I have a 4 bedroom vacation timeshare that is able to be used as four 1-bedroom units. It is in the Orlando/Kissimmee area and I am curious to know if there are others like me and how they handle:
1- using multiple weeks when they only own a single week of use
2- pricing for seasonal rates, i.e. Christmas, New Years, Spring Break/Easter, etc.
3- when making your reservation for potential client the reservations of your timeshare advise you there is an additional charge you were not expecting, how do you handle it and what do you say to your potential client.
I would seriously suggest you first find out if your timeshare corporation allows you to do short-term sub-rentals. You could be in for a fine or law suit if they find out you’re doing it when the charter does not permit.
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I would not put a timeshare on Airbnb at all.
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I don’t quite understand this question (having never owned a timeshare) but wouldn’t this be against Airbnb’s TOS?
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To Ken, Resort is fine with it as I own the unit with deed and title as if it were a home, so no problem renting. The resort even promotes the idea.
To konacoconutz, any reason why? If you own the week and cannot use it why not list it and get something to pay maintenance fees? Now FYI, there are many timeshare units listed on Airbnb.
To Helsi, Thanks for your input and I am open to find a different way to list my time but previous efforts have not produced the desired results and at least I have had inquiries through Airbnb. If you, or anyone else, has a suggestion, I will try it.
To jaquo, I am relatively new to this and all newbies make errors which is why I have asked the questions I have asked. Looking for a little guidance.
I just wanted a little clarification regarding:
Does this mean that there might be additional charges after the guest has booked? The deal with Airbnb is that once the guest has booked, this is - in effect - a contract between guest an host at the agreed price. No additional costs can be charged. Do you mean that the timeshare people might add additional costs to the guests?
Sorry if I have misunderstood 
Jaquo, as clarification, in Orlando many places that provide accommodations for tourists will have higher charges during Christmas and New Years and call it a seasonal surcharge. Once the room is booked then there are no additional charges regarding the rental of the room. If the person or family decide to go to the pool bar or restaurant and charge the bill to their room they would, of course, have to pay that when they check out. The problem I ran into was someone wanted a given timeframe and I believed it outside the seasonal time and when I attempted to book the room I was informed of the seasonal charge. I had to then break the news to the requester who was not pleased. I explained that I was as surprised as he was but the charge was imposed by the resort and not me and I was not going to absorb the fee. Hope that clarifies this situation.
Sounds unsuitable for ABB so I would look at craigslist, gumtree and eBay for one off rentals.
Hi @harry50hn,
Though others are telling you that timeshare weeks are not suitable for Airbnb, as you stated, there are many of them listed. I discovered this myself recently when using my own timeshare points to book a week away.
My points could get me a gorgeous 2 BR/2BA unit in the Massanutten Resort in VA. I put it on hold and then thought I’d just check to see what options there might be on Airbnb for the hey of it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a dozen or more timeshare units on the same resort!
I ended up using my points for our accommodations, but while we were there we checked out a real estate office that offered guaranteed rental income in exchange for RCI points. Eventually I figured out that it was this real estate office offering all those units on Airbnb.
I know this doesn’t answer your question, but I thought you might find it interesting.
Hi Chloe,
I thank you for your response.
I have stayed at the Massanutten Resort and it is a very nice resort although I had a personal distaste for the unit I occupied. It seems the developer had made townhouses where on the first level was a 2/2 with full kitchen, including range with oven and the second level was the very same 2/2 layout but no range, it had a 2 burner portable cooktop. I used the second level. I found out later that if they had included the range, they would have required additional parking spaces as it is directly tied to full kitchens. Silly, considering Massanutten is not near any public transportation and you must have a vehicle to get there or anywhere else.
As for the real estate office, I am familiar with the program, but they are only trying to sell you another timeshare and help you use the points from that purchase to sell more weeks of timeshare. So that may be what is happening with timeshares listed on AirBnb. At the particular timeshare where I own, I have noticed the same person listing multiple units so there appears to be something going on there.
Emily,
Thanks for your response and I will look at the options you suggested, however I can tell you eBay is totally worthless in this regard. I had an ad on eBay for three months without even a consideration so I take that as not effective. I have also used Craigslist and had inquiries about booking for Feb 29 and Feb 30. Some people love to waste your time and theirs.
I also am of the opinion that while many people have heard of Vacation Timeshares, half of them are of the opinion that you buy one and they assign you a specific week and that is what you get to rent out, if you want to rent it. In my case, and this is quite popular, I have what is known as a floating time which means that while I have a week of time, I can use that time any week within the year to use it, whether it be in January, June, or December, it is my choice. I can also decide to use it from Friday-Friday, Saturday-Saturday, or Sunday-Sunday. I just have to make sure the time is available and if you plan properly, there is usually no problem. I have never personally experienced a reservation problem at my home resort, although I have had conflicts attempting to make a reservation with other resorts when I do an exchange.
The point here is that while there are some who do not think it is appropriate to post availability of a timeshare on AirBnb, because the unit can be used at any time during the year, use of my timeshare is very flexible and permits posting on AirBnb as it is not tied to a specific week of the year. You want week 10, fine, week 24, no problem, and so forth. The point is availability and what I have run into is surprise charges by the resort when I go to make the reservation and my question to the community was if they have ever had an experience with these surprise charges and how did they deal with them.
I think Vacationhosting.com at http://vacationhosting.com peer to peer and homesharing marketplace might work for your Timeshare rental. Apart from the Airbnb type of room listing on the site called Properties, the platform also has what is called Vacation Rentals, which operates differently from Properties.
It allows you to list your space, name and define different seasonal prices such as Christmas, New Year, etc or whatever names and prices you want to set for the space for different times and it also has a feature that allows you to charge and name extra fees that you are talking about.
Furthermore, you can set the times of the year you want your listing to show or be available to Travelers or Guests for booking.
I wonder if in your listing, you can provide a disclaimer of this, say something like “unit subject to seasonal surcharge of …” or research the fee in advance and add it to your nightly rate. It’s not fair to spring it on the guest and even tax is something Air says you have to disclose fully at the time of booking if you are going to collect it in cash.
Isn’t a timeshare something you exchange with other timeshare holders? I’ve never heard of renting your place out to guests, but on second thought I don’t see why you can’t as long as everything is disclosed. Surely you can call the resort and find out the fee before listing it? Or just Jack the price up to include the fee. How much are we talking here?
Konacoconutz,
With my timeshare, I have two self contained (meaning each one has its own entrance) one bedroom units of different sizes, large and small, that are joined via connecting door. Because of the two sizes, I have different prices, $70 per night for small and $90 per night for large. Minimum stay is 7 days so a week in the small would come to $490 and in the large the price is $630. When joined as a 2 bedroom unit, the price is $945. All three prices are reasonable and I do get inquiries because they are reasonable. The problem comes when I go to make the reservation and this unexpected charge is thrown at me. For example, January 1-January 8, because it is the new year and not Christmas or New Years Eve, I expected it to be regular price, but the resort said no, it is still high demand Seasonal so there is an additional $250 for the week. That $250 tacked on an additional $36 per night. Because it was a surprise charge, I had to decline the reservation request because the requester was not willing to pay the additional charge. While I may feel the additional charge is unfair, I cannot change the resorts policy and I either absorb the charge or pass it on to the requester. What I have done is ask the resort to let me know when the prices are higher so I can make my adjustments within AirBnb prices. Now if only the other people listing their timeshare for rent at the same resort would do the same we could all stay competitive. To combat this, I have added the phrase "Price is plus Seasonal High Demand Surcharge when applicable."
To address your point about exchanging with other timeshare holders, one of the advantages of owning a timeshare is that ability. There are two companies that facilitate exchanges, Resort Condominium International (RCI) and Interval International (II). My wife and I are exchanging other timeshares that we own to vacation in Western Massachusetts and in an area north of Barrie, Ontario Canada for 3 weeks so we do use our timeshares.
So you are saying the high season is an additional $250 a week?!! That’s untenable, you are right. I’m confused, is the one you are renting based in Massachusetts and they still get away with charging a seasonal fee in the middle of winter? Or are you renting one in a tropical location? Sorry if this question was answered earlier. Timeshares are popular here in Hawaii and I am pretty sure they get rented out on Air as well.
The timeshare I am renting out is in Orlando, Florida 2 miles from Disney World and Disney seems to be the place to be around Christmas.
In 2013, my wife and I exchanged to Westin timeshare resort at Kaanapali, Maui then exchanged another week for the NCL cruise around the islands, then another week for a week in Waikiki, Oahu. Had FABULOUS time! In fact my wife and I are now hooked on Kona coffee that we have once a week 
.
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Johnny, I went to the url you suggested and it apparently is in Beta mode and not ready for prime time, but I did ask for an invite and when they are ready I will definitely investigate further. Thanks for the tip.
My neice successfully rents her timeshare weeks on airbnb. In fact, airbnb has recently changed the listing to include “timeshare” (see screenshot).
If you have a fee for guest certificate, put that amount into the “cleaning fee”.
Just make sure that you price appropriately for the resort and the time of year. Look at the ones that are listed at your same resort for the same timeframe, also call the resort or read your books for pricing and figure out what is an appropriate price for your weeks.
You would want to have 3 listings open each with 7N minimum. One for friday only checkin, one for saturday only checkin, one for sunday only checkin. Keep your calendar accurate - but this would allow for your 3 different checkin days.
Make sure if there is a preauth deposit at checkin that it is completely explained in your listing and also probably in your rules to make sure people see it.
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