Trip Report May 17-31, Fiesta Am/Coz Palace, Scuba w/Alison/AquaSafari

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You need a lawyer to review the scheme documents. It’s probably $1000 Usd per month for life. The slimiest tactic was after checkout we were in a rush to get to the airport and as we head to the van cab (note that from the airport that would cost $50 for two in a van, to the airport it’s $11), we are told by saleswoman if we give palace $250 we will get some incredible future credit. No thanks.
If I considered anything a scheme and especially if I was being pressured, I wouldn't be looking to join. There are too many other places in Coz to stay. If it works like a timeshare, I would learn everything you can about how it works, how to maximize the benefits, and not just rely on what they tell you.
 
Buy you week on eBay or directly from a time share owner. Much better deal
 
does the Palace allow buying and selling weeks of room stays?
Buy you week on eBay or directly from a time share owner. Much better deal
 
re. Palace; We have found that beyond the initial investment, the difference between member vs not is around -10%, no "1,500 points" (we've never used enough to care too much), and no airport transportation. We've stayed using weeks, and not.
 
does the Palace allow buying and selling weeks of room stays?

Buy you week on eBay or directly from a time share owner. Much better deal

Guess Cozumel Palace does a Vacation Club which has similarities to a Timeshare. I recommended researching before buying earlier if one is really interested in buying into a VC or TS and LEARN how to use it.

We have a timeshare - which some people would say is a scheme. Purchased from a family member in 2000 for almost half of what they bought it for in 1985 when it was new - we "own" a 2 bedroom unit for a week in June at a resort about 2 miles outside Disney World. We maybe have stayed during our week twice. Usually exchanged it for a different week. Today we continue to deposit our week into a bank so we can exchange it for a week elsewhere. Because a point value is assigned to our week each year, instead of exchanging a week for a week, we can use use points and pay an exchange fee to book a week. Our home resort usually has a good point value, so we have points left over to use for a 2nd and sometimes a 3rd week with the exchange fee tacked on.

If we used our week each year during our time in June, we would only pay our yearly maintenance fee, ~$900, and show up that week - expensive to me, but cheaper than the website rate of $1606 for a week.

Without going into detail, with the weeks/points we had, we booked 2 weeks in Grand Cayman and 1 week in FL for 2020, all 2 bedroom units. The cost per week (with maintenance fees, exchange fees, and resort fees) averaged out to be $1010 per week - again not great, but website price would have averaged $1900/week. For comparison, we paid about $2250 a couple of years ago for 1 week, 2 bedroom unit at Compass Point - we split the cost with another couple. Of course we cancelled all of 2020 and had points and exchange fees refunded within our timeshare.

With what we had refunded from 2020 and 2021 maintenance fees added in, it has now worked out that we were able to book 1 week in Sedona, 2 weeks in Coz, and 2 weeks in the Bahamas in early 2022 - again all 2 bedroom units. The average we will pay, including fees, for those 5 weeks works out to be $864/ week compared to the $2200/week the resort websites show.

Traveling with friends and sharing some of the fees (not maintenance) helps lower the cost. A drawback to the timeshare for us has been getting 2 bedroom units in some locations, but we obviously find them. If my wife and I traveled by ourselves and got 1 bedroom units or hotels, we could really spend several more weeks somewhere. We can also buy extra weeks and last minute vacations which are often a really good deal. Traveling with friends who are in a vacation club gives us even more traveling options. I'll add that with our timeshare company, there are at least 11 resorts/hotels we could book in Cozumel.

I think we do a good job of maximizing the value of our timeshare, but know others can get some pretty good deals also. Sorry to somewhat hijack the thread.
 
My sister-in-law got stuck with a time share in FL in the divorce. Anyone looking for one...?

I'm going to pass on the divorce. Thanks anyway.
 
Guess Cozumel Palace does a Vacation Club which has similarities to a Timeshare. I recommended researching before buying earlier if one is really interested in buying into a VC or TS and LEARN how to use it.

We have a timeshare - which some people would say is a scheme. Purchased from a family member in 2000 for almost half of what they bought it for in 1985 when it was new - we "own" a 2 bedroom unit for a week in June at a resort about 2 miles outside Disney World. We maybe have stayed during our week twice. Usually exchanged it for a different week. Today we continue to deposit our week into a bank so we can exchange it for a week elsewhere. Because a point value is assigned to our week each year, instead of exchanging a week for a week, we can use use points and pay an exchange fee to book a week. Our home resort usually has a good point value, so we have points left over to use for a 2nd and sometimes a 3rd week with the exchange fee tacked on.

If we used our week each year during our time in June, we would only pay our yearly maintenance fee, ~$900, and show up that week - expensive to me, but cheaper than the website rate of $1606 for a week.

Without going into detail, with the weeks/points we had, we booked 2 weeks in Grand Cayman and 1 week in FL for 2020, all 2 bedroom units. The cost per week (with maintenance fees, exchange fees, and resort fees) averaged out to be $1010 per week - again not great, but website price would have averaged $1900/week. For comparison, we paid about $2250 a couple of years ago for 1 week, 2 bedroom unit at Compass Point - we split the cost with another couple. Of course we cancelled all of 2020 and had points and exchange fees refunded within our timeshare.

With what we had refunded from 2020 and 2021 maintenance fees added in, it has now worked out that we were able to book 1 week in Sedona, 2 weeks in Coz, and 2 weeks in the Bahamas in early 2022 - again all 2 bedroom units. The average we will pay, including fees, for those 5 weeks works out to be $864/ week compared to the $2200/week the resort websites show.

Traveling with friends and sharing some of the fees (not maintenance) helps lower the cost. A drawback to the timeshare for us has been getting 2 bedroom units in some locations, but we obviously find them. If my wife and I traveled by ourselves and got 1 bedroom units or hotels, we could really spend several more weeks somewhere. We can also buy extra weeks and last minute vacations which are often a really good deal. Traveling with friends who are in a vacation club gives us even more traveling options. I'll add that with our timeshare company, there are at least 11 resorts/hotels we could book in Cozumel.

I think we do a good job of maximizing the value of our timeshare, but know others can get some pretty good deals also. Sorry to somewhat hijack the thread.
What did you pay for timeshare initially and what are yearly fees?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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