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Other trading systems

AgelessTravel

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I own a 3 bedroom lock off at Presidential Villas in Myrtle Beach (summer week). I have been trading into RCI over the years and have been happy with my exchanges. However the last few years I've been getting a lot less TPU's and combined with the increasing trading fees I was hoping to try a different trading company. What choices do I have? Can I trade into other companies or only RCI? Which other trading companies do you recommend?
 

vikingsholm

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I recommend that you spend some time going through the online availability of the alternative systems. What I found is that each has strengths in supply and availability in different geographic areas. Plus, you should do this multiple times over a period of time, as one snapshot in time does not show the picture for the entire year, because deposits come and go. Focus on reviewing the areas you may want to trade into, or else it will take A LOT of your time.

We use II, TPI, Platinum Interchange, DAE, and SFX in addition to RCI. But we won't always have units on deposit with them at a given time. Since I do not know where you like to travel, or the quality of resorts/amenities that you want, it is hard to recommend one over another. Certain resorts make large bulk deposits with these companies based on their agreements, so as you go through the online availability, you may notice that some resorts show up a lot in some trading companies but not in others. Plus, some of these will tend to have lower quality resorts for their bulk deposits, but you may find some gems sprinkled in among those in TPI and Platinum for example.

If you open a free account with any of these (except II with its mandatory fee) you will be able to view the inventory. TPI and DAE allow you to see their availability without an account. Some more desirable units are only available to you further ahead of the check in date if you upgrade to pay the exchange company for higher status such as gold level, etc. Another thing to work the system is to wait until they come up with an offer to give you a second or third trade with a deposit you make (these extra trades are usually limited to 45-90 days in advance of the check in date, so you must be flexible to take advantage of those).

Be sure to look at their upgrade fees if you lockoff. Some are pretty high if you deposit a studio and then want a 2 or 3 bedroom to trade into. Some of these companies bury this info in obscure locations on their websites.

We typically plan well ahead of time, so I plan deposits of our multiple units to these different companies based on that. For example, DAE has the best availability and inventory for New Zealand, so we made a couple of deposits with DAE last year to plan for our upcoming 2017 trip there.

One last thing - if you do make a trade with one of these smaller exchange companies, be sure to double check that your resort knows who they are and confirm that they got your trade information. I was surprised how many people I worked with on this at our Marriott (which we deposited) hadn't heard of TPI or Platinum when I first went through this.
 
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WinniWoman

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One thing I will add is that in some of the cases with the smaller companies unless you are an upgraded member you might not ever see a lot of what is/was available because it will be gone- taken by the upgraded members. Also, people do put in requests and the weeks are taken before you see them. On a good note, with some of the companies, you don't have to deposit first to make a request.

I personally have free memberships with all of the ones that offer it. I start looking two years to one year ahead of time. I noticed that I see more availability (as a free member) one year out as opposed to two years. In fact, in many cases you see NOTHING two years out.

Be prepared - no where near the inventory of RCI or II. But- the good thing is you can join all of them with the free memberships so you can pick and choose which to use each time. That is why I do not deposit first. It gives me the flexibility to search on all on them for what I want and when I find something I call that particular exchange company, give them my week and book the reservation at the same time.
 

theo

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<snip> ...with some of the companies, you don't have to deposit first to make a request. <snip>

Not an "exchanger", just curious --- which other exchange companies besides Interval International allow its' members to request before deposit? :shrug:
 
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WinniWoman

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Not an "exchanger", just curious --- which other exchange companies besides Interval International allow its' members to request before deposit? :shrug:

DAE does. They will ask what you will be using to trade, but don't have to give it to them until they find something. At least that is how it was when I used them in 2014.

I am not sure about Trading Places as with them I do both simultaneously. What I do is I look for something and when I find it I call and say I want that and here is mine. Traded with them in 2015 and just two weeks ago.

I am a member, but haven't used Platinum Interchange, SFX, and RTX. I can look for availability before depositing into Platinum and RTX, so I assume I can also put a request in.
 

tschwa2

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With SFX if you are a diamond member (upgraded paid membership) you can request first.
 

clotheshorse

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One thing I will add is that in some of the cases with the smaller companies unless you are an upgraded member you might not ever see a lot of what is/was available because it will be gone- taken by the upgraded members. Also, people do put in requests and the weeks are taken before you see them. On a good note, with some of the companies, you don't have to deposit first to make a request.

I personally have free memberships with all of the ones that offer it. I start looking two years to one year ahead of time. I noticed that I see more availability (as a free member) one year out as opposed to two years. In fact, in many cases you see NOTHING two years out.

Be prepared - no where near the inventory of RCI or II. But- the good thing is you can join all of them with the free memberships so you can pick and choose which to use each time. That is why I do not deposit first. It gives me the flexibility to search on all on them for what I want and when I find something I call that particular exchange company, give them my week and book the reservation at the same time.

This is good information. Thanks for sharing.
 

csxjohn

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I use DAE exclusively for exchanging and have for many years. It is free to join, anyone can see the availability, they do not use trading power. It is week for week anywhere you find to go. There is a fee if you move up in unit size but no season charge as of now.

You still do not have to deposit first.

I paid a little extra for the gold membership as I go in front of non gold members for requests and get an extra 2 weeks to snag what others deposit.

What's the down side? They do not have the amount of availability that the big boys have but I have been very happy with what I find.
 
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