Calling all Timeshare Owners

Tobi Hughes·
News Blog

I have had a lot of questions sent to me asking about timeshare, and to be honest I don’t really know much about this and not able to answer many of the questions asked.

A couple of things I have heard is that some are offering your weeks at another time to be used within a year. I’m not really sure how this will work, with so many people having to book new weeks when everyone else will be eventually using their own weeks.

I think also the Pestana Group, have said they will add the weeks owing at the end of your term, so you can take them then, this might work for a lot of people, but as I say still not sure.

So if you are a Timeshare owner, and have any feedback to share can you put it in the comments below.

If you are reading this on Facebook, can you click through to my blog and leave the comments there, as many people dont use Facebook, and it will keep all the comments in one place.

Please share this with any other Timeshare owners you know, put questions below, and hopefully we can get them answered.

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Tobi Hughes

27 Responses

  1. Hi Tobi,
    We have “Options” with Pestana, which is a type of timeshare that has a finite amount of time to be taken within a certain time period at any time suitable to yourself.
    We received an notification from Pestana saying that this years booking of 3 wks (May/June) has been cancelled and the time added to our “banked” time, without a time limit.

    Not happy, but under the circumstances it was to be expected.

    WE WILL BE BACK ! !

    Cheers,
    Bill Duncan

  2. Also with Pestana. We have fixed time in November. Haven’t heard anything – not surprising though.

  4. With Pestana and we have leases. When we can make contact we will bank this years and sort out when back in February. Whilst it seems a long way away right now, it will be here and we cannot wait. Adding to end of our term would be magic.

  5. Porto Bay have allowed us to transfer our May/June weeks to later in the year, not sure if it will be in The Residence, but have offered us acceptable alternatives, very happy, just hope situation resolved soon for all concerned especially all hotel staff & small businesses.

  6. We’re with Pestana too and we have 3 weeks Options booked for June but haven’t heard anything yet. Our flights are booked but until we hear from Pestana we can’t contact Jet2 and cancel them.

    1. We have a week booked for May 1st and we know we won’t be coming but we are waiting for Jet2 to notify us that the flight is cancelled. If we cancel ourselves Jet2 terms and conditions state that we won’t get a refund

  7. It’s difficult for people to know what to do especially as the Foreign Office is now advising against all travel outside the UK indefinitely .

    1. This is the big problem, and lots of unanswered questions as they won’t know the answers themselves. If flight companies start flying in June, but we do t allow tourists still, and the hotels remain closed, then what situation will people be in.?

  9. Savoy have told us we can bank the weeks and use them at a later date. In fact Savoy customer service has been very good, proactively contacting us to discuss options. Unlike TUI who we are still trying to talk to to discuss rescheduling flights.

  10. I have a May week at The Residence and I also have been offered a transfer to later on in the year or early next year. The transfer may be to the Porto Mare Hotel or Eden Mar if no space at The Residence. This is fine with me and my wife, but we are waiting for Jet2 to cancel our flight to avoid transfer costs.
    Really looking to coming back again in happier and healthier times. Stay safe.

  11. Hi Tobi. We have a number of fixed weeks with Pestana both in Madeira and Algarve. We were actually in Madeira when this actually kicked off. We got on a rescue flight on 20th March and with one week stiill unused (week beginning 23rd March) I emailed Pestana about this week and within an hour received a response confirming that that week would be deposited for future use. Pestana has a number of different tineshare schemes running (fixed week and Options) so I guess each scheme will be handled by them as appropriate. Our schene is part of Pestana Vacation Club (PVC) and enables deposits of unused weeks which then need to be used within two years. Not the same apartment but an equivalent (though in the past they have been fairly flexible about the two years). Challenging times for guests and owners but so far at least cannot fault Pestana in this very difficult time. The challenge of course will be in the future how Pestana and all Time Share companies are going to be able to handle the incresed demand with a finite resource of available units available.

  12. We had an email from Pestana with regards our 3 weeks at Madeira Beach Club from April 20th after Jet2 had cancelled our flight.
    They said our first two weeks which we own at MBC would be banked internally and could be used at a later date, and the third week which was a banked week could also be used at a later date.
    Our 4th week was to be at the Enotel Lido all-inclusive. We have bought points there. Enotel emailed to say our points will be returned to use at a later date.
    Both have been excellent as far as we are concerned, and neither have said that we must use the time within a time limit of 12 or 18 months.
    We are looking forward to our visit to both in the Autumn, our 60th visit to Madeira, COVID-19 permitting!!

    Mal & Lynda Davies

  13. Hey my name is David Threatt and I have Timeshare points with Two different Company’s and one of them has already contacted me and we have worked things out. The thing I liked about this is they contacted me ,that really made me feel good .I have been with this Company for 11 years. Thank you David Threatt

  14. We were due to visit the Royal Savoy from May 31st this year. I had to contact them rather than the other way round. We can rearrange our week or bank it. We have already paid the service charge for this year. Easy jet want us to rearrange our flights but this is a bit premature as we don’t know when the rearranged week will be. Anyway Tobi, stay safe, and keep your lovely reports coming.

  15. Received an email from the VP of Pestana Vacation Club today.
    It’s a general statement, but my experience of Pestana over the last 20 years is that they will do the best they can when the situation starts to unwind.

  16. Hi,got my week rescheduled till …Don’t know yet…Savoy Palace it’s Verry helpful it said that we can reschedule up to 12 months. Will see…We were supposed to be there with our daughters as of yesterday for a week…not happy…

  17. We have two weeks booked on pestana options from beginning of July, flights booked with Jet2 ,will have to wait and see what happens but God willing we’ll be back as soon as it is safe.

  18. Our timeshare is costing us more money paying for the maintenance fees then what we bought it for. And once you have signed all the paperwork you are trapped in it. They will keep sending you a bill for the deed you now own. And to brake away from it it you will have to get a lawyer to do so. And, when you are gone they will come after your children to keep paying them. Just stay away from being a timeshare.

    1. This raises the question of maintenance fees. I’m not sure what the timeshare contracts say about maintenance fees. Are they are still payable even though there is no accommodation available. Pestana emailed saying “Since the end of March all Pestana hotels and resorts in Madeira and the Algarve have been closed”. The timeshare operators have encouraged owners to cancel first, so they are not liable. Same with flights.

      In light of this, will they still charge owners for rearranging their dates etc. e.g. to another resort. If everyone has spare weeks it could be difficult to use banked weeks when they reopen for business. From experience, it normally costs about €140 to make any changes with Pestana.

  19. I too have timeshare with Pestana June wk22 but also own in October wk40 Pestana were extremely helpful so have now booked wk39&40 which hopefully I can use this year. I heard on TV sometime ago that the Foreign Office are saying no travel outside of UK indefinitely so havent checked for update on this but will now. I also fly with Jet2 & have been trying to speak with them re my flights for Sept/Oct but permanently engaged, fortunately I hadnt booked my flights which is unusual for me for June so no financial loss there but need to know about Sept/Oct as God willing this terrible virus will be gone, not stopping along the way to infect me & I will be fit to travel ?. I was in Madeira for 3wks over Christmas & New Year, weather was gorgeous. I am so looking forward to going back to Madeira which I first visited whilst on a cruise in 1969. I have just spoken to Aldo in Madeira who tells me that the restaurants & people are suffering badly with having no visitors/cruise ships so let’s think of them & NOT ourselves at this terrible time. Norma

  20. We have a two week apartment timeshare for August. We have paid our maintenance fee. The only option we have is to later this year or find a company to bank the weeks. Both options will cost us more money.

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