Really love this thread!
I have a request to make - can people also indicate how they get their accommodations (since this is a timeshare forum, lol)
e.g. Trading via II or RCI or some other system
e.g. Exchanging with other TUGGERs
e.g. All within a mini system like Marriott, Hilton, Vistana, Wyndham, etc
e.g. Just own there
For us it's Orlando (DVC) and New York (always stay at a Residence Inn in East Rutherford NJ - the bus to the Port Authority picks you up right in front). WAY cheaper than staying in Manhattan, and has free parking.
For us:
We trade internally within the Hyatt system for Carmel stays, but just bought an EOY week there. So if we don’t get the trade we want, in the future we’ll just use our owned week.
For Sedona, we trade in. Either internal Hyatt trade, or through SFX or II.
For our mountain trip, we might trade into Tahoe through Hyatt, SFX or II. Or use our owned week at Marriott Mountainside. We have DC points with that one; we own an EOY 2BR but get enough points that we can go every year for a week in a 1BR if we go in Aug, or even longer in Sept. We’ve also traded into Breckinridge in summer through II, and our original visit to Marriott Mountainside was an II trade using a non-Marriott deposit.
For Disneyland, we use our owned points at Villas at Grand Californian. Or trade in using our tiny 25 point HHI contract.