Is it worth getting tickets for free from the timeshare people?

[FSUMARCHIEF]

Hi. We already have a reservation with one of these time share folks to take the tour and get the free ticket. Anybody else done this? Is it worth going to a couple of them to geth the tickets for free? If so, who should we call? Which ones are reputable? Thanks for any help!

God bless!
Mark

 

[FreeTime]

I don't think that it is worth it. You may find that you are on the timeshare tour all day and it is very high pressure to buy. We want on one at Daytona and we were shopping for a time share. It took 8 hours out of our vacation of high pressure just to get a free dinner. Once they heard that we had toured DVC they wanted to know why we were even looking at their resort!

 

[SnowyPrincesses:)]

Hi there! I haven't done the timeshare tickets because apparently they are really high pressure and when you are on Vacation I know I want as little pressure as possible. Now I have heard that the DVC tours are fun, only a couple of hours and you get I think 3 Q& C vouchers from them. I'm interested in doing this tour because apparently there's no hard sell and really I'd love to tour the resorts anyway.
Can anyone else confirm this? The last I heard the tours were of Saratoga Springs.

 

[kandeebunny]

We aren't allowed to to the tours because my mom is a real estate agent so they automatically deny us. I have also heard they are very high pressure though.

 

[FSUMARCHIEF]

Here's what I figure though - I know how to say No. We'r egoing to this one in Myrtle Beach without any desire - or affordability of purchasing a time share. I filled out one of those contest in the mall a few months ago of winning a trip to Disney or something like that - that's how they got our information. They called yesterday. All we have to do, supposedly, is take a 90-120 minute tour of the place up there. We get to stay 2 nights for $39 at a nice resort (not the one we're touring), plus we get another 2 night trip somewhere else - AND - a 4 night stay in orlando with 2 free park tickets (1 day, 1 park) just for going. We're going to Myrtle Beach for the express purpose of seeing the tour so we can get our free stuff. We don't have any other reasons for going, other than to just get away.

I know they are high pressure sales, but here's what I'm thinking. Eventually, after the 120 minutes, and I will keep tabs on my watch, they will get tired of me saying no. (I Hope!)


Thanks for the info folks!
Mark

 

[Deb & Bill]

We did the Hilton Grand Vacation Club tour and got two adult tickets to Seaworld. We are DVC members and we just wanted to see what HGVC had to offer. Friends of ours own at HGVC and they spoke highly of it. When we figured out that we weren't interested in buying, we told them so and we left with our Seaworld tickets.

 

[floridahippy]

You are so lucky being able to say no - I find it very hard to say no where holidays are concerned!!
Personally I wouldnt do the tours for the tickets but only because I know myself!!!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would do the arithmatic before you make a decision. Figure out the total costs of the trip without the time share incentives and then the cost with the incentives and the actual price difference. Then figure the number of hours from when you will leave home until you return. Subtract your expected sleeping time from that to get net hours. Divide the total cost by the net hours, to get an hourly cost for your vacation.

Then figure the time out from your vacation for the time share promo. This includes travel both ways from where you are staying or the park you will be at, at least a half hour before they are ready for you, and the maximum time they say the promo will take and add about another 3/4 hour for good measure. Multiply this figure by the hourly cost of your vacation and compare it to the difference in cost between what the vacation will cost with or without the presentation.

Note if they give you one-day, one-park tickets they may not be upgradeable. Anyway, compare the effective cost to you for the promo with the money you will save. I would bet unless it is something very unusual you are better off not doing th presentation.

A few years ago I did have one very worthwhile offer, Hilton offered me a three night stay at the Hilton at WDW Village for $99.00 total including taxes plus gave us each a one day Universal ticket. Since we had our APs and came down for a holiday weekend, we stayed at the airport late Thursday night, checked in early Friday morning and left late Monday. Our hourly cost would have been about $21 per hour but we saved almost $400 in the room and Universal tickets for about three hours time, so it was worth it.

 

[Vivianne]

I know some people actually can handle this with no problem so I'm not going to discourage you. If you're interested enough then you should try it at least once.

Personally, it was not worth it for me. We got tickets to Seaworld after listening to Embassy suites high pressure pitch. The family next to us were getting the third degree because they had shown signs of giving in. After we walked out, I felt we had wasted valuable time from our vacation. We won't be doing that again.

 

[FSUMARCHIEF]

The other part that seems advantageous to me is that we don't have the slightest interest in a time share. The only time share we're interested in is DVC - btu that's years down the road. I'm a United Methodist Minister, and you just don't make much on a preacher's salary. So it won't matter how much pressure they put on. The only reason we're going is cause they're offering this trip to Orlando!

God bless!
Mark

 

[toesmom]

The only reason i wouldn't do it now is because of my 2 young children, but actually bringing 2 young kids would get me out of there faster LOL. For sure, if I had time and my dh would do it too, then I would get the free hotels and tickets.

Just make sure they tell you how long the presentation is and when it is supposed to be done, tell them that you made dinner reservations or a hair appointment or something.

Definitely yes.

 

[juliegirl]

After our 90-120 min presentation, we had to wait 45 mins for everyone else to finish so the "complimentary" shuttle van back to the hotel was full.

I would not bring a small child, and I would not do it unless I had my own transportation. And, having done it once, I would not do it again.

I think we got $50 Disney Dollars for sitting through Vistana.

 

[mum4jenn]

We have done the time share thing a few times. It is pretty easy to say no!! One we went on though was very high pressure and every time we said no they would send another person to try to pressure us. I do not remember the company. Last year we went on one and stayed in a condo in Kissimmee for a week at Easter and it only cost us something like 150$ for the whole week. These guys were not very high pressure but they did let us know at the beginning that if they went beyond the alloted time we could pull out if we were not interested. My husband actually wrote the time down that it started. It was supposed to last 90 minutes and it basically did. We had a few questions for him at the end and we really were interested and it was actually affordable. We did go over on time by about 15 minutes but that was our fault. The best way to play this is to really bw wowed by all this and seem pretty interested and then who ever is in charge of getting the bills paid can put the brakes on. In our case it was me!! I told the guy that I was very impressed but that we have had some unexpected medical bills that we were commited to first.

If you are getting some really good stuff(and it sounds like it) then it is worrth it. Take the earliest time (usually 7 am) and you will be done in a couple of hours.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE GOOD STUFF IN WRITING AND CHECK OUT THE RULES TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THEM!!!

 

[MrsPete]

I wouldn't do a time share presentation just for tickets -- I'd expect much more!

 

[Tiffa]

Hi we just went to Mrytle Beach in Feb. for the marathon there, so my husband thought the same thing lets go do a timeshare thing they said sure we'll give ya 2 nights in Disney we said no we already have a vacation planned there this year so of course they said ok how about a $100 gift cert to BASS PRO - yup they had my DH hook line and stinker! we went to Blue Green vacations they are VERY high pressure and completly expected a check by the end of their speil, they took alot of info from us but we were not allowed to take any piece of paper out of that place, after 90 minutes we just said no way they didnt even make us take the tour this was 90 minutes into it - we did get our gift certificate but I would NEVER do it again

 

[seashoreCM]

The Disney tickets you get from a time share presentation could be worth as little as three dollars apiece depending on what other additional new tickets you could have or would have or needed to have bought to finish your vacation with.

Examples:

You were planning six days in the theme parks. A new 6 day pass costs $209. Suppose you get a two day pass as a time share gift. If you then bought a 4 day pass you would spend $197. or twelve dollars less.

But if you were planning just two days in the theme parks, a two day pass purchased new costs $128. and sitting through that time share presentation could well be worthwhile.

Also note that some time share gift tickets may expire, perhaps a month after you get it, perhaps a year after you get it even if you don't use it at all. This is unpredictable, it depends on what timeshare outfit gave them out and when the tickets were manufactured. Expiration would severely limit your ability to save them for their optimium usage, during a short trip when you don't need to buy additional tickets.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/dispass.htm

 

[pumba2005]

Can someone list all the timeshares and whatthey are offering you to do thier presentations?

No means no so no matter what, they can't get blood from stone to get you to sign up!

Thanks

 

[shame711]

I have done these tours in the past and here is what you want to look for. You should get at least two theme park ticket, $100 cash, or the equivalent. In Florida the law is quite clear that if they tell you 90 minutes that the “presentation” can only be 90 minutes. However, as stated earlier you may find yourself waiting for a shuttle or something.

Is it worth it? That’s a personal question only you can answer. When we were younger and money was a little more tight we thought it was, but now we are not sure.

What ever you do, DO NOT BUY, from them. Trust me I own a Timeshare at Vistana and it was the best thing our family ever did, but never buy from the developer. No matter what they say or offer you just tell them no. If you think that a timeshare may be for you, go home and do some research. You can buy a timeshare on the resale market for a fraction of what you pay the developers. A good place to start is www.tug2.net.

 

[HayGan]

Can someone list all the timeshares and whatthey are offering you to do thier presentations?

No means no so no matter what, they can't get blood from stone to get you to sign up!

Thanks

Well I can't help you with all the timeshares but we are staying at the Hilton DTD for $33 a night in December for doing a 2 hour tour. We are doing the tour at 10:30 the morning after our first night at MVMCP. This is one of our relaxing days so we can wake up a little bit late, do the tour, go to lunch and swim in the afternoon. We will be taking our 2 little ones with us so by 12:30 they should be plenty hungry and bored that no one in their right mind would keep us past the 2 hours.

I should mention that we have absolutely NO interest in buying a timeshare.
A friend of mine at work bought into Hilton for $23K She likes it but knows that she really overpaid and has offered me her shares for half what she paid if I really like it.

 

[jenr812]

We did 2 timeshare presentations while in Myrtle BEach last year and it was worth it to us. Just gotta say NO!!!