Timeshare Rentals – How To Save On Travel By Renting Others Timeshares

Sharing is caring!

Timeshare Rentals – How To Save On Travel With These!

Timeshare rentals are one of my favorite ways to travel. I love it as we generally get a much larger space for our family to spread out in at similar rates to what we would pay for hotel rooms. Many of the units we have stayed in over the years have had small kitchens too, so it has helped us save on our food costs, but we still get all the amenities of staying in a resort atmosphere. There is a great deal of variance in timeshare rentals available, so experiences will vary, but it is definitely one of my preferred ways to travel.

(this is the view of one of the pools at the Marriott Ko’Olina from our balcony)

We shared a review on how we saved at the beautiful Marriott Ko’Olina in Hawaii here, and in it we talked about how we saved a ton on our vacation by renting someone else’s timeshare. Since we shared that review, we are often asked how we did that. So in this article I want to walk you through exactly how we saved so much by renting someone else’s timeshare there, vs renting it as a hotel room.

We paid under $1000 for a full week at the Marriott Ko’Olina resort, when rooms where selling online for around $400 a night. I recently found deals for beautiful resorts in Maui for $1100 for the full week, when rooms there are selling for around $500 a night for the same week available. Locally I was looking into Lake Chelan, and found a super deal for a week there for $700.

These super deals are not the norm – they are usually things like Last Minute Deals and they go fast and can be hard to find (we have found just a handful of deals this low in the past few years), however, if you are willing to be flexible there are some great deals to be had – even if they are not quite this good. Even if you do not want to be flexible, you can still get a nice bang for your buck by renting timeshares from an owner.

What Is a Timeshare Rental?

A timeshare is a unit that is a fractional ownership (meaning x number of people buy that same unit, and then split the weeks between them). They are run by management companies often, and there are maintenance fees involved annually for owners. An owner gets a certain number of weeks they can use it per year, and they can rent out weeks they are not using personally – either directly or through the management company or brokers.

Timeshare units are often part of popular resort locations. For example you will find many Florida timeshare rentals. Many also rent out as hotels or rental units too, but you can save more when you rent it out as a timeshare owners guest, vs. a hotel guest often. In our experience we have gotten much better rooms, and extra perks traveling this way vs. straight forward rentals. We love travelling as timeshare owners guests in their units!

Timeshare rentals are essentially when an owner at at timeshare resort rents out the weeks they have available to use to someone else, verses using them themselves. There have also been times when we have been gifted the use of a families timeshare unit as well, and that usually involves a transfer fee, and taxes be paid by us. Renting a timeshare can cover some of the owners costs for that spot, plus sometimes put a little cash back in the owners pocket, when they are not able to use it themselves.

(we stayed in a timeshare unit in Cabo, at the Pueblo Bonito Rose, and share a full review of our stay there here). 

There are some general ways you can rent a timeshare, and they include:

Renting from someone you know –

Generally this means they will gift you a week of time allotted to them that they are not using. In this case you will either get time at the location they bought into, or they may be able to trade that for a location of your choice (depending on the details of their timeshare program). Usually if you are trading for another location, other than where they own, you will be required to pay a transfer fee (in our experience this is usually around $350 but there is some variance here). There are often other fees involved that might include taxes and daily resort fees too for example (if you are trading, and based on the location, or sometimes cleaning fees). The owner should be able to tell you what these fees will amount to. Regardless of the fees, you should be getting a super deal for the type of room you will get in exchange, even if they charge you a small fee themselves to use their unit.

Renting from someone you do not know –  

When you rent a timeshare unit from someone you do not know personally you will generally use a timeshare rental site to find these offerings and book them (these sites usually also sell timeshare units, so it is slightly different from general travel sites like Expedia). Even then you often have two choices in how you rent them: either by using a broker to manage the process for you or renting directly.

• Using a Broker –

This options generally means someone will be negotiating the terms for you, and doing the go between communications between the owner and you. There is generally a little less risk in doing it this way, but you will pay a fee for this service.

• Negotiation Directly with the Owner – 

This route will save you the brokers fees, but you must manage all the communications and take all the risk. There is also sometimes a language barrier if you are dealing with an owner overseas. and you are not privy to all the info the broker has (like how many times have they traded through their company, and what is there record in terms of satisfied renters etc.).

Renting off of travel sites like Bookings.com or VRBO, etc.

You can rent timeshares directly off of most travel sites now days.  Although this option provides you access to these rooms, I have found it is not the most affordable way to do it. They will often include cleaning fees and other fees (like service fees and taxes) that can drive the cost up significantly, so you will potentially get a better deal by going directly through a timeshare rental program. It is worth comparing though, as there is sometimes more flexibility available when you book through a travel site.

Booking a deal through the Timeshare management company, in exchange for sitting through a timeshare presentation

In order to sell more timeshare ownerships, management companies will sometimes offer you a promotional rate, or free room offers in exchange for sitting through a timeshare presentation. These can be hard sells, and we talk about this option in more depth below.

(this was the Disneys Saratoga Springs Deluxe Resort, which we also stayed in a timeshare unit at)

How do timeshare rentals work (renting timeshare points) –

Sell My Timeshare Now is a good example of a company who does this well. They offer various timeshare rentals around the world, including Disney timeshare rentals through private owners who cannot use their points during a given year.

The real value here is that you will stay at beautiful resorts, with great amenities at a fraction of the cost. This is not the cheapest way to travel (ie you might be able to find a hotel room in the area for less), but it is one of the most affordable ways to stay at these kinds of beautiful resorts that I have found.

(we often stay in units that have separate bedroom suites, kitchens and laundry – making it so nice for families!)

There are some great benefits to this option: 

• Save over the rates that resorts will offer for their units!
• Find dates that may not be available through resorts, or other online travel sites.
• Stay in bigger rooms – timeshares are resort condos, so they will offer more space than the regular hotel rooms (which my family loves)! In our experience we have always had separate sleeping quarters, at least a kitchenette and often times a washer and dryer. All while having access to all the resort amenities that anyone staying there gets.

Some things to consider to make sure it is right for you:

• The booking process may take a bit longer, as the owner will be managing that. In our case, it took us two weeks to finalize (vs going online and booking a hotel stay instantaneously).
• Usually they are sold on a weekly basis (ie from Friday to Friday). You do not have to stay that long, and sometimes you will find shorter stays, but this is not something where you go rent a night or two generally. It works best for longer stays.
• These are timeshare units you are renting, so they may not offer weekly cleaning service like hotel rooms do. They generally have a mid week cleaning and linen exchange for a stay over 3 days. They also have specific check in and check out dates (vs booking a hotel room for dates you want to travel). For example they often run from a Monday check-in to a Monday check-out, vs looking for a hotel room for 4 specific days.
• These are most often Non-Refundable purchases – so make sure you are ready to commit to it. It is a good idea to consider travel insurance with these, if you do not want the risk, so look into those options too.

This can work a little differently from booking a room through a travel site like Expedia for example. It is renting points, vs. a direct rental. So rather then just booking online, and getting an immediate confirmation, it works like this:

• You will find the Resort you want to stay at on SellMyTimeshareNow.com.
• You connect with the owner and negotiate the price for your stay, through a form they provide.
• The owner then has to book the week you want to travel with their points, and then once that is done you will get confirmation for your stay.
• The do offer some “Book Now” options, that work more similarly to travel sites (you book the room on the spot with your payment method).

Generally thought, since the owners have to book with their timeshare points, it is not a confirmed deal until they are able to lock in the date you requested, so it is a little more of a process than just finding the spot you want online, and booking that instantly – but the savings can be big! Not only can it help you save as much as 60% off stays, you may be able to lock in dates that are not available on the more standard travel sites.

It works kind of like HomeAway and VRBO, in that you will be renting directly with owner, but can use the site to connect with the owners.

There are even some options where you can book instantly online. These are bookings backed by a reservation guarantee for certain timeshare rentals. When searching their inventory, look for the Reservation Guarantee banner(like the one shown above). Be sure to check out all of the cool Disney Vacation Club resorts here to find the one that’s perfect for you and your family! If you want to learn more about this option, we recommend calling one of the Disney Vacation Club Timeshare Specialists at SellMyTimeshareNow.com. They can help you with any questions you might have, or to help you book with one of their owners.

(3 bedroom condo in Sunriver Oregon, providing lots of space to bring friend’s and we can all spread out)!

Tips To Get The Best Savings –

Although renting timeshare points can be a great way to save in general, there are a few tips you can use to save even more, using this method.

Be flexible with your dates – look for last minute rental deals

This is the best tip for savings. The reason is that you can look for the best deal that someone is offering, vs just what is being offered for a specific week you want to travel. This is how we were personally able to save so much. We found an owner who was traveling to Hawaii for a specific week one year. He owned a three bedroom unit. It came as a two bedroom suite attached to a separate studio unit. He did not need the extra studio unit, so he rented it to us to cover his maintenance fees (which cost us a small fraction of what it would have to have booked it as a hotel room for a week). So it was a win win for both of us.

In addition to Last Minute Deals on timeshare rental sites, you can try Sky Auction, for more great last minute deals too.

Be flexible with your resort – follow the deals

If you know where you want to travel (ie Hawaii) but are open to where you will stay there, you can get much better rates. Using the example of our Hawaii trip, we initially where looking for units available at the Disney Aluani resort. When we were open to other resorts, we found one two lagoons down for much less then we could find available at Aluani (and ended up just loving our choice).

Forego the broker – 

Ok, this one is riskier. You will save money by not paying brokers fees and negotiating it directly. However on our first time, we felt much more comfortable going through a broker, and felt like those fees where well spent (as we still saved a ton, using them). Once we met the owner we rented from, then I was comfortable doing future transactions directly with him, but would still probably choose to use a  broker for new relationships – just to be on the safe side. We did pay a $400 brokers fee + $100 in travel insurance. We could have saved these costs, and I would have saved $500 off my vacation, but then I would have carried all the risk (so also could have lost money rather than saved). In the end we still got a super savings over what we would have paid for the hotel, even with those extra fees. This is one you will have to decide for yourself – is the savings opp worth the added risk?

Get a FREE Mini Vacation in Exchange for Sitting Through a Timeshare Presentation

Ok, this one is not for the faint of heart. If you have nerves of steel though, and do not mind high pressure sales situations (and giving up some of your vacation time), you can find spots that will give you a night or a few nights free in their location. In return you will have to sit through their timeshare presentation. I have done this before, and in my experience it is a high pressure hard sales situation that I did not personally enjoy. That, and although they usually say something like its just two hours of your time, in my experience it takes much longer. The presentation might only be an hour, but by the time you come in, eat a meal with sales guys talking to you, and then try to get out, it can be hours.

There are also some things you will need to qualify for to be eligible for these offers. They will vary by location, but generally you will need to be a certain age, most often married and make a certain income. If you are interested in going this route though, here are some spots I have seen these kinds of offers recently:

What Company Did We Use?

We went through , SellMyTimeshareNow.com, but there are other reputable companies doing this too.

Other examples include: 

• Endless Vacation Rentals
• If  you are military or a veteran check out both Forces Vacation Club and Heroes Vacation Club. You can find even better deals on these sites if you qualify!
• Search the location you want to travel to, and look up that resort directly. For example, we love to stay in certain units locally at Sun River in Oregon. So we have subscribed to their email list, and get notices of their available rentals by email.

Why I Love Using Timeshares Vs Hotel Rooms –

I am at the stage that I am traveling with teens now, and so everyone having their own space at the end of the day is an important part of enjoying vacation. Besides that I like to pack light and be able to do laundry from my room, as well as cook in the room to save money on eating every meal out. These are just a few highlights of why I love timeshare rentals.

I love to travel this way, as we get so much more space (in addition to the money saving opportunities). I also feel like we are treated so well as “owners guests” in the various locations we have visited. They are almost always very family friendly with lots of amenities, and we save even more money over hotels by having access to kitchens to some of our own food prep. They are ideal for extended vacations, and when traveling with a family. My favorite vacations have been staying as a timeshare owners guest. I think it is the next best thing to being able to own your own timeshare.

Review of Our Personal Experience Doing This –

We have traveled quite a bit through others timeshares. Many times it is a family or friend we were able to pay, to transfer a week of use over to us. For a trip to Hawaii, we used SellMyTimeShareNow to book a week at a beautiful Marriott resort at a fraction of what it would have cost us to book it on a travel site. I share our review of that hotel here, so you can see how nice it was.

I will note up front, that it seems we got an exceptionally good deal. We did end up using a broker the first time to be safe, and he said it was one of the lowest prices he had seen – so not all deals will be as good as the one we grabbed, but they should all be good deals.

My family and I had so much fun at the resort that we got, and we paid what it would have cost us to book two nights of the hotel on a site like Expedia – but we stayed a full week. It ranks at the top of my list for one of the better deals I have gotten.

It ends up if you want them to set up the contracts and help you negotiate (for your own safety) that you have to pay a brokerage fee (it was $395 for us) and they recommend travel insurance (around another $100). I went ahead and asked them to see if they can negotiate this deal for us, as $1100 or $1200 is still a SUPER deal on that property for a full week. So, we will see if they are able to get that put together for us and how the process works. I did send Kathryn (our contact) back and email and told her I thought we really needed to break down that brokerage option much more clearly in the post. I think it still makes for a super savings opportunity, but if your expecting a $700 deal and then find that its really $1100 or $1200 to keep you protected legally, that is a different process.

Kitchen in our Timeshare rental in Florida

My families favorite vacations have been in timeshare rentals. I just find them more relaxing for family travel, and in the end easier on my budget as I can cook in the unit. If you want daily housekeeping and do not want to have to cook at all on vacation, these perks might not be as important to you, but if you do they are wonderful!

More Articles You Might Like –

Staying in Cabins vs Hotel Rooms