How come?

[Dean]

DoctorP,

Right on the money with this. Once again I'm shocked that everyone doesn't know these basic things. All timeshares reserve a certain percentage of rooms to be booked on cash. This ensures some cash flow over time and introduces potential future owners to the resort.


DAVE

Actually I would disagree with that premise. MOST timeshares sell every week they can and reserve one week for maintenance per year. The most money is made from sales and once the sales are done, the developer generally moves on unless they also have a management arm. Even so, management and development are separate entities with most timeshares. They do tend to rent out undeclared inventory and inventory that has been repossessed to try to cut losses,not really to make money. There really isn't a lot of income in the rentals, especially if you're the one at risk if it doesn't rent.

DVC retained an amount of points rumored to be between 2-4%. I don't think they've every stated formally the number. I also don't think they've ever stated the reason. My guess is that DVD doesn't consistently rent out their retained percentage and that rentals come from undeclared inventory, ROFR inventory, points given up by members for cash exchanges like DCL and Breakage inventory and not from the minor unsold margin. I assume they use this for maintenance and when units are out of service. 2% would be c/w a week a year.

Well, there might be reasons why your friend was able to get a room, but it doesn't make it less frustrating for you. Were you able to get the room you wanted in the end, I hope?

Actually if one realizes how the system works, there's absolutely no reason to be frustrated at all. It's really no different than say WL having units for cash and VWL not having points units.

 

[fishermouse]

Thanks Dr., and you'll be surprised to hear that your posts have swayed me a little about SSR. I do see the logic that SSR will become a more popular choice as kids age and vacation habits change. I have a 4 year old now so maybe that is why we didn't care for it. We will certainly stay there in the future I'm sure.


DAVE

Think you hit the nail on the head , DW and I love the fact that we can walk over to DTD, PI, and WS. Children are grown so there are no "kids in tow". No one getting fussy if the bus is more than five minutes, mostly use the pools and hot tubs at night. Plus we can take long walks around the property without running into large crowds. If we want to go somewhere else the car is right there by our room, when we drive down or rent a car.