Vacation & Timeshares

This past couple weeks has been a blast. It's summer time and like many families we went on vacation. First we drove over to Springfield, Mo., for James River A/G church's annual fireworks show. For those who don't know, this church puts on a day of events and fireworks that rival a small cities. This event, that draws upwards of 120,000 people, will always have a special place in my heart. My youngest walked down to the front last year with a multitude of others to ask Jesus to live in his heart. It was to use the venacular, way cool.
We left Springfield and headed south to the most patriotic town in America. Branson, Mo., is great for shows and food, but they also have about 30 different timeshare resorts. We stayed at the Wyndam Meadows (3 1/2 stars) and had a great time. The boys went swimming, we had a kitchen to cook in so food was not expensive. All in all a great time. Of course they wanted to sell us a timeshare for 20 to 60k, and this is what I wanted to blog about. While we were in Branson, we took in two timeshare and two travel club presentations. While we enjoyed the 150 dollars and free meal and show, we decided that 20, 10, 3, and 1 thousand dollars were not low enough entry fees join their programs. And yes some of those prices were from the same places as we kept saying no.
One of the things we learned is that the maintenence fees on a timeshare are unavoidable. They will come after you for them if you don't pay. (They won't take back the timeshare.) Also, because they are deedable, you get to sadle your kids with the same incrementally increasing fees. Now, if you and your decendents want to stay in condos and vacation yearly, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The ability to stay in a 3-5 star resort for the same cost of a super 8 for a week and spread the payments out over a year is a decent deal. If you do want to have a timeshare, just remember that there are many people who don't want theirs anymore. Ebay is a great modern tool for the consumer. 400 - 800 dollars will get you that same timeshare the salesman wants you to buy for 20 to 60k. If you do want to travel, but not necessarily to condos and you plan on vacationing each year a travel club may be for you. 1000k up front (keep saying no until the price goes from 10k to 1k), and 170/year fee and you can book 10,000 vacations for 2,000. I don't book 10,000 vacations, ok let's be honest, I don't book 500 dollar vacations. I would like to someday........... someday..........someday. So, anyway, We had a ball and I learned a little about vacations. Have a great summer! Only 22 more days of freedom and then back to work. If any school kids are reading this, school starts in 29 days. That's less than a month away! Later.