Comparing Fairfield Vacation Club to DVC?

[ChickieToo]

We went to Newport RI this weekend, and were approached by a rep for Fairfield Resorts Timeshare and Vacation club. We were tempted to go take a look, but we didn't really have the time and we didn't know if owning two different timeshares would work for us anyway. So I have a couple of questions:

Does anyone own a timeshare other that DVC?

If so, do you get to use them both or are you always tring to unload a week?

Does anyone know anything about Fairfield Resorts and how it compares with DVC?

Any information on this topic would be useful.

Thanks in advance,

Joanne

 

[spiceycat]

be glad you missed the sales pitch - Fairfield is pretty bad about being down right pushly....

the only place worst is Westgate (my opinion) the new

Fairfield has some nice places - the problem with buying the one just off property is that I think it is their best. So many of the places you could trade too would not be as good - same as DVC.

If you can afford it the Marriott are good, HGVC, Hyatt are great.

I can't afford them so I have a South Africia (used to trade to Orlando), and a Landmark in PCB. both were cheap and their maintence fees are reasonable.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I can compare it pretty easily.

With DVC you are staying in WDW.

With Fairfiled, you are not (even though they may say you are, you aren't).

HBC

 

[MiaSRN62]

Hi Joanne,
I'm not really familiar with Fairfield other than it is a point-based system. We, in addition to DVC, own at Vistana (which is now Sheraton Vistana right down the road from WDW). Part of this timeshare is a point-based system (Starwood) but I bought way back in 1994 as a resale and I simply own 7 nights a year there. I can use my points internally, either at the main Vistana by WDW or the Beach Club which is on Hutchinson Island, right on the beach, in southeast FL. To exchange, we can go through either RCI or II. I've only traded out once to Williamsburg, VA.
I will admit it's a little tough trying to use my 7 nights at Vistana and my points with DVC each year since 2000 (when we very happily added DVC). This year we only used our DVC points and rented out our week at Vistana and next year we're bringing family down to vacation with us. They have never been to FL, let alone WDW. We're giving them our 2 bedroom villa at Vistana and we plan on staying in a 2 bedroom at OKW. I own "prime floating" time at Vistana so I can choose just about any week during the year with a few blackout weeks. As another example how we utilize both our DVC and Vistana week was in 2002 we stayed our 7 nights at Vistana then moved over to a 2 bedroom at OKW for an additional 5 nights. (gotta love those longer trips !). Yet one last example......one year we used our DVC points to cruise DCL and then stayed at Vistana so we could do WDW. So the two ownerships are giving us more and more reasons to extend our vacations.
But like HBC said, with DVC you are staying inside WDW. So even though we like our Vistana timeshare (it's a lovely property), this is why the in-laws are staying there next year and we're at OKW
Oh....edited to add.....you can get alot of good information from the TUG boards about Fairfield & other timeshares : http://www.tug2.net/

 

[NCRedding]

We purchased a Farifield Discovery Package in 1999--basically, we bought one year's worth of points to use. We were sold that it was "exactly like owing Fairfield points". We were NEVER able to make a vacation ressie of less than 1 full week. We were later told that the discovery package isn't EXACTLY like owing because they limit availability to owners,

We stayed at Willimasburg and at Cypress point in Kissimee. The Williamsburg complex was nice, but the room we were in was a TINY 1 bedroom--again, we were later told that we were given that size because we were not owners. I was able to see the 2 bedroom and it was very nice. The complex has tennis courts, mini-golf, indoor/outdoor pool. we were travelling off-season--September so no kids activities.

We also stayed at Cypress Palms--here we got an upgrade to a 2 bedroom handicapped accessible room. The room was nice, but the resort had few amenities--still under construction. They had outdoor pools, but they weren't heated, and we went in January.

I would only buy a fairfiled via resale, and you can find some great deals. On TUG, there are lots of owners who really know the system and can maximize their points.

 

[JLS]

If you have any interest in Fairfield or other timeshare opportunities, TUG (www.tug2.net) is definitely the site you should be checking. If you are specifically interested in Fairfield, there is a Yahoo Fairfield owners group (you can join the group without being an owner) that has an amazing datebase of information.

A few things about Fairfield:
1. It can be an excellent way to vacation and a great supplement to your DVC membership if you use it correctly and BUY RESALE. With very few, possibly no, exceptions, buying from the developer is a huge waste of money. You can pick up an inexpensive Fairfield points package off Ebay or a number of other sources (including a Fairfield yahoo resales group run by Jeff Fudge) for about 20% of developer prices.

2. You can exchange into some of the same locales as you can through DVC/II (some resorts are dual affiliated with II and RCI). This process takes getting used to and it is too complicated to go into in detail here, but if you deposit Fairfield points with RCI, for small points deposits you can often exchange into great resorts and "upgrade" your room size, which is not available through DVC's exchange process. For a Fairfield points deposit of 42,000 points with RCI (equivalent of an off-season studio week) I recently confirmed a 1 bedroom exchange to the Sheraton Mountain Vista resort in Avon, Colorado, which is a property that would have cost me 160 DVC points to exchange into for a 1 bedroom. It doens't always happen, but if you deposit far ahead and you are lucky, you can get great exchanges "on the cheap" whereas a DVC exchange is quite expensive when you consider the price of the points and the maintenance fees involved.

3. Fairfield has a lot of resorts, some are VERY nice (Bonnet Creek and Star Island in Orlando, Grand Desert in Las Vegas, Daytona Beach, Royal Vista in Pompano Beach) and some are older previously unaffiliated "weeks" resorts that Fairfield purchased and made part of their points program. The age and quality of those resorts varies considerably. Don't buy a week at a Fairfield resort unless it has already been converted to points because the price to convert to points is outrageous.

Fairfield is a good system, but it takes time to learn. Do your research on TUG and the Yahoo Fairfield site. The presentations are a good way to learn about the product and points, but just say no to buying at a presentation! It is true that they utilize high pressure sales tactics. People often are angry with timeshare companies because they are "told" one thing by a sales guide and they accept it as fact rather than realizing that only what is in writing is guaranteed. While I cannot condone the blatant exaggeration and lying that goes on in sales presentations, it is incumbent upon the buyer to do some due diligence before making purchases. DVC is not as underhanded about these tactics, but there are DVC guides who will tell prospective buyers that, for example, DVC is the "best trader" and you can get any exchange you want at virtually any time. That is simply not the case.

Someone on this thread mentioned Fairfield's "intro" package - if you say no to a regular points purchase at the presentation, they will generally bring in a "closer" to try to sell you on an intro package. Don't buy it! For the same money you can own a small points package for life, bought resale.

-Jenn

 

[russct]

Spiceycat,

Glad to hear you compliment HGVC. I own 225 points of DVC and just purchased a resale of 3400 HGVC points in Vegas. Don't know much about Fairfield, but I'm sure any point system is great because of the flexibility. Thanks

 

[spiceycat]

HGVC has some of the best timeshares in Orlando - they are beautiful and well designed.

Have you stayed in the Orlando ones?

 

[russct]

Spiceycat

No not yet. Just purchased HGVC and will staying at Flamingo Hilton in July for wedding and probably will try Orlando Hilton in October (2 nights at Epcot Wine fest) and 2 nights at HGVC. Person I purchased from stated Seaworld Hilton were nice though

 

[bwvBound]

Does anyone own a timeshare other that DVC?

Yes, we own a few timeshare products: two different point systems, two "fixed week" properties, and one Undivided Interest (UDI).

If so, do you get to use them both or are you always tring to unload a week?

So far, things are working well. In most cases we hold only a small quantity of each product (150pts DVC, "every other year" on one of our fixed weeks, a "half share" on the UDI, etc.) and juggle things using banking, borrowing, and exchanging as needed.

Any information on this topic would be useful.

Each timeshare/vacation club offers different benefits. Consider carefully how you intend to use the other product and then do your research. What do you want this add-on to give you .....

• location(s) near your home?
• access to a favorite destination? (More specifically, access to a favorite destination during specific time periods? Ski week? Beach week?)
• "day use" (fitness center, pools, golf, tennis ...)?
• access to RCI/II or other exchange companies?
• "Bonus time"?
• weeks for using yourself ... or for trading?
• etc.

If you look forward to travels beyond the current DVC locations -- then Fairfield (or other timeshare/club) might be a great addition for you and your family. Proceed slowly ... and good luck!

 

[DISNEYVILLASCOUPLE]

We own quite a bit of timeshares and currently in the process of streamlining what we own. We own DVC, Fairfield points, Worldmark points, and several fixed weeks. We are planning on definately keeping the DVC (for definate FLEXIBLE DVC vacations - can book nightly), the Worldmark points (these trade through both RCI and II and we can use these to trade into DVC through II fairly inexpensively, especially with last minute within 60 day trades - got a week in a 2 bedroom at OKW last May that only cost us $400 in maintenance fees. It was booked 3 weeks before. I do think that as of Sept, Worldmark stopped using II, but if you used II before then you could still use it. If they ever stopped letting us trade through II, then we would probably sell this one) and then our Fairfield points which we use primarily for our Myrtle Beach summer vacations, but if we needed to stretch out our Orlando trips, we would have no problem using it there also. We like Fairfield for its flexibility, but as with all points based systems, they flexibility comes with learning the system. Otherwise, you'll be learning very expensive lessons.

One word of advice, unlike Disney, where there can be major advantages to purchasing direct from Disney, this usually does not happen with other points systems. You can save major money by purchasing on the resale market. Fairfield, for example, sells their points for approx. .11 cents per point and you can buy the same points for as low as .02 cents per point on the resale market. Fairfield does offer what they call VIP benefits to their higher amount purchases which you do not get on resale purchases, but it is up to the buyer to determine whethor these benefits are worth the extra costs. There are also ways to get more for your money if you end up buying from Fairfield, but you need to do some things before purchasing in order to take full advantage of these perks. SO researching before you buy is very important with fairfield as it is with any timeshare purchase.

The Timeshare users Group (TUG) website is a good one and so is the Fairfield Yahoo group if you want to learn more about fairfield.

I will say one thing, before we got into timesharing, we barely afforded vacations, paying $2000 for one weeks worth of beach accomadations and staying onsite DVC was never an option on our budget (thank god for generous inlaws who treated us to DVC - of course I blamed them for spoiling their son with the yearly DVC vacations since he was small )

Happy vacationing everyone!

Lee

 

[JudyS]

Lots of good information on this thread!

I second the advice to join www.tug2.net if you want to buy a non-DVC timeshare. I definitely agree that resale is the way to go for most timeshares other than DVC.

Fairfield is *very* complicated, but owners who take the time to learn the system generally feel it's a good deal. The Fairfield Yahoo Group is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fairfield_timeshare/

Take your time before buying any timeshare! Look around for a good deal before you buy.

I own two timeshares besides DVC. I just bought them this year, but I think I'll be able to make good use of them. (I've even used one to trade back into the DVC for next May!)

 

[Dean]

FF is a good and flexible system but totally different than DVC. Lisa P from this board is a former DVC and current FF owner, she should be able to give you lots of info.

 

[RAMWDWFAN]

I own at both DVC and FF. My hubby and I bought our first contract directly from FF but purchased additional points this year resale (ebay) for a fraction of the price.

I have no problems with FF. With my supply of points, I primarliy visit Vegas and stay at their Grand Desert property which is great.

 

[senecabeach]

I own 4 RCI timeshares + the BC @ WDW.
2 in Cape Cod and 2 in Cancun...all 1 bedrooms.

My DVC is solely used for WDW. II has been proven to me and friends as a hard to get, and of lesser value, than my RCI membership.

I have traded my RCI units into 2 and 3 bedroom units in Orlando and Eurpoe with excellent accomodations. Also...packed 4 weeks together for a mini snowbirding beach stay on the east and west coast of Fla. in the winter.

Thouroughly enjoy my RCI flexability...and only paying $350-400 yearly mtc. fees (which have NOT gone up in 4 yrs.) vs. my outrageous DVC prices...though I can afford it and would not give it up!!

Do your homework !!

 

[dvc_john]

Besides DVC, I own at Hilton (HGVC), Hyatt, and Marriott. I like them all for different reasons, and usually find that the best value and easiest use of each is within their own systems. I use DVC strictly within DVC, and Marriott within Marriott. My HGVC's are in Hawaii and Sanibel, so I usually use my home resorts for those, but I can get low cost cash ressies for other HGVC's at 60 days out. I also frequently use II getaways.

Russct: Note that for the 9 month booking window at HGVC, a 3 day minimum stay is required. For a 2 day stay, you can only book 60 days in advance.