Tips for Saving Money on Your Timeshare Vacation

If you’re feeling a pinch in your pocketbook, and would like to stretch your dollars on your next timeshare vacation, consider these hints:
Remember to pack toiletries and first-aid items

It’s a hassle, and it’s expensive, to pick up sunscreen, make-up and other toiletries once you’re on vacation. Make a check-list of all your personal items, medicines, band-aids and ointments that you don’t want to forget to pack before you leave home. Also, be sure to pack anything that might be confiscated at the airport in your luggage rather than your carry-on bag. It can be expensive to replace these items after you’ve reached your destination.
Use your timeshare’s kitchen

Stock your timeshare’s refrigerator to store milk and juice for cereal breakfasts. Same goes for sandwich fixings for lunch, beer for happy hour, and fruit for late-night snacks.

Eat like a local

In Europe, pack a picnic lunch of a baguette, cheese and ham. In the Caribbean, eat fresh fruit from roadside markets. Find neighborhood restaurants or pack lunches made from items picked up from local grocery stores, and you’ll save a bundle of money that you can then spend at a more upscale restaurant once or twice during your vacation.

Don’t use the phone in your timeshare unit

Buy a local phone card or purchase an international calling card before you leave home.

Explore on your own

In touristy locales like Mexico, there are plenty of outfitters offering snorkeling, ruins and other sightseeing tours–for a lot of money. Oftentimes, it’s cheaper just to rent a car or take a taxi to the sightseeing location or beach and enjoy it at your own pace. Ask the front desk or the concierge at your timeshare resort how to rent a car, take public transportation or otherwise get to where you want to go. Be sure to ask if the public transportation or the area you’d like to visit is safe for foreigners to check out on their own.

Bargain for souvenirs

Again, going off the beaten path will help you save money while you’re on vacation. Hit a touristy shopping area and you’ll spend much more than if you seek out less-traveled markets. In places like Asia, Mexico and the Caribbean don’t be afraid to bargain if you’re shopping at an open-air market. Bargaining for items it typically expected. Just don’t come down too low if you’ve found an item you really want to bring home!

Tips for Traveling Abroad (Dept. of State)

For detailed information about steps you can take to ensure a safe trip, see How to Have a Safe Trip. Meanwhile, here are some quick tips to make your travel easier and safer:

• Register so the State Department can better assist you in an emergency: Register your travel plans with the State Department through a free online service at https://travelregistration.state.gov. This will help us contact you if there is a family emergency in the U.S., or if there is a crisis where you are traveling. In accordance with the Privacy Act, information on your welfare and whereabouts will not be released to others without your express authorization.

• Sign passport, and fill in the emergency information: Make sure you have a signed, valid passport, and a visa, if required, and fill in the emergency information page of your passport.

• Leave copies of itinerary and passport data page: Leave copies of your itinerary, passport data page and visas with family or friends, so you can be contacted in case of an emergency.

• Check your overseas medical insurance coverage: Ask your medical insurance company if your policy applies overseas, and if it covers emergency expenses such as medical evacuation. If it does not, consider supplemental insurance.
• Familiarize yourself with local conditions and laws: While in a foreign country, you are subject to its laws. The State Department web site at has useful safety and other information about the countries you will visit.

• Take precautions to avoid being a target of crime: To avoid being a target of crime, do not wear conspicuous clothing or jewelry and do not carry excessive amounts of money. Also, do not leave unattended luggage in public areas and do not accept packages from strangers.

• Contact us in an emergency: Consular personnel at U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad and in the U.S. are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens. Contact information for U.S. Embassies and Consulates appears on the Bureau of Consular Affairs website at http://travel.state.gov. Also note that the Office of Overseas Citizen Services in the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs may be reached for assistance with emergencies at 1-888-407-4747, if calling from the U.S. or Canada, or 202-501-4444, if calling from overseas.

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Holiday Travel With Kids

One of the country’s leading experts on family travel, author and television personality Deb Geigis Berry spends up to 16 weeks on the road each year with her husband and two young children to seek out the best destinations to recommend to consumers. Here are some tips for holiday travel she’s picked up along the way.
Keep planning simple: Traveling with kids in tow involves many details. To make the process easier, consider using a travel agent, who can recommend vacation destinations tailor-made for your family’s interests and budget, find great deals on airfare and hotels, and fill you in on the latest airport security news.
Make getting to your destination fun: Use time traveling together for zany sing-alongs, family storytelling sessions and scavenger hunts. Parents can draw up a list of things you might expect to see from a car or plane, such as two-toned cows, a car toting a Christmas tree, or a man wearing a red hat, then have the kids vie to see who spots the items first. For the ultimate treat, splurge on a portable DVD player, and watch a new holiday movie in transit, the just-released A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie is a good bet this winter.

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Buying a Timeshare - RCI Points vs RCI Weeks Timeshares

Emma Martin
October 4, 2007
Since RCI Points are the standard for timeshare vacations when it comes to the point system, let’s take a look at points versus timeshare weeks.
First, let’s look at the primary benefit of timeshare points which is the flexibility. With points, you are not limited to a timeshare vacation in the same place every year and at the same time every year.

RCI Weeks owners have their timeshare unit and week and that is where they will be each and every year, unless they decide to do an exchange to another resort. There is a lot to be said for knowing where you will be and not having to waste even an hour of your vacation time getting oriented every year. If your Weeks timeshare is the perfect spot for you and you don’t want any surprises, then RCI Weeks is the place to be. [Read More]
Check out Holiday’s selection of RCI Points timeshares!

Gadget Bag For Travelers

We live in a fragmented society. We are constantly bombarded by sensory input to the point where the noise actually becomes comforting. As a geek on the move, you need your cell phone, PDA, music player, digital camera, and portable gaming device because you’re never sure what kind of entertainment you’ll be in the mood for! [read more]

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