I have only weathered two winters with our inground vinyl and a mesh safety cover. The first year I carefully winterized it, draining below the skimmer and everything. We had more than our usual winter rainfall and I had to run the pump to drain the excess several times. Last winter I decided to forget the winterizing and take my chances with freezing. It worked out OK but I think I will open it earlier next year to try to get ahead of the algae. I kept some chlorine in it but it was still green on the bottom when I uncovered it. A few jugs of bleach and some vacuuming over a few weeks and it cleaned up nice. A lot of dirt and sediment, maybe decomposed leaves, kept settling out. I'm sure there are pros and cons for both covers but they all mean work of some kind.

Good luck!