Anyone use SkyAuction?

[leahjade]

How does it work? What kind of fees are involved? I see many resorts for $1 - is there a reserve price? What kind of deals have you gotten?

 

[eowensby]

We just used Skyauction last month. There was a deal in February for $249 for 7 nights. We picked Silver Lake Resort which is super close to Animal Kingdom. It was fantastic! The first time we've ever used skyauction and I would totally do it again.

 

[mrsklamc]

I'm not familiar with this. Do you pick specific units or just a particular resort?

 

[eowensby]

We knew our unit would sleep 6 and was a one bedroom. Other than that we didn't know where on property we would be staying. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, that's for sure! We didn't have to do any kind of timeshare presentation or anything like that. They offered a breakfast at some point in the week and we just declined.

 

[leahjade]

Did yours have a lot of fees? The unit I just looked at was only $249 for the resort but had a $400 booking fee plus other taxes and charges!

 

[eowensby]

No, it was a flat $249. Like I said, there was a deal back in February for just $249. No fees, nothing extra. There was a $125 security deposit when we checked in, but that was never charged to our card.

 

[Local_Girl]

We've used Skyauction before, most recently for a stay at Silver Lake in Nov. '10. There are different types of auctions for Orlando resorts and they have different terms. You need to do your research to determine which of the available resorts are the best (trip advisor is helpful for that, as is the Orlando Hotels board here on the DIS). We really liked Silver Lake as it was clean and updated and really convenient to Disney. We had a large one bedroom, with 2 bathrooms and a full kitchen, and it worked well for our family of 4.

I think the last one we did was a "buy it now" type of auction, the vacation certificates. The key to using that type is checking availability for your dates first, before you purchase the cert. Currently those certs are $249, and there is a mandatory fee of $20 for the transaction, but that's always been the case with all the auctions. With any of the auctions you have to read all of the details very carefully. Some of them do have extra fees, or put surcharges on certain dates of travel.

 

[cyndik1111]

sorry to seem a little thick about this, but i would love some help with this site.

I entered wdw, orlando and nov. 2012 and only got 1 hotel, howard johnson. there is another search button that I tried which gave me lots of hotels, but no auction (more like bookit). Am i doing something wrong, or is there really only 1 hotel available for all of nov near orlando?

 

[lpandorf]

I used Sky Auction for our trip in June. I bid on the Sheraton Vistana Villages Lake Buena Vista. I got a good price on a two bed room. It was about $500 cheaper than what I could book this place through their website. The place was wonderful and we had no problems at check-in. My kids are asking when we can go back.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I used Sky Auction for our trip in June. I bid on the Sheraton Vistana Villages Lake Buena Vista. I got a good price on a two bed room. It was about $500 cheaper than what I could book this place through their website. The place was wonderful and we had no problems at check-in. My kids are asking when we can go back.

one or two bed room? what section did you stay in?

 

[feezle]

Where did you find the flat $249 deal? All I am seeing right now is rooms to bid on.

 

[BonnieA]

I use skyauction for almost all my timeshare rentals. In Nov I am staying for 2 weeks at Wyndham Cypress palms (2 bedroom) for $520. In December I am staying in Williamsburg for 2 weeks at Powhaton Plantation (3 bedroom) for $440.
Just read all the fine print. The deals are there but sometimes hard to find.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I use skyauction for almost all my timeshare rentals. In Nov I am staying for 2 weeks at Wyndham Cypress palms (2 bedroom) for $520. In December I am staying in Williamsburg for 2 weeks at Powhaton Plantation (3 bedroom) for $440.
Just read all the fine print. The deals are there but sometimes hard to find.

Have u stayed at Powhaton before and if so did you like it? Trying to help a friend plan a budget trip to Williamsburg with her family

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I use skyauction for almost all my timeshare rentals. In Nov I am staying for 2 weeks at Wyndham Cypress palms (2 bedroom) for $520. In December I am staying in Williamsburg for 2 weeks at Powhaton Plantation (3 bedroom) for $440.
Just read all the fine print. The deals are there but sometimes hard to find.

Do you need to do a timeshare tour? Who owns Powhaton? Wyndham used to own a ts down in Williamsburg but they do not own it now. We took a TS tour there once. I always sped a day there on my way to WDW. Can you give me any good restaurants? WE have eaten at the Ben Franklin place(forgot the name), Amazing Pancake Place, Milano's, but mostly Red Hot and Blue. There is also a restaurant in the park that is toward the back on the left cannot remember the name but it was okay. We also ate at the Kinds Arms I believe but it was horrible and a huge rip off. If you are staying a while did you check restaurant.com? they had a few places in CWB.

 

[BonnieA]

Do you need to do a timeshare tour? Who owns Powhaton? Wyndham used to own a ts down in Williamsburg but they do not own it now. We took a TS tour there once. I always sped a day there on my way to WDW. Can you give me any good restaurants? WE have eaten at the Ben Franklin place(forgot the name), Amazing Pancake Place, Milano's, but mostly Red Hot and Blue. There is also a restaurant in the park that is toward the back on the left cannot remember the name but it was okay. We also ate at the Kinds Arms I believe but it was horrible and a huge rip off. If you are staying a while did you check restaurant.com? they had a few places in CWB.

I used to live in Williamsburg and love to go back during December for Busch Gardens Christmas Town. I did get some restaurant.com coupons for the trip. So many of the restaurants that used to be there are gone or changed. Now we mostly go to the chains. Oh there is one place if you go to Colonial Williamsburg. It's the cheese shop, wonderful sandwiches, very popular.
No, I don't have to take any timeshare tours. I bring different friends with me anyway. Since I don't always bring my husband they don't bother me because both husband and wife have to be present.
But buying thru skyauction, you don't have to take any tours (unless you want to).
Powhatan resort is part of Diamond Resorts International.

 

[feezle]

I'm doing some research on SkyAuctions and I'm finding a lot of people saying that they end up without a room. They try booking for a supposedly "available" check-in date and they are told that they have nothing available.

The prices look great, but I can't run the risk of paying and then not getting a room for our travel dates.

 

[BonnieA]

If they have nothing available, they will refund your money or not charge it. I have had that happen to me. Just means someone got there before I did. It happens. But I mostly buy their vacation certificates. Check frequently what they have available. Never had a problem getting something I want.

 

[DawnM]

We have used SkyAuction exclusively for the past 7 years for our WDW stays. I have paid as little as $149/wk for a 2 bedroom, but the prices seem to remain about $249/wk now.

The hotel deals are typically NOT a good deal. The RCI condo deals are fantastic.

We have used SkyAuction about 20 times now.

SkyAUction is NOT for peak seasons. We travel off-season. SkyAUction is NOT for those who have a specific resort in mind.

When you go to SkyAUction.com type in "resort certificates" to buy a voucher for $249. You can check out what might be available for your dates by going to ResortCerts.com.

The only place we will never go back to is Westgate. There are others I won't pick if I can avoid them, but overall we have been pleased. I look to see what is available on ResortCerts.com and then go to TripAdvisor.com to read reviews before booking.

Dawn

 

[bearzabout]

I, like Dawn, just love to use the vacation certificates through Skyauction. I've stayed in timeshares about 75 times since we discovered Skyauction many years ago and have had very few problems.

Good units are getting harder to find using the certificates, so now I also book sale units through their regular auction site. Sometimes they have last minute sales that include no service charges or reduced service charges of $199 instead of $299 per week. If I want to stay more than one week, I just ask after I win the auction and they book both weeks for 2 times the winning price if the other week is available.

To get an idea if the vacation certificates will work for you, go to resortcerts.com and enter the US, Florida, then Orlando. Pick the month you are interested in and check out the availability.

Do lots of research on resorts with availability. Some are really bad. Someone tried to break into our car at Powhatan in Williamsburg. There were scratches all over the trim by the drivers side window. I prefer the Wyndham properties over Powhatan.

If you are willing to do the research and travel off season, Skyauction will change your life. I am eternally grateful for the travel opportunites it has provided me, but now am am so spoiled. I pay as little as $21/night for up to a 3 bedroom unit, and suffer terrible sticker shock when looking for hotels for short stays.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

My experience is they used to be good but then they stared adding on huge fees and now it is not worth it.