived our first timeshare experience and came out on the other end with some bits of wisdom. Hoping this article can help out a few others so they do not have to endure a situation like yours!

I always wondered about timeshares. I like the concept but the sales tactic is highly annoying . It makes me wonder if it’s worth it .

You definitely have a point. High-pressure timeshare presentations are exactly that, high-pressure. They aren’t necessarily meant to be enjoyable, but I do think the experience depends on the salesperson. If you are assigned to a pleasant and respectful salesperson, then the experience really isn’t all that bad! It’s just playing roulette to see what kind of salesperson you wind up with.

Loved this. Your title caught me and made me laugh. Your last line made me laugh. My in-laws have had a time share for years and have dumped so much into the “maintenance fees”. It is a nightmare now for them to try to get out of it! Moral of the story: Whatever you might spend on the time share, you could simply put toward a nice hotel for your vacations and probably still come out ahead. Don’t fall for the pitch!

That’s such a good point. We haven’t heard of too many people who have been happy with their choice to purchase a time share. I think personally we will stick to the hotels and Airbnb’s as you mentioned!

Ive stayed at friend’s time shares a few times, and they can be really nice, but those pitches are such a turn off! Now I know, mention that I’m pregnant and if we do want to buy, don’t buy it at the pitch!

It’s a pretty good deal for a free holiday for you. 🙂

Great article with good suggestions. I do these as a travel hack to get free stays and freebies in Vegas. The key is to have an ironclad will and not be afraid to keep saying “no.” No matter what the reps try yo say or do, YOU are in control. They are obligated to give you the gifts and you are under no obligation to be polite or give reasons. The worst thing that can happen is you’ll get berated or insulted. There are worse things to endure and you basically get a free hotel stay. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.

I like the Hunger Games reference. Thanks for sharing your personal experience with surviving timeshare presentations. It takes a strong will to make it through without buying anything, but like you said YOU are in control and have the right to say no.

Well they get you drunk in Mexico I bought a timeshare in Cabo and they kept serving me and my friend drinks to loosen me up. I fell in love with my salesman and finally gave in he was so nice and now I am one of the happiest timeshare owners on the planet. Going to Cancun booked a 1700 square foot 2 bedroom 2 bath bringing 3 friends with me. Hotels are soo soo expensive and with a timeshare I am saving a ton of money and it is making me travel more which I love. Life is short live it to the fullest and don’t look back. I was all ways jealous of friends that owned Timshares but now I get to enjoy all the benefits and I am saving a ton of money.

I LOVED your article and learned a great deal! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge. We definitely will do the things you have suggested. I might even buy a pregnancy belly to wear. Lol

Hahaha good luck, let us know how it goes!

Love your angle and how you shared your experience along with your post realization analysis. We’ve done a few many many years ago and found the perks of going to a high-stress 2 hour meeting somewhat worth it, but then again agonizing.

We are about to go to another in the next month and this was helpful to get us mentally prepared.

Thank you for taking the time to share.

Comments are closed.

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When Is a Timeshare Presentation Offer a Good Deal?

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Would you sit through a two-hour timeshare sales presentation to get three nights at a hotel in Orlando, plus 15,000 Hilton Honors points — all for $199? How about for dinner or a spa voucher at a Marriott hotel in Dubai? Would three nights in Tahoe plus 10,000 IHG points for $249 be worth enduring a long sales pitch?

Companies dangle generous perks to try to sell you a timeshare, with offers ranging from free parking to free hotel nights to deeply discounted hotel stays — provided you sit through a timeshare sales presentation of 90 minutes or more.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering a timeshare sales presentation offer.

How timeshares work

What is a timeshare.

A timeshare is a fractional ownership of a vacation property or vacation property lease — usually at a popular travel destination or resort. It’s a lifetime commitment, although it’s possible to resell it. You’re basically investing in the opportunity to spend a week or more at select properties every year.

Many hotel chains have timeshares, including Hilton , Marriott and IHG .

The question "Is a timeshare a good deal?" is different from the question "Is this timeshare presentation offer a good deal?" Timeshares are often pitched as ways to save money on future vacations. Depending on your travel habits, it’s possible the timeshare pros and cons could tilt in your favor. But in most cases, collecting points and miles redeemable for travel is a better way to save.

But even if you know the timeshare route isn’t for you, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should skip out on the timeshare presentation offer. The perks could be well worth your time.

» Learn more: Are timeshares worth it? Possibly, if you buy smart

Timeshare presentation offers

A timeshare presentation offer is any benefit or discount — like free or reduced hotel stays, bonus points or free spa treatments — that you can receive by agreeing to sit through a timeshare sales presentation. These offers can include things like free parking at a resort where you’re staying, free hotel nights or deeply discounted hotel stays and resort experiences.

To determine whether it’s worth sitting through a presentation, consider the value of the perk being offered. In the case of free parking, you would probably be better off spending $50 to self-park and skip the sales pitch.

Can attending timeshare presentations offer a good deal?

Even still, there are times when sitting through a timeshare presentation can be worth your while. You can find good timeshare deals on offers for discounted stays, free nights and more online — or get offers through phone calls or targeted emails. In some cases, you might decide the savings are worth it.

Tip: Watch out for blackout dates, hidden charges and more

Depending on the hotel chain, your offer could be subject to blackout dates, high-season charges and package expiration dates. Read the terms and conditions carefully.

» Learn more: Find the best hotel credit card for you

Worthwhile timeshare offers, by chain

Here are a few offers from major hotel chains that, depending on how you feel about sitting through a sales pitch, might be worth grabbing.

Hilton has a timeshare presentation offer that gets you a three-night stay in Orlando or Las Vegas, plus 15,000 Hilton points for $199. That’s a pretty decent deal considering that rooms normally cost $175 to $500 per night.

This offer is good at several hotels, including the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista — an official Walt Disney World hotel. This means it gives its guests additional benefits, such as extra magic hours and access to FastPass. (Note that both services are currently on hold).

Other Hilton offers include a five-night stay at a resort in Hawaii for $649 plus taxes. The online offer includes 15,000 points. But a recent phone call to Hilton proved that sales representatives have some leeway to negotiate, in this case switching the offer to 5,000 Hilton points and a $200 Hilton gift certificate.

There are two different Hilton packages available for Hawaii — you can pick either Honolulu or the Big Island. Considering room rates here often hover around $500 per night, you can save a bundle by sitting through a timeshare presentation. For example, five nights in September 2021 at the Ocean Tower at the Hilton Waikoloa Village cost about $1,891.

That’s a big discount, not counting that $200 gift certificate and the value of those points, at a sprawling oceanfront resort featuring a saltwater lagoon.

Marriott Vacation Club has a number of specials for travelers willing to attend a timeshare presentation. In Dubai, for example, you can score two free nights at a number of hotels throughout the Middle East.

You can also participate in timeshare presentation in exchange for a dinner or spa voucher at select Marriott hotels in Dubai.

IHG’s vacation club is extending offers for properties in Gatlinburg, Tennessee; New Orleans; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Lake Tahoe, Nevada; among others.

At the Lake Tahoe resort, you can pay $249 plus tax and get three nights in a one-bedroom villa at the Holiday Inn Club Vacations: Tahoe Ridge Resort, as well as 10,000 IHG points .

Considering three nights at that resort can cost upward of $1,000, the timeshare presentation offer may be well worth it.

Some IHG hotels cost as little as 8,000 points per night, which means you can turn those 10,000 points into another free night.

Who qualifies for timeshare presentation offers?

Not everyone will qualify for these offers. Requirements vary by chain, so check the details of your offer before committing to one of these packages.

In the case of Hilton, you must not have attended a timeshare presentation within the past year at the property where you’ll be staying or within the last six months at any other properties. You’ll also need to meet certain other criteria, though they don’t publish details about what these are.

For Marriott’s Vacation Club offer in Dubai, you must be a married couple 30 to 65 years old with a joint income of over $130,000 who has traveled to Europe at least once in the past three years.

IHG’s Holiday Inn Club, meanwhile, requires that you be older than 25 with a minimum income of $50,000.

If you’re tempted by a timeshare presentation offer

Are all timeshare presentation offers a good deal? No, especially if you’re staying somewhere cheap or they’re just handing out free parking. But if you do some research, you can score serious discounts in truly exciting locations.

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Timeshare Presentations: How to Get Cheap & Free Vacations

If you’re planning to visit some of the world’s most popular destinations, you can run into some hurdles if award availability is scarce and cash prices are high.

Sure, points can help offset the cost, but that means it will cost you a lot of points. What if I told you there’s a way to save those points and snag an awesome deal on your accommodation?

Well, there is – welcome to the world of timeshare presentation packages.  

What Is a Timeshare?

In a nutshell, a timeshare is a shared ownership program in which you may use a vacation property for a set time period every year.

Timeshare properties can range from resorts to condominiums to campsites. They can be a good option for travellers who have a favourite destination they like to vacation at every year.

With timeshares, these travellers will  have familiar accommodations to return to each time without the hassle of having to manage a fully-owned property while they are away. 

Most of the big hotel brands that we’re familiar with have their own affiliated timeshare division. A few well-known examples include the Marriott Vacation Club, Hilton Grand Vacations, Holiday Inn Vacation Club, Hyatt Residence Club, and even Disney has their own Disney Vacation Club.

Generally speaking, there are two types of timeshares: those that are points-based and those that give you deeded weeks.

• In a points-based program, you have a certain number of points each year that can be redeemed against nights at your timeshare.
• In a deeded-week program, every year, you have a “week” of the year that you can use your timeshare.

You do not necessarily need to stick with your timeshare property either. Usually, there is a system or program for owners to swap their property for another destination or property for any given year, building some flexibility into the program.

Despite the perks of timeshares, many people choose not invest in one, as they can be a money drain if you don’t make good use of them.

There are annual maintenance fees for the upkeep of the property that have to be paid, the process of swapping properties can be quite complicated, and it can be a pain to get rid of them or resell them as they don’t hold much value in the reseller’s market.  

What Is a Timeshare Presentation?

Whether you feel like timeshares may be a good fit for your travel patterns or not, you should consider attending a timeshare preview presentation.

The timeshare market is a competitive one, and most timeshare vacation clubs will offer some form of incentive for an opportunity to introduce you to their program in the hopes of enticing you to purchase one. 

What is offered as part of the package varies by the club and even the property, and it can be anywhere from tickets to a theme park or a show, to accommodations at one of their properties for several days at a huge discount, plus maybe even some bonus points for their respective hotel award programs.

If it’s the accommodation you’re after, keep in mind that usually the package will cover a “standard” room; however, there is a possibility for upgrading, as we’ll discuss later.

What’s the Catch with Timeshare Presentations? 

To take advantage of these fantastic offers, you (and your spouse, if you’re married) need to attend a 1.5- to two-hour sales pitch about the timeshare program while you’re vacationing on your timeshare package.

During that time, they’ll introduce you to their program, how easy it is to use the timeshare, the flexibility it provides, the years of enjoyment you will get out of it, and even give you a tour of a potential timeshare unit. 

Easy enough, right? Most of the time, yes.

Some sales representatives can be pushy and will pull out all the stops to get you to sign on, because that’s how they earn their commission. You may feel pressured to buy, and they may spend a lot of time negotiating a better offer for you.

Most sales reps, however, are quite reasonable. If you’ve put in your time and made it clear you’re not ready to buy, they’ll send you along your merry way. And if you do happen to cave under the pressure and buy the timeshare, it’s not the end of the world (more on this later).

During the pandemic, some timeshares like the Marriott Vacation Club opted to do virtual sales presentations, and in lieu of a vacation deal, you’d earn Bonvoy points instead.

There have been recent offers of up to 20,000–25,000 Bonvoy points; however, you have to be a US resident to take advantage. For the in-person presentation packages, there are no US residency requirements. 

How to Book a Timeshare Presentation

Now that you might be considering taking advantage of a timeshare presentation, let’s go over how you find these offers and sign up for them.

The easiest way is through each respective club’s website. Usually, there is a phone number or online form to complete for additional information. 

Hyatt even allows you to book the package online if you reside in the USA.

Once you purchase the package, there is quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to booking. Although the terms specifically say that the timeshare has to be booked within 12 months of purchase, it is not uncommon for them to extend this deadline. I have done this on a couple of occasions myself, even prior to the pandemic.

Once you book your package, you can still change the dates, although some programs will charge a change fee. During the pandemic, there was even more leniency (I rescheduled a Marriott preview package no less than four times), although this may tighten up a bit as travel opens up.

Unfortunately, once you purchase a preview package, they are generally considered non-refundable. There have been scattered reports of people receiving refunds if they no longer fulfill the eligibility for the package, but as always, your mileage may vary and this should not be the expectation.

My Experiences with Hilton Grand Vacations

Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) has over 50 properties spread across the United States. Their properties differ from the regular Hilton-branded hotels in that they generally offer accommodations with more space, larger and a greater number of bedrooms, and ensuite kitchen and laundry amenities.

Note that not all HGV properties are bookable through timeshare presentations, and some properties are only made available at certain times. 

Thus far, I’ve done a couple of packages with Hilton Grand Vacations in Orlando , and another in Honolulu . Here’s a recap of my experiences so far with HGV. 

Parc Soleil by Hilton Grand Vacations

View on the Hilton Grand Vacations website.

2017 Package Deal: Three nights / four days for US$199 and a US$200 “Stay a Night On Us” rebate voucher; upgraded to a two-bedroom suite for an additional US$50

A few years back, I had to call Hilton reservations to change an existing hotel booking I had. At the end of the call, they thanked me for being a loyal Hilton Honors member and asked if I would be interested in hearing about a “great offer” they currently had. I accepted, and so began my journey down the rabbit hole of timeshare packages. 

I was forwarded to another agent, who offered me the above timeshare package. I was considering a trip to Disney for my son’s fifth birthday anyway, and this would definitely help bring down the trip’s cost, so I bought the package.

When we decided on our dates, I called back, and they confirmed availability and booked our accommodation and the timeshare presentation to be done during our stay – and that was it! 

At the time of booking, my youngest was only a few months old and wasn’t the greatest sleeper, and so extra space to accommodate her sleeping situation was desirable. When I inquired whether our one-bedroom suite could be upgraded to a two-bedroom suite, the agent advised that we could do that for an additional US$50, which seemed more than reasonable to me, bringing our grand total to US$249 plus tax. 

We stayed at the HGV Parc Soleil, which is a 15-minute drive into Disney. Other than being a bit further out from Disney, it was a fantastic accommodation option for families.

It had two beautiful outdoor pools, one that was zero-entry with a water slide and another for adults only. They had a kids activity centre and some organized activities throughout the day. There was also a basketball court, tennis court, and outdoor playground for the kids.

The suite itself was spacious, modern and clean with a full kitchen and an in-suite washer and dryer. There was also a paid shuttle service ($10 round trip per person) to the surrounding amusement parks, but times were rather limited. 

We attended the timeshare presentation on the second day. It was located at the Parc Soleil, which made it convenient.

At check-in, they ask for your ID and credit card, then invite you to enjoy snacks and non-alcoholic drinks while you wait for your sales representative. You can also drop off your kids at a small, supervised children’s room (with toys, colouring, and a TV) while you attend the presentation. 

Since it was our first timeshare presentation experience, we did not know what to expect. We were also genuinely interested in learning more about timeshares, which didn’t work in our favour.

They started off with some general questions about our travel habits and destinations we wanted to visit, and then went onto discuss how HGV could make it all happen at a fraction of the cost. 

Once the sales representative realized we actually had some interest, he turned the pressure on. He would show us how he had booked various destinations at fantastic rates and began negotiating on the amount of initial investment required to purchase, while offering additional Hilton Honors points to sweeten the deal.

Each time we declined, he would go back to his manager and come back with a better deal.

This went on for a bit until he finally came back with what seemed to be a decent offer at the time, and we actually signed the papers and walked out with a timeshare after the two and half hours.

The agent offered to refund our US$199 package cost, probably as a kind gesture given that we had just bought a timeshare with him, and then sent us to the front desk to obtain our US$200 “Stay a Night On Us” rebate voucher.

Suffice to say, purchasing a time share was not our initial game plan. Luckily for us, there is a cooling-off period built into the contracts, whereby you have 10 days to rescind a timeshare purchase agreement.

With some time and space to actually think about our impulsive decision, we decided it really wasn’t for us and the next day, we rescinded.

The staff were very kind about it and it was an easy enough process, but lesson learned: do not show any interest in a timeshare if you are in it only for the cheap accommodations.

Hilton Grand Vacations at Tuscany Village

2019 Package Deal: Four nights / five days in a one bedroom suite for US$299, refunded after presentation, one $200 “Stay A Night On Us” rebate voucher OR 10,000 Hilton Honors points

A year later, my husband had a conference in Chicago at the Hilton. HGV had set up a booth in the lobby, where they offered everyone 1,000 Hilton Honors points just for listening to what they had to offer.

Jon took them up on the offer, and this time he was offered packages to either New York City, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, or Orlando. They were two- to four-night packages ranging from US$199 to US$399.

Now, you might be wondering: how often you can purchase a timeshare presentation package? As per HGV’s terms, as long as you have not attended another presentation in the last 12 months, you are eligible to purchase another. 

We were just over a year since our first package, so we bought another, back to Orlando. This time around, the offer was four nights for US$299 plus tax, so we were a little hesitant as our previous offer was better.

The sales agent, sensing the hesitancy, sweetened the package by offering either a US$200 “Stay a Night On Us” rebate voucher or 10,000 Hilton Honors points, and to refund the US$299 after the presentation. That sealed the deal for us. 

This time, we chose to stay at the Tuscany Village, located about 15 minutes from Disney once again. The décor was a bit more dated, but it still had an outdoor playground and a few pools that would satisfy most young kids.

There were also complimentary DVD rentals and a children’s activity centre, albeit a bit smaller than the one at Parc Soleil.

I enjoyed the fact that it was right beside the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets, which meant some retail therapy for me between theme park days. They also had a paid shuttle going to the amusement parks, but once again, the times were limited. 

Our presentation was back at the Parc Soleil. This time, my husband and I had a different game plan: we would tell them that we weren’t ready to buy a timeshare and to let them know early on.

This was working well for us initially, and at the one-hour mark the agent was pretty much finishing up. As we were just about to leave, he advised us that his manager had one last offer for us, which got us our third package… 

The Grand Islander by Hilton Grand Vacations

The manager came out and offered us a trial membership to the HGV program. Now this was different.

There was no set destination for the package; instead, for $1,599 (USD), we would be given enough points to redeem for seven nights in up to a two-bedroom suite at any of the HGV properties in North America, including Hawaii.

We did the math and worked out that it would be less than $230 (USD) a night. If it were any other destination, we would have left it. After looking at the current rates for Hawaii for a Hilton property in Honolulu for March Break, we came to see that it was a great deal.

Keep in mind that these are rates for two adults and two children. If you have more than four in your family, like myself, either you’re paying more, or you’ll find that most hotels won’t even be able to accommodate. The fact that we could book a two-bedroom suite was a big selling point for us.

HGV has quite a few properties in Hawaii, with the Grand Islander by HGV being one of the newer ones. We booked at the Grand Islander for four nights in Honolulu over March Break . 

That leaves us with three nights remaining, which we could have used to extend reservation to seven nights… 

…or book three nights at their New York property, West 57th Street by Hilton Club at the south end of Central Park, another otherwise pricey accommodation option. 

Either way, you can see that our $230 (USD) per night beats the above rates by a long shot. 

An Even Better Offer…

Sticking with Hawaii as our theme destination, HGV currently has an offer on their website for five nights in Honolulu or Waikoloa for $799 (USD) in a standard room, which brings the nightly rate to $160 (USD) – an incredible deal for a night in Hawaii.

Granted, it’s for a standard room, but I’m pretty sure you can request an upgrade offer to a bigger suite at a decent cost when you call in. 

My Experience with Marriott Vacation Club

We originally purchased our Marriott Vacation Club Preview Package back in 2019. This package offered a five nights at Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club for $799 (USD).

After numerous delays and postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we finally enjoyed our stay in March 2022 . 

We rescheduled our timeshare presentation after our arrival, and there were no issues with moving it to a different day. When it came time for the actual presentation, it took place in a cubicle in their outdoor Sales Centre.

We wound up going over the 90-minute allotment, and spent closer to two hours there. I was genuinely interested in the program, so it was more my fault than theirs.

Marriott Vacation Club uses a points-based system. Our sales agent offered us the base-level 1,500 points at $15.84 (USD) per point, totalling $23,760 (USD).

As a signup bonus, they were willing to throw in another 3,000 points for the first year.

To put things into perspective, a one-bedroom villa in Maui at peak season could cost up to 4,500 points per week.

We didn’t show much interest in this, and they tried to sweeten the deal with some more offers, but we kindly declined. As we had an exit interview, another sales agent came in to offer us yet another timeshare presentation package.

The first offer, which was good for the next two years, was five nights at the same property for $1,295 (USD). We weren’t sure when we would be back to Maui again, so, again, we declined.  

They approached us with one last offer: $995 (USD) for four nights at any of their North American properties, including another property in Hawaii for a $300 (USD) add-on fee.

Our family wanted to visit Kauai in the near future, and after a quick check for a four-night stay in the winter revealed prices at around $2,600 (USD) for four nights, we accepted this last offer.

It goes to show that sticking around for more offers can result in some pretty great rates!

If you’re not familiar with timeshare presentation packages, now’s the time to take a look at them as a means to very cheap accommodations in many popular vacation spots.

Timeshare presentations are a great option in areas where points redemptions are either not worth it (e.g., Orlando, where hotels are generally quite cheap to begin with), or in places where redemptions are difficult to make (e.g., Hawaii where the cost of redemptions are high).

It does require a small time commitment and perhaps a bit of finesse in talking down a sales representative, but in my mind, the savings are definitely worth it. 

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How to get a deal by attending a timeshare presentation

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Booking hotels with points earned from the best hotel credit cards is a great way to save your hard-earned cash.  But did you know there’s another way you could score a great deal?

Many of the major hotel chains offer timeshare properties under a different brand, and they often have huge incentives to get you in the door to listen to their sales pitch!  These incentives could include certificates for free hotel stays, gift cards, bonus points, and more!

Getting your hands on these incentives just for sitting through a timeshare presentation might sound too good to be true.  In many cases though, there’s not much more to it than just that.  Hotels build the “giveaway” of these incentives into the cost of doing business.  They know that these sales pitches are a numbers game, so they wouldn’t be doing it if wasn’t profitable for them in the long run!

In many ways, it’s a win-win for everyone. They spread the word on their timeshares, and you’ll have the opportunity to learn about whether it might be a good fit for you. Check out team member Meghan’s experience with a Hyatt timeshare sales pitch in Arizona , and another timeshare presentation in Belize .

If you’re curious about whether timeshare ownership might be worth it, we’ll go through how you can get invited to one of these presentations, what to expect, and which major hotel brands offer timeshares. Worst-case scenario, you’ll find that timeshare ownership is not for you, and you’ll still walk away with a gift card, bonus points, or some other incentive.

How to save money by attending a timeshare presentation

Hotels often give folks lucrative incentives to get you in the door to their timeshare presentations.  You’ll know what the incentive is before you attend, of course, and they’ll usually offer things like certificates for free hotel stays, bonus points, and gift cards.

Sometimes, you might even be able to negotiate a better deal! I was able to find reports online that stated different people were given different incentives for attending the same timeshare presentation.  So the lesson here is that if you’re speaking with one of their representatives and the incentive isn’t enticing enough, ask if they can offer something better!

You usually won’t have to pay anything to attend one of these timeshare presentations, so your only “cost” will be the several hours it takes to sit through their presentation. And even if there is a fee for attending, the value of the incentive oftentimes outweighs the initial fee. 

For instance, I found a report from Stephen at Frequent Miler who stated he paid $150 to attend a timeshare presentation, and in return was awarded 45,000 Wyndham points (enough for 3 nights at any Wyndham hotel) and a 7-night stay at a timeshare resort. I’d say those incentives were well worth the $150 fee!

How to get invited to a timeshare presentation

Many of the major hotel chains, like Hyatt, Hilton, and IHG, offer some sort of timeshare brand.  If you’ve ever stayed at these hotels, you could be targeted either by phone or mail.  Being a member of the hotel’s loyalty program could also get you targeted at some point.

If you end up staying at one of their timeshare brands on a trip, you may also see some promotional materials around the hotel, so keep your eyes open!  For instance, team member Meghan took advantage of this on a trip to Arizona .  When she was checking in at the Hyatt Residence Club Sedona, Pinon Pointe, she saw a sign in the lobby that mentioned something about a $100 gift card in exchange for attending a timeshare presentation!

The most direct way of getting an invitation though is to simply call the general number of the hotel chain you’re interested in, and asking about timeshare ownership.  They’ll transfer you to the right department at which point you can ask if they have any presentations available in your area, or if there are any promotions you might be eligible for.

What to expect out of a timeshare presentation

Before you attend a timeshare presentation, be aware that they can be VERY aggressive in their tactics!  I’ve been on the receiving end of a very high-pressure sales pitch and realize how difficult it can be to say no, even when I know it’s not something I want to sign-up for!  The best thing to remember though is that you can always say no, very firmly, but politely.

Also, be aware that attending these timeshare presentations can take several hours out of your day, so you’ll have to decide if it’s worth it, especially if you’re on vacation!

Tips for getting out of timeshare presentations quickly

You’ve got an appointment.

This is probably the oldest trick in the book. But if you’re looking to get out of a timeshare pitch, set a deadline for yourself by telling the salesperson that you’re meeting someone for plans (drinks, dinner, etc.) at a certain time. 

Don’t show any interest — at any price

This trick is only good for those who aren’t easily swayed. But if you can, try not to engage in the pitch. Be firm in your decision and let the salesperson know that the deal doesn’t make sense for you and your family.

Just be aware that they’ll try to push you on the price. There are reports from some readers that salespeople can sometimes lower the price by as much as 75% less than the initial offer. Again, they’re trying to make the sale. And these are tactics used to make it appear as though you’re getting a good deal.

Mention that you prefer using travel rewards

This is another trick that’ll be pretty hard for the salesperson to argue with. Simply tell them that buying a timeshare doesn’t make sense for you because you prefer to use miles & points for your travel . Why would you pay for lodging when you could stay at a hotel for free? There’s really no counterargument to that point!

Bring your children along

We all know how well kids behave when it comes to sitting still for long periods of time (HA!). And there’s arguably no better excuse to getting out of something than when you have a cranky child to attend to. So bring your kid(s) along to the presentation and make your escape when their patience has run out.

Hotel Chains With Timeshares

Hilton .

Hilton’s timeshare operates under the name Hilton Grand Vacations.  To give you an idea of the size of their timeshare operations, if you decide to join as a Club Member, you’ll be joining over 300,000 other members worldwide, and have access to vacation exchange options across over 4,300 resorts globally.

Most of their timeshares are located in the US, although they do have 3 international locations as well:

• South Carolina

Hyatt’s timeshare goes by the name Hyatt Residence Club.  Although they don’t offer nearly as many locations as Hilton, they do advertise and market luxurious stays at 16 locations in the US.

One of the neat things Hyatt offers right on their website is a section for “ Featured Vacation Offers. ”  Some people online have reported getting even better deals by calling in and referencing these offers, stating that they’re interested in timeshare ownership but want to get more information.

• Hyatt Residence Club Sedona, Pinon Pointe

California:

• Hyatt Residence Club Carmel, Highlands Inn
• Hyatt Residence Club Lake Tahoe, Northstar Lodge
• Hyatt Residence Club Grand Aspen
• Hyatt Residence Club Beaver Creek, Mountain Lodge
• Hyatt Residence Club at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek
• Hyatt Residence Club Breckenridge, Main Street Station
• Hyatt Residence Club Bonita Springs, Coconut Plantation
• Hyatt Residence Club Key West, Beach House
• Hyatt Residence Club Key West, Sunset Harbor
• Hyatt Residence Club Key West, Windward Pointe
• Hyatt Residence Club Sarasota, Siesta Key Beach
• Hyatt Residence Club Maui, Ka’anapali Beach
• Hyatt Residence Club Lake Tahoe, High Sierra Lodge

Puerto Rico:

• Hyatt Residence Club Dorado, Hacienda Del Mar
• Hyatt Residence Club San Antonio, Wild Oak Ranch

IHG calls their timeshare brand Holiday Inn Club Vacations.   Similar to Hyatt, they also have a section on their website for “ Special Timeshare Offers, ” so if you call in asking about timeshare ownership or their special offers, you might be able to land an even sweeter deal and possibly an invite to a timeshare presentation with more incentives!

IHG has timeshare locations within the US in several different states.  They also have a number of locations designated as part of their “ Signature Collection ” for an even more luxurious stay.

You can find a full listing of their timeshare locations here , and you’ll see they’re located in quite a few different states:

• Massachusetts

Marriott’s timeshare brand goes by Marriott Vacation Club.   According to their website, they offer over 50 resorts, 4,000+ Marriott hotels, and 3,000+ affiliated resorts.

You receive an annual allotment of Vacation Club Points when you join this program, which you can then use to book a stay at one of their locations worldwide .

Choice Hotels

Back in 2013, Choice Hotels ventured into the timeshare ownership segment by partnering with Bluegreen Vacations as their preferred vacation ownership provider.

You’ll be able to book a stay at any of their 60+ resorts in over 40 unique destinations .  The vast majority of them are located in the US, although they do have 2 international locations as well.

• North Carolina
• New Hampshire

Wyndham’s timeshare brand operates under the name Club Wyndham.   You’ll have the flexibility of vacationing in different areas each year through their Club Wyndham Plus program, where your ownership is translated into points deposited annually into your account.  Depending on where you want to stay, accommodations are assigned different point values and you can redeem them throughout the year.

Wyndham has a number of timeshare resorts available both within the US and internationally :

• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island

International Locations:

• New Zealand

You have other (better) options for saving big on hotel stays!

If you’re nervous about sitting through a high-pressure sales pitch, keep in mind it’s not the only way you can save big on traveling!  There are still many amazing hotel credit cards that can get you free nights at your favorite hotels.

Here are a few of our favorites:

• Most valuable welcome bonus for hotel stays: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
• Best hotel credit card for value and comfort:  World of Hyatt Credit Card
• Best hotel credit card for big spenders: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
• Best hotel credit card for elite status:  Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
• Best hotel credit card for road warriors: IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card

The information for the Hilton Aspire card , and the Hilton Surpass has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

For instance, with the World of Hyatt Credit Card, you could earn enough points for as many as 10 nights in category 1 Hyatt hotels!  The card is currently offering a welcome bonus of up to 60,000 bonus points – earn 30,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more bonus points with 2 bonus points per $1 spent on purchases that normally earn 1 bonus point up to $15,000 in the first 6 months of account opening.

Or if you apply for a card that earns flexible points, like Chase Ultimate Rewards points , you can also transfer the points to a hotel partner for free nights as well.

Bottom line

Attending timeshare presentations can be a lucrative way to save a lot of money on your trips.  That’s because many hotels offer incentives like certificates for free hotel stays, bonus points, and gift cards, to motivate you to attend one of their timeshare presentations.

Many of the major hotel chains have some sort of timeshare brand.  If you haven’t been cold-called or targeted for a specific timeshare offer, you can always call the general number for the hotel and ask about timeshare ownership.

If you do attend a timeshare ownership presentation, be prepared for a very high-pressure sales pitch, and don’t be afraid to say no.

If you’re not sure if you can make it through their tactics, remember that you can always focus on earning miles and points from the best hotel credit cards to redeem for free hotel stays instead.

What are your thoughts on timeshare ownership, and have you sat through a timeshare presentation before?

Contributor

Andrew Wan is a contributor for Million Mile Secrets where he covers points, miles, credit cards, airlines and hotels. His work has also appeared in The Simple Dollar.

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Tips for Surviving a Timeshare Presentation

The key to making it to the end, and claiming your prize, is simply to survive. Before you attend a timeshare presentation, make sure you are clear on how long the session is scheduled to last, and what you will be eligible for at the conclusion.  Confirm that this is offered even if you do not go through with the buying process. The tips listed below can help you assure you will not be roped into a vacation ownership you do not desire, and ensure you can get through the process as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Tips for Surviving and Escaping a Timeshare Presentation (Without Buying):

• Before you go to the presentation, find out when the busiest times are, and go during one of these times. This will give you the upper hand – when a resort is overbooked and understaffed, your likelihood of getting through the presentation in under 90 minutes is dramatically increased.  You are also less likely to be the victim of high pressure sales; the salesperson will just move onto the next person if you seem uninterested.
• Before your session begins – tell them you will be up front with them, and that you expect the same treatment from your salesperson. The “If I like it, I will get it” approach will deter the salesperson from badgering, or otherwise pressuring, you into something you have clearly told him you are not interested in.
• Keep to yourself and try to be as boring as possible. Timeshare salespeople will use any personal information you provide to try and strike some sort of common ground with you, making you feel as though you can trust them. If they offer some sort of tale about how they know so-and-so from your town, just say that is nice, and ask to focus on the issue at hand – getting information about the resort.
• Hold them to the time frame that you have been promised for the timeshare presentation. If you were quoted 90 minutes, set your alarm for 70 minutes, and remind the salesperson at 70 minutes that they now have 20 minutes to finish up the talk.
• Do not lead on the salesperson. Do not pretend you are interested only to let them down at the very end. If you have no intentions of buying be sure to act that way.
• When they ask how much you make, lie. Pick a low to average income when asked how much you make per year. Admitting or saying you have a lot of disposable income is just going to make your experience that much more painful – think multiple salespeople all over you for hours on end.
• Tell them you already know about timeshare and its benefits, this way they will need to be more focused on the amenities at the particular resort, thus, shortening the presentation.
• Try not to talk too much, again, be boring. The less details you offer up about your personal life, the better.
• I am not interested in buying, I just want to trade to go to other resorts.
• I just bought a new house, I do not have any extra cash.
• I am swamped with bills – car payment, credit cards, new RV, home remodel, etc.
• The resort just does not fit my lifestyle – not enough activities for kids, location is too cold, lack of surrounding activities, etc.
• I can not afford it, it is much too far out of my price range. Be ready for them to offer ownership every other year, tell them it is still not affordable enough.
• You like your other timeshare better. This is a pretty solid reason, as there is no way they can haggle price to rope you into buying.

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259 Comments

Wow. My wife and I went through a horrendous presentation in Orlando after being promised a three night stay in a hotel near Universal studios and we barely made it out of there in 2 hours after some real hardcore then, what turned out to be, rude sales pitching.

I would heed all warnings about the way that they try and sell you a piece of resort luxury for thousands and thousands of dollars (of course they never discuss dollar amounts up front.) Here’s my advice if you were not ALREADY considering buying timeshare after A LOT of research and TALKING with friends and family about their experience: 1. When they say two hours, hold them to the time. Perhaps you need to pick up your 89 year old mother at the hotel at exactly 11:00 or she will become agitated. 2. Do not engage. Do not tell them about family or friends (unless it’s your 89 year old mother who would NEVER stay at a timeshare with you, so there goes the ‘family time’ excuse to buy more property.) They will use every angle to hook you and connecting to family is a big one. 3. Do not talk. 4. Say no. 5. Say no again. 6. Say that you will never by timeshare because a. you rarely stay at hotels b. you do not like resorts c. you cannot afford it d. no. The answer is no. But be careful. Our salesperson held the “Well, we might have to reschedule you again” bit. (Which would have meant paying hundreds that I didn’t plan on spending for the hotel stay that they gave us in return for the presentation.) Don’t bite it. Say that the paper, the e-mails and the information you were given is what you are abiding by. So if they say “Two hours” it’s two hours. Whisper loudly to your wife about your close friends who are lawyers. That is all. Hope this helps. And btw, if you can, don’t even bother!

On 3/15/2020 we attended a Wyndham TimeShare Presentation. We were lured by the “FREE Gifts” while attending a Home Show exhibition in Seattle. The “Free Gifts” were: 7-Nite Resort Vacation Certificate + $150 Dining Credit + 30,000 Wyndham Points. Sounds great doesn’t it?? The reality: the Dining Credits are called “Dining Dough” from Restaurant.com We thought we could spend $150 at a fine restaurant—NO!! Dining Dough gives you $25 off of a $50 meal with LOTS of restrictions. Limited number of participating restaurants. So NOT very useful. The “amazing” 7-Nite Resort Vacation Certificate?? Maybe we will be able to use it, but there are MANY restrictions. The ONLY valuable item we received for 3 hours of our time was the 30,000 Wyndham points. We had the opportunity to get $100 in Dining Credit and 45,000 Wyndham points. Unfortunately we chose the almost useless extra Dining Credit. We tried asking several times during the presentation about the Dining Credit—but they refuse to answer any questions about it. (The salesmen KNOW they are almost worthless). Therefore be VERY specific about WHAT Wyndham offers you. The best bet is to ask for MORE Wyndham points.

• Pingback: What It's Like Sitting Through A Timeshare Presentation Just To Get The Free Gift - One Couple's Personal Experience With A Popular Vacation Club | The Travel Guide

My wife and I have gone to a dozen of them over the years. We really enjoy it because, amongst other things, it’s a inexpensive vacation. I won’t lie though, at this point we’re also going for the sheer kicks and giggles of the whole thing. We know their Schlick. The into, the tour, the probing, the puke price (an actual industry term), and everything else. When the right time come I will start asking them probing questions. My favorite is about how much the maintenance fees are. That’s when I pull out what they fear the most…a calculator. $500 for a studio means that it’s costing them $13,000 a year just to maintain one tiny unit? Com’n! I have a 3000 sq. foot home that needs only a fraction of that outlay. They have no answer and then, when they try finanancing (15-20%), and I tell them that a bank will do it for 3%, they have no answer. I ask them if they will wave, in perpetuity , the fees and taxes and of course they won’t. They’re already dying to get rid of us when, on cue, my wife says that she has a call and steps away for 5 minutes and then, when she comes back, she shows the sales rep a few on EBay that didn’t sell for even $1. More crickets from them. Another ploy is that I get up and tell them that I wan’t to run this past my financial advisor. They don’t like that one either. T/he last trick is to ask for the contract to review it with our realtor, etc. Nooooo…it’s a one time deal only offer and you can’t even take the contact out of the room. We also make a point of making our objections loud, but always polite, so that the other people in room can hear them. Of course, before any of this is done we haggle better stays in better places, more cash, etc. over the phone. It’s hilarious and a real interesting study in human nature. We’ll enjoy the 3 days for free and fortiet part of one as our “bill”. Some other things to say, that bug them.” -/we like to cruise because we don’t have to worry about cleaning up, cooking, and so forth. My wife likes turndowns too.

-I want to see the world and really don’t like seeing the same place twice

-(this one only works in Vegas), I never have to pay for lodging anyway because I get the room for free because I gamble, and can use their pool and stuff whenever I want.

If you’re really dying to have one, then just go on line and find one to rent. Their are plenty of people who can’t use them on time, or just want to recoup their annual fee, that will practically give you the week for a few bucks and take a lesser loss than a full one.

You can’t sell them, can’t write them off on your taxes, can barely rent them….turning the tables on the sharks is just giving the them what they deserve.

You don’t have a clue about how timeshare works. You seriously have no respect for someone who works off of commission. You and your wife and your enjoyment of wasting someone’s time is disgusting. That timeshare rep may have 3 or 5 kids at home that they are supporting and you are simply wasting their time. People like you are scum just like those on welfare. You all want something for nothing. Next time why don’t you spend your money and leave the presentations to those who will actually think about better vacations and saving money over their lifetime of vacations.

That person has nothing to feel sorry about. I was called by a timeshare place. I was under the impression that I was receiving a free gift through ihg’s reward program. I already had plans to travel to one of the offered locations anyway, so I accepted the offer. After paying a down payment I googled the place and realized it was for a timeshare pitch and immediately tried to cancel, but they would not return my “down payment”. These places use pushy tactics to lure you into visiting them and charge outrageous monthly places to people they are able to convince to buy in. The sales reps that work there know that what they’re selling is not a good deal for most people. They are the true scum.

I don’t think it’s right to waste folks time, but as a timeshare salesperson you’re a liar if you reckon you’re selling a good product

We bought a Wyndham timeshare, unit base is Orlando. They have nice facilities. I took a break from the salesman, saying I was going to the pool to ask people if they thought it was a good deal? They liked it, so we bought the two year plan. I hated the cheesy group presentation. The so-called breakfast was a joke- coffee, juice, and packaged doughnuts! We don’t use it a lot and the points get transferred to RCI (participating hotels). Holiday Inn RCI had horrible units! The good thing- less chance of lice, compared to hotels; suites, and nice facilities. The bad- maintenance fees and taxes. They call the heck out of you afterwards to upsell you. I finally got a different phone number. The “information update” presentations are horrible! They claim something like 45 minutes, but it’s actually at least twice that. I objected strongly and a woman got belligerent, saying she was just trying to help us! I know they wanted to upsell, but nope, I’m not doing it! I’ll never go to an update or another timeshare presentation again. If you do want a timeshare I recommend Wyndham.

That’s exactly how I feel about people like YOU, who LIE, LIE and LIE just to sell. You are the scum!

It isn’t “Something for nothing.” The “Something” the attendee gives is his or her time.

Maybe so BUT I was sold a “vacation” recently with the understanding that We would sit thru a timeshare presentation…. The girl made her offer, we said “no thanks” she then offered the hotel stay plus the same amount of gift cards minus 25.00 we had to spend on the “vacation”, again we said “no”. Then she offered all of that plus a free cruise for 2…At that point we signed up, she knew VERY well going into it that we had no intention on doing anything and even told us that if we took our toddler that we would get out faster…she was just trying to make a sale which we agreed to with her knowing that we would NEVER purchase a timeshare at the presentation…so they kinda get what they deserve when they are that pushy…if they don’t like working for commission they should find another profession and not try so hard to give stuff away to get you to listen to them.

Yeah I feel sorry for them, alright. Must be pretty hard up to join the army of salespeople who descend on those there for the “one hour” pitch. Didn’t you see Wyndham was forced to pay millions to a whistle blower who exposed how the teams were told to say anything they wanted to close a deal, especially for elderly visitor, as long as they didn’t write it down in the contract. An army of Wyndham lawyers lost that one. Ironically, the award went to the whistle blower for being fired, not to those who got bilked out of their retirements. Was no different when I bought Marriott. First thing I hear on my last Wyndham vacation, “you need a parking sticker to use the garage”. To get one, you need to run the gauntlet of sales associates. I get to my room, unplug both phones. They knock the next day and say it appears my phone isn’t working. What’s a family need to do to be left alone?

Might you know the parties who won the Wyndham caee?

I am seriously considering taking RCI to court. We were very specific on what we we’re looking for in a timeshare. EVERYTHING the sales person told us was an outright lie. The timeshare he sold us is completely useless to us and does not one thing he assured us it would.

Any help would be appreciated.

Feel sorry for them?! Ha! Didn’t you see Wyndham was forced to pay millions to a whistle blower who exposed how the teams were told to say anything they wanted to close a deal, especially to the elderly, as long as they didn’t write it down in the contract. An army of Wyndham lawyers lost that one. Ironically, the award went to the whistle blower for being fired, not to those who got bilked out of their retirements. Was no different when I bought Marriott. My last Wyndham vacation, “you need a parking sticker to use the garage”. To get one, you need to run the gauntlet of sales associates. I get to my room, unplug both phones. They knock the next day and say it appears my phone isn’t working. What’s a family need to do to be left alone?

Justin, maybe those who work off commission should find a better job with more reliable income if they have 3 to 5 kids to feed lest they end up as “scum just like those on welfare” (your words), not mine. I totally agree with Toni’s advice. Not all, but a great majority of time share salespersons give high pressured sales pitches to people who simply can’t afford it. They wear them down and guilt them into debt that they cannot afford. Don’t you think if people could afford a 4 day/3 night vacation they would pay for it themselves instead of giving up 90 to 120 minutes of their time? I know my time is a lot more valuable than a time share, but if you offer a nice gift, I’m willing to give up that small amount of my time. The presentations with the high pressure sales pitch will keep people there for longer than they’re actually required to stay. Time share companies are not stupid. They are well aware that they need to offer some type of benefit to lure potential customers. If someone is actually that interested in purchasing a time share, the company would not have to offer free dinners, show tickets, etc… The benefits that attract serious buyers are the benefits of owning the time share and the rest are extras. It’s a cheap way to get a vacation. My husband and I were offered a 4 day/3 night stay at our choice of available Wyndham resorts simply because he had accumulated more membership reward points for a stay at a Wyndham hotel. We intend to take advantage of it and Toni’s advice is spot on! It’s not a matter of respect for the salesperson’s earning potential. It’s a matter of respect the salesperson has for the customer who is not interested in the sale. Instead of pressuring someone who’s not interested, be polite and move on to the next potential customer for your commission. It’s usually the salesperson’s pushy tactics and pretend interest in a customer that costs them their commission.

Please don’t try to survive the timeshare pitch. I always felt so ashamed for what my guests had gone through when they approached me at the entrance to the theme park that I worked at with vouchers which they thought we would get admitted at the front gate. No, this voucher must be exchanged for a ticket so these guests waited in line at the ticket booth after having half or more of that day’s park hours wasted sitting though timeshare hard-sells.

I don’t think that y’all are a bunch of thieving moochers. I think that you probably had the same experience that I did when I spent my wedding night at a timeshare presentation in Reno for a “free” room after we had come with enough money to pay for our own lodging. My husband and I were young newlyweds who had never heard of timeshare before, which I don’t think was even called timeshare back then because it was 30 years ago. Thank heavens I could see that this was not in our best interest and told them one lie to counteract the many that I believed that they were telling us. I was asked about work and told them that I worked for a law firm much more powerful and bad-ass than where I actually worked. This was clearly disturbing to the salesman because he left quickly and returned with a supervisor who thanked us for our time and got us out of their quickly. We checked out the next day with no further pressure about buying a timeshare.

I then went to a timeshare presentation many years later, alone, just to see if they were any less slimy than I believed that the first place was since this was a different company. I got up to leave because I did not care about the gratuity once I saw that it was the same game but with the new name of “vacation club”. I was asked to wait for a second by the salesman who said that they owed me a “free gift”. I just wanted to forget about it, but I have done sales work and know that it is really hard so I took pity on this guy whom I thought seemed like a rookie and sat back down. I was then faced with two more people who wanted to hold me captive and so I reached for my handbag and sweater no longer caring how rude I was being. Then a third person stopped by the table and asked me what was holding me back, meaning of course holding me back from signing the papers. My response since she didn’t ask specifically what was holding me back from buying but simply what was holding me back I replied “Nothing. I am leaving”. When I was then asked what was the hurry, I told the truth that I had transcripts to type. Again, I was then quickly dismissed with cash since that was the “gratuity” this company was “offering”. They did not want to deal with a court stenographer while trying to get away with their crooked conduct.

I no longer work as I am now in this country’s Medicare crowd, but the reaction of the timeshare scammers to my profession both times told me that they knew what they were doing was wrong.

I know live in the theme park capital of the work since my husband took retirement, and I immediately say that I don’t believe in timeshares the second that hear someone at a mall kiosk or whatever say “Where are you from?” I know what is coming next. Even telling them that I live here in Orlando doesn’t shut them up so I just match their rudeness if that is what it takes, which it often does.

The sad part is that I really do think that a lot of timeshare sales people apply for the job not realizing what is expected of them. Take a look at the local paper to see that timeshares are hiring all of the time. They advertise for timeshare sellers more often than they advertise for maids at these resorts, and a company’s turnover rate tells you all that you need to know about a company.

“I no longer work as I am now in this country’s Medicare crowd, but the reaction of the timeshare scammers to my profession both times told me that they knew what they were doing was wrong.”

You lie. This is the 2nd example you give about your lies. You go on a fly buy for your honeymoon. Who is the scammer here ? Stay home, in Orlando no less – pretty much the birthplace of timeshare. Never heard of timeshare before. And you go AGAIN. Alone. You should have been NQ. Non-Qualified.

You are more useless than the people you are complaining about. They are doing a job. You don’t want them to come to your office telling you how to do your job either.

The companies doing these things are more successful than yours. Why else would you have to lie about your “profession” ? Hilton, Marriott’s, Sheraton…Disney…!?

Go home. Turn on the thermostat. Buy some Coronas. Put a palm tree screen saver on. Stay at home. Do not pass start. Do not collect your (almost) free holiday (for your honeymoon no less).

Welfare. I bet you play Minecraft.

You know, I agree with both of you. If the timeshare company is pushing you to attend and you want to even though you state you aren’t interested, playing games in the presentation is fair game. I remember in Vegas, I repeated said no and after 10 sweeter offers, the last one being a 200 Visa card, I said ok. Well, they were frustrated with me and gave me the 200 Visa card after 45 minutes.

But if you are stringing any interest to get a freebie and then play games, that’s wrong.

Now, I always say no and stick with no as even the 200 is t worth it. I’m on vacation, and want to keep it that way.

I find it quite hilarious, and a bit sad the comments I am seeing. Either way, I have attended several timeshare presentations and they are relenting in their pursuit of your money. I ended up purchasing a timeshare with my sister because they literally called in the every sales person they could find, I’m guessing because they saw two women and they knew they could get us. What was more insensitive about it was we were on vacation and it was wayyyy over the 90 mins they promised, it was just about allllll day and our kids didn’t get to go tubing. Needless to say we ended up not ever using it or went back to the resort in VA (Massnutten). That was over 10 years ago and I have since gone on several, some just as bad, others no so much. I attended one where the sales rep asked me in the first 5 mins how serious I was, and when I told him I really wasn’t he said “ok” let’s do the basics and get you out in time to enjoy your day.. he asked for a few referrals, which I was happy to give since he didn’t attempt to strong-arm me into something I didn’t want. That I appreciated, not the “calling in reinforcements” tactics that only piss me off. I will attend a presentation in July with my family,however I am not in the market to buy and plan to employ the same tactics as the sales rep used on me just the opposite. Look I know why I’m there.. he knows why I’m there. I paid a small amount to go on vacation, and in return they get 90 mins of my time.. and I will stick to just that 90 mins. So for those who had very bad experiences, I’m sorry you had them, however next time, just be firm and remind them what your obligation was to them.. an that if they want any referrals it would be best that they adhere to that time-frame and leave out the strong-arm tactics. Another thing I will add.. IS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO DEGRADE PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU DON’T AGREE WITH THEIR VIEW OR THE EXPERIENCE THEY’VE HAD?

Wow, do you really think it’s worth your time, to spend half a day at a timeshare presentation to get maybe $100? Is your time only worth $25 per hour, taking time away from your family on vacation? If you’re that poor maybe you shouldn’t go on vacation!

The associate assured me it wasn’t a sales pitch. After all, I was already a Wyndham owner, right? They just wanted to invite me to an information session where owners would be able to voice their concerns and give the company some input. Right. A two hour armbending session to convert from simple weeks I had over to a point based system for my choice of plan, $35K or $80K, financed for my convenience. Nope. I paid only $3K for my 2 bedroom 1 fixed week in Kona Hawaii. After nearly 3 hours they gave up on me. I scored another week in the same place. I’m wondering if they’ll invite me to attend the session again. “Information session my foot”. They took a chance on me. They judged wrong. I knew it was unlikely to be an “info” session and that I wouldn’t buy anyway. Do I feel guilty? Of course not. Vegas rules apply. The house always wins in the end, but sometimes, the guest does.

My friend bought into a 2 bedroom unit.. 2 weeks a year… Or they can do 2 2 bedroom units for 1 week a year if they need more space. They paid $22,000 about 10 years ago and pay $750 in fees annually. They asked me to help them sell it by looking online and seeing the best way to do it. I looked at some sites that are selling the same kind of deal for exactly $1. Sooo many people are trying to get out of their $22,000 upfront purchase for just $1!!! Just so they don’t have to pay the fees anymore because they no longer want the timeshare. My friend is now trying to give the unit away… free! Anyone that is going to suffer their way through one of these presentation, I beg you to please first look online and see what people are selling the units for in the same place you are getting the presentation. You will then be able to tell the salesperson that wants you to spend thousands, exactly how much you can buy the place for on the private market. P.S. They offered me their place for free… I didn’t take the deal.

I got several calls from someone who offered us a stay in Whistler BC for a low price. We lived in Washington State, probably not 100 miles the Canadian border. They told me it was for homeowners and there was an age group and we had to make a certain amount of money a year. While we fit into the age group I told the caller we didn’t own a home and we didn’t make the amount of money we were required to make. They still kept calling us and said it was OK if we went. We would have a 90 minute tour and presentation. I thought we would be among a lot of people for the presentation and if we were interested we would talk to someone after and make arrangements. We took the train up to Vancouver and then took a bus the rest of the way. We were given times for the presentation to attend and I told them 9 a.m. I wanted to get it over. When they gave us our voucher it was for 3 p.m., right in the middle of the day. We arrived for the presentation and to my dismay it was a very pregnant saleswoman who was talking just to my then-husband and I. We had been trying to get pregnant for 12 years so the fact that she was 7 months pregnant did not encourage us at all to be cooperative. She handed us a sheet with prices – beginning at 30K Canadian, which would have been 20K American. “Where would you like to vacation?” “Alaska,” I said. “Oh, they don’t have timeshare in Alaska. Anywhere else?” “We are saving to take an American History tour with a group of people. We’ll go to Washington DC and Boston and New York City and Philadelphia and places like that.” “Oh, well I will tell you how you can own your vacation. You buy a timeshare and you will pay $280 a month and get a weeks’ vacation.” “We don’t want to come here every year.” “You don’t have to–you can trade. You stay in a timeshare in Boston for a week or you can stay in Washington DC for a week or whatever.” “We don’t want to do that. This is a three week tour. We will only be staying in one place for a night or two.” “Oh, but you really save money. To get a room in Whistler you have to pay $200 a night.” “we clean and decorate the rooms. We have expert interior designers.” Really, if I own something I want to have it decorated the way I want it. Then she led us to a room where there were other people and we watched a short video. People in the video were talking about how much they loved the timeshare. “I like to make my own coffee” a man stated. Good for him. We don’t drink coffee.

I thought this would end and we could all go our separate ways–but no we were led back to the office to argue with this pregnant Ha ole woman from Hawaii. She had told us how wonderful timeshare was in Hawaii as well.

She repeated herself. We would own our vacation. They had expert designers to decorate. Then she gave us an option that was cheaper and we could get a week every other year. It went on and on and on. Finally I said, “Ma’am, we do not want to do this. We have listened to your presentation and this is not for us.”

“OK. You know we invested $400 in you.” She gave us a gift certificate for a restaurant and we left.

So why did you go to the presentation? Did anyone force you?

You should have replied: “And I gave you 90 minutes of my time, which is worth much more than that. Have a good day.”

Not really, because if it was truth, they woudln´t spent their “worthy time” to get that little discount.

Ok so my parents went to a timeshare presentation to get 400 extra bucks because we were staying in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and it rains a lot there so they figured what the heck? They wanted time to think over the offer which was that we got that trip and the next for free and a pretty cheap time share. My parents wanted time to think it over but the presenters said they had to decide right then. They were very intense and aggressive about it. My parents decided to say no because they thought that something was off. The deal was way too good to be true. Was it a scam or not? Also, are there any tea hares that you would recommend… Like hotels that are well priced but have multiple locations and are fairly nice? Thanks!

Your parents did the right thing by saying no. Most timeshares can be bought resale for pennies on the dollar. Remember that for Mexico you are not protected by any American law, an extra disadvantage. There are all kinds of nice accommodations to be had through TripAdvisor, HomeAway, Airbnb, etc. for less than payments on a timeshare (including rentals by desperate timeshare owners). If you really want to learn about timeshare systems, go to tugbbs.com and they can give you a LOT more detail. I am not affiliated with that site, but found it when researching how to survive timeshare presentations as well.

just to make this clear when you buy from resale you get what you buy when you buy from a good resort you actually recive incintives that alow you to vacation in multiple seasons and have tools to help you save money and others dont i sell timeshare and we offer amazing add ons for free and things like personal service that you dont get when you buy online there are 1000’s of things i can do to personalize a timeshare for a family if you buy for pennys on the dollar you get what you get

Old sales like weeks are terrible. I know Hawaii you have to be a licensed real estate agent and disclose everything.just a thought.

I read through most of the comments but I still have questions. My partner and I would like to purchase a timeshare before the close of this year. We aren’t married but my income is qualifying for most terms and conditions I’ve read (30 yr old). I called a company today to gain more info on just the process of timeshare ownership prior to visiting but no luck. When I agreed to book for what is possibly the best deal around I was lied to about the room accommodations. Am I being too picky requesting that I know in advance, prior to paying-if my room will be oceanfront or poolview? The discount will be helpful as we intend to view two other states prior to purchasing. Exactly how does this work.Am I to just accept any room because of the rates? Will I be staying in a room that is an available timeshare? Any advice and tips are welcomed. Be nice, you all are a tough bunch. Thanks.

It seems like so many people are in the same band wagon of “I hate timeshare or only buy resale” I am a very happy timeshare owner. I purchased my points 7 years ago for about $19,000 and have a maintenance fee of about $600 per year. I take 1-2 vacations literally anywhere I please. In the past 7 years I have been to Paris, Australia, Egypt, Disney, Napa Valley, Steamboat Springs(co), and a handful of destinations like Las Vegas etc.. If I had paid out of pocket for each trip with comparable accommodations I would have spent double or tripe that amount. I did consider buying resale myself but would have given up so many of the perks buying from the developer. I did like the additional bonus points I received and the fact they pay RCI for the life of my ownership. I’ve read some people on here say they can buy a vacation or RV for the same money and are absolutely right.Although it will be a rinky dink RV and a sad little vacation home. You will still have maintenance and insurance to pay for annually on both of those items. If you like quality and flexibility like I do, buy a timeshare with a large and reputable company. So yeah my maintenance fee is $600, I just booked a trip to Singapore for 8 just using my points. Can a non-owner stay at a 5 star resort for that rate?

You must be a timeshare salesperson. I owned a timeshare property and thought it was the worst 5 years of my life. None of my friends who still own one thinks it’s the best investment ever.

You probably did not use it buddy

Of course he’s a salesperson. Why else would he be trying so hard to push people away from the resale market and to buy from the developer?

Why do I need a 5 star place? I often go on a package that includes several people or I stay at a Motel 6 or in a college dorm. I would like to try hosteling. A room to sleep in? Why do I need to be fancy just to sleep?

You don’t. You can continue to squeeze people into your motel 6. The clanking heaters or air conditioners,the yelling running baseball teams of 9 year olds, the drunken partiers, and the bugs all come for free too, since you like to travel so cheaply. Why not stay home, be more comfortable, save every dime, and not bother?

Which timeshare company do you work for?

if you dont use it or can not afford it wrong thing to do if you will use it and can afford it awsome thing to do

Either you are a salesperson or bought into a scam. Why pay for one condo for thousands of dollars, with an 18% interest rate, for one week AND pay $400-$800 year maintenance fees?

The price for ONE $50,000 condo.

52 individuals purchase ONE unit = $2,600,000 PLUS interest 52 individuals pay a $400 annual maintenance fee=$ 20,800 PER YEAR Maintenance over 15 years for ONE unit is $312,000

Within 15 years, these same 52 individuals could have purchased a 2 million dollar home for less than one timeshare.

The price for ONE $25,000 condo.

52 individuals purchase ONE unit = $1,300,000 PLUS interest 52 individuals pay a $400 annual maintenance fee=$ 20,800 PER YEAR Maintenance over 15 years for ONE unit is $312,000

Within 15 years, these same 52 individuals could have purchased a 11 million dollar home for less than one timeshare.

I am due to attend ‘another’ presentation, which unfortunately is a requirement of my free holiday gift received at a previous presentation over 6 months ago. I already know how it works and have no intention of buying. I do not want to waste anyone’s time but have been told it is part of the conditions. My gift is for three free nights at a luxury resort/spa which I have already stayed in several times before. My only cost is a AUD$29 booking fee potentially saving over AUD$1500 (off peak).

I am disappointed that having already earned the gift I am having to again sit through 90mins of hard-sell but I don’t appear to have any other choice.

Stop thinking life is free.. u get something start appreciating and giving back or life will no longer give u anything. If u do go. Be happy and thankful u had this opportunity. . It is for people who see the value and not for cheap renters.

Agree. I am a happy owner who has stayed in castles and great resorts and not had to pay anything except some maintenance. I don’t mind paying that for what I get. I have gotten my money back many times over.

Perhaps don’t go or pay the $1500. You will be not only wasting their time but yours if you know it is not for you.

How old are you? No one is forcing you to go, are they? But you did want that cheap prize right? Lop

Geez louise people!!!! We just got talked into a cheap trip so I find myself here learning! they quickly threw in there that this Fourth of July special for bass pros new resort would include a quick timeshare share presentation, no further explanation. My husband, who is very intelligent didn’t even catch it! I did but am interested in learning about it so I said why not! You are sales people lurring in possible commission! Stop pretending like you’re the victim here. You know EXACTLY what you are doing! Stop attacking people that are smart enough to do a little research prior to making a possible large investment with there hard earned money. They agreed to a small amount of time not buying! Back off! If it’s such a great investment you might get further with Presenting the benefits rather than bullying and intimidation! Your responses has me further from purchasing than I could have imagined! and miss Pamela, I like your idea of giving back. There are many ways you can give back that will fill your life with much joy that by far surpass anything you will get back from giving money to a timeshare salesman or resort, right thinking, poor application! Your grand idea is also known as karma, so goes both ways, you get back from the universe what you put in so might want to consider taking your own advice next time you leave a Nasty message to a stranger;) namaste

I’m a westgate timeshare rep I help owners upgrade to bigger units and help them on exchanges, and believe me when I say timeshare works if you own in a high demand location.. One of my owners made $43,000 last year off our referral and travle partners programs plus renting out his additional week.. now if you want to go on vacation for free and travle the world for virtually nothing go timeshare. But if you want to stay in the same cheap hotel with two twin beds no privacy and no kitchen then don’t go on tour.. This is for people who want to own thier own vacation not work around complies like hilton or quality inn..

Keep drinking the westgate koolaid. TS industry is a scam and you are the bus driver to the hell it is. Fool.

Westgate sales are reps are so entertaining. They’re certainly the biggest scammers out there but I’ve somehow managed to find the humor in their sales pitch.

I feel for you guys, such s depressing life to have to rip off families. Keep fooling yourselves into thinking you’re doing all of us THE BIGGEST FAVOR EVER!!

“…if you want to go on vacation for free and travle (sic) the world for virtually nothing go timeshare.”

Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

That’s a good one! I needed a good laugh today!

Timeshare is Vacation Insurance. I work in Mexico, and you can get up to $500 USD for attending a presentation. Why do you people give up your vacation time to go on a presentation? My wife’s Resort has partnered with Cirque du Soleil . It is a permanent venue now in Playa de Carmen, and they are building one in Nuevo Vallarta now. They are also building a theme park, that will surpass Disney World! There is one mandatory maint. Fee in 10 years. If you don’t vacation you don’t pay. 70% of sales in timeshare are from existing owners! If it was so bad, why do they buy more? Your money is safer investing in family memories, than in the Stock market. Would you like people to come to your job, to waste your time? Sales Reps get fired because of people like you, and we know if you are lying to us.

We attend your presentations Pepito because you ask us to come. And who does the lying????? You guys start off with what you say is the best deal and then if someone guts it out, you practically give it away. Nothing worse than a cry baby used car salesman.

They ask you to come? You can say NO! If someone asked you to shoot yourself I am sure you would say NO to that! The only people that regularly attend timeshare presentations are cheapskates who could never afford a nice vacation anyway.

Wrong Barbara. Most of us could afford a nice vacation on my own. But if they want to exchange a timeshare presentation for a vacation, I’ll take it. We pay them with our time, which is worth more than the vacation they offer anyway

You must be another salesperson attempting to justify a scam. I really don’t know how you sleep at night.

I stopped listening to this loser as soon as he said his wife is building a theme park that will surpass Disney World?!?!!? Haha what a joke he is sale pitching right here in the comment section LMFAO!

It’s the Mayan Palace, also known as the Palace of Lies. They keep changing the name to avoid the BILLIONS in lawsuits. It is outright fraud. I ought to know, I work there. We are conmen. IT’S A SCAM. Do a quick search for Mexican timeshare fraud and the number one offender is the Palace of Lies, even though they are affiliated with the Cirque de Soleil

You are a lying sack of &@$%. Scum sucking TS sales people are all the same.

Quit going to the presentations then! Sheesh!

LOOOOOOL these people are illarious. I have been a salesrep for over 6yrs ive worked for Westgate and now im with Sheraton. one thing i wanna say, even the newbies knows when you guys are lying. i try not to blame you guys why cause maybe you were not raise that way. Motel 6 or quality inn always have great deal. all we ask as a sales person if i may speak on their behalf you still can go on a presentation and not purchase its ok, but try not to lie some of us take our job very seriously and we have on going training just to make sure of helping our customer better. you are on vacation not us, this our job. jerk will be jerk by all means but vacation ownership does work for those who deserve it. and can trully afford it.

I hope your sales pitch delivery is better than your spelling and grammar. Wow.

I was lied to during a presentation and at closing both sales rep and loan officer told of what my benefits include. Now i find myself on my final downpayment month have spent 2300.00 innocently called asking questions on booking first trip and was told i can only use share once a year when i was told i could use it as often as i liked…WTH! Now i can stop future payments but will be reported to credit beareau as failure to complete promise and i LOOSE monies i have already paid!!!! Customer service rep was going to forward for assistance but doesn’t look good. I sure hope they can resolve this or i will plaster their name on every post to help someone else from being shammed……. And that my cyber peers are how the rich keep getting richer, they’re no different from a common street thief

Disappointed,I purchased a Timeshare in Cabo and I have attended several others it is very clear that you are only buying 1/2 weeks a year. I find it hard to believe that someone told you (I don’t care how bad the sales rep was) that you could use it anytime you wanted that is not how ANY Timeshare works.

Don’t be so quick to disbelieve what ‘Disappointed’ says, Vicki. I just attended a Timeshare presentation last week and our salesperson said the same thing… that we could use the resort as many times a year or book rooms at exclusive resorts all over the world, for only $139 per night whenever we wanted. We were also told of incredible deals on 7 day cruises through all the major cruise lines for as low as $249 per CABIN, not per person, and air fares so low you would jump at the chance to purchase one of their Timeshares just for the incredible travel discounts and deals. Of course, none of these additional perks were in writing.

Westgate rep lied and said i was getting an upgrade, but i got stuck with a third week that i could not afford and did not need. Now my credit is ruined because they foreclosed. Our government should put a stop to these scams.

True, if this person speaks the way they write, their income must be well below the poverty level.

Zaya, I have a question for you about Westgate tours. If you are married your spouse is required to show for the presentation, but what if she didn’t travel with me? If I put down that I am single, would anyone even check? Thank you 🙂

For a person who has been doing this for several years now your presentation is terrible and your lack of fourth grade grammer and vocabulary skills is stunning. I have a hard time believing you have been doing this for as long as you say. I agree no one should lie but the reason people lie to you is because of your lack of understanding the word no. I have been on a few of these presentations before and some were good with knowledgeable sales staff and others were like high pressured thugs trying to shake me down. It is funny you bring up Westgate. My wife and I attended an Westgate presentation and the sales people purposely attempted to split up my wife and I so they could pressure her alone. I made the mistake of using the restroom. Unbeknowst to me while in the restroom they were soliciting information from my wife that I already told them that I was not comfortable talking about. Towards the end of the tour they asked my wife if she liked the place and she said it was nice but we were not interested. The salesperson had the nerve to call my wife a liar. Which she is not and happens to be the most honest person I have ever met in my life. These places are all alike with high pressure sales pitch and their inability to conduct the presentation as promised. I’m not saying all sales people are bad because they are not and they are most likely bullied by their bosses as well. The flat out truth is that timeshares are ripoffs and there is absolutely no benefit of having one. The price they charge I could permanently have a house trailer in Florida which I own and could sell.

Yes they will check and if you are normally an honest person you will get caught reps know when you are lying!!!!!!w

Here is a novel thought just don’t go don’t take our money you are a parasite and a corporate welfare recipient – plenty of people love their timeshare this is NOT FOR YOU Professional Freeloader so just don’t go and don’t take our money because you can’t afford to buy any way

If people knew better, they would understand that your organization represents corporate welfare. They take advantage of people with hard sales pitches, pressure, gimmicks, and lies. The sales reps are trained to manipulate. They use unscrupulous tactics by aligning skewed “truths”. They don’t allow individuals to evaluate or research their “investment”. If timeshares were fantastic investments, they would sell without manipulation.

Zaya if you are a timeshare salesman go find real work. “If a timeshare salesman lips are a moving he/she is lying”

Your job has no ethics if you keep living life on a lie you begin to believe the lie.

Excuse me, Zaya, but did you ever take an English grammar course? When did you drop out of school or were you too busy hustling on the streets to attend classes? Nice people are your mark. Nice people are what selling times shares are all about. Hard working folks in good moods, on holidays, in exotic locals, in vacation mode, are your game and you’re the hunter! Nice people are basically trusting and honorable. Greedy? No! Yes, they or we do respond to all the grandiose representations you boys and girls make in your hustling rooms. Nice people generally do not just get up and tell you to screw yourselves and walk away. And you love those nice folks, don’t you? You study your prey, get a feel for what their weaknesses are, what their dreams and life aspirations and the financial class they’re in. You wait for each squiring rebuttal from these good men and women and you’ve seen it a thousand times before. You’ve rehearsed your lines, role played with your sociopathic gluttons on the sales staff, and you’ve listened to the second and third level instruct you on how to defuse each rebuttal from your mark, your chump, your patsy; the nice folks who are now sweating, fidgeting and nudging one another to just leave. You’ve learned just how far to push, to gently insult, to wave that lottery ticket before their eyes. You know how to ware them down, pit then against one another and in the end you offer up the bigger prize, the special just for them, the magic key to the kingdom.

I know you. I’m a shrink who has worked in prison settings. I’ve listened to you at corporate board meetings. And some of us have even voted for you. You’re sociopaths without conscience, without empathy, without souls. And you know that the rest of us just do not know how to disarm your charm, your slick tricks, and twitching tongues. You’re heartless cons. And

But, the masses are getting smarter which is why TUGS is a brilliant site. Folks, wise up. We live with these tricksters in every arena of our lives. Look at what happened in the election in 2016. The corruption is such that it takes those who have convicted warlords and crime families to shut the likes of these empty suits down. And when one scheme is exposed, you’re grifters who just move on to the next scam, the next easy mark the next plaything. Many end up incarcerated, but some of you are too clever and move about just inside the law. Timeshare salespeople are among the sleaziest, tricksters on the lower rungs of criminality. And, yes, you even stung me once. Never again.

I’ve only ever attended one of these timeshare presentations with my now wife during one of our early vacations to Orlando and can categorically say it was not worth it. We was in Universal and my wife saw a woman at a booth holding up some of the novelty Universal dollars, the ones with Betty Boop on them. My wife wanted some of these and rubes that we were we soon found ourselves booked onto a Timeshare Presentation for 9 O’clock the next day and $20 dollars refundable deposit lighter to ensure we weren’t going to be no shows. The next day we were picked up in a swank limo which was late and already contained an Australian family and we were taken to the Mystic Dunes resort complex. We were then checked in and assigned to a salesperson which took about 20 to 30 minutes and offered a cold buffet breakfast which looked like it had been sat out all night. This poor excuse of a breakfast lasted a further 30 minutes all the time we were being probed by our salesperson who had joined us with questions about where we were from, our holiday plans etc. None of the above time which was about an hour in total or the traveling time to the resort is included in your presentation time so 90 minutes in we were still waiting for the actual presentation to start. Luckily for us we got a salesperson who hadn’t been doing this long because after the obligatory golf cart tour of the complex when we got down to the number crunching my wife who is a Math Teacher back home blew her figures out of the water because the salesperson had given us a sales pitch based off vacation figures if the buyer lived in the US and because we reside in the UK my wife pointed out with arrows and using the salespersons pad that we would actually be worse off due to the ever rising air fares if we bought into timeshare than if we just continued to stay at motels during our vacations. This gaff by the salesperson effectively ended her own sales pitch and she seemed embarrassed and unable to recover from it so admitted to us that she was new and had to continue with the presentation as part of her training. We said that this was OK but that we would not be buying and by now we had switched off anyway and I honestly can’t recall anything else that she said until she asked my wife “So how would you like to pay? Check, Card or Finance?” My wife said through gritted teeth “None! I told you before we don’t want it!” At this the salesperson looked defeated and called the Closing Manager over and we all sat there in awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity and waited for him to come over. This silence was only broken when the salesperson once more tried to feebly defend her figures and sales pitch but by now she knew she had blown it. My wife just gave her a withering look and her words trailed off into silence as by now the Closing Manager arrived all jovial and tried to lighten the mood. Needless to say we eventually refused the Closing Managers offer and counter offer and was then given a ticket to redeem our gifts and the deposit we’d handed over at Universal and was then left to wait outside in the baking Florida heat for the promised taxi ride back to our hotel on I-Drive. We never did get the Universal dollars because they claimed to have run out. So they said they would have to give us real dollars to the same value instead until my wife said that wasn’t acceptable and they would either have to compensate us by giving us more in real dollars than the value of Universal dollars they had promised us or go and get some Universal dollars. The Closing Manager who had escorted us to the gift desk was a huge imposing 6ft guy and said to me “Haven’t you anything to say? as if to say “Keep your woman in line” I just smiled and replied “I don’t need to do I?” He huffed and just said to the lady behind the counter “Give her what she wants” and walked away glad to be rid of us. In the end though it cost us approximately 6 hours of vacation time from being picked up at our hotel to being dropped off again and did ruin the mood for the rest of the day slightly so I personally wouldn’t advise going on one of these presentations unless you really are considering buying.

Mr. H, Sir for one thank you for visiting the United States and I hope you do not feel this is a real representation of America. Though my experience was different from yours it still was the same. The lies, deception, phony math and the outright insults to our intelligence.

Just my experiences… I have owned timeshare and sold timeshare for 10 years. Clearly the best thing I have ever done for all of my loved ones. It’s not intended as a good financial investment, although neither is having children but we still do it because being a parent is priceless, so are the experiences and memories you have with them. That’s what it’s all about is the experience. The same reason why we go to events and restaurants, you can go to McDonalds and watch it at home or you can experience life and enjoy a hot dog and go to a game!

Thousands of International travelers, particularly from the US and Canada, have fallen victims oftimeshare fraud while vacationing in Mexico. Resort developers hire skilled salesmen to represent their timeshares as many different attractive packages, such as financial investments, deeded properties, or vacation clubs, just to increase their sales.

First I’d like to thank all the smart people that don’t endorse outright lying to their sales person. Second as a sales person myself I have to tell you that one we do know you’re lying, two we don’t just give up on actually earning our livelyhood, and three none of these tips actually work when you get a real salesperson. My only advise is hope you get a newbie and hope he gets rattled by these tips.

Let me make sure I understand what you say Mike:

You are saying that “a real sales person” will not give up. They will rope you in regardless of the fact that you are ready for them or not!!!

It is good for everyone to get to know the mentality of the Timeshare sales person from their own words.

Regarding your real sales people will not give up. this is what I have done. I pretty much tell the sales person right away that spending the amount required for timeshare and maintenance fees for 1 weeks vacation vs owning a actual property that I can visit any time or a RV for close to the same amount doesnt seem like a deal but for the next 2 hours( the required time for presentation and tour) they will have my attention. IF I see value I will let them know. And I also set my alarm for 30 minutes from the end of the 2 hour window. at the time the alarm goes off and you havent sufficiently proven your sale then the answer will be no and I know your closing manager will come in to sweeten the deal. Heres the sweeter deal, I honored my obligation as stated.you have till the end of the 2 hours to provide WRITTEN proof of any offer we MAY accept must be included In the contract and stated appropriately and if accepted the entire document must be faxed to my lawyer before signing otherwise the time has come to leave and any perks offered as part of the presentation are now due as agreed and stated in the disclaimer.I have done sales and also live in a tourist area myself so I know ins and outs that timeshare salespersons arent aware of.

Hmm no real salesperson brings in a closing manager! They close the deal themselves

four, you’re a scumbag if you don’t honor the “no obligation to buy” promise and pressure people into buying.

We sat thru a Marriott Vacation Club presentation last year, did not buy, but loved their program. We paid $750 for a future 3 night 4 days trip with the expectation (theirs) that we would sit thru ANOTHER presentation. We arrived, went to the scheduled meet and asked them to skip the presentation and go right to the sales part; we really were considering this Timeshare. They informed us we’d have to endure the presentation or be billed the difference of $300 for room rate discount they supposedly gave us. I said how would they do that and was informed since they don’t keep our credit card number on file, we’d have to fill out a credit card authorization form. We left! My question is: can they legal tack this charge onto our credit card we used at check in? Why would they miss an opportunity to sell. We did not care about the freebies and thought the $750 was a reasonable charge for our room. After this rude treatment, we are questioning why we ever considered it in the first place. Any suggestions?

Wow, that was handled poorly by MVCI at whatever location you visited. Had someone walked in from a fly n buy promotion saying that to us here at MVCI in Cancun, we would have gladly sat down to talk about your intention of purchasing….their loss.

Hi my name is Daniel, I posted here a while back and got a link that you had a question. Lets get right to it. I would be very surprised if the Big “M” charged you for the $300.00.Read all the information they provided (if you have it) the small print should tell you the answer to this. I sold timeshare for 10 years in Hilton head S.C. and I have friends that worked for “M” On Hilton head and they told me they would tell people that just to get them to stay and sit through the presentation.

Now I will make a quick suggestion, Please don’t let a bad sales rep ruin your idea of a possible timeshares. especially if you are considering Marriott. In my opinion they are the “cream of the crop” when it comes to timeshare. They usually have the best real estate, and all the “M” timeshares I ever stayed in where 5 star, gold crown top shelf places! Super nice!

Here is my take on timeshare. IF you vacation and you like nice places and 5 star condos! you cannot go wrong with a timeshare! Jackie if you have any questions I would be glad to help you out. as I said I worked in the timeshare industry off 10 years.

Last my opinion on this article is this. The person who wrote it is misguided, because who ever it is tells you to LIE!! Straight out lie to your sales rep. I disagree with this and do not understand this? I’m sure this person is not a Christian!

If you are still posting, I just wanted you to know that I truly enjoy reading your posts. I was up late studying for my CPA when I thought I’d look up timeshare complaints before going to bed. I stumbled across this site and read some of your posts and you are a very smart person. Tell your husband he is very lucky man. We are truly blessed to have someone like you on this site trying to get people to think twice before making a commitment. I like timeshares, I believe in vacationing, and I love to travel. But, does that mean that I have to commit to overpaying for a timeshare? It certainly does not. If I were to buy a timeshare, it would be a resale. As you said, they are giving them away because people are trying to get out of those maintenance fees.

Went to a really entertaining timeshare presentation a couple of years back, was a nice diversion on our vacation and we got 100 bucks for it. We definitely were caught in the magic of the resorts which seemed really awesome. The closing was a bit crazy and overdone where we were hit by 4 layers of salespeople trying to work us. The best was the “finance manager” or some bullshit who tried to close us. Her approach was to say: “do you think about what you spend at Target? What can we do to get this package to a place where you don’t have to think about spending it?” She was progressively more irate as I said that I didn’t earn the privilege to spend at Target unconsciously by making decisions unconsciously.

Then I closed on them: “as committed as you are to getting us to sign today, we are equivalently committed to NOT signing anything today.” Game over and they shuffled us off to the “exit survey” closer-closer-closer. That gave us enough time afterward to really look into the value proposition and see that they were going to charge us about double what it really would have been worth to us.

I learned my lesson, but thankfully only by wasting an extra 20-30 minutes than I needed to.

Janet – thanks for the entertainment. The various sales reps that appear to be angered by your well thought out responses.

Very good points, thank you for the tips. I was recently tricked into doing a timeshare presentation and I’m definitely going to use your tips when I go. Basically, I was at a fair and was told that they were doing discounted stays at a resort in Florida. I agreed, filled out the paperwork, and paid. At the end of the paperwork, before the signature page, the guy said “oh by the way, you will have to do a brief presentation when you are there.” There was nothing stated about timeshares, but I did some research and figured it out. No problem, I get to stay at a resort for pretty much nothing and thanks to your tips, I won’t have a hard time with the pushy people.

If you are not interested in purchasing a timeshare, do not attend a timeshare presentation! The free gifts are not worth wasting a day of your vacation, and putting your hard earned money at risk of being scammed by the timeshare salespeople.

Uhhh wrong website Liliana. This site is for people who are not interested in purchasing a timeshare, yet want to survive a timeshare presentation

I am a timeshare shark, I’ve been in the game for over ten years.

We call these types of people “strokers”. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen them with my own eyes. There are people that will come down here on a week’s vacation and go to 5, 6, 7 of these presentations, just to get the free stuff.

These people are IDIOTS. They don’t understand that they are spending 500 a DAY to be on vacation, yet they will waste a whole day going on a sales pitch to get 100 bucks and a bottle of tequila. If they’d stayed home they would be 400 bucks ahead.

Then they will spin elaborate webs of lies. They act like they are interested during the pitch. Newsflash, morons: if you act like you are interested we are going to keep trying to close you. I have all day, I am not on vacation. I can go to the beach anytime. When it comes down to the money suddenly Grandma needs a new kidney, the dog needs braces, or the most common one-we are in the middle of closing on a new house. Last time I bought a house I went on a vacation in the middle of the closing. Seems like at least half the people here on vacation are in the middle of a real estate closing for some reason.

We laugh at these idiots. I have nothing else to do today, and I only get one shot per day, so if you are going to ruin my day by wasting my time when you have no intention of buying anything, then I’m going to ruin your day by dragging this bs out as long as possible. We know you are lying to us. We are professional liars, you are amateurs. You do this all the time for the free stuff? So clever. So you’ve been on, what, twenty, thirty of these presentations? I’ve done it THOUSANDS of times. If anyone’s gonna leave here with one leg shorter than the other from all the pulling it’s not gonna be me.

We’ll seat strokers outside in the blazing sun “while we get your gifts ready”. Then we’ll sit inside at the bar and laugh at them sweating out there. After about half an hour they will be sweating bullets and start to get really antsy. That’s when I’ll tell my buddy to go take a crack at them. He’ll go out there, they think he’s bringing them the gifts, and he just starts right in with the entire pitch all over again.

Then when they’re REALLY squealing, we’ll take them to the “gift department”. This is called EXIT and it’s ANOTHER ENTIRE SALES PITCH. We usually run a 25 percent close in the sales room AND 25 percent close in exit. This means that at least half the people who come through the pitch will be leaving somewhat light in the wallet, whether they intended to or not. WE ARE EXPERTS AT THIS. YOU ARE AMATEURS.

The guy who tells me, “I’ll listen to your pitch but I AIN’T BUYING NOTHING”??? That’s my meat.

We are MASTERS at using your own words against you, twisting them around to mean anything we want them to. We will play off wife against husband, kids against parents, one couple against the other couple.

TL;DR? DO NOT GO ON A TIMESHARE SALES PITCH.

Your obviously and a-hole and your math skills are sh@t.

“This means that at least half the people who come through the pitch will be leaving somewhat light in the wallet, whether they intended to or not. WE ARE EXPERTS AT THIS. YOU ARE AMATEURS.”

100 people show up; you sell 25% (25 buyers, 75 exit) you sell 25% of the 75 exiting (round that to 19 more buyers, 56 leave)

So mathematically, 44% (44 buyers/100 entrants) are closed.

I’m guessing your math on fees are probably similar.

I’m a timeshare salesman. The company I work for is irrelevant. People who want freebies will attend a presentation in return. That is understandable, and it is human nature. We try to sell to them, and that is the nature of a salesperson. Now, the company I work for doesn’t pressure and we stress honesty. I present a product that works, and present it honestly. People tend to appreciate that, and buy based on the benefits they see, and those benefits are not always financial. It’s personally very satisfying to get unsolicited vacation photos from my clients…that’s the icing on the cake long after I’ve spent their sales commission. Doing a straight-up presentation and job afterward also provide me with a decent client referral portfolio. That is where the real money is-getting clients to refer others.

I know what’s sold out there, and who sells what, and those of you who are reps know the same. If what you sell isn’t on the up and up, you deserve the strokers. I frankly wouldn’t waste my time or someone else’s unless I had a genuine interest. As I have read in a few comments, I also believe in karma…and that you get what you give.

My advice to people who are a little interested: do your homework. Go with a real company with a real track record and support system. Make sure what you are offered is backed up in writing, and don’t be afraid to whip out your iPad or iPhone or iWhatever and check the person’s story. Someone who is confident that their product delivers what they offer won’t bat an eyelash and won’t have to defend a thing. Like I said at the beginning, we know what we sell.

And we know you are here for the freebies. It’s up to us to show you a different way to vacation. One that works for you. If it does, great. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. Life is short. Spend your vacations doing whatever makes you happy. In the end, that is what matters.

Andycancun, I have a question for you about timeshare tours. If you are married your spouse is required to show for the presentation, but what if she didn’t travel with me? If I put down that I am single, would anyone even check? Thank you 🙂

As a person who is 3 weeks away from spending time in Hilton Head (attending a time share presentation during my stay that pays for my stay), I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed the banter back and forth between agents and customers presenting pro’s and con’s and being defensive about everything! I will remember everything said here and utilize all of it during my attendance of the presentation. Thanks guys!Salud!

Janet, that was an awesome read! I’ve been readin alot about various options but can’t find a list of all the different timeshare presentations available? I’ve done Wyndham and Bluegreen, what others are out there off the top of your head? Thanks.

I am a rep for Festiva and I have several comments for this blog.

#1: Timeshare companies use many different marketing companies to advertise our products and keep people coming in. With that said, our marketing department has screwed me on the back end, whether it be by people by telling them the presentation lasts an hour when it actually lasts two, or being rude to people. Anything to do with marketing has nothing to do with sales at the resort.

#2: Professional time share presentation takers: Many times in the industry, we call these people “professional mini-vac’ers”. One of the incentives we offer to come take a tour is offering a two or three discount stay at our resort in exchange for two hours of someone’s time. At my resort, this is a GREAT deal and people save about four hundred dollars on this deal. However, many people use these types of incentives at many resorts and just take up someone’s time, over and over, without any real interest. These types of people, gift getters, do help us fill tours. However, taking the same tours over and over again not only wastes the rep’s time, but the customer’s as well. For all the time they spent trying to get something free, they could purchase something at a good deal and never have to waste their time with a rep again.

#3: The timeshares you see on the market that people are begging to give up are old fixed weeks. Most companies, like mine, deal exclusively on a point system. My resort, for example, owns over two dozen resorts and members can use their points intermittently between all of them. If they like they can exchange outside the company as well. Old fixed week timeshares have no value because owners have to spend money with outside companies to exchange and it gets expensive. My company offers exchange with a fee of 117 dollars and some points. The timeshares you see with no value belong to people who did not purchase or convert to a point based system. My company is growing in size and as we add more resorts, our property value and the value of the owner’s timeshare will grow, not diminish.

#4: Reps know that only one or two out of every ten tours will buy. Stacking the numbers is in our favor so we take many tours we know own’t buy. However, the numbers always even out. I have NEVER been rude to any tour, regardless of whether they buy or not. I get paid by the hour on top of any commission so I never have to pressure people to buy something they dont want.

#5: Depending on the state, customers have the right to what’s called a “cool down” period. This means they have between three and ten days to cancel their package. When reps pressure people into buying, they just cancel, which wastes even MORE of people’s time. So my company refuses to hit people hard. What we do is show off our product, show the benefits, and let people make up their minds themselves. We do a lot of business that way because we have a great product.

#6: Timeshare, in many ways, is awesome. It saves people thousands and my particular company offers insurmountable benefits by joining. The maintenance fees can be high, but my company offers the lowest rates and has a program designed to eliminate those fees. Vacation ownership is a great way to see the world and spend time with your family.

#7: There are three important components to vacation ownership. People must love the program, be able to afford it, and have time to use it. If all three of those elements come together, I usually have a sale. If not, I still go through my presentation to practice and sometimes I a surprised by who buys (and who doesn’t!). Most of my customers have come back to me to say they felt great about their purchase, it has benefited their family, and they see great value in our product.

I understand why some people do not like the industry. There are ups and downs to everything in life though. I am really proud to work where I do and I enjoy helping people realize their dreams. I don’t swindle anyone and I am honest and upfront about everything concerning the sale. I love what I do, how many people can say they help couples stay together, or help family members spend more time together? How would you feel if your customers sent you postcards saying you kept their family together, or helped them spend time with a loved one that has since passed?

Timeshare is actually a great investment. I hope some of you will keep an open mind in spite of the negative comments on here if you ever do take a tour. You might be surprised by how interesting, useful, and valuable some of the products are.

We got tons of phone calls to do this thing. They said we were required to make 45K and own our home. We did not meet either qualification and I told them. I guess we made 45K Canadian. They said it was OK. Later when I got these calls I just hung up. I was sick of arguing with sales people. I want to try hosteling. I have stayed in Motel 6 and the like. I have stayed in college dorms–a week in a sleeping room for $150 ain’t bad and I get a chance to meet a lot of people in the lobby. I am a solo traveler and I get tired of all this private and personal stuff.

Hello – I couldn’t find my answer in this feed:

I am a 34 year old unmarried female traveling to Cabo San Lucas with my 33 year-old boyfriend, we’re looking to ‘window shop’ around for timeshares in the area. We are staying in a house in Pedregal, not at any of the actual timeshare resorts. Here are some questions I have. Please, if you can help yourself: don’t tell us NOT TO GO ON A TIMESHARE TOUR! Here are some questions I haven’t been able to find answers to:

– We will not and can NOT sign any paperwork on the timeshare tour. When should we make this apparent to our salesperson? At the beginning? – We want to get top cash gifts for our 90-120 minute tour (i am aware it may take longer than this based on others’ experiences). What proof/documentation is required to insure our gifts? – Do we have to provide proof of our income? This kind of information is a bit intrusive. – Is there any reason in the end they would change their mind on the $ cash gifts they promised?

Thanks in advance for all your expertise in this category.

U2 are prime candidates and should be offered the largest gift amount. However walking in to a resort asking to tour might leave you with less then what you’ll get by signing up at the airport. To ensure you receive whatever you’re promised get it in writing. They want to make sure that you have a credit card not a debit card, Your age is what they want, being unmarried takes a little away from your value. There is no reason not to go on tour, but like you said you should never sign anything that is a potential financial burden without carefully considering the consequences, away from the emotional whirlwind of a sales room. Anything you can buy today you can probably get a slightly better deal on tomorrow. If you go in and explain your here to learn but you both agree there is no reason to sign anything on tour they will pretend it doesn’t matter and apply pressure later. Just agree that the deal is amazing and you love it, but it would be irresponsible to make such an emotional decision. They may try to make you feel bad for not being able to make a decision, if they do remind them this type of treatment is going to make the decision no. Don’t argue with them. Don’t be defensive. Don’t try to trick them, just simply don’t sign until you have done your homework and are not on an emotional high.

If you would like I can put you directly in touch with several of the sales managers here in town.

Good luck, Mike

[Email Redacted]

P.s. most importantly, enjoy your time, and don’t let them waste too much of it!

Come on guys who is kidding who? How much did you spend for your vacation? The average cheap American is spending around 3/5,000 for seven days do you relize when you go to waste a salespersons time in getting your gifts in the average amount of about 200 dollars if you can be a tuff dealer. Lol therefore you draw your cute little kiddies with you tell all your lies to the salesperson that of course enjoys there everyday that you are actually paying them to attend your only 7 days off from work lol you have worked a year for and you spend your whole day with someone you don’t know so it ends up costing you one full day of your hard earned vacation time to get how much back in return. Do you really dislike each other that much to spend an entire day of your 7 days. Actually the joke is on you who attend the tours for a few bucks! Lol that is really stupid if you ask me. Go enjoy what that salesperson enjoys everyday you are just another number in his/hers eyes. There is about 33% of intelligent buyers that vacation on a regular bases that understands how to use their vacation club membership. So when you go and lie about your status in income and so on just remember there is something called karma! You have a job I hope also, right when people lie to you how does it feel. That’s them look stupid great way to raise your children! Great conversation afterwrds to on how you screwed the salesperson je je je the salesperson two weeks later is enjoying what you paid for the rest of there lives while you are still digging into the snow bank to get your car out so you can drive to work! The job you hate! Just remember why not be honest with yourself! Go enjoy your vacation without living and feeling proud of it later on. When one of your children ask you mommy “we really did not just buy a new car we still have the old” why did you tell the man a LIE. Lol live with that one. Great role models. Have a great vacation spend it wisely!

Way to go David, I totally agree with what you said. If people could just get over thier junk addiction and realize there are no free rides they would be way ahead in the long term. And your right about them loosing more than they gain, as most of the time those gift promises are empty promises any way. Not always but most of the time, and even when they are fulfilled it’s only to save face, and to have some more pawns with which to lure in more unsuspecting takers.

Hey Jen, How was your trip? Probably not as profitable as you had hoped, eh? No matching names/address on your id’s? Unmarried you qualify as a single lady only. Let your bf stay at the resort, you’ll be more believable that way. What did they offer you, a $100 or so? If you told them at checkin you will not be signing anything today they most likely nq’d you, right? Depending on the resort, if your excuses for not buying vary from the checkin qualifying questions they ask, you very well could go home penniless without a ride back. If you have not yet gone, I would encourage you to go enjoy your vacation and not waste anyones time including your own. btw, if you want to go and play to get paid you’ve got to have a verifiable ts ownership, then you can make $500 or more.

Exactly. Ive been just laughing my ass off at the comments with lungs super inflated in anger because WE, THE SALES PEOPLE that are trying to make a living are LYING, THIEVES, SCAMMERS and coming from hell. Well then again is our FRIKKING job. First of off this blog article is called how to survive a timeshare presentation without buying. Ha! You guys lir and are getting trained to go on every vacation and sign up for presentation to get little ridiculous gifts worth maximum 500us. That is the worth of your family and your vacations, who are the thieves here stealing our only shot for the day to buy us food? Stealing our time and chances to sell to others that are not such idiots and can actually male the math and figure it is better to vacation this way as you have been doing it. Haha. I feel sorry for you. All of you. Cheap arrogant dumb tourists. Keep training yourself in how to survive a presentation for little 200 bills. And waste half of a day. Disgusting.

We are recieving 925.00 us. Cash and nights for 2 hrs. Time. 200 would not be worth it.

Stroker!!! What kind of industry are you in? Why does someone have to pay you, to show you something you are interested in?? Get real! Greed is a sin yes or no??? If people like you just quit going to get free b.s. then the industry would shut down. No marketing equals no sales! No sales equals no business! You say you are 33 but not intelligent enough to figure this out. Your sales rep should use crayons when presenting! Just stay home or stay at the pool. Who window shops for timeshare. Go to ebay and window shop!

Hey, Jen…did you get a good look at all the timeshare store fronts. Now that you are ready and able to sign, how about buying my Marriott timeshare. Maui. It’s only $1 dollar. Is that price range in your budget? Is Marriott quality ok? What day should we set the appointment to close? I m available anytime. I ll even fly to you. Don’t worry, I will pay my way. Sound good? Deal?

Janet says: November 23, 2011 at 7:26 am Gee Mike, sounds like I struck a nerve, and I’ll say the same to you as I said to the last timeshare sales rep. above. Not only don’t I care what you think of me, I actually appreciate it, so thanks!

Ok, I get that you guys all hate each other, and you are all in need of a creative outlet for this extra emotional energy (I suppose I am included in this) but Janet, I really want to know how you did this. I mean bravo. Can you please tell me how you were able to accomplish the what you said above. No joke, you seem to have been able to combine anger and apathy, angry aloof? Yes, an angry aloof thing, but how? If you really were able to, well done!

Warm Regards Guy Typing, Esq.

I am also an avid timeshare presentation goer. However, I agree with the fact that you are the one that must end the presentation, I don’t fully agree with your in presentation tactics. I actually go in with an arsenal of stories and questions. I tell stories and listen to the stories they have for me. I ask them questions about all the other properties they have around the world and the amenities they offer. I use up the entire 90 or 120 minutes with conversation and stories and questions. As soon as my alarm hits the 5 minute warning, I wrap up. I let them know that it has been a great presentation and I appreciate their time, however their time is up. I stand up and ask to have my goodies. 🙂 Thank you for the blog. It was fun to read!

Mike I think you are a very lonely guy who needs to find yourself someone to talk to. Why don’t you commit yourself to a hobby instead of wasting other people’s time. Get a life!!!

I am not a time share rep. However, I do know from going to former presentations that it is a great deal. I couldn’t convince my husband to do it and have regretted it every since. He developed a heart problem the next year and we have not gone on a vacation since because we didnt have a vacation plan in place. you spend thousands on cars that last buy 5 years before you replace it. Timeshare is for life and we will be purchasing hopefully soon. Just my two cents. And my experience has been that the sales folks were kind.

Sue, I am a rep. With the largest vacation ownership in the world. I would love to answer any questions you might have about how to get involved if you are still concitering it. All I have to say, is if you are going to buy, make it be with the most reputable company, with the most flexibility, and the one with the most programs available to help offset maintenance fees, and other out of pocket vacation expenses. There is some valuable advice I could give you as an insider, and would be more than happy to 🙂

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Timeshare presentations are not a good way to make a buck.

If you divide the amount of time you get for vacation in a lifetime, the amount you would have gotten paid to work at your employer during your vacation time, minus the time it took you to get to your destination. It’s worth like $500 an hour. I was offered a $600 Helecopter tour to go on a presentation in Hawaii, I said no, my time is more valuable. In addition, I was not interested nor had the extra funds to purchase a timeshare. I am in food service sales, and I do not want someone wasting my time when I am working. Going on presentations where people make straight commission and basically wasting their time for $100 is bad karma. Desperate people do these kinds of things, next you’ll be hitting up the nearest car lot for free pizza and soft drinks…please get a life.

Wow wow wow someone figured out the system and knows how to spend your time wisely not wasting other people’s time with their lies. It’s unbelievable to me that people fill the brains with such non sence to share stories or use the words arsenal go play the board game SORRY!!! What kind of parents were these people brought up with…I find great pleasure in having a customer such as conartist Mike. When they are begging you to leave the table saying “your time is up” I say to a Mike kinda guy is yea you think so? I’m in control you just didn’t relize it jerk! I get to say when, where and how long the tour will take. You are going to spend the whole day with me just as you planned telling me all your stories! I love to answer WHY is that so a Mike can feel really strong in his comment for the day yea so why is that mike. If one knows how to seek out time wasters and you have to take them on tour je je je love getting lost and tour the area two or three times and a Mike says we were just here! Yes, just wanted to see if you were paying attenuation so come and visit me Mr. mike I show you the resort so you will dream or have nightmares about us. Then we get really laugh the loudest at YOU! Think about it is it really worth your time “on vacation to spend it with someone you don’t know!!! We are a lot smarter than most of us look.

You can call a person who goes to a time share meeting a “time waster” or think they are just after freebies,but in reality the marketing people working for the time share company goes out of his way to invite (insist) that you sit through the presentation regardless of your level of interest. I signed up for one today. I explained that I was not interested, and did not want to be pressured, and there was little or no chance of me ever buying. His said that is fine, you are coming to this city anyway, and for your 2 hrs. we will give you such and such. So this thing (tactic) of demeaning those who sign up and are not really interested is wrong. The guy bought 2 hrs. of my time. When I say no, it will simply be a bad investment they were willing to make and they knew it up front.

okay… New post, old thread… I used to work for west gate as an “independent contractor”. We got 500.00 checks the next morning after we closed the night before. Very competitive and I was driven. I love sales, I sold 30 timeshares in 3 months during a summer break while studying computer science.

I also really like timeshare, I use friends and buy points and weeks from folks to vacation. That’s always worked for me. I don’t think I’d own, but that’s because I’d rather save for a little cottage a block or two off a beach that I can decide what happens to it…

My “PD” project director and my manager at west gate are total scumbags and just bad people in my opinion… I was forced to quit because they didn’t like me studying during breaks, and because I would come in late a couple of days because I had class… I was on fire at the end of the summer and couldn’t quit… I tried to make a deal with the PD but in the end it failed.

I didn’t realize that once I “quit” all my commission that was owed me also was withheld… Bottom line, it’s tough on the salespeople… The highest closers always go out first, and a lot of people struggle.

I agree, with most posts…. Don’t lie…. But, I also agree that the folks that book these things are pretty aggressive… They are called OPC where I’m from, and these guys are sharks… When you’re trying to support yourself and your family, rationalization will happen… Some people will say anything to sell…

Bottom line… If you can afford it, take one presentation… Don’t be that repeat person… I’ve sold a lot of people who swore that they would never buy from me, and they did… They lied… Who cares…. We all lie…. A good salesman finds a real problem you have and presents a clear, sometimes affordable, solution… If you can comfortably afford it, and you like it, why not? If not, screw it. If the hassle you, screw them. It’s not about wasting the salespersons time… It’s about your time.

What a jerk. But it sounds to me like the guy you are busy getting lost with while you waste his time isn’t the only one who is loosing. I hope that EVERYTIME you do something like that some other salesman gets a great sale that would have gone to you. Better yet I hope that your bosses wised up and got rid of you.

As long as timeshare companies pressure people who tell they “I can’t buy right now.” into taking tours by offering them incentives don’t blame the people who cave, blame those who are offering the freebies. I’ve been upfront every single time I’ve taken a tour (about 4 over 20 years) that I’m not buying right now. In stead of just accepting that mist places up the offer. If it’s worth giving up my time I’ll accept. I’ve stayed in timeshares about 15 times. My brother owns one and gets me guest passes. Someday I hope to. But you know what I would never buy one from someone like you. As a matter of fact now that I’ve read your post when I’m ready to buy I will take a tour while telling the salesperson upfront that I can’t purchase right now, just to see how he or she treats me. Any getting lost or trying to hold me hostage past the allotted time and on the way out I will tell them “I planned to purchase today but you didn’t treat me with respect so I won’t be buying from you.

Hey guys, I just read all you posts on the pro’s and cons of timeshare. Ill throw my 2 cents worth in: A lot of people here spend their entire time going to presentations just to get a cheap holiday. Ask yourself this, if it really isnt worth buying and the presentations are so bad, why do you keep going? You guys make such a big deal on “how and why not to buy” but didnt you just get sold? some rep just made 2-300$ off you and gave you a few nights noone wanted. Id rather pay 2-300 extra and not have to bad mouth what people like the retired army seargent enjoys. And also: Ive been to hilton, disney, wyndhams and marriots, and i tell you what, its not bad at all…otherwise you guys wouldnt bother with the presentation and just pay the full price yourselves? right?

I love you could not have said it better. I know when I go on a vacation it is to relax and unwind not sit and argue or say no no no. Being a grown man and to ask if I can leave that’s the funniest part of all these comments. I mean who really is in control of who???

You ask: “if it really isn’t worth buying and the presentations are so bad, why do you keep going?”

Answer: At the very top of this page you’ll read: “There are people who make a sport of attending timeshare presentations just for the freebies offered. I am not going to condone or disapprove of this behavior, my role is simply that of an informer – letting the public know the ins and outs of a timeshare presentation.” I suppose another thread could be started that reads: “How to close effectively on timeshare presentations.” but I will go out on a limb and say it wouldn’t be nearly as popular.

Sure, there are folks that don’t have any intention of buying when they come to the presentations. But have you ever wondered why the timeshare companies don’t ask you this before your hear the pitch? Why they don’t say: “Well, if you’re here just for the free vacation then we can’t honor this offer”? I’ll tell you why, it’s because they hope they can rope in even those that were initially only looking for a free vacation. The offers say, “you get this price if you listen to our presentation, no obligation to buy.” So when folks say “Thanks, but I’m not interested,” that should be the end of it. Now I understand that timeshare salesmen need to make a living, and in most cases they have to do so by pressuring folks (sometimes successfully) into buying. Sadly, when it comes to timeshares, I’ve heard more regret stories than happiness stories (just count them in this blog). So you see, it goes both ways. The timeshare folks know that a lot of folks come in looking for a free vacation but they don’t care, and the frequent timeshare-freebie-only crowd know what they’ll face and they are happy with it, it doesn’t “ruin” their vacation, and they are not free-loaders since they gave their time (money) to listen to the speech.

Look, when the time share companies use sales people acting as customers as room fill, to deceive real people into thinking the sales room is full of customers, the timeshare corporations are just exploiting people. Their sales people pretending they are customers are not even being paid for being room fill! At least real people attending presentations for sport are giving sales peopl a break from being unpaid actors!

I have never really heard of that in my life, that does not mean that it is not happening in other resorts. You have to realise just like with anything else “buyer be ware” in any sales business there are good people providing a service, and there are bad people as well. So, not everyone that you are sitting across are not the enemy just folks trying to provide for the same way as you. You are also right, a sales rep. would rather have an opportunity to practice or to make a sale then trying to fill a room to make it look busy. I have just never heard of that but I am sure that has to be one of the smaller resorts. – Good Luck in All your Timeshare ventures- Just don’t think that we are all cut from the same cloth.

This resort area 25 miles of coast and is monopolized by timeshares to the point that rooms costs 3 times as much to stay on the beach as it does in Honolulu, Hawaii. I don’t make up the jargon, and I don’t work in the industry. I just have a friend who is an OPC.

man i work at grand crown in branson missouri and that is just dumb all tables are people looking to buy or people that made up there mind on the way there that they were just doing it for free stuff. None of which are sales reps trying to fill a room to try and make it look more busy. its timeshare we dont have to do that were always busy unless its the off season then were just travel to cali or another warm place. sorry man but your buddy is a lier. theres nothing wrong with timeshare specialy if you have kids because its not what you buy for your kids that counts its about wat you do with them because them memories re what makes them happy.

Your writing is practically illiterate. How do you expect anyone to take your comments aeriously?

You commented to it.? Also check your post. Seems you cannot spell. This post is about timeshare. Not who,s the best at posting! All I can say is WOW. I am a veteran timeshare sales rep if anyone has real questions I can and will do my best at answering them. Dw

Ridiculous quest there. What happened after? Good luck!

Timeshares are not an investment. I think most folks agree.

But further, they are not a tenable approach as a mechanism to travel and see the world. You can buy them for this purpose, just realize this is a fool’s errand.

Better options, as in MUCH more mileage for the buck, same or better quality (same places in most all cases), more options, no restrictions, no obligations, etc. etc.

Take the 20k for the unit, plus the annual ‘maint fees’ and amortize from the sum the rental of these units off the secondary market…from owners that have gotten suckered into the purchase and are looking for some temporary relief. In the end, you spend less, have no blackout dates, and don’t have the risk of a ‘cash call’ or assessment.

So if you love to eat a $1,000 burger, fine-great-dandy. Just don’t kid yourself or others that it’s a good deal…it ain’t. So long as you are not targeting the deal, and just like to spend the 20k for the bottle of champagne at closing, then it’s your moolah.

Even if I was so inclined to drop a grand for a bacon cheese, I would STILL probably opt for a fancy dinner with friends, just on principle.

Do you own one? Clearly you must to say that a timeshare is not a great way to see the world. You are mistaken. I have traveled the world with my weeks. Where do you own? Dw

Janet I just flipped through the entire blog for the first time…. My God. You don’t have a life. Maybe you should go buy a real condo…. But it sounds like you only have the money for the nearly free timeshare travels. Good luck with your little blog.

Gee Mike, sounds like I struck a nerve, and I’ll say the same to you as I said to the last timeshare sales rep. above. Not only don’t I care what you think of me, I actually appreciate it, so thanks!

My recommendation to you is first, go on on a few timeshare resale sites, such as “Redline”, ebay, etc and see for yourself exactly how much an identical timeshare at the property you claim to have bought into is selling for on the resale market. If you do this, you should be downright irate, at the sales rep., and at yourself, for buying at the presentation price, for something you could have bought for 1/2, 1/5th, and very possibly, for as little as $1. If you’re not, then I’m sorry, but I’m not going to believe you’re not supplementing your retirement pay by selling timeshares, which I noticed you didn’t deny.

Seeing as I doubt you’ll take me up on my recommendation, I took the liberty of performing a simple analysis.

So I went to ebay and ran an analysis of the last 50 completed timeshare auctions. And yes, ebay is a good measure of “fair market value”, defined as “assuming a willing seller and willing buyer, the price at which an item will exchange hands.”

Of those last 50 completed auctions, only 18 sold, meaning that 32, or 66% did not get a single bid, not even the 11 timeshares offered for only $1 22%.) Of the 18 that did sell, 6 sold for one lousy dollar (12%). 2 more sold for $2 and $5, respectively. 5 sold for an average of $280, and the remaining 5 (10%) sold for $1,026, $2,551, $5,000 $7,450, and $10,250 respectively. Those 5 however were in prime locations,such as Manhatten and Hawaii. The timeshares that garnered the most were both Mariott properties, located in an extremely prestigious section of Newport Beach. My bet is the original presentation price of those probably ran closer to $50,000, making the total loss on resale even greater.

I’m an accountant. I do the math, and I don’t care how much, or how little money anyone has. No one is OK with finding out that they just paid $20,000 for something they could have bought for as little as $1. It’s not smart, it’s foolish, and the normal reaction is outrage.

Well, except apparently for the timeshare sales reps., who, by your own admission, are really happy with all their money, bonuses and free time, that they seem to be enjoying at the expense of others.

If you bothered to look at the rest of this site, you will see the literally hundreds of people, facing financial ruin, desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts they were pressured into signing on the spot, many of them facing financial ruin as a result. Especially in this current economic crisis, with millions of Americans losing their jobs and their homes, you should be ashamed of yourself.

FYI, the rich don’t get wealthy by squandering their money, and those who do squander their money, don’t stay rich for long. The wealthy don’t buy timeshares, they buy vacation homes. The wealthy also don’t sign any contracts without running them past their attorneys first, and can’t be pressured into buying on impulse at a presentation, so it’s not the wealthy who are being harmed.

You know, with all the layoffs, my husband even quit his job because others he worked with needed the money far more. When we go to a timeshare presentation, we try to warn as many of our fellow presentations against buying as we possibly can, and regard it as a public service. I’m not just a timeshare nazi, I’m a responsibility nazi, and I’m sorry, but you’re not going to convince me that convincing people to sign contracts, committing them financially to tens of thousands of dollars to pay for extravagant vacations they may not even be able to take, much less afford, and pressuring them into doing so “on the spot”, giving even giving them time to really think it over, is anything remotely resembling responsible. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see how anyone who possesses a conscience could do such a thing, to anyone. But that’s not the primary reason I attend timeshare presentations, and it’s not the freebies either.

YeI’m an accountant, but what I specialize in is forensics and fraud, meaning that companies hire me to find out who’s stealing and how. Determining who the thief is always easy. All I have to do is wander around for a few days and whoever hates me the most, is almost always either the one who’s stealing, or in collusion. Oh, first, they usually try to charm and con me, throwing everyone else they work with under the bus, but when they realize it’s not working, that’s when they get nasty.

Then they tell me all about my miserable pathetic life, and make all the same accusations to attempt to indimidate and discredit me. I really appreciate it too. It’s like they’re painting great big targets on their back, to help zero right in on them.

In case I haven’t made it obvious enough, attending timeshare presentations is far from a hobby or waste of my precious time. For me, it’s more like an profiling tool. Kind of like Clarese paying a visit to Hannibal Lector. Very educational, and extremely beneficial in developing my skills. So I really do appreciate your comments.

Have a nice day.

Manhattan and Hawaii, wow!

ok look the secondary market is filled with Timeshares no doubt. The reason you are seeing prime location properties for sale so cheep is because the maint. fees are so high. and they are going to sit there for a while. Timeshare is not a inverstment property. however it is an investment- all those free vacations you took you have so many wonderful memories. That is your investment… it will force a workaholic to spend one week without his cell phone and with his wife and kids. If gives those children so many great memories with there family. kids don’t care about money all they need is there parents. So, if dad and mom spend $15,000.00 or $30,000.00 dollars and have one great vacation every year for the rest of there lives who are you to take that from someone! Shame on you! for your for being blind to what it is really about. You went to disney and a resort paid for it shame on you ! those smiles on your childrens faces were not put their by your actions but the actions of another you just got to enjoy the smiles and great memories. Shame on you for thinking you know the person on the other side of the table he is a father , she is a mother , a husband a wife ! Shame on you….enjoy the vacations they were a gift that we provide your children when you can’t provide for them, Shame on you for spitting in our faces! you have so many flaws your human. But you people are the worse type of people your not greatful for a hand-out that was given to you and your family. The Gift of “Time” was given to you …. take that to the bank…. I will create a million smiles this year “What Will You do”? You may even be one of them….

You want the true way to get out of a timeshare presentation give me your credit card and I will show you.

There’s so much wrong with your post, I don’t even know where to begin.

I guess I’ll start with, no, you’re not getting my credit card, and how dare you even suggest such a thing! No one on this planet “owes” you a living, much less are you entitled to expect that anyone should just hand you over tens of thousands of dollars of their hard earned money, because you imagine they should. You’re certainly not entitled to mine. OMG!

Timeshare salespeople have families? Yeah, well so do theives, rapists, and serial murderers. So what? As far as I’m concerned, attempting to use your family in a rather sad attempt to “guilt trip” me, (and anyone else) is just yet another slimey, dispicable, underhanded BS con job, typical tactic I’ve grown to expect from timeshare reps. Shame on YOU!

I am not responsible for supporting your family, and neither is anyone else. No one “owes” you $15,000 to $30,000+ of their hard earned money, just because you need to support your family. Supporting your family is your job, don’t try to schlep it off on the rest of the world.

And no one’s children “need” mommy and daddy to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a timeshare to putsmiles on their faces either. Most children would rather their parents spend quality time with them, attending their games, recitals, etc., demonstrating their love by participating in their lives and cheering them on. That’s what puts smiles on children’s faces, and those are the times that wonderful memories are made of. Not becoming a “workaholic” just so they can hand over all their money to the wealthy corporation you work for, justso you and your corporate executives can make millions. Again, OMG!

And the secondary markets are not just filled with “cheap” timeshares, they’re also filled with timeshares that are being given away, totally FREE! Who in their right mind would actually pay $15,000-30,000 for something they could have gotten for FREE?

Even worse, is the fact that the only reason people GIVE away timeshares they actually were conned into paying that kind of money for is out of desperation to get out of the outrageous interest, annual fees and taxes–because they can’t afford them!

And even when people try to give their timeshares away for FREE, they’re not finding any takers. Charities won’t even take them.

Lodging is only a small portion of the cost of taking a vacation. You’re leaving out all the other costs: transportation, meals, entertainment, etc. None of which are covered by the costs of buying, and maintaining a timeshare.

Attempting to claim that buying “forces” people to take a vacation? That is absolutely not true!

There are myriads of sites filled with unused timeshare weeks–offered to the general public, and for far LESS than the owners are paying, just in annual maintenance fees alone. Anyone can stay at just about any timeshare they want, no need to buy in! We do it all the time, and usually only pay $199 to $299 for the entire week. My bet is that the reason the owners aren’t using those weeks is because, after paying all the expenses of buying and maintaining their timeshare property, they don’t have enough money left over to take a vacation!

FYI, this country, and in fact, most of the world, is in a recession, and in fact, the worst recession since the great depression of 1929! Times are hard, and people all over the world are losing their jobs, their homes, and having a hard time just putting food on the table.

Timeshare companies rely on luring their victims who have zero experience in this industry, and know absolutely nothing about what they’re really getting themselves into.

If even timeshare corporations believed their own hype, they wouldn’t need to entice people with free gifts, or trick them by misrepresenting the purpose of their no obligaton, 90 minute, “tour”, intentionally omitting the word TIMESHARE!

You’re not giving anyone a “free gift” of time, or anything else. What you’re “giving” them is yet another financial obligation, which most people can not afford to take on!

Maybe you should take a look at the rest of this site, and see just how many people are suffocating under the financial burden of the timeshare properties that they were basically conned into buying.

The only one who should be ashamed of themselves is you.

(my opinion, of course.)

well said..I hae went on timeshare promotions now for 12 years ..I even am to the point that when they cll me on the phone I know there tricks so I use them against them…things like it sounds great but I dont have that much monehy right now for the promotion …and they talk to their manager and within minutes have the shaved the price by 100.00 bucks!! that cracks me up..then I get extra days for much less than they orignally say….I say”hey I am coming from 12 hours away 3 nights is not even close to enough..and dont agree to just a hotel type room you want a 2 0r 3 bedroom CONDO with full kitchen..I will be going to Wyndamm Resorts Olando..within Disney Property..2 bedroom( I was promised a 3 but none available for the week I picked) Condo room for 4 nights and I am getting a 100 dolar Visa card when I am done and I only paid$159.99 orginally they wanted 299.99 just to go listen this craziest pitch you have ever heard…owning timeshares…laugh at them in your head while they are talking to you! you got a great deal and they got 2.5 hours of your time. Score: you great vacation them: NOTHING!!! and then I bought 2 nights off everave for Orlando hotel rtoom for 2 nights which gets me my full 7 nights….they did not have the other two nights available for me so I got them myself! and that was $160.00 for two nights with 80 dollars in hotel credit to spend however I want..so for about 350 dollars we are going to Disney ..staying within 2 miles at both places..we already have tickets with o expiration that we have used 4 times now and we just need spending money!! THAT is Disney on a shoe string budget without comprimising any of the conforts!! When we go to the parks we have lots of spending money..we eat at the nice places at least twice…we buy lots of pins and trade them and we always do one excursion…going on a boat and deep sea fishing…Sea World..Midevil nights etc. so we are not having a cheap vacation we are just saving where it helps the most..the room that you are barely in because you are out enjoying yourself…. I always spend several days on the internet looking at all the eals and putting in my phone number because then they call you with better deals and you can negotiate more on the phone with them..they wil do almost anything to get you to yes on the phone…it is great! when I check it and the people read what are vacation is and how much we paid ..they are like how in the world did you get it for that much?? that is an awsome deal..or they have said I ahve never seen it for that low! IT WORKS!! Debbie

Janet, You are awesome!! Thank you very much for your intelligent, knowledgeable information. I’m sorry you’ve gotten the ignorant responses you have. You are clearly educated and actually care about people, and ceasing the corruption. I truly appreciate the time you have put into writing all of this. That is a gesture of true concern. Someone who speaks the truth is always subject to the rejection of those who do evil, whether they are aware they are doing evil or not. I hope for the people who have been opposing you that they actually find a respectable job where they aren’t knowingly, or unknowingly scamming others.

I have a question for you: We, unknowing of all of this, purchased a weekend from Bass Pro for BlueGreen Resorts week. My family, through my mother, already owns three timeshares, two of which are through Marriot which is very nice. We never were interested in buying a timeshare at all. My husband just wanted to buy the week to go to Branson. They have stated the presentation is 2 hours and we will recieve a $75 gift certificate at the end…But, if we don’t show up, they will charge us $100. I’m trying to locate the original papers we signed to see if it ever said anything about there being a penalty for not showing up. Do you think we should go knowing we aren’t going to buy anything, just for the two hours, as soon as the two are up we immediately leave? I’m afraid they will take the cc number and charge something more than the $100. Also, I’m afraid that since we split the week, and are planing to use the rest of the 7 days another time, and if they know we didn’t buy in their presentation the first time, that something bad is going to happen with the second half of our time.

Do you have any advice for me? We are leaving Friday for the first part of our “destination package”.

May you be blessed beyond measure for the good you have done and the light you have shed. Lawrie

ps. FYI, if in case anyone who reads this decides to send me back a negative comment, please know before hand, you are wasting your time because I will NOT waste my time reading it. Thank you. And since now I have freed you from wasting your time writing to me, may you fill your time with something good to do. 🙂

Lawrie, I hope this response comes in time for you. I went through the Bluegreen presentation as well, but at Wisconsin Dells. Do you have an e-mail message from Bluegreen or the company that set up your visit? It probably has terms and conditions (or a link to something that does). My guess is that the standard language of “90-120 minutes” applies. So if you are there 120 minutes, tell them that you are done, and if they don’t sign you out right away, WALK OUT. As I state below, there may be state laws that apply, and if so, remind the good salespeople of them. (If they want to break the laws, why do you want to do business with them?)

Some other paperwork suggestions to bring with you: * Copies of your Terms and Conditions, if you have them. * Printouts from sellmytimesharenow.com, redweek,com, Timeshare User Group, etc. of resale prices of timeshares at that location. * You may find condos or similar units for rent through Hotwire for the time you are staying at Branson for cheap. Bring printouts of those prices. * When they ask you how much you spend on vacations, tell them that you either get free use of timeshare rooms from family or that you book great rooms for cheap through Priceline (at $40 – 50/night). For us, at least, that’s the truth, too! * REMEMBER, they will talk FAST with numbers, and quote you prices that do not include maintenance fees, club memberships, special assessments, and other charges. Boy, do those charges add up! * Check out Missouri state laws and regulations concerning timeshare sales (probably under whatever department does professional licensing for realtors and other such people). I looked at the Wisconsin website on timeshare sales and found a section on “prohibited sales practices.” If such language exists under Missouri law, read, print out, and have with you. * Don’t fall in love. Like a car, it can’t love you back. There will ALWAYS be another deal, so don’t fall for the “today only” garbage. (In Wisconsin, at least, it is against the law for them to say that.)

You will likely have to go or pay a penalty. When we got to our destination, we found that they would only schedule presentations in the middle of the day (11 AM or 1 PM), which ruins your whole day. I don’t know which is really better, but we did 1 PM and got out OK after exactly two hours.

Remember, a lot of these people are human, so at least start out by treating them like you would want to be treated. Our salesman was actually a decent guy who was recovering from a car accident (and unless he had a good makeup artist, he had a big scar to show for it). Be low key and keep your wits as much as possible. My sixth grader actually could poke holes in their presentation after the fact, so at least we got an educational experience out of it!

Very well said, Janet! Agree 100% with everything you said.

this is an awesome story…I fully agree..timeshares are not a waste of time..they are means to an end..if I want tickects or rooms for cheap ad I can handle the pressure then this is the way to go…I lkike to analyze the presentaiton people and predict what they will do or be sacrastic with them to really let them know I will not buy but I sure do like the stuff…iot is a game…they ahve their gimis ..one place I went to had a gong and everytime some really dumb person bought a timeshare they hit the gong…I started laughing….they did not like that…call their bluff about their stupid con…se what they say…if you do not want to go back to that one again…I stayed at the Westagte Toweres 5 times with huge rooms and lots of activites for free for the kids…then I got sarcastic and they made me leave the presentation. My husband was embarrased I was laughing!! I still got all my stuff!

Why would you call people dumb? That is as shady as you going on all those tours knowing you will never buy one all I can say is I’m sorry! For u! dw

Maybe that KARMA will come back and bite them in the @$$!!!!!LOL!

Janet Wow. I have a feeling you are a truly sad person that is dissatisfied with your own life. Especially to spend as much energy as you did replying to a post. I found the site merely by accident from a friend who had a bad experience with timeshare. If 99 out of 100 people hate that they bought a timeshare…. Then I’m the one percent that is very satisfied with what I bought and my salesperson. Maybe you should find another hobby instead of trying guess other people’s lives and incomes. Yes I receive 50% of my base pay. No it wouldn’t solely support me. Oh and by the way not every retired NCO is on food stamps. I have always been smart with my money, friends and investments. At 44 I need nothing. I have a great home, all the toys I want and the free time to go with them. Maybe you should invest more time in researching positive things to invest in and stop wasting your time on trying to be a time share nazi. Oh and before you try to attack my last comment, I’ll just stop you by saying that timeshare is not an investment. It’s a vehicle for me to travel to different parts of the country and world for a couple weeks a year. Last thing I’ll comment on before I leave this post for good ( because I do have better things to do than banter with your sorry, insignificant ass). I’m sure in timeshare sales just as with any other type sales there are good sales people and sorry sales people. Mine had great character. Have a field day Janet. It’s what your life seems to be about. Mike

“Wow. I have a feeling you are a truly sad person that is dissatisfied with your own life. ”

Yeah, it’s stupid for someone to think that they completely know a person based off of one experience of them posting something online.

I went on a presentation last year with the thought of NOT buying. I’m a retired Army 1st Sgt with 20 years in the infantry. I’m the last person that someone could manipulate. BUT, I saw the value in it especially since I like to visit other areas of the country every year. The last six months I’ve dove deeper into the program and found that I can actually work my week vacation into 3 maybe 4 weeks in different resorts in one year. Still only paying my one week timeshare. It may cost me an an extra $200 for an additional week but I’m staying in $200 a night resorts. I love that I was sold on timeshare and have zero regrets. I wouldn’t want to be a timeshare sales person but everyone I spoke with love their job and the benefits, money, and free time that come with it.

All the timeshare salespeople told you how much they love their jobs? What else would you expect them to say? Like any of them would actually admit they hated their jobs? Come on, you should be able to do better than that.

All of those sales rep. who told you that their jobs give them lots of free time, money and benefits? Yeah well, if they’re doing that good, then they no legitimate excuse for accusing non-buyers of being cheap moochers, “taking food out of the mouths of [their] children!”

FYI, people who imagine themselves incapable of being manipulated, in reality, are the easiest of all. In fact, in your post, you practically provided detailed instructions on what buttons I could push, to manipulate someone like you.

Your post revealed that you’re obviously proud of having been an army sargeant, so all I’d have to do is to play on that pride. First, by making up BS stories about the many, military officers who supposedly have bought in, and how happy they all were. Not just sargeants either, but commissioned officers, such as captains, majors and even generals, all of who recognize a “smart” investment when they see one, which serves to trick you into believing that all your superior officers buy timeshares, and surely you want to be as smart as they are, don’t you? (sucker!)

To build credibility in your mind, I’d then call over one, or more of my little rep. buddies, who would be more than happy to confirm my BS stories, adding a few of their own, and then we’d both tell you about the many high ranking officers we’ve sold to, this past week alone! (ha, ha, ha, you fool)

Now that I’ve got your pride and credibility, next I’ll go to work on your innermost desires, by making up stories, all about the many (high ranking) military families who own timeshares there, and how they just love getting together with other military personnel, especially enlisted personnel who have proven themselves worthy — buy buying a timeshare! Yes! I would play it up big time, telling you how that will put you in the same league as all kinds of commanding officers, colonels, lieutenants, who will all agree that you must be as smart as they are by recognizing such an outstanding bargain! (you stupid fool)

By the time I got done with you, I’d have you painting fantasy pictures in your head, of you and your family spending vacations “schmoozing” with all the highest ranking military officers, even generals. Wow! An infantry sargeant vacationing with the generals, now wouldn’t that be awesome? Yeah! Wouldn’t that make you the envy of everyone you ever served with? And gee, wouldn’t that really impress your family? Now, wouldn’t the opportunity for those kind of “bragging rights” be worth spending a measley $20-30,000 on a timeshare?

I wouldn’t even have to go so far as to say all that. All I have to do is plant enough seeds of desire in your little head, and your imagination will take of the rest for me. Before you know what hit you, your mind will be playing scenerios of you, and your entire family, having dinner at the White House with the President of the United States, all because you were “smart” enough to buy that timeshare at the over inflated presentation price, paying over $20,000 for something you could have bought for as little little as $1 on the resale market. What’s “smart” about that?

You don’t think that would work on you? Really? Then why are you attempting to do the same thing here? Trying to impress readers with your military background, as if simply being a retired sargeant with 20 years in the infantry somehow renders you incapable of “being manipulated”, which in itself, is nothing more than yet another manipulative tactic.

FYI, all those same ploys have been attempted on me, at every single timeshare presentation we’ve attended. Only, as I’m an accountant, they use CPAs, CFOS, and CEOs. All I have to say about those ploys is LOL!

Now let’s see, 20 years of military service? If you joined at the age of 18, that would make you about 38 years old now. At the age of 38, receiving 50% of your former pay, usually won’t pay all the bills, so most military personnel who retire that young, usually will supplement their retirement pay by starting a new career. Possibly, as a timeshare sales rep. Is that about right?

No? Then why else would you be here? What’s in it for you? I mean, seriously, this is a complaint board. If you are simply a “happy camper”, if anything, you’d be writing about your joy on your timeshare’s site or a travel site, not on a complaint board.

If you took 2 minutes to browse the site before posting, you’d see that this is a complaint board, and the only ones who post on complaint boards are those with complaints. On this board, that would be:

1) People who are upset because they feel they’ve been duped into buying a timeshare they neither want, need, and/or can afford, using tactics they regard as completely disreputable, and/or are retaliating against reps. who feel they are entitled to insult and belittle anyone who doesn’t hand them over $20,000 or more at their sleazy, so-called “presentations”, which I personally regard as a complete and total ripoff.

2. Timeshare sales reps. who are pissed off at having their time wasted by those only interested in the “freebies” offered, so they’re retaliating here, playing every imaginable “head game.”

Making your true agenda obvious really isn’t that clever.

Damn Janet,

You’re pathetic. Get a life, girl.

Timeshare reps have a right to make a living just like everyone else. Like any other salesperson, they have a product to sell. You either like it or you don’t, and if you don’t, you don’t spend hours trying to shoot it down, unless you have had bad experiences with it yourself.

There are a lot of people out there that are happy with their timeshares. Do you know why? It’s because they know how to use them and get the most out of them. You, obviously dislike the idea of timeshare, but I’m betting you don’t have any real experiennce with them, so you don’t really know what you’re talking about.

Nobody twists arms to make people respond to offers of free nights and other perks for attending a presentation. You rarely get something for nothing in the world, kid. And if you accept the freebies, you should button your lip and take what’s coming to you. Timeshare sales is like any other product…supply and demand. And trust me there are a lot of less anal people out there enjoying the hell out of their timeshares and have been for years.

Hey Tony, truth hurts, doesn’t it?

In saying, “timeshare reps. have a right to make a living…”, by that you mean YOU, right? You’re a timeshare rep., aren’t you? Your true agenda here is pretty obvious.

As far as telling me that I should “button my lip?” Maybe that works on your wife, but I’m not your dog, and you are not entitled to give me orders. So I won’t be obeying you.

You seem to be ignoring the fact that this is a complaint board. This board was not started by someone who is happy with their timeshare, but rather, because they are NOT happy, not at all! If you bothered checking the rest of this site, you will see it is chock filled with people who are angry, and desperate to get rid of the financial burden they feel they were both pressured and CONNED into purchasing. Quite a few are facing financial ruin as a direct result, not that you care, do you?

Timeshares are so worthless, that many people on this very board are complaining that they can’t even give them away! Most charities won’t even take them as a free donation, and neither will anyone else. Those who inherit them don’t want them either, and certainly don’t want to be stuck with the annual maintenance fees and taxes, that they can’t afford!

Have you even bothered reading the rest of the posts on this board? Do you have any empathy for the any of the posters here, in dire straits and facing financial ruin? Any at all? Are you even aware that our entire country is in the worst recession since the great depression? That people are losing their jobs and their homes, and can’t afford the payments on their worthless timeshares that you, and other reps. talked them into buying? Do you realize that roughly 1/4th of all home mortgages are underwater, and that 2 MILLION children in our country are now homeless?

As far as I’m concerned, you are earning a living at the expense of others, by conning them out of their hard earned money, and NO, I will never agree you should have the right to do that! I regard the business practices of timeshare companies as predatory, underhanded, slimey and completely disreputable, and I want to see laws passed to make what you do for a living illegal.

That’s what I want, and until those laws are passed, I will continue to inform and warn as many people as possible, and will do so while I’m attending timeshare presentations, wasting as much of your time as possible, and collecting those “freebies.”

As far as my having real experience with timeshares? Gee, my husband and I stay at all kinds of timeshare properties, only we happen to know there’s no need to “buy in.” There’s tons and tons of unused weeks at practically every single timeshare property. We’ve paid as little as $99/week by taking advantage of timeshare travel clubs’ “last minute” specials (no membership required!), and the most we ever paid was $400, and that was for a full week stay in a 2 bedroom, luxury oceanfront condo in Key West at “The Galleon”, which is less than 1/2 the annual maintenance fees that owners pay. For a 1 bedroom condo, we normally pay exactly $211/week, $1 for the bid, plus $15 processing fee, and $195 for the cleaning fee, and that’s for an entire week’s stay through an auction site called “travelauction”.

You want to talk “supply and demand”? When it comes to timeshare properties, there’s far more supply than there is demand, and that’s why they end up renting them out to the general public, dirt cheap!

I know exactly what I’m talking about, and No Tony, I’m not about to trust you, or take your word on anything. All anyone has to do is read the rest of the posts on this board and they can easily see which one of us is really telling the truth!

Here’s what I don’t understand:

Why can’t people just say no if they don’t want to buy a timeshare? Whether they can’t afford it or don’t like it, nobody held a gun to their head … a lot of people are weak when it comes to a high pressure salesperson.

Why don’t people read the fine print before they sign a contract? This seems like a no-brainer, especially when thousands of dollars are at stake.

In this day and age, why don’t more people check out timeshares for sale on the internet if they are considering purchasing one?

Why can’t people realize that accepting a discounted vacation, a cash incentive, show tickets, whatever, does not obligate them to buy a thing? All you owe is your attendance at the presentation, nothing else.

How hard is it to figure out that if you just pay for your vacation you’re not obligated to go back again next year, the year after, etc.?

There are lots of reasons you can give a salesperson for not buying a timeshare, but you really don’t need an excuse or an explanation. You don’t need to defend your “no”.

Janet, Why do you hate timeshare ?

Why do you spend so much time and effort putting people down who like it ?

If it is not for you don’t by it.. If you like it and thinks it beneficial then buy it…. People make their own choices in life they can say yes or no why do you think you have the right to decide what is best for them I don’t see you talking about anything else do you love ecverything in life except time share why don’t you blog about other things you don’t like

Timeshare is not for everybody but it is for sme people they are the ones who buy have you interviewed any one selling a timeshare i believe you are speculating on why their selling and blogging without knowing the facts….

I’m sorry you feel this way but speaking without knowing the facts is wrong…..

I have already written a number of posts, in which I have provided a wide variety of reasons why I am opposed to timeshares.

What part of my explanation are you still not understanding? Or are you intentionally just being obnoxious?

And James, the reason I am discussing timeshares, is because that is the topic of this board. If this was a gardening board, I would be posting about my garden. Seriously, what is wrong with you that you can not understand something that obvious?

As far as knowing the facts go, if you had bothered taking 15 minutes to check out the rest of this site, then you should know this is a complaint board, filled with people who hate and despise the timeshares they feel they were suckered into buying, and desperately trying to find a way to get out from under the financial burden they feel they were mislead, conned, and deceived into buying. No James, none of them like, need or want their timeshares. They want to get rid of them, but can’t find any takers. Most charities won’t even accept fully paid off timeshares as donations. Those are the real facts, that you don’t seem to want people to know.

Only people I know who like their timeshares and feel they are a good value, are those who bought on the resale market, where timeshares can be purchased for as little as $1!

If more people knew that, my guess is you’d probably never make another sale, now would you?

Janet, what other companies do you use…I wanna jump on this train!

Mike Congratulation. Dw

Timeshares are awesome for some people. People who can afford to travel enough to make them work for them. My brother owns 2 because he travels often for both work and pleasure. With just his points he can often do like you and get 3 or 4 weeks out his regular fees. Plus he can get extra weeks for an added fee. Sometimes as low as $169 a week. I know because he’s gotten me extra weeks too, but there is a $50 guest fee for that. We stayed in Vegas for 2 weeks (actually 7 nights in a week) for less than $400. If I could afford to travel enough to make it work for me I’d buy one. (Or grab one of the ubiquitous free or almost free ones that are out there) Right now I can’t justify it when I can only get away for a week or 2 a year (Other than visiting my parents.) and sometimes that isn’t in the cards if our medical expenses are high or we have several major things break down in our house. Like this year when our well pump and central air went out. I made it through the summer with a window unit. Not fun in SE Texas, but a blessing since we could have had to deal with not even having that. The year before we were blessed to be able to spend a week in Angelfire, NM (nice area very disappointing resort and we won’t ever return.) followed by a week at the Wyndham in Pagosa Springs, CO (Our 2nd trip there. Loved the area so much I want to move there. The resort is very nice and the people who work there are wonderful.) Our rooms the 1st 2 weeks we stayed in Pagosa Springs were nicer than the ones the 2nd time, but neither was nasty like the Angelfire resort. We’ve stayed at timeshares in Weston, FL (near Ft. Laud.) and Orlando. I think 3 times in Orlando and all but one was nice. They put us in the old section instead of the new one that had been advertised in the photos. That one we were only in for about an hour. We called and complained and we were switched to a much nicer resort in a larger room. Most of these were RCI resorts. Just thought I’d mention this so that if you are ever considering going to any of these areas you’ll know what at least one person thought.

YOU CAN SIGN UP AT THE STATE FAIR THEY HAVE LOT OF GREAT OFFERS .ALSO TRY Silverleaf Resorts.SIX FLAGS OVER TEXAS ALSO HAVE A TIME SHARE SIGN UP BOOTH.

THE KEY IS TO SAY I DO NOT HAVE ANY MONEY TO WASTE ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS, I SAY IT WHEN I AM SHAKING THE SELL PERSON HAND,I THEN LET THEM KNOW THAT EVERY THING LOOK CHEAP AND YOU HAVE SEEN THEIR OTHER RESORTS AND THEY ALSO LOOK CHEAP AND YOU WOULD NEVER LET YOUR FAMILY STAY HERE.HATE EVERY THING YOU WILL BE OUT OF THERE SO FAST WITH PRIZES IN HAND.

I will have to try that. The amount of time the presentations take is the worst part of it for me. I have plenty of sales resistance. And who doesn’t like to get freebies? Where was this?

JUST FINISH ONE OF MY FAVORITE TIME SHARE ,30 MIN FOR $600 CASH.I LOVE THIS ONE AND HAVE BEEN DOING IT EVERY 12 MONTHS FOR THE LAST 7 YEARS.

I have been going to timeshare presentations for all of my adult life…needless to say I have been to disney 7 times and Mrtyle Beach 4 and Daytona Beach 4 times. I have some advice before you even decide to do it….have an esimate on how much you think you should pay for what you are getting from them on the phone…..I have cut my deal in half on the phone and got extra nights. Some examples of what to say are….I just paid my house payment and all I have left is x dollars to pay for something like that right now….ttry about 200.00 for the whole package….it really does work..it is using their own scheme against them…they will get a manager to approve it and everything…The vacation I am about to go on cost me only 159.00 for 4 nights at Wyndom resort..two bedroom…full kitchen AD I get a $100 American express after going to the presentation…so I got a 2 bedroom condo for 4 nights for 58.00 bucks!! We also did the ones where we got 150.00-200.00 cash…and then we had more money to spend at the parks…that was our go out and neat great at disney money… My husband hates them but without them we would never go on vacation and I have went to probably 20 of them and never bought but LOVED all the free stuff…also bargain for more tickets…whatever it is you want bargain for that specific thing….ticket to SEa World..Disney whatever…make them feel bad…I always say I need more nights becuse I am coming from far away and I always stay on vacation for 7 days…most of the time that gets you more days from them. You might pay a little more but it is well worth it…the condos are fabulous!! Dont just stay in a hotel for the timeshare stay on property…unless you need Disney tickets then it is worth it becasue you are gone most of the day anyways…I already have tickets that are non expiration so I work harder at nights for rooms…make it work for you not them!! and onnce you shop around on line you will ahve sale people calling you…do not just say yes to the first call decide where you want to go and what you want an d then listen to several different ones to see which is best..tell the person on the phone to call back tomorrow you need to talk to your husband…they will call back believe me..and usually they will sweetin the deal..always say no at first because they will give you more!!

We always bargain for additional “freebies” too, but then after we get our vouchers, we then see what else we can get from the amusement parks.

For example, after receiving our free Disney vouchers from the timeshare presentation, we then went to the ticket booth at Disney, and found that as long as we did so before the last day of use, we could upgrade our vouchers to add additional days, along with adding the “waterparks and more” and “no expiration date” options, turning our 3 day tickets (which included 1 option), into 7 days at Disney theme parks, plus an additional 7 days at Disney waterparks. We had to pay the difference, but the more days you buy, the cheaper the “per day” cost becomes. We also bought those upgrades several years ago, bringing our total cost to a less than $15/day per ticket, and we can use those days any time in the future.

For attending 1 presentation, we received 4 1 day tickets to Universal Studios. Universal then allowed us to add a 2nd day for $20/per ticket.

All of that though was several years ago, and we haven’t checked recently to see whether the theme parks still upgrade timeshare vouchers.

great idea..thanks for sharing. Our tikets will be running out pretty soon so we will need new ones for the next time we go..I think we only have three days left on them. we got 10 days no expiration and have used them on 4 seperate vacations to Disney….we alwys only do 2 or 3 parks otherwise it is too much in seven days…also we go to Un iversal or Sea World or last year we went to Busch Gardens on vouchers from the timneshare.. Debbie

We were just in Orlando in December, and only spent one day at Disney, and only one day when we went there this past summer as well. I agree, it’s too much, and there’s so many other things fun things to do in Orlando, especially when you go so often, curtesy of the timeshare companies!

exactly…if you stay at Westgate they have activities everyday for the kids to do and they have put put that is for free when you come as a timeshare promsotion peson…they also have a night of the week where it is a barbeque for free that you can go to or is it rfeally cheap for all your family…the kids meet other kids and you an enjoy just relaxing at the pool and not have to make dinner! I think Westgate is the best place to go on a timeshare…we have stayed ther many times but last time was the it..they have a new policy about how many times you have went and they put us on some list of families that have went on many timeshare there..we were still in the sytem from the last time or two….but now we have others to choose from..this willl be the first time At Wyndum.Bonet Creek so I am excited about a new place…

As another alternative to presentations, timeshare forums can be a great place to connect with owners hoping to recoup even just a fraction of their costs, by renting out their unused weeks or points.

My husband and I have family in Florida, so we go there several times a year. We’ve stayed at Bonnet Creek, and it is really nice, but the DVC(Disney Vacation Club) properties are our favorite.

Unfortunately, they don’t offer any free, or even reduced, stays for presentations. But I’m on a couple of timeshare forums, and on occasion, DVC owners will have points that are about to expire, and will either “rent” them cheap, and sometimes, will offer their few remaining points for free!

So, courtesy of one of the members, my husband and I just recently stayed at the DVC Animal Kingdom Villas. She only had 30 points, so we did have to “rent” a few points from another member to cover the difference, but still, we got a 3 night stay for a little over $50!

Timeshare companies that have “lists” usually only restrict you to 1 presentation at their properties per year. Fortunately there’s so many timeshare companies, especially in Orlando, that it will take at least a year to cover all of them 🙂

Just came back from a free stay in vegas, I did not know anything about all these timeshare scam but before the presentation I asked my wife not to buy but she still did. Now I’m in the process of rescinding my contract. Hopefully they recieved my certified mail before the rescission deadline is over. Oh, and I tried faxing the rescission letter yesterday and got the fax report in my hand.

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• Presentation

What is a timeshare presentation, and things you need to expect?

• December 21, 2022

There are various methods to have a presentation; the Timeshare Presentation is one of the unique, and also, it could be a challenging type of Presentation design service . Salesmen mostly use it to sell their product to you; they may spend hours or even days to convince you to buy it. In our article, we are exploring what is a timeshare presentation , how it works, and what you should know about it.

Table of Contents

Timeshare Presentation Meaning

A timeshare presentation is a type of presentation designed to sell Timeshare. Timeshare salespeople use this type of presentation for potential customers. Typically, a timeshare presentation will cover the benefits of owning a timeshare. One good example is the ability to vacation for different targets, to be flexible about the date you prefer to choose, and the possibility of saving money on vacation costs. Moreover, Timeshare can explain various types of available timeshares to you and guide you to choose the suitable one among them for you.

Timeshare tours always come with high-quality designs and mostly contain various content like video, photos, and other elements.

How does the timeshare presentation work?

First, the timeshare salesperson will introduce themselves and their timeshare company.

Next, a short introduction is given about timeshare resorts, describing what they are and the various types that exist.

Afterward, they will talk about the advantages of having a timeshare, including the option of visiting various resorts worldwide, choosing your own date, and sometimes it could be cheaper than any other vacation.

They will then detail the particular Timeshare for sale, giving the name and location to the hotel, the kind of unit sold, and its value. Lastly, they will respond to all the questions of the probable customer.

The benefits of using a timeshare power presentation

This can be a highly efficient strategy of selling and marketing timeshare.

This may also enlighten any prospective customers who are not aware of what a timeshare is all about.

This helps in overcoming objections by prospective buyers and assures them if they are interested in holiday homes or vacation property timeshares.

This can also be used for advertising, promoting interest and enthusiasm towards timeshares.

What happens in a timeshare presentation?

Many times, you will encounter some salespeople who represent those different sides that constitute any given pitch. Take for instance, a greeter that is supposed to take in your personal details and help you settle in by making you feel at ease while a tour guide who acts just like they have become friends with you strives to win your trust.

He will take you on a guided tour to the best areas for relaxation in the resort, and he will ask about the places that you love to visit or tell you about get out of timeshare presentation . This enables them to customize the pitch so as to fit into your requirements and also facilitate passing your information to other teammates.

Timeshare presentation tips

• Ensure that you do your research about it before heading out because it can help you to have a better understanding of all types of Timeshare presentations and their pros and cons.
• Make sure you set the right budget and stay within it. Do not get yourself to such an extent that you would be forced to acquire a timeshare that is outside your budget.
• Do not sign until you’re 100% sure about purchasing a timeshare.
• Be prepared to walk away. If the offer does not satisfy your demands, you should not hesitate to quit or leave.

A Timeshare presentation would serve as an effective way of selling the product by a timeshare salesperson. It should be highlighted, though, that there are always risks associated with timeshares. A buyer should always be willing to research any product to know how to go about it prior to purchasing the Timeshare. There are some other additional expenses attached to Timeshare, which include maintenance fees and closing costs.

Is it worth sitting through a timeshare presentation?

Can the following timeshare presentations offer a fair deal? Even still, there are moments when sitting via a timeshare presentation could be worth your while. You can find the right timeshare deals on offers for discounted stays, gratis nights, and more online or get suggestions through phone calls or emails.

Can you walk out of a timeshare presentation?

You can say ‘no’ through the whole timeshare presentation. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. Firstly, you have complete agency. If you want to leave at any point during the presentation, no matter how pressured you feel to stay, you are free to do so.

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Hilton Grand Vacations Timeshare Presentation Review [What To Expect]

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Table of Contents

About hilton grand vacations, booking the hgv presentation, what we got from our hgv meeting, attending the hgv sales presentation, being excused from the meeting, checking out, how many people actually sign up for hgv, should you attend an hgv timeshare meeting, final thoughts.

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I attended a Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) “ownership” presentation in Las Vegas in May 2023. As a travel and finance nerd, it was honestly pretty fun, and I found it more fascinating than the awkward, high-pressure sales meeting I was expecting.

Spoiler alert: I did not walk away from the HGV experience as a “vacation owner,” but did leave with some pretty nice perks.

You might not consider a timeshare meeting fun entertainment, but I ate it up and will do it again as soon as Hilton extends another invitation. That is, if they allow me back after I irritated their sales manager.

Let’s review my HGV presentation experience and what I learned from the meeting.

HGV is a “vacation ownership program” that uses a points system. “Owners” purchase a set number of available points to use each year. You can book stays at qualifying HGV properties worldwide for varying point values . If you don’t use all of your points in a particular year, you can float them to the following year for a fee.

HGV probably won’t correct you if you call it a “timeshare,” but it’s technically “vacation ownership” because, unlike a traditional timeshare, you’re not stuck with a pre-determined week at the same property year after year. I was impressed by HGV’s flexibility, and I felt we could quickly learn how to manage the HGV points system as we’ve done with other points programs.

But I had major issues with financial transparency at the meeting. Bottom line: I value my flexibility as a consumer too much to commit my family’s travel dollars to Hilton forever.

I got on the phone with Hilton in April 2022 to book a stay at Casa Marina Key West using a Hilton free night reward and points I earned with my Hilton Honors American Express Surpass ® Card . Before the agent let me go, they asked if I’d stay on the line to earn 5,000 Hilton Honors points after I listened to a 10-minute sales pitch for Hilton Grand Vacations. 

An excellent high-earning Hilton credit card that comes with perks like Hilton Honors Gold status and up to $200 in Hilton credits every year.

Apply With Confidence

Know if you're approved with  no credit score impact.

If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.

If you’re someone who loves traveling and loves staying in Hilton hotels, adding a co-branded Hilton hotel card to your wallet is almost a no-brainer. From automatic Hilton elite status to up to $200 in Hilton credits every year, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass ® Card can be a great fit for Hilton loyalists looking to up their travel game.

• 12x points per $1 at Hilton hotels
• 6x points per $1 at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations, and U.S. restaurants
• 4x points per $1 at U.S. online retail purchases
• Annual fee of $150 ( rates & fees )
• Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass ® Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer Ends 7/31/2024.
• Get up to $200 back each year on eligible Hilton purchases after you use your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass ® Card.
• Earn 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio.
• Earn 6X Points for each dollar of purchases on your Card at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. supermarkets, and at U.S. gas stations.
• Earn 4X Points for each dollar on U.S. Online Retail Purchases.
• Earn 3X Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
• Earn a Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
• Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors ™ Gold Status with your Hilton Honors American Express Surpass ® Card.
• Spend $40,000 on eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year and you can earn Hilton Honors™ Diamond Status through the end of the next calendar year.
• Enjoy complimentary National Car Rental ® Emerald Club Executive ® status. Enrollment in the complimentary Emerald Club ® program is required. Terms apply.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees. Enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad.
• $150 annual fee.
• Terms Apply.
• APR: 20.99%-29.99% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees:  None

Hilton Honors

I figured another 10 minutes after I was already on the phone was worth the points, so I listened to the pitch. I agreed to book a $169 package for a 4-day, 3-night stay at an HGV resort in Las Vegas with a $200 Spend A Night On Us certificate after we attended the meeting. Some of the other options I had were Orlando and New York City, but my on-the-spot choice was Las Vegas since it was on my husband’s wish list, and I thought it might be a nice getaway for us without the kids.

I could book the stay immediately, but we didn’t have the opportunity to make the trip until well into this year. I booked dates outside the allowed year from my package purchase, but they said it was okay since I made the booking before it expired.

HGV initially placed us at the Tropicana Las Vegas , which I wasn’t pleased about. I think we would have enjoyed the Tropicana, but value-wise, I was insulted and about ready to call the whole thing off. A weekday stay like ours costs $49 to $69 per night plus taxes and fees. For 3 nights at roughly $60 per night, I’d only save about $10 before taxes and fees — and still give up about 2 hours of my vacation to listen to a sales pitch.

According to the Details of Participation , our accommodations should have been valued at $175 to $500 per night, and the Tropicana was nowhere near that .

When I called about my options, I was offered the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, a Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Hilton Grand Vacations Club on the Las Vegas Strip . Still, I had my sights on the Hilton Grand Vacations Club Elara , which has nightly weekday rates closer to $200 per night and seemed like a much better fit than other options. 

It took a few calls before I got a room at Elara — only after I paid a $19.99 booking change fee and a $75 per night upgrade . Not ideal for what was supposed to be a super-cheap stay, but Elara was fantastic and absolutely worth the upgrade.

HGV booked us for a meeting at 12:30 p.m. the day after we arrived at the HGVC on the Strip. It was far enough from Elara that we needed to catch an Uber to get to the meeting, though it would have been even further from the Tropicana.

There are some stipulations to booking and attending an HGV presentation :

• You have to attend the presentation, or you’ll have to pay the full nightly rate plus taxes and fees.
• You must meet (unspecified) income requirements.
• You can’t have more than 1 sales presentation package open at a time, meaning you can’t book 2 vacations.
• You can’t attend if you’ve participated in an HGV sales presentation within the last 12 months.
• If you’re married, your spouse must attend the presentation.
• You have to pay a change fee of $19.95 for any reservation changes up to 15 days before arrival, and fees go up if you make any changes closer than that.

You can read the full Details of Participation to see more about what’s required of you if you book an HGV presentation meeting.

Although it’s not on the website’s fine print, I was told over the phone not to arrive at the meeting intoxicated, or we’d be turned away and have to pay the full rate for our hotel stay — I’m guessing this reminder is particular to Las Vegas presentations.

HGV calls the timeshare packages a “vacation package,” but you’ll need to cover transportation, food, and other costs.

The perks of attending an HGV meeting are pretty nice. In return for our time and attention, we got: 

• 5,000 Hilton Honors points
• 3-night stay at an HGV property
• $200 Spend A Night On Us certificate good for 6 months
• Snacks and drinks

Although I locked in my package when I paid, these packages change constantly, so you might do better or worse than I did. The offer you can book for Las Vegas today is $249 for 3 nights plus 15,000 Hilton Honors points, so you’d get far less for your effort than I did — I recommend waiting until the deals are better or negotiating for more over the phone if you’re interested.

The hotel stay is the most valuable perk of attending an HGV meeting. All in, I paid about $400 for 3 nights at Elara , which would have cost me easily in the neighborhood of $800 to $1,000, including taxes and fees. I’ll take advantage of the $200 Spend A Night On Us certificate soon, so that exact value remains to be seen.

The rough math on our perks value is about $600 for 2 hours of our time , which was worth it for me.

You don’t have to pay a resort fee while on a timeshare presentation stay. We had a $0 bill at checkout!

Before we walked into the presentation, I reminded myself that no one could force me to sign up for anything I didn’t want. I didn’t want to make the mistake of assuming I was immune to expert sales tactics. It was my first timeshare meeting, but the salespeople do this all day, every day. There’s a reason you get a lot of perks for attending the presentation — the sales tactics work often enough to make it worth it.

Checking In

We arrived via Uber, and the valet station directed us to the sales door once he confirmed we were there for a sales presentation. We walked into a busy room with a reception desk.

The reception desk gave me a key card on a lanyard and directed us to a kiosk to check-in. The kiosk took my photo and asked us about our travel, including our dream destinations and future plans.

After we finished up at the kiosk, we were told to head into the cafe and wait for an attendant to call our names. 

The cafe was full of other attendees, and we had our pick of free snacks and drinks. The food was mostly packaged snacks, including cookies and chips, and the drinks were coffee, tea, juice, and water. I’d promised my husband snacks at the meeting, so he loaded up!

Group Presentation

It wasn’t long before we were directed to a group presentation room with about a dozen other couples and families. 

In the group presentation, we had a group survey of dream travel destinations, then watched a video presentation mainly featuring Hilton properties, including Hilton Waikoloa Village and locations in the Maldives. The salesperson showed us personal vacation photos from his family’s numerous stays worldwide with HGV. 

It was mainly hype to get us excited about the possibilities of travel with HGV, and there was some light math about how much we could get for our points if we bought in — but I don’t think we saw any prices then. They also joked that many of us came into the meeting vowing never to sign up but asked us to keep an open mind as we were invited as loyal Hilton customers.

The group presentation lasted about 20 minutes. At the end, our personal salesperson came to collect us and brought us back to her desk.

Children can come to HGV sales presentations. Some locations have supervised kids’ activities so they can play separately, but other locations encourage guests to bring their kids to the meeting.

Sales Presentation

At the desk, the sales presentation started with no pressure as our salesperson built a rapport, and we genuinely enjoyed talking to her. She explained more about the travel possibilities we’d have as HGV “owners,” reviewed the concept of HGV points, and talked with us about our travel habits and goals.

This was all inoffensive, though I got the impression we didn’t fit well into the sales box because we travel impulsively and often use points to book hotel stays. HGV wants to predict how much cash (not points) you spend on travel each year so the salesperson can present an appropriate HGV points package. 

Because we rarely spend real dollars on hotel stays, it was tough to do the math. And our travel habits have changed a lot lately, so we honestly couldn’t tell her what we expect over the next several years regarding cash spent on average nights in a hotel room.

Points travelers, don’t think you’ll get out of the meeting once you tell them you don’t often spend cash on hotels . The closer who came to support our salesperson suggested how we could earn Hilton Honors points and still benefit from them as HGV “owners.” Spoiler: my response to this ill-advised solution helped get us ushered quickly out of the meeting. More on that later.

We saw more photos and videos of HGV and Hilton properties, and our salesperson went over our options for floating points to the next year (for a fee). We also got an introduction to booking with RCI — another timeshare program — using HGV points and paying a transfer fee.

It was at the RCI transfer point of the presentation that my skepticism kicked into high gear. We were shown the possibility of booking the Maldives for “only $295.” That sounds fantastic — until you realize that $295 is not the cost of your HGV points, but the transaction fee you will pay on top of the HGV points to book that particular property with RCI.

I was baffled that I was presented a booking fee as a benefit and the salesperson failed to mention that you’ll pay thousands to get the HGV points to book it before you have the privilege to pay that fee.

According to the fine print on the HGV website , points package prices range from $7,800 to $758,990. There’s a minimum points buy-in of 4,000 points , and those points range in value from $3.80 to $6.50 per point. HGV says the average new member pays about $22,000 .

The lowest points package we were presented was about that average number, though we were told the minimum points buy-in is slightly higher and the per-point value is much higher. I don’t know why what we saw was different, but it could be that we misunderstood, were misled, or the package details just depended on what the salesperson wanted to offer at the meeting.

In addition to the points cost, HGV members pay closing costs and annual maintenance fees . There are also transaction fees if you want to exchange your points — like that Maldives booking. And if you choose to finance your HGV points package, you’ll pay interest fees, too.

How does Hilton Grand Vacation ownership compare to Disney Vacation Club? Check out our article: Is My Disney Vacation Club Membership Worth It? [1 Year In] .

About 30 to 45 minutes into the individual presentation, we left the desk to visit a suite at the property. It was lovely and even more spacious than our room at Elara. It felt like an apartment tour, and my family would love staying in a suite like that anywhere — although they’re easy to please as long as there’s unlimited yogurt at the breakfast buffet.

I wish I’d asked how many HGV points it takes to book a room like this, but a quick look at the Hilton website tells me this room runs about $500 on weeknights and $600 on weekends.

Note that up to this point, there were no pointed questions about signing up and no opportunities to say no. It was all information and getting a feel for what might work for us. It was no pressure at all. And then the closer came in.

Check out a firsthand review of a 2-bedroom HGV suite at the Lagoon Tower, a Hilton Grand Vacations Club at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu.

Meeting the Closer

Before the sales manager came in to close the deal, our salesperson gathered enough information to suggest a package that might work for us. The manager came in ready to talk numbers and answer any questions we might have that the salesperson hadn’t already covered. 

I had some questions. 

For one, nothing we were shown told us how much each point is worth . I got the impression most people don’t ask about that, because when I asked, the manager had to send our salesperson to another room to find the right brochure and look up the information. 

Another big question I had was about the interest rate, which was completely obscured. I could probably reverse-engineer the math, but I never got an answer from HGV on how much we’d pay in interest to finance a points package. Just that it “depends on your credit.” 

It’s fair to say that your interest rate depends on your credit, but I didn’t like that I couldn’t even get a range of possible interest rates. Our purchase proposal had a monthly payment range. Those monthly payments were calculated with the interest rate, so there is a known interest rate range — the salespeople are just not going to tell you until you’re much farther into the sales process. I was unwilling to go down that rabbit hole and have them run my credit to find out.

The first package we were shown was mortgage-sized, and I cannot fathom going even a step further without knowing how much I’d be paying in interest for 5, 7, or 10 years.

Taking Notes

At this point, the manager asked me why I was taking photos of the paperwork, which I’d done the entire meeting. I suspected we wouldn’t be allowed to take the paperwork with us — we weren’t — and I explained I wanted photos for my notes. 

I was allowed to continue photographing with the understanding that the paperwork is Hilton property and not to be shared. I can’t find anything to confirm that, but to be respectful, I haven’t shared paperwork photos or any particular details of our offers in this review. 

Even for a person not intending to review a timeshare meeting, it’s wise to take notes to make an informed decision . It bothered me that I got heat for studying the details of this financial commitment. HGV wants you to sign up on the spot, not check notes at home, but that’s not how I make decisions.

Dodging Manipulation

The entire meeting was set up to manipulate our emotions and encourage us to accept the math that was presented , but it was very subtle. This is Hilton, so it was professional but still very opaque. Think about a finance deal at a nice car dealership or touring a luxury apartment, and it’s about the same vibe.

HGV wants you to be excited about staying in an overwater villa in the Maldives “for just $295” (in fees on top of the cost of “ownership”) so you don’t look too hard at closing costs and interest rates or the overall massive cost of becoming an HGV “owner.”

It doesn’t look that expensive when you’re presented with the monthly payment, so the salesperson wants you to focus on that — not the annual maintenance fee that will increase over time. Not once were we presented with the option to buy a package outright without financing — they obviously want you to look more at the monthly cost than the actual bottom line. And they’d be happy to explain how the deal could save you money on travel.

The sales team has an answer for every objection or excuse you might have, so you don’t need to explain yourself. Just be comfortable saying no if you’re not interested.

If you tell the sales team you can’t afford it, they will find a way for you to stretch out payments and afford it. If you tell them you don’t have time to travel right now, they’ll explain how you can bank points for another year — with a “small” fee. Not ready to sign yet? They’ll tell you why today’s deal is better than what you can get later.

My husband told me I was very well-behaved the entire meeting until the manager advised us to buy HGV “owner” points so we could save our Hilton Honors points for retirement . This is clearly the HGV answer for people who turn down the offer because they travel on points.

Something about ridiculous points advice flipped a switch, and apparently, I stopped being nice when I told the manager how much I disagreed with that idea.

Next time, I will probably need a pep talk to watch my mouth when the manager comes in for the close. 

Save Money, Spend Points

The manager argued that HGV could be a vehicle to retiring with millions of Hilton Honors points. I bet it sounds great to many people who attend these presentations, and my husband thought it was a good point.

The idea is we could keep earning Hilton Honors points just like we do now but wouldn’t need to spend them since our HGV “owner” points would pay for hotel stays. We could use our stockpiled Hilton Honors points in retirement for food and beverages or spa treatments at Hilton properties or convert them to flights and activities with Hilton partners.

That’s not the move I’d make — and I told the manager so. If I stop actively redeeming Hilton Honors points , I will also stop earning them and instead move on to earning rewards I can use in the short term, like flexible travel points, airline miles, or cash-back that I could put in a real retirement account. Anything is better than points I won’t touch until I’m older.

Points are for spending, not saving, and can devalue at any time . The same Hilton rooms we were booking just a few years ago for 50,000 points are now more often 70,000 points. I’d hate to save for decades only to have the value erode when I could have earned more useful rewards.

This is just one of the logic tricks you might tackle to finish the meeting. Salespeople are ready with an answer whether you say you don’t have the money, always travel on points, or don’t have time to travel.

Consumer Freedom

I could tell the manager had enough of me between the retirement points disagreement and the photos I kept taking. She asked a direct question intending to close the sale, so I figured it was time to leave and went in for the kill.

I explained that although we are loyal to Hilton, and it’s often our first choice for hotels because I get a lot of value from my Hilton Honors Surpass card and Diamond status, there’s an exceptional value in the flexibility of changing that relationship at any time .

If we ever decide we don’t like Hilton anymore or another brand offers us better value for our needs as they change, it’s effortless to do that when we aren’t HGV “owners.” All we have to do is use up our Hilton points, downgrade or close my Hilton Honors Surpass card, and move on to earning rewards with a different brand. 

As HGV “owners,” we’d lose that flexibility with a contract and financial interest in staying with Hilton, whether we like it or not. Yes, we could always sell our HGV “ownership” — at a considerable loss. We’d basically be marrying our travel to Hilton for life, and I won’t put a ring on it now, if ever.

Once I explained that, the manager cut her losses, and we were promptly on our way out the door. 

We were shown an additional package, which would allow us to buy a stay that would count toward future HGV points if we signed up as “owners” afterward. I only had to say no to that once before the manager asked us to wait for “corporate.” The corporate agent was extremely brief — again, with another offer that was easy and quick to turn down — and we were on our way to collect our perks at the checkout desk. 

HGV “ownership” didn’t add up for us — even though the rooms we saw were fantastic.

We were back out the front door just a hair under the promised limit of 2 hours.

On our way out the door, we stopped by the checkout desk to collect our remaining perks. What you get as a parting gift depends on your package. For my package, I got a $200 Stay A Night On Us certificate good at my choice of several Hilton brands, including Hampton Inn, Hilton, Embassy Suites, and Homewood Suites.

I selected Hampton Inn — probably not the highest potential value, but I’d researched ahead. Since we will need to pay cash upfront and get refunded, I wanted to avoid brands where we’d have to pay a resort fee, like Hilton Hotels, since that wouldn’t be waived on a cash stay like when we pay with points. We could probably use Homewood or Embassy Suites anywhere, but I have a couple of beachfront Hampton Inn properties in mind that generally run around $200 per night. We will get our money’s worth from the certificate if I redeem it on time — we just have 6 months to use it.

On the way out the door, I noticed how fast HGV moves people through the process and asked an agent how many people come through each day. They said it’s in the hundreds daily just at that location. And when I asked, they told me how many people out of that sign up — roughly 7% based on the numbers I got. That’s just an informal poll from an unsuspecting employee, but it gives you an idea of how often the salespeople hear “no.”

What happens if you sign up for HGV and want to back out? You have a right to rescind the contract , but how long you have depends on where you signed the contract. Most state laws provide between 3 to 15 days — you might still be on vacation when that time runs out. Usually, cancellation information is in your contract, so read up before you get home.

Our HGV timeshare meeting was entertaining, and we walked away with perks. I had a good experience, but it’s not for everyone. Is it right for you? 

• Yes, if you plan to sign up for HGV
• Yes, if you want free stuff
• No, if you are easily manipulated
• No, if you have a packed vacation schedule

The benefits of attending an HGV presentation can be worth it , as you can get a cheap hotel stay in popular vacation cities, some snacks, and most likely some points or a free night at a Hilton property. I considered it free entertainment. I don’t have any regrets about spending 2 hours on the meeting, and it was fun to see some of the amazing Hilton properties they highlighted in the presentation.

But before you walk into that meeting, know that people stronger than you have said yes on the spot. It is compelling, and you can end up signing up for a timeshare even if you walk in intending never to do it.

And I would argue that HGV is particularly dangerous because Hilton is a trusted brand and the presentation was very professional and respectful. It would be much easier to say no to unprofessional or sleazy salespeople — you aren’t likely to find one of those at HGV.

Would I do another Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare presentation? Absolutely yes, as soon as they will have me back. Although we left our Hilton timeshare presentation with a resounding no and an annoyed manager, the benefits were worth the 2 hours we spent.

For rates and fees for The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass ® Card, click here .

Frequently Asked Questions

Should you go to an hgv timeshare presentation.

Timeshare presentations aren’t for everyone, but they can offer a low-cost hotel stay with some added perks. It’s a good idea to attend an HGV timeshare presentation if you are genuinely interested in signing up as an HGV “owner,” or if you just want free stuff and feel confident you can resist the sales pitch. If you don’t want to spend 2 hours in a sales pitch or are worried you’ll crack under high-pressure sales, it’s probably best to not sign up for an HGV sales meeting.

How can you get out of a Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare presentation?

If you’ve signed up for an HGV timeshare presentation vacation package, you have to attend the meeting or you will have to pay full price for your hotel stay. Once you’re in the meeting, you’ll be there for up to 2 hours. You might be able to shave down the time you spend in the meeting if you express disinterest from the start. When HGV tries to close the sale, don’t bother with excuses like not having enough money or time to travel — they’re prepared with solutions to those problems. Don’t be embarrassed to tell them you’re not interested and you’re just there for the free gift because they’ve certainly heard it before.

Can a single person go to an HGV timeshare presentation?

Singles can attend an HGV timeshare presentation. If you’re married, you’ll have to attend with your spouse.

Is it worth it to attend an HGV sales presentation?

The perks of attending an HGV timeshare meeting are pretty compelling, but you have to give up 2 hours of your time on a fairly short vacation of 3 nights. If you don’t mind spending the time, it can be worth it.

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About Jessica Merritt

A long-time points and miles student, Jessica is the former Personal Finance Managing Editor at U.S. News and World Report and is passionate about helping consumers fund their travels for as little cash as possible.

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How to Avoid a Timeshare Presentation

Ever since developers realized that they could get fast money out of a hotel or real estate project by selling units as timeshares, their sales reps have been let loose on unsuspecting travelers. And that is why you need to know how to avoid a high-pressure, arm-twisting sales pitch that lassos you into a timeshare presentation that will waste your time and put you at potential financial risk.

The last thing you may want to think about on vacation is buying real estate; these sharks intend to change your mind. They offer inducements such as free flights, free nights, free tours, and other "free" gifts.

Timeshare salespeople are trained to be persistent and wear down resistance. The worst ones are downright deceitful. But you aren't defenseless. If you can learn how to avoid a timeshare presentation and are willing to temporarily suspend your good manners, those sales types will be no more annoying than gnats.

Difficulty: Average

Time required: 5 minutes if you succeed, hours if you don't, here's how:.

• Avoid something-for-nothing offers.  Ever pick up the phone and hear a robo-voice announce, "Congratulations! You've won a free vacation... a romantic vacation ... a trip to Disneyland ?" Hang up immediately! These are all come-ons and you won't get something for nothing if these people hook you. So if you are not interested in dubious investments, do not accept any such offers by phone, in the mail, through social media. or on location to sit through a timeshare presentation. 
• Find out who you're dealing with. Sellers can be sneaky, and some use terminology different from "timeshare presentation" (such as discovery tour, gift opportunity, special value promotion). If someone offers you something, ask if he or she is a sales person and if real estate ownership is involved. Be suspicious!
• Get in and get out. Okay; you couldn't resist. They promised it would be short and the reward worthwhile. Hold them to the time frame promised, and set your watch or smartphone alarm. Fifteen minutes before the timeshare presentation is scheduled to end, give them warning that you will leave.
• Give out as little personal information as possible. Do not give timeshare sellers your cellphone, home, or work phone numbers, nor your main email address. If they insist, provide fake numbers.
• Under no circumstance, give anyone associated with the presentation your credit card information.
• Don't sign any anything. Once you put your signature to an agreement, you will be legally bound to carry out the terms of the contract. If you do become interested in the property, ask to take an unsigned copy of the agreement and say you will have it reviewed by your attorney.
• Just say no . Not maybe, not "we'll think about it," just no. The worst thing you can do is lead a salesperson on. He or she will become your personal barnacle.
• Be willing to be rude. It's not in some peoples' nature to flat-out say, "No... I don't want this... get out of my face." You're not dealing with grandma or a member of a church congregation. You're dealing with a salesperson. If they push you, push back. They're trained to be persistent and deal with rejection.
• Leave. You cannot legally be held against your will. By leaving, you will forfeit any "gift" that you were promised, and you may be responsible for your own transportation back to your hotel. But then you will be free.
• Call the police. If anyone tries to block your exit, immediately call the police from your cellphone and record the exchange. (Asking to speak to a manager or supervisor may not be the solution, as this individual is typically a senior salesperson aka con man who is even more adept in the deceptive "art of the deal.")

What You Need:

• Ability to withstand sales pressure
• Willingness to be rude if necessary
• Determination not to sign anything
• Wisdom to resist "too good to be true" offers
• Understanding that ones who profit from timeshares are sellers not owners

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• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years! Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
• TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you! Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
• TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics! Free memberships for every 50 subscribers! Visit TUG on Youtube!
• TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone! Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
• Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free! 60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
• Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost! All T-shirt options here!
• Step by Step Guide: How to Sell your Timeshare!
• Last Minute Discounted Timeshare Rentals
• Free Timeshare Giveaways
• Timeshare Resort Systems
• Club Wyndham Plus

How often can you attend a Wyndham timeshare presentation?

• Thread starter dustenm
• Start date Feb 15, 2015
• Feb 15, 2015

I have stayed at a few Wyndham timeshare resorts recently and will be staying at a few more. I finally signed up to attend one of there timeshare presentations for a great offer of $75 gift card + 1 week free vacation certificate. My question is can you attend one of these at each different resort you go to? or is there a limit of 1 per a certain amount of time no matter how many resorts you visit? They never ask me if I have attended one of them before so it makes me think it does not matter. & I am interested to hear what different resorts have to say.  

vacationhopeful

Tug review crew: rookie.

Most of us won't get sucked into a 1.5+ hour torture session with Wyndham for less the $150 gift card. Bring a kitchen timer with you and set it for the number of minutes your "guest slip" has on it. And when you check in at the desk, verify the PROMISED GIFT (and have the staff member initial both the $ value, gift week and TIME LIMIT... you don't want them to say, after 90 minutes, that the gift of Bonus Week was not offer TODAY; Today you get a plastic bobble-head doll. And with that and your timer, be prepare to stand up and LOUDLY proclaim your freedom and DEMAND your gift. Polite people NOT in control of the time, will be held for 4-6 hours, before being walked to "gifting" and out the door.  

vacationhopeful said: Most of us won't get sucked into a 1.5+ hour torture session with Wyndham for less the $150 gift card. Bring a kitchen timer with you and set it for the number of minutes your "guest slip" has on it. And when you check in at the desk, verify the PROMISED GIFT (and have the staff member initial both the $ value, gift week and TIME LIMIT... you don't want them to say, after 90 minutes, that the gift of Bonus Week was not offer TODAY; Today you get a plastic bobble-head doll. And with that and your timer, be prepare to stand up and LOUDLY proclaim your freedom and DEMAND your gift. Polite people NOT in control of the time, will be held for 4-6 hours, before being walked to "gifting" and out the door. Click to expand...

Untill people refuse to go the sales model will not change and marketing costs will continue at 55 % of sales.  

dustenm said: I have stayed at a few Wyndham timeshare resorts recently and will be staying at a few more. I finally signed up to attend one of there timeshare presentations for a great offer of $75 gift card + 1 week free vacation certificate. My question is can you attend one of these at each different resort you go to? or is there a limit of 1 per a certain amount of time no matter how many resorts you visit? They never ask me if I have attended one of them before so it makes me think it does not matter. & I am interested to hear what different resorts have to say. Click to expand...

Tug Review Crew: Rookie

• Feb 16, 2015

I stopped attending them about 2 years ago, but when I did attend them I found that it appeared to be at the discretion of the local team because I have attempted to escape presentations by lettem them know that I had attended one as little as one or two weeks prior and they did not let me off the hook but pressed me to attend. Now I don’t attend it at any time for any reason. My personal experience is that it’s like playing with snakes. Sometimes it’s tolerable and maybe a little fun but more often than not I spend too much of my vacation energy trying to avoid getting bitten. Even though I don’t buy sometimes it’s hard to keep from feeling bitten just getting a parking pass how much more sitting across from a salesman filtering through the misrepresentations and pressure to show me something broken in my ownership or life that requires me to buy more points… My personal experience is YUK... But that’s just me and I developed my position over time.  

alexadeparis

Tug review crew.

Explorer7 said: My personal experience is that it’s like playing with snakes. Sometimes it’s tolerable and maybe a little fun but more often than not I spend too much of my vacation energy trying to avoid getting bitten. Click to expand...

We went to 2 back to back in the same week. One in Chicago and one in Glacier Canyon. One salesperson said we needed Club Wyndham Access points to complete our portfolio. The other thought that Access points wouldn't help us and we needed to buy Margaritaville. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk  

Hooknslice19

I just came back from Santa Barbara and suffered through the highest- pressure sales pitch of the several I have experienced since I bought Wyndham (re-sale, of course). The promised 60-minute pitch (including a podium presentation of 20 mins. - which I didn't mind BTW; it was sort of a refresher in how Wyndham works) turned into 3 hours with a sales weasel and a rotating cast of "supervisors". Knowing that I was re-sale, they hustled us into an enticing, but isolated, oceanfront Royal Vista unit - probably to get me away from the rest of the developer-bought or CWA folks they were trolling in the meeting room. I blame myself for the 3 hours because my wife and I tend to be "nice people" not wanting to be rude, but believe me, that approach gets you NOWHERE with these snakes. I had no problem resisting their entreaties, but it was obvious they hate people like me. The weasel actually said that Wyndham may cut off people like me from future "updates" because of the cost of the "freebies" we get if we don't buy. From his lips to God's ears!!!  

dustenm said: ... Is it the check-in staff member I should have do this? Or the person doing the presentation? Click to expand...

• Feb 17, 2015

Went to the timeshare presentation today and was in and out in 90 minutes & got the gift as promised. They gave use lunch and we chit chatted a little. Then I made it pretty clear from the start that I was not interested in buying but was just there for the free gift. The guy said it was a waste of his time and mine so he did not even try to sell anything. He just went to the back room and came out with a paper he wanted me to sign saying I could leave early if I sign it. I read the paper and it was for a credit check authorization. I told him there was no way I was signing this then he said we must sit 45 more minute for the 90 minutes to be up so I said I was fine with that. He then walked away to the back room and came out only 10 minutes before the time was up and asked if I wanted to buy any points I said no and the second manager came with a backup offer. Again said no and I was on my way with my gift. Seems to me if you are pretty clear with them they don't bother you much. I don't understand how some people sit for many hours at these as when my 90 minutes are up they are always ready to get rid of me. Maybe it has something to do with us being younger in our early 30's & that I make it clear I am not buying. This was my second timeshare presentation experience & it was at the Wyndham Smokey Mountains.  

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The Awkward Traveller

5 Ways to Scam a Timeshare Presentation for Travel Deals and Freebies

I am a participant in affiliate programs, so basically I earn a small commission if you use any of the affiliate links on this post - at no extra cost to you! Dope right?

Who doesn’t love a travel deal? EVERYONE. Well, unless you’re one of those people who like paying EXTRA to prove a point or something (couldn’t be me). Regardless, I’m sure you’ve heard about attending a timeshare presentation or promotion in exchange for a literal FREE VACATION.

Like. What?

How can a hotel offer 3 nights accommodation plus water park tickets and a $100 restaurant gift card for $129?

How can watching a short video reward you with a free flight and lodging for a weekend across the country?

Well. That’s because these promotions are from timeshare companies looking to introduce their resort, and timeshare ownership, to new people. Remember what Andrew Lewis said, if you’re not paying for a product, YOU are the product.

Little do these timeshare presentations and companies know – I’m a very fickle product.

And by fickle, I mean I want all of the reward without any of input. But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we should probably break down timeshare presentations.

Table of Contents

So What ARE Timeshares?

Timeshare sales are big business! Like, REALLY big. In 2019, there was $10.2 billion (yes billions!) in timeshare purchases in America. That’s almost twice as much as Sephora’s sales. The global timeshare market is expected to reach $40 billion in 2023. And yah, that accounts for the whole COVID pandemic. I mean, it might have even increased it.

But, as with any industry, in order to grow their business, timeshare companies need to pivot and begin selling timeshares to younger generations – aka Millennials (specifically young/cusp Millennials) and Gen Z. Yanno. ME.

And maybe you too. I don’t know your age. But I’m assuming you might not have had a timeshare property before, so I’ll just lump you into the target audience as well.

So what IS a timeshare? Timeshares are partial vacation ownerships of condo-like units in resort developments. They are owned, operated, and maintained by independent resorts, small chains, and large timeshare companies like Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Club Wyndham, Marriott Vacation Club, and Disney.

I mean, you might have stayed in a timeshare rental before without realizing it. I know I did in Napa, California, and it turned out to be one of the most affordable options in the area! And it was REAL NICE TOO.

Okay…So What are Timeshare Presentations?

Just like car sales, timeshare selling is most effective IN PERSON. But companies can’t just stand outside of grocery stores like Girl Scouts selling cookies and try to guilt trip you into buying something.

So timeshare companies hold timeshare presentations, or pitches. Basically they invite you (or a group of people) to the presentation, give you ALL the pros, explain through any of the cons, and really try to sell you on the idea of having a timeshare property.

And to really sweeten the deal, they throw in some awesome perks for just ATTENDING the timeshare presentation! Usually a free weekend stay at a hotel or resort, flights, food and drink credit, activities, the works. So I mean…if you really want to get flewed out for the absolute minimum amount of work, attending a timeshare presentation can be a pretty sweet deal!

What’s the Catch?

I mean….

What’s your time worth to you?

Two hours of your time can “fund” vacations to resorts across the country. You can score unbelievable travel deals by attending these timeshare presentations, but it’s important to educate yourself so you don’t get pressured into buying an unwanted or overpriced timeshare.

Is it possible to still reap the benefits of attending a timeshare presentation without…yanno, ACTUALLY buying a timeshare property? How do you talk you way out of a sales pitch?

I’ve personally only been to one timeshare presentation (and snagged a free trip out of it!), so honestly I’m not the BEST to help guide you to making these companies spend their coin on you. That’s why I’ve enlisted the help of my buddy Monica, who has actually been a timeshare owner for fifteen years. Trust me, know one knows more than her about squeezing all that you can out of those promotional presentations. She will be dropping her five best tips for making out like a bandit without spending a dime! Monica, take it away.

Double Check that You Meet Their Qualifications

These deals can be an amazing way to travel on the cheap, but you have to meet the qualifications outlined in the Terms and Conditions. 

There’s always a barrier. But no worries, they’re not TOO out of left field. Remember, by making this type of promotional reservation, you are confirming that you meet their requirements and promise to attend a timeshare presentation. Here’s a variety of conditions found in the fine print to give you a sense:

Example of Timeshare Presentation Requirements

• Couples living in the same household with combined income of $50,000; Must have the same address on their ID; Must attend the presentation together
• Single people 30 years of age and older with annual income of 45K or more may qualify
• Must be currently employed
• Must be creditworthy (no bankruptcies, foreclosures or liens in the past two years)
• Cannot be in the process of home loan modifications/refinance
• Must pay 13% room tax and $20.00 daily resort fee due at check-in
• Must have a credit card that is not connected to a debit account
• Only for the U.S. Residents that reside in AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KT, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OK, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY.

That said, when I attended my first timeshare presentation, the only thing they checked was my ID and which state I lived in. They didn’t even check if my partner and I had the same address (we didn’t), so. Just putting that out there. They might though, but if you’re already in the door, they usually want to at least try to keep you there.

The Sales Presentation is Required. Seriously

By booking your reservation, if you get an offer where you travel to the resort FIRST, then attend a presentation there, you agree to go to the sales meeting and cannot skip it.

Point. Blank.

The reason they are offering room accommodations for free, or close to it, is to get people to attend their sales pitches. A majority of timeshare purchases are made during these presentations, so timeshare companies know the more people who attend, the more sales they can make.

Listen, they are not playing around with this requirement. If you do not go, your credit card will be charged the full retail price of the accommodations, or a flat fee around $300, depending on the resort. Usually, it’s whatever is more expensive. You have to hold up your side of this travel deal and can’t get out of it. 

On the flip side, if you get an offer where you have to attend a timeshare presentation first, THEN they’ll fly you out, you don’t have too much to lose if you don’t show up. Well, except your potential getaway.

Set Your Phone Timer

You agreed to attend their meeting to get this offer, but only for the amount of time listed in the promo fine print – and not one second longer .

You’re on a vacation after all, don’t waste half a day in a hotel conference room.  If the promo you booked says “a 90 minute sales presentation,” start your phone timer the minute the presentation starts. Once you’ve given your time, your obligation is fulfilled. Period. 

Do not let them tell you otherwise, make you feel bad, or talk you into spending any more time with them. It’s unnecessary. Something as simple as, “Thanks for sharing this information with me. The required 90 minutes is up. Take care :)”

Get out of your seat and go back to enjoying your vacation. Badda bing badda boom.

However, if you attend a timeshare presentation that does not state a time limit (usually the ones that give you the trip AFTER), you really just have to muscle through their multiple sales tactics. If you are uninterested in buying, be stern and make that clear. Any sort of wishy-washy “mayyybeeee”s will just make them keep you longer.

Keep Your ID and Credit Card in Your Own Hand

Yes, you are required to “present” an ID and/or Credit card, but present it in your own hand. Do not let them keep it or take it anywhere .

If I was at a car dealership shopping for a car I’d do the exact same thing.  If they give you a hard time, play their fine print language back to them, and stay friendly. “I’m presenting you my ID. I only give my ID to customs at the airport. Or when a police officer pulls me over for speeding.” Laugh, and smile! A little light heartedness goes a long way!   

This piece is critical because if they have your ID or credit card, it will be very hard to get it back once your phone timer goes off. If you have all of your items in your wallet, you can leave once your part of the deal is done.  If they have your stuff, you’re kinda a hostage. Stay ready and you won’t have to get ready.

Arm Yourself with a Resale Listing

Are there some bad apples in a barrel? Yes.

Are there some timeshare sales people who are aggressive? Yes.

If you find yourself in a very uncomfortable position, especially if you are usually a more quiet or shy person (or just a people pleaser), getting out of a strong sales pitch can be difficult. I am one of those people.

To have some backing power, show them a print out of a resale listing for their exact resort and ask them if they can match the price. 

Spoiler: They can’t. You’ll be at the pool before you know it. 

Hold up hold up hold upppp. Wait a minute….but what exactly is that?

What Is a Timeshare Resale Listing?

Did you know there is a resale market for timeshares where existing owners sell their unwanted timeshare to other people?

Yup, just like a car or house, people resell their timeshares too! It’s not like you’d have a “new” timeshare anyway since you’re just buying a specific time to use the property.

You can save 75%-99% of resort sales price by buying a timeshare in the resale market. Timeshare Users Group (TUG), the oldest and largest timeshare owners group and advocacy organization, hits it right on the head when they say, “Why would anyone buy from a resort if they could get the exact same “used condo” week, at the exact same resort property, for pennies on the dollar from an existing owner?”

Where Can You Find Timeshare Resale Listings?

If you ARE interested in buying a timeshare property rental, there are a few places you can go that will be hands down cheaper than getting it at a timeshare presentation.

One of the best places to find timeshare resale listings is TUG’s owner-to-owner marketplace .  It is one of the largest and most visited timeshare classified ad sites on the internet with $30 million in timeshare sales, $18 million in owner-direct timeshare rentals, and one-week vacation exchanges between timeshare owners. If you can’t find the resort you are visiting there, check out Redweek.com , the largest online marketplace for timeshare sales and rentals.

Plus, both sites are fantastic reliable resources to arm yourself with information during a timeshare presentation.

If you’re curious about buying a timeshare for up to 99% off and want to read about “Best Buys” check out Monica’s article: Timeshare Purchases 2021: How to Get The Most Bang for Your Buck. 

Getting the Most out of a Timeshare Presentation: Conclusion

If you love to travel and are trying to find ways to afford it, timeshare presentation promotion deals are certainly an opportunity. Also, if a company is going to treat you like a product, at least make them pay you for it!! I’m not saying go out and ROB them –

-but definitely take advantage of the opportunity! Follow these five tips and you’ll feel confident, and empowered, to attend a timeshare presentation, say NO to buying, AND walk out with a free getaway. Now go on and get yo goodies!!

Have you ever attended a timeshare presentation? How did it go? Let me know in the comments below! And, if you want to know more tricks about working perks in your favor, check out my post about soft-core scamming your loved ones into payin g for your travels . I promise no family memebers or friends will be hurt in the process 🙂

I want to give a special shoutout to Monica for writing up and providing all of her expert knowledge on timeshare rentals. Basically, she’s the Timeshare Fairy Godmother you never knew you needed. Seriously, if you ever want to know about timeshare vacation tricks and tips (or even what to do around the NYC Metro Area) SHE’S YOUR GAL. Check out more of her stuff over at PlannerAtHeart.com !

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There are a lot of great tips here, and to be honest I had heard of timeshares but didn’t know the details about them, so thanks for sharing all of the helpful information!

Yayyy!! I’m so glad you found it helpful!

Really useful post lady!

I do value my time, so I am not desperate to spend 90 mins listening to a presentation for a timeshare I don’t want to buy…but it is a pretty amazing deal! I guess I could daydream my way through it.

We were actually approached by some timeshare sellers in Whistler last year. They offered us 4 nights for $200 (normally it is closer to $200 per night, so we were VERY tempted.) The problem was they wanted the money up front before we could choose our dates, so we didn’t want to commit. I do regret it a bit as it would be nice to stay up there for multiple nights!

Awww man, I get that!! If I wasn’t sure about my availability, I’d be super hesitant to commit as well! But now that my entire calendar year is free….hahah

Ok I was SO excited about this free travel hack until I saw that it’s only available to American citizens, haha. I always wondered why I didn’t hear about timeshares here in Canada, I guess it’s just an American thing!

Maybe!! I wonder…why….

I have always heard of the timeshare rewards, but never thought of making it a way to get free trips and more! So thank you, thank you, thank you! I am going to have to try this sometime and didn’t even know I could look up “events” for it.

Let me know how it goes!! Thanks for reading!

Great article!! This past weekend, I went on a vacation to Las Vegas and was approached to attend a presentation and would receive a free mini vacation, $50 visa gift card, and $100 slot play. Their presentation was not about timeshares, but was trying to sell you their website that allows you to have access to cheap deals for hotels, flights, etc. I came with the mindset that I am NOT buying any of it, but my boyfriend was falling into their trap. However, I got him together and we took the free things and left. I’ve been obsessed with trying to find more presentations like this!!!! I went to the websites that you posted in this article, but having trouble seeing what deals are offered with their timeshare.

AHHH!!!! Thank you so much Kylie!! That literally means the WORLD to me haha. ALSO YAAAAAS getting those deals!!! So the websites I posted are not directories for timeshare presentations – they’re just a directory for timeshares resells (by the owner). Kinda like a timeshare zillow/redfin. But that’s a great idea, I should put together a post of where to find the presentations themselves – thanks for the idea!

Kylie! I would love to see what you have assembled for places like this!

How do I sign up to receive promotions to stay at hotels for timeshar presentations?

The most direct way would be to call the timeshare company and ask if they have any promotions/presentations going on. The website VacationPeople dot com is another resource to browse!

do you happen to have a list of these timeshare companies?

I’m headed to St.Petes beach on a timeshare presentation that i bought 3 nights for $160. I’m prepared to go to the presentation and set my timer for 2hrs. The more pressure people put on me the more i back away. I’m ready, but your article gave some great pointers.. thanks!!

My pleasure!! Thank you so much for reading 🙂

Your information about the secondary market is not COMPLETE. You can buy points but you receive non of the benefits of ownership. And the timeshare company has right to recession meaning they have the right to buy it first. Also all you are buying is the maintenance fees that go up 4% per year. And additionally. Just say no it’s classless to bring up the secondary market in a presentation.

So the point of this article isn’t actually to buy anything at all, secondary market or not. It is a leveraging tactic to get out of buying anything. The bottom line (regardless of pros/cons of the secondary market) is that the price cannot be matched, and is an easier way to pivot out of an aggressive sales tactics for those who may find it harder to “just say no.” In my humble opinion, judging others on their social confidence and navigating aggressive sales pitches is more “classless,” but maybe that’s just me.

It’s also classless to correct someone so publicly.

I’ve been on about a dozen time share presentations in my lifetime. I currently have 3 vacations in my coffers to cash in on during the next year. I enjoy making the salesmen work and work and work to try to force me to take their offer. Just remember that you have all the power, until you sign the contract to purchase….so I never purchase and I retain my power over them.

Have you taken advantage of their free vacation and is it legitimate? I attended a presentation and got a voucher for Orlando trip but I need to send a money order for $100 that’s refundable and then 60 per person for taxes. Is that correct?

I personallyyy wouldn’t pay out of pocket for any offer that’s supposed to be free.

I’ve used this opportunity many times! Once I had a sales man yell at me because he thought I was truly interested in buying. I guess I have a good poker face! Haha!

cant believe people like you think they’re actually getting somewhere in life. absolute loser. I’ve owned 3 programs for 15 years and NEVER have spent my valuable vaca time with my wife and kids on another presentation. if you already own one and are doing presentation you are an imbecile wasting your most valuable resource, your TIME

Ahhh interesting, but you DO use your valuable time to comment on something irrelevant to you? Lol Okayyyy Nick

I signed uip for a 3 day 3 nite timeshare “promotion” in Las Vegas – there were many things offered for attending the sales presentation – and they wanted $399 down for the ‘package deal’. However, when I got there, I wasn’t allowed to attend the sales presentation (they said I was 15 min. late). When I tried to reschedule and told them I was willing to pay for an extra nite at the hotel in order to attend a rescheduled time/date – they offered me a second chance 2 days later. But when I tried to go to that, they cancelled on me. I felt “scammed” as I got the hotel – but had to pay for the last nite there in addition to the $399 plus all the resort fees plus hotel taxes. This was a real “Bait and Switch” on the travel company’s end. Who do I complain to? Undoubtedly they are doing this to a lot of people coming to Las Vegas.

Mmmmmm yeah, this was a good example of the timeshares turning the scam on the guest – and unfortunately they usually write it into their fine print that they are allowed to do it since you were late (I would not be surprised if you were even a minute or two late and they just exaggerated your lateness). You could try complaining to the timeshare company, but in truth since you decided to stay and didn’t get it in writing that you would get reimbursed for the extra hotel nights then…they probably won’t do anything for you. In this situation, the best thing to do would to NOT pay out of pocket for extra nights at the hotel and just head home and consider it a $399 vacation deal.

Hey There! Leaving Sunday for a 4 night vacation. I was promised a bunch of gift cards but when I see reviews it says that if you say NO than they refuse to give you your promotional items! How do you get yours? Suggestions?? Thanks so much!

Mm so you can think of this in two ways. The first and potentially the “best/easiest” is that either way, you’re getting a 4 night vacation, which is pretty sweet in itself. So even if they don’t give you the promotional items, hey at least you got something. The second way to approach this would be to get everything in writing. And specifically ask if it is still valid with no purchase required. Then you have more ground to stand on if they do not give you your promised promotional items…which they still might not.

I am going to a vacation presentation that is 120 minutes. When does the 120 start? Is it the time of the appointment or when you first meet with the salesperson. I would like to know so I can set my alarm. Thanks.

That is correct!

Hi ! I recently came to a Orlando trip and was approach with a timeshare sales rep unknowing after already agreed to attend presentation due to promotion. I was very hesitant about the deal as she only inform I have to show up to a grand hotel tour and they will discuss about “vacation packaging they offer” and a view of the hotel. Also they said and I quote “marketing strategies “ because in return I will attend the presentation and just share word to mouth about my experience. She stated if anytime I would want to cancel it would be fine and no fee will be charged. I was pursued to attend an appointment during my stay but a few minutes later as they gave me my flyer with information of the hotel . It stated information about timeshare which I was never informed until they actually gave me the form. After I notice and was very upset. I asked to cancel and they didn’t want to give me a confirmation of cancellation. I put a deposit of 100$ just “confirm my seat” they also put my income information incorrect. They didn’t fly me out or stated they will give me the promotion after I attend and obtain my certification. I’m really concerned about them not being honest with the cancellation and returning my deposit. If by any chance they keep the deposit and charge me for not attending can I dispute with my credit card?. I have prove of the paper of appointment and them writing canceled but they didn’t want to put there signature it was a very frustrating situation. Please give me some advice or tip would help thanks !

Yeah I would dispute that with your credit card if they do keep the deposit. You have the agreement in writing AND you reached out to them, so its more than likely your card won’t even question further and wipe the charge (if needed)

We did this with Marriott in Cabo. We attended the presentation and they kept telling us it is NOT a timeshare. So we signed up. When we got home we did research and realized it IS a timeshare! The cool thing is, we live in Colorado, and they have a law that says if you cancel within 3 days you can get out of (any) contract for real estate. So we canceled. We have had no issues whatsoever AND we enjoyed a lovely vacation for four days in Cabo for $300. Plus we probably made the sales guy feel awesome because he got us to sign up for everything. Hehe.

EYYYYY!!! Now that’s a GREAT trick!!! 🙂

I’ve done several of these. Vegas, Orlando, Myrtle Beach. Usually when I book at a property like Hilton, once they know you have a credit card they ask would you like to hear about special offers, say YES. That’s when they switch you to the department that SELLs you a Great Deal for a special price. Most of these are NOT FREE. But, more like $199. For three or four nights at a luxury property. You MUST attend the Timeshare Tour and You MUST be on Time with The Spouse, if you told them that you have one. They will have snacks. Take a tote bag. The tour gives you a chance to see their top of the line suites. Act nice, go back to the “boiler room “ and say NO to everything. They might get a little nasty, or they might be glad to get rid of you and get on to the next customer. Don’t take it personal. It’s their job to make you feel like crap because you didn’t buy their product There will always be ONE LAST Person when you think you are getting away. The vouchers for future stays are worthless because you have to pay first at someplace that costs three times the voucher. In Vegas we got dinners and show tickets that were worth it. Count the wasted time as part of your trip. In places like the Caribbean you are more likely to get breakfast or lunch. Your not in the states so be careful. They might pick you up, but not take you back to your resort and you end up with an expensive Uber or taxi bill. Finally: if you get a random call: make sure the trip is to somewhere you want to stay. There are people offering some real dumps.

Great tips!

Thank you for the resale sites And all the other helpful info especially the timer.. You’re brilliant!.

Thank you so much for reading!!

our friends think we are nuts but who can beat 6 days 5 nights at an all inclusive resort on the beach in Puerto vallarta for $549.00 For 2 adults and 4 kids! Plus we got a free vegas trip and a free excursion while there. I’m really good at saying no to the sales ppl and think it’s kinda fun to get all these good deals!

I have done a few timeshare presentations in my life and found it was worth my time to save $$, however, I have just hit a new stumbling block. I booked a 5 night vacation in Cancun for 399 with presentation, I then paid another 280 for taxes, fees, and “white glove service “, still not bad for all inclusive. I then purchased our non-refundable flights. I was the contacted by the resort and told they have a max age restriction of 68 for the presentation, my wife turns 69 2 days before we get there. Waiting to hear back from booksi now to see if they can bypass this. I don’t have a good feeling.

Good luck!!

How can I get my payment back for a vacation that didn’t happen yet, from a time share Market place? I just found out about the 90 min presentation after the fact. I tried to cancel, but I was told it’s no -refundable. Our reservation is on Aug this year. I really wanted to cancel that vacation. I paid $2500 for 7 nights and 6 days Cancun vacation for 5 persons. I bet there will be additional surprise charges I am dreading about. Do I have a case getting my money back?

You could try going through your credit card to cancel.

I was scammed into buying a so-called hotel package that I later found out had a timeshare presentation requirement. By the time someone pointed it out to me it was past the timeframe to cancel and get my money back. So I’m now stuck with this package. On top of that when I called Booksi/Monster Reservations they revealed that it’s also a requirement to make at least $60k. They never asked me that question when I bought the package! They gladly took my money to get this hotel package, but didn’t bother asking me about my income or tell me about the requirements. Is there a recourse for this?? What if I only make say $20k? It’s their fault that they let me purchase the package anyway, without asking me what I make beforehand. Wouldn’t that be reason for them to have to cancel and give me my money back?? Also every time I call in and speak with someone I get told something different. A few people told me that if I didn’t want to deal with the presentation that I could just choose a variety of other hotels other than than the one I purchased the package on, that don’t require you to attend a presentation. But then today a couple reps said it doesn’t matter which hotel I choose I will have to attend a presentation no matter what. Plus it’s only May 1st and they conveniently have nothing available until July. I’m so frustrated and angry that they are in for quite a “treat” for when I arrive for this presentation. Definitely not getting one more cent from me and I’m not going to feel one bit sorry for any of them. I don’t even care if they start crying. In fact them crying just might make me feel a little bit better about all this. I want them to feel how I feel and how I have been crying over this huge headache of a situation. That’s how upset I am! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Kay.

It seems like you’re on the right track. Sometimes you get roped into a presentation that is so ridiculous that the only thing to do is attend…but you don’t have to be excited about it! I’d recommend leaving immediately after whatever the required time is up, then go enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Hi there, This webpage is terrific! Really great information! My question is how can I find these Promotions? I searched all over the internet and I couldnt find any places offering a Promotion to sit through a Timeshare Presentation.

Ideally we would like to go to an “all inclusive” resort for 5 nights to the Carribean or Costa Rica. Do you have any suggestions as to where I can find some options? Also, do any of these promotions ever include credit for airfare?

Thank you for your help!

Been in two presentations. I keep my shades on and don’t say nothing. I don’t engage in any small talk. A no from the start and I shut down. No information about me or my family. I make it uncomfortable. They might as well be talking to themselves.

There ya go!!!!

our tips on staying firm, setting time limits, and staying focused on your travel goals are invaluable for travelers who might encounter these presentations. The personal anecdotes and real-life examples you’ve shared add a relatable touch, making the reader feel well-prepared and empowered to handle such scenarios. Thanks for shedding light on a topic that many travelers may find awkward, and providing them with the tools they need to make the most of their travel experiences. Your thoughtful guidance will undoubtedly help fellow travelers navigate timeshare presentations with confidence.

We are going to Myrtle beach next week and we were called by the crown reef we booked our hotel through for a presentation. For a free 5 night stay at any crown reef resort at various cities they have. I was skeptical and asked the proper questions. The only thing I had to do was answer questions and go to this presentation for a fee for reserving my seats for fifty dollars. They said I get it back in a visa gift card and a free 5 day stay. He ended up upping the stay to 8 days. So what signed up. They said I was only obligated for two hours of my time. They also said if I don’t show up I would be out the fifty because it would give others the opportunity that I passed on if I didn’t show. So further reading after i agreed, that is a form of saving money on resorts and such and it’s basically a time share. We are nervous to attend because we have kids but there’s a specific area for them to play and you can see them while the presentation is going . Okay fine. I agreed. Even though this presentation hasn’t happened yet, I agreed to the most two hours which they stated. I agreed to the fifty charge on my cc on a recorded line. We figure get a free stay at a resort is worth the two hours but we aren’t buying anything. The question I have is, they stated if I don’t show they keep the fifty. That’s fair. But I also read some other time shares they can charge you credit card for more if you don’t stay the whole time or meet the requirements. I also met the pre requirements on the phone but I’m not staying anywhere free for this presentation. I bought my hotel for the week stay and they called me so I’m asking is if I bail I should only be out the fifty?

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I Suffered Through a Timeshare Sales Presentation for a Cheap Vacation

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here .

Timeshares: a word that probably elicits a range of emotions depending on your experience with them. My only knowledge about timeshares, however, comes from what I've read and listened to about the topic. None of my close friends or extended family members have bought or owned a timeshare. (Or, at least, they won't admit to it if they did).

That said, as a travel hacker, I'm enticed by stories from friends and TPG readers about scoring hotel discounts or bonus points for sitting through a timeshare presentation. So, when Choice Rewards emailed about getting a "seven-night resort stay" for 80% off plus a $100 gift card and 10,000 bonus Choice points for attending a "sales presentation and tour," I was intrigued.

Booking the Offer

The pre-Black Friday offer was for seven nights at a Bluegreen Vacations property for $499. The offer clearly stated that both me and my spouse would have to attend a two-hour sales presentation in order to get that rate.

After subtracting the $100 MasterCard and 10,000 Choice points (which TPG values at $60), I figured we'd be paying a net of $339 and four hours of time for seven nights at a two-bedroom property. Besides the sales presentation requirement, the other catch was the nights had to be used by May 31.

After reading pages worth of terms and conditions, confirming we met the qualifications -- minimum income of $40,000, at least 25 years of age, minimum credit score of 575, no bankruptcy in seven years -- and agreeing to the restrictions, I purchased the package.

My wife, Katie, charged the $499 purchase to her Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, both to help her meet the card's minimum spending requirement and also to see if the purchase coded as 3x for travel (it did). We earned 1,497 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which TPG values at just under $30.

Reserving Our Stay

It wasn't until a full month after the purchase I received a confirmation that unleashed the emails from Bluegreen Vacations reminding me to book our nights:

Unfortunately, finding availability isn't easy. While Bluegreen Vacations owners can search for openings and reserve online, this package required us to call to find and book dates. When we did, the calendar was far from wide-open. Ultimately, we booked a three-night stay midweek at Bluegreen's signature property in Orlando, The Fountains.

The call to book took 25 minutes, between finding available dates and reviewing the terms and conditions. Again.

We were able to book a two-bedroom condo at The Fountains that sleeps up to six people. The agent reminded us there would a $125 fee for changing our booking within 14 days -- a term in the original purchase terms -- but said that there would be no other charges or fees to worry about.

A few days after booking, I received a call from Bluegreen Vacations to "confirm" my vacation reservation. The agent again went through all the qualification details. But this time, the agent mentioned $32 of "taxes and fees" required at check-in and a $200 no-show fee. The agent falsely claimed these terms were sent to me in an email.

At the time of the call, my grandmother was in hospice. The agent wouldn't say whether my grandmother's passing would be enough for me to avoid a late change or no show fee, merely telling me I'd need to call them at the time to see.

Frustrated by the additional fees and terms, I asked for a manager. After a 15-minute hold, the manager towed the same line, insisting I was made aware of -- and agreed to -- the fees. She quoted specific terms and conditions she said I agreed to at purchase. I forwarded her the purchase confirmation email and my screenshots to refute those specific terms.

Still, all I got out of the nearly hour-long call was an additional $50 for the gift card to counter the extra fees. After the call, I received a "confirmed" email from Bluegreen reflecting the newly-added terms for the first time:

Enduring the Presentation

When we arrived for our stay at The Fountains, we were directed to check in at the Welcome Center after the 4pm check-in time, but before it closed at 9:30pm. No early check-in, late check-out or other benefits of being a Choice elite would be honored by Bluegreen. When we arrived just after 5pm, the grand Welcome Center was empty, before an agent emerged from the back office.

Upon arrival, we were reminded yet again about the terms of the package and had to sign a Guest Registration Form that noted the increased $150 MasterCard gift and 10,000 Choice points. In addition to our names and addresses, we needed to list:

• Homeowner or renter.
• Marital status (married; married but separated; living with significant other; single; divorced; widowed).
• Age of both the primary guest and the spouse or significant other.
• Combined household income.
• Confirmation that either the guest or the spouse or significant other has a credit score of at least 575.
• Whether or not the guest has declared bankruptcy or insolvency in the last seven years.
• Signature to indicate a credit inquiry would be made.
• Signature to indicate I've read the Details of Participation.

At the bottom of the form, the disclosure makes it abundantly clear that, "This advertising material is being used for the purpose of soliciting the sale of timeshare property or interests in timeshare property."

After filling out the form, the agent seemed surprised by my request for a copy of the forms I'd just filled out, but obliged. From the Welcome Center, we were directed to the Clubhouse to check into our expansive and well-stocked room -- which we are reviewing in a separate post.

Despite all previous correspondence indicating that we needed to arrive for the preview at least 15 minutes early, we were required upon arrival to agree to checking in at least 20 minutes before our 11am presentation.

Not wanting to risk violating the terms, we were sure to show up right at 10:40am. We noticed there weren't many people in the sales waiting room. At check-in, we received our $150 MasterCard gift card and a certificate for 10,000 Choice points. Bluegreen listed a $80 "MSRP" -- which typically stands for Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price -- for the Choice points. That's effectively 0.8 cents per point, versus TPG's 0.6 cents per point value of Choice points.

The rest of our 11am presentation group wasn't as punctual, causing a line to form at check-in that lasted through the top of the hour. While we waited, upbeat music played overhead an d a "refresh" bar offered caffeine and sugar fixes.

At 10:55am, cheery salespeople filed into the room to find their assigned couple. Our agent introduced himself and started off with small talk before leading us to the sales center to brief us about Bluegreen Vacations.

Contrary to what we expected, most of the two hours wouldn't be with this agent. Instead, 24 of us who were there for the 11am presentation were gathered into a small auditorium for a group sales pitch. Our presenter for the 1:45 hour session was Chad Elliott, a licensed realtor who's been selling for Bluegreen for more than 15 years.

Elliott surprised us by addressing the elephants in the room, such as joking about how many people "came in to buy" and referencing how couples had surely psyched each other up to say no.

He also landed some stinging jabs, saying we were all too cheap to pay for a full-priced vacation and how romantic this must be for the wives in the room. Elliott also peppered in some interesting stats, like how we were in the largest sales center of all 69 Bluegreen properties.

Referencing Bluegreen's partnerships with Choice Hotels and Bass Pro Shops, Elliott also noted that Bluegreen pays between $500 and $800 — including the gifts we'd already received at check-in — just to get a couple into the sales center for this presentation. And, he noted, one in three couples sitting through his presentation would become owners.

Whether or not these details were true, his forthright nature was very disarming.

He was also fast and loose with the numbers. He clearly stretched the cost of what a typical vacation would cost, using preset filters to make his live-search of hotel costs serve his point.

He made a big deal about how Bluegreen properties were owned by "nonprofit trusts" of which owners were beneficiaries, implying that we'd only be paying actual maintenance fees rather than an exaggerated number to generate a profit.

But for all the numbers he threw around, he wouldn't mention any specific prices for Bluegreen -- whether it was cost of the points or the maintenance fees -- in the nearly two-hour-long presentation. The lack of transparency on pricing indicated that Bluegreen was likely making individualized offers to sales targets based on our profiles.

The presentation left out other relevant information, too. For example, while Chad often pointed to Bluegreen's partnership with Bass Pro Shops, the outdoor recreation retailer was just 12 days away from ending its partnership with Bluegreen, "unless the Company cures certain alleged breaches to Bass Pro's satisfaction."

The presentation also referenced a Consumer Reports feature about timeshares claiming Consumer Reports said, "Your bucket of points will buy as much in 20 years as it does today," and that, "Eight in 10 timeshare owners said they would happily buy their timeshare again."

While those are exact quotes from the article, Consumer Reports didn't conclude that a "timeshare has a distinct advantage over hotel stays" or that "most timeshare owners would do it again."

The first quote is attributed to Michael Brown, the chief operating officer of Hilton Grand Vacations at the time. The second statement references a study commissioned by the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).

After a 9-minute-long video full of kids having fun, Elliott launched into the specific benefits for signing up today. One of the more appealing was called Bonus Time, which allows "charter" owners the ability to book any available Bluegreen resort for just $59 for a standard room, up to just $89 for a three-bedroom. He also said we'd be able to access over 150,000 condos across the world from just $269 per week through its RCI partnership.

Comparing the Offers

Elliott wrapped up the presentation around 12:45pm. At this point, Katie and I pushed our salesperson on terms of the benefits: Specifically, how availability worked for the Bonus Time and RCI partnerships.

When we finally got a chance to look at live availability, the Bonus Time perk did seem legitimate, with dozens of properties showing availability. While Elliott said there were no taxes or fees for owners on points stays, that's not the case on Bonus Time properties. Still, there were plenty of one-bedroom options available at $69 per night that increased to under $80 per night all-in.

It wasn't until 2.5 hours into the process that we finally got our first look at the cost of becoming an owner. In Elliott's presentation, he'd listed a variety of point purchase levels starting at 10,000 points per year. So, we asked to see what the purchase price would be for the bottom three packages: 10,000 per year; 15,000 per year; and 20,000 per year.

Our salesperson returned with just one offer at the 20,000 points per year level. The top line price: $48,800. That equates to 2.44 dollars per point, per year, compared to what the salesperson said is the standard price of 3.75 dollars per point, per year. This offer added another $570 of closing costs to finance the purchase and required 20% down. The interest rate for the example was 17.99%.

We said the price was too high and asked about the 10,000 points package. The salesman returned with a more-detailed offer for 10,000 points every other year for $14,520 -- equating to 2.9 dollars per point, per year. This offer listed the maintenance fees as $806 per year.

Looking for another data point, we asked for another offer. He returned with an offer for 7,000 points every other year for $9,910 -- equating to 2.83 dollars per point per year -- with $714 in annual maintenance.

As we prepared to leave, the salesperson added a seven-night cruise for two if we purchased the package.

Overall Impression

I figured the sales presentation would be insufferable, but that it'd be just those two hours we'd have to give up for a cheap vacation. I didn't factor in the hours I'd have to spend on the phone searching for availability, booking, confirming and then reconfirming the stay -- with terms being changed or added along the way.

That said, the sales presentation wasn't as bad as we expected. Elliott was entertaining, and spending most of the time in a group presentation was better than we expected.

We went into the presentation sure that this would be a ripoff and there couldn't possibly be value. But we left the presentation interested in some of the ways we could benefit from the system, whether by staying at properties from Monday through Friday for the cheap points rates or by utilizing the Bonus Time benefit.

However, the purchase price and terms weren't anywhere close to reasonable enough or us to seriously consider buying a package.

Overall, the preview was an enlightening experience about how Bluegreen Vacations timeshares work. And, for those that don't mind spending a bit of time chasing down availability and holding Bluegreen to its terms, a preview package like this could be a way of getting a cheap vacation.

While I don't personally regret doing it, this isn't something for which I'd give a blanket recommendation.

Travel with Grant

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How to Profit from 2 Timeshare Presentations in Hawaii

Full disclosure: I have only been to 3 timeshare presentations in my life (Hilton Elara in Las Vegas, Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas in Maui, and Hilton Waikoloa Village in Kona), so I am no timeshare expert.  I am not married, so I go to the presentations by myself.  I have never gone to a presentation outside the US, but I have heard nightmare stories about timeshare presentations in Mexico lasting hours.  Proceed at your own risk!

Good morning everyone, greetings from my local Peet’s Coffee at the SF Ferry Building.  Between the pushy salespeople (usually a small sales team), lengthy presentations, and overpriced fees, timeshares get a bad rap in the travel community.  But, if you can sit through the presentation and leave without buying a timeshare, the sales presentation can be worth your time.  To illustrate this point, I want to tell you about my 2 timeshare presentations in Hawaii last week.

The first presentation was at the  Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas in Maui, Hawaii, where I was staying thanks to the targeted vacation package offer I received a few months back.  I wrote about the offer details here , but to recap, I received 6 days / 5 nights in a villa studio, 5,000 SPG points, and a 6 day Avis car rental for $798.  I value 5,000 SPG points at $100, the Avis car rental at $150, so that means the stay in the studio villa cost about ~$550 for 5 nights in Maui.  That’s a great deal if you ask me.  The property is very nice, I loved the $5 Mai Tais during happy hour (4-6pm and 8:30-10pm) and the pools were great.  Valet parking is only $12/day or $10/day for self parking.

As an incentive to attend a timeshare sales presentation, I was offered my choice of 6,000 SPG points, $100 resort credit, $100 spa credit, or a sunset sail for 2 people.  If I was on the trip by myself, I would have chosen the 6,000 SPG points, but my travel companion wanted to do the sunset sail for 2 (since she would “never see the 6,000 SPG points” – very true).

We enjoyed our sunset sail on the Teralani 2 catamaran and even got a nice picture souvenir of our trip.  The catamaran does have an open bar and appetizers.  The ride was a little choppy at the beginning, so if you get seasick, I recommend taking some medicine prior to boarding.

After spending 5 nights in Maui, we flew to Kona for another 5 nights and stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village , which comes complete with its own monorail that connects the lobby to all 3 towers.  I used a combination of cash and points for the first 2 nights (20,000 Hilton HHonors points + $125 for each night) and 3 free night certificates.  2 free night certificates came from my new Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Credit Card and the third was from my old Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Credit Card after spending $10,000 on the card in a cardmember year.  By staying on points/certificates, you avoid the $30/day resort fee, but the valet parking was $30/day not waived (self parking is $25/day).  The hotel has a ocean-fed lagoon (pictured below), where you can rent snorkel gear, stand up paddle boards, kayaks, and more.  There are 3 different pools with a few water slides and a dolphin tank where people can swim and train the dolphins.

As a Hilton Diamond elite member, I received 10 $10 dining credit vouchers for my stay.  Since I was staying there 5 nights, I figured 2 vouchers per night.  I’m not sure if Hilton Gold or Silver elite members get these vouchers, but you can use them at all restaurants and cafes on the property and apply as many as you want toward the bill.  I used 6 vouchers for breakfast and my final bill was under $4.

While I was waiting for my breakfast check, a Hilton Grand Vacation Club (timeshare rep) came to our table and asked if we needed help planning any activities.  She also asked if I was a Hilton Grand Vacation Club owner.  I said no, but I am a Hilton Diamond elite member.  Her ears perked up and she asked me if I would be interested in attending a timeshare presentation in exchange for $100 resort credit or 40,000 Hilton HHonors points.  I quickly choose the points option, but I am sure I could have bargained for 50,000 Hilton HHonors points or more.  The following morning, I attended the timeshare presentation and left with 40,000 Hilton HHonors points in my account.  40,000 Hilton HHonors points is worth about $200 to me and covers the “points” portion of the cash and points stay for the first 2 nights.

Just as I was working on this post, I received a timeshare offer from Hyatt for a stay at their Hyatt Pinon Pointe in Sedona, Arizona.  For $249, you can stay 4 days / 3 nights in a 1 bedroom suite, and receive 10,000 Hyatt points (worth about $150), making this stay about $100 / 3 nights, or $33 a night.  You must purchase by October 31 and complete your stay before June 30, 2017.  If you have any interest in a cheap vacation to Sedona, I would definitely consider this timeshare offer.

Here are the complete terms and conditions of the above offer:

ELIGIBILITY/HOW TO REGISTER: To participate in this offer and receive 10,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, guest must book by October 31, 2016 for a 4 day, 3 night stay in the best available room up to a 1 bedroom, 1 bath suite at Hyatt Pinon Pointe, a Hyatt Residence Club Resort during the Promotional Period and meet the following qualifications:

• Attend a 90 minute sales presentation (not exceed 120 minutes) at the Hyatt Residence Club sales center during their stay.

• Have an annual household income of at least $75,000 and be at least 25 years of age and cannot have attended a sales presentation at any Hyatt Residence Club resort in the past 12 months.

• If you are (i) married, (ii) cohabitating, (iii) engaged or (iv) single and bringing a companion, we require that both parties travel together as part of the package and attend the private sales presentation.

View complete Details of Participation.

PROMOTION PERIOD: Promotion begins October 17, 2016 and ends June 30, 2017 (“Promotion Period”).

BONUS POINT POSTING: Please allow 30 days from the end of your sales presentation for bonus points to be posted to your Hyatt Gold Passport account.

GENERAL CONDITIONS: Inventory availability is limited and varies by Hyatt Residence Club resort location and unit. Inventory is typically offered on a relatively short term basis. Hyatt reserves the right to alter or withdraw this promotion with a suitable substitute offer of equal value (if legally required) at any time due to actual circumstances. This promotion is subject to the complete terms and conditions of Hyatt Gold Passport, available at goldpassport.com. Void where prohibited. The trademarks Hyatt®, Hyatt Gold Passport®, Hyatt Residence Club® and related marks are trademarks of Hyatt Corporation.

We have sent you this email because we have your email address designated as eligible to receive promotions and special offers. We value your privacy and will only use your information in accordance with our Global Privacy Policy available at privacy.hyatt.com.

To manage your email subscriptions or to opt-out of receiving email marketing from us you may:

1. Manage your subscriptions online

2. Write to: Hyatt Gold Passport Customer Service 9805 Q Street Omaha, NE 68127

Please include your Hyatt Gold Passport account number and your e-mail address when submitting your request in writing and please allow at least seven full business days from receipt of your message for us to remove your name from our subscriber list. If you have questions or comments regarding this email, please contact us at [email protected].

THE PURPOSE OF THIS ADVERTISING IS TO ATTEMPT TO SELL YOU A TIMESHARE INTEREST IN ARIZONA.

What is it like to go on a timeshare presentation?

• You speak to a friendly timeshare rep who asks you how you like to travel, how many nights a year you travel, how much you pay per hotel night (on average), and how many years you plan to travel.  After factoring in inflation, they show you a huge number (mine were both $600,000+) and then they tell you that is how much you will spend on travel over the rest of your lifetime.  They then try to sell you on buying a timeshare presentation for a fraction of that amount.  You may go on a tour of the units and talk about peak times of the year.
• The “inventory manager” comes in and tells you that they have a perfect room for you, that just came available and that there is a promotion for this unit.  He/she tells you this offer is too good to last and you need to act fast.  You politely decline stating the price is too high.  They then scour their inventory sheet for the cheapest room available, do some calculations on total purchase price, down payment, closing fees, and financing (usually 15% or higher).  Politely decline that offer due to price.
• The rep and “inventory manager” will leave the room and then the “quality assurance” / “customer satisfaction specialist” will come in and ask you some questions about the presentation.  Were you treated professionally?  Were you unsure of anything mentioned in the presentation?  Then they lead into these questions… Does the idea of vacation ownership entice you at all?  Yes?  Would you be interested in coming back in the next 1-2 years, staying at the property in a nice 2 bedroom unit and attend a followup presentation?  Yes?  We have a great offer for you for $2500 + a bunch of bonus points.
• At this point, you can accept their offer and get a discounted vacation next year, or you can decline the offer.  Both times, I declined their offers since the price was too high for me.  At that point, they thank you for coming, walk you out and get you set up for your gift/bonus for attending the sales presentation.

As always, going to timeshare presentations can be tricky.  The salespeople are very good at what they do and make vacation ownership look very enticing.  They can work the numbers to make an expensive purchase look very affordable.  I equate going to timeshare presentations like going on a test drive in a new car (like test driving a Cadillac CTS for 7,500 American Airlines miles ).  If you are not planning on purchasing, just go with the flow, enjoy the conversation, and walk away after your time is up.  If you know what you are doing, going to timeshare presentations can be very informational and rewarding (for the free gifts/bonuses).  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

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61 thoughts on “ how to profit from 2 timeshare presentations in hawaii ”.

Wow! That target offer to Maui + rental car is too good to be true. Averaging $110 per night at a luxury hotel is such a good deal :) I wish I know how to sign up for the targeted offers.

There is no secret. I used to have the SPG personal and business cards (closed 12+ months ago) and am SPG Gold from the free status with AMEX Platinum.

We are going to Kona in April for 3 nights and planning to stay at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, where can I sign up this timeshare presentation before our trip, I will use my two free night certificates from Citi Hilton reserve card. Will go to Kauai island on same trip, any offer there? Thank you for sharing this timeshare info.

Hi Zeng, enjoy your time at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. There are several Hilton Grand Vacation desks around the resort. If you visit one and ask around, I am sure they will offer the timeshare presentation to you. When you check in, the desk agent will give you your hotel keys and there will also be a slip of paper about attending the timeshare presentation, but the offers are only 20,000 Hilton HHonors points or $100 resort credit. The timeshare sales reps can offer you more points.

I have never been to Kauai (my last Hawaiian Island to visit), so I am not sure what offers are available, but I would guess that if there are nice hotels on the island, there will be timeshare offers.

Thanks, looks like every one here get some brilliant ideas

Yes indeed!

Several years ago my husband and I did timeshare at the Westin Kaanapali We were treated rudely because we didn’t purchase Basically implied we were stupid to not purchase!

Will never return!

The property is beautiful, I’m sorry your time there ended badly due to rude timeshare sales people. Hopefully your next presentation will go better.

Grant, would you expect a non-elite Hyatt member to be targeted for these types of offers?

I am only a Hyatt Platinum elite member (comes free with having the Chase Hyatt Credit Card), so I’m not sure why I get so luck with these offers.

My husband and I travel extensively around the world, staying in high-end hotels and taking frequent luxury cruises. But we have done several of these hotel chain timeshare presentations and have found a way to make the process quite short. When you get asked right at the beginning how much you travel, underestimate heavily. ‘Oh, this is our first trip in four years and we’ve never stayed at a place as nice as this before! Our annual travel budget? Maybe $300 if you figure the gas to go see the kids at Thanksgiving.’ Very rapidly they write us off as having no money at all, and we’ve even been sent on our way once with our goodies without having to inspect the demo suite. Usually we get out of there in about half an hour

That is a great strategy, I might have to try that someday when I am really busy and want to leave quickly. Thanks for the tip :)

That is super helpful thank you! Totally going to try that!

Grant, need some advice. My wife refuses to take advantage of these timeshare deals. We’ve passed up a number of opportunities with SPG and Hyatt.

Should I find a new wife?

Try bribing your wife to attend the presentations or find a female relative who can pretend to be your wife :)

Just had to LOL at this one

Great name too, huh?

Another great way out of the presentation – “we’re about to declare bankruptcy. This trip is our last hurrah for a few years.”

Haha, that is brilliant as well :)

Hi Grant: I have always hesitated to attend these because of the income requirements. Now I am retired and my income is lower than ever. How closely do they scrutinize this in light of the fine print that states a minimum income in order to attend? Thanks!

They do not verify or check the income requirements.

Thanks for the input!

You’re welcome. Have a great weekend.

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I’m married, travel a lot without my husband, but with female friends instead. I have done some presentations saying goes I was single. My husband will never go to another timeshare presentation. The last one was the Omni in Cancun & we ended up buying! That was 10 yrs ago, we only bought for 10 yrs, so it’s done this year. We will not buy again. When I’m traveling with friends who , like me, would like to sit in one a presentation for some freebies, can we each do a presentation, or should we pretend we’really a couple? Our ID’s have different addresses. I’m going to oahu next month , any current offers there that you could share?

You can probably attend as single women, that way you double up on the presentation freebies. Just ask around at your hotel/resort.

Would like to tour the new Westin Maui

Are you referring to the Westin Nanea?

Hello Grant. We are going to be staying at the Hilton Waikoloa village in July for 12 nights. We have 2 rooms. One using points and one we are paying for. My husband is a diamond member. We were thinking about doing the luau there. They do not offer any discounts to Hilton honors members. I was wondering if we took the time share tour while we are there if they would offer us tickets. We are a group of ten so even 2 would be a help. What are your thoughts?

That is a great idea. It never hurts to ask the timeshare people if they will comp you a few luau tickets. Have a great time at the resort. There is a lot to do :)

Just got back from our Hawaii trip, one week each on Kauai and Big Island. We did went to Grand Hilton Vacation timeshare before boarding our flight coming home. By the time we arrived LAX, 40k Hilton points posted to my account. Just want to thank you for your information. Hilton Waikoloa is a huge resort, our room was upgraded to MAKAI with view of Dolphins.

I’m glad you had a great time and good job getting those 40,000 HH points :)

You completely forgot to mention, or didn’t know that those sales rep work on commision only, and they do that for a living. So if you are there for just for a gift, not only you are wasting their time but also building a very bad karma……… I would personally never do something like that.

Yes, they are paid 100% on commissions, sorry for not mentioning that in the post. Have a great day.

Thank you for your concern about my karma. The only time I have ever taken a time share tour I have made it clear that I had no interest at all in buying and they would push me into coming to the tour anyway. Actually the only one or two I have ever been on were ones where I was asked to tour. I did not seek them out. I would even go as far as telling them again once I arrived at the tour before starting that I wasn’t​ interested in purchasing and they always pushed for us to still take the tour. I would do the same in this situation. Not looking to screw anyone out of anything here. Thank you for your input.

Yes, but in your post you encourage others to “take advantage” when they know they aren’t going to buy. Different if you were offered than if you advise people to go seek it out. Timeshare workers work very hard for a living and it’s very had to make any kind of sale. Yes, sales force people are the ones who rain in the money to keep salary people paid, in more fields.

Thank you, Minah. I was sorry so many people are willing to take advantage of people just trying to support their families. Timeshares are a great use of money if you vacation a lot. If not, it’s not for you and unfair to waste anyone’s time. What else do we have in this life, but time, as a precious currency?

I have 2 vacation tours booked for the same week in Orlando. 1 at the Hilton the other at Marriott.. The sales man on the phone from,Hilton said its allowed.. As we get closer to our vacation I am nervous its not allowed.. Son you know anything about this?

Will you be staying at either property or just attending the timeshare presentations?

I will be staying at both properties.. One for 4 days the other for 7 days

You should be fine to attend each timeshare presentation while you are staying at each property. What perks are they proving you?

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Grant, I remember you from work (you can see what work i’m talking about by looking at my email). How weird i stumbled upon your website. it’s a small world. Hey i was searching google to try and find some timeshare offers. For whatever reason i don’t seem to get these offers. I’m not sure do they come in the mail? Sometimes i get robocalls from places claiming i’ve won a travel package from marriott or something but i never call them back because i figure they are a scam. I don’t mind sitting in on a timeshare pitch in hawaii if i can get a dirt cheap stay at their hotel but i don’t know how to find the offers. Any suggestions? Can you email me directly?

Hi Mike, thanks for the email, I hope you are doing well. I’m not sure the secret to being targeted for timeshare offers but I think it’s a combination of age, location, income, if you are a member of the hotel loyalty program (and allow 3rd party companies to send you offers), and having the airline credit card. I’m a member of all the hotel loyalty programs and have all of the hotel credit cards. I get most offers via mail and some via email. The offers via phone are a scam. Hope that helps :)

Grant, Thanks for the post. We are heading to the Westin Kaanapali in Maui on the same offer you had, except I guess we will get Marriott points instead? Who knows? I’m kind of nervous about the timeshare presentation as my wife and I are definitely younger than their average customer. Any other tips you mind sharing? At what point during your stay did they do the presentation? Thanks and great post! Kyle

Don’t be nervous about your age, they target anyone from 18 to 80, so you will see a wide age range at the timeshare presentation. I believe they want you to experience the property for a few days so you “fall in love” with the property and want to come back.

Hello Grant – how long do you need to wait between Westin timeshare presentations?

I’m not sure if there is a hard limit, but I believe the terms say 12 months. But you can hop around and do timeshare presentation with Marriott, Hyatt, Sheraton/Vistana, etc

Hello Grant My husband and I came across a timeshare deal while in AZ last year. Because of time we were able to do just 1 free night while other people did 3 nights. They said they found the offers on the internet, We have some free airline tickets to use up by the end of Jan. We want some place warm, don’t care where. Any suggestions?

Hi MaryKay, are you asking about places to travel to or how to get timeshare offers?

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Why do you say offers via phone are scams?

Scammers will often call about timeshare offers. If you get an offer via email or mail, it is more legit.

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Whales Have an Alphabet

Until the 1960s, it was uncertain whether whales made any sounds at all..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

Today, ever since the discovery that whales produce songs, scientists have been trying to find a way to decipher their lyrics. After 60 years, they may have finally done it. My colleague, Carl Zimmer, explains.

It’s Friday, May 24.

I have to say, after many years of working with you on everything from the pandemic to —

— CRISPR DNA technology, that it turns out your interests are even more varied than I had thought, and they include whales.

They do indeed.

And why? What is it about the whale that captures your imagination?

I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who is not fascinated by whales. I mean, these are mammals like us, and they’re swimming around in the water. They have brains that are much bigger than ours. They can live maybe 200 years. These are incredible animals, and animals that we still don’t really understand.

Right. Well, it is this majestic creature that brings us together today, Carl, because you have been reporting on a big breakthrough in our understanding of how it is that whales communicate. But I think in order for that breakthrough to make sense, I think we’re going to have to start with what we have known up until now about how whales interact. So tell us about that.

Well, people knew that whales and dolphins traveled together in groups, but up until the 1960s, we didn’t really know that whales actually made any sounds at all. It was actually sort of an accident that we came across it. The American military was developing sophisticated microphones to put underwater. They wanted to listen for Russian submarines.

As one does. But there was an engineer in Bermuda, and he started hearing some weird stuff.

[WHALE SOUNDS]

And he wondered maybe if he was actually listening to whales.

What made him wonder if it was whales, of all things?

Well, this sound did not sound like something geological.

It didn’t sound like some underwater landslide or something like that. This sounded like a living animal making some kind of call. It has these incredible deep tones that rise up into these strange, almost falsetto type notes.

It was incredibly loud. And so it would have to be some really big animal. And so with humpback whales swimming around Bermuda, this engineer thought, well, maybe these are humpback whales.

And so he gets in touch with a husband and wife team of whale biologists, Roger and Katy Payne, and plays these recordings to them. And they’re pretty convinced that they’re hearing whales, too. And then they go on to go out and confirm that by putting microphones in the water, chasing after groups of whales and confirming, yes, indeed, that these sounds are coming from these humpback whales.

So once these scientists confirm in their minds that these are the sounds of a whale, what happens with this discovery?

Well, Roger and Katy Payne and their colleagues are astonished that this species of whale is swimming around singing all the time for hours on end. And it’s so inspirational to them that they actually help to produce a record that they release “The Song of the Humpback Whale” in 1970.

And so this is being sold in record stores, you know, along with Jimi Hendrix and Rolling Stones. And it is a huge hit.

Yeah, it sells like two million copies.

Well, at the time, it was a huge cultural event. This record, this became almost like an anthem of the environmental movement. And it led, for whales in particular, to a lot of protections for them because now people could appreciate that whales were a lot more marvelous and mysterious than they maybe had appreciated before.

And so you have legislation, like the Marine Mammal Act. The United States just agrees just to stop killing whales. It stops its whaling industry. And so you could argue that the discovery of these whale songs in Bermuda led to at least some species of whales escaping extinction.

Well, beyond the cultural impact of this discovery, which is quite meaningful, I wonder whether scientists and marine biologists are figuring out what these whale songs are actually communicating.

So the Paynes create a whole branch of science, the study of whale songs. It turns out that pretty much every species of whale that we know of sings in some way or another. And it turns out that within a species, different groups of whales in different parts of the world may sing with a different dialect. But the big question of what these whales are singing, what do these songs mean, that remains elusive into the 21st century. And things don’t really change until scientists decide to take a new look at the problem in a new way.

And what is that new way?

So in 2020, a group of whale biologists, including Roger Payne, come together with computer scientists from MIT. Instead of humpback whales, which were the whales where whale songs are first discovered, these scientists decide to study sperm whales in the Caribbean. And humpback whales and sperm whales have very, very different songs. So if you’re used to humpback whales with their crazy high and low singing voices —

Right, those best-selling sounds.

— those are rockin’ tunes of the humpback whales, that’s not what sperm whales do. Sperm whales have a totally different way of communicating with each other. And I actually have some recordings that were provided by the scientists who have been doing this research. And so we can take a listen to some of them.

Wow, It’s like a rhythmic clicking.

These are a group of sperm whales swimming together, communicating.

So whale biologists knew already that there was some structure to this sound. Those clicks that you hear, they come in little pulses. And each of those pulses is known as a coda. And whale biologists had given names to these different codas. So, for example, they call one coda, one plus one plus three —

— which is basically click, click, click, click, click, or four plus three, where you have four clicks in a row and a pause and then three clicks in a row.

Right. And the question would seem to be, is this decipherable communication, or is this just whale gibberish?

Well, this is where the computer scientists were able to come in and to help out. The whale biologists who were listening to the codas from the sperm whales in the Caribbean, they had identified about 21 types. And then that would seem to be about it.

But then, an MIT computer science graduate student named Prajusha Sharma was given the job of listening to them again.

And what does she hear?

In a way, it’s not so much what she heard, but what she saw.

Because when scientists record whale songs, you can look at it kind of like if you’re looking at an audio of a recording of your podcast, you will see the little squiggles of your voice.

And so whale biologists would just look at that ticker of whale songs going across the screen and try to compare them. And Sharma said, I don’t like this. I just — this is not how I look at data. And so what she decided to do is she decided to kind of just visualize the data differently. And essentially, she just kind of flipped these images on their side and saw something totally new.

And what she saw was that sperm whales were singing a whole bunch of things that nobody had actually been hearing.

One thing that she discovered was that you could have a whale that was producing a coda over and over and over again, but it was actually playing with it. It was actually stretching out the coda,

[CLICKING] So to get a little bit longer and a little bit longer, a little bit longer.

And then get shorter and shorter and shorter again. They could play with their codas in a way that nobody knew before. And she also started to see that a whale might throw in an extra click at the end of a coda. So it would be repeating a coda over and over again and then boom, add an extra one right at the end. What they would call an ornamentation. So now, you have yet another signal that these whales are using.

And if we just look at what the sperm whales are capable of producing in terms of different codas, we go from just 21 types that they had found in the Caribbean before to 156. So what the scientists are saying is that what we might be looking at is what they call a sperm whale phonetic alphabet.

Yeah, that’s a pretty big deal because the only species that we know of for sure that has a phonetic alphabet —

— is us, exactly. So the reason that we can use language is because we can make a huge range of sounds by just doing little things with our mouths. A little change in our lips can change a bah to a dah. And so we are able to produce a set of phonetic sounds. And we put those sounds together to make words.

So now, we have sperm whales, which have at least 150 of these different versions of sounds that they make just by making little adjustments to the existing way that they make sounds. And so you can make a chart of their phonetic alphabet, just like you make a chart of the human phonetic alphabet.

So then, that raises the question, do they combine their phonetic alphabet into words? Do they combine their words into sentences? In other words, do sperm whales have a language of their own?

Right. Are they talking to each other, really talking to each other?

If we could really show that whales had language on par with humans, that would be like finding intelligent life on another planet.

We’ll be right back.

So, Carl, how should we think about this phonetic alphabet and whether sperm whales are actually using it to talk to each other?

The scientists on this project are really careful to say that these results do not definitively prove what these sperm whale sounds are. There are a handful of possibilities here in terms of what this study could mean. And one of them is that the whales really are using full-blown language.

What they might be talking about, we don’t know. I mean, perhaps they like to talk about their travels over hundreds and thousands of miles. Maybe they’re talking about, you know, the giant squid that they caught last night. Maybe they’re gossiping about each other.

And you have to remember, sperm whales are incredibly social animals. They have relationships that last for decades. And they live in groups that are in clans of thousands of whales. I mean, imagine the opportunities for gossip.

These are all at least imaginable now. But it’s also possible that they are communicating with each other, but in a way that isn’t language as we know it. You know, maybe these sounds that they’re producing don’t add up to sentences. There’s no verb there. There’s no noun. There’s no structure to it in terms of how we think of language.

But maybe they’re still conveying information to each other. Maybe they’re somehow giving out who they are and what group they belong to. But it’s not in the form of language that we think of.

Right. Maybe it’s more kind of caveman like as in whale to whale, look, there, food.

It’s possible. But, you know, other species have evolved in other directions. And so you have to put yourself in the place of a sperm whale. You know, so think about this. They are communicating in the water. And actually, like sending sounds through water is a completely different experience than through the air like we do.

So a sperm whale might be communicating to the whale right next to it a few yards away, but it might be communicating with whales miles away, hundreds of miles away. They’re in the dark a lot of the time, so they don’t even see the whales right next to them. So it’s just this constant sound that they’re making because they’re in this dark water.

So we might want to imagine that such a species would talk the way we do, but there are just so many reasons to expect that whatever they’re communicating might be just profoundly different, so different that it’s actually hard for us to imagine. And so we need to really, you know, let ourselves be open to lots of possibilities.

And one possibility that some scientists have raised is that maybe language is just the wrong model to think about. Maybe we need to think about music. You know, maybe this strange typewriter, clickety clack is actually not like a Morse code message, but is actually a real song. It’s a kind of music that doesn’t necessarily convey information the way conversation does, but it brings the whales together.

In humans, like, when we humans sing together in choruses, it can be a very emotional experience. It’s a socially bonding experience, but it’s not really like the specific words that we’re singing that bring us together when we’re singing. It’s sharing the music together.

But at a certain point, we stop singing in the chorus, and we start asking each other questions like, hey, what are you doing for dinner? How are you going to get home? There’s a lot of traffic on the BQE. So we are really drawn to the possibility that whales are communicating in that same kind of a mode.

We’re exchanging information. We’re seeking out each other’s well-being and emotional state. And we’re building something together.

And I think that happens because, I mean, language is so fundamental to us as human beings. I mean, it’s like every moment of our waking life depends on language. We are talking to ourselves if we’re not talking to other people.

In our sleep, we dream, and there are words in our dreams. And we’re just stewing in language. And so it’s really, really hard for us to understand how other species might have a really complex communication system with hundreds of different little units of sound that they can use and they can deploy. And to think anything other than, well, they must be talking about traffic on the BQE. Like —

— we’re very human-centric. And we have to resist that.

So what we end up having here is a genuine breakthrough in our understanding of how whales interact. And that seems worth celebrating in and of itself. But it really kind of doubles as a lesson in humility for us humans when it comes to appreciating the idea that there are lots of non-human ways in which language can exist.

That’s right. Humility is always a good idea when we’re thinking about other animals.

So what now happens in this realm of research? And how is it that these scientists, these marine biologists and these computer scientists are going to try to figure out what exactly this alphabet amounts to and how it’s being used?

So what’s going to happen now is a real sea change in gathering data from whales.

So to speak.

So these scientists are now deploying a new generation of undersea microphones. They’re using drones to follow these whales. And what they want to do is they want to be recording sounds from the ocean where these whales live 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And so the hope is that instead of getting, say, a few 100 codas each year on recording, these scientists want to get several hundred million every year, maybe billions of codas every year.

And once you get that much data from whales, then you can start to do some really amazing stuff with artificial intelligence. So these scientists hope that they can use the same kind of artificial intelligence that is behind things like ChatGPT or these artificial intelligence systems that are able to take recordings of people talking and transcribing them into text. They want to use that on the whale communication.

They want to just grind through vast amounts of data, and maybe they will discover more phonetic letters in this alphabet. Who knows? Maybe they will actually find bigger structures, structures that could correspond to language.

If you go really far down this route of possibilities, the hope is that you would understand what sperm whales are saying to each other so well that you could actually create artificial sperm whale communication, and you could play it underwater. You could talk to the sperm whales. And they would talk back. They would react somehow in a way that you had predicted. If that happens, then maybe, indeed, sperm whales have something like language as we understand it.

And the only way we’re going to figure that out is if we figure out not just how they talk to themselves, but how we can perhaps talk to them, which, given everything we’ve been talking about here, Carl, is a little bit ironic because it’s pretty human-centric.

That’s right. This experiment could fail. It’s possible that sperm whales don’t do anything like language as we know it. Maybe they’re doing something that we can’t even imagine yet. But if sperm whales really are using codas in something like language, we are going to have to enter the conversation to really understand it.

Well, Carl, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Thank you. Sorry. Can I say that again? My voice got really high all of a sudden.

A little bit like a whale’s. Ooh.

Yeah, exactly. Woot. Woot.

Thank yoooo. No. Thank you.

Here’s what else you need to know today.

We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long. It is time to break it up.

On Thursday, the Justice Department sued the concert giant Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Ticketmaster, for violating federal antitrust laws and sought to break up the $23 billion conglomerate. During a news conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Live Nation’s monopolistic tactics had hurt the entire industry of live events.

The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices.

In a statement, Live Nation called the lawsuit baseless and vowed to fight it in court.

A reminder — tomorrow, we’ll be sharing the latest episode of our colleagues’ new show, “The Interview.” This week on “The Interview,” Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Ted Sarandos, the CEO of Netflix, about his plans to make the world’s largest streaming service even bigger.

I don’t agree with the premise that quantity and quality are somehow in conflict with each other. I think our content and our movie programming has been great, but it’s just not all for you.

Today’s episode was produced by Alex Stern, Stella Tan, Sydney Harper, and Nina Feldman. It was edited by MJ Davis, contains original music by Pat McCusker, Dan Powell, Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano, and Sophia Lanman, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

Special thanks to Project SETI for sharing their whale recordings.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Tuesday after the holiday.

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• May 29, 2024   •   29:46 The Closing Arguments in the Trump Trial
• May 28, 2024   •   25:56 The Alitos and Their Flags
• May 24, 2024   •   25:18 Whales Have an Alphabet
• May 23, 2024   •   34:24 I.C.C. Prosecutor Requests Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders
• May 22, 2024   •   23:20 Biden’s Open War on Hidden Fees
• May 21, 2024   •   24:14 The Crypto Comeback
• May 20, 2024   •   31:51 Was the 401(k) a Mistake?
• May 19, 2024   •   33:23 The Sunday Read: ‘Why Did This Guy Put a Song About Me on Spotify?’
• May 17, 2024   •   51:10 The Campus Protesters Explain Themselves
• May 16, 2024   •   30:47 The Make-or-Break Testimony of Michael Cohen
• May 15, 2024   •   27:03 The Possible Collapse of the U.S. Home Insurance System

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Carl Zimmer

Produced by Alex Stern ,  Stella Tan ,  Sydney Harper and Nina Feldman

Edited by MJ Davis Lin

Original music by Elisheba Ittoop ,  Dan Powell ,  Marion Lozano ,  Sophia Lanman and Pat McCusker

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

Ever since the discovery of whale songs almost 60 years ago, scientists have been trying to decipher the lyrics.

But sperm whales don’t produce the eerie melodies sung by humpback whales, sounds that became a sensation in the 1960s. Instead, sperm whales rattle off clicks that sound like a cross between Morse code and a creaking door. Carl Zimmer, a science reporter, explains why it’s possible that the whales are communicating in a complex language.

On today’s episode

Carl Zimmer , a science reporter for The New York Times who also writes the Origins column .

Background reading

Scientists find an “alphabet” in whale songs.

These whales still use their vocal cords. But how?

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Carl Zimmer covers news about science for The Times and writes the Origins column . More about Carl Zimmer

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