Three Nights for ONLY $49
January 5, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
kay, this FindPenguins trip entitled “Testing Timeshare Travel – Discover Year” will include several stays over an extended period of time.
We’ve all seen the deals.
Pay $149. Stay three nights. Listen to a sales pitch. Endure the “presentation.” Collect your $100 gift card once you’ve successfully completed what feels like waterboarding.
That’s how this story started.
Back in January 2025, Donna and I completed a 27-day “USA National Parks East Tour.” We visited 13 National Parks in 27 days — you can find those posts here on FindPenguins.
One of the places we stayed was the Hollywood Beach Tower in Hollywood, Florida. It was conveniently located for our route, so we figured, why not?
We arrived. We got our room.
It was a dumpy little studio. Murphy bed. Tight space. No charm.
Donna took one look and said, “No.”
She refused to stay in that room.
I went down to the front desk, calmly explained the situation, and we were upgraded to a slightly better room — with an actual bed. Much improved. Still not impressive.
Overall, it was not a positive stay.
And if Capital Vacations is trying to sell Timeshare memberships — this wasn’t exactly inspiring confidence.
The next day, we attended the sales presentation.
Group lecture.
Salesperson One.
Salesperson Two.
Salesperson Three.
Manager floating in periodically.
Sandwiches. Soda. Coffee. Cookies.
It begins at the Platinum Lifetime Membership — over $100,000.
Then, miraculously, they “just happen to have” a resale for $68,000.
That becomes a lower-level package for $38,000.
By this point, I’m in panic mode. Feeling boxed into a corner.
Our 90-minute commitment has stretched into over four hours.
I finally say I need to leave.
“Okay,” they say. “Just a quick exit survey and you’ll get your $100 gift card.”
But wait…
Now comes the “Discover” package.
200,000 points for $1,900.
Two years to use them.
One of the options? A full week in Maui, Hawaii.
For $1,900, having a place to stay in Hawaii — which was already on our short-term bucket list — suddenly felt reasonable.
We gave them our American Airlines credit card (yes, we earned the miles), and paid the balance off the very next day from our hotel room.
That was the beginning.
The upcoming posts in this footprint will document our Timeshare travel adventures — and how we used 200,000 Capital Vacations Discover points over two years.
Was it worth it?
Did it enhance our travel life?
Did it complicate it?
We’re about to find out.
#TestingTimeshareTravel
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