Why You Should Never Buy a Timeshare: RCI, Trendwest, and the others

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Brad Christensen

Go ahead, buy a $1800 vaccum.  Succomb to the “we’ll give you a discount if you put our home security sign up on your lawn” pitch.  Overpay for more meat than you can fit in your freezer. But please, please, never-ever buy a timeshare.  RCI, Trendwest, they’re not looking out for your travel budget, they’re looking out for theirs.

They are cunning… they are manipulative… they  are shameless. They’re the best in the business when it comes to high-pressure sales.  They draw you in with irresistible loss-leaders and tap into the mega-vulnerability of your wanderlust.  They’ll convince you that unless you pony up the $25k or finance it at ridiculous rates, you’ll spend your life cooped up in an adventureless existence. But please, please, never-ever buy a timeshare.

They have one thing right – your money is better spent on experiences than on “things.”  I could point you to a dozen studies that say money doesn’t buy happiness, but it can buy you experiences, and what is happiness if it’s not the sum total of your experiences?  But a timeshare is neither an experience, nor is it a thing.  It’s neither an asset, nor a depreciable liabilty.

When you “buy” a timeshare, you’re “buying” a committment to pay an annual maintenance fee which is likely 50% or more of the cost of a week in a vacation rental home.  You’re “buying” the obligation to stay in a specific place at a specific time with limited flexibility.  You’re “buying” something that is unmarketable – something that isolates your travel options to only a few destinations – and something that prohibits you from spending money in ways that compound your travel opportunities.

These are not things I would take if given to me – much less things that I would actually pay for – and certainly don’t merit borrowing to buy.  Consider that investing your $25k inital purchase price at an 8% yield would spin off $2000 a year! That’s more than enough to stay a week in some incredible places.  If you’re still not convinced, consider that timeshare salespeople are paid commissions as high as 20%.

But by all means – let not this extinguish your desire to see the world.  There are plenty of other, more cost effective means of arranging lodging in interesting places. To illustrate, consider these options of places you could stay in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Home Exchange

You have a home, someone else has a home.  They want to go where you are, you want to go where they are. This idea is far from far-fetched.  There are dozens of these, but start with www.exchangezones.com – which is free and has a ton of great listings.  (Incidentally, if you like cold, blustery winters, I’d be happy to exchange my Idaho Falls house with you for the month of January – no matter where you are).

Vacation Rentals

Second homes sit empty for months and months a year.  Smart owners monetize them by renting them out.  Smart vacationers take advantage of screaming deals – especially at the last minute.  There are many places online to search the options, but here are some favorites:

Hotel Loyalty Programs

Oh yes… the free option.  We happen to be quite fond of this one at WorldWanderlusting.  It’s hard to believe it’s even possible, but you could sign up for a single credit card and stay 6-9 nights in some posh hotels and resorts around the world. Check out our previous posts to get a sense for what we’re talking about.

Other ideas

Whatever you do, don’t forget to like us on Facebook so you keep getting these kinds of amazing travel tips.

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Posted in Hotels, Starwood Preferred Guest | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

How to Meet Credit Card Spending Requirements

Posted on August 22, 2012 by wpengine

When I applied for my first credit card to acquire points and miles I was worried about meeting a $1500 spending limit and I had six months to do it.  Soon I learned that almost anything can be put on a credit card.  Meeting the spending limit has become increasingly easier as I’ve learned how to make it happen.  I’ve compiled a list of easy ways to help you meet the spending requirement.

Still worried about the spending requirement?   Here are a few ides of things that you can purchase to help you meet the spending requirement within the allotted timeframe without spending money you wouldn’t otherwise spend.

Meeting Credit Card Spending Requirements

  1. Pay Utility Bills ie: electricity, gas, sewer, water, garbage, etc. Most times this can be done without an additional fee and even in advance if necessary.  Sometimes I’ve prepaid my city bill for four or five months in advance when needed.
  2. Car Insurance: Most car insurance companies accept credit card payments.  Pay your bill annually rather than monthly.
  3. Health Insurance:  Many health insurers aren’t up to this yet, but there are a few.  PacificSource in Idaho allows for credit card payments on an automatic withdrawal.
  4. Life Insurance:  Once again, not all companies do this, but pay your bill in an annual sum to help increase your spending during the three months.
  5. Reimbursed Business Expenses:  Some lucky people out there can file their own business expense reports and be paid back for their expenses.  Anyone who has this option rather than using a business credit card should do this NOW.  Spend on your personal card for all business expenses then have the company pay you back in the form of a check.
  6. Cell Phone: Everyone these days has a cell phone, and most people have a data plan.  You can’t get one of these for cheaper than $70 per month.  There is no reason that this shouldn’t be put on a credit card each month to help you reach the spending requirement.
  7. Gas:  Every time you fill up the tank you need to score more miles.
  8. Restaurants:  Eating out can really add up each month.  If you’re currently paying cash or using a debit card, STOP IT.  The Sapphire Preferred will give you 2 Ultimate Rewards per dollar, so get a twofer!
  9. Home Improvements:  Most contractors these days accept credit cards.  Always ask them if it’s an option if there’s no added charge.
  10. Medical Expenses:  Even if you have a FSA, HSA, or HRA many times you can spend your own dollars, then file for reimbursement from the plan administrator.  Don’t let the dollars come directly from your account, you’re missing miles.
  11. Groceries:  Walmart takes plastic.  Always use it.
  12. College Tuition:  Not all schools will accept your Visa, but many will.
  13. Loan Payments:  Very few loans will allow you to pay them off with a credit card, but it is always worth asking.
  14. Travel:  Hopefully by now you’re flying for free and staying in free hotels, but there are scenarios where paying makes sense.  Always use a credit card to pay for your travel expenses.
  15. Dish Network or DirecTV:  Who doesn’t have satellite? (I might be the only one without it) Set this up on autopay or pay for a year at a time if needed.
  16. Store Gift Cards: If you can pay off the credit card, and know that you’ll be spending more money at “Wally World” each month, but a Walmart Gift Card to help meet the requirement, then use it next time you head to the store.
  17. Additional Cards:  Most companies will allow you to give a spouse a credit card on your same line of credit.  That way you never miss one $ because you are in two places spending money at the same time.
  18. Mortgage Payments:  This does have a fee associate, but might be worth doing for a month if you are close.  Use Charge Smart for this if needed (Thanks MMS)
  19. Rent: Williampaid allows you to pay your rent online, but does cost a fee as well (Thanks MMS)
  20. Car:  One car I purchased from a dealer that accepted credit cards.  I put the expense on my card and loaded up a few thousand miles.  Be careful with this to never allow your statement to close with more than 40% of your available credit utilized.  For example:  if your spending limit is $10,000, never let the statement close with more than $4000 owed on the card.  Pay it down before the close of your statement.
  21. Vanilla Reloadable Pre-Paid Cards: These are especially nice when you buy them at office supply stores with your Ink BoldSM with Ultimate Rewards card.
  22. Ask Siblings/Parents/Friends to Help:  I’ve asked family to allow me to purchase something for them and allow them to write me a check in return.  Be very careful as this might spark a fire in your family relationships.  It can be great if you have siblings with large expenses, but pay everything with check, cash, or debit cards.

As you can see, there are tons of ways to meet the spending requirement for this credit card.  Prepay a few expenses if you need to, but don’t let a spending requirement keep you from wanderlusting with us.

Get Credit Sesame, which will give you an estimate of your credit score free.

 

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Posted in Credit Advice, Credit Cards, Credit Sesame | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Stay Free Nights in SE Asia Sheraton and Le Meridien Hotels

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Brad Christensen

This site has to be one of my favorite wanderlusting websites.  What is it? It’s the list of Starwood Preferred Category 2 hotels (Usually Four Points by Sheraton, which are very nice) – hotels and resorts around the world that you can stay at for 3000-4000 Starpoints a night.

Yeah, that means nothing to you until you know what Starpoints are.  Don’t worry – they have nothing to do with Star Wars or Star Trek… you’ll have to go to a different blog for that.  Starpoints are the loyalty currency of Starwood Hotels’ Starwood Preferred Guest program.

Again, it still means nothing until you know how to get them.  Well, the traditional method would be to stay at Starwood Hotels – they’ll add them to your account for each  night you stay… but that’s painfully slow when there are places in British Columbia, Italy, and China that you are dying to visit.

Now, get excited because there is an easier way.  Every dollar you spend on the Starwood Preferred Credit Card gets you a Starpoint – meaning that for every 3-4000 in spending you have, you’ve got a free night.  More often than not, people make purchases on debit cards and with checks that could be put on a card and paid off immediately.  We don’t recommend making any purchases on credit cards that you wouldn’t otherwise make.

It’s about to get even better… If you’re like me, that sounds great, but I’m more impatient than that.  I don’t want to wait until I spend all that money until I can go and do some amazing things.  The American Express Starwood Card is offering a total of 25,000 bonus points after meeting the $5000 spending requirement in the first 6 months of having the card. Yeah, quick math says you’ll be staying 6-9 nights right off the bat with this beauty.

Our wanderlust-invocation wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t see this effort through with a proper taste of just what you could do with 30k Starpoints (25 bonus + 5 for spending).

Now, how about a three-country tour of Southeast Asia without paying a single dollar, dong, riel, or baht  in hotel costs?

Photo from Wikipedia.com

Vietnam – Sheraton Hanoi Hotel

  • Catch a show at the Hanoi Opera House.
  • See Vietnamese Pagodas.
  • Enjoy authentic “pho” – a delicious noodle soup.
  • Stop in on historic Vietnamese war sites.

The pool at the Le Meridien Resort

Cambodia – Le Meridien Angkor

  • Tour the historic ruins of the Angkor Wat temple.
  • See countless other temples in the area.
  • Visit the floating villages.
  • Try out the royal bathing pools at Sras Srang.

Thailand – Le Meridien Chiang Rai Resort

Photo from thailandcitytrip.com

  • Ride an elephant in the jungle mountains.
  • See the incredible White Temple.
  • Swim in the Khun Kon Waterfall.
  • Enjoy $4 hour-massages.

Ummm… yeah, you’re thinking what we’re thinking.  If you want to look into the American Express Starwood Card, check out the following link.  As always, if you don’t mind using our links when you actually apply, we’ll make a little commission to help keep us inspiring you with travel tips.

Posted in Asia, Starwood Preferred Guest | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

US Bank FlexPerks 33,150, Alaska Airlines 40,000, and Marriott 50,000 is back

Posted on August 17, 2012 by wpengine

US Bank Flex Perks Visa Olympic Promotion

US Bank FlexPerks is a mediocre set of bank points. They pale in comparison to the Ultimate Rewards that Chase has constructed. This offer is in conjunction with the Olympic Games, and the offer is based on the number of medals that the US won in the 2012 London Olympic Games. Fortunately we rolled the competition and got lots of medals. This offer is for 33,150 FlexPerks.

With the FlexPerks each 10,000FP is worth $200 in airfare. The 30,000 FlexPerks is worth any airfare less than $600. If the flight is $601 then you wouldn’t have enough FlexPerks to cover the flight. Like I said, the program isn’t amazing, but $600 for one credit inquiry is a great offer. This offer expires August 31st, so time is running close.  The spending requirement is $2500 within 5 months, so that is pretty easy for most people.

They don’t have any travel partners, so transferring the miles isn’t an option.  This card doesn’t pay us a commission, but it is a great offer for someone who wants to send in a credit card application that isn’t with Chase.

Alaska Airlines 40,000 Bank of America Credit Card

Alaska Airlines is a great airline.  They have incredible amounts of partners, and do very well when flying the west coast going to Alaska, Mexico, and Hawaii.  If you’d like to visit one of these places, this is a great card.

The spending requirement is much higher than it was last time.  Now you’ve got to spend $7,500 within 6 months to get the full 40,000 Alaska Airlines miles.  You get 25,000 for your approval on the card (Which is enough miles to get one person to Alaska), and the additional 15,000 when you complete the spending requirement.

This Award Chart will help you to see the value of the 40,000 miles. This isn’t our link, so we don’t make anything when you apply for this card.

Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card is Back

Chase removed this link from us for about two weeks, but now they’ve given it back to us.  This is one of the best cards for a greenie.  There isn’t any spending requirement, and you score 50,000 Marriott Rewards points  with the application.  It also gives you one additional free night for a category 1-4 hotel too.

If you can stay five nights in a category 2 hotel, plus the additional free night that means you can get six free nights.  If you include the breakfast that some hotels offer this card can be worth up to $1000.

My brother Colby values Marriott points over any other hotel chain because of their abundance.  Low level redemption is really possible.  Look at our Using Hotel Points to see how far the points would stretch for you.

This card is our link, so we would appreciate if you used it 🙂

 

Club Carlson 25 Years Celebration

Club Carlson has a new promotion that isn’t as good as the Big Night Giveaway that they did earlier this year. This promotion is in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Country Inns and Suites hotel chain.

You must first register for the 25 for 25 promotion. Then you must stay two consecutive nights at the Country Inns and Suites chain. It isn’t the biggest promotion that I’ve ever seen, but if you have to stay two nights anyway, why not load up an additional 25,000 points while you’re at it.

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Posted in Bank of America, Credit Cards, Hotels, How to Wanderlust, Marriott Rewards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Partners

Posted on August 15, 2012 by wpengine

With all of the frenzy around Chase’s latest credit cards it is important for you to know how they work.  When Brad and I were at lunch the other day with a couple of friend we started explaining how the Ultimate Rewards work, and realized that we’ve never clearly defined who the partners are and how to use the Ultimate Rewards Points.  Here goes nothing…

Chase has named its loyalty program Ultimate Rewards (with good reason).  Just as McDonald’s has the Ronald McDonald Club, Chase has their Ultimate Rewards.  These points can be used just like any other bank will allow you to use points to redeem for headphones or pencil sharpeners,  but what makes them stand out is the Ultimate Rewards travel partners.

How to Earn Ultimate Rewards

Some of Chase’s proprietary cards offer you Ultimate Rewards for every dollar that you spend on their cards.  Each of the cards have a sign on bonus after you meet certain spending requirements.  These bonuses can be very lucrative, and can help you to get your free travel faster.  Some cards have categories that pay more than one point per dollar.

  • Chase Sapphire PreferredSM Current Bonus is 40,000 UR after $3000 in spending within the first 3 months.

The Sapphire Preferred card pays 2 points per dollar spent on restaurants and travel.

  • Ink Bold® Business Card Current Bonus is up to 50,000 UR.  Get 25k with the first purchase and 25k more when you spend $10k within 3 months.

Both of the Ink cards will offer 5 points per dollar spent at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV services.

  • Ink Plus® Business Card Current Bonus is up to 50,000 UR.  Get 25k with the first purchase and 25k when you spend $10k within 3 months.

With the Ink Plus card you can earn 2x points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at gas stations and for hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel

All of your Ultimate Rewards points accrue in a safe account until you are ready to splurge.

Spending Ultimate Rewards (AKA Having FUN)

Brad already explained how the Ultimate Rewards can be spent as cash, so if you’re interested, review that post.  Chase has a variety of partners that accept the Ultimate Rewards on a 1:1 ratio.

  • United Airlines
  • British Airways
  • Southwest Airlines
  • Hyatt
  • Priority Club
  • Marriott
  • Korean Air

Incredibly you can transfer as many points as you need.   So if you’re a few points short this works well to top off the tank with any one of the above mentioned companies.  Also, the points generally transfer on the spot.

Why You Need More Ultimate Rewards

These points are incredibly versatile.  They should be a part of any worldwanderluster’s portfolio of miles and points. The most feasible offer comes from the Sapphire Preferred Card.  It requires the lowest spending requirement, but a generous 40,000 UR.  Start stockpiling your points today and wanderlust with us.

 

Posted in Chase, Chase Ultimate Reward Points, Credit Cards | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Staying 8 Free Nights near Universal Studios Orlando

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Brad Christensen

What if I told you that it costs $15 just to park at Universal Studios Orlando or one of the Disney Theme Parks?  If you’re like me, you’d say that a free shuttle from your hotel is a necessity.  Well how about a free shuttle from a free hotel?

This is precisely what WorldWanderlusting is about! Helping you put the “R” in “FEE.”  We love to travel, and we hate to hear people say, “I’d love to travel, I just can’t afford it. How many families would like to visit the theme parks in Orlando, but have a hard time with the idea of springing for $1000-1500 in hotel costs?  I’m guessing that there are a lot.

Well, we’re about to show you how you can stay for at least 8 nights in the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort at absolutely no cost to you.  Does is sound too good to be true?  Ok, here’s the catch.  You have to sign up for a credit card, then you have to make the same purchases you make normally, but put them on your Starwood Preferred Guest American Express, and then pay them off entirely before ever accruing any interest.  Once you spend $5000 within 6 months, the free-travel fairy comes with 25,000 Starwood points – your ticket for as many as 8 free nights at 3-4000 points per night (Starwood’s Category 2 rate).Wait a minute, what other hotels could you stay at?

Orlando HotelBut the hotel is probably a dive, right?

It’s a beautiful hotel. The rooms are immaculate, the location is ideal, and the amenities abound.  You’re not going to get a whole lot better than this. Starwood Category 2 hardly second-class.  This is not a chain that skimps on luxury.  You’ll be in heaven… it’s possible that you won’t even want to leave the property.

But, applying for the credit card will hurt my credit, right?

The short answer is “not really, as long as you’re responsible.” For that one, we have a specific post.  You’ll need to check out “Doesn’t it Hurt My Credit?”

Why would a credit card company do something like that?

They’re building brand loyalty, not just for Starwood, but for American Express, too.  We have a post that talks about this, too.

Wait, show me some more pics of that hotel.

Well, it’s a resort… but, yeah, here they are:

Well, how can I fly to Orlando for free?

Oohh… you’re greedy and we love it. ok… here’s how you can fly to Orlando for free.

This is good stuff! I want to keep track of what WorldWanderlusting is doing!

Glad to have you! Follow us on Facebook or enter your email in the subscriber list in the box on the upper right hand side of our site.

Posted in Club Carlson, Hotels, Starwood Preferred Guest | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

FREE FLIGHT trip to COSTA RICA!

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Brad Christensen

This is a guest post by our fellow wanderluster, John. John has followed WW for more than a year, and got in on the Citi AAdvantage card deal to stock up on AA miles in early 2011 – miles that took him and his wife to Costa Rica earlier this year.

We decided to fly into Liberia because the flight times from there better matched the times we wanted to stay and go back.  It used the same amount of AA points and we could avoid the big city of San Jose.  Small airport, very easy to find your way around.  I did a bunch of searching to find a good deal on a car rental due to the mandatory TPL insurance they charge.  Most companies won’t tell you this amount until you arrive and you’re locked in a price.  I worked with Luis Diego at www.4x4rentacar.com;  I got a 4×4 Daihatsu Bego for $400 even.  This was a deal because most places I found for an equivalent car for 8 days were $500-$650+.  Everything involving the car went smoothly.  I met a guy there who was blindsided and paid $1200 for a 10 day car rental…eek.
 
We were more than anxious to head straight for the beach. Our GPS (which I downloaded maps for previously) took us on the straightest path, although not the fastest.  We found ourselves on a dirt road with quaint little houses every 3-4 miles.  We found an incredible restaurant on the beach where I had fresh fish for dinner…it was incredible as my expression clearly indicates.  We stayed that night right on the beach in Playa Guinoes.  The next day we went to Playa Samara.  This was an incredible little town with plenty to do.  We could’ve stayed here the whole time and been happy.  The people were great, the fruit stands were cheap, and the food in open-air restaurants was fantastic.  We only stayed here one night because we wanted to see a lot, but looking back it was one of our favorite places.
 
We drove all the across the Nicoya peninsula and stayed in a town south of Jaco called Esterilles Oeste.  Our hosts at our hotel were very friendly and happy to have us, although we had to drive down some crazy alley ways to get there.  We spent that day on the beach and in Jaco.  We made frequent stops at the local grocery store and made friends with the surf shop and rented gear for a fraction of what it would have cost in the states.

The next day we got up and drove down to Quepos and stayed at the Best Western…the first place we could flush our TP down the toilet!  We checked out Manuel Antonio!  Anybody who knows CR knows how beautiful this place is.  Definitely worth seeing the incredible beaches and wildlife.  We were only down there for one day and then headed back up to Jaco area where we stayed at a Canadian owned hotel outside the city.  This was also a highlight area.  We were able to chill in the city, cook food at our hotel, and hang out on the beach.  
 
After staying two days in Jaco, we drove north west to Monteverde and the Cloud Forest.  Long dirt road drive, but totally worth it.  We stayed in a little bed & breakfast and checked out the forest and chilled with the locals.  Monteverde had a great atmosphere and we loved chilling in this town and had a little relief from the heat.  We went on the Selvatura zip lines and had a blast, highly recommend! 
 
After just one day and night in Monteverde we had to get back to Liberia for an early morning flight the next day.  We drove back to Liberia and I decided to give Ash a taste of American standard of living and booked a room at the Hilton.  She was in paradise after having slept 7 nights with more than one living thing in bed with her…she was a trooper.  We got up early and headed on home.
 
We had an amazing time and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest.  I never did the exact numbers on our expenses, but we stayed 8 nights, 9 days in beautiful places and did amazing things.  We figured we saved about $1600 in airfare costs and with the car rental, hotels, food, and play money, there’s no way we spent more than $1500.  The great thing is that this won’t be the last free trip we take.

Thanks, WorldWanderlusting!

Posted in Central America, Cheap Honeymoons, Guest Post | Tagged , , | 1 Comment