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Deposit GPX or RCI?

buzglyd

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Carlsbad Inn is under going major construction currently and my normally attractive summer rental isn't so attractive.

My choices now seem to be use it as a Staycation or deposit. I have a current RCI account and my week would get 34 TPU or I could deposit in GPX. I've never used GPX for exchange and could maybe get two vacations with 34 TPU. I assume GPX is one for one.

Any opinions?
 

klpca

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Carlsbad Inn is under going major construction currently and my normally attractive summer rental isn't so attractive.

My choices now seem to be use it as a Staycation or deposit. I have a current RCI account and my week would get 34 TPU or I could deposit in GPX. I've never used GPX for exchange and could maybe get two vacations with 34 TPU. I assume GPX is one for one.

Any opinions?
Between the two I am more of a fan of GPX than RCI. I suppose if you can wait for good deposits to pop up you could get two vacations for 34 TPU's, but I had a hard time getting two good trades out of my Seapointe week (which used to get 50 TPU's for a 1 bedroom summer week - when I got 50 it was an easy choice to choose RCI). Even though GPX is one-for-one the quality (imho) is better, the fees are slightly lower, and there is no membership fee. But since you already have an account the membership fee is moot. Another plus for GPX is how easy it has been to get good inventory for summer weeks. Always a tough call. I let RCI go late last year and am concentrating on II, GPX, and Trading Places (Club Cascadas in Cabo is great and TPI seems to have all of the inventory these days). One other thought - if you want to go to Maui, I bet that Trading Places Maui would love the Carlsbad Inn deposit and then you would have an easy trade into Maui Lea.
 

chellej

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Between the two I am more of a fan of GPX than RCI. I suppose if you can wait for good deposits to pop up you could get two vacations for 34 TPU's, but I had a hard time getting two good trades out of my Seapointe week (which used to get 50 TPU's for a 1 bedroom summer week - when I got 50 it was an easy choice to choose RCI). Even though GPX is one-for-one the quality (imho) is better, the fees are slightly lower, and there is no membership fee. But since you already have an account the membership fee is moot. Another plus for GPX is how easy it has been to get good inventory for summer weeks. Always a tough call. I let RCI go late last year and am concentrating on II, GPX, and Trading Places (Club Cascadas in Cabo is great and TPI seems to have all of the inventory these days). One other thought - if you want to go to Maui, I bet that Trading Places Maui would love the Carlsbad Inn deposit and then you would have an easy trade into Maui Lea.

I am another vote for GPX depending on where you want to go. If you want Maui, Trading Places International has a ton of Maui Schooner weeks right now for next year and they often have the 2 for one option.
 

buzglyd

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I’ve got Maui covered with a visit to Grand Wailea last year and Hyatt Residence Club this year.

Hanalei Bay seems most attractive via GPX.
 

DaveNV

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When I owned at Carlsbad Seapointe, I deposited a week into GPX. I took an exchange to an oceanvew unit at Ka'anapali Beach Club. The KBC staff gave me "owner" privileges, and it was an excellent vacation. I realize you don't need Maui, but I offer it as an example, that this exchange was better than any exchange I'd ever get from RCI, IMHO. So if it was me in your shoes, I'd go with GPX.

Consider, too, that each RCI exchange you make carries an exchange fee. So you might get two vacations with that 34 TPU, but you'd pay twice, too.

Dave
 

klpca

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I’ve got Maui covered with a visit to Grand Wailea last year and Hyatt Residence Club this year.

Hanalei Bay seems most attractive via GPX.
FYI - The onsite salesperson at HBR claims that there will be fewer deposits as their foreclosed units are sold to new owners. Is she telling the truth?? Who knows. And while it is still a good value to trade in to, there is both a resort fee *and* a parking fee. Which is BS, but there you go. We were just there in May. Would I go back even with those fees? Absolutely.
 

Stressy

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FYI - The onsite salesperson at HBR claims that there will be fewer deposits as their foreclosed units are sold to new owners. Is she telling the truth?? Who knows. And while it is still a good value to trade in to, there is both a resort fee *and* a parking fee. Which is BS, but there you go. We were just there in May. Would I go back even with those fees? Absolutely.

I agree. I thought HBR was going to be any easy trade with GPX as it was previously flooded with units. I don't see them like I used to. I use GPX for my CI. It's straight forward 1 for 1. You just need to know that if you are looking for say a summer week, that inventory for the month drops on the first day of said month (12 mos out) for the whole month. Be on it! I usually book March or T giving so I have more time. than someone searching for a summer week.
 

chemteach

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Diamond Resorts puts a fair amount of their inventory into GPX. Kaanapali and Poipu units in Diamond can be very nice. (If you want to go to Hawaii...). I would do GPX over RCI if I had a unit to deposit into GPX.
 

DeniseM

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I have a Hawaii deposit with GPX that I am going to have to pay to renew or let expire in Sept, because I haven't found anything I want to exchange for, and they were not able to fill my ongoing search. In the future, I will deposit this week with RCI.
 

klpca

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I have a Hawaii deposit with GPX that I am going to have to pay to renew or let expire in Sept, because I haven't found anything I want to exchange for, and they were not able to fill my ongoing search. In the future, I will deposit this week with RCI.
In the past I think that there was a thread about GPX's ongoing search not being very effective. I used one for my week in May - they send you an email essentially letting you know that the inventory is there but they don't hold the unit!

Some of use regularly peruse GPX. Maybe let us know what you are looking for on the sightings board (or PM me) and we will look for you.
 

baf99

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I'm trying to get caught up after a brief TUG hiatus and just saw this thread. I may not be the only one who posted such a thread, but I did post a thread about the GPX ongoing search. Maybe I just got a new employee when I called in, but they took all my info and as far as I could tell when I called back to check on it all they did was search at the time I originally called. No ongoing anything. I haven't bothered trying again. I just search the online availability a lot if I'm looking for something. At least I know something is happening even if the results are negative.

I have also noticed that availability has dropped, at least what I might be interested in booking. But, I also know that I have exchanged my spring CI week for winter/early spring in Hawaii four times and I have two weeks in Maui next March. These were 1 for 1 exchanges and I couldn't touch any of them in RCI with the 29-30 TPUs my week gets. Well, maybe the Maui which is at Valley Isle. But I don't think I could get Hanalei Bay Resort, Wyndham Kona Hawaiian, or The Modern Honolulu for the TPUs my week generates.

But lately the Hawaii availability has been almost entirely Kauai, and most of that is Kauai Beach Villas. Diamond resorts are still listed as affiliates but I'm not seeing as many. And I was searching a lot last year since I had two weeks that were expiring March of this year and couldn't be renewed. I did limit my search to the US, but otherwise I didn't put any restrictions on it. By November I had just about decided on one week in Sedona and one in Santa Fe in March when the two adjacent weeks popped up for The Modern Honolulu.

I usually start searching at the one year point. GPX opens up availability for an entire month on the first of that month. So, if you are searching for the end of August 2020, you can start searching on August 1, 2019. At least that's the way it has looked to me in the past. But, I also keep checking if I don't find something at the 1 year point. The GPX cancellation protection is not expensive and I suspect people make reservations they aren't sure of and later cancel. Or maybe some people are making late deposits. Like I do...

So, like other exchange companies, there are pluses and minuses. The GPX exchange fees have been going up as if they are trying to keep up with RCI. If you want to go to places on the west coast you may have a lot of choices. I'll probably check GPX first if I want another Hawaii exchange.
 
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