Jolson
Redding,#2Consumer Comment
Wed, May 06, 2009
I don't understand your math, here is how I calculate it: 7000 points should get you 4 weeks each year, room only. (of course, you know that it really depends WHERE you stay, and WHEN). BTW, we've never had problems booking, and typically are into the following use year because we use it so much. But if we take your $150/night price, which is probably fair, and multiply that time 4 weeks: $150 x 28 days = $4,200 Now we can take out maintenance fees: $4,200 - 700 = $3,500 Then divide by the number of "points" $3,500 / 7000 = $0.50 per point Compare that to either your 5:1 or my experience of 4:1 of point value: $0.50 > $0.25/point So what I see is that the Shell points are LESS than the cost of simply paying cash to a hotel. Now this doesn't assume financing, which they have horrible rates, but have very easy qualifications. So PAY CASH. Without finance charges, I think it will pay for itself in about 8 years: 8 years x 4 weeks x $150/day = 33,600 Or, let's say you're a young couple, like when we purchased our timeshare, and we're only going to use it for 20 years, which sounds conservative to me: 20 years x 4 weeks x $150/day = 84,000 So compare that with the theoretical price per hotel day with Shell over 20 years: $30,000 (shell purchase) + $14,000 (maintenance) = 44,000 $44,000 (shell purchase) / 20 years / 4 weeks = $78/day So it sounds like shell is ABOUT half the cost of a hotel, if you fully use your timeshare each year, for the next 20 years, and paid cash. Also let's assume that the maintenance fees are going to increase similar to the hotel rates increase. Even if the maintenance fees double between now and 20 years out, you'll still be in the green.