New Members - Please Introduce Yourself!

[flexible]

This is my second post since finding this website. I have a lot to learn.

My (now) husband and I checked in at Torres Mazatlan on the same day and met three days later. I was there for 12 days and he had an extra 3 months reserved at El Cid. After I left he invited me back. I met a lot of timeshare owners and salespeople in Winter/Spring 2006. We used timeshare points to pay for 21 days Alaska cruises and a cruise tour. We got married during that time.

I started to read through the time share files when we got home. I found that Pono Kai in Hawaii would have had to be banked by June 30 or we'd lose it. I tried to advertise it but didn't get any bites. So we used it in September followed by a second week at the same resort using Vacation International points. I found it interesting that 5 different organizations operated out of the same resort. The VI units included washer/dryers but not the robes that the Pono Kai/Bluegreen units provided. The Pono Kai/Bluegreen didn't offer W/D.

We spent 8 weeks at Mayan Palace from Nov 12 - Jan 6, 2007. A few months before we made the reservation Mayan informed us the 48 week a year contract members could book Christmas/NY's week. The resort seemed totally different Christmas/NY weeks as many people like us with only 2 people in a 2 bedroom unit had guests. It seemed like the number of people at the resort tripled during those two weeks. Interesting also to see 4 colors of wrist bands. How they differented between Mayan Palace/Grand Mayan and whether you came in from a trade or were an owner/owner's guest.

We spent the last two days at El Cid because the Mayan check out was Sun. El Cid lets us check in S/S/M and check out anytime. We flew to Ft Lauderdale and used timeshare points to completely pay for the Princess World Cruise from 10 Jan - 22 April in Southampton.

We stayed at Hever Hotel (on the estate of Hever Castle - Anne Bolyn's childhood home) using El Cid points. Then we checked RCI trades and got Woodford Bridge in SE England - County, Devon. Then we used Marriott points for all of our hotels in Ireland.

It's a piece of work to figure out all of our 22 timeshare contracts and make reservations. We have been home a month but leave again in late September.

We are trying to use up some of our one week timeshare programs. Some of the companies allow us to bank from one year to the next. But they generally want to give you the least desirable months if they let you bank them. We plan to spend October in Mazatlan, Nov-Feb in Puerto Vallarta, and March in Mazatlan again.

I have found a lot of informative posts on this website. I am unfamiliar with the credit system. Also I started to reply to posts but saw they were a few years old. Hopefully I will learn my way around.

I saw the GrayFal Moderator Pat's personal website and found it very informative. I posted some of my photos at timeshares along with other travel photos on georgeannmalowney's photos and albums on webshots

[flexible]

Quoting: So we are living La vida loca and loving our timeshares and Mexico, most days anyway.....

Hello,
I have two questions regarding Mexico that you might be able to help answer.

1) While in the Cancun area for two months last fall, several taxi drivers/TS salespeople mentioned they had cell phone calling plans that included unlimited calls to North America (US/Canada/Mexico).

My understanding is that none of the plans purchased in the US have this. TMobile told me it would have been about $5 a minute.

Do you have recommendations about this. We expect to purchase Mexican cell phones in October in Mazatlan if it makes sense.

2) We understand US Citizens can bring a US vehicle that is at least 10 years old into Mexico and avoid the requirement to return to a border every six months. We are saving a low mileage 2000 Saturn to leave in Mexico so we can fly and use our own car in the future.

Do you know any specifics about this law?

Thanks

[bezerk]

Originally Posted by GrayFal

Welcome Michael and bezerk....Glad u found us!

bezerk, sounds as if u r living the good life others can only envy!

Some days yes, some no....still not bilingual...certainly not like the kids. Slower calmer life though, most days. I certainly am addicted to vacationing now though....I am glad I found this site too, thanks grayfal...everyone is just so nice here....

[bezerk]

Originally Posted by flexible

Quoting: So we are living La vida loca and loving our timeshares and Mexico, most days anyway.....

Hello,
I have two questions regarding Mexico that you might be able to help answer.

1) While in the Cancun area for two months last fall, several taxi drivers/TS salespeople mentioned they had cell phone calling plans that included unlimited calls to North America (US/Canada/Mexico).

My understanding is that none of the plans purchased in the US have this. TMobile told me it would have been about $5 a minute.

Do you have recommendations about this. We expect to purchase Mexican cell phones in October in Mazatlan if it makes sense.

2) We understand US Citizens can bring a US vehicle that is at least 10 years old into Mexico and avoid the requirement to return to a border every six months. We are saving a low mileage 2000 Saturn to leave in Mexico so we can fly and use our own car in the future.

Do you know any specifics about this law?

Thanks

I have cell phone here but I only use for ER and I use pre paid cards loaded into cell. I know there are many cell phone plans but have never researched them, so you may want to do that.

Hubby has unlimited calling on some provider in US to Mexico...no clue which one...$99. US per month....I think unlimited to states and Mexico but not sure. He does use it to call states from here but not sure what that costs him....

Carlos Slim ( telmex) etc. have high charges for telephone calls.....my area they say one of highest..Guad. area.

On the car......I have never heard of that law, so I would suggest you pursue it further before doing so....I have 2 cars here, one brought in by me, one by hubby, one car per person out of country plates. We do not have to return to border to renew car import sticker as we have FM3's ( like a permit to reside here). Have to renew every year. If get stopped by police they will check your import sticker if expired, uh oh big trouble, the law states as long as FM3 current the car can stay in country, so I would suggest you go to some sites like mexconnect or chapala.com and find legal sites in regards to your bringing in a car and not returning to border in 6 months. The age of the car has nothing to do with it...there is a law where a ten year old car can be changed over to Mexican plated but I have not done so and I hearit can be long and expensive process....trust me we get stopped all the time on our expired import stickers......so please check this out throughly before undertaking....

Oh just one other note.....different laws for different states etc.....Cancun is lie another world from here or Mazatlan etc.....as well....kind of like mini Miama....there is a joke about this something like where can you find more english speakers US or Cancun.....Cancun of course....I am sure that is not how it goes but so true, no spanish required there for sure.....

good luck in your research...

[mas]

...I finally got to the end of this thread!

I guess (looking at my own profile) that I stumbled across this website several years ago (Aug 2005). How time flies. I guess it's about time I introduce myself.

My wife (Rosanna) and I got into timesharing back in '92 with the purchase of a week at Marriott's Cypress Harbour (Everybody's first exposure to timeshare was in Orlando, right? ) Anyway since then we've added two more Marriott's and a week at Kona Coast Resort II in Hawaii.

I joined TUG in '98 and have managed their Permanent Swap page since 2002. I see a lot of familiar user names here. I don't do that much posting either there or (obviously) here but I like to peruse the various threads every now and then, looking for tidbits of info and occasionally helping out when someone asks a question that I actually have an answer for

Since we live in a northern border state (MN) we like to use our timeshare weeks to escape the winter -- Florida, Key West and Ft. Lauderdale, is usually on the list. About three years ago a few tuggers organized what has sort of become an annual cruise outing. I've been on all three so far and have discovered that I like cruising and getting together with fellow tuggers and putting faces to names of people I've been conversing with.

I retired this January after 31 years with the same company and am now enjoying the sweet life. My wife is still working--she has a virtual office at home and has been working for the American Express company for 36 years.
As soon as she decides to retire--hopefully in the next year or two--then we can really escape the winters.

Here's hoping I get over here to this forum on a more regular basis.

[flexible]

Originally Posted by bezerk

We do not have to return to border to renew car import sticker as we have FM3's ( like a permit to reside here). Have to renew every year. .

Thanks for your reply. I am aware of FM3s. We have considered trying to get FM3 status as we often spend up to six months in Mexico.

My understanding is that if a US plated car is over 10 years old then we can get Mexican plates. My husband was told he might need to put the car in a Mexican's name, then they sell it back to us.

[bezerk]

Originally Posted by flexible

Thanks for your reply. I am aware of FM3s. We have considered trying to get FM3 status as we often spend up to six months in Mexico.

My understanding is that if a US plated car is over 10 years old then we can get Mexican plates. My husband was told he might need to put the car in a Mexican's name, then they sell it back to us.

The law is very fuzzy on the ten year old car issue with US plates.....changes all the time....I would suggest contacting a notario when in Mexico regarding this. It can be quiet expensive or not, allowed or not, and some have lost money in process only to be denied. I have a car that is ten years old and have considered it, but have yet to pursue with notario or attorney ( a notario in Mexico is higher than an attorney).

I would not under any circumstances advise selling your car to a Mexican and having them sell it back to you.....you are playing with fire on that one....

Plus all US plated cars must be transferrred/sold /or put in anothers name in the US, not in Mexico.

I would advise strong legal advise on this, Mexico is not the US and the laws are very different and they are not in favor of Americans, they are in favor of Mexicans of course. Please proceed with caution.

Not trying to be a know it all or to tell you what to do...but I have been here for over 10 years full time, have kids here, bilingual and have seen, heard and dealt with many issues and well frankly, you have no clue what a maze it can be. Good luck.....

[RodJule]

My boring intro....

** Rodney/Julie married 20 years
** Life in North Central Florida
** We have 3 "adult" kids together (19, 20, 21)
** We are starting a new life with the empty nest syndrome attempting to set in so TS is not an option but now a wanted lifestyle
** We just bought into BLU and now pray we didn't make a mistake (Thread in general forum under RodJule)

Happy Days,
Julie

[GrayFal]

Originally Posted by flexible

This is my second post since finding this website. I have a lot to learn.

My (now) husband and I checked in at Torres Mazatlan on the same day and met three days later. I was there for 12 days and he had an extra 3 months reserved at El Cid. After I left he invited me back. I met a lot of timeshare owners and salespeople in Winter/Spring 2006. We used timeshare points to pay for 21 days Alaska cruises and a cruise tour. We got married during that time.

I started to read through the time share files when we got home. I found that Pono Kai in Hawaii would have had to be banked by June 30 or we'd lose it. I tried to advertise it but didn't get any bites. So we used it in September followed by a second week at the same resort using Vacation International points. I found it interesting that 5 different organizations operated out of the same resort. The VI units included washer/dryers but not the robes that the Pono Kai/Bluegreen units provided. The Pono Kai/Bluegreen didn't offer W/D.

We spent 8 weeks at Mayan Palace from Nov 12 - Jan 6, 2007. A few months before we made the reservation Mayan informed us the 48 week a year contract members could book Christmas/NY's week. The resort seemed totally different Christmas/NY weeks as many people like us with only 2 people in a 2 bedroom unit had guests. It seemed like the number of people at the resort tripled during those two weeks. Interesting also to see 4 colors of wrist bands. How they differentiated between Mayan Palace/Grand Mayan and whether you came in from a trade or were an owner/owner's guest.

We spent the last two days at El Cid because the Mayan check out was Sun. El Cid lets us check in S/S/M and check out anytime. We flew to Ft Lauderdale and used timeshare points to completely pay for the Princess World Cruise from 10 Jan - 22 April in Southampton.

We stayed at Hever Hotel (on the estate of Hever Castle - Anne Bolyn's childhood home) using El Cid points. Then we checked RCI trades and got Woodford Bridge in SE England - County, Devon. Then we used Marriott points for all of our hotels in Ireland.

It's a piece of work to figure out all of our 22 timeshare contracts and make reservations. We have been home a month but leave again in late September.

We are trying to use up some of our one week timeshare programs. Some of the companies allow us to bank from one year to the next. But they generally want to give you the least desirable months if they let you bank them. We plan to spend October in Mazatlan, Nov-Feb in Puerto Vallarta, and March in Mazatlan again.

I have found a lot of informative posts on this website. I am unfamiliar with the credit system. Also I started to reply to posts but saw they were a few years old. Hopefully I will learn my way around.

I saw the GrayFal Moderator Pat's personal website and found it very informative. I posted some of my photos at timeshares along with other travel photos on georgeannmalowney's photos and albums on webshots

Thanks Georgeann.....with all the info u have to share - I think one of those 'free' websites would be great for you, too.

Go to Freewebs.com - Free website, free hosting, free webpage - Make a web site with photo albums, blogs, videos, forums and more! and sign up for your own free website - that way u can have all your photos linked thru one site.

[GrayFal]

Originally Posted by mas

...I finally got to the end of this thread!

I guess (looking at my own profile) that I stumbled across this website several years ago (Aug 2005). How time flies. I guess it's about time I introduce myself.

My wife (Rosanna) and I got into timesharing back in '92 with the purchase of a week at Marriott's Cypress Harbour (Everybody's first exposure to timeshare was in Orlando, right? ) Anyway since then we've added two more Marriott's and a week at Kona Coast Resort II in Hawaii.

I joined TUG in '98 and have managed their Permanent Swap page since 2002. I see a lot of familiar user names here. I don't do that much posting either there or (obviously) here but I like to peruse the various threads every now and then, looking for tidbits of info and occasionally helping out when someone asks a question that I actually have an answer for

Since we live in a northern border state (MN) we like to use our timeshare weeks to escape the winter -- Florida, Key West and Ft. Lauderdale, is usually on the list. About three years ago a few TUGgers organized what has sort of become an annual cruise outing. I've been on all three so far and have discovered that I like cruising and getting together with fellow TUGgers and putting faces to names of people I've been conversing with.

I retired this January after 31 years with the same company and am now enjoying the sweet life. My wife is still working--she has a virtual office at home and has been working for the American Express company for 36 years.
As soon as she decides to retire--hopefully in the next year or two--then we can really escape the winters.

Here's hoping I get over here to this forum on a more regular basis.

Hello mas - believe it or NOT, when I joined TUG in 2001, I used YOU as my referral - I forget what u were so helpful to me about - possibly Marriott????

Anyway, glad u found your way over here...and yes, u r seeing lots of the same 'faces' - many of us are "Bi-Boardal"