Beefnot
TUG Member
Another factor that may account for your success is your willingness to travel off season (which we prefer as we don't enjoy crowds). I see a lot of inventory with my supposedly mid tier traders and nearly always have an upgrade opportunity if we're flexible on the date. We're empty nesters though, so we're not tied to the school schedule any more I can take whatever good trade comes up while I am searching. I also think the preference period for Marriott/Starwood is a very valuable II benefit, as are the reduced exchange fees - $124 for Marriott trades and $119 for Starwood exchanges. (Those may be off by $5 - not quite sure).
I haven't joined RCI because the exchange fees seem kind of steep. Of my three units that trade exclusively in RCI, we use two of them and we may rent the third one instead of trading it so it doesn't make sense to join a second exchange company.
Oh yes, ability to travel offseason has been very important. There are also one or two wrinkles in the matrix, so to speak, which I am exploring that may take me another year or so to validate.
RCI is very expensive and the absolute only reason I can see myself using them at this point is for Disney exchanges.