Well I know that now...;-)
Yeah, I HATE that for you.....it was a tough lesson and I've had my share too.
We all have in different ways if we've owned timeshares for a long time.
Two years ago I rented a New Years week at Aruba Ocean Club for my son as a special Christmas gift (it's what he wanted),
and it was $4000. It ended up being the cheapest week I could find there by any means, but it's just an example of how
those BIG weeks always end up in the rental listings. Wish I owned a few of those weeks strictly for investment purposes.
The secret to trades is working the system with EPlus and upgrading (unless it's in your "points" account where you get unlimited free trades). Persistence and diligence can work miracles.
These all happened this year for me:
Got a PLATINUM June Barony week (Oceanside) this year by depositing a Barony silver week....then plans changed and I could not use
the June Barony week, and re-traded for an October week at Custom House....our favorite time for Fall in New England!!!!
I also used a 1BR Manor Club (lockoff) and upgraded to a 3BR Surfwatch Easter week in April, the exact week we wanted because of our Spring Break.
Also got a Platinum June week at Myrtle Beach's Oceanwatch by trading a silver Oceanwatch week.
Also a Manor Club studio got me ultimately another Easter week at Grande Vista, a 3BR, which I gave to a staff member & family.