New Timeshare Ownership - Did I make the right choice?

Brand new owner here, and if I’m being honest, I’m having some second thoughts and would love to hear from people who have actually used the program for a while.

My wife and I attended a presentation this weekend and ended up purchasing 75,000 points per year. Our payment is $275/month, and we received a 225,000-point welcome bonus. (So 300k points the first year). Like a lot of new owners, I left excited, and then the next day started wondering if I made a great decision or an expensive mistake.

For some context, we do travel quite a bit. We already have a 10-day trip to Japan planned this year, and we typically take at least one vacation every year regardless, wether it’s stateside or overseas. Our household income is over $110,000, so while the payment isn’t insignificant, it isn’t going to put us in financial hardship either.

We also have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which gives us some additional IHG benefits and is one of the reasons we were already using IHG properties before this purchase.

Part of me looks at it as prepaying for future vacations and building a lifetime of travel memories. Another part of me wonders if I would have been better off simply booking hotels as needed and investing the difference.

For those of you who have owned for several years:
- Do you feel you’re gotten good value from your ownership?
- Have the annual fees remained reasonable?
Do you find it easy to use your points?
- If you could go back, would you buy again?
- What do you wish someone had told you as a new owner?

I’m looking for honest feedback, both positive and negative. Thanks!