ask-redweek-travel-chaos-2022-avoid

The fact is, when you have ownership in a timeshare it is based on the calendar year and your week is your week. If you can’t get there, we’ll; that was that for the entire year and you are done. They don’t give you another week because someone else owns that week and you’ve spent your money and your dues for the upkeep of your unit and you don’t get to enjoy it. Especially international timeshares. That is not the fault of the resort it is the fault of the airlines. What you did not address in your tips and tricks are the people who are locked into a certain week every year based on the timeshare calendar. They simply get screwed. This article was no help .

My timeshare is from Saturday to Saturday, so instead of leaving on Saturday I plan to leave on the Wednesday before, and instead of going home on Saturday, I plan to leave on Monday. Off days to travel can and will get me home. Last year I was in Puerto Vallarta and after spending 4 hours at the airport, American Airlines told me that the plane was cancelled. The airline put me up in a hotel for 2 days as I awaited a plane to go home. Finally they re-routed me to Mexico City which turned out to be a real nightmare, but I did go home.

Except for travel outside the US, we always fly in the day before and spend a night at or near the airport. We usually book a return flight for later in the afternoon as too often mid day flights are cancelled. So far we have been lucky and no issues. Since we usually go to a different timeshare then ours, the major problem is if we miss getting there, we lose our week traded and seems the exchange companies could care less. However on a short trip to visit family, our scheduled flight was cancelled and the did rebook on the later flight which meant we arrived later then planned and screwup our plans for that evening.

The real issue is First there was COVID and now thanks to the Government Stupidity, the recovery has been a disaster. This has hurt many smaller places and even the larger places are having problems trying to recover and often service suffers.

From 2019 through 2022 my husband and I owned 2 flex week timeshares in Cabo, using them once in the spring, once in October. A few years we combined them into 2 long weeks, although we both preferred to stay the first week in boutique or independently owned hotels, or try a different resort. It all worked out well for us. Was it luck? or good planning? I don't know. The one troubled year and stay was when my daughter's dog mauled both my legs the afternoon before our departure. We used to drop off our dogs at her house, and suddenly, one afternoon, after we'd spent a couple of pleasant hours visiting when we took our dogs, her dog attacked me from the rear, knocking me down. It was nearly impossible to tear him from me, until my daughter beat him with a metal chair. After a few hours in the ER with my husband insisting we cancel the trip and me refusing to, I called the airline, explained my predicament and was guaranteed they'd accommodate my need for a different seat and a wheel chair. I did the same with the resort. To complicate matters, American Airlines sent my luggage, from the LAX direct flight, to Narita airport and I didn't get it back until 2 weeks after returning home. Positive: I always carried a large purse with meds, personal items, cosmetics and a change of underwear - a habit formed after 40 years as a road warrior. There was enough room to change my seat to a front seat so I didn't have to bend that leg (always travelled first class), and the resort had a wheel chair at my disposal. I had called the car rental and they gave us a van so I could sit in the middle seat instead of front. Most of the first week was spent in the suite and there was no pool time, but we still enjoyed our vacation and got to eat at every restaurant at that resort to avoid the in/out of the van - besides I couldn't walk anyway. At the resort giftshop I bought 2 long pool style dresses to help cover my bandaged legs, and my husband bought extra medical supplies at the local Walmart. I was able to sit by the pool but had to keep legs in the shade. The resort MD checked on me twice. Not a bad vacation in spite of the problem. Sadly I sold the timeshares as my husband can't travel now

Unfortunately, this article does not help 99.99 % of Time Share owners. You have not addressed any of the real issues affecting Time Share owners.