# Exchange vs. Staying where you own



## DaveNV (Mar 24, 2010)

Curious to know how often you stay where you own, vs. exchanging into another resort somewhere.  

We have an upcoming trip that will involve staying in two different timeshares, and it just occurred to me that we own them both - no exchanging on this trip.  

So I think I just saved myself $358 in RCI exchange fees.  Can that be right?

Dave


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## logan115 (Mar 24, 2010)

We own DVC at SSR and plan on exchanging into another DVC resort most of the time.  Like the resort and would not be unhappy if we were "stuck" there, but just happen to like (or want to try) the other DVC resorts more.

Probably not the response you were looking for, but that's all I got to work with (for know :hysterical: )

Chris


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## Luanne (Mar 24, 2010)

We used to stay where we own every summer, until our kids' school schedule changed.  We have a fixed week at the end of summer, and when the school district changed the start day to before Labor Day, we were ________. :ignore:


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## dlpearson (Mar 24, 2010)

In 13 years of timesharing with 5 timeshares, we've occupied our home resort/weeks only 3 times.  We're all about exchanging (or renting out).  Too many amazing places to explore (for us anyway) to go back to the same place year after year.


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## Phill12 (Mar 24, 2010)

Almost every Fourth of July week we spend at our resort in Lake Tahoe. 

 When we did travel alot we always found no matter how nice it was we missed going to Lake Tahoe. After leaving timesharing for about ten years we came back and bought at the same resort we owned first time. Since we always use our week we decided few years ago to buy a second unit even year only. This way we get our week and can exchange or rent or use the second week every even year.

 I have always recommended to anyone thinking of buying their first timeshare to try them out by renting first and only buy at the resort and area your family can go every year and be happy. By doing this you will always be a happy owner. To many families try and buy a top trader or location and few years later the kids growing up and going to places like Orlando or other locations that are built for the kids becomes useless to their family and now your trying to exchange every year with really no home base to use. 

 We thought years ago of buying Disney or Hawaii but once our daughter grew older we never go to Disney and after about six trips to Hawaii we really don't see going again and dealing with long flights and high rates.  

 We own in Lake Tahoe which is only a three hour drive so gas prices and other high cost don't bother our planning. We can always exchange for other places anytime we decide we want to travel so this is perfect for our family.

 Also it is close enough for short trip like this May 6-9th my daughter had me book her and a friend for three days on my bonus time which is 50% off the price so for $152.00 she gets a full unit for a thru,fri and sat night. She did same last May and had a great time. This way she doesn't mess with air and all the problems that go with flying.

 PHIL


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## logan115 (Mar 24, 2010)

Phil - 

I sooooo wish that there was somewhere within driving distance that we wanted to go regularly !  Living just north of Chicago the only real option is the Wisconsin Dells and my wife isn't a big fan.  

I think we need to move just to have more "local" TS options :hysterical: 

Chris


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## AMJ (Mar 24, 2010)

We don't exchange our 2 Hilton Head resorts or our Myrtle Beach one. We prefer to visit HHI and MB every year. We do trade our Orlando resort most years. We use Cypress Harbour to exchange into West Palm Beach, Aruba, and Hilton Head. Although I love Cypress Harbour and the Orlando area, my husband doesn't. 

If I owned a week at Chetola Resort at Blowing Rock or Lodges at Cresthaven during the summer, I'd never exchange.

Joyce


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## Icc5 (Mar 24, 2010)

*Depends on Resort*

Lawrence Welk which we own at we stay about 2 out of every 3 years.
Worldmark we usually stay at one of them.
Donatello, we stayed at once because we don't care for S.F.
Orange Lake we have stayed at twice but don't go to Florida from California too often.
Bart


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## brankatz (Mar 24, 2010)

We stay at our Ft. Myers Beach every year and stay the following week at our Sanibel Unit every other year to give us 2 weeks in a row same area different location.  This year rented the Sanibel but still will be at Ft. myers unit.  Always trade our Orange Lake and just got a Pts. Week to exchange exclusively.


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## Dori (Mar 24, 2010)

We always trade our units, as we crave the sun during our cold winters. Two of our weeks are located about 90 miles from our home, so vacationing there would not seem much like a holiday. Our SA unit is much too far away to visit every year, so we trade that one as well.

Dori


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## AwayWeGo (Mar 24, 2010)

*Having It Both Ways.*




BMWguynw said:


> Curious to know how often you stay where you own, vs. exchanging into another resort somewhere.


In recent years we've been renting out our timeshares & using what's left of the proceeds (after paying maintenance fees) for RCI _Last Call_ & _Instant Exchange_ reservations to stay at other people's timeshares. 

We did that again this year with 1 of our timeshares, except that this year our _Instant Exchange_ reservation was for a week right there at our own timeshare, exactly the same as what we rented out to somebody else. 

Is this a great country or what ? 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## BevL (Mar 24, 2010)

The only "resort" I own that I've used myself is our Shuswap Lake houseboat.  Other than that I've exchange for two to four weeks a year.


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## bdh (Mar 24, 2010)

The only known cure for "Keys Disease" is to return to Key West - so for "health reasons", we now go every year.


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## Egret1986 (Mar 24, 2010)

*I always buy were we would be happy to go IF IT REQUIRED US TO DO THAT*



dlpearson said:


> Too many amazing places to explore (for us anyway) to go back to the same place year after year.



However, we'll never get to all the places that we would like to see in this lifetime, but it's sure nice trying see as many as we can.  We've only stayed once in the last 10 or so years where we've owned.  As long as we can get great exchanges to new areas, it's hard to imagine going to the same place over and over again when there's all those unexplored territories, and that's just in the Continental US.  Never been to Alaska, Hawaii, Europe, Mexico, Canada (except day trip), etc, etc, etc.


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## dougp26364 (Mar 24, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Curious to know how often you stay where you own, vs. exchanging into another resort somewhere.
> 
> We have an upcoming trip that will involve staying in two different timeshares, and it just occurred to me that we own them both - no exchanging on this trip.
> 
> ...



Each resort we've purchased, we purchased with the intention of using the resort. As time has gone on some of those resorts have gone from personal usage to exchange. In some cases, it's been a matter of oportunity in which we're happy to stay at our home resort but, we'll put in a request first (we use Interval International) exchange request for places we think we'd like to go but, might be considered a difficult exchange.

We average at least six 7 night vacations each year. Using lock-out units and points based exchange systems, we actually own more timeshare than we can use. Some of our timeshare vacations end up being long weekend trips that don't require us to take time off from work (we have flexible schedules). 

This year we'll only stay at two of the resorts where we have deeds. One was a completed request first exchange going from our Marriott Vegas ownership to another Marriott in Kauai. A second was an online exchange using a Vegas Marriott lock-out to go to Hilton Head Island. The third was using a studio Marriott lock-out for a Marriott resort in Breckenridge for a long weekend trip. In July we picked up an unexpected exchange opportunity using a rather weak ownership going from Branson to South Lake Tahoe. The final exhange involved an internal exchange opportunity that did not require an exchange fee for a weekend trip to Branson. So despite our intentions to buy where we're happy to stay, we've managed to exchange most of our ownership interests from something else.

In 2011 we've used hotel rewards points to pay the lions share of a cruise. This time we'll stay out the Marriott resort we own in Vegas. The third vacation will be an internal exchange to spend a week in Santa Fe, NM. Then we'll use another internal exchange opportunity to spend a week in Breckenridge, CO during the summer months. After that it's a little fuzzy but, the plans as they stand right now are to use a week we own in Branson, MO for a weeks vacation. Finally we'll use our Marriott ownership in Florida for a weeks vacation and, we'll make our yearly family Christmas lights tour trip to Branson, MO using the internal exchange option we have with DRI. So 2011 could potentially not involve the use of any outside exchange company at all and save us on all those exchange fee's. 

Of course, the problem is, our plans tend to change. Sometimes I'll be searching online with a reservation I have and something to good to pass up comes along. That's how we managed to end up going to Hilton Head this year. Initially, I was going to make a Marriott to Marriott exchange to get to S. Lake Tahoe and probably just go to Branson in July and then Santa Fe, NM in September on a DRI internal exchange. But, as luck would have it, I was doing an online search with the weakest of the weeks we own, a one bedroom prefered week in Branson, and saw a two bedroom unit at The Ridge in S. Lake Tahoe pop up. Before confirming that exchange I took a look at what might be available using the one bedroom Marriott unit that I had an ongoing request in for Lake Tahoe and, a two bedroom unit on HHI popped up. So I made the HHI exchange then went back and made the Lake Tahoe exchange, thus changing about 1/3 of our vacation plans in one way or another. 

So who knows how 2011 will really play out for us. The one thing I know is I really need to cut down on the airfare so I'd really like to take the three drive-to vacations I have planned out in my mind. Over the last two years we've flown to Barcelona Spain once and Hawaii twice. Flying out of a small mid-western airport, that really took a toll on our travel budget. At the very least, I must keep the airfares domestic and in the contenintal U.S. to get my travel budget back on track. But then you just never know what temptation that we just can't resist might present itself and off we go again.


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## DanM (Mar 24, 2010)

10+ years and I've never stayed at any of the four timeshares I've owned. Always traded them for larger, more expensive (rent vs. my maintenance) and better located resorts. That said, I would stay at mine if I couldn't get a good exchange and have pretty much stopped depositing with RCI because the exchange pool is being creamed for rentals. I expect to use my resorts personally in the future and am "resetting" my portfolio accordingly.


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## glypnirsgirl (Mar 25, 2010)

*I am embarassed to admit this but ...*

I bought Disney twice from the developer (and that isn't the embarassing part). I always have used my Disney weeks at Disney --- I like OKW so much that I don't even go to the other resorts very much.

I recently bought some "traders" so that I would go other places. Last year I rented at a couple of places on Maui (Sands of Kahana and Westin Ka'anapali) - got great deals on both of them - without the uncertainty of trading. 

So what do I do? Yep, used my traders to get into DVC. And one of them was for OKW. I am really branching out now though, I used the other to go to the Beach Club.

Good grief 

Elaine


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## DeniseM (Mar 25, 2010)

Egret1986 said:


> Never been to...Hawaii.......



And that completely explains why you never go back to the same place.  Go to Hawaii - you WILL go back!


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## rhonda (Mar 25, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Curious to know how often you stay where you own, vs. exchanging into another resort somewhere.


We spend most nights (80%+) at places we OWN -- but may have used exchanges to get there.

(In reality, my answer could have been titled, "_It's complicated!_"  My first take at replying to your simple question took half a page of text with various evaluation factors, rules/exceptions to arrive at the simple conclusion stated above.)


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## LLW (Mar 25, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Curious to know how often you stay where you own, vs. exchanging into another resort somewhere.
> 
> We have an upcoming trip that will involve staying in two different timeshares, and it just occurred to me that we own them both - no exchanging on this trip.
> 
> ...



Worldmark is the only resort that we own.

* WM: WM itself has 71 resorts (ranging from 13 units to 430 units at each; U.S., Canada, Fiji, Mexico). We have visited 24 of them in 8 years of ownership, many multiple times, many for 1-4 nights at a time. There are only about 5 that we use most frequently, all of which are drive-tos. We make 1-2 timeshare visits every month, and have about 30 outstanding reservations on the books at any time, but cancel easily 3 to 4 times that many in a year. Booking and cancelling may all be done on line. There is no booking fee; we can cancel from 2 to 30 days in advance of check-in with no penalty (depending on how far in advance we have booked - 30 days if we have booked from 91 days to 13 months; 10 days if booked from 15 to 90 days; 2 days if booked within 3 to 14 days). MF for a _classic, built pre-Wyndham_ (the majority of the WM resorts) 2BR week in high season ranges from about $400 to about $700, depending on whether you have a large or small account. Low season costs about 1/2 of that.

* Affiliated/associated resorts: there are 47 where we can directly book without booking fee: Wyndham, Vacation International, and others. But availability is limited. We have visited 2 of them and don't anticipate visiting many in the future.

* Exchanges: We use II only. The II membership costs us about $45 a year, with the 2-for-1 special that they have for WM. We do about 4 exchanges a year, the cost in exchange and maintenance fees ranges from about $339 to about $639 (we have a medium size WM account). These include DVC, Westins, Marriotts, Four Seasons (Aviara and Troon North); Continental North America, Hawaii, and Europe. We have visited some many times. WM trades very well, but it's II's Deposit First and Flexchange that help minimize the cost. Haven't used Short Stays yet.


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## scrapngen (Mar 25, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> And that completely explains why you never go back to the same place.  Go to Hawaii - you WILL go back!



That's so funny, yet so true Denise!! 

We went to HI, then went back a few years later. Then decided when we go it had to be at LEAST 2 weeks (partly because of the price of airfare) Pretty soon it was every other year, then every year. Finally bought a TS  as it seems like a better idea than what we'd always cobbled together renting and has obviously become a place we want to return to over and over.

To the OP, can't answer that question yet, as our first use of our TS will be at our home resort this Christmas/New Year. :whoopie:


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## zcrider (Mar 25, 2010)

*both*

This is a really fun thread to read!
  I have two timeshares one at Harborside at Atlantis we bought to use, only need a two bedroom but bought a three b/c MF's are the same and by renting out the one small lock off side it pays the lion's share of the total MF making our two bedroom side very inexpensive ($400 this year difference).   
  Then I wanted some Marriott preference for trading so I bought an EOY in Branson (close enough to drive to if we can't trade it for something else we want) but the only reason we bought it was to trade it.  
  There are several TS's I want to own, Worldmark being next on the list.....but I don't want to over commit to too many manditory MF's and I find that II has a WONDERFUL selection of getaways that go for much less then the MF to own there, and so many great locations get posted for cheap rent here  on TUG's last min. postings also, so I can't really find a good "excuse" to buy more timeshares right now.  But it is tempting when you see a good deal not to grab it....women's instinct.  
  I love timesharing and I love Tug!!!!


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## KarenP (Mar 25, 2010)

*Bought timeshares to trade*

I bought my first timeshare in Maui to trade and had such good luck, that I bought a second week in London to trade.  Never went to either place, but got some awesome trades during Spring breaks and school holidays.  My kids still talk about all the places we went.  Sold the weeks after the kids graduated for what I paid for them (thanks to TUG).  

When I saw the threads about the South Africa weeks on Tug, I bought there, too, and got great trades to Orlando, some beaches in Florida, and Las Vegas during "off" seasons.  My membership with RCI ends next year, so I'm giving up my South Africa week and will no longer be trading with RCI.

Now I've purchased a Marriott and look forward to using that week with future grandchildren and trading in the Florida Club.


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## jamstew (Mar 25, 2010)

Luanne said:


> We used to stay where we own every summer, until our kids' school schedule changed.  We have a fixed week at the end of summer, and when the school district changed the start day to before Labor Day, we were ________. :ignore:



Same situation for me--late summer week stopped working with new school calendar + football two-a-days, so my original ts (purchased in about 1983) became a trader. Ill never see my Vail week 52, but my kids will use it two out of three years and I'll rent it the third year to cover about two years worth of MF. I use my October beach week on the Texas coast and all my DVC & Wyndham points.


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## Hophop4 (Mar 25, 2010)

We have owned our Branson week since 2000 and never have stayed in that unit (because of bonus time) but plan to use it this June.  My Panama City Beach July 4th week we go every year.  My Seaside week is a toss up sometimes we use it and sometimes we deposit with RCI depending on how the dates fall with DH work schedule.  This year we get week 53 free and it is already deposited to RCI.


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## laura1957 (Mar 25, 2010)

I stay where we own - Massanutten.  We live near the water so we appreciate the mountains.  Since we are not tied to any work/school schedule we use a lot of last calls to go other places.  My husband is self employed, and I can get off just about anytime I want with a few days notice.


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## a1000monkeys (Mar 25, 2010)

I only own DVC - Villas at Grand Californian.  When we go to Disneyland I want to stay at the Grand Californian and with the incentives they had last summer buying was cheaper than renting from Disney or other DVC owners.

I don't have a ton of points so I expect we'll use the points for the Grand Californian 80% of the time and then once in awhile at DVC resorts at WDW or possibly Hawaii.

I don't anticipate ever using the points for anything other than DVC properties.  I'd likely be better off renting the points and then renting another property instead of trading.


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## Simoncc (Mar 25, 2010)

We own at 3 resorts and tend to stay at least one of them each year and exchange the other(s) throught RCI Points. That way we get the benefit of both going back to somewhere we know well and checking out new places.

Although I enjoy visiting new areas there is a lot to be said for laid back vacations at our own resorts where you don't feel obliged to 'do' all the sights in a week in case you never come back!


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## sfwilshire (Mar 25, 2010)

I've never stayed in four of the units I own. Never even seen one of the resorts. Might finally go there this year.

It has been years since I've stayed in my owned week in another resort. 

We stay in the 2br side of our Orlando week 52 lockoff about every other year. I've never seen the 1br side.

Sheila


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## brother coony (Mar 25, 2010)

We own 7 timeshare 4 weeks an one resort, and only trade once traded with RCI, in 8 yrs. had 11 for 3yrs never traded with them,we used two of our resort every year both in NY driveing distance, (1 to 2 hrs)
our Carribean resort we go every two years, But we do trade Person To person,We love the sea and sun,goes to the Carribean atleast twice per year thru direct exchange with owners of resort we want to go to in other Countrys,have traded NYC for Half Moon in Jamaica, Marriott St Kitts,
Marriott Spain, and marriott Paris, all direct here on Tug:whoopie:


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## Passepartout (Mar 25, 2010)

We have actually stayed at one of our resorts. Once. We got an Extra Vacation there for much less than the MF! The rest of the time I've used the RCI Points to get 3+ weeks use from the 1 ownership using 7500 and 9000 point last minute exchanges. Our MROP is a kind of low budget mini group of 50some resorts, so we move around a lot on those. This year, PV and Hawaii, so it isn't all bad.

I'd buy a late summer Yellowstone area fixed week to use if I found one.

So Dave, it looks like you are doing good on saving $358 in exchange fees this year. And from my very loose count, it looks like so far the majority of respondents are exchangers.  And that's the cool thing about TS'ing. Flexibility. And that's also what makes the learning curve so steep, and what makes TUG so valuable.

Jim Ricks


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## eakhat (Mar 25, 2010)

We exchange 4 of our 5 timeshares most of the time and never exchange one of our timeshares.


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## Steve (Mar 25, 2010)

It has changed for me.  I used to exchange most of my weeks, but now I stay at my home resorts most of the time.  I rearranged my portfolio so that I own at places that I really enjoy and are also within a reasonable driving distance. 

While I'm not completely abandoning exchanging, it is so easy to rent most places that I plan to rent weeks more than exchange when I want additional weeks in the future.

Steve


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## Egret1986 (Mar 25, 2010)

*Absolutely, agree and I think that our exchanging vs using may change in the future*



Simoncc said:


> Although I enjoy visiting new areas there is a lot to be said for laid back vacations at our own resorts where you don't feel obliged to 'do' all the sights in a week in case you never come back!



Just for that reason.


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## Egret1986 (Mar 25, 2010)

*Easier for you, being on the West Coast*



DeniseM said:


> And that completely explains why you never go back to the same place.  Go to Hawaii - you WILL go back!




I haven't yet figured out how to manage flights from the East Coast.  Flights out West are about as long as I think I can take.  I need four weeks.  One week to spend on the West Coast pre-Hawaii, two weeks in Hawaii, and a post-Hawaii week on the West Coast before heading back.  It will be many years before I can do four or even three weeks together.  

But now that the kids no longer are interested in going on vacations with us, I do see Hawaii in our future.  I've just got to figure out the best way to deal with those long flights.

But now you're telling me that I'll want to go back over and over  

I better just stay away from that place altogether.


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## hsintang (Mar 26, 2010)

I studied the timesharing skills from TUG.  Attended a TS tour and almost bought a developer unit, came home, on-line searched, found TUG, and cancelled the contract.
I wanted a low MN unit for trade since we want to explore LOTs of places.
Studied for a few months, bought two studio units in South Africa (with 10 yrs RCI membership) when US $= 12 Rand and sold when US dollar exchange value decreased in half.
Studied again with Tuggers' suggestions, bought two studio units in Southern California with MN fee about $350 (current).
We had many good trades through RCI mostly either in July 4 or Christmas-New Year week including:  1bedroom summer Manhattan club, Christmas 2bedroom Orange Lake Orlando, July 4 week Island Park (Yellowstone) and 2 bedroom Jackson Hole, Christmas week 1bedroom Intrawest Palm Spring, summer in Oregon, Birch Bay (WA).
We rented HGVC Waikoloa and Westin Cabo San Lucas when we can't plan in advance and also ran out banked week for exchange.
I exchanged into two DVC weeks for July 4 this year and finally bought HGVC (Flamingo) for their Hawaii locations and RCI point system.

Joining TUG was one of the best investments I had ever made!


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## Tacoma (Mar 26, 2010)

We bought our first week at Banff in the summer about 6 years ago and have never used our summer week since we have a trailer at a lake about 1.5 hours west of Banff.  We have rented it and done exchanges through TUG and exchange companies that don't have annual fees. THen we bought a ski week that we use about half of the time at the same resort.  We'll be there next week. We also occasionally use bonus time at this resort. Bought an EOY week in Kelowna with friends and have used it since we owned it but that is only 2 times but have no plans to ever trade it if we can't go our friends will use it or vice versa.  Have recently bought Worldmark but I'm still waiting for the account to be transferred and I'm looking forward to using the system. I keep telling myself I don't need any more but who knows this is likely our last year at the lake since the owner is selling the lots for more than we paid for our house. 

Joan


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## John Cummings (Mar 26, 2010)

In our 23 years of timesharing we have only stayed a full week once at one of our resorts. That was our first week at San Luis Bay Inn, Avila Beach California. We sold that one a couple years ago. Our other resort Gaslamp Plaza Suites San Diego, we bought for trading only as we live only an hour away from it. However we have used bonus time frequently at the Gaslamp for 2-3 night getaways to play tourist in San Diego. We are going to use our week at Gaslamp next year for the July 4th week. I already have it reserved. After that we are going to sell that one too as we prefer non-timeshare trips.

We have stayed in several timeshares more than once, Grand Mayan 5 times, HGVC/Flamingo Las Vegas 5 times, and several others 2 or 3 times. We are off to Hawaii in a couple weeks for 1 week at Kona and 1 week at Waikiki.


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## JudyH (Mar 26, 2010)

We never have used our two weeks in Myrtle Beach, but we go look at it when we are going thru the area.  We have used those weeks for places we need to fly to, or can't use our motorhome for.  We go to Santa Fe every other year for a work conference, and so far have been lucky to get trades.  We do the Carribbean every other Dec, and always trade for that.  Mexico, Europe, and West Coast, Hawaii, and NYC have been most of our trades.

Being a life long camper, I have really been able to stay in nice, nice places.  What a treat.


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## Judy (Mar 26, 2010)

We own several timeshares.  When we first bought each one, it was to stay there.  But as our life and residences changed over the years, so did the way we use our timeshares.  Buddy Dive Bonaire - we stay there every year for 1 - 3 weeks.  It's a floating RTU.  Celebrity Resorts Orlando - we always exchange because we now live near Orlando.  Hatteras High NC - we always exchange because we now live at the beach.  Worldmark - we usually use our credits in one or more of the resorts in the Worldmark system (no exchange fees).


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## deemac (Mar 26, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Curious to know how often you stay where you own, vs. exchanging into another resort somewhere.
> Dave



Owners in Sint Maarten since 1985 (3 wks, 2b LO -- stay there every year; exchanged only twice).  Our Kids use lockout portion for exchange if we do not take friends/family with us.


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## rod (Mar 26, 2010)

BMWguynw said:


> Curious to know how often you stay where you own, vs. exchanging into another resort somewhere.


In the 20 years we have owned timeshares, we have used the week where we own 39 times and exchanged into another timeshare 27 times.  We presently have 2 weeks spacebanked.


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## RAMBO (Mar 29, 2010)

*dvc member*

I owned my BWV points since 1997. Went there for upteen number of spring breaks and christmasses/new years. In 2009 used our points to go to Disneyland  Paris, an excuse to go to Paris. Using my 2010 points to go to Spain , Club lacosta Marina dorado using RCI exchange. 2011 will be Japan and 2012 will be Hongkong using points. But reading your comments I know I am not doing it right but that's OK.


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## philsfan (Mar 29, 2010)

We've stayed in a resort we owned before we owned it and we stayed in a resort we owned after we owned it but we never stayed in a resort we owned while we owned it and we are very happy about that.


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## Jennie (Apr 1, 2010)

I'm truly surprised to see how many people are using their timeshares for exchanges, given the dwindling availability of desirable resorts available through RCI.

We began buying weeks (always resale at bargain prices) in the mid 1990's. We exchanged often, approximately 100 times, and have had wonderful vacations all over the U.S., Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, and Europe. Many of these vacations consisted of 4 weeks back-to-back in a specific area.

We live in the New York City area and hate the cold winters. For years we planned to buy a condo in Florida when we retired. We planned to spend about 4-5 winter months there. Many of our relatives and former co-workers do this. 

However, we began exchanging into many timeshares in the southeast and the gulf coast of Florida in February and  decided we liked the Ft. Lauderdale Beach Resort the best. So we gradually purchased 5 weeks back-to-back (2 bedroom lock-off units) (January to March)and have been using them every year as our "snowbird escape." It saved us the expense and responsibility of buying a full year condo. We can easily rent our timeshares for much more than the maintenance fees if we decide to go somewhere else one year. But that's not feasible now because my mother-in-law is 93 and must come with us when we travel. She is used to our FLBR unit and looks forward to going there every year. We get together with a lot of friends and relatives who either live in Florida full time, or spend several months there in the winter. We have met several people, including some TUGgers, who also own for personal use multiple weeks at our resort. It's VRI managed and they have done a wonderful job renovating it.

Last month while we were in the middle of our 5 week Ft. Lauderdale vacation, a very desirable timeshare in Ft. Myers Beach popped up as a last minute cancellation on the RCI web site. We confirmed it for about $300. out-of-pocket cost and rented our Ft. Lauderdale week while we were away.

We also own 2 beach front weeks near Atlantic City in July and 3 Cape Cod weeks in August. These are drive-to locations for us. We use them often and occasionally rent them.

I still own some weeks purchased in the mid 1990's that we bought as traders. They are nice resorts but we  do not care to vacation there, mainly because of the cost and length of the air trip needed to get there. We occasionally trade them through SFX or TPI or Redweek. We are in the process of selling two of them to families who have rented them from us for a few years.

I will be so happy to reach the point where we use everything we own. If we want to go elsewhere in the future, we plan to just rent what we want from an owner. I'll be so glad to be rid of RCI.


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## John Cummings (Apr 1, 2010)

Jennie said:


> I'll be so glad to be rid of RCI.



You could have dropped RCI years ago. There are other exchange companies that work pretty well. I dropped RCI 18 years ago and then dropped II a few years later.


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## LLW (Apr 1, 2010)

John Cummings said:


> You could have dropped RCI years ago. There are other exchange companies that work pretty well. I dropped RCI 18 years ago and then dropped II a few years later.



But you did say above that you are in the process of dropping timesharing trips?

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=886831&postcount=38


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## Deb from NC (Apr 1, 2010)

We use our Wyndham points every year at our home resort (Alexandria). We never get tired of going there !  (We have just enough points for 1 week there per year).  We always use our week at Port O Call (Hilton Head) as well.
DH is a golfer, and you can't beat the golf package....The one unit we trade is our week at Spicebush (HH).  It trades well since it's in June..we used it the first year we bought it (maybe 5 years ago?) and have traded it every year since.  We might actually use it next year as I'm eager to see the upgraded kitchens....  This year I traded it for a week at the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont in late May.  We've never been to Vermont so are excited about going!
Deb


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## John Cummings (Apr 1, 2010)

LLW said:


> But you did say above that you are in the process of dropping timesharing trips?
> 
> http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=886831&postcount=38



Yes, you are right but that has nothing to do with being able to exchange. We are dropping them because we far prefer to stay in luxury hotels with room service, all the amenities, and flexibility. If we do want a timeshare, we will just rent a week but that probably won't be very often.


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## bnoble (Apr 1, 2010)

> I'm truly surprised to see how many people are using their timeshares for exchanges, given the dwindling availability of desirable resorts available through RCI.


Maybe I'm insufficiently discriminating, but I'm able to find weeks that work for me and are fair value (and, often, more than fair) given what I'm putting in.


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## Jennie (Apr 5, 2010)

bnoble said:


> Maybe I'm insufficiently discriminating, but I'm able to find weeks that work for me and are fair value (and, often, more than fair) given what I'm putting in



I do too but it takes too much time and work, and the final result is too unpredictable. That's why we now like to stay at the units we bought resale after much research (exchanging into many different resorts in the areas where we like to vacation on a regular basis).


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## Texasbelle (Apr 10, 2010)

*Mostly go to our own timeshares*

7 weeks of timeshare; 3 float, 2 fixed, 2 points [not RCI].  Have been depositing 1 of the float weeks and using that to trade.  So we go to the same places 4 weeks.  Then we use the points to go to that resort [for less than a week stay] several times.


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## akp (Apr 10, 2010)

*So far we've only used resorts in our points system.*

We live driving distance to one of the TS in our points system.  (Wilderness Club at Big Cedar).  We go there as a family 4-5 times a year for partial week stays, plus I take a group of girlfriends one weekend a year.

We've had 5 additional trips to other Bluegreen resorts.

I'm going on my first exchange in June 2010 to DVC Vero Beach, and I have another 4 exchanges scheduled (2 trips to Manhattan Club, one to Quarter House in New Orleans, and one to HGVC KingsLand).


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## silentg (Apr 10, 2010)

We stayed at our home resort Season at Sugarbush the first year we owned it starting in 1981 and traded it to go to Daytona Beach in 1982. We went back to our home resort a few more times during the 80's and also traded to go to Poconos in 1985.  We moved to Florida in 1987 and started trading for other resorts since we did not live near the home resort in Vermont anymore.   We bought another timeshare in South Africa and used that one for trades. Never stayed in SA.  A few years ago we bought a week at Orange Lake and we have stayed there  a couple of times and upgraded to a points week.  We used our points in April 2009 to take a trip to Paris.  In the last 29 years we have enjoyed our timeshare vacations, we have traveled to Las Vegas, Hilton Head, Williamsburg, Cape Cod, Boone and New Burne NC, as well as Hollywood, Vero Beach and Santa Rosa Island, FL. We hope to be able to travel for many more years in the future.  We have 3 vacations planned for 2010. First one is to Disney's Vero Beach Resort in a couple of weeks.  Second one is in Canada just north of Montreal in June. Third one is in Santa Fe, New Mexico in October.  Also hope to get a trip to Ireland in before the end of the year.  I love timesharing.  Tug has always been very helpful to me when planning trips.  Thanks to all of you for your advice!  TerryC


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## glypnirsgirl (Apr 10, 2010)

*I knew that I could trade*

but I never did. I have owned at Disney's Old Key west since 1994 and I have never traded. I have owned at Saratoga Springs since 2004 and I have never traded.

Two years ago, I acquired two traders and now I trade. I have used both of my traders to trade to Disney. Its crazy. 

You would not know that I love to travel. We frequently go to Cozumel (3-4 times per year) and we have paid to stay in Hawaii, Virginia, Oregon, Las Vegas and California. Now I am trying to figure out how to trade to get into the places that I want to go.


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## bccash63 (Apr 11, 2010)

akp said:


> We live driving distance to one of the TS in our points system.  (Wilderness Club at Big Cedar).  We go there as a family 4-5 times a year for partial week stays, plus I take a group of girlfriends one weekend a year.
> 
> We've had 5 additional trips to other Bluegreen resorts.
> 
> I'm going on my first exchange in June 2010 to DVC Vero Beach, and I have another 4 exchanges scheduled (2 trips to Manhattan Club, one to Quarter House in New Orleans, and one to HGVC KingsLand).



WOW! for someone going on there 1st exchange in June you have picked up some very nice exchanges. I didn't realize you could deposit and trade Bluegreen pts--looks like they must trade well--congrats Dawn


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## sandcastles (Apr 11, 2010)

I have purchased all my TS except one with the intention of using them.  I bought my first in 1984 pre construction from the developer.  This was in Gatlinburg and intended to go every year.  It went belly up (I think it was planned this way in the beginning) and arrangements were made for us to take another TS.  We took it but didn't like it so didn't stay there.  At that time MF were $250 and still are only $350.  We got great trades thru RCI and still get decent ones so we ended up buying another unit from HOA.  We have just stayed there 3 days since 1984.

We would never consider exchanging our Sanibel or Captiva weeks and probably not our DVC.  We try to exchange our Gatlinburg week for Sanibel/Captiva so we have four weeks together.

We bought our unit in NC for trading purposes only but we do want to go there also.

We have loved owning all our TS but are thinking about scaling back.  We have been retired 11 years and the first few years we vacationed at least 6 months per year.  As we are getting older we don't like going quite so much.  Plus our daughters family moved to Charleston, SC and we really love going there.  We trade into Lodge Alley Inn and Church Street Inn plus stay with family.  We might try renting a condo for extended stays also.


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## glypnirsgirl (Apr 11, 2010)

sandcastles said:


> I have purchased all my TS except one with the intention of using them.  I bought my first in 1984 pre construction from the developer.  This was in Gatlinburg and intended to go every year.  It went belly up (I think it was planned this way in the beginning) and arrangements were made for us to take another TS.  We took it but didn't like it so didn't stay there.  At that time MF were $250 and still are only $350.  We got great trades thru RCI and still get decent ones so we ended up buying another unit from HOA.  We have just stayed there 3 days since 1984.
> 
> We would never consider exchanging our Sanibel or Captiva weeks and probably not our DVC.  We try to exchange our Gatlinburg week for Sanibel/Captiva so we have four weeks together.
> 
> ...



This sounds like an ideal way to use your TS to me. 

And it is what my ultimate goal is - to be able to trade to get closer to our future grandchildren. I am concerned that we won't be able to guess correctly where they will end up. We now have one of the kids locked down, (our oldest daughter) she will be in Wilmington, DE - so I am looking at resorts along the shore in MD, DE and NJ - for vacations with our future grandchildren - and she is now talking about waiting another ten years before having any  

I am so conflicted right now. I feel like the TS are at an all time low, but I don't want to choose the wrong places or the wrong system. 

elaine


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## csalter2 (Apr 11, 2010)

*I Exchange a lot within my home system*

When I originally bought my first timeshare it was with a company that had about 7 or 8 locations in the US. It was bought out by Sunterra who was bought by DRI. Now I have an internal exchange of well over 100 resorts and don't have to pay exchange fees when I use their system. However, I do use II from time to time and have used those DRI points to stay at Palm Desert and Florida Marriott's and Westin's. 

I have never used my Ko Olina for an exchange. When I tried to use it to stay at the Marriott Napili Towers, I gave up because it was getting too close to the date and airfares needed to be considered. 

DRI has some great ways to take advantage of other timeshares. I can place my Ko Olina into the DRI system for other DRI owners to use. I can then get additional DRI points and use them within the DRI system or II. This is great if I need additional time or units. I can also use my regular annual allotment of points if I want to use others' resorts. This is called Diamond Select. It is a great tool and a very nice benefit because again I don't have to pay any exchange fees. What is even better is I have a choice of using my points or paying cash. As a DRI owner, I would pay half of what the rental price is than for someone who is not a member. 

So yes, I stay at my home resort in Hawaii a lot and I stay a lot in my system system too.


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## buffyscrubs (Apr 14, 2010)

We have met several people, including some TUGgers, who also own for personal use multiple weeks at our resort


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## Carolinian (Apr 22, 2010)

Back during my time as an HOA president, I did an analysis of use of weeks at our resort on the OBX.  Overall, for summer weeks, about 10% were deposited for exchange and about 5% rented.  The rest were used by owners or family/guests.  The overwhelming majority of summer weeks were still owned by either the original purchaser from the developer or by a successor family member.  For the Fall, fishing season, September through Thanksgiving, about 20% were deposited for exchange and about 2% rented.  The balance of the year, winter and spring, about 30% were deposited for exchange, and this number was remarkably consistent month to month during that period.  There were few rentals in winter but they started picking up the later one got into spring to some degree.

In talking with managers at two other resorts on the OBX, neither had ever sat down to actually run the numbers, but they suggested that their experience was that numbers at their resorts would run about the same.

This is an interesting question I have asked resort managers at resorts I have exchanged into.  At a resort in Germany, the manager said about 10% were deposited for exchange while a manager in France put it in the low single digits.  At a resort in the UK and one in Austria, the managers estimated it at 40% overall.  All of them, plus another manager in the UK, indicated they were observing a marked decline of members using RCI, saying members were citing two problems 1) that they were no longer getting the types of exchanges they had previously gotten and 2) the costs of using RCI had gone up substantially.  One resort had set up a resort-run rental pool that members could put their weeks into, which had had considerable success as an alternative to exchanging.  The UK resorts both had seen a siginificant increase in members using DAE, but while the Austrian and German resort both had members who used DAE, they had not seen any big increase in usage there.  All said that they were noticing significant increases in members who were using their weeks at the resort themselves and had dropped RCI.  Several have also set up programs where members can rent extra weeks from the resort from HOA owned weeks, at a rate significantly below m/f's.  This was a members-only perk and not availible to non-members.


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## Colorado Belle (Apr 22, 2010)

I bought online into two resorts in PV that I have used ...rented out one week at Xmas last year.
I bought DVC resale and would never trade that one as renting out points and using the $$ is a much better deal than trading.

I joined II this year because I had two weeks that I couldn't use (I have about 8 weeks  in Puerto Vallarta) and wanted to see if exchanging made sense. Since maitenance fees are still fairly low, adding the exchange fee is still reasonable.....but I've yet to see what 'power' my resorts bring in the exchange market. KoOlina showed up, but a studio for a 1 bd.  I have to learn how to do it.


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