Grand Pacific Exchange (GPX) tips? (2017)

[DaveNV]

I'm still trying to figure out this system...

For those of you who belong to Grand Pacific's system, what is the best way to get a decent exchange through GPX? I presume what I'm seeing online are the leftovers, much like with RCI's available exchanges. If I call in, will they be able to see anything more? The website seems like it's trying to do a good job, but it's pretty sketchy, and I don't know if I can trust the results it's showing me. I've tried putting in a few Special Requests through the GPX website, but I have no idea if anyone has even seen them. (Is there a way to see online what Special Requests I have on file?)

What are the best tips to offer for making the best use of this site?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[klpca]

I'm still trying to figure out this system...

For those of you who belong to Grand Pacific's system, what is the best way to get a decent exchange through GPX? I presume what I'm seeing online are the leftovers, much like with RCI's available exchanges. If I call in, will they be able to see anything more? The website seems like it's trying to do a good job, but it's pretty sketchy, and I don't know if I can trust the results it's showing me. I've tried putting in a few Special Requests through the GPX website, but I have no idea if anyone has even seen them. (Is there a way to see online what Special Requests I have on file?)

What are the best tips to offer for making the best use of this site?

Thanks,
Dave

I'll be following this thread because I have a week on deposit with them as well. I recall Presley (I think) saying that their OGS weren't computerized but manual (ugh), so some friendly phone calls may be needed to be matched. I am going to target some GPX properties in my search based upon what I used to see as available before they "upgraded" their website. I don't need to use the week any time soon though, so I will be anxious to see what others have experienced in the mean time.

 

[presley]

Ongoing searches have never got me anything. You need to log in and look every couple days. They only load a year out. So, if you want August for next year, all the good stuff is gone, but you can be quick in September and get September for next year.

Even when you find something online and book it, you still may get a call or email from them saying it wasn't available. Sketchy is a good way to describe how they do things. I think they made it so you pay the same whether you call or book online now. It used to be cheaper to book online. I'd keep checking every couple days online and then call if you see something you want. You can also call and have them do the searching, but they are not reliable for ongoing searches. If they offer to set one up for you, go ahead and try it. Maybe they've gotten better. My experience a couple years ago was that I'd set up an ongoing search and never hear back, but I'd be able to find an exact match by looking online often.

 

[DaveNV]

Thank you both. So if they only load out a year in advance, and if I did want something in September of next year, is there a magic time or date when those September weeks would be loaded in? Do they load out all at once, or does it trickle in over time? Is this one of those, "Call at exactly 4:02AM Pacific Time on the first Tuesday in September. Calling at 4:03 means you missed out."

I wonder if it wouldn't have been easier to just deposit with RCI - at least their OGS system tends to work - sometimes...

And while we're on the subject, for those of you who own a Grand Pacific unit - is the attraction of GPR mainly for using the time you own at your home resort, rather than exchanging? I know the Bonus Time and Day Use has great appeal, if you can take advantage of it. But as a Washington State resident, those options aren't especially practical for me.

Dave

 

[rhonda]

And while we're on the subject, for those of you who own a Grand Pacific unit - is the attraction of GPR mainly for using the time you own at your home resort, rather than exchanging? I know the Bonus Time and Day Use has great appeal, if you can take advantage of it. But as a Washington State resident, those options aren't especially practical for me.

We enjoyed the Day Use at first (2001-2005'ish?) but that has faded as rules changed regarding the 'adult pool', use of wrist bands, etc. We've used every week through RCI for trading.

 

[b2bailey]

As with all systems, Summer weeks in California are the most difficult to find.

 

[DaveNV]

As with all systems, Summer weeks in California are the most difficult to find.

See, that's kind of the problem I face. I have a brother in San Diego, another brother in Oceanside, a cousin and assorted In-Laws in the Bay Area. So my California trips are pretty well covered, at any time of year. I'm looking for making exchanges out to other areas I enjoy, and to some new places I've never been. I bought GPR to try and work within their internal exchange system, but so far, I'm not too excited by what I've seen. Trying to make the most of it, and if I can't do that, I'll go back to my earlier plan - finding my week a new owner.

Dave

 

[klpca]

Thank you both. So if they only load out a year in advance, and if I did want something in September of next year, is there a magic time or date when those September weeks would be loaded in? Do they load out all at once, or does it trickle in over time? Is this one of those, "Call at exactly 4:02AM Pacific Time on the first Tuesday in September. Calling at 4:03 means you missed out."

I wonder if it wouldn't have been easier to just deposit with RCI - at least their OGS system tends to work - sometimes...

And while we're on the subject, for those of you who own a Grand Pacific unit - is the attraction of GPR mainly for using the time you own at your home resort, rather than exchanging? I know the Bonus Time and Day Use has great appeal, if you can take advantage of it. But as a Washington State resident, those options aren't especially practical for me.

Dave

I wanted to reply earlier, but work....

1) RCI - I used to use them a lot for my GPX units (Seapointe week 32 and Coronado week 37) but they have cut back on the TPU's. I'm especially peeved about the Seapointe unit. It's a mid August unit on the coast. There aren't a lot of those in RCI because there aren't a lot there to begin with. So recently I have been depositing those units with SFX - easy to get a Hilton on the Big Island. I have also decided to test GPX but I probably won't be trading that unit until 2019 so I have some time.

2) Day use. We don't go up to Seapointe all that often but that's because we go to Coronado all the time. We park underground, pop in to get some popcorn or a coffee, pick up some beach chairs or grab some bikes. It is like we have our own place on Coronado. It is my favorite timeshare ever. I haven't used bonus time - it's not worth it to me to stay somewhere that's just 20 min away, but the staff at the front desk tell me that they keep wait lists so if you know that you need to come into town, you can put yourself on the list.

As far as when the units are loaded, in the old days it was easy to see. The units were in a huge list. I used to copy and past them into excel all the time. As I recall, it seemed like multiple months would be loaded at one time. For Sept 2018, I would be looking regularly now. FYI, I saw summer weeks for all of the Southern CA resorts awhile ago, so they must have some inventory available. I will be looking for some of the Hawaii properties when I put in my OGS. I think that the new website is extra clunky and I wish that they had never changed it!

 

[presley]

So if they only load out a year in advance, and if I did want something in September of next year, is there a magic time or date when those September weeks would be loaded in?

No. They are inconsistent. I don't know if they have a constant turnover of employees or if people are doing multiple jobs, but the one consistent thing is you can count on them to be inconsistent.

I wonder if it wouldn't have been easier to just deposit with RCI - at least their OGS system tends to work - sometimes...

For ongoing searches, RCI is much better. I still deposit with GPX because I like their resorts. I haven't been using their new website. I am hoping it gets better and I can start using it again someday. With the older version, it was extremely easy to search by the area for the whole year. I am not one to spend half an hour bobbing around a website to see what's available for the next year and that's what the new website seems to be like.

is the attraction of GPR mainly for using the time you own at your home resort, rather than exchanging?

For me the attraction was staying at my home resort. Because of some changes in my lifestyle, I'll probably get rid of all my timeshares. I still like the idea of staying in my home resorts. I bought them because I like them. However, it isn't practical for me to do that anymore.

 

[rhonda]

1) RCI - I used to use them a lot for my GPX units (Seapointe week 32 and Coronado week 37) but they have cut back on the TPU's. I'm especially peeved about the Seapointe unit. It's a mid August unit on the coast. T

[re: GPX website] I think that the new website is extra clunky and I wish that they had never changed it!

I agree with both snippets above!

 

[DaveNV]

Thanks, everyone. This is very helpful.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

Update: I scored the Ka'anapali Beach Club! I've been checking GPX daily, and today I saw there were many more exchanges available than I saw there yesterday. While searching for "All-USA" and dates of "All" of 2018, the Hawaii weeks that came up also had some rather nice places. I'd seen most of these before, but the weeks available were usually in January to March. We can't go anywhere till late May, at the earliest. Lo and behold, while browsing through the listings today a week starting May 19th popped up at this beautiful resort, so I snagged it! It's absolutely perfect timing for us, (we love vacationing in late May), and it will give us a great chance to visit Maui again. (There were a few KBC weeks left, so if you're shopping, act fast!) GPX is currently getting very high marks from me.

Now, to plan another Hawaii vacation!

Dave

 

[gypsygirl1]

I agree that the new GPX website is not an improvement! A year ago I used that exchange and got a week at a lovely resort in Costa Rica. So it is worth checking the GPX inventory every few days if you really want to catch a great location like Hawaii etc.

 

[SmithOp]

I wanted to reply earlier, but work....

1) RCI - I used to use them a lot for my GPX units (Seapointe week 32 and Coronado week 37) but they have cut back on the TPU's. I'm especially peeved about the Seapointe unit. It's a mid August unit on the coast. There aren't a lot of those in RCI because there aren't a lot there to begin with. So recently I have been depositing those units with SFX - easy to get a Hilton on the Big Island. I have also decided to test GPX but I probably won't be trading that unit until 2019 so I have some time.

As far as when the units are loaded, in the old days it was easy to see. The units were in a huge list. I used to copy and past them into excel all the time. As I recall, it seemed like multiple months would be loaded at one time. For Sept 2018, I would be looking regularly now. FYI, I saw summer weeks for all of the Southern CA resorts awhile ago, so they must have some inventory available. I will be looking for some of the Hawaii properties when I put in my OGS. I think that the new website is extra clunky and I wish that they had never changed it!

I agree on the new web site, bring back the long single line list, the new site is just bloated with useless graphics. In 2015 I purchased 6 bonus weeks when they had bogo sales, averaged about $500 a week. 2016 they jacked up all the SoCal resorts and ruined it for me, I think there were complaints of owners renting bonus weeks.

I deposited my 2017 Seapointe float week (late June) into RCI, got 30 tpu and traded for Bay Club 1br during the hgvc bulk deposit. I calculated it was a wash after adding mf and rci fees, about the same as Bay Club mf. I can stay cheaper now using my HGVC points.

I finally saw the light and dumped my Seapointe, got rid of it in 2 days listed in TUG marketplace. I'm done with GPX. I'll keep the RCI and Interval accounts for now to try their cash weeks but probably wont renew, they both expire in 2019.

It feels good to be down to just the one HGVC contract, been a learning experience since joining TUG 7 years ago.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[presley]

I finally saw the light and dumped my Seapointe, got rid of it in 2 days listed in TUG marketplace. I'm done with GPX. I'll keep the RCI and Interval accounts for now to try their cash weeks but probably wont renew, they both expire in 2019.

I was just thinking I'll probably never deposit into GPX again because the of the new website and the increased fees. I predict I'll be saying farewell to Seapointe and Marbrisa next year, which will also have me cut ties to HGVC. That will leave me with just one timeshare, which is still a GPX timeshare, but it trades very nicely in Interval and I'll probably just go that route in the future.

 

[klpca]

Update - I put an OGS at GPX in a few months ago (probably Feb or March) for a May 2019 exchange to Hanalei Bay Resort. I received an email with a "match" - mostly an email letting me know that there was availability and that I needed to call in. I put a week on hold then forgot about it (we were in Cozumel of course) but I was able to get another week that worked out just as well. So it sounds like they have improved their process a bit. One thing that I noticed was that you can't put an OGS for summer CA beach weeks.

I'm still seeing nice bonus week options, but our weeks backlog prevents me from taking advantage of them. Someday.

 

[DaveNV]

Update - I put an OGS at GPX in a few months ago (probably Feb or March) for a May 2019 exchange to Hanalei Bay Resort. I received an email with a "match" - mostly an email letting me know that there was availability and that I needed to call in. I put a week on hold then forgot about it (we were in Cozumel of course) but I was able to get another week that worked out just as well. So it sounds like they have improved their process a bit. One thing that I noticed was that you can't put an OGS for summer CA beach weeks.

I'm still seeing nice bonus week options, but our weeks backlog prevents me from taking advantage of them. Someday.

I haven't checked GPX lately, because my last available week was exchanged nearly nine months ago. The Ka'anapali Beach Club exchange I mentioned in Reply #12 above is here already. We check in next week! The resort confirmed it's an ocean view unit, and I'm very excited to see how it all works out.

Dave

 

[klpca]

I haven't checked GPX lately, because my last available week was exchanged nearly nine months ago. The Ka'anapali Beach Club exchange I mentioned in Reply #12 above is here already. We check in next week! The resort confirmed it's an ocean view unit, and I'm very excited to see how it all works out.

Dave

Have fun!

 

[DaveNV]

Counting on it! We then head to the Big Island for the second week in Kona, so we'll see how well that goes. Hoping the volcanic activity and after-effects are far enough away to be a non-issue. VOG is my bigger concern.

Dave

 

[geist1223]

Counting on it! We then head to the Big Island for the second week in Kona, so we'll see how well that goes. Hoping the volcanic activity and after-effects are far enough away to be a non-issue. VOG is my bigger concern.

Dave

Back in February 2008 we were in Kona. An active lava flow had started the previous June (Father's Day) and was continuing. In fact during a small plane tour we saw an outbuilding consumed by Lava and learned that later the House was also consumed. The VOG was bad in Kona for our week there and noticeble during our stay on Maui the next week. It all depends on the prevailing winds.

 

[vmert]

Hey everyone, I am a Grand Pacific owner and I just used the GPX exchange for the first time ever. I just grabbed my home CA resort for a different week than is part of my use week time frame, so that was pretty cool. But, I still have 2 banked weeks with GPX because we were moving and were unable to use our timeshare for 2018 and 2019.
So... I am generally looking for some advice from people who know how it all works. I can search on GPX in several ways for resorts and all sorts of things come up as in the system, but it still doesn't quite make sense. It seems as though there are lots of places in the system that are actually never available. I called GPX and the woman tried to explain it to me, but it really didn't seem like she understood it either. I can't seem to make special requests, it just doesn't really do anything. I was hoping to put in requests for Italy and Hawaii, but it isn't clear to me that Italy is actually an offering, even though there are resorts there that pop up with pictures, etc. when you search. Is there a way to get a list of resorts that actually offer inventory to GPX customers? It seems like the whole thing is super confusing.
Any help/advice is appreciated.

 

[DaveNV]

Hey everyone, I am a Grand Pacific owner and I just used the GPX exchange for the first time ever. I just grabbed my home CA resort for a different week than is part of my use week time frame, so that was pretty cool. But, I still have 2 banked weeks with GPX because we were moving and were unable to use our timeshare for 2018 and 2019.
So... I am generally looking for some advice from people who know how it all works. I can search on GPX in several ways for resorts and all sorts of things come up as in the system, but it still doesn't quite make sense. It seems as though there are lots of places in the system that are actually never available. I called GPX and the woman tried to explain it to me, but it really didn't seem like she understood it either. I can't seem to make special requests, it just doesn't really do anything. I was hoping to put in requests for Italy and Hawaii, but it isn't clear to me that Italy is actually an offering, even though there are resorts there that pop up with pictures, etc. when you search. Is there a way to get a list of resorts that actually offer inventory to GPX customers? It seems like the whole thing is super confusing.
Any help/advice is appreciated.

You should start a new thread with your questions, rather than tagging into my old thread from two years ago.

I sold my Grand Pacific week last year, so I can’t offer you anything new.

Dave

 

[vmert]

Yeah, I haven't gotten many replies to threads I start... But I'll try that.

 

[DaveNV]

Yeah, I haven't gotten many replies to threads I start... But I'll try that.

I suggest it only so it’ll be treated as a new thread. My experience is that those who may be able to help may not want to post something else in a thread they know they’ve already replied to long ago. There may be newer info from GPX that may help you out. Good luck!

Dave

 

[Beach57]

You should start a new thread with your questions, rather than tagging into my old thread from two years ago.

I sold my Grand Pacific week last year, so I can’t offer you anything new.

Dave

Dave,
May I ask how you were successful in selling your GP week? I have been trying to sell mine for two years, and I have had zero interest. I know it's time to offer closing costs, and possibly a Visa gift card, but I haven't gotten around to it. Congratulations!