# DEX - some great opportunities for people with deeded weeks that are not in The Club



## chemteach (May 12, 2021)

I often think I shouldn't post too much about Destination Exchange because if too many people find out about it, maybe the good weeks will go away.  

So here goes...  (this is only for deeded weeks reservations - The Club won't have these units showing up)

I've been able to get summer weeks in SoCal in 2 bedroom units, year round Hawaii weeks at Kaanapali and Point at Poipu, Xmas and New Years weeks in the Caribbean, and some other great weeks that I am forgetting.  Oh - Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort Summer weeks.
I just did a quick check for a bunch of different things.  If you can plan over a year in advance, DEX can be great.  They have a bunch of the Grand Pacific Resorts right now for summer 2022 - including SoCal and Hawaii.   I've never been to the VI Rosedale in Vancouver, but there were a lot of those weeks available for summer 2022 as well.  

Good luck to all with using DEX with deeded weeks.  It can be very fruitful.


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## NiteMaire (May 12, 2021)

chemteach said:


> I often think I shouldn't post too much about Destination Exchange because if too many people find out about it, maybe the good weeks will go away.


DX inventory is awful!    I purchased Sedona Summit to be able to trade into KBR and P@P via DX!  We had an exchange into LTVR (ski week), but it was canceled due to COVID.  I noticed the GP weeks at HBR earlier this week when I was daydreaming about our next vacation.  Tempting, but they were all 1BR units.
You could always post the great weeks in the Sightings Forum to limit them to tuggers with paid membersip.


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## Grammarhero (May 12, 2021)

chemteach said:


> I often think I shouldn't post too much about Destination Exchange because if too many people find out about it, maybe the good weeks will go away.
> 
> So here goes...  (this is only for deeded weeks reservations - The Club won't have these units showing up)
> 
> ...



I like the five-year booking window.  Last year, Diamond actually gave us an extra year availability, so we had six years to book something (not that I need that long of a time).  

I also like the lower fees.  Of course, there's no membership price to join DEX for DRI deed owners.  I like the exchange fee is only $150, compared to $210 (II) and $240 (RCI).  I also like that the GC are only $25, compared to $70 (II) and $90 (RCI). 

I also like that if I need to book two units, I don't need a GC.  The same owner can check in at the same time for two different units.

My complaints 
1) availability is more limited than II and RCI
2) I'd like an OGS function.


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## NiteMaire (May 12, 2021)

Grammarhero said:


> Of course, there's no membership price to join DEX for DRI deed owners.


While that's true for some (like Sedona Summit and a few others), I'm not sure it applies to all resorts...yet.  There's still a "price" to join, it's just included in the MF.


Grammarhero said:


> 2) I'd like an OGS function.


That would be a nice function.  I don't know that I'd use it, but it would be nice for most.


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## Grammarhero (May 12, 2021)

NiteMaire said:


> While that's true for some (like Sedona Summit and a few others), I'm not sure it applies to all resorts...yet.  There's still a "price" to join, it's just included in the MF.
> 
> That would be a nice function.  I don't know that I'd use it, but it would be nice for most.


My MF last year was $715, while I didn't have DEX.  This year, my MF was $730, while I had DEX.  So I haven't seen a substantial increase this year to cover DEX expenses, but maybe it will come in future years.


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## csalter2 (May 12, 2021)

chemteach said:


> I often think I shouldn't post too much about Destination Exchange because if too many people find out about it, maybe the good weeks will go away.
> 
> So here goes...  (this is only for deeded weeks reservations - The Club won't have these units showing up)
> 
> ...



There’s no problem for those in the Club. Club members can book Ka’anapali, The Point at Poipu, the Caribbean and Lake Tahoe without issue and without DEX.  There are also options for Club members on DEX for resorts outside of the DR system as well. I have been staying at a SoCal Resort for the last 3 weeks.  So what advantage do weeks owners have that Club members don’t?


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## NiteMaire (May 12, 2021)

Grammarhero said:


> My MF last year was $715, while I didn't have DEX.  This year, my MF was $730, while I had DEX.  So I haven't seen a substantial increase this year to cover DEX expenses, but maybe it will come in future years.


Yep, it wasn't much.  While I don't have the numbers in front of me, our 2BR unit at Sedona Summit went from ~$900 (last year without DX) to ~$930 (this year with DX).  I was surprised the increase was as low as it was.  I'll take it.


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## csalter2 (May 12, 2021)

Grammarhero said:


> I like the five-year booking window.  Last year, Diamond actually gave us an extra year availability, so we had six years to book something (not that I need that long of a time).
> 
> I also like the lower fees.  Of course, there's no membership price to join DEX for DRI deed owners.  I like the exchange fee is only $150, compared to $210 (II) and $240 (RCI).  I also like that the GC are only $25, compared to $70 (II) and $90 (RCI).
> 
> ...



Have they lowered the number of points for DEX resorts? I have known the points needed for DEX exchanges to be expensive as far as points currency.  There are a lot of hit and miss resorts in DEX as well.  I would hate to use a large number of points for dud of a property.  It’s not easy to tell about resorts even with looking at reviews.  Maybe it’s expensive to points owners and not weeks owners.


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## Grammarhero (May 12, 2021)

csalter2 said:


> Have they lowered the number of points for DEX resorts? I have known the points needed for DEX exchanges to be expensive as far as points currency.  There are a lot of hit and miss resorts in DEX as well.  I would hate to use a large number of points for dud of a property.  It’s not easy to tell about resorts even with looking at reviews.  Maybe it’s expensive to points owners and not weeks owners.


DEX week owners have tiers.  Mine is Tier 3 for DRI South Bend, floating, deluxe 1BR.  I assume NiteMarie has Tier 5.  You pay $175 to go up the tiers.


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## NiteMaire (May 12, 2021)

csalter2 said:


> Have they lowered the number of points for DEX resorts? I have known the points needed for DEX exchanges to be expensive as far as points currency.  There are a lot of hit and miss resorts in DEX as well.  I would hate to use a large number of points for dud of a property.  It’s not easy to tell about resorts even with looking at reviews.  Maybe it’s expensive to points owners and not weeks owners.


I only own weeks, and I haven't been a long-time owner; however, points required for DEX is one of, if not the, biggest complaints I've seen from points owners.


csalter2 said:


> So what advantage do weeks owners have that Club members don’t?


I'm definitely not qualified to comment, but I'll offer 2 thoughts.
1) Little-to-no buy in (purchase/gift of resale week)
2) Less expensive MFs (excluding last minute reservations)
I don't know enough about the Club to know if 1 and 2 are actually advantages compared to the Club.

For our Sedona Summit unit, MF is ~$930 for 2BR LO.  For simplicity, let's say the cost basis is $465 per week.  Add in the $149 exchange fee, $175/tier upgrade fee (x2), and we can exchange into an Ocean Front 2BR at P@P for $964.  What would it cost in points?

ETA: if we exchange into a garden or partial ocean view, then it's only $614 for the week.


Grammarhero said:


> DEX week owners have tiers. Mine is Tier 3 for DRI South Bend, floating, deluxe 1BR. I assume NiteMarie has Tier 5. You pay $175 to go up the tiers.


We have a Tier 5 2BR that we LO and get a Tier 4 1BR and a Tier 3 Studio.


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## Grammarhero (May 12, 2021)

The only other advantage I can think of that @NiteMaire hasn't mentioned is that if the deed is in CA, FL, Maine, SC, WI, or CO, TS foreclosures are anti-deficiency, so the resort can't sue you for any foreclosure balance, although they can wreck your credit.  edit: Not the case with DRI trust points not deeded in those states.


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## Fried_shrimp (May 12, 2021)

csalter2 said:


> Have they lowered the number of points for DEX resorts? I have known the points needed for DEX exchanges to be expensive as far as points currency.  There are a lot of hit and miss resorts in DEX as well.  I would hate to use a large number of points for dud of a property.  It’s not easy to tell about resorts even with looking at reviews.  Maybe it’s expensive to points owners and not weeks owners.



They are working on it. I can find 2 bdrm units in the 4,000-6,000 point range now. Seems someone is trying to correct the outrageous point cost assigned when DEX rolled out.


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## Fried_shrimp (May 12, 2021)

NiteMaire said:


> I only own weeks, and I haven't been a long-time owner; however, points required for DEX is one of, if not the, biggest complaints I've seen from points owners.
> 
> I'm definitely not qualified to comment, but I'll offer 2 thoughts.
> 1) Little to no buy-in (purchase/gift of resale week)
> ...



It depends on which unit you are trying to get but the 2 bdrm units at P@P run about 11,000 points a week on average (which makes it one of the most expensive DRI properties to exchange into with points). For 2021, my maint fees are 19.4 cents per point so that would equate to $2.134 for a week there. Question is, can you exchange a 1 bdrm in Sedona for a 2 bdrm Ocean front unit at P@P?


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## Fried_shrimp (May 12, 2021)

Grammarhero said:


> The only other advantage I can think of that @NiteMaire hasn't mentioned is that if the deed is in CA, FL, Maine, SC, WI, or CO, TS foreclosures are anti-deficiency, so the resort can't sue you for any foreclosure balance, although they can wreck your credit.  Not the case with DRI trust points.



Not that I have ever owned anything on my point purchases but can you explain the difference?


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## dayooper (May 12, 2021)

Fried_shrimp said:


> Not that I have ever owned anything on my point purchases but can you explain the difference?



If you go into default, the HOA's in those states can't come after your assets (home, savings, garnishing wages). Usually, they won't come after owners for delinquent MF's (they will just foreclose and take back the deed). Sometimes companies will go after owners if their loads go into default. If you bought in those states, they can't go after your assets. It's rare, but those states offer the protection of they legally can't come after you.


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## Grammarhero (May 12, 2021)

Fried_shrimp said:


> Not that I have ever owned anything on my point purchases but can you explain the difference?


Owners  defaulting on maintenance fees on timeshares deeded in CA, FL, Maine, SC, WI, or CO get anti-deficiency protection, if they don’t object to the foreclosure. Anti-deficiency protection is when resorts can’t sue you for the foreclosure sale deficient balance.


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## NiteMaire (May 12, 2021)

Fried_shrimp said:


> Question is, can you exchange a 1 bdrm in Sedona for a 2 bdrm Ocean front unit at P@P?


Yes; for $175 more ($1139 total), we can exchange our studio for it as well.  For 2019-2020, DX had an additional $1000 fee to exchange into a "Premium Week/Accommodation" (P@P Ocean Front was one of them). Looks like they removed it for 2021-2022; I presume because owners were exchanging into those weeks. For deeded weeks, DX upgrade fee is based on the tier level of the week you are exchanging. Indirectly room size matters since the tier level, from what I can tell, is based on resort, unit type/size, and season. As mentioned above, you can upgrade to a higher tier, but there's a $175 fee per tier.


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## csalter2 (May 12, 2021)

Grammarhero said:


> DEX week owners have tiers.  Mine is Tier 3 for DRI South Bend, floating, deluxe 1BR.  I assume NiteMarie has Tier 5.  You pay $175 to go up the tiers.



Points owners also have tiers.  They deposit their points into the various tiers to be able to exchange into those various tiers.


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## pedro47 (May 12, 2021)

Grammarhero said:


> Owners  defaulting on maintenance fees on timeshares deeded in CA, FL, Maine, SC, WI, or CO get anti-deficiency protection, if they don’t object to the foreclosure. Anti-deficiency protection is when resorts can’t sue you for the foreclosure sale deficient balance.


Thanks, for the excellent explanation.  Outstanding!


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## Fried_shrimp (May 12, 2021)

Grammarhero said:


> Owners  defaulting on maintenance fees on timeshares deeded in CA, FL, Maine, SC, WI, or CO get anti-deficiency protection, if they don’t object to the foreclosure. Anti-deficiency protection is when resorts can’t sue you for the foreclosure sale deficient balance.



You seemed to insinuate there was a difference between defaulting on points versus defaulting on a fixed/floating week. That's what I was referring to. I understand that if the timeshare (or is it where you live) is in one of those states you are pretty much safe.


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## Grammarhero (May 12, 2021)

Fried_shrimp said:


> You seemed to insinuate there was a difference between defaulting on points versus defaulting on a fixed/floating week. That's what I was referring to. I understand that if the timeshare (or is it where you live) is in one of those states you are pretty much safe.


If the points are tied to a deed in an anti-deficiency state, then they get anti-deficiency protection.  If points are just in trusts (such as CWA), the points are in trusts located in states with deficiency laws, such as Delaware.  I don't know enough about DRI Club to know what's deeded where.


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## pedro47 (May 12, 2021)

Grammarhero said:


> If the points are tied to a deed in an anti-deficiency state, then they get anti-deficiency protection.  If points are just in trusts (such as CWA), the points are in trusts located in states with deficiency laws, such as Delaware.  I don't know enough about DRI Club to know what's deeded where.


I liked the reply by The Official TUGBBS Recession Master.


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